NBA: Miracle Workers

Chapter 792 Stabbing His Brother Twice More (No Main Character Chapter)

2010年5月15号星期日，当晚23点30分，热火队赛后新闻发布会格外热闹。

新任MVP德里克-罗斯在G1表现拉胯，23中7，低效砍下21分，带领公牛队75:90输掉首个客场。

In the fourth quarter, the Bulls only scored 10 points as a team, with MVP Derrick Rose going 0-for-4 from the field and scoring only 2 points from free throws.
This performance was simply a disaster. The MVP, as always, displayed an extremely low level of skill. Rose is paying homage to Duncan, Garnett, and Nowitzki!
In contrast, LeBron James performed exceptionally well, taking turns guarding Rose with Wade throughout the game. The two were clearly trying to embarrass the MVP, and they ultimately achieved their goal.

出场40分钟，21中12，三分线外7中2，罚球7中3，29分10篮板7助攻3抢断6失误，詹姆斯拿到全场最高分，彻底统治了对手。

The media room at American Airlines Arena was filled with cameras and microphones, and colleagues were whispering among themselves, no one expecting Rose to perform so poorly.

The MVP award gives people the feeling that it's "nothing special," which inevitably reminds everyone of those "flops."
James, now dressed in casual clothes, appeared in front with a smile. Without his headband, the chosen one looked much more mature. Behind him, Wade, dressed in white sportswear, waved and greeted familiar reporters.

After the two players were seated, Heat staff indicated that questions were welcome, and a TNT reporter, who was broadcasting the Eastern Conference Finals, was the first to ask a question:

"The game that just ended didn't seem like the Heat's style. 90 points, that should be a new playoff low. What adjustments did Coach Spoelstra make?"

The Bulls displayed excellent defensive discipline, and under Thibodeau's guidance, they rarely gave opponents easy opportunities to transition into offense. The Heat, on the other hand, played a different style of basketball tonight, managing only 72 possessions.

In high spirits, James smiled, as if misunderstood, and shook his head, replying with a touch of smugness:
"We're not just about fast breaks! Maybe a lot of people have forgotten that Wade and I have been through many conference finals. You know, in the Eastern Conference, these kinds of games are no different from the NBA Finals!"

"Facing the MVP, I just wanted to help the team set the tone for the game. The Bulls' defense was very aggressive, but we've been through that before."

"Derrick Rose will bounce back, and of course, we're prepared for that. Wade and I will still take turns guarding him in the next three games."

The chosen one was showing off his past experiences, but no one in the audience refuted him. James was right; the Eastern Conference Finals were even more intense than the NBA Finals, after all, the Western Conference teams were simply not good enough.

Seeing Wade trying to suppress a laugh, ESPN quickly added fuel to the fire, asking a pointed question:
"Wade, what are your thoughts on Derrick Rose's trophy? He didn't show any dominance in the playoffs."

Wade shrugged, as if to say, "I knew this would happen," and then straightened the microphone to speak favorably of Rose:

"Man, that's a regular season award. You can't bring up the playoffs. Rose led the Bulls to 61 wins, he deserves the award."

"As for the playoffs, he still has a long way to go. You know, this is his first time experiencing the conference finals. He has been targeted on the defensive end, and he still needs to adapt."

"Rose has never said that he is the best point guard or the best combo guard. He is still young, and we don't need to use another standard to judge him."

"."

Scattered laughter broke out in the room. Wade was clearly making fun of the past "Mr. Best". Although Rose's performance was not good, such statistics were also very common for Kobe. In the Finals of the past two years, this has often happened.

Both players have positioned themselves as winners, with Wade even implying that he and Li You are both superstars, and that beating the MVP is his routine.

With smiles on their faces after the win, most reporters at the scene didn't give the two any trouble. James and Wade seized the opportunity to shower them with praise and also flattered the slick-haired guy.

This season's Best Executive award was shared by two people: Pat Riley of the Miami Heat and Foreman of the Chicago Bulls.

Both teams achieved 60+ wins and ultimately made it to the conference finals. Without a doubt, they are the biggest winners this season.

