Guys there is already content on patreon, if anyone wants to become a chunin jonnin, hogake or God Shinobi.
patreon.com/Chuga320 (Have than 50 additional chapters)
—————————————————————————————————————————————
The Chicago Bulls' opponent in the first round of the playoffs is the Orlando Magic.Despite only achieving a regular season record of 38 wins and 44 losses, the Magic remains one of the top eight teams in the Eastern Conference, outperforming the seven other Eastern teams that failed to even make the playoffs.
The main contributor to the Magic's return to the playoffs is, of course, Dwight Howard, who averaged 17 points and 12 rebounds per game.
In the third year of his career, Howard has demonstrated the ability of one of the league's best centers, particularly on the defensive end. His mobility is almost comparable to that of a perimeter player, giving him excellent shot-blocking and help defense abilities. The Magic's paint is a no-fly zone for opponents trying to score inside.
Howard's defensive abilities are outstanding, but his offensive skills remain relatively raw. He primarily scores by finishing easy baskets near the rim or by capitalizing on offensive rebounds for second-chance points.
The Magic's management isn't worried, though. Howard, who entered the draft straight out of high school, has played three seasons in the league but is only 21 years old. With careful development, there is hope that he could become an elite, two-way center with both offensive and defensive prowess.
Of course, Wang Chong, who traveled from the future, knows very well that even if Howard practiced for another ten years, his offensive skills would still be quite limited. It's not that Howard doesn't have some moves—he has a hook shot and a basic post game—but the effectiveness and efficiency of these moves are minimal. At best, Howard would be considered a third-tier offensive player. He mostly relies on his physicality and athleticism because it's easier and more effective for him.
This habit eventually ruined Howard. When injuries, especially repeated back injuries, sapped his explosiveness, Howard's dominance in the paint diminished, turning him from a superstar into just a regular player.
But it's undeniable that, in his prime, Howard's defense in the paint was exceptional, even surpassing Tim Duncan. Coupled with a scoring average of over 20 points per game, Howard was no slouch.
At this stage, however, Howard hadn't yet reached the level of dominance he would show in the next two or three years. The matchup between the Bulls and the Magic was completely one-sided.
Aside from Howard, the Magic's starting lineup in the 2006-07 season also featured players like Grant Hill, Hedo Turkoglu, and Jameer Nelson. Compared to the team that would reach the NBA Finals in the future, they were missing All-Star-level sharpshooter Rashard Lewis. Turkoglu was also not yet at his peak, as his best season was still ahead.
Thus, the Magic's regular season record of 38-44 reflects their shortcomings.
On April 21, 2007, the opening game of the first round of the playoffs kicked off.
At the United Center in Chicago, home of the Bulls, the Bulls utterly dominated the Magic.
The Bulls took control of the game within the first two minutes and maintained their lead until the final whistle.
The final score was 100-92. Although the difference on the scoreboard doesn't seem that large, anyone who watched the game knew that the Magic had no chance of mounting a comeback from start to finish.
The talent gap between the two teams was so wide that Wang Chong didn't even need to play at full effort. He made 10 of 19 shots, scoring 25 points, grabbing 4 rebounds, and dishing out 4 assists in just 32 minutes.
As the most important part of the Bulls' offensive system, Wang Chong didn't need to rack up a high-scoring game, meaning the Bulls simply needed contributions from their other players to secure the victory.
On the Magic side, Howard scored 13 points and grabbed 19 rebounds, completely dominating Tyson Chandler in the rebounding battle. However, on offense, Howard was no match for Chandler. Howard's offensive skills were too limited, and Chandler, with a similar style of play, knew exactly how to defend against him.
Chandler's scoring hadn't improved much from last season. He still averaged only 8 points per game, but his rebounding had increased to 12.4 per game, second in the league, trailing only Kevin Garnett (12.8 rebounds) and just ahead of Howard (12.3 rebounds).
However, in this matchup, Howard outclassed Chandler in rebounding. Chandler managed only 9 rebounds, including 6 offensive rebounds that Howard missed.
This highlights that although Chandler is a solid role player, even the third-year version of Howard is superior.
The Magic's loss boiled down to the fact that Howard was the only player on the team with a significant matchup advantage, and he was just a center. Even if Howard had grabbed 30 rebounds, his offensive efficiency wasn't high enough, and the Magic's defense wasn't as strong as the Bulls'. This sealed the outcome of the series.
The Bulls wasted no time with the Magic. In four games, they swept the Magic 4-0, sending their opponents home early for the summer and becoming the first team to advance to the second round of the playoffs.
