First in scoring

Chapter 491 489. The youngest MVP in history!

The next day, on the morning of May 5, the NBA officially announced the last three individual awards of the regular season.

Mayo received 71 first-place votes, beating Rose, who received 26 first-place votes, to win the Rookie of the Year award.

Howard received 75 first-place votes and won the Defensive Player of the Year award by a very large margin, while Duncan, who came in second, only received 21 first-place votes.

In the past, Duncan's team's overall defense was always one of the best in the league, and his personal defense was around the top five, and he had nothing to do with the best defensive player. His highest ranking was only third. This year, the Spurs' overall defense was ruined, and he was the only one holding the basket, playing a personal defensive performance at the level of the best defensive player...but he met Howard, whose defensive efficiency was even better than Mutombo and Big Wallace.

Zhang Yang received 101 first-place votes and won the regular season MVP with an absolute advantage.

Second-place James and third-place Howard each received only five first-place votes, while Duncan, Kobe, Wade and Paul each received only one first-place vote.

But the hottest topic among fans today is not about them...

Zhang Yang's heart aches. He is the youngest MVP in history! He is 20 years and 11 months old! His popularity is actually lower than that of the two Mr. Lu!
But there is no way. Duncan's popularity was at its 'peak' after he was eliminated from the first round, and Paul 'tied' the largest point difference in playoff history. Who can steal the limelight from these two brothers?

Another thing is that the suspense of Zhang San's MVP was lost too early. After Yao Ming defeated James to win the Player of the Month on April 4, the topic of him becoming the youngest MVP in history has been hyped by the media for several rounds.

How can the freshness compare to the "achievements" of Duncan and Paul?
As the saying goes, when you see others in trouble, you won't feel so sad. What made Zhang Yang feel touched was that Wade was also "implicated"!

Originally, Wade averaged 3+36+8 in the other three games except the game where he was massacred. The impact of that incident on him was not that great. Later, the Spurs were eliminated in the first round and the limelight had passed.

但同为3号巨星的保罗被同为3号巨星的艾弗森所在球队屠杀58分，很难不让人联想到同为3号巨星的韦德被同为3号巨星的张杨所在球队屠杀55分……

Moreover, there were two 50+ point differences in a single season, setting a record! In the past 3 years, there were only three 50+ point differences in total!

Looking at Duncan, Paul, and Wade dominating the list, Zhang Yang could only comfort himself - even if his limelight was overshadowed, he was still the youngest MVP in history, and his popularity was just not as high as those three. There were still many people praising him, and not only him, but also 'Super Jordan' and Suo Suo won awards and their limelight was overshadowed, and everyone was the same.

At noon, he went online and fast-forwarded through the 58-game match on TNT Sports. He felt that Paul had been cheated...

The score difference was 28 points at halftime. Even if we wanted to narrow the gap a little, we could just send out the main players in the third quarter. We failed to win in the third quarter and were left behind by more than ten points, reaching a difference of 42 points. We should have given up at this point and considered next year.

As a result, Hornets head coach Byron Scott replaced Paul, David West and Peja in the final quarter. George Karl had already replaced the players with the water dispenser manager lineup in the final quarter, but when he saw Byron Scott's operation, he immediately refused and replaced them with JR Smith, Anthony and Kenyon Martin... Then the Hornets scored 20 to 36 in the final quarter... The final score was 70 to 128.

Zhang Yang thought that if Spoelstra and Byron Scott were swapped, the two 50+ point differences might not occur.

The new head coach of the Heat will most likely surrender if they lose by 28 points in the first half. Byron Scott will definitely try to narrow the gap and use Wade to death if they lose by more than 20 points in the first half.

Over the next two nights, the remaining series in the first round were decided one after another.

灰熊队以83比79和102比71连赢开拓者队两场，大比分4比2晋级。

The Grizzlies played a massacre in the last game, scoring over 100 points, because a major change happened to the Trail Blazers - Oden, who set a personal playoff high of 5 points, 13 rebounds and 13 blocks in Game 5, experienced knee pain after the game. The Trail Blazers team doctor examined him and made temporary treatment, but the pain continued, and he developed symptoms of edema after arriving in Houston the next day. His agent ignored the team doctor's obstruction and forcibly took him to the hospital in Rocket City for examination. It was finally confirmed that he had a torn knee cartilage and was seriously injured and missed Game 6. Without a big center who averaged 10+11+3 in the series, the Trail Blazers' defense collapsed.