The Heat's roster depth also impressed the reporters present. Although McGrady only played 17 minutes, he had an outstanding performance when he came on.

A Yahoo Sports reporter asked about Rose's teammates, since he didn't "team up" with anyone, and shouldn't be overly criticized for the loss.

"Yee! I understand what you mean, but many people haven't realized the problem yet. To achieve greatness, sacrifices must be made!"

James seemed completely unfazed by the subtle taunts, and the "Chosen One" even continued to add his own arguments with conviction:

"If you look back at past games, even the most glorious period of the NBA never had a player as great as Lee. You can't play on the court, so you can't understand the pressure we face."

"In the past, it was difficult to even beat Michael Jordan when teaming up with an MVP, but in this era, some people have proven that there is no possibility of a duo defeating Lee."

“I’m just stating the facts. That’s why the ‘decision’ was made. We are just young people who want to lift the trophy.”

"Rose can also make a choice, but he's young, he has more time than we do, and eventually he'll understand that greatness always requires sacrifice."

Upon hearing this, the reporters in the audience fell silent. Wade, who also disliked people emphasizing "teammates," turned to his partner and then continued the conversation:

"If we were playing in the Western Conference, we would have made it to the NBA Finals long ago!"

“But I don’t think that makes any sense at all, because you still have to face Lee and the Knicks. I’m not interested in being ‘smug’ about the Finals experience.”

"Seven times? Six times? I don't know what's so praiseworthy about that. No one has ever criticized me for being paired with the MVP. In my opinion, second place is the biggest loser. I only want to win the championship!"

Many reporters showed expressions of agreement; it must be said that Wade's eloquent words sounded very pleasing to the ear.

At the end of the press conference, when discussing the upcoming games, both James and Wade were all smiles, seemingly confident that "arresting the MVP" would be no problem. The Flash even joked:
"The Eastern Conference Finals have always been at the level of the NBA Finals. There's no need to criticize Derrick Rose; he's playing against a championship team!"

"."

In the Heat's locker room, Haslem and a few others were being interviewed. The Bulls were clearly outmatched, and the team was practically on the Finals floor.

Randy Foye and Mike Bibby exchanged compliments, while Mike Miller and James Jones discussed the X team's tactical adjustments.
Zydrunas Ilgauskas, Dampier, and Juwan Howard were all smiles, the veterans seemed very satisfied with tonight's game and didn't seem to care about playing time.

Both Bosh and McGrady adopted superstar attitudes, with the former humbly stating that he still needed to win three more games, while the latter energetically made excuses for his past self.

When a Miami reporter asked about potential Finals opponents and mentioned the Mavericks, and discussed Nowitzki's efficient performance in this year's playoffs, McGrady gave a slightly disdainful look and tilted his head in response:
"Nowitzki is excellent, but I think fans should look up his performance in the 05 playoffs!"

"I don't mean to disparage the Mavericks. The Rockets shouldn't have played Game 7. In that series, I was the one primarily guarding Nowitzki most of the time."

"Go check his stats and then look at my performance. If I remember correctly, I was averaging 30.7 points per game back then. I was the best player on both teams."

Reporters quickly found Nowitzki's stats: 21.3 points per game, 35.2% field goal percentage, and 28.6% three-point percentage—an extremely poor performance!
Noticing the surprised looks on some reporters' faces, Bosh also began to speak up for his teammates, praising them:

"Many commentators only care about the Finals, but in fact, every player in the league knows how good Trish is!"

“It was unfair to compare Trish and Kobe in the past. Yao was excellent, but he was not Shaq, the MVP and Finals MVP. I think everyone should know how good Shaq was back then.”

Hearing his teammates' praise, McGrady was in an even better mood, a smile spreading across his dark face, and he boasted:
"Kobe is my good brother, but basketball is a team sport. If we switched places, I would have already made it past the first round and won that ring!"

“We’re different from pundits. Among the players, everyone only respects ‘Dirk Nowitzki,’ which is why Lee is the undisputed GOAT. He created miracles.”

