Legendary star

Chapter 470 The Finals Are Coming

"Finals, here we come!"

"Tyshawn, we're in the finals, we're in the finals!"

On June 2003, 6, in the center of the court at the Continental Arena in New Jersey, after the game, the Pacers players rushed to the court to celebrate wantonly, especially the team's two rookies NN- Hilario and Tayshaun Prince, although they usually look mature and stable, but the Pacers eliminated the Nets and reached the finals for two consecutive seasons, and the two of them also entered the finals in their rookie season. After entering the finals with the team, the two people who hugged and celebrated together on the court are now a little incoherent with excitement.

Since the game ended after the third quarter, the Nets had already gone, so many spectators on the scene had already left the field at that time, but there were still a few diehard fans of the Nets who always accompanied me like The team was unwilling to leave until the end of the game, even after the game, still staring at everything in front of them, watching the Pacers who were celebrating crazily on the field, watching or sitting on the sidelines, or sitting on the basketball court. Below, full of frustrated and helpless Nets players.

"Hey, this year is still a bit short!" After the sixth game of the series between the Nets and the Pacers, Jason Kidd, the head of the Nets, leaned on the billboard on the sidelines and watched quietly. Looking at the Pacers players who were celebrating on the court, their faces were full of unwillingness and regret. They reached the Eastern Conference Finals for two consecutive years, but lost to the same opponent twice in a row. This kind of result has already made Jason Kidd a little tired up.

In the Eastern Conference semifinals of this season, the Pacers eliminated the Pistons 4-1, and the Nets swept the Celtics 4-0. Therefore, after meeting in the Eastern Conference Finals last season, the Nets and Pacers met in the Eastern Conference Finals again this season. , Although compared to the last Eastern Conference finals, the group of young people in the Nets team has improved a lot, and the team's tactics are more stable and mature, but facing the Pacers who are also much stronger than last season, the Nets Nets still lost after 6 battles. The score of 4 to 2 did not seem to be a big gap, but Kidd knew in his heart that the Pacers had not exerted all their energy, especially Meng Xu. One game, and the other games were played in a closed position, trying to serve his teammates as much as possible. Compared with this round of the series, Meng Xu is already thinking about the finals.

"Perhaps, we should also make some changes!" The Nets tried their best, but they couldn't even win the Pacers who had reservations in the game. This kind of result made Kidd feel frustrated, but also I started to think about it. Compared with the Pacers, the Nets undoubtedly have a lot of shortcomings. The inside line is not as good as the Pacers, and the rotation lineup is slightly worse than the Pacers. There is also a very important point, that is, the team's head coach. In the Eastern Conference Finals, Byron Scott was overwhelmed by Larry Bird, both on the tactical level and on the spot. In the crucial battle of Tianwangshan, Byron Scott showed timidity , On-the-spot command mistakes again and again.

In this year's playoffs, the Nets swept the 76ers in the first round and the Celtics in the second round. They showed strong dominance on both ends of the offense and defense, especially the two young players of the team. Kenyon Martin averaged 17 points and 8 rebounds per game this season. In the playoffs, he averaged 21 points, 9 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals and 2 blocks per game.The second-year Richard Jefferson has also made significant progress this season. He averaged 14+6+3 per game in the regular season. He averaged 18 points, 7 rebounds, and 4 assists in the series, not only providing the team with strong firepower on the offensive end, but also on the defensive end in the matchup with Antoine Walker. The All-Star forward's defense has fallen short. Antoine Walker, who averaged 22 points per game in the regular season, averaged only 14 points per game in this round of the series, and his shooting percentage was as low as 34%. It is only 3%. It can be said that Richard Jefferson's successful restriction of Antoine Walker is also a key factor for the Nets to sweep the Celtics.

In this case, the Nets were ready to fight, but they were hit by the Pacers in the Eastern Conference Finals.Richard Jefferson, who successfully locked Antoine Walker, still seemed a bit inadequate when facing Meng Xu. Although Meng Xu averaged only 6 points per game in 26 games, Meng Xu's hit The shooting rate was as high as 58%, and the 3-point shooting rate also reached 43%. In addition, he also averaged 8 rebounds and 9.5 assists per game. rebounds, 48 assists and a large triple-double, it can be said that Richard Jefferson's defense against Meng Xu was a failure.And Kenyon Martin's performance under the joint strangling of Mutombo and Jermaine O'Neal was even worse, and he completely lost the glory of the first two rounds of the playoffs.

While the Pacers players on the field were still celebrating wildly, Meng Xu, who had calmed down, quietly walked to the sidelines, stood on the edge of the Pacers' bench, and looked at Kidd who was leaning on the billboard in a daze not far away. , since he has a good personal relationship with Kidd, Meng Xu really wanted to go to comfort him, but he didn't know what to say.Perhaps Kidd also noticed that Meng Xu was staring at him, turned his head, and looked at him. After only a moment, Kidd quickly turned around again. Maybe after losing to Meng Xu consecutively, Kidd doesn't know now. What kind of mood should I face Meng Xu.

"Boss, let's go!" The Pacers players celebrating wildly at the Nets' home court naturally attracted the dissatisfaction of the Nets fans. A big package of boos. Amidst the boos all over the sky, the Pacers players finally stopped celebrating and began to return to the locker room one after another. Jamal Tinsley, who was walking behind the team, saw Meng Xu who was staying on the sidelines. He rushed over and grabbed him.

On the third day after the Pacers defeated the Nets, the Pacers' opponents in the finals were also announced. After six games, the Lakers finally eliminated the Mavericks and joined the Pacers in the finals again. The road to promotion is much more difficult than that of the Pacers. The first round against the Timberwolves and the final against the Mavericks took six games to decide the winner. The Western Conference semifinals with the Spurs involved seven games. The tiebreaker in the final game was the final winner.

　Thank you for the monthly ticket for the old smoker to sing Qin Opera, thank you.

　　Thank you for the monthly pass of the surging creek, thank you.

　　Thanks for [reward] Cynicism° (cynicism) two monthly tickets, thank you.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)