Bishop of the Devil

April 14, the Buccaneers' last game of the season.

Although Richard rested many players in the final stage of the schedule, even so, the Pirates still maintained a good winning rate.

The Buccaneers' current record of 72 wins and 9 losses is jaw-dropping.

In this last game, whether Richard wants to win or not, he will definitely get some system rewards when the game is over.

"Guys, tonight is the last game of the season. Let's end the season with an unparalleled victory!" Richard said with a smile at the players in the locker room.

The generals cheered loudly. The opponent in this game was the New Jersey Nets. They were the strongest team in the Eastern Conference a few years ago, but now they have become the weakest team in the Eastern Conference. Judging from their current situation, this weak status will probably last for many years. .

With such a weak opponent, the Pirates are naturally quite confident of a victory. In addition, Richard is out of all the main players in this game, and the only outcome for the Nets is to be massacred.

…

Tonight's final game is the home court of the Pirates, and the venue is already full of fans. This situation has started since the Pirates won 70 games. The fans are ready to witness the miracle of the Pirates' season.

With a win tonight, the Pirates will have a record of 73 wins and 9 losses!

"Richard!"

"Richard!"

Richard's appearance made the Pirates fans scream wildly. Last season, Richard gave them a huge surprise. He directly led the team to win the championship without being favored!

And Richard is even more invincible this season, and is very likely to break the Bulls' historical single-season win record!

This is a great record, and if it can really be broken, it will be enough for Pirates fans to brag about for many years.

Even if they lose tonight's game, the 72 wins in a single season is tied with the Bulls, and it is something worthy of celebration by Pirates fans.

Anyway, whether the Buccaneers win or lose tonight, the season is going to be perfect for them.

…

After Richard entered the venue, he suddenly remembered something. It seemed that his experience as a pirate team was somewhat similar to that of the warriors of later generations...

The Warriors won the championship in the 14-15 season. They were the underdogs at the time. Many celebrities evaluated them as a jump shooting team...

But under this unfavorable situation, the Warriors defeated the Cavaliers with a score of 4:2 and won the championship.

The situation of the Pirates last season was similar, and they were not favored either. The main reason was that the players were too young. Compared with the veteran Spurs, the disadvantage was obvious.

But in the end, the Pirates defeated their opponents with a big score of 4:2 and won the championship!

…

The next season after the Warriors win the championship will be the season in which they win 73 games and finish second.

Coincidentally, Richard may also win 73 games...

"Good guy, are we going to lose the championship like the Warriors this season?" Richard thought anxiously.

It's really a bit evil. If Richard fails to lead the team to win the championship this season, regardless of the reason for losing the championship, it will be a bit embarrassing.

…

Richard even wondered whether he should lose this game on purpose to avoid repeating the same mistake of 73 wins and second place overall...

But even if Richard did this, he might still win the game in the end.

The Nets have completely lost all hope of entering the playoffs. They are now trying to lose one more game in order to get better draft picks.

In this game, they rested two of the team's top players. After all, it was the end of the season, and it was an away game. If they rested the players, no one could find fault.

Kidd and Carter take turns to rest, and the Nets can only lead the team next with Jefferson. It is difficult to lose this game!

In less than half a quarter of the game, the Pirates went on a wild 21:5 run, which made the Nets even less motivated to fight. The only thing they hope now is that the game will end quickly, and then they can go back to their respective homes to start their own games. Offseason holidays.

…

"Beep!" The referee blew the whistle to end the game. The Pirates beat the Nets by 52 points at home, winning the final game of the season in a wonderful way.

73 wins and 9 losses!

On the big screen above the Pirates Arena, the number 73 was played immediately at the end of the game, and the fans at the scene couldn't stop cheering.

Richard also smiled at the moment the game ended. After breaking the Bulls' record this time, he got the injury scroll he desperately needed.

A primary injury scroll, plus an intermediate injury scroll, and 3 fame points are recorded.

Counting the two injury reels in his inventory before, Richard now has four injury reels on hand, which is definitely enough for this year's playoffs.

In previous years, Richard actually used more injury scrolls on O'Brien, while the Pistons basically didn't use injury scrolls in those two years.

And the current Pirates team is extremely special...

To use an ugly word, they are the old, the weak, the sick and the disabled...

The old O'Neal, the weak Milicic, the sick Paul, the disabled Oden, Granger and Roy.

But under Richard's influence, their fates have been rewritten.

Now Richard can't guarantee whether they will be injured in the playoffs...

The two extra injury scrolls finally provide an extra layer of protection. Richard doesn't want to be as miserable as the Spurs who were beaten eight times.

…

The Eastern and Western Conference playoff rosters were released on April 15.

The eight teams in the East are ranked according to ranking: Pirates, Celtics, Pistons, Magic, Cavaliers, Wizards, Raptors and 76ers.

The Buccaneers and Greencaps are naturally the most promising teams in the Eastern Conference. Although the Greencaps were swept by the Pirates during the regular season and did not win a game, in the playoffs, the situation is unknown. No one can decide now. I dare not say that Green Kai really cannot defeat the pirates.

As for the Pistons, they are still a team that cannot be underestimated.

