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Chapter 247 Decides the Second and the Battle of the Century (Second Update, Begging for Monthly Tickets!)

At the age of twenty-one, no one knew what a profound impression Duncan had left on Qin Yue.

But compared to the spirited Duncan of yesteryear, the current Duncan is once again standing at a crossroads of fate.

In the first round of the Eastern Conference playoffs, the Celtics narrowly defeated the Bulls 4-3.

Needless to say.

This series fully exposed the weaknesses of the Celtics' current roster.

Like the Supersonics, whose roster is aging year by year.

The Celtics' current roster also suffers from an aging problem.

Although both Pierce and Ginobili are 34 years old, they can still use their experience to teach the opposing young players a lesson on the offensive end.

But on the defensive end, these two's defense, if not completely impenetrable, is at least easily broken.

Pierce's defensive advantage lies in his strength.

This allows him to hold his own against some powerful strikers.

But once on the field, when Pierce has to match up against those mobile strikers, his slow footwork will leave the challenge to his teammates.

And what about Ginobili?

Sorry, but throughout his entire career, aside from relying on dirty tricks, Ginobili has never been known for his defense.

The Celtics' poor perimeter defense kept Duncan and Horford on the run almost every night.

Until the Eastern Conference semifinals.

Facing this Knicks team packed with superstars.

The Celtics' weakness in perimeter defense was suddenly magnified many times over.

Admittedly, Horford and Duncan's defensive positioning effectively prevented the reigning champion James from dominating the Celtics' paint.

But who should take care of Durant?

When James needs him, it's always Kevin Durant, the Knicks' star player, who successfully cosplayed Qin Yue from back in the day during this series against the Celtics.

In Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals, Durant scored 39 points.

In Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals, Durant scored another 41 points.

In Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals, Durant scored 38 points at TD Garden, leading the Knicks to consecutive victories and giving them a 3-0 lead in the series.
The Celtics, who had reached the NBA Finals for three consecutive years and finished as runners-up for three consecutive years, also lost their last hope of a comeback.

Trailing 0-3 in the overall score.

With the Celtics already able to prepare for next season's playoffs, Duncan suddenly made a decision in his mind that he needed to seriously consider his future this summer.

Since leaving the Spurs, what Duncan wanted most was to defeat his junior teammate in a series, fair and square.

Even if it means bearing the brunt of criticism, Duncan is willing to do it.

Therefore, since the Celtics can no longer offer themselves any hope of defeating Qin Yue, and Ainge has already demonstrated just how ruthless he is through his previous trade for Carter.
Therefore, before being kicked out by Angie, Duncan, who had lost the shackles of "loyalty," naturally had to seriously consider his future.

no doubt.

This is definitely the most anti-Heavenly Gang episode ever.

Because even though this series between the Knicks and the Celtics doesn't have much to do with James himself.

But Duncan, who was supposed to use the phrase "The future is yours" to knock James out of the first decision and then use a series of Finals victories to knock James out of the second decision, has now been reversed, and has been knocked out of his second decision by the Knicks, who are nominally led by James.

In fact, if it weren't for the need to beat Qin Yue once, Duncan's best option would undoubtedly be to join the Warriors.

Unfortunately.
Duncan's pride as a senior student wouldn't allow him to do that.

……

In the Eastern Conference, the Celtics' elimination is now officially on the countdown.

In the West, after leading his team to a 4-0 sweep of the Grizzlies, the Warriors also secured their ticket to the Western Conference Finals ahead of the Lakers.

Why did they beat the Lakers to it?
After the Lakers and Mavericks finished their fourth game, Qin Yue was quite certain that the Mavericks were no match for the Lakers.

Although since last season, Nowitzki has chosen to burn himself out, and his voluntary pay cut has brought the Mavericks a highly competitive roster.

However, it must be said that the Lakers did make a good trade last summer.

In the past, Qin Yue would have criticized Paul for not living up to his double All-NBA First Team title.

Based solely on his performance so far this season, absolutely no one would dare say that Paul isn't the strongest point guard currently playing in the league.

The significance of the Wake Forest duo's team sweeping the NCAA back then is still being revisited.

Because of the regular season, Qin Yue and Paul jointly won the five major statistical titles in the NBA this season.

