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Chapter 243 If There Were Two Gods, How Would You Respond? (Two Chapters in a Row, Please Subscribe and Vote)

After years of hard work, Bird finally assembled a championship-contending roster for the Pacers. If you had to ask what Bird thought the team was still missing, what was it?

Bird would tell you that this team clearly lacks a fearless, kingly heart.

Based on the team's record and performance so far, the Pacers are indeed a championship contender.

But what if this team doesn't even have the courage to raise a fist against the gods?
How could they possibly have the last laugh?
Bird wanted the team he had built to at least have the courage to punch the gods.

Upon arriving in Auckland, Bird immediately told the media that "we came here to defeat God."

"Larry, you're just putting unnecessary pressure on the players," Pacers head coach Frank Vogel complained to Bird. "The people of Oakland will never allow their gods to be desecrated by outsiders."

Upon hearing this, Bird shrugged and said, "So what?"

"Frank, if we want to go all the way, then the Warriors are the opponent we must defeat."

"Our players must learn how to handle pressure."

"Did you know that whenever it's an away game, the Warriors' number 77 gets a lot of boos?"

"But the pressure did not break him; instead, it made him stronger day by day."

“I know that not everyone can handle pressure as easily as he can.”

"But if we are a team aiming for the championship, then we must learn how to handle pressure."

Vogel didn't expect that Bird had premeditatedly "turbocharged" the entire Pacers team.

However, after thinking it over carefully, Vogel quickly understood Bird's good intentions.

After all, how can a phoenix achieve its rebirth without rising from the ashes?
Oracle Arena.

On the night of the game, the Pacers, who came to defeat God, fielded their strongest lineup—Hibbert, Boozer, Granger, George, and Lowry.

For the Warriors, with Nash and Bell resting, Curry and Green also appeared in the team's starting lineup that night.

Before he became "Gao Yuanyuan" due to injuries and the NBA's change to the vertical jump rule, the tall and strong Hibbert overwhelmed Brown with his height advantage during the opening jump ball.

Lowry dribbles the ball across half the field.

George, who has not yet been promoted to "Silky Smooth Guy", used Boozer's screen to get to the high post on the left wing to receive the ball.

Although the next second, George's one-on-one attack was exceptionally decisive.

But under Green's physical challenge, George, forced to jump and pass the ball, ultimately had no choice but to blame Granger.

At this moment, from his breakthrough to his pass, George's approach, while not exactly the same as someone else's, was at least remarkably similar.

Near the top of the arc, Granger received a pass and drained a three-pointer.

3:0.

Back to the Warriors' offensive possession.

As soon as Qin Yue reached the free-throw line to receive the ball, George and Granger on the wing quickly surrounded him.

However, Qin Yue's feigned one-handed pass successfully fooled Granger and George.

Immediately afterwards, a feint followed by a sudden attack, and the ball accelerated.

Facing Hibbert's exaggerated defensive coverage in the penalty area, Qin Yue made a powerful shot and scored.

Barkley, watching from TNT, shook his head repeatedly, saying, "This round taught me what it means to dance on the edge of a knife."

"If Messiah's false pass hadn't fooled Dan and Paul, then he would likely have made a mistake in that position, where he was surrounded by three opponents."

Smith chimed in, "That's why he's unstoppable on the court. His composure and ball-handling skills far surpass those of any player in this era."

On the court, it was the Pacers' turn to attack.

The increasingly mature and steady Lowry executed a 1-5 pick-and-roll with Hibbert at the high post.

The latter cut into the Warriors' paint and, after receiving a pass from Lowry, chased Brown and put the ball into the basket.

"Is this the skill level of a Western Conference All-Star center?"

As he retreated on defense, Hibbert looked at Brown with a puzzled expression, unable to believe that the opponent's defense was so weak.

However, Hibbert's questioning of Brown lasted only a few seconds. In turn, Brown took advantage of Qin Yue's distraction and scored an Answer Ball before Hibbert could get back into position on defense.

Putting aside his "nightmare walk" that rivals LeBron James's, Brown's finishing ability has indeed improved significantly over the years.