Richard stayed with the Pistons for three years and led the team to two championships. In the years since he left, the Pistons have never missed the Eastern Conference Finals. If Green Kai had not suddenly emerged this season, the Pistons would have definitely won tickets to the Eastern Conference Finals. .

The last team in the top half of the Eastern Conference, the Orlando Magic, is showing signs of rising this year. It is a remarkable achievement in itself to be able to achieve the best results in the Eastern Conference outside the Big Three in the Eastern Conference.

As for the four teams in the lower half of the Eastern Conference, they are basically nothing to watch. Some teams may have pretty good lineups, but because of the existence of the Big Three in the Eastern Conference, it will be difficult for them to break into the second round of the playoffs.

The only one who has a chance to enter the second round is the Cavaliers against the Magic. They may be able to defeat the Cavaliers and get tickets to the second round of the playoffs.

Richard also sighed deeply when he saw that their opponent in the first round of the playoffs was the 76ers.

In the playoffs, Richard played against the 76ers countless times. During the Trail Blazers period, he met the 76ers in the Finals. After arriving with the Pistons, he met the 76ers again in the Eastern Conference Finals.

As for the current 76ers, it is obviously difficult for them to reach the Eastern Conference Finals, let alone the Finals.

…

The East has the three giants of the Pirates, Greencaps and Pistons, while the West may be even more chaotic.

The Lakers achieved an excellent record of 68 wins this season, and then ranked according to record are the Jazz, Spurs, Suns, Mavericks, Nuggets, Warriors and Trail Blazers.

It is worth mentioning that under normal circumstances, the Warriors this season have successfully set a record...

However, this record does not make people happy, but a rather unfortunate record.

Under normal circumstances, the Warriors would have a good record of 48 wins and 34 losses in the regular season this season, with a winning rate of 58.5%!

As a result, they failed to make the playoffs...

This Warriors team is the first team in NBA history to win more than 48 games in a single season, but cannot enter the playoffs.

Historical records...

This is quite embarrassing, because under normal circumstances, the Cavaliers, ranked fourth in the Eastern Conference, only have 45 wins!

From this we can clearly see how huge the gap between the East and the West was at that time.

The Cavaliers, who are fourth in the Eastern Conference, are placed in the Western Conference and cannot even reach the threshold of the playoffs.

But now, because of Richard, there is not much difference in high-end combat power between the East and West. The gap is mainly reflected in the teams in the bottom half of the playoffs and those lottery teams.

…

"Beep, beep, beep!" The whistle sounded over the Pirates Arena, and the first round of the preseason officially started.

The 76ers have famous main players left on the team this season, including Dazhi, Andre Miller and Thaddeus Young.

It is really not easy for these three people to lead the team into the playoffs, even though their number of wins is actually only 37 games, which is almost half of the Pirates...

"Coach, are you really not going to lead the team in this year's Olympics?" Dazhi asked with a wry smile after seeing Richard.

He didn't mention this series, because in his opinion, their participation in this series was important. What a joke, the difference between the two sides was twice as many wins, no matter how confident Da Zhi was, he was so confident that he was arrogant. , and they don't believe that the 76ers can kill the Pirates with a low score.

"Yes, let Zhang Weiping lead the team this time. He knows the domestic situation better than I do." Richard nodded and said.

Da Zhi nodded with some disappointment...

He is 31 years old this year and has gradually started to decline. His condition is far inferior to that of previous years. Although he can still easily score more than 15 points per game, when this contract ends, he will be thirty-three years old. At that time, what was waiting for me at that time was probably a middle-class contract, or even a veteran's basic salary...

Da Zhi has never been involved in the NBA championship, so he is naturally unwilling to do so.

"Coach, when my contract ends, I will go find you too..." Dazhi was a little embarrassed to mention this.

"Basic salary, definitely a basic salary to join the Pirates. I also want to taste the taste of a championship..."

Richard smiled and nodded, "You are welcome at any time. The Pirates will reserve a spot for you when the time comes."

…

The game on the field has begun, and the difference in strength is completely beyond words.

Andre Miller is now 32 years old, and his physical condition is pretty good, but facing Paul, who is as strong as a calf, his physical disadvantage is too great, and he cannot keep up with Paul's rhythm at all.

As for Thaddeus Young, as a newcomer who just joined the league this year, he is actually in a period of confusion right now...

I don't know whether I am suitable to play the third position or the fourth position. At present, Yang Erxia's skills are rough and the effect of playing the third position is not very good. If he plays the fourth position, he is short and is in a dilemma.

If he plays under Richard, Richard will probably let Yang Erxia stay directly at the fourth position to develop. After all, Yang Erxia's rebounding ability and interior defensive ability are pretty good.

The confused Yang Erxia obviously found it difficult to give the 76ers too much help.

As for Da Zhi, he scored 21 points in this game, which is already a pretty good performance. However, facing the Pirates, this mere 21 points obviously cannot save the world.

The Buccaneers won the first game of the first round of the playoffs, and it was a big victory, eventually defeating the 76ers by a margin of 32 points.

In the next two games, one at home and one away, the Pirates continued their momentum of victory, and it seemed that no one could stop them.