"Kobe and I are both 'passengers,' we're no different. He's not the best, and I can only play a different role towards the end of my career."

These words made the locker room even more lively, with the veterans all expressing their agreement. They said that everyone was a "passenger," and Mamba didn't deserve praise; everyone needed to be respected!
-

On Monday, May 16th, ESPN's morning program hyped up tonight's Western Conference Finals, and also released highlights and interviews from last night.

McGrady is "hot" again, the "washed-up second man" is generating a lot of buzz, with social media filled with discussions about this "pure talent".

Riding the wave of the conference finals, fans have dug up the first round of the 05 Western Conference playoffs. McGrady wasn't lying; the referees were the real protagonists in that matchup!

Rockets fans across the ocean were also elated, finally someone had "vindicated" them. Before the Western Conference Finals broadcast, Yu Jiadu in the studio even took out a "loan":
"During the Yao Ming and Tracy McGrady era, the Rockets definitely had a chance to get past the first round and even reach the NBA Finals!"

"No need to dwell on the past, this is the NBA. Rockets fans can wish McGrady well, and perhaps we will witness the moment of lifting the trophy together."

The die-hard fans who were previously speaking out for Kobe were also "purged" by McGrady's fans. On the other side of the ocean, apart from the fans who were happy to win, the number of Rockets fans far exceeded that of the others!

Before the Western Conference Finals began that night, an ESPN reporter briefly interviewed Kevin Durant.

As we all know, Tracy McGrady is one of the idols of young people. Now that he has spoken out, when Durant was asked about championships by reporters, he shrugged and quickly responded:

"McGrady and O'Neal teamed up? I think he's right. He was outstanding back then, and winning that ring was no problem for him!"

"But Shaq will still be the Finals MVP, you know, Shaq is the main character, Pau Gasol was still a rookie back then."

As Durant walked away, several ESPN reporters chuckled. They could tell that the young man agreed with McGrady's point of view and showed no respect for the Mamba.

The "driver theory" went viral overnight. Although O'Neal did not respond directly, commentators believed that the old Shaq had tacitly agreed.

At 19:30 p.m. that evening, half an hour before the game started, the Chesapeake Energy Arena was already a sea of ​​blue as enthusiastic Oklahoma City fans arrived early to cheer for their team.

ESPN's cameras have been focused on Nowitzki, and the German's being looked down upon by his opponents now seems to have become a joke once again.
The Mavericks, focused on warming up, were unaffected by the public opinion. Artest, Chandler, and others were chatting and laughing on the court, none of them taking the conference finals to heart. They had experienced too many moments like this before.

On the other side of the court, Fisher was also playing his role as a veteran, constantly sharing his championship experience. Seeing that Westbrook was in low spirits, he took the initiative to encourage him:
"Bro! You need to get warmed up! Don't underestimate your opponents; nobody knows better than them how to win a championship right now."

Westbrook wanted to speak up for his idol, saying that young people disliked the media storm of the past two days, as if everyone had lost respect for the Mamba overnight.

Jeff Green and Krstic, who started the game, were a little nervous. In the first two rounds, they were able to double-team and help defend the inside, and the opponent's shooting was not consistent.

But the Mavericks' stats analysis was just too accurate, and the coaching staff hadn't found a good solution in the past few days. Faced with such unreasonable shooting, they could only hope that their opponents were off their game.
After the game started at 20 p.m., as Chandler jumped for the ball, the defensive shouts immediately rang out.

While still directing the players to position themselves, Kidd noticed that Soflosa was relentlessly chasing Rodrigo Boubois and immediately called Nowitzki to come to the top of the court to receive the ball.

Durant eyed Artest in the right corner, glancing at Jeff Green from time to time. Green was guarding him in the left elbow area. Durant was about to shout encouragement when the German received the ball, turned, took a jab step, and made a jump shot!

"Shet!"

Durant cursed under his breath as he prepared to kick off, just like in the regular season, where Nowitzki always scored easily against them.

