Don't talk trash to him.

Chapter 173 Cleveland fans can turn off the TV
The grouping for the first round of the Eastern and Western Conference playoffs was officially finalized with the end of April 4.

In addition to the Pacers, who are ranked first in the Eastern Conference and will face the Cavaliers, who are ranked eighth in the Eastern Conference, the other three matchups in the Eastern Conference are: the Pistons, who are ranked second in the Eastern Conference, will face the Bucks, who are ranked seventh in the Eastern Conference; the Heat, who are ranked third in the Eastern Conference, will face the Bulls, who are ranked sixth in the Eastern Conference; and the Wizards, who are ranked fourth in the Eastern Conference, will face the Nets, who are ranked fifth in the Eastern Conference.

The biggest highlight is naturally the first time LeBron James entered the playoffs in his career and met his "nemesis" Suwan.

With Indiana's slogan, this series was also called the "Battle of Destiny" by major media.

Su Wan: Oh my god, I’ve become a black monkey!

Major media people also evaluated this series before the game started. Except for the Cleveland media, most media people believed that Suwan and the Pacers would be the final team to advance.

And the big score they gave made the Cleveland people very annoyed.

80%都是4-0的大比分，19%认为大比分会到4-1。怎么说勒布朗跟骑士队也会在系列赛中爆发一场才对。

Only a few "excellent" media people believed that the score of this series would reach six games or even enter a "Game 7".

This includes Bill Simmons.

This is the hottest series in the Eastern Conference.

On the west side:

The Mavericks are the eventual No. 1 seed in the Western Conference and will face the Kings, who are ranked No. 8 in the Western Conference.

The Suns are second in the Western Conference, which is the same as their original ranking, but this time, their opponent is not the Lakers, but the Rockets.

McGrady's condition has been unstable since his comeback, and his back injury has affected his playing time.

Yao Ming's performance as the team's leader in November was quite good, but this was based on a premise:
Stable staff rotation!
McGrady's occasional comebacks are a burden to the entire team.

The result was that Yao Ming averaged 25.4 points and 10.6 rebounds per game, barely leading the team to seventh place in the Western Conference.

Fortunately, he did not gain weight last summer, otherwise, given the team's situation, he would have been out for the season earlier than originally planned.

Now, at least he has lasted 70 games with only some minor problems. He took two breaks and returned in less than a week each time.

The attendance rate is still quite impressive.

Third in the West is the Denver Nuggets, who will face the sixth-placed Lakers.

Kobe Bryant vs. the "Denver Double Guns", this is the hottest battle in the West.

The Grizzlies, fourth in the Western Conference, will face the Clippers, fifth in the Western Conference.

This is definitely a dream year for Memphis. They can even enter the playoffs and still have home-court advantage.

Of course, it was also a dream year for the Clippers, as they actually made it to the playoffs.

Coincidentally, Jerry West and "Lord Baylor" were former teammates and both became managers of a team after retiring. However, their reputations regarding team operations were completely opposite. Yet, they both made their teams reach new heights in the same year!
"Lord Beile": So, manipulation is useless, it all depends on fate!
Overall, the four matchups in the first round in the West are more interesting than those in the East.

but……

The most interesting match is still the battle between LeBron and Suwan.

On April 4, the league announced this season's "Best Rookie". Chris Paul averaged 17 points, 16.1 rebounds, 5.1 assists and 7.8 steals per game. His points, assists and steals were the best among the 2.2 rookies. Not surprisingly, he defeated other rookies with 05% of the votes and became the final "55.8 Best Rookie".

After this award, the first round of the playoffs arrived as scheduled on April 4.

The first day saw a game between the Indiana Pacers and the Cavaliers.

Barkley's pre-game joke was somewhat fatalistic: "LeBron is about to make his first playoff debut in his career. Everyone thinks he can't win, but everyone expects him to surprise everyone."

Kenny Smith thought it would have been a pretty good opening if Barkley hadn't laughed at the end.

Unfortunately, the fat guy couldn't help laughing.

He is a staunch "Suwan faction" and even couldn't help laughing when he saw some media people saying that LeBron might perform a miracle in the playoffs.

What is a “miracle”?
The almost impossible situation happened.

This is called a "miracle".

