Basketball: The Chosen Victim

Chapter 180 Unexpected Conflict

At 5:9 pm on May 7th, the Eastern Conference semifinals were staged on time at the United Center Arena in Chicago. The G4 life-and-death battle between the Cavaliers and the Bulls.

The Bulls have no way to retreat. If they lose, they will be swept out by Cleveland 0-4, and they will be ashamed and thrown to grandma's house.

This time it's not just Rose who is brave. The eyes of all the Bulls players are blood red. They keep attacking the Cavaliers' defense line like they have been drugged. Even Noah, who doesn't know how to attack on his own, is full of aggression when he is stuck. up.

But the Cavaliers players are also in good condition. With the prestige of seven consecutive victories, they defended against the impact of the Bulls wave after wave.

If they win this game, they can win eight consecutive victories and wait for the battle of revenge in the East Finals.

Especially Jordan, who can share bonuses after the game is over, he can't wait!

But the Bulls players still showed extraordinary tenacity. Boozer has been selected to the All-Star for two times. Luol Deng and Noah are also superstar players who will be selected for the two-time All-Star. They were selected for the first team in the not-too-distant future. This life-and-death battle has greatly stimulated their potential!
In the first quarter, the scores of the two teams were still tied at 23-23. In the second quarter, the Cavaliers began to fall behind, falling behind by 5 points, and the score came to 44-49.

During halftime, Scott scolded the locker room hard, and he could tell that the Cavaliers were letting their guard down a bit.

Even Wu Di's state is relatively average. In the first half, he only scored 17 points on 7 of 16 shots, and he was able to hold an overall 40% shooting rate, which was far less than the bravery of the previous games.

But one problem with Scott is that his usual image is relatively easy-going, far from being strict. This lecture did not stop the inertia of the Cavaliers players.

After all, the Cavaliers' players are still too young. Even for an old player like Jamison, the farthest in the playoffs is to reach the second round.

The advantage of being young is that it is very explosive, but the disadvantage is that it is not stable enough and lacks concentration.

A successful young man is the easiest to stumble.

At the beginning of the third quarter, only Wu Di and Jr. were still in good shape. Everyone else began to sleepwalk. Love chased and hit three-pointers, Beverly was intercepted by Rose, and Jamison made a mistake...

The Bulls quickly seized the opportunity to expand the point difference to double digits and bring the score to 64-77.

In the fourth quarter, Jordan also gave up his resistance. Only Wu Di was struggling to hold on. However, two fists could not match four hands. When the final whistle sounded, the score was fixed at 79-99!

吴迪31投13中砍下31分3篮板7助攻，再次拿到30+，但仍然无力回天，公牛大胜20分拿下G4！

The Cavaliers are not in the state, and the potential of the Bulls' life-and-death battle is stimulated. It is actually normal to be turned over.

But Thibodeau doesn't think so.

His intestines are almost turning green!
He didn't have any hope for this game, but the Bulls came back with a big victory!
This made him realize once again that the strength gap between the two teams is not that big!

"If I had been ruthless at the time, even if I couldn't cause Wu Di to be injured, as long as I could affect Wu Di's mentality, wouldn't it be a great 2-2 situation now?"

Thibodeau said angrily:

"It's all because my idol has too much burden, no, I have to do everything possible to win the next round!"

……

In another game that night, the Mavericks swept the defending champion Lakers 4-0 in Dallas!

Unlike the Cavaliers who are young and unable to hold down their guns, the Mavericks players are all old drivers and stable.

Moreover, the Lakers players, apart from Kobe, have no intention of fighting and just want to end it soon. The mentality of fighting the Bulls to the death is still very different.

In the end, the Mavericks sent the Lakers home directly 86-122.Be the first to get tickets to the Western Conference Finals.

On May 5, the league once again announced two important awards, the Best Defensive Player Award (DPOY) and the Most Improved Player Award (MIP).

Best Defensive Player won by Warcraft Dwight Howard.

This is the third consecutive time he has won the Best Defensive Player Award, averaging 14.1 rebounds, 1.4 steals and 2.4 blocks per game, including 4.0 offensive rebounds per game.

This is the second-highest offensive board average per game in the past ten years. Of course, the first-highest was also won by Howard, but it was in the 08-09 season.

Howard's leadership performance is also worthy of this award. In the case of a major change in the Magic season, he can still achieve a record of 52 wins and 30 losses, ranking fifth in the Eastern Conference, which is already very good.

It's just that the competitive pressure in the Eastern Conference this year is too great, and the Celtics were eliminated in the first round of the playoffs.

Love won the Most Improved Player award.

Love was traded to the Cavaliers during the season, and his statistics were squeezed out a lot, but compared to last season, he has made great progress in both scoring and rebounding, and he deserves to get the MIP.

The teammates congratulated one after another, but they were jealous of Jordan.

In fact, in terms of progress, Jordan has improved a lot in terms of statistics this season, but his progress has been achieved through more playing time.

