Don't talk trash to him.

Chapter 124 Bruce Bowen hurts someone again!

If the Pacers' strange lineup in the first half was only initially effective, then in the third quarter, especially in the first half of the fourth quarter, the effect was too obvious. The breathless Shaquille O'Neal didn't even dare to catch the ball.

because……

Once he receives the ball and scores, he must return to defense immediately, otherwise the Pacers will complete a quick serve and go directly to the frontcourt with a "5 on 4" fast break to score.

The Heat is actually a team with more experience in "4 defending 5" in the frontcourt.

Second only to the Lakers in the 2022-2024 season.

However, my own advantages overlap with the opponent's advantages, and the opponent is also tall and strong.

If you can't score, it will be even more terrible.

Less than 5 seconds later, he saw Su Wan complete the dunk and looked at him with a sarcastic smile: "If I were your head coach, I would have replaced you long ago."

Stan Van Gundy is still too patient.

But as Shaquille O'Neal's physical condition continued to decline, even Stan Van Gundy had to replace him.

Originally, Shaq only had about 33 minutes of playing time in each game in the playoffs. With such a fast-paced game and so many targets, his physical strength had long been reached.

It was just that the Heat had just replaced Shaq, and the Pacers immediately took down Reggie Miller and replaced him with Foster, turning it back into a positional battle and reducing Wade's shooting space in the interior.

Even with the protection of the "Whistle God", Wade's trapped team could only watch the team lose the game by 90 points, 103 to 13.

He walked towards the audience seats helplessly.

Under heavy pressure in this game, Wade still scored 30 points.

"On the other hand, Shaquille O'Neal scored 16 points in the first half of the second quarter, but in the end he only scored 24 points in the whole game, which means that during the period when the Heat were losing points crazily, he only scored 8 points..."

"I think everyone should know now that Shaquille O'Neal is no longer Shaquille of the Lakers. His advantages are no longer enough to make people ignore his disadvantages, and his disadvantages are becoming bigger and bigger, even like tonight, he has become the target of the Pacers!"

"He was without a doubt the biggest problem for the Heat in losing tonight!"

Bill Walton fired at Shaquille O'Neal with full force.

He's not that aggressive in commentary.

But who made him have a conflict with Shaquille O'Neal?
During the "three consecutive championships", Shaquille O'Neal was in the limelight and was full of confidence, so he attacked many people, including Bill Walton, who also wore the No. 32 jersey.

At that time, Shaq stood on the top of the mountain, his strength spoke for himself, and Bill Walton could not argue with him.

Now times have changed, this "shark" has grown older and has more points to attack.

Shaq's face after the game was like a stone in the toilet.

Smelly and hard!

After the last game, he also said that if he had not been absent from the first game of the series, the Heat would be 2-0 now.

As a result, in the third game of the series, the Pacers made him the biggest problem for the Heat's loss. It was really a bad feeling to be slapped in the face.

Even worse:
He couldn't crack this tactic at all.

But Shaquille O'Neal still found a way to vent: "Who arranged this shitty schedule? Why did we have to wait so long before playing the third game of the series!"

If this were not the case, how would the Pacers have the time to develop such a "weird" style of play!
Indiana reporters didn't tolerate him at all: "Hey, Shaq, that's not what you said a week ago!"

At that time, Shaquille O'Neal said: "I am not in the best condition tonight. Wait, in a week, you will see a more terrifying 'Big Shark'!"

In fact, Shaq during this period was "a giant in words, a dwarf in actions", especially in terms of training. When he was on the Lakers, he often tried to avoid training. After joining the Heat, his attitude was only good for one summer. Pat Riley's harsh training aroused his rebellious psychology. And it was becoming more and more serious.

If "eating well and sleeping well" is considered Shaq's "best condition", then he did it this week.

But if we talk about his performance on the training ground, Shaq has at best barely achieved his training goals.

However, from Shaquille O'Neal's perspective, the fact that he came to training showed that he had the right attitude.