The qualities that a miracle worker possesses are demanding and something that LeBron cannot possibly possess.

Even if only Suwan and LeBron were standing in front of Barkley, he would think that Suwan had a greater chance of creating a miracle.

Whenever he looked at Su Wan, he would always think of the person who convinced him.

The good news for Cleveland people is that LeBron looked good tonight and was very motivated. He clenched his fist at the start of the game, blew into his fist, and looked ready to fight, which made them look forward to what would happen tonight.

Then this expectation was shattered less than a minute into the show.

"Big Z" finally grabbed the initiative and gave LeBron a very high-quality screen, but after he went around the screen, Suwan came over to defend and left a lot of space to defend his breakthrough, giving him a chance to shoot.

As a result, LeBron...

Spread it!

Newbell on the wing missed the three-pointer.

The ball bounced out and landed in Su Wan's hands.

The commentator of the Cleveland Sports station was desperate: "Why not shoot?"

A very strange phenomenon:

In the eyes of LeBron's fans and his "haters", LeBron's words and deeds off the court are inconsistent.

They also have different opinions on LeBron's basketball level.

Fans believe that LeBron has very good skills, whether it is his ability to change direction during a breakthrough or his various footsteps, his basic skills are actually very solid. The reason why his movements seem stiff is because his muscles are too stiff, which affects his body coordination. There is nothing that can be done about it.

They even think LeBron has a stable jump shot.

In the eyes of "Little Blackie", LeBron's breakthroughs are all based on not knowing how many steps to take, his shooting is almost non-existent, and as for basic skills, it cannot be said that they do not exist, it can only be said that they are not visible.

To be honest, when LeBron's muscles were not so stiff, he did have a jump shot that sometimes came and went. But because he was not confident, he often did not dare to shoot, which lasted throughout his career.

At the moment of deciding victory or defeat, he prefers to rush in with the ball, either breaking through and passing the ball, or waiting for the referee to blow the whistle.

In short, his shooting options do not include mid-range options.

Only when the situation is better will he confidently take mid-range shots, and at that time his hit rate is usually pretty good.

This resulted in a huge misunderstanding between the two groups of people regarding LeBron's shooting level.

Of course, in Su Wan's opinion, if you can't show your weapons at critical moments, it's the same as not having them. Because people won't be really afraid of your shooting just because you keep hitting the ball when you're in a good mood. What they refer to is your shooting percentage and shooting choices at critical moments.

Just like tonight, Suwan knew very well that LeBron must want to perform well tonight, so...what he had to do was to constantly magnify the shooting choices that he was not good at and create pressure on him.

Sure enough, LeBron's choices never disappoint him.

If it is not a safe offensive method, he would rather pass the ball to his teammates.

That’s right, “Chosen One”, just fight like this!

Suwan then hit a mid-range jumper in front of Lucios Harris, scoring the first goal for the Pacers. Harris is a veteran No. 93 player signed by Danny Ferry in an emergency. He entered the league in 36 and is a famous "vagrant". He makes a living in various teams with a three-point shooting rate of about %. As for other abilities, don't even think about it.

The only role he could play when standing in front of Su Wan was to serve as a "gun mount" for Su Wan, allowing him to shoot more accurately.

In the Cavaliers' second round, LeBron was once again blocked at the free throw line. He could only return to the three-point line and look for a breakthrough opportunity again. Mike Brown saw his hesitation and kept shouting beside him to cheer him up:
"Go in, go in, LeBron, go in!"

LeBron wanted to yell at him:
Shut up you!

Could it be that I didn't know I had to rush in?

Can……

"Snapped!"

LeBron put all his strength into the game, but Suwan resisted him at the free throw line, which slowed down his attack. Although he pushed Suwan away, O'Neal and Foster were already in position, and his forced layup was blocked by O'Neal.

The ball was in Su Wan's hands again. He dribbled forward two or three steps and saw Artest already waiting at the opposite basket.

How come you also...

He immediately passed the ball to Artest.

"Bah!"

The "Beast"'s dunk made the cheers in Conseco Arena sound like thunder and lightning.

Bill Walton shook his head slightly and sighed: "The Pacers' defensive restrictions are really too restrained for a team like the Cavaliers with a single core ball handler!"

