NBA: Sharks at the peak, guard the basket!

Chapter 269 In the 97 draft lottery, the Cardinal's victory cigar is finally lit!

"The turning point of the game came from that clash between Karl Malone and Ben Wallace!"

"Facts have proved that, especially in a critical series like the Western Conference Finals, players must remain absolutely calm and focused!"

"If you want to advance to the finals, or even become a champion, the powder keg-like personality may be a fatal flaw!"

The two commentators on the sidelines analyzed the overall trend of today's game with emotion on their faces.

Maybe before the game, even the old Sloan didn't think: success is Malone, defeat is Malone!
Everyone knows that the Utah Jazz have been pushed to the brink.

If they lose the next game in Los Angeles, they will be swept by the young Lakers 4:1 gentleman.

This is definitely not the result the Jazz will want!

"Bye, we're not going back to Salt Lake City, I don't like playing here."

At the Lakers press conference after the game, Kobe directly stated: "The next time I come here again, I think it should be next season."

There is one thing to say, this time Kobe is not pretending to be aggressive, he really doesn't like the feeling of playing in such a depressing environment.

Or hurry back to Los Angeles and end this round of the series!

February 5th, US time.

Before the start of G5 in the Eastern Conference finals, the attention of the media once again focused on the Big Apple in New York.

At this time last year, the fate-determining No. 1 ball was printed with the name of the Philadelphia 76ers.

This year, the whole world wants to know who will get the fate-determining No. 1 ball.

That's right.

The much-anticipated 1997 NBA draft lottery will officially kick off at the Hilton Hotel in the Big Apple!

Last year's No. 76 pick battle was launched between the Celtics, [-]ers, Grizzlies and Raptors.

In the end, Stern thought twice and made the 76ers the lucky one.

And the strategist Cardinal Auerbach, even if he tried his best, couldn't stop Stern from obstructing him.

This year, the 76ers, who traded for the Sharks, went straight to the playoffs and stayed away from the lottery.

But last year's fellow Celtics, Grizzlies and Raptors, as well as Popovich's Spurs are also in the lottery zone, trying their best for Tim Duncan.

Especially the Celtics and the Grizzlies are still rivals for the No. [-] lottery.

It's just that the Celtics still have the highest probability of winning the No. [-] lottery this year, because their record is the last in the league.

It is worth mentioning that.

It was different from last year when Auerbach attended the draw in person.

This year the Celtics sent the lottery on behalf of the team is not the team general manager or head coach.

Since Auerbach left office, the Celtics coach ML-Kyle was also dismissed.

The positions of general manager and head coach of the Green Army are still vacant.

Therefore, they sent Eddie Jones, who was traded from the Lakers in the summer of 96, to draw lots on behalf of the team.

As a representative of the Celtics draw, Eddie Jones instantly became the focus of the outside media.

You must know that the Green Army has performed badly for two consecutive years, and in the first year it was defeated for Lin Hong.

This time, it was for the flying devil Deng Daidai.

Can they take down Lin Hong's lifelong enemy, Duncan, after missing the Celestial Giant Lin Hong?
It all depends on Eddie Jones' trembling today!
Interestingly, the Philadelphia 76ers reached the playoffs on a different timeline than the original.

This led to a change in the pick in the 97 draft.

Everything will be different from what Lin Hong remembers.

However, Lin Hong felt that it should only be from the fourth pick that it would be different from memory.

Not surprisingly, the San Antonio Spurs should still be the owner of the No. [-] pick.

Although Lin Hong is not too fond of Popovich, this history should not change.

After the representatives of the 14 lottery teams took their seats.

The 1997 NBA draft lottery ceremony officially kicked off.

Since there are only 29 teams in the NBA at this time, the Clippers, the eighth in the West, became the only lucky one among the playoff teams.

They won the No. 14 pick and became the only team in the playoffs with a lottery pick.

Envy others! !
A league with only 29 teams is so capricious.

It wasn't until 2004, after the Bobcats joined the league, that the playoff team could enter the lottery zone, and it officially ended.

And starting from the 13th pick, the order has been different from the order in Lin Hong's memory.

The 6th-13th picks are all moved one place forward from the original timeline.

For example, the Kings, who were originally the 11th pick, got the 10th pick.

The fifth pick originally belonged to the Dallas Mavericks, but in fact it belonged to Kyle.

Because, in the summer of 97, in the three-way trade between the Mavericks, Celtics and Lakers.

The Mavericks traded their 97 first-round pick to the Celtics.