In this Western Conference semifinal series against the Mavericks, Paul, who knew that as long as he could trade blows with Parker, he could leave the rest to the Gasol brothers and Kobe to handle, averaged 21 points, 4 rebounds and 9 assists for the Lakers in the first four games.

And Paul was in charge of the game.
The Lakers also significantly controlled their turnovers better than the Mavericks in this series.

In Qin Yue's previous life, throughout his entire career, Paul's assist-to-turnover ratio was as high as 4 to 1.

With a career average of 9.2 assists per game, Paul has only 2.3 turnovers per game.

What does this technical statistic mean?
This means that Paul was by no means as worthless as later critics claimed.

Although the so-called "God of Point Guards" is more often just a joke about Paul.

However, it cannot be denied that my playmaking ability is at a level that is lacking among the current generation of point guards.

In addition, the Gasol brothers, who come with a "brothers united" buff, also reminded Nowitzki of the painful memories of being bullied by the Spanish national team while playing for the German national team in this series.

Facing this Lakers team, it's impossible to have Nowitzki guard Kobe's Mavericks. The most awkward thing is that they can't hide Nowitzki on the defensive end.

Furthermore, compared to skilled players who can limit an opponent's penetration through defensive coverage and help defense speed, Tyson Chandler was simply outmatched by the Gasol brothers in the low post.

In short, the Mavericks' roster disadvantage has put them at a complete disadvantage in this Western Conference semifinals.

And the result was exactly as Qin Yue had predicted.

In just five games, Kobe, eager to lead the Lakers to another championship before retiring and settle old scores with Qin Yue, shattered the Mavericks' championship aspirations.

The Lakers defeated the Mavericks 4-1 and will face the Warriors in this year's Western Conference Finals.

According to the schedule, the first game of the Western Conference Finals will be played on May 18.

The Warriors, who lead the league in regular season standings, will have home-court advantage by playing the first game at home and the second game away.

Before the game started, Paul, who had reached the Western Conference Finals, even spoke with more confidence than usual: "Our purpose in coming to the Western Conference Finals is to end the Warriors' dominance of the league."

"Defeating him (Qin Yue) is not only the goal of our generation of players, but also a belief."

Qin Yue's old rival Kobe also said: "I know we didn't beat them in the regular season this year, but I have no doubt that we are a team that can overturn their dominance."

In ESPN's pre-game preview segment, the 19 experts invited by ESPN finally stopped overwhelmingly favoring the Warriors. Although 13 experts still predicted the Warriors would advance, the other six experts believed that the Lakers' performance in the regular season proved they were a team capable of challenging the Warriors.

etc.
Didn't the Lakers not win a single game against the Warriors in the regular season this year?

Why would any expert still bring up the regular season?

Because in the NBA, not all experts don't watch basketball.

In fact, judging from the regular season games between the Lakers and the Warriors, the Lakers were able to match the Warriors' level in both offense and defense.

This is not an easy series.

Even Qin Yue was mentally prepared before the start of this year's Western Conference Finals that "as long as Paul doesn't falter," the Warriors might have to go to a Game 7 against the Lakers to decide the winner.

……

2012 5 Month 18 Day.

The first game of the Western Conference Finals took place as scheduled at Oracle Arena, the home of the Warriors.

During the pre-game warm-up, Klay and Curry, who have always disliked each other, almost got into a fight again.

The reason was that Klay accidentally dribbled the ball onto the instep of his foot during dribbling practice, which earned him merciless ridicule from Curry in the other half of the court.

As we all know, when people can't hold back, they often can't.

"What's so funny?" Klay questioned Curry sharply. "Didn't you make a mistake like this in your game against the Grizzlies?"

In the previous Western Conference semifinals against the Grizzlies, Curry had some memorable moments in Games 2 and 4, with 5 and 6 turnovers respectively.

Among these instances, Curry was seen dribbling the ball onto the instep of his foot several times.

“But I’m a two-time NBA champion, what about you?” Curry immediately responded with the ultimate move Qin Yue had taught him.

Upon hearing this, Clay sneered, "Don't be in such a hurry. After this year, I will also have a ring of my own."

Furthermore, after a pause, Klay added, "And what's so great about your two championships? You were just a bench player for the Warriors, while I became a starter for the Lakers in my rookie season."

