Western Conference teams with superior strength and 50 wins, ranking eighth in the West, weren't unheard of.

But nine teams? This was a first in NBA history.

Because the ninth team got 50 wins but ultimately missed the playoffs...

The Spurs finished first in the West with a 60-win record.

Tang Tian's departure had impacted their record somewhat, but Popovich's excellent coaching allowed the team to stop the bleeding in time, winning the league for the third consecutive year.

It's worth mentioning that they were also the only team in the league to reach 60 wins this season.

The Thunder were second in the West with 58 wins. They had a chance to challenge the Spurs for first place, but Westbrook's injury changed everything.

The Clippers were third in the West with 57 wins. Although their record wasn't much different from last year, Rivers' arrival completely changed the team's defense, and their strength in the playoffs should not be underestimated.

The Lakers followed closely behind with 56 wins. They could have risen to third place with a win against the Pelicans based on their head-to-head record, but ultimately had to settle for fourth.

The Warriors followed the Lakers closely with 54 wins. Mark Jackson patiently cultivated this team for three years, and the results were finally showing.

The Pelicans' record ultimately settled at 52 wins, an improvement of 25 games from last season.

The arrival of Tang Tian and Holiday clearly brought improvements to this team.

And with this kind of record improvement, Pelicans coach Monty Williams also had a chance to compete for this year's Coach of the Year award.

The Grizzlies and Rockets both had 51 wins, but the Grizzlies led 3-1 in the head-to-head record between the two teams, so they occupied the seventh spot in the West.

The Rockets had to settle for eighth.

However, in such a competitive West, being able to escape the Kardashian's tight defense and lead the team into the playoffs with a single core player, Harden's individual strength was beyond doubt.

Ninth place was the Trail Blazers, who ultimately had 50 wins but were unfortunately eliminated after Aldridge suffered an injury and missed nearly two months.

Besides these teams, another team in the West that didn't make the playoffs was also worth noting.

The Mavericks had a good record at the beginning of the season, but Nowitzki suffered a season-ending injury, after which they entered tanking mode and ultimately finished second to last in the West with 27 wins.

In addition to the Mavericks, the Spurs, Pelicans, Grizzlies, and Rockets of the Southwest Division all made the playoffs, making it a veritable "death division."

With the Eastern and Western Conference records finalized, the playoff matchups were also released.

In the East, the Heat faced the Hawks in the first round, the Pacers faced the Hornets, the Bulls and Wizards faced off, and the Raptors and Nets fought for the last spot.

In the West, the Spurs and Rockets faced each other, marking the second consecutive season the two teams had met in the first round.

The same was true for the Thunder and Grizzlies. The Thunder were black sevened last year and were determined to take revenge this year.

The Clippers would face the challenge of the Pelicans. Griffin's provocation and Barnes's fouling of Tang Tian meant there were already plenty of grudges between the two teams in the regular season, making this first-round matchup full of highlights.

The Lakers would face the rising Warriors, with Kobe facing the Warriors' outside double guns, also a matchup full of highlights.

After the matchups were released, ESPN immediately provided matchup predictions and analysis of the championship favorite teams.

The Heat were still the most favored team, a tier above the rest.

The Spurs, Thunder, and Pacers followed closely behind.

The Clippers, Lakers, and Bulls were in the third tier of teams.

Teams predicted to be eliminated in the first round were mostly in the lower half of the bracket. They believed that the possibility of a black seven or black six occurring in this year's playoffs like in previous years was unlikely.

This included the Pelicans, who were facing the Clippers.

"Their performance this season is commendable, but experience and overall strength will lead to their elimination in the first round. Tang Tian will be relentlessly double-teamed in the playoffs. They have a bright future, but they don't have it now."

This was ESPN's preview of the Pelicans' playoffs.

The regular season ended, and the first round of the playoffs would begin in two days.

The Pelicans would play on the second day of the playoffs, which meant there were still three days until their first game.

Williams scheduled a team training session on the last day, giving the players two days off before that.

The players seized the time to adjust their bodies and condition, and guys like Holiday and Davis, even though they weren't training, were still in the gym.

But Tang Tian wasn't with them.

It wasn't because he was slacking off on training.

It was because there was a very important occasion he had to attend.

This season, UConn continued the dark horse essence of Tang Tian and Walker, making it all the way to the NCAA Finals.

Their little brother Napier played brilliantly and became an NCAA superstar.

Porter Wright and Niels Giffey, who trained with them in the training camp, also became important core players for the team.

So it was hard to tell whether they originally had such strength, or whether the hard training of the brothers' training camp had helped them.

UConn's opponent in the finals was Kentucky, led by Julius Randle and the Harrison twins.

The opponent was the same, but the result was not necessarily so.

Tang Tian had seen more than one instance of history changing after his transmigration, so he wouldn't miss such an important occasion.

Not only him, but Walker, Lamb, and Drummond had all come to the arena.

Even Ray Allen, Okafor, and Gay had come to the arena.

This year, the alumni cheering squad on the sidelines for UConn was unprecedentedly strong.

Before the game started, they all went down to the court to greet Napier.

"Beat them, they have no experience."

Tang Tian said in a relaxed tone as he hugged Napier.

He knew that the presence of all of them would be an encouragement, but also pressure, for Napier, so this kind of talk was very useful at this time.

Sure enough, Napier nodded with a smile after hearing it.

The words of his older brother Tang Tian relaxed his mentality a lot.

After greeting Napier, Tang Tian turned to greet coach Ollie, only to discover that Calhoun was sitting in the second row.

Seeing Tang Tian again, the old man's face flushed red with excitement.

Among UConn's many graduates, Tang Tian's current performance had surpassed Ray Allen, and he deserved to be called the number one player in UConn's history.

The experience of winning a championship together back then was even more precious.

Tang Tian smiled and hugged Calhoun, chatting casually.

Calhoun's life after retirement was relatively comfortable. Old coaches who had worked for more than 40 years didn't lack money, and were basically enjoying their twilight years.

Tang Tian chatted with Calhoun for a long time. When the game was about to start and he wanted to return to Walker, he found that he couldn't squeeze through.

Anyway, everyone watching the game was standing, so he simply stood next to Calhoun and cheered for UConn with his former mentor.

The game started quickly, and Kentucky unleashed a 6-0 run at the beginning, giving UConn a blow.

In the stalemate, Napier showed his NCAA superstar essence, hitting two consecutive shots to help UConn stabilize the situation.

The emotions of UConn's fans also reached a peak.

Tang Tian also shouted and cheered for UConn with the rejuvenated Calhoun.

He also experienced the difference between being a player and a spectator.

When he was a player, most of his attention was on the court, and at most he felt that the atmosphere was very enthusiastic.

But now, as a spectator, feeling the enthusiasm of more than 70,000 people at the scene, there was really a feeling of uncontrollable excitement.

The NCAA Finals, as expected of the most-watched basketball game in the world, was something that even the NBA Finals couldn't compare to.

In addition to Randle and the Harrison twins, Kentucky also had James Young, all NBA-level players.

But they were all too young. Napier was playing them like he was playing with little brothers.

Especially Randle, the most promising power forward in the NCAA, was completely neutralized by UConn's zone defense, scoring only 10 points in the entire game.

Finally, amidst the shouts of "Connecticut Huskies," UConn defeated Kentucky 70-54, winning the NCAA championship again after three years!