Chapter 226 The two eastern powers compete

Author: Tiamo the Withered

Chapter 226 The two eastern powers compete

After that, the Magic won two more back-to-back games, extending their winning streak to seven games and bringing their total number of wins to 53.

Facing the Heat without Wade in Miami, Nelson exploded, making all 7 shots and all free throws, scoring 23 points.

Howard scored 20+20, Li Chengming scored 17 points, 7 rebounds and 9 assists. Turkoglu's touch recovered somewhat, and he scored 24 points on 7-of-14 shooting.

The Heat's Jason Williams had a big explosion, scoring 34 points, 6 rebounds and 7 assists. The Heat, with only 7 players left in the rotation, actually caused a lot of trouble to the Magic by taking advantage of their home court. The two sides fought fiercely.

It wasn't until the second half of the fourth quarter that the winner was finally determined.

It would be better to say that the Heat really didn't have much energy in the end, but it was the Magic's rotation. Everyone except Howard played less than 36 minutes.

It's not that he doesn't want to replace Howard, but his defense is irreplaceable, not to mention his amazing physical talent and strong physical endurance, which makes Li Chengming very envious.

Especially after every game, I still have the energy to go to the nightclub to vent, it’s really...

The next day they played the Pacers again at home, because Li Chengming suddenly exploded in the second quarter, scoring 15 points on all 7 shots in a single quarter. The Magic ended the battle in the third quarter and led by 24 points.

After that, the Pacers were still unable to close the score difference, and the Magic's main players did not return to the court.

For the Pacers, who are also working hard to hit the playoffs, this result is undoubtedly frustrating. After all, with the Magic's current ranking, even if they are lucky enough to squeeze into the playoffs, they will have no power to fight back against the Magic.

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But of course they would rather enter the playoffs and be swept. Unfortunately, this defeat makes their situation even more serious.

Two days later, the Magic faced the Cavaliers at home. Compared with the previous two games, this one seemed a bit calm.

Although the media still exaggerated the feud between the two teams before the game, especially the protagonists Li Chengming and James, after the All-Star Game, James, who won the All-Star MVP, seemed to be relieved in some aspects.

In his heart, Li Chengming wanted to get some interest back first, but when the opponent didn't respond, he felt like he had punched cotton.

Fortunately, the Magic still won easily in this game and successfully defeated the Cavaliers three times in the regular season.

And if this trend continues, as long as the Magic don't practice in the next games, they are likely to sweep them in the regular season.

Compared with the last game, the Cavaliers' lineup at this time has undergone a major overhaul. This is obviously due to James' dissatisfaction accumulated since the beginning of the season.

On February 22, Drew Gooden was sent to the Chicago Bulls along with Larry Hughes and Shannon Brown in an 11-player trade involving the Cavaliers, Bulls and SuperSonics. Nubell, Marshall, etc. were also sent.

Went to the SuperSonics.

The Cavaliers received Ben Wallace, Joe Smith, Szczerbiak and Delonte West from the deal, as well as the Bulls' 2009 second-round draft pick.

The Cavaliers are obviously interested in increasing outside shooting points and strengthening interior defense in order to deal with potential opponents in the playoffs, especially the Magic and Celtics, currently ranked top two in the Eastern Conference.

However, the result of this game may disappoint the Cavaliers management and James.

Ben Wallace doesn't know whether it's because of his age, the impact of his declining athletic ability, or because after leaving the Pistons' defensive system, he can no longer regain the intimidation of the best defensive player. He can't resist Howard at all.

I can't help but need Big Z to come over frequently to help with defense.

As a result, Big Z was troubled by fouls first, and Big Ben couldn't play for long either.

Because when he couldn't guard Howard, he almost became a side effect on the court. He couldn't play any role on the offensive end, at least he was definitely out of tune with James.

Having just sent away Larry Hughes, who he couldn't get along with, and then came Ben Wallace, who was even more incompatible with him, one can imagine the depression in James's heart.

James, who scored 30 points, 9 rebounds and 6 assists, was unable to restore the defeat of the game. In the fourth quarter, he watched the team slide step by step into the abyss and was helpless.

James and Kobe are not the same type of players. When the team really needs him to score to save the team, he is often unable to do anything.

This is why Li Yong looks at James and always feels that he seems to be more suitable as a second-in-command to play support. Otherwise, he can play dual-core with another star of similar level.

It's okay to play well in the competition, but being able to reach the finals in the playoffs depends on luck. It's really difficult to win the championship.

In contrast, everyone on the Magic team can perform well. Today's state is not good, but the other one will step up. Li Chengming and Howard are the ones who support their teammates on offense and defense.

Therefore, not only can the Magic's defense be able to hold up at critical moments, but the offense is also rarely stagnant. As long as Li Chengming is brought in, there is always a way to open up the situation.

Compared with the beginning of the season, Li Chengming now will not easily become the opponent's target even if he is not good at defense.

Unless the Magic team is as short as before, Li Chengming must be allowed to face someone who cannot defend him.

Of course, Li Chengming predicts that if he still has a chance to improve in the next Olympics, the only problem is probably that continuous competition will make people physically and mentally exhausted, just like now entering the end of the regular season, everyone on the Magic team

They all show signs of exhaustion from time to time.

Of course, they are like this, and so are their opponents.

But the Cavaliers' performance can definitely be explained by more than just fatigue.

After the game, James returned to the locker room without looking back. He was defeated repeatedly by the same opponent in the regular season, and basically showed no strength to fight back every time. This was obviously something he could not accept.

Even though Li Chengming didn't contribute any more famous scenes to him this time, his performance was relatively average.

Recently, the pursuit of records between the Magic and the Green Army has become more and more intense. The Magic have won eight consecutive games during this period. The Green Army, which narrowly defeated the Spurs in another arena, also achieved 7 wins and 1 loss. The gap with the Magic is not even close.

Didn't pull away.

The Magic are still ranked first with a total record of 54 wins and 15 losses, while the Celtics are closely followed with 52 wins and 14 losses. Because they have three games less, but with their current momentum, in the remaining games

It is also very promising to continue to maintain a 79% winning rate in the game.

This also means that among the 16 games left for the Green Army, they will lose at most 4 games without any accident, which will guarantee at least 64 wins.

As for the Magic, there are 13 games left, and they need to win at least 10 of them to ensure an advantage over the Green Army - because all three regular season contests between the two teams have ended, and the Magic have won.

According to the relationship between victory and defeat, even if the record is the same, the Magic will be ranked higher.

In the final schedule, although the difficulty of the Magic team is medium, there are also strong opponents like the Spurs, and there are three back-to-back teams. If everyone plays to ensure victory, they may also suffer from injuries and other accidents.

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This also forced the Magic to make a decision, that is, whether they need to "rest" the players in this final stage in order to ensure the record.

Especially for someone like Li Chengming, who has undoubtedly entered a period of weakness both physically and mentally. The fact that he can still maintain his current performance is mostly based on his own strength.

It can also be said that Li Chengming has truly reached the level of a star.

But even so, the team still needs to protect him before entering the playoffs.
Chapter completed!