NBA also Begins ‘Spring Basketball’ on the 21st
NBA also Begins ‘Spring Basketball’ on the 21st... Boston Challenges to Win 18th Championship
Denver-Lakers, New York-Philadelphia, etc. First round 'big match', female referee appointed in NBA playoffs after 12 years.
The National Basketball Association (NBA) 2023-2024 season playoffs (PO) will begin on the 21st (Korean time).
In NBA 'Spring Basketball', 16 teams, more than half of the total 30 teams, participate, and each series is played with 4 wins out of 7, and continues until June, early summer.
All 16 teams that will participate in the PO have not yet been confirmed. 카지노사이트킹
The winner of the Miami Heat-Chicago Bulls and New Orleans Pelicans-Sacramento Kings games of the play-in tournament held on the 20th will receive the last ticket to PO.
The winner of the Miami-Chicago game will play the Boston Celtics, first place in the Eastern Conference, in the first round, and the winner of the New Orleans-Sacramento game will face the Oklahoma City Thunder, first place in the West.
This year's NBA PO begins at 2 a.m. on the 21st with the Eastern first round match between the Cleveland Cavaliers and Orlando Magic.
The strongest candidate to win the NBA this season is Boston.
Boston, which recorded 64 wins and 18 losses in the regular league, was the only team in the league to surpass the 60-win mark.
They are 14 games behind the East's second-place New York Knicks (50 wins, 32 losses).
Boston, with Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown at its core, has a well-balanced offense and defense, with an average goal difference of 11.4 points this season, the only team to exceed 10 points.
If Boston, which is aiming for the 'big ticket' for the first time in 16 years since 2008, wins, it will surpass the LA Lakers (17) and become the sole leader with the most wins in the NBA.
The LA Lakers, led by ‘King’ LeBron James, also succeeded in advancing to the PO.
However, the first round opponent is the ‘defending champion’ Denver Nuggets.
The LA Lakers lost all 4 games to Denver in the Western finals last season, and lost all 3 games in the regular league this season, and are currently on a 8-game losing streak against Denver.
Denver, which won the championship game last season by beating Miami 4-1, is attempting to win its second consecutive title.
The most recent example of winning the championship two years in a row is the Golden State Warriors in 2017 and 2018.
Golden State, led by Stephen Curry, entered the play-in tournament in 10th place in the regular league this year, but lost 94-118 to Sacramento and failed to advance to the PO.
If Denver, led by 'Serbian Express' Nikola Jokic, passes the first round against the LA Lakers, it will play the winner of the Minnesota Timberwolves-Phoenix Suns in the second round.
Although Denver is somewhat superior in terms of objective power, it is expected that a lot of basketball fans' attention will be focused on the game between Denver and the LA Lakers, where Jokic and James clash head-on.
In the East, the first round between New York, the 'nationally popular team' ranked second, and the Philadelphia 76ers, with Joel Embiid returning from injury, are considered 'big cards'.
Meanwhile, on the 19th, the NBA Secretariat announced the list of 36 referees to be used in this season's playoffs, and Ashley Moyer Glitch became the first woman to referee the NBA playoffs in 12 years.
Moyer Glitch is the second female referee in the NBA playoffs in 12 years and the second time in her career, after Violet Palmer in 2012.
Palmer officiated nine playoff games between 2006 and 2012.