When LeBron James faces other teams, he can still carry the opponent and complete the layup even if there is someone blocking him.

But this kind of impact was never shown against the Pacers.

But what can be done?

Even if "Big Z" carried Artest away for him, the Pacers still had the "iron bucket formation" composed of Suwan, O'Neal Jr. and Foster, and it was really difficult for him to complete a breakthrough.

Moreover, "Big Z" was not always able to push Artest away for him. For example, in the next round, Artest, who had the experience of the previous two confrontations, forced LeBron in advance when "Big Z" came towards him.

As a result, LeBron is getting further and further away from the three-point line.

"It seems that LeBron has fewer ways to get rid of defenders with the ball than we thought!"

This was not noticeable during the regular season, but in the playoffs, the competition became more intense and this problem was magnified infinitely. Barkley noticed this situation in just three rounds.

Kenny Smith said: "In fact, many people overlook one thing. LeBron relies heavily on his start after the pick-and-roll. He doesn't have many personal skills to get rid of the ball. It's just that we tend to pay more attention to his physical talent."

LeBron can only pass the ball, then go around from behind the ball handler to catch the ball again, and then break through directly with the help of the naturally formed screen.

This breakthrough choice is very decisive.

Artest didn't react, but LeBron was near the baseline at the moment, with too few paths to break through. Su Wan appeared right in front of him and was knocked away by him. At the same time, the referee blew the whistle:
"Cavaliers No. 23 committed an offensive foul!"

Su Wan, lying on the ground, gave a painful smile.

This time, it really hurts!
But judging by the final result, it was not in vain. O'Neal and Artest came over and helped him up.

Amid the cheers, his eyes began to look for LeBron.

Wow, the stall is open, the stall is open!

LeBron was spreading his hands, arguing fiercely with the referee. His anxious look made people think of the one on the Empire State Building.

The big screen at the scene also showed the anxious LeBron, and there was a burst of boos.

At this time, LeBron seemed to notice the big screen on the scene and stopped arguing with the referee.

To be honest, only LeBron had a "discuss" with the referee for so long but didn't get a technical foul.

Moreover, the current LeBron was severely "cut" by Su Wan, and his reputation was greatly reduced. If it were the original LeBron, or if Su Wan's reputation was lower, the consequences would be unimaginable.

I'm afraid it will directly become a "blocking foul" for him?

Ok……

The plaintiff became the defendant, and this happened before.

During the Pacers' offensive round, Mike Brown began to double-team Suwan.

When Su Wan saw that the Cavaliers had also started to double-team him, he immediately asked for the ball to attract a more determined double-team, then quickly passed the ball again, moved to the top of the arc, and made an accurate three-pointer after receiving the ball again.

"This is almost becoming the Pacers' special tactic! All teams are now gradually realizing the need to use double-teaming to deal with Suwan."

"But they always let Suwan run to a wide open space and complete the catch and shoot."

"I have seen this happen many times, and of course, I can understand..."

"Now all teams lack targeted videos to study Suwan's movements after being double-teamed! This is when he uses his new methods to threaten others. Every player has such a period of time, and Suwan is smart enough to make it always happen during the playoffs!"

Bill Walton professionally analyzed the reason why Suwan was always able to respond immediately with catch-and-shoot after being double-teamed recently.

On the other side, Barkley looked at the opening score of 7-0 and couldn't help but said: "Cleveland fans can turn off the TV. This will save you a bad night. If you choose to continue watching, I'm not sure if you can still sleep tonight!"

Barkley's words always carry the attribute of "poisonous milk".

But this time, his words came true. The Cavaliers had no power to fight back in the following time, and the score difference continued to widen, 10 points, 20 points, 30 points. In the end, the first game of the series between the Cavaliers and the Pacers ended, and LeBron lost by nearly 40 points in his first playoff game in his career.

而他的数据是15投4中，罚球10罚6中，全场只拿到了14分，此外还有7个后场篮板1个前场篮板，5次助攻以及6次失误。

On Su Wan's side, he made 21 of 11 shots, 4 of 2 three-pointers, and 5 of 5 free throws, scoring 29 points, 4 backcourt rebounds, 2 frontcourt rebounds, 3 assists and 2 turnovers.

The third update, brothers, please give me your monthly votes.

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(End of this chapter)