The longest river

Chapter 92 Bet
"NBA Insider" aired its final episode before the playoffs began.

For this episode, they specially invited well-known commentators from major media outlets, including Mike Brin, Mav Albert, and Hubie Brown.

They had a heated discussion about the playoff situation.

The matchups for the East and West this year are as follows:
西部：超音速（64胜）VS国王（38胜）、马刺（59胜）VS太阳（41胜）、爵士（55胜）VS开拓者（44胜）、湖人（53胜）VS火箭（48胜）；

东部：公牛（72胜）VS热火（42胜）、魔术（60胜）VS活塞（46胜）、骑士（48胜）VS老鹰（46胜）、步行者（47胜）VS尼克斯（47胜）。

At the beginning of the show, they all took out markers and small KT boards and wrote down which of the eight pairs they thought was the most worth paying attention to.

When the answers were revealed, the results were quite surprising. Of the four, only Mike Breen chose the Lakers and the Rockets, while the other three unanimously chose the Pacers and the Knicks.

"I thought at least someone would pick the Bulls and the Heat." Host Ernie Johnson was surprised, adding that the rivalry between Riley and Jordan was quite interesting.

“Master, tell me your reasons.” After everyone put down the KT board, Johnson looked at Albert.

"I want to see how that high school kid performs in the playoffs." Albert said in a tone of schadenfreude, though everyone knew he was the one who had the lowest opinion of Yang Shuai from the beginning.

"Rookie players generally have a hard time adapting to the intensity of the playoffs, and it's even more difficult for high school rookies. Plus, you have to consider that New York has a strong and cunning guy like John (Starks)." He also gave his reasons.

"Speaking of John, that's also why I chose this matchup. They clashed directly in the regular season, and I'm really looking forward to seeing them face off on the court," Brown explained.

The fight between Yang Shuai and Starks was so intense that it became the subject of an article titled "Chinese Kung Fu Appears in the NBA".

Miller will be unavailable for this series, so Starks will be directly matched up against Yang Shuai, and he will definitely put a lot of pressure on Yang Shuai.

“Ernie, what’s your reasoning?” Albert looked at Johnson.

"I have the same reason as you, I'm really looking forward to Hansen's performance in the series." If Albert was the one who was always pessimistic about Yang Shuai, then Ernie Johnson was the one who was the most optimistic.

"How many points do you think he can get in a game, 5? 10?" Albert's contempt was palpable.

"Maybe 20 points? 30 points?"

"Come on, Ernie, do you believe a high school rookie can score 30 points in a playoff game? He's never scored 30 points in the regular season. Do you even believe that yourself?"

"Perhaps only time will tell."

Ernie Johnson and Mav Albert's sharp exchanges generated a lot of entertainment.

"How about we make a bet?" Albert suddenly suggested.

This immediately caught the attention of Brin and Brown; it's not common for commentators to make bets on each other these days.

"I'm betting on whether Hansen can score 20 points in the opening game." Albert's confidence has been greatly boosted after his successful prediction of the Heat's victory over the Pacers last time.

"What's the bet?"

“A bet…” Albert pondered for a moment; the idea of ​​making a bet was just a spur-of-the-moment thing for him.

Most bets involve money, but commentators' salaries are very low these days, and gambling on TV shows would definitely have a negative impact.

Just then, he suddenly noticed an advertisement placed in front of the table; it was a sponsor of a condiment company.

“Wasabi,” Albert blurted out.

"mustard?"

"Yes, the loser eats 5cm of wasabi."

When Brin and Brown heard about the bet, their eyes widened. Albert was really ruthless this time.

“No problem,” Johnson agreed.

Before the playoffs began, in order to help the players concentrate better, the Pacers held their pre-game training sessions at Indiana Community College.

Brown's intention was to prevent outside noise from interfering with the team, but some news still managed to get in like the wind.

Before training began that day, the players were warming up on the sidelines.

"Hansen, have you heard? Ernie Johnson and Mave Abbott are betting on you, on whether you can score 20 points in the first game." Scott walked up to Yang Shuai; he was incredibly well-informed.

Yang Shuai shook his head.

"What are they betting on?" He was a little curious, though. The person he remembered most often making bets was Barkley, who had become a commentator, but Barkley was still playing basketball right now.

"The loser has to eat 5cm of wasabi."

"I definitely want to watch the next episode."

Yang Shuai had eaten wasabi before, and even just a little bit was spicy enough. Imagine eating 5cm of it dry – that would be incredibly stimulating.

"You're so confident?"

Scott watched the entire program, and what Albert said actually made sense; the defensive intensity in the playoffs is much higher than in the regular season.

"What confidence do I need? No matter who loses in the end, someone will still have to eat wasabi, right?"

Yang Shuai was simply curious about what it would be like for a person to eat 5cm of wasabi.