One day later, the Cleveland Cavaliers swept the Washington Wizards 4-0, following the Bulls into the second round.
These two teams were also the only ones to sweep their opponents in the first round of the playoffs.
Most people initially thought that the Dallas Mavericks, who finished first in the Western Conference with 66 regular-season wins, would easily sweep the Golden State Warriors.
However, the Mavericks' situation turned upside down. After losing Game 1 at home, the Warriors took a 3-1 lead after four games.
The entire league was shocked.
What's going on? Are the Warriors about to eliminate the Mavericks?
On May 1, facing a 3-1 deficit, the Mavericks fought back with resilience. Dirk Nowitzki scored 30 points and grabbed 12 rebounds, leading the team to a difficult victory and cutting the series deficit to 3-2.
But the miraculous comeback that Dallas fans hoped for didn't happen. Two days later, the Warriors defeated the Mavericks at home, eliminating them with a 4-2 series victory and completing one of the greatest upsets in NBA history.
This result stunned the entire league. No one expected the Mavericks, one of the championship favorites, to fall in the first round.
How hard is it to pull off a No. 8 seed upset over a No. 1 seed?
In NBA history, there were two previous No. 8 seed upsets: in the 1993-94 season, the Denver Nuggets defeated the Seattle SuperSonics 3-2, and in the 1998-99 season, the New York Knicks upset the Miami Heat 3-2.
The Mavericks became the first team to fall victim to a No. 8 seed upset since the first round of the playoffs was changed to a best-of-seven series. They also became only the third team in NBA history to suffer this embarrassment.
This loss placed the Mavericks in the history books of playoff shame and cemented Dirk Nowitzki's reputation as soft.
Meanwhile, the Golden State Warriors, led by Baron Davis, completed the historic upset, earning the nickname "Golden State Gangsters" with their stellar performance in the series, drawing praise and admiration from all around the league.
However, this outcome was entirely in line with the original historical timeline, so Wang Chong wasn't surprised. He knew that the San Antonio Spurs were the only truly formidable team in the Western Conference playoffs.
One notable difference from the original timeline was that Monta Ellis didn't play for the Warriors because Wang Chong had interfered with his career. However, this didn't stop the Warriors from pulling off the upset, as Ellis wasn't a key player at that point in time. He had been overshadowed by Baron Davis.
In six games against the Mavericks, Ellis averaged only 8 points, 2 rebounds, and 1.2 assists, far from being a key factor in the Warriors' victory. Therefore, even without him, the Warriors didn't miss out on completing the upset.
The Mavericks' shocking defeat overshadowed the other playoff matchups, and by the time the All-NBA and All-Defensive teams were announced, those honors seemed almost irrelevant.
Besides the Bulls and Cavaliers, who swept their series, the other two Eastern Conference matchups were the Heat defeating the Pistons 4-3 and the Nets beating the Raptors 4-2.
The Heat, weakened by injuries to both Dwyane Wade and Shaquille O'Neal, barely managed to survive. Wade averaged 23.5 points, 5 rebounds, and 6 assists per game, while O'Neal averaged 18.8 points and 8.5 rebounds per game. This wasn't the same dominant Heat team that won the championship the previous season.
Fortunately, the Heat faced the Detroit Pistons, a team in transition.
Without Chauncey Billups, the Pistons' strength had diminished significantly.
Monta Ellis, who replaced Billups, had a solid regular season, averaging over 20 points, 5 rebounds, and 5 assists per game.
But in the playoffs, Ellis was exposed. His efficiency dropped, and his contributions on the court were far below that of the veteran Billups.
Against the Heat, Ellis's game plan was essentially to attack the rim with speed and agility. His drives were effective, but playoff basketball requires much more than just that.
In the past, Ellis didn't need to think too much because Wang Chong was the Bulls' primary offensive focus, and opposing teams had to concentrate their defense on him.
But things were different now that Ellis was on the Pistons. Facing the Heat, Ellis struggled in four games, shooting just 36% from the field. As the main ball-handler, he had the ball in his hands a lot, but he failed to make enough of a scoring impact.
His inexperience in the playoffs was clear, and without Billups' leadership and control on the court, the Pistons were unable to advance past the first round.
End of this chapter
Note: Hi if you really like NBA novels, you can support me either in this pg with stones, reviews etc, or in patreon since the niche of sports and specially NBA is very small is Webnovel since people prefer to read Naruto, Pokemon, comics etc.