Champion Rules

Chapter 250, Section 246: Every generation needs to confront its own Larry Bird (Seeking monthly votes!)
In 2010.

Lynch is undoubtedly the most famous basketball superstar in the world.

The records he set in the regular season were terrifying.

场均30.3分13.6个篮板4.6次助攻1.8次抢断和2.8次盖帽的个人数据也是卓越的。

This nearly full and comprehensive stat sheet not only helped him win the scoring title for the second time in his career, but also marked the first time he had won both the scoring title and the rebounding title in a single season.

As the first player since Kareem Abdul-Jabbar to average 30+10 for two consecutive seasons, Lynch's individual ability has reached its peak.

If this era must have a master, then Lynch is undoubtedly the most qualified to be that master.

Of course, all the glory in the regular season was just the foundation upon which Lynch named this era.

If you ultimately fail to win the championship, even the most magnificent foundation is nothing more than an unfinished building.

One major difference between the four major North American professional sports leagues and leagues in other countries is that they provide valuable "second chances" for teams that are good enough but finish second in the regular season—such as the Detroit Pistons.

If the NBA were ranked by points like European football leagues, the Knicks would already be entitled to the championship trophy.

But things are never that simple here.

The New York Knicks must completely defeat the 68-win Pistons in a head-to-head matchup to truly consider themselves victorious.

And this is exactly the opportunity that LeBron James desperately wants: to rewrite the season's ending.

Although LBJ did not comment on Marc Stein's social media post comparing Lynch to MJ, he did give an interview to ESPN before the playoffs began.

The conversation inevitably turned to the Knicks, and LBJ made no attempt to hide his confidence.

"Yes, the New York Knicks had a great regular season; they deserve to be number one."

But we only won 6 fewer games than New York (the Knicks' record is 74 wins, not 75, as corrected above), so the gap between us isn't as big as people imagine.

You could even say there's no gap between us.

LBJ's remarks did not generate much discussion.

Because similar things happen every year.

Every season, just before the playoffs begin, there are always a few star players who turn into listless, middle-aged men.

Middle-aged men often shout "Watch me fuck you tonight" before starting, but they give up and fall asleep five minutes later, forcing their partners to rely on new energy products.

From an outsider's perspective, LeBron James' confidence is similar to this.

The Pistons' journey will not be easy. Judging from the final rankings, if they want to compete with the Knicks in the playoffs, they will at least have to cleanly defeat the Heat in the second round.

Otherwise, they might very well experience the tragedy of "vomiting as soon as they got to the door".

The 68-win Pistons are indeed excellent, but the 59-win Heat are no pushovers either.

The day before the playoffs began, the NBA also launched a brand new "Big Events" themed advertisement.

This season has indeed seen many significant events.

The Detroit Pistons' 68 regular-season wins and LeBron James's breakthrough of the "Lynch curse" proved that building a super team is indeed a shortcut.

The Los Angeles Lakers, on the other hand, used two closely contested games to declare to the world that Lynch is not an unshakeable league champion.

The New York Knicks' series of legendary records undoubtedly perfectly illustrate the theme of "big things happening".

Now, with the playoffs underway, even bigger things are brewing.

Of course, Chicago fans don't expect anything big to happen in the first round.

The Chicago Bulls' tragic finish as the eighth seed in the Eastern Conference for the second consecutive season means that Derrick Rose will face Lynch in the playoffs for the second consecutive season.

Derrick Rose still remembers what Lynch said to him when they were swept in the first round last season:
"Remember this feeling, remember the searing pain of being crushed right now. When you achieve success, I will still be here, waiting for you."

This sentence, like a brand, inspired the Windy City Roses to train hard during the off-season, and they have put in even more effort in the new season.

He longed to one day achieve great success and personally shatter the shadow cast by Lynch.

结果
Before he could even achieve fame and success, Lin Qi was back again!

In Game 1 of the series, in New York, Derrick Rose's gaze cut through the noise and landed squarely on the striking figure of number 20.

A sense of powerlessness gripped him, and the voice of self-doubt rose uncontrollably from the depths of his heart:

"What's the point of me leading the team to the playoffs? Did we fight tooth and nail to get to the playoffs just for this? Just to be swept out by the Knicks again?"

Depression spread like a cold tide.

He was thinking that if Joakim Noah hadn't been injured this season, the Bulls could definitely have surpassed the Bobcats and even the Bucks. That way, the Bulls wouldn't have faced the Knicks again.

Derrick Rose gets furious whenever the Bucks are mentioned.

Because of money, the Chicago Bulls let Ben Gordon go.

And because of money, the Chicago Bulls practically gave away John Salmons, whose contract was about to expire, to Milwaukee.

As a result, John Salmons' average of 19 points per game dragged a team that was out of playoff contention to sixth place in the Eastern Conference.

In Derrick Rose's view, the Bulls' management's actions were tantamount to seeing that the opponent was about to lose, so they very considerately handed the opponent a knife, and then let the opponent turn around and stab them hard.