This also means that while the Celtics competed for the No. [-] pick in their team's first round, they also won the No. [-] pick in the first round from the Mavericks.

Immediately afterwards, the fourth pick belongs to the Denver Nuggets.

This means that the Boston Celtics, Vancouver Grizzlies and San Antonio Spurs became the final three teams competing for the No. [-] pick.

Who will be the final No. [-] pick?
In fact, until the final results of the draft were announced, the controversy at the top of the NBA never stopped.

Some senior executives felt that it was a coincidence that Cardinal Auerbach retreated bravely at this critical juncture, and it was a bit of a retreat.

The Celtics are likely to rise again with this No. [-] pick, even if the management is not Auerbach.

Some executives scoffed at the conspiracy theory.

Without Auerbach, the Celtics will most likely be rookie general manager Rick Pitino in the future.

With the entry of the rookie general manager, there is a high probability that the management of the Green Army will fall into chaos.

Giving them the No. [-] lottery may not be as scary as imagined.

Moreover, with the current rise of the Los Angeles Lakers, the yellow-green battle in the new era can be another major theme of the post-Jordan era.

Tim Duncan + Jason Kidd + Eddie Jones VS Lin Hong + Kobe + Big Ben, this version of the yellow-green battle is full of gimmicks and highlights!

more importantly.

The Vancouver Grizzlies have only joined the league in the past two years, and their background is too shallow, not to mention that the base camp is still far away in cold Vancouver.

And San Antonio is not a big ball market.

Tim Duncan and Lin Hong are the main hype CPs of the future alliance.

The storyline between the Los Angeles Lakers and the San Antonio Spurs is just too bad.

In contrast, among the three teams in the finals, the Boston Celtics might be a reasonable choice.

In the end, when Popovich saw the No. [-] ball, the smile on his face froze.

In order to win the No. [-] lottery, Popovich personally took command, pressed the Admiral firmly on the bench, and then frantically played badly.

So much hard work, so much effort, and it's been a whole season.

In the end, what the Spurs got was just the No. 3 pick at the bottom of the crane! !
That is to say, there are too many media on the scene, otherwise Popovich will really spit out a mouthful of old blood.

The Spurs' early exit means that the No. [-] pick will belong to the Eastern Conference team.

Is it the Vancouver Grizzlies?

Or the Celtics?

Soon, the mystery will be revealed.

The Vancouver Grizzlies, who got the No. 4 pick last year, got the No. 2 pick this year!

The Celtics, who missed Lin Hong last year, finally won the No. [-] lottery this year!

After seeing the final draft results, Cardinal Auerbach, who was idle at home, lit the winning cigar in relief, with a relieved smile on his face.

At the same time, he greeted the Stern family a hundred times in his heart!

It's not easy for horses to sell batches!
Do you have to leave the NBA yourself to sign the No. [-] pick to the Celtics?
That's it?You said it earlier! !

As I said earlier, I quit my job last year!

Doesn't the Celestial Giant smell good?

However, it was precisely because he missed Lin Hong last year that Aubbach realized the truth and finally realized the core of the problem.

Is this a blessing in disguise?
Compared with the giants of the Celestial Dynasty, Duncan is at best a spare tire!

The Green Army finally won the No. [-] lottery after a long absence, and Cardinal Auerbach slowly spit out smoke rings.

Next, let's talk about Larry Bird's operations this summer.

There is no suspense about the ownership of the No. [-] lottery, unless the management is a fool.

Don't choose Duncan if you have a good brain!
But the No. 5 pick from the Mavericks is definitely of great use!

Even if he can't give Bird any advice, Auerbach believes that with Bird's wisdom and vision, he will never let himself down.

"Oh, right!"

Thinking of this, Auerbach called Larry Bird's private phone.

After the call was connected, the Cardinal's first words were:

"Hi, Mr. Larry Bird, head coach of the Boston Celtics."

Bird Bird and the Boston Celtics in the Duncan era will be online soon!

At the same time, the result of this pick surprised Lin Hong in front of the TV.

The No. [-] pick signed to the Celtics?
Doesn't that mean...

The Celtics' core lineup next season will be: Kidd + Jones + Duncan? !
The first year of this lineup may not be too scary, after all, Jones and Kidd still need to improve.

But looking at Jones, who has made rapid progress in the Green Army this year, I am afraid that in Duncan's second season, the Green Army will achieve a qualitative change!
did not expect.

The Michael Jordan era is about to enter the countdown.