"Uh..." Yang Shuai's words left Scott speechless, but he quickly laughed. High school students' thought processes are indeed quite different from adults'.

However, after hearing Yang Shuai's answer, he had even more confidence in Yang Shuai.

Another important factor that makes it difficult for rookies to perform well in the playoffs is their mentality. Most people will underperform due to nervousness when they first step onto the playoff stage.

However, with Yang Shuai's relaxed attitude, even if he doesn't score 20 points, his performance shouldn't be as low as Albert said, where he only scores 5 points.

Before the playoffs began, major media outlets were also promoting the matchups in each group, with the Knicks vs. Pacers game being a hot topic.

The NBA has always had rivalries, such as the Lakers vs. Celtics rivalry, and the Bulls vs. the "Bad Boys" Pistons over the past decade, all of which are still talked about by fans.

The Pacers and Knicks are also trending towards becoming arch-rivals.

Two years ago, the Knicks eliminated the Pacers 4-3, and last year the Pacers successfully avenged that with a 4-3 victory. This year will be the third consecutive season that the two teams will meet in the playoffs.

To use an analogy, it's like setting up a ring where the two boxers are evenly matched in the first two rounds, and the final winner has to be decided in the third round.

After three days of rest and warm-up, the playoffs have finally officially begun.

Due to the time difference, the first matches to start were the two Eastern Conference matchups, with the opening game being the Bulls vs. the Heat.

The Bulls ultimately defeated the Heat 102-85.

This was a very typical Bulls-style victory.

At halftime, the two teams were still tied at 54, but in the second half, the Bulls increased their defensive intensity and outscored the Heat 48-31.

Yang Shuai is definitely familiar with this game, because the Nuggets used to play like this, a classic "slow simmer, then reduce over high heat" approach.

After the Bulls' game ended, the Knicks and Pacers, and the SuperSonics and Kings started their games around the same time.

The Pacers' home arena, City Square, was packed to capacity.

Fans held up a large number of KT boards supporting their home team, many of which were for Yang Shuai.

The last two regular season games were also opportunities for Yang Shuai to prove himself again.

Miller also appeared on the bench.

Although he couldn't play, he still boosted the team's morale in his own way.

On the commentary side, Ernie Johnson and Mav Albert are in charge of the commentary tonight.

After the pre-match warm-up, the starting lineups from both sides took to the field one after another.

Knicks: Derrick Harper, John Starks, Anthony Mason Jr., Oakley, Ewing

Pacers: Robertson, Young, McGee, Davis, Schmitz
Eureka won possession of the ball because the Knicks jumped for it.

After the Knicks advanced to the frontcourt, they developed a strategy centered around Ewing's low-post offense.

Because neither of the Knicks' two forwards, Mason and Oakley, have a three-point shot, Brown's strategy was to have the forwards collapse and help defend.

However, Ewing's pass was timely, and Mason's shot after receiving the ball in the mid-range was also decisive, and the ball went in.

Once they retreated to the defensive end, they used the same defensive approach as the Heat had used before, applying high-intensity pressure on Yang Shuai.

The Heat have Mourning, and the Knicks have Ewing; they are not afraid of Schmitz's threat in the low post.

Moreover, Starks's defense against Yang Shuai was also very effective.

It's not just about physical contact; because he's relatively short and fast, he's also very good at getting around screens.

After holding off the Pacers' offense, Ewing delivered another assist, this time to Oakley who sank a three-pointer from the corner!

The Knicks started with a 5-0 run.

It's clear they're very well prepared for tonight's match and are in excellent form.

In fact, the Knicks' overall strength this season has not declined significantly compared to last season.

The decline in performance is more related to changes in the coaching staff.

Not only did Riley leave for Miami at the beginning of the season, but the new head coach was also Don Nelson.

Riley built a tough defense, while Nelson focused on extreme offense; the difference in their styles meant they played completely different games.

As a result, after more than half a season, the management realized that the Knicks' roster configuration still needed to be based on defense, so they fired Don Nelson and promoted Jeff Van Gundy from assistant coach.

As if things weren't bad enough, when the Pacers adjusted their offense and sent Schmitz to the high post more often, Schmitz's shots from the high post kept missing.

The Pacers seem to have returned to the early days of the season, lacking advantage in the low post and having no space on offense.

At the end of the third quarter, the Knicks led the Pacers by a whopping 17 points, 78-61.

The city square stadium was deathly silent.

"The Pacers need to bring in Byron Scott; they need to provide support for Hansen on the weak side," Johnson said anxiously.

"Ernie, accept your fate," Albert said smugly.

If the Heat's victory over the Pacers was largely due to Brown substituting Young, which didn't allow him to fully vent his frustrations, then tonight he finally let out all the pent-up anger he had been holding back.

Johnson is definitely going to eat that 5cm of wasabi!
(End of this chapter)