Moreover, compared with Love, his technical content is more than a star and a half behind, and his high-level data is even worse.

Jordan's win share value (WS) is only 5.2, and the player efficiency value (PER) is only 14.8. Love's win share value is 11.4, and the efficiency value is as high as 24.3.

This is why Love won the Most Improved Player Award.

In fact, Love's physical talent is not good in the interior, and he doesn't have to compare with Howard, and it is far worse than Jordan.

乐福的身高只有2米06，臂展2米11，小乔丹身高就直接有2米11，臂展更是足足有2米28。

But his basketball IQ is at the T0 level. Coupled with the efforts at the T1+ level, it is not surprising that he can win the Most Improved Player Award.

This award is an absolute hard honor. Arenas, McGrady, and O'Neal all won this award before taking off.

Although the major awards in the NBA do not set bonuses, but because he won the Most Improved Player Award, Love's next contract will start with an annual salary of tens of millions of dollars.

Not only has face, but also has a lot of face, which is why many players are rushing for this award.

After all, MVP is something they dare not dream of. The difficulty of the best defensive player award is much more difficult than that of the most improved player. The blue-collar award of the best sixth man not only has a bad name, but also cannot guarantee that the salary will rise.

But Scott is a little worried. The curse of the most improved player award is no joke.

Whether it is Arenas, Tracy McGrady, O'Neal Jr., or Hedo Turkoglu, Danny Granger or Aaron Brooks in recent years, they are all injured and retreated...

Scott was worried, but Thibodeau, who was boarding the team's special plane, had a sharp look in his eyes!
He had already made up his mind that G5 would resort to black tricks, but after thinking hard for a long time, he couldn't think of a way to abolish Wu Di "seemingly unintentionally".

After all, Wu Di has a strong awareness of prevention. If Ross is really sent to deal with Wu Di, the success rate may not be high even if Ross gets into trouble.

But the Most Improved Player Award gave him inspiration!
Don't abolish Wu Di, abolish Love, the Cavaliers will lose their strength!
At that time, I will pack it again. Have you heard of the curse of the Most Improved Player Award? This has nothing to do with the players in Chicago!
Thinking of this, Thibodeau recalled the massive game videos he had watched before. Love, as a newly emerging player, seems to have little experience in preventing malicious fouls from others!

In an instant, he slapped his thigh excitedly!

Shocked the Tai Gibson around him:
"Coach, what were you thinking just now?"

Thibodeau took a deep look at him:
"Artest, the team has a mission for you..."

That night, the Heat played against the Celtics in Game 4 at the TD North Shore Garden Arena.

In the first half, the players of both teams were in pretty good condition. Evenly matched, the battle was 50-53. The Celtics led by 3 points by virtue of their home court advantage.

In the third quarter, the two teams each strengthened their defenses, and they did not concede an inch around the 3-5 point difference, and the battle went to 69-73.

Lao Zhan only made 3 of 1 shots in a single quarter defended by Pierce and scored 2 points angrily.

During the break, Riley sprayed him directly:
"You play like a piece of shit! I put you on the court for so long and you only scored 2 points. Joel Anthony played [-] times better than you, but his salary is only [-]% of your salary. One-tenth!"

Lao Zhan was a little unconvinced and said:

"But Godfather, Pierce was defended by me to 5 of 1 shots, and only 2 points..."

Riley stomped her feet angrily:
"My God, isn't that what you should do? If it's Wu Di, he can not only defend Pierce to 5 of 1 shots, but he can score more than 10 points in a single quarter! Don't tell me you are not as good as a rookie..."

Old Zhan was even more dissatisfied, he interrupted Riley angrily:

"Look at my performance in the next quarter!"

At the beginning of the fourth quarter, he came up and threw a three-pointer——

Bang!
Strike the iron again!

"Damn it, God, what are you kidding me? God gave you an incomparable steel body, but you float outside and shoot three-pointers? Do you think you are Wu Di?"

Riley roared from the sidelines.

Lao Zhan's face was so dark that it was unbelievable. He propped his knees to show his lower eyes, staring at the Celtics on the court.

This team, which beat him to defection last season, recruited Delonte West to disgust him again this season!

Brownie can bear it, but neither can he!
Originally, he thought about sweeping the Celtics 0-4, so as to relieve his hatred.

But the Big Three of the Celtics in the last game were too brave, and he was affected by the mentality and did not come out. Wade and Bosh played mediocrely, and they had to be overturned in one game.

And now the Cavaliers have a 1-3 lead against the higher-ranked Bulls!
If they draw 2-2 with the Green Army again, then his face will be completely lost!
Not to mention that the Cavaliers have a greater chance of accepting the series tomorrow, with at least 4 more days of rest than them...

"No, absolutely not!"

Lao Zhan shook his head, desperately resorted to a bulldozer-like breakthrough, and launched an impact on the Celtics penalty area!

Either let him score, or send him to the free throw line!