This stabbed Shaq in the heart and broke his defense: "The Pacers only used the 'Hack-a-Shaq' tactic to deal with me. If we play normally, they are no match for us!"

However, no matter how "impotent and furious" he was after the game, in the fourth game of the series, the Pacers relied on this "weird" lineup to wear him down so much that he had no temper at all.

Stan Van Gundy was already thinking about opening up space on the outside today to relieve Shaq from the double-team pressure under the basket.

But there are two things he cannot change:

One is Shaquille O'Neal's poor free throw shooting rate as the game progressed and he consumed too much energy;
The second is that the Pacers' fast break counterattack will inevitably lead to a "more people against fewer people" situation;
In the fourth game of the series, the Pacers won again.

"Is Shaquille O'Neal still a superstar? He's not even an All-Star. Have you ever seen the core player of a team sitting on the sidelines for the last five minutes? He's just an obese gorilla!"

Being humiliated by Suwan, Shaquille O'Neal kicked over the trash can in the corridor when passing through the visiting team's player tunnel.

This scene was captured by reporters and became the headline news of many media's sports sections the next day:
"The defense was broken, and the 'three consecutive championship' overlord felt what it means to be a hero in his twilight years!"

"Drag down the team, a fate that even the most dominant star in history cannot escape!"

"Pat Riley made a mistake? This is the first year of Shaquille O'Neal's big contract!"

All major media outlets have been predicting the pessimistic prospects of Shaquille O'Neal and the Miami Heat, and have even begun to worry about what the Heat will do with Shaquille O'Neal's big contract.

After all, the Pacers showed the league how to target Shaquille O'Neal now. As O'Neal gets older, his problems will inevitably become more difficult to solve.

The Los Angeles media popped the champagne.

Although the Lakers did not make the playoffs this year, they have no problem with salary cap space and Kobe's statistics are also explosive.

They have a bright future.

As Shaquille O'Neal gets older, the Heat's situation will only get more difficult year by year.

unless……

Shaq made a huge change!
But is this possible?
The Los Angeles media thought about it carefully, thinking that he refused to have surgery in order to have fun during the summer vacation. Finally, they came to the conclusion:
Impossible, absolutely impossible!
The score is 3-1. Although the next game is at the Heat's home court, it seems to outsiders that this will be the Heat's last game of the season.

An even worse news came out at this time:
Wade returned to Miami and suddenly felt discomfort in his knee during extra training.

The final examination revealed that there was a large amount of fluid accumulation in his knee and the inflammation was also very serious.

What the team doctor means is:

Dwyane, you have to miss the next game!

In fact, these problems are not a big problem for ordinary athletes.

But for Wade it is a very serious issue.

Because he lacks meniscus cushioning, once he is found to have effusion and inflammation, if he continues to play, the risk of serious consequences is much greater than that of ordinary athletes. He is still young, and the team does not dare to let him take the risk of playing a game that is unlikely to win.

Su Wan was not surprised when he heard the news.

Some players' injury history and playing style are destined to be accompanied by injuries during their NBA career.

One of them is Derrick Rose.

Then there's Wade.

He was injured in the decisive battle between the Heat and the Pistons in the Eastern Conference Finals and missed the sixth game of the series. In the end, because of his absence, the Heat were reversed by the Pistons.

Otherwise, Wade and Shaq would have made it to the finals in their first year together.

Miami was wailing. After the first four games of the series, Wade averaged 4 points per game, making him the Heat's sharpest "blade". Even Suwan couldn't defend him. It was his presence that prevented the Heat from collapsing.

Now that he won't even play in Game 5 of the series, one can imagine what consequences await the Heat.

The next day, Game 5 of the series between the Heat and the Pacers arrived as scheduled.

But on the day of the match between the two teams, the media news had little to do with them.

Bruce Bowen stole all the attention.

he……

Someone is hurt again!

In the third game of the Western Conference Finals, the Spurs, who had already taken a 2-0 lead, moved to Houston. McGrady, who had been sluggish in the first two games, scored two goals in a row at the beginning of this game, and then he went full steam ahead, scoring 20 points in the first half.