What fans find most outrageous is that after Oden was announced to be reimbursed, the Trail Blazers' medical team publicly stated that Oden's private visit to a non-team hospital for examination was irresponsible to the team and the team's hospital, and had a serious impact on the good reputation of the team and the hospital over the years.

老鹰队客场与凯尔特人队进行系列赛第6战，回到老东家主场的皮尔斯打出18投9中高效投篮表现，拿到25分，加上乔-约翰逊的20分、毕比的15分10助攻、霍福德的9分16板……以90比81击败凯尔特人队，大比分4比2晋级。

The last game to end was the series between the Lakers and the Mavericks. In the decisive battle, Kobe and Nowitzki exchanged three-pointers at the crucial moment. Kobe made a shot and completed a near-game-winning shot, but Nowitzki's shot was unsuccessful and the Lakers narrowly won 92 to 90.

G6湖人队客场作战，以99比91力克小牛队，大比分4比2晋级。

In the next two games, Philip Saunders chose to play defense, which was a good attempt, but they failed to win. The Mavericks had better lineup depth than the Lakers, but their strength was a bit weak compared to Kidd + Kobe + Garnett + two centers, and their depth was no match for quality.

The first round is over, and eight teams including the Jazz, Lakers, Nuggets, Grizzlies, Bobcats, Cavaliers, Bulls, and Hawks have advanced to the second round!

...

On May 5th, the first match day of the second round arrived.

The new round of playoffs is more interesting than the first round.

The Jazz, who completed the black eight, received more attention than the Warriors in 07. They are a 50-win team. A team with this record is theoretically capable of winning the championship. The Nets and Pistons, who made it to the finals in the four years from 02 to 05, were also only 50-win teams. The term "Wild West" came into being because for those three years, all teams in the Western Conference playoffs had a theoretical chance to win the championship.

The Jazz defeated the No. 99 team in the Western Conference, and it is not impossible for them to defeat the No. Grizzlies, and then the No. or No. team, and then make it to the finals in one go! The Knicks did it in !
Lakers vs. Nuggets, Kobe fights against Iverson and Ray Allen from the same class, it's full of highlights!
Fans never expected that the peak of the rivalry between the 96 golden generation would come in their 10th year in the NBA. Starting from the 05-06 season when Kobe Bryant faced off against Nash, this season marks four consecutive years of superstars from the 4 generation facing off in the playoffs.

13 years have passed, and many of the fans who have been following the NBA since the 96 class have grown from young boys to sloppy middle-aged men, but in recent years, they have felt their passion rekindled.

Cavaliers vs. Bulls, with James and Yao Ming, there will be no shortage of attention.

But in the end, public opinion generally believes that the Cavaliers will have a hard time. James has played against Yao Ming 22 times in his career, and his wins are just enough to make up the number. The Bulls, who performed mediocrely throughout the regular season, had a highlight performance after the All-Star Weekend and defeated the Magic in the playoffs.

The Bulls have Luol Deng outside and Yao Ming inside, and even most of the Cavaliers fans with normal logical thinking are pessimistic about this series.

After the Bulls defeated the Magic to advance to the second round, some James fans who were not fond of the city of Cleveland called on James to travel west.

联盟里有三个人一直很克制詹姆斯，费尔顿进NBA后就没输给过詹姆斯、霍华德从上赛季步入巅峰期起与詹姆斯交手7次5胜2负、姚明与詹姆斯交手17胜5负……

These three brothers are all in the East!
Some fans said that if these three were all in the Western Conference, it would be the Cavaliers who won 70 games this season. The Cavaliers played against these three teams 11 times in the regular season and lost 9 times. If these 9 games are included, James can tie Jordan's 72 wins for the first place in history.

However, these three series full of highlights are not as hotly discussed today as the Bobcats vs. Hawks series, which has relatively fewer highlights.

The Big Three vs. Samsung is interesting and topical, but it is obviously not comparable to the other three series.

There is only one reason why this series has become the hottest topic before the second round begins - the award ceremony for the youngest MVP in history is coming! The heat of this matter was "low" in the past few days because Duncan, Paul and Wade were too "hot". Even the Bobcats fans went to watch the show. The first round was all over, which was equivalent to putting a "period" on everything in the first round in the hearts of the fans. When the MVP award ceremony came, the heat was rising.

As for the best rookie and DPOY...the two are paying tribute to the Silver Horn King at this moment.

Zhang San: The fans still love me.

King Silver Horn: If I call you, will you answer?

By the evening, after six full off days, the Bobcats finally entered their second round of the playoffs.

At 7:30, the Hawks and Bobcats entered the Turkish Airlines Arena one after another.