For example, in the round just now.

Knowing that Hibbert's movement speed was far inferior to his own, Brown had already chosen an offensive route that Hibbert was destined to be unable to keep up with when executing the Ghost Screen.

As for the Pacers' next offensive possession, how should we describe Brown being overpowered by Hibbert in the low post again?

"I am an offensive center."

In the Warriors' paint, Brown, without batting an eye, stared directly at Qin Yue's death glare and said, "You know, offense is my forte; I've never been good at defense."

Seeing this, Qin Yue kicked Brown and said, "Give him more resistance; that guy isn't as strong as you think."

In the NBA, finishing at the rim is far from as easy as people imagine.

Compared to other areas, the area under the basket is always a place full of physical contact.

Therefore, scoring easy baskets under the basket has always been a skill.

Before his time travel, Qin Yue had watched Hibbert play basketball at his peak.

Qin Yue knew very well that although Hibbert had an incredibly large body, he would often make basic mistakes when facing strong competition in the game, especially when finishing under the basket.

Warriors attack.

Curry, whose career finishing rate under the basket is even higher than Hibbert's, perfectly demonstrated his attributes as a center after receiving a pass from Qin Yue.

At the very moment of his reverse layup, Curry, who had been pushed by Boozer, somehow managed to put the basketball into the hoop with incredible gentleness.

Unfortunately, in this offensive possession, Curry got a taste of what he would be treated like in the future.

Want two plus one?

nonexistent.

At that moment, even though Boozer's pushing motion was extremely obvious.

The referees will simply pretend they don't see it.

why?
This season, with Curry beginning to show his talent, he has long lost the right to become Qin Yue's "replacement" as he did in the previous two seasons.

Furthermore, as Curry's shooting ability gradually gained recognition, he would even frequently encounter the legendary "double-team" on the court.

What is meant by "clinching"?
Simply put, because Curry's off-ball ability is so strong, referees often condone defensive players' various hugging and pulling behaviors towards him when he is off the ball.

And since it's a hug/clamping formation...
If there's a hug, there's also a clamp.

Qin Yue was well aware that the reason Curry was enjoying the treatment he would receive in the future this season was mainly because the Warriors had become a force that the league had to "suppress." This suppression was different from the suppression faced by teams on Stern's blacklist.

Stern's aim in suppressing the Warriors was primarily to prevent them from dominating the league and making NBA games less suspenseful.

Furthermore, in some important games, Stern will still allow the Warriors to compete fairly, openly, and impartially with their opponents.

This is precisely the biggest difference between Stern and Silver.

As the league's director, Stern will not over-manipulate the NBA's massive reality show.

He simply balances out overly powerful players by setting rules.

Without a doubt, Curry is destined to enjoy great fortune by serving this Warriors team that aims for a three-peat.

Because, regardless of whether Curry is wearing Nike or Under Armour at this moment, he will definitely be targeted by the referee along with Qin Yue.

However, isn't this also a valuable experience for Curry?

After all, in the NBA, there can't be any superstar who can't play without the whistle, or who would even "propose" to the referee for it, right?

At Oracle Arena, Curry, once he opened his scoring account, was unstoppable and scored 8 consecutive points for the Warriors.

Especially after that 45-degree angled backflip and quick-scoping shot in front of Lowry.

Curry, who suddenly went on a rampage on the court, had in an instant presented the Pacers, who were eager to defeat God, with a world-class problem.

For the walker who is determined to defeat God.

If they want to win, they definitely need to increase their defensive efforts against Curry.

Can.
If the Pacers choose to focus their defensive resources on Curry, how should they deal with Qin Yue next?

"Stephen Curry violates geometry."

"This was a three-pointer that, from a geometric point of view, was absolutely impossible to make."

Curry and Qin Yue are likely the most explosive offensive duo in the history of basketball.

In the first quarter, Curry displayed incredible prowess, becoming the key figure who ultimately enabled Qin Yue to press the button for a divine intervention that night.

