NBA's King of Talking

Since Derek Fisher joined the Thunder, there's been another person guarding the water cooler: Reggie Jackson.

Reggie has always maintained a good attitude. Like Jia Fei, he trains diligently and sometimes does extra training. During extra training sessions, he would spar with Jia Fei one-on-one.

When playing one-on-one with Reggie, Jia Fei lost more often than he won. His defense was fine, but his ball-handling and offensive abilities were too limited. However, recently, he felt that his open shots were more consistent. Old Fish taught him to be focused, confident, and decisive when shooting. After a lot of practice, he felt that his shooting had improved a lot, which he felt very strongly during the team's scrimmage.

But his progress did not earn him a rotation spot; he still needs to wait for his opportunity to come.

On March 30, the Thunder narrowly defeated the Lakers on the road, ending all their games in March. Their record is currently 40 wins and 11 losses, one game behind the Spurs, and they continue to rank second in the Western Conference.

Jia Fei didn't know what the Thunder's record was at this time in his previous life, but he remembered that the Thunder were second in the Western Conference that season and eventually made it to the Finals. He wondered if his appearance would have a butterfly effect and change the final champion.

But it's highly unlikely. First, given his current ability, even if Coach Brooks really gives him a big role, it would be difficult for him to help the team defeat the Heat in the Finals. Second, the team isn't giving him a big role, so the butterfly effect isn't working.

Jia Fei was also helpless about this; he could only train silently, there was no other way. Because he hadn't played during this period, he hadn't been able to complete the mission, his anger points hadn't increased, and his score was growing extremely slowly.

By the end of March, he only had 1324 points left, and there was no hope of accumulating 2000 points to exchange for 1% fusion.

February has arrived...

Throughout April, apart from a few matches where Jia Fei and Reggie had a chance to play during garbage time, they were the benchwarmers and the atmosphere-creating duo for the rest of the matches.

On April 26, the Thunder narrowly lost to the Nuggets at home, ending their regular season.

This season was a shortened season with only 66 regular season games. The Thunder finished with a record of 48 wins and 18 losses, ranking second in the Western Conference.

西部的排名如下：1、马刺2、雷霆3、湖人4、灰熊5、快船6、掘金7、小牛8、爵士。

According to the first-round playoff matchup rules, the Thunder will face the Mavericks in the first round. The two teams were Western Conference Finals opponents last season, making this matchup highly anticipated and the most talked-about of the first round.

Judging from predictions from major media outlets and odds offered by betting companies, the Thunder are unanimously favored. The Mavericks this season have indeed declined significantly compared to last season; Dirk Nowitzki is a year older, and the team's defense is far weaker than last season. The Thunder, on the other hand, are stronger than last season!

The Thunder and Mavericks' first playoff game will be held on the 29th of this month at the Thunder's home arena, the Ford Center.

The regular season has ended, marking the conclusion of Jia Fei's first regular season. He played a total of 14 games this season, all as a substitute. In an average of 9.2 minutes per game, he averaged 4.5 points, 2.9 rebounds, 2.1 assists, 0.8 steals, and 0.7 blocks, with a field goal percentage of 44.5%, a three-point field goal percentage of 34.6%, and a free throw percentage of 80.2%.

On April 27th, the Thunder began their playoff preparations. Unlike the regular season, the playoffs are much more targeted. Every Thunder player received a handbook that clearly recorded various statistics about opposing players, including their sweet spot for shooting, their usual offensive methods, defensive habits, and so on—it was extremely detailed. The targeted approach in the playoffs is completely different from that in the regular season; many players with obvious weaknesses will be targeted, some even to the point of being unable to play.

Neither Jia Fei nor Reggie made the playoff rotation. This was entirely predictable; if they couldn't even make the rotation in the regular season, how could they expect to in the playoffs? Unless the team suffers injuries, they'll be benchwarmers.

After the day's training ended, Jia Fei and Reggie went to a restaurant for dinner.

"Jia, I didn't expect us to make the playoffs in our rookie season, but we just can't get any playing time. I don't know if it's lucky or unlucky!" Reggie said with a shrug.

"It's precisely because we're on a championship-contending team that we don't get many playing opportunities. If we were on a tank team, with our current abilities, we'd definitely have a chance to play!" Jia Fei said. He wasn't exaggerating; the two of them were indeed quite good. They couldn't compare to the Thunder's "Big Three," but they were definitely not bad compared to the average rookie. Their limited playing time was indeed due to the Thunder's championship aspirations, which didn't provide them with many opportunities to develop.

"Okay, even though I can't play, at least we made it to the playoffs, and we still have a chance to win a ring!" Reggie had come to terms with it. Instead of worrying about why he couldn't play, he decided to think about the positive aspects.

“Yes, we should definitely think of something positive.” Jia Fei nodded.

"Jia, do you think we have a chance to play in the playoffs?" Reggie's eyes still held a glimmer of hope.

"Of course there are, for example, when the game is over and there's garbage time, or when a teammate gets injured, then there will be!" Jia Fei didn't want to weave beautiful lies to numb him. There aren't that many fairy tales in the adult world. It's better to accept reality than to live in a world of fantasy.

"Sigh—neither of these situations is the kind of playing time I want!" Reggie sighed.

"Then we'll just have to wait until next season. To be honest, Reggie, I've figured it out. There's no chance for either of us to make the rotation this season. We'll train hard during the offseason and try to get in next season!" Jia Fei said earnestly.

"Okay, sure!" Reggie accepted; at least he wasn't fighting alone.

Although he knew he wouldn't have much of a chance to play, Jia Fei still logged into the system after returning home to check the task list and see what tasks he could take on. If he had the opportunity to complete them, that would definitely be good.

He's currently working on regular season tasks, and he's looking for playoff tasks that are simpler and might offer him some hope of completion.

After searching for a while, he immediately found several, and without much thought, he accepted them all.

Some are beginner-level and simple, such as "playing in the NBA playoffs," which doesn't specify whether it's playing in regular time or garbage time, just playing is enough. Another is "winning a playoff game," which is also easy; it doesn't require him to play and lead the team to victory, but if he stays on the bench and the team wins, he should have completed the task. Similarly, there's "winning an NBA series," which shouldn't be difficult either; the Thunder seem unlikely to be upset in the seventh round, and this year's Mavericks are not like last year's.