The entrance time was 10 minutes earlier than the usual match, but it was still not enough!
The award ceremony was quite quick. The live broadcast signal was from Chaoting Sports. The content of the interview was the official Q&A that had been arranged long ago. The positions for the group photo of Zhang Yang's relatives, friends, teammates, and team staff had also been arranged in the morning... It was mainly because of the 10-minute long and eloquent speech by the cool boss Qiao, which could be said to be showing off, that wasted time.

He is both a player and a boss, both have won championships. It's only been 5 years since the team was founded, but he has won two best coach awards, one best manager award, a scoring title, an MVP, and 1 wins... How can Baldy not be proud of it?
Zhang San chose to endure the boss's attempt to steal the spotlight... There are a total of 16 tickets for the first and second rows for the two home games tonight and the night after tomorrow, not to mention the second-hand tickets, with a face value of 29 US dollars. It will take more than 10 minutes to withdraw this pile of money from the bank.

After the group photo and award ceremony, the Eagles players also entered the stadium to congratulate Zhang Yang.

Three stars for the Hawks... No, four stars. Horford averaged 6 points, 10.8 rebounds, 12.5 assists, 3.3 steals and 1.3 blocks in the six games against the Celtics in the first round. His 1.5% shooting percentage was a bit low, but it was still acceptable facing the Celtics' iron-blooded frontcourt. He further proved that he has All-Star level strength and is regarded as the fourth best forward in the Eastern Conference after Bosh, Al Jefferson and Okafor.

Bibby and Joe Johnson, two of the four stars, have passed the stage of wanting to compare themselves with others in everything. They both have experience in leading a team alone and are sure that they do not have the strength of Kobe and Wade. Both have even given up the pursuit of statistics. Bibby's statistics before coming to the Hawks were 21+6 per game, and now it has dropped to 15+7; Joe Johnson averaged 25 points per game before the formation of the three outside star combination, and now he averages 18.8 points per game... Although their congratulations are polite and cannot be said to be sincere, there is no envy or jealousy. Anyway, this award has never had anything to do with them.

Horford's eyes were full of admiration when he congratulated him. His birthday is June 6, which makes him two years older than Zhang Yang and three days older. He has just reached the edge of the All-Star Game, and as the top leader of the new generation, San Ge is already the youngest MVP in history! Although they are opponents and the relationship between the two teams is not harmonious, he can't hide his yearning at this moment... Cook: No more acting, I am San Blow!

Pierce was different. He was perfunctory when hugging and ignored the cameraman's invitation to take a photo. He turned around and left after the hug, revealing his envy, jealousy and hatred.

Pierce and Turkoglu have similarities in that they are jealous of those who are stronger than him and have more honors than him, but there is an essential difference between the two. One is their personalities. Turkoglu is secretly envious and jealous, while Pierce is open-minded and dares to say anything.

Another bigger difference is that Turkoglu needs a system that suits him to perform like a star. He became a first-line player only after Van Van joined and Howard entered his prime. Before that, he was just an all-around sixth man averaging 13+4+3 per game. Pierce is really capable of confronting those superstars head-on and has a chance of winning.

These two essential differences are also the reason why the two are different in popularity among fans. Pierce has always been quite popular because of his cheerful way of doing things.

...

The pre-match preparation time is over and the starting lineups of both teams come on the court.

Hawks: Bibby, Joe Johnson, Pierce, Horford, Pachulia.

Bobcats: Felton, Zhang Yang, Pietrus, Millsap, Okafor.

Every player on the Hawks is very motivated. They are also a team with 50+ wins. Their style of play is suitable for the playoffs, and their goal is definitely to win the championship.

Zhang Yang just won the MVP trophy. If he can beat the Bobcats tonight, he can not only seize the home-court advantage, but also deal a huge blow to the Bobcats' confidence!

The Bobcats players were equally focused and prepared, and they did not get complacent despite their advantage of more than a dozen wins and a regular season sweep. To be honest, they only won by 4 points in the four games combined.

Boss Xiaofei had emphasized this point many times during the preparation stage, and their ears were almost callused from hearing it.

At 8 o'clock in the evening, Okafor defeated Pachulia in the jump ball, the game began, and the Bobcats attacked first!

Felton made the first attack and broke through with the help of Millsap's pick-and-roll.