By the end of the first half, Qin Yue's personal score had soared to 28 points.

Before the game, Larry Bird, who desperately wanted the Pacers to have the courage to punch God, never imagined that on this night, he would be by the side of the all-knowing and all-powerful God.
There was even a God from beyond the three-point line.

It's no exaggeration to say that on that night, Curry, who was willing to let anyone in, was practically Qin Yue's human cheat code.

In the second half, the Warriors' offensive possession.

Because Curry completely drew away the Pacers' flank defense, Qin Yue, who was able to go one-on-one with Boozer, broke through the opponent's defense almost instantly.

Then, the horse trampled the Pacers' paint.

Under Bird's watchful eye on the sidelines, Qin Yue, like a thunderbolt from nowhere, immediately executed a stunning tomahawk dunk over Hibbert.

This was a perfect smash from every angle.

On the court, after scoring the shot, Qin Yue called out to Bird, who was sitting on the sidelines, "Larry, a God who can be defeated by mortals is destined to be a false god."

At that moment, only Bird understood the double meaning in Qin Yue's words.

"How can this kid be so arrogant?"

On the sidelines, Bird commented on Qin Yue's earlier shout at him.

Upon hearing this, Pacers head coach Vogel said, "He's always been like that."

Bird shook his head and said, "Frank, you didn't understand what I meant."

Why did Bird think Qin Yue was arrogant?

Because just now
Qin Yue's implication was clear: Bird had only defeated the false god Jordan back then.

Moreover, since Bird only defeated false gods...
Therefore, Qin Yue's other meaning is of course:

—Don't think you're anything special in my eyes.

"What an arrogant and conceited bunch of brats."

"I'm really growing to like him more and more."

On the Pacers' bench, Vogel couldn't understand Bird's thought process at all, as Bird showed such favor to Qin Yue.

On the court, with Qin Yue finally scoring his 52nd point of the game before being substituted in the final quarter, the outcome of the match was no longer in doubt.

The final score was 112 to 131.

Qin Yue, who scored 50+ points in seven consecutive games, led the Warriors to another big win and broke his own record for consecutive 50+ point games in the NBA since the advent of complete statistical data.

“I told you, we are here only to defeat God.”

In a post-game interview, Bird said, "But nobody told me that the Warriors had two gods in this game."

If we say that Bird admired Qin Yue...
It's because the other party has an arrogant personality that's no less than his.

Bird genuinely liked Curry because he liked Curry's shooting style.

In Qin Yue's previous life, Bird never hesitated to praise Curry.

Even before the Warriors won their first championship, Bird said, "I wouldn't be surprised if he surpasses Magic Johnson in the future."

In short
In Bird's view, the Pacers, who should have played with more youthful fearlessness against the Warriors in the regular season, lost tonight mainly because the "Cin-Ku duo," who combined for 88 points, were too overpowered.

"I think people should thank us."

Bird said, "Because we've shown all the teams just how high the ceiling is for this inside-outside combination to really shine."

Although last season's playoffs
The Lakers had experienced firsthand just how terrifying Qin Yue could be, given his "Curry Gravity".

However, this season, Curry's main task is to support the team's second unit's firepower during off-peak periods after he comes off the bench.

Therefore, towards the end of the season, head coach Malone began frequently resting veteran players to ensure their health.
Curry, who was able to coexist with Qin Yue on the court for a longer period of time, made people fully realize what it would be like if Qin Yue and Curry, who both had their own attraction, teamed up and exploded together.

However, compared to the supermodel level of the "Qin-Ku combination".

On this night when Qin Yue scored 50+ points in his seventh consecutive game, most fans were clearly more concerned with the fact that Qin Yue was making history.

Will he score 50+ points in eight consecutive games?

"When will his crazy performance since the end of Star Weekend finally stop?"

Shortly after the Warriors vs. Pacers game, Barkley posed these two questions to the basketball world on TNT.

……

P.S.: This is the second of a two-part update! (Today's total is 8.5K. Because I updated early, I'm begging for subscriptions and monthly tickets!)

(End of this chapter)