The chants of "OKC" continued to ring out, and the fans in the arena stood up to cheer. Durant, who had come to half-court, wanted to respond with the ball, but Artest was "tightly guarding" him on the left wing.

Under pressure, Westbrook did not risk passing the ball, but instead called for Krstic to set a screen at the top of the key.

"Oh!"

Amid gasps of surprise, Kidd made a quick steal from behind, while on the other side, the smaller Rodrigo Beaubois ran incredibly fast. Durant tried to chase him down, but was disrupted by Artest just past half-court.

During the transition offense, Kidd delivered a half-court bounce pass, and Beaubois beat Soflosa to the punch and scored a layup!
Coach Brooks on the sidelines signaled to his players to stay calm. Amid cheers, Durant quickly moved to the right wing using a screen, received the ball, faked left and right, and easily got past Artest who was chasing him.

Just a step inside the three-point line, Durant calmly stopped and decisively made a jump shot!
Watching the young players high-five each other as they retreated on defense, Van Gundy in the commentary booth began his usual boasting, stating that the championship-winning coach had become Durant's number one supporter:
"KD is very smart. He needs to move around to receive the ball, instead of being harassed by Meta in the elbow area!"

"The Mavericks have set a trap for him. In this series, the Thunder's outside shooting will be crucial."

Mark Jackson added a couple more points: Nowitzki's strong drive to the basket drew a foul from Krstic, and seeing the German at the free-throw line, he instinctively started gossiping:
"I believe Nowitzki will respond! As the MVP, he is clearly underrated!"

"He has grown a lot compared to 05, and the Thunder don't seem to have a very good defensive strategy right now."

The Mavericks made both free throws and maintained their lead. Mike Breen noticed Durant's intention to find Jeff Green in the left corner, praised his pass selection, and then loudly commended him after the three-pointer went in.

"Jeff Green will be the key player in this series! The Thunder need his outstanding performance from beyond the arc!"

As time went by, Kidd continued to initiate offense through pick-and-rolls, and the Mavericks repeatedly created scoring opportunities.

Westbrook attempted a strong attack on the "old man," but his breakthrough was disrupted, and he missed several mid-range jump shots. For several minutes, Durant maintained the score difference through his individual strong attacks.

The Mavericks quickly brought in Jason Terry, and under Coach Carlisle's guidance, Artest worked even harder to keep Durant on the court. Unfortunately, Durant was in such a good shooting touch that he didn't miss a single shot.

In the latter part of the first quarter, Coach Brooks substituted Nick Collison early. The captain's appearance added height, and they barely managed to withstand the opponent's rebounding efforts.

The two teams traded baskets. After Artest missed a three-pointer, he started driving to the basket like a tank, and the Mavericks' consecutive free throws drew boos from the crowd.
At 28:27, the end of the first quarter, the young Thunder players looked serious; James Harden was indeed a formidable opponent!

During the rotation phase, Durant, back on the bench, quickly frowned as the backcourt duo of Fisher and Harden proved unable to contain the smaller Barea.

Although the Thunder quickly brought back their starting lineup, Westbrook struggled offensively, Sefolosha was also invisible on offense, and Muhammad fouled out early.
Jason Terry and Barea were on fire, and Nowitzki continued his shooting touch from the first quarter, scoring repeatedly and drawing increasingly loud boos from the crowd.

With 26.9 seconds left in the first half, Peja also hit a three-pointer from the left corner, turning Chesapeake Energy Arena into a "library" for a moment.

With Westbrook making both free throws, the first half officially ended, 63-48, and the Mavericks' bench erupted in jubilation.

杜兰特半场8中6，高效砍下17分，威斯布鲁克则8中1，靠着7中5的罚球怒砍7分.
In the noisy arena, the three commentators at the commentary booth, who were reviewing the statistics, remained silent for a moment before Van Gundy raised an eyebrow at his two partners and said meaningfully:

"The Mavericks have a wealth of championship experience, and in such a crucial game, inefficient performances will hardly carry the team!"

"Westbrook should probably watch more of Lee's highlights; his offensive choices are sometimes very poor."

"."

(End of this chapter)