His first-half points in the first two games combined were not as high as tonight.

The Rockets also led by 8 points.

Popovich didn't react at this time, but when McGrady continued to score in the second half, he couldn't sit still anymore and called Bruce Bowen to him: "I don't care what method you use, just stop that guy!"

Then, not long after, Bruce Bowen kicked McGrady in the knee while defending.

McGrady covered his knees and fell to the ground in pain.

After the game, it was checked that McGrady had a broken knee and was out for the season. Not only will he be unable to play this season, but with the recovery period, next season may also be affected.

Unlike Ray Allen, McGrady is a real "popular superstar" in the league.

When Bruce Bowen provokes him, it's like hitting a brick wall.

The league officials also added a "second-degree malicious" foul to him and suspended him for two games.

From the league's perspective, the punishment they gave was severe enough.

This is already a physical level of punishment.

But compared with the Rockets' losses, such punishment is really not painful.

From the perspective of the Spurs, the “beneficiary”…

I really want to laugh, this is also called punishment?

After the game, Tim Duncan continued to repeat what he had said before: "Bruce is a good man, he doesn't want this to happen, but we all know the intensity of the playoffs, it's more intense, so anything can happen!"

Popovich also said: "We have to defend Tracy. It is impossible without physical contact, and the accident happened. We hope Tracy can return to the court as soon as possible. He will be fine!"

Yao Ming's response to this matter was a little more radical than usual: "Bruce Bowen did something that was not in compliance with the rules of the court. This is not the first time he has done such a thing. This makes us angry."

Just this attitude alone disappointed some of McGrady's fans.

Compared with Suwan's previous attitude, some Rockets fans were also dissatisfied with Yao Ming's remarks.

In their opinion, Yao Ming lacks some leadership qualities compared to Su Wan.

After all, the national conditions are different!

If this happened in the country, Yao Ming's answer would be more calm and more respected.

Of course, there is another point. Yao Ming’s ambition is not just to be an athlete, and his attitude is destined not to be as radical as Su Wan’s.

Even if he wanted to, the team behind him would advise him not to do so.

Looking at the various decisions made by "Team Yao" throughout Yao Ming's career, the goal was to avoid making big mistakes, to keep things quiet, and to take a step back. Not to mention the McGrady incident, even the previous Shaquille O'Neal "racial discrimination" incident, Yao Ming's team immediately reconciled as soon as Shaquille O'Neal apologized.

With a team like this, what do you expect Yao Ming to say about McGrady?

Reporters once again asked Suwan about his opinion on the matter: "Now it seems that you and the Spurs will meet in the finals. If something similar happens, what will you do?"

Su Wan said: "Indiana's approach has always been, if the opponent stabs me, I will stab the opponent in the same way. If the opponent slashes our aorta, we will definitely pierce their heart!"

The reporter was stunned.

He thought Su Wan was saying:

If Bruce gets a Pacers player injured, we're going to get Bruce injured.

But when he carefully savored the meaning of Su Wan's words, he felt that there was something else behind Su Wan's words.

The reporter wanted to ask a few more questions, but the interview time was over.

Coming to the American Airlines Arena again, not only were the boos before the game much quieter, but even when the home players came out, the cheers were not as loud as before.

Come to think of it, Dwyane Wade was sitting on the bench in casual clothes, and the camera kept giving him close-ups. How could the Miami fans at the scene be excited?
Shaquille O'Neal's face was also full of solemnity.

Without Dwyane Wade, the Heat's strength tonight has dropped significantly. If the Pacers continue to play around with him on the court like they did in the first two games, his fate can be imagined.

How can I laugh?

Looking at the Pacers, they are in high spirits.

Wade's absence is a good opportunity for them!

A good opportunity to completely nail Shaquille O'Neal to the pillar of shame.

Let everyone see what the consequences are of angering Indiana...

Don't give us the chance to catch you. If we do, we will severely humiliate you!
Third update.

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(End of this chapter)