It's obvious that Curry is no match for Klay when it comes to trash talk.

Just like Kobe could never out-argue Qin Yue.

"Hey, isn't this Kobe Bryant, the one who's here to settle scores with me?" Before the game started, Qin Yue turned his gaze to Kobe and said this.

Seeing this, Kobe, who didn't want to talk to Qin Yue, immediately turned off his microphone.

However, he remained silent.

Even with Kobe's narrow-mindedness, which was comparable to that of a microorganism, he still couldn't help but hold a grudge against Qin Yue in his mind.

On the field, as the starting players of both teams took their places, the big screen displayed the starting lineups for this crucial match.

The away team, the Lakers, consist of Marc Gasol, Pau Gasol, Kobe Bryant, Klay Thompson, and Chris Paul.

The home team, the Warriors, consists of Brown, Qin Yue, Wallace, Green, and Nash.

Compared to previous games, the Warriors proactively adjusted their starting lineup this night, replacing veteran Bell with Green.

In the first two seasons, Green had almost no presence on the Warriors, but this season he has become a surprise weapon in Mike Malone's hands.

And Ma Long has another such surprise weapon in his arsenal.

That is Jimmy Butler, who has already earned the trust of the Warriors' coaching staff in terms of defense.

With Green and Butler, both handpicked by the GOAT, shining brightly this season, who would dare doubt the GOAT's judgment in player selection now?
Ok
Actually, if possible, Warriors president Larry Riley would prefer that Qin Yue not be involved in the Warriors' future player selection process.

Because this year, Qin Yue's suggestion to the Warriors' management was actually...
The team used its valuable first-round draft pick to select a senior who plays for the Spartans.
Draymond Green.

To be honest, when Riley saw the scouting report, he even wondered if Qin Yue had misremembered the name of his favorite player.

Why do you say that?

Because Green, who is only 198 cm tall barefoot, plays the role of an inside player on the court.

In the NBA, this height is practically a death sentence for Green.

Even during the physical testing, Green still had a wingspan of 216.5 centimeters.

However, apart from his wingspan, Green's overall qualities can only be described as mediocre.

Riley didn't understand why a player like this deserved the Warriors' first-round draft pick.

However, Qin Yue said this: "I have watched his games for the Spartans and I admire his energy on the defensive end."

Riley said with a wry smile, "But in the NBA, Drummond's height isn't enough to make him an excellent interior defender."

Qin Yue disagreed, saying, "Ben isn't very tall either, but he still became an excellent interior defensive player, didn't he?"

Upon hearing this, Riley was about to say, "How many Ben Wallaces are there in the NBA?"

However, seeing Qin Yue's burning gaze, Riley chose to keep quiet.

Because with the Warriors, keeping Qin Yue happy is Riley's top priority.

So it's just a first-round draft pick, right?

selected!
Whoever Qin Yue wants to pick, the Warriors will pick!

Anyway, if anything goes wrong, Larry Riley will have to pay the price!
In the center of the arena, let's set aside Riley's thoughts for now.

With the opening tip-off, and Marc Gasol defeating Jaylen Brown, the first game of the Western Conference Finals officially began.

Paul, who was responsible for dribbling the ball across half-court, made a slight change of direction to get past Nash, and then pulled up for a shot from the top of the key.

Swish-!
This was a three-pointer by Paul that demonstrated the Lakers' determination to the world.

Upon seeing this, the Warriors players on the bench, who had been chatting leisurely, immediately adopted serious and earnest expressions.

Back to the Warriors' offensive possession.

Qin Yue, who could see the extraordinary determination of the entire Lakers team in just one glance, decisively moved up to the high post to ask for the ball.

As the Warriors' undisputed leader, Qin Yue had to respond to the Lakers' attempt to dethrone the champions on his home court with an Answer Ball.

Bomb the ball, then step back to the side.

At a 45-degree angle on the right wing, Qin Yue decisively pulled up for a shot in front of Pau Gasol.

Swish-!
On TNT, Barkley laughed and said, "This is exactly the Lakers-Warriors showdown we've been waiting for! Chris Paul and Messiah have already gotten into the swing of things for this epic battle."

……

PS: Second update, totaling 8500 words! Failed to reach 10,000 words today, will try again tomorrow. Begging for monthly votes!

(End of this chapter)