Horford, who was chasing after him, was about to press forward when he saw Zhang Yang passing through the three-second zone with the help of Okafor's screen. He hesitated for a moment. Felton, who had just broken into the three-point line, seized the gap, stepped back to receive the ball, and shot a three-pointer... and it hit!
Then Pierce broke into the inside and missed a layup under the double-team of Millsap and Okafor. It was the Bobcats' turn to attack again. Zhang Yang received the ball on the right side of the arc. In order to prevent being passed by, Joe Johnson did not press to the three-point line but stood half a step inside the three-point line.

Zhang Yang turned around and jumped, facing the hurriedly rushing Joe Johnson and shot a three-pointer... and it went in!
The Bobcats started with a 6-0 lead!

Wu Tu, who was watching from the sidelines, stood up and said: Can you two brothers be reasonable?
More than half a month ago, after beating the Bulls to achieve the fifth place in the Eastern Conference, he had already begun preparing for the second round matchup with the Bobcats. He made detailed preparations for the Bobcats' passing and cutting coordination, breakthrough and passing, high post and sideline support. Just for the first attack at the beginning of the game, they practiced five or six kinds of defensive coordination. No matter which of the three young players takes the first attack, they are prepared for defense.

As a result, before they even started to test whether the defensive plan based on the actual four regular season matches, video reports, etc. was effective, this unreasonable duo beat them 4-6 at the start.

There is no tactical coordination, just relying on personal ability!
Fortunately, Pierce broke into the inside again and caused Millsap, who was defending, to foul and made both free throws. Woodson then breathed a sigh of relief: It's enough to score. It doesn't matter if you can't defend against the kind of goals scored by those two brothers. It's great that they can keep scoring.

Woodson has been the head coach for several years and has coached a bottom-ranked team for a long time. He has experienced all kinds of blows and is very receptive when encountering unexpected situations.

Even Carlisle can't compare to him in this respect. He won the best coach award in his rookie season. He got off to a good start. Even though he was picked by Larry Brown, he found a new job right away, and he coached the luxurious lineup created by Larry Brown... Therefore, in terms of "acceptance ability", Carlisle is far inferior to Woodson. Of course, this is not a disadvantage, but an advantage. He does not accept playing badly. Even after the Palace of Auburn Hills incident, the Pacers tried to correct the mess for two and a half years, but failed and offended Bird.

Of course, strong "receptive ability" is also an advantage in certain situations, just like Woodson's current thinking. He doesn't worry about the opponent's goals purely based on personal ability. He believes that his defensive arrangements can limit the opponent's regular offense. What he really worries about is that their offense can't open up. As Larry Brown's favorite disciple, he really doesn't understand offense. In the past year or so, he has relied on a few stars under his command to support him...

Woodson's confidence was not blind. After the Bobcats started with a 6-0 lead, they fell into the defensive quagmire of the Hawks and failed to reach a climax in the latter part of the first quarter.

The Hawks were badly beaten by the Celtics' iron-blooded defense in the first round, but the Celtics were not much better. They were almost broken by Woodson's wing double-teaming strategy. If it weren't for Big AI who was entering his peak period, the Celtics would not have lasted until the sixth game.

Fortunately, the Bobcats had comprehensive offense and defense. Even though the offense didn't open up, the defense was excellent. The four stars of the Eagles tried their best and racked their brains, but the offense of the whole team continued to be sluggish.

With 11 minutes and 49 seconds left in the quarter, Brad Miller, who came on as a substitute, made a high-post mid-range shot, and the Bobcats' lead reached 9 points!
At this time, Bibby stood up and hit a three-pointer against Okafor who was switched to defense, bringing the score to 20-26.

With Mike Miller receiving a long pass and missing a buzzer-beating three-pointer, the Bobcats took a 6-point lead at the end of the first quarter!
Carlisle sighed lightly, feeling somewhat unwilling. The last ten seconds amounted to a loss of 6 points!
Fortunately, Zhang San's muttering next to him diverted Ka Tu's attention, who was in a dilemma.

"As expected of Larry Brown's students, this lineup can actually perform so well offensively..."

Looking at the board in Zhang San's hand, on which was the opponent's first-quarter stats that Vincent had just compiled, Kawhi Leonard said: You little thief, give me back my tactical board!
Carlisle calmly took the tactical board from Zhang Yang and took a look. The opponent's statistics were indeed shocking. Only five people scored in the first quarter, including Bibby with 5 points, Pierce with 5 points, Joe Johnson with 7 points, and Horford and substitute center Randolph Morris with 4 points each.

Both goals scored by Horford and Randolph Morris were scored on second-chance possession, which means that only the three superstars with strong personal offensive abilities scored on regular shots!
(End of this chapter)