First, LeBron James betrayed his hometown, and now the Chicago Bulls have betrayed themselves.

This awful season made him realize that the most important person beside a star player is not actually Scottie Pippen.

Most importantly, it's a cheap Scottie Pippen.

Damn bad luck, coupled with the stinginess and scheming of the management, ultimately pushed him to New York once again, pushing him to face the insurmountable mountain that was Lynch.

He hadn't done anything wrong, yet he was subjected to the most merciless punishment.

Seeing that Chicago's number 1 player seemed a bit down, Lynch went over and chatted with him: "Derrick, you weren't like this last season. What's wrong? It's only your second year, and you're already getting tired of this court?"

Derrick Rose shook his head, his voice so low it was almost drowned out by the noise of the arena: "I'm just tired of losing."

"Fuck, you haven't even played yet, and you already know you're going to lose? You need to learn from LeBron. Whenever he feels he's been fouled, he'll throw his hands up at the referee, even if the referee didn't even touch him. I mean, be confident!"

Ross gave a wry smile, looked up and asked, "Then tell me, do I have a chance to win?"

Lin Qi thought for a few seconds: "Okay, there really isn't a chance."

“However,” Lynch changed the subject, tossing the basketball to Rose with a light touch, “the most important thing is the process. This year’s playoffs weren’t meaningless for you. You showed your improvement, you showed your determination, and most importantly—”

Lynch pointed to Rose's heart and said, "You need to see clearly what's between you and victory. You can test your limits here and see how far you can go with all your might!"

Because the cameras were right around the two of them, Lynch's words to Ross were clearly transmitted to the ears of viewers in front of their televisions via the live broadcast signal.

At this moment, both New York and Chicago fans fell silent.

You fucking believe that?
Lynch actually encouraged his playoff opponent before the game!
This is simply the most unbelievable scene any fan has ever seen.

Lynch has become so strong that he even needs to give his opponents some psychological preparation before the match can proceed normally.

Derrick Rose nodded, his fighting spirit rekindled.

Then, the fighting spirit that Lynch had ignited in him was almost entirely extinguished by Lynch himself in the very first quarter.

In the first quarter alone, Lynch scored 9 points and grabbed 5 rebounds.

Facing the frontcourt duo of Luol Deng and Taj Gibson, Lynch moved with unimpeded ease, the opposing defense proving virtually nonexistent. Furthermore, because the game wasn't so dire that Lynch needed to rely on individual skill to break through, the Knicks actually played a very team-oriented game in the first quarter.

This means that Lynch is not the only one who has achieved success on the field.

Steve Nash scored 5 points and had 4 assists in the quarter.

Raja Bell and Ron Artest each scored 7 points.

In the first quarter, the Knicks went on a 32-18 run!

Derrick Rose had no idea how far he could go, but he saw how far Lynch could win!
They won by 14 points in a single quarter, but if they lost by 2 points in the middle, the Bulls would suffer a 58-point massacre.

Chris Paul cares more about this game than about his next contract!
In the second quarter, the referee attempted to act as a balancer.

They hope the game will be more balanced, at least not turn into garbage time after just one and a half quarters.

So they gave the Bulls a period of time with a hair's breadth whistle.

They almost wished Bulls head coach Vinnie Denagro could go up and shoot two free throws.

But at halftime, the Chicago Bulls were still down by 21 points.

Seeing this, Flip Saunders didn't want to waste any more time or the precious energy of his key players in a situation that was already clear.

He told the team in the locker room, "We'll close the game in the third quarter."

Then, Derrick Rose realized that the first half was far from the New York Knicks' limit.

When the Knicks unleashed their true defensive intensity in the third quarter, the Chicago Bulls suddenly went into a long scoring drought.

The Chicago Bulls, with an eight-man rotation, only scored a combined eight points in the first eight minutes of the third quarter!
Eight players scoring only eight points doesn't seem like much, as scoring efficiency is inherently low in games with high-intensity defense.

But what's truly terrifying is that 6 out of those 8 points are free throws!

The referees did their best, but they couldn't find the Chicago Bulls' floor at all!

Derrick Rose was the only Bulls player to score in the first eight minutes, going 1-for-5 from the field and only managing 8 points from 6 free throws.

It's not scary to score one point at a time in basketball; what's scary is when your teammates don't score a single point!
Eight minutes later, the New York Knicks had extended their lead to 32 points.

Philip Sanders waved his hand, signaling the end of the campaign.

The point difference isn't the most crucial factor; the most crucial factor is that the Chicago Bulls' mentality has completely collapsed in the past eight minutes.

You can't expect everyone to be like Yang Hansen in Game 3 of the Summer League, who quickly adjusted and responded after being blown out at the start.

Ultimately, the Chicago Bulls lost their first game by 46 points.

The two "garbage brothers," Goran Dragic and DeMar DeRozan, clearly left Chicagoans with no dignity whatsoever during garbage time.