The East will return to the era of Boston Celtics dominance!

At the same time, I feel extremely comfortable with Popovich's constipated expression.

Thinking about this old guy's behavior of supporting Morey's dog coin in disguise, Lin Hong felt that the Spurs did not win the No. [-] lottery, and they did not deserve sympathy.

Best of all, they failed to select the right candidate for the flower lottery, and directly turned into parallel imports, all the way to the end!
After all, the quality of rookies in the 1997 class was generally mediocre.

The No. 60 player in the entire draft, only 3 players were selected as All-Stars.

With such a low success rate, it is not impossible for the Spurs to choose a parallel importer with the No. 3 pick and never be able to turn around.

The Spurs management collectively vomited blood, and the Celtics were undercurrents surging and sharpening their swords.

The Vancouver Grizzlies, holding the second pick, are much calmer.

After all, last year's rookie has begun to grow.

Coupled with the second pick in the hand, a relatively more talented potential star can definitely be selected.

The team is on the right track and everything is moving in a better direction.

It is worth mentioning that.

After the results of the draft lottery came out, the Miami Heat and the Chicago Bulls played against the Chicago Bulls in Game [-] of the Eastern Conference Finals, and returned to the Chicago United Center again.

The Bulls lead the Heat with a big score of 3:1, hold the series to advance to the match point, and are only close to the finals.

Returning to their home court again, the Bulls did not let the Heat's dying counterattack make any waves.

I heard that the Heat are the toughest defensive team in the Eastern Conference.

Then the Bulls will use defense and win the game!Throughout the game, the Bulls managed to limit the Heat's field goal percentage to around [-]%.

Even in the first and third quarters, the score in a single quarter failed to break through 20.

While restricting the Heat's offense on the defensive end, the Bulls are also relentless on the offensive end, and everyone is a soldier.

At the end of the half, they scored an astonishing 64 points, opening the point difference to 14 points in one fell swoop.

In the end, the Bulls used the Miami Heat's best defense to win the game, killing and killing the heart, and defeated the Heat.

The big score was fixed at 4:1!
The defending champion Gentleman swept the Miami Heat, with a record of 11 wins and 2 losses in the Eastern Conference playoffs, and advanced to the finals strongly!
"The champion of the Eastern Conference is born!"

"The Bulls defeated the Miami Heat and advanced to the Finals again!"

At the end of the game, the commentator on the sidelines sighed and expressed his feelings:

"The future of the league may belong to the world of young talents and rookies, but at least the present of the league is still the era of Michael Jordan!"

"Michael and his Bulls took the lead in winning the Finals tickets."

"They are still high above the gods, waiting for the challenge of the strongest in the west!"

"Who will be the challenger standing in front of the Bulls in the final battle to get out of the Jagged West and advance to the Finals?"

"Is it the young Los Angeles Lakers? Or the iron-blooded Utah Jazz?"

Whether it's the Lakers or the Jazz!
This year's finals will be a strong collision at the level of Mars hitting the earth!
"It doesn't matter who our opponents are, they are not our opponents anyway."

Attending the press conference after the game, the big bug Rodman, wearing the hat of the Eastern Conference champion, regained his confidence and uttered wild words again:

"Of course, if I had to choose, I would prefer to meet the Los Angeles Lakers!"

This season, the grievances and entanglements between the Lakers' headband gang and the big bug Rodman are definitely not clear in a few words.

Don't think that Rodman is the only one who wants to meet the Lakers and get revenge.

The whole world wants to watch the Bulls vs. Lakers. After all, the Chicago Martial Arts Brawl on Christmas Day is still exciting.

However, Da Chong's self-confidence still surprised the reporters on the scene.

Big Worm: ICU warning!cough cough!
But after thinking about it, the Chicago Bulls only lost two games in the three-round series in the Eastern Conference. The dominance of the defending champion is unique!
Maybe, they can really beat the Lakers in the finals and resolve the grievances at the Chicago Martial Arts Conference.

On the other hand, after watching the press conference after the Bulls won the Eastern Conference Finals, Lin Hong almost couldn't laugh out loud.

Rodman: The sky has cleared and the rain has stopped. I think I'm fine again? ! !
Lin Hong: When you raised your fist, you knelt down and said that you had no strength.

When the referee comes, you just gossip behind your back, thinking that you are very proud.

Stop kidding yourself, you have no guts at all! !
The real powerhouse is in Los Angeles, you don't have to pretend to be so mysterious!
……

(End of this chapter)