NBA Playoffs: The Heat and the Lakers have a miracle on the next gram | Black Seven | Black Eight

[The Epoch Times, April 30, 2023](Comprehensive report by Epoch Times reporter Li Rongshi) In the first round of the NBA playoffs, the eighth-placed Miami Heat in the regular season eliminated the No. The Milwaukee Bucks are popular; the Los Angeles Lakers, seventh in the West, defeated the Memphis Grizzlies, second in the West, to qualify. This is the only time in the 77 years since the NBA was founded that the “Black Eight” and “Black Seven” miracles have been staged at the same time in the playoffs.

In the history of the NBA playoffs, the miracles of “Black Eight” and “Black Seven” have happened from time to time, but they have been staged at the same time in one season, which has never happened before. After all, it takes two high-ranked teams to play abnormally together in order to appear below and above at the same time. As the top two seed teams in the East and West, they usually win more than ten games in the regular season than the seventh and eighth teams. There is indeed a huge gap in strength between the two sides.

Heat staged “Black Eight” miracle

This season, the Bucks led by “Antetokounmpo” Antetokounmpo (Giannis Antetokounmpo) have a regular season record of 58 wins and 24 losses, ranking first in the league. 44 wins and 38 losses, ranked seventh in the Eastern Conference, and advanced to eighth through the play-offs. The two teams met in the first round, and few people were optimistic about the Heat’s ability to qualify.

At the beginning of the series, the Bucks’ first game “Antetokounmpo” was injured, which caused the team to fall into hesitation. They repeatedly postponed the time for “Antetokounmpo” to come back, thinking that other people would be enough to handle the Heat. In the two games that “Antetokounmpo” was absent, the two teams each won one game. But as the game progressed, the Bucks found that the fighting spirit shown by this Heat team was completely different from the regular season.

In the fourth game, “Brother Antetokounmpo” came back, but the Bucks failed to win the opponent and became the key to this series. The Bucks were burdened with a huge psychological burden. However, even if the Heat lead 3 to 1, there is still a mainstream view in the league that the Bucks will not fall, because in terms of personnel uniformity, core player physical fitness, and “on paper” strength, the Bucks are all Shouldn’t have been out, but eventually a miracle happened.

In the fifth game between the two teams, the game has been heading for the Bucks to win from the very beginning. In the whole game, the Bucks scored 45 free throws, while the Heat had only 17. The penalty scale is obviously beneficial to the Bucks. In the final stage of the game, the three main players of the Heat, Lowry, Love and Adebayor, all accumulated six fouls and were sent off.

At the end of the three quarters, the Bucks once led by 16 points, but at the end of the quarter, the Heat, like a god, insisted on tying the point difference. At the last moment of the game, the Heat were still two points behind. Butler made a desperate move. With his body almost lying flat, he scored a goal that tied the game and dragged the game into overtime. Since then, the Bucks’ mentality has completely collapsed. In the end, the Heat eliminated the Bucks 4-1 and became the sixth team in history to complete the “Black Eight” miracle.

Butler is undoubtedly the number one contributor to the Heat’s promotion. He is a magical star. He has not been selected to the All-Star team in the regular season this year, nor has he scored 40+ points in a single game in the regular season. But in the playoffs, Butler scored 40+ points in two consecutive games, and one of them scored 50+ points. Butler averaged 37.6 points per game in the playoffs-first in the league, 6.0 rebounds, 4.8 assists and 1.8 steals per game, becoming the scoring leader in this year’s playoffs. He shot 59.7 percent from the field and 44.4 percent from three in the playoffs.

The biggest favorite of the championship, the Bucks, has become the “background board” of the “Black Eight” miracle. The team may face major changes, and head coach Budenholzer is at risk of dismissing get out of class. And “Antetokounmpo” once again exposed his shortcomings of unstable free throws in the fifth game. He was targeted by his opponent and made 10 of 23 free throws in the game.

In the second round of the playoffs, the Heat will face the New York Knicks, who have a record of 47 wins and 35 losses in the regular season and rank fifth in the Eastern Conference. The Knicks eliminated the Cavaliers in the first round. This is the first time they have advanced to the second round of the playoffs after a lapse of 10 years. Although Hiero was fractured and Oladipo was injured, it is still difficult to say when the two will come back, but judging from the current momentum of the Heat, they should be able to go one step further. If you advance to the Eastern Conference Finals. The Heat will face the winner between the Celtics and the 76ers, and that is their real test.

After the first round, the Celtics became the favorites to win the championship, leading by a large margin of 33%. The opponents of the “Green Army” in the Eastern Conference semifinals, the Philadelphia 76ers, ranked second, with a winning rate of 20%. Judging from the current situation, the Eastern Conference team has a greater probability of winning the championship. But at the current stage of the game, who can guarantee that the Heat will not continue to make history after the “Black Eight”. In the history of the NBA, the Knicks in 1999 had advanced to the finals as a “black eight”, so how far the Heat can go in the end is unpredictable.

The Lakers completed the “Black Seven” miracle

Due to the impact of the team’s turmoil, the Memphis Grizzlies declined in the late regular season, and were finally overtaken by the Nuggets, ranking second in the Western Conference with a record of 51 wins and 31 losses. The Los Angeles Lakers lineup is constantly adjusted, coupled with injuries, the regular season is 43 wins and 39 losses, ranking seventh, and after the playoffs, they still advance to the playoffs in seventh place.

Facing the Grizzlies in the first game, the Lakers won the away game and gained home court advantage. In the second game, the Grizzlies pulled back a game at home. After the two games came to the Lakers’ home court, the “Zijin Army” went all out, won two games in a row, and took a 3-1 lead with a big score. In Game 5, Morant scored 31 points and led the Grizzlies to save a match point at home.

In the sixth game, the two teams did not enter into a fighting situation again. Almost from the moment of the jump ball, the “Zijin Army” began to establish a leading advantage. After halftime, the Lakers have led their opponents by 17 points. After the third quarter, the point difference between the two sides widened to the 30-point mark. What was originally a life-and-death duel turned into a one-sided match. With the Lakers’ offensive and defensive crushing of the Grizzlies, the game lost its suspense early.

In the end, the Lakers beat the Grizzlies 125:85 at home, eliminated their opponents with a total score of 4 to 2, and reached the Western Conference semifinals. Black Seven” miracle. And the cruel reality has also proved that the Grizzlies can get the second place in the Western Conference in the regular season for two consecutive years, but in the playoffs, they are not a real championship team after all.

You must know that before the trade deadline, the Lakers were still ranked third from the bottom in the Western Conference. The team made decisive moves to form the current lineup. Completed the counterattack and directly broke into the Western Conference semifinals. No one dares to underestimate the Lakers today.

The Lakers’ opponent in the Western Conference semifinals will be the winner of the Warriors and Kings. After the Warriors and the Kings battled 3-3, there will be a tiebreaker. As a result, the Lakers also got more rest time, which helps the Lakers players adjust their competitive state, which is very beneficial to the Lakers.

Responsible editor: Zheng Huang