Of course, Chris Paul will likely consider these two as mortal enemies from now on.

He was extremely disappointed with their performance!
The first game of the series against the Chicago Bulls was already a do-or-die game, and normally their next game would be the South Station of Chicago.

There was no other way; no matter how deep the gap in strength was, all four matches had to be played.

In Game 2, Joakim Noah was on fire, dominating the Knicks' paint with a whopping 7 offensive rebounds.

This was partly due to underestimating their opponents; Tyson Chandler and DeAndre Jordan both believed the Bulls would simply give up, so their positioning wasn't as aggressive as before.

This variable allowed the Bulls to keep the score close for the first three quarters.

With the Chicago Bulls trailing by only 4 points going into the fourth quarter after three quarters, Derrick Rose began to dream of becoming the first player this season to win at Madison Square Garden.

Fortunately, Derrick Rose unlocked the second phase of the playoffs – Star Time.

This made him truly understand the cruelty of the playoffs.

In the fourth quarter, Derrick Rose truly understood what it meant for "the playoffs to be a stage for superstars."

Lynch suddenly stepped up his game, switching to dominant mode and scoring 17 points on 6-of-8 shooting in the quarter, ultimately leading his team to a 14-point victory.

Throughout the fourth quarter, Derrick Rose had only one feeling: Lynch's authority was irresistible!
When you think you can win, when you think you can steal a victory from Madison Square Garden.

Lynch will then use his cold and efficient actions to burn your delusions to ashes.

Time and again, he actively demanded the ball on offense, taking control of the game as the player in charge.

Time and again, he transformed into a solid wall on the defensive end, ruthlessly extinguishing any glimmer of hope that his opponents might ignite.

He was stern and unsmiling, like a cold machine programmed with killing intent.

In the regular season, a star player can defeat another star player with the help of a system or tactics.

But in the playoffs, where strategies are meticulously planned and laid out like a spiderweb, to overcome any opponent and achieve victory, you must demonstrate superior raw strength.

This kind of competition, where there are absolutely no shortcuts, is the most brutal kind of contest in competitive sports.

What's even more cruel is that Lynch revealed his bloodthirsty side.

When the Knicks pulled ahead by double digits again, Lynch ran toward Derrick Rose, pointed to the scoreboard, and spoke with an almost mocking languor:

"Derek, I'm so bored I'm even thinking of using my left hand. You don't really want to see me do that, do you?"

Then, in the next possession, he actually put the ball into the basket with a smooth left hook shot.

"Damn it, Derek, move! I can't exactly use my feet, can I?!"

Derrick Rose even thought at the time that even if Lynch really used his feet, he and the Chicago Bulls probably wouldn't be able to do anything about it.

With a 2-0 lead, the New York Knicks have essentially secured their advancement.

In their next two games in Chicago, the Bulls couldn't even close the gap to single digits in either one game.

Derrick Rose's individual performance was actually quite good, averaging 24.8 points, 3.4 rebounds, and 7.2 assists per game in the series.

Unfortunately, his individual brilliance was ultimately insufficient to salvage a respectable defeat for the Bulls.

At the press conference after Game 4, a reporter asked Derrick Rose how he felt about being swept in the first round by Lynch for two consecutive seasons.

As a Chicago native, Derrick Rose subconsciously thought of Michael Jordan, who was swept in the first round for two consecutive seasons early in his career, and of Lynch's trash talk about "I'm going to use my left hand" during Game 2.

A vivid image entered his mind.

He forced a helpless, bitter smile, offering a seemingly fatalistic conclusion:

"Perhaps every generation needs to confront its own Larry Bird."
-
What makes Lynch even more terrifying than Larry in '86 is that when Michael Jordan lost to Larry in the playoffs, Larry was already 31 years old, which allowed MJ to confidently say, "A new sheriff has arrived in town." But Lynch in '10 was only 24! His dominance was limitless! — Stephen A. Smith's summary of Derrick Rose on a show.

Poor Derrick, he's an outstanding player. If he had the Cleveland Cavaliers' management team, willing to go to great lengths to build a roster around him, he wouldn't have faced Lynch in the first round two years in a row. But Chicago fans shouldn't be too heartbroken, because LBJ didn't even make the playoffs in his second year as a professional. Derrick is good enough; give him some time. —Chicago Tribune

The Detroit Pistons swept the Charlotte Bobcats 4-0, with LeBron James glaring at Michael Jordan as he dunked. —Detroit Free Press

The Orlando Magic lead the Atlanta Hawks 3-1 and are about to face Lynch again in the second round.

The good news is that Dwight Howard is now more willing to relinquish his offensive role and focus on defense. The bad news is that his relationship with Ray Allen is beyond repair.

Unless they can crush the New York Knicks in the next round, it's highly unlikely we'll see Dwight Howard and Ray Allen on the roster together next season.

Welcome to our official website to vote for the party you believe is truly at fault.

—The Orlando Sentinel.

(End of this chapter)