Although Pierce is 7 years older than Lao Zhan, facing Lao Zhan's rogue style of play, he still gritted his teeth and showed super willpower...

Director Lang saw this situation and promptly asked his teammates to turn their energy to defending others.

As long as the others are restrained, it is impossible for the Heat to regain their lead relying on Lao Zhan alone.

This trick is still very effective. Bosh was defended to 3 of 1 shots in a single quarter, plus two free throws, and only scored 4 points.

Wade was defended to 4 for 0 shots and scored 2 points only by free throws.

The others didn't get 1 point, only Lao Zhan got 9 points.

With 20 seconds left before the end of the game, the Celtics temporarily lead by 84 points 86-2.

The Heat called a timeout, and it seemed that they wanted to arrange the last attack.

"The method of pulling Jane just now is very effective. Others don't need to spend too much energy to defend. LeBron's style of play is useless for anyone to go up. We have to trust Pierce!"

Pig Rivers said impassionedly:

"Yes, other people defending other people well is the greatest support for Pierce! Guys, don't worry, LeBron can only score two points at most, and his physical strength is absolutely exhausted. We must also defend TD in overtime North Shore Gardens!"

Director Lang always felt that something was wrong, but he couldn't tell for a while, so he had to return to the court with doubts.

However, as soon as he came up, Lao Zhan repeated his old tricks, dragged Pierce in and scored, and the battle was tied at 86-86 in an instant!
Rondo was so angry that he slapped his thigh, Mad, he finally figured out what was wrong!
Rivers has begun to agree with him, so what does that mean?

He thought of going with the pig!
The Celtics can't play overtime!

How old are they on average, and what is the average age of the Heat?
But it was too late, and the Heat still dragged the game to overtime.

In overtime, Lao Zhan really failed, and only scored 3 points on 1 of 2 shots, but he has Wade and Bosh!
The two scored 5 points each, far exceeding the combined 4 points of the Celtics...

In the end, the Heat defeated the Celtics 98-90 in overtime and got the match point 1-3.

On the other side, Memphis, the Grizzlies and the Thunder also staged an overtime battle!
And not one overtime, but an unprecedented three overtime in the playoffs!
But in the end, the Thunder relied on a younger lineup to tie the series to 133-123 with 2-2.

The Black Bear Randolph scored 56 points, 34 rebounds and 16 assists in 3 minutes, and the White Bear Gasol scored 57 points, 26 rebounds and 21 assists in 3 minutes. However, the Grizzlies not only have relatively older players, but also have a very limited lineup depth , like the Cavaliers, is an 8-man rotation, so they had to go to Goose City to prepare for Tianwang Mountain.

Playing overtime with the Thunder, the talented team, can still hit three overtimes, and the Grizzlies' defeat is a glorious one.

But looking at Deng's free throws, it was exactly 10, and the Thunder's total of 50 free throws was exactly 40 more than the Grizzlies' 10. What a coincidence!
On May 5, the Cavaliers faced the Bulls at the Quicken Loans Center.

The Heat also got the match point, which successfully made the heartstrings of the Cavaliers players tense again.

Under the leadership of Wu Di, they took the lead at the beginning of the game, and with the encouragement of the home fans, they felt more and more fiery. They established a double-digit lead with 6-18 in less than 8 minutes!
But soon, something irritating happened!
After a slow three-point shot, Love stepped on the instep of Ty Gibson who came to defend him with his right foot!
Le Fu cried again, but this time it was not a panic attack, but a cry of pain...

Since the last time Love broke down and cried on the field, he has started a strict diet plan, but it has only been a few days, and his weight is still seriously overweight!
With his own heavy weight and severe sprains, his situation is very grim!
The slow motion captured by the camera was playing on the big screen in the air. Taj Gibson jumped over to defend, but made another jumping action for no reason. His left foot just fell under Love's right foot, causing Love's ankle to have a large angle. sprain!
But the referees acted like they were blind, they didn't even call the criminal, they just called an ordinary foul!
There is no intention of additional punishment at all!
Two angry Cleveland fans rushed straight into the arena, trying to attack the referee and Taj Gibson, but were stopped by security.

Love retired from injury and the game continued, but the Cavaliers not only retired from injury, but also affected their mentality.

Beverly slammed directly into the bridge of Rose's nose when he broke through, and Rose instantly spilled blood on the spot.

The players on both sides immediately confronted each other, but it did not lead to a fight.

Fighting in the playoffs is still too sensitive. Fighting offenders will be counted and banned. Winning is equivalent to handing over the victory to others. Losing is not good, and no one can do it.

But the referee still took a clear stand and sentenced Beverly as a second-level criminal and expelled him from the field!
Rose put on a mask and played with injuries.

For the Cavaliers, Davis and Love retired from injury, Beverly was expelled, and the already weak lineup was made worse. In the end, although Wu Di scored 35+ again, he still failed to hold the lead and lost to G82 75-5. The big score came to 2-3.

(End of this chapter)