Chapter 333: The sweep is imminent
Early in the morning of May 4, many New York fans who stayed up all night went out to grab several newspapers and magazines before going to bed. Today, the headlines in all sports sectors were the news they had known last night. The Knicks, who played at home, smoothed out a 16-point trail in the second half and successfully turned the tables in the last two minutes, taking a 2:0 lead in the Eastern Conference semi-finals. These New York fans were so excited that they couldn't sleep.
There is no doubt that Wu Huang became the team's savior last night. Although he only caught up with Ross in scoring and eventually ranked third in the game, his series of key goals and assists in the second half were the keys in helping the team turn defeat into victory. It was precisely because of Wu Huang's performance at these critical moments that the Knicks supported the final reversal.
Wu Huang scored 33 points, 9 rebounds, 12 assists and 3 steals last night. Although he grabbed a lot of key rebounds, he regretted that he ended up missing the triple-double. Otherwise, this victory would become a more classic battle for the Knicks, although it was great enough.
Associated Press reported: 2-0, no mercy.
This playoff is the most perfect playoff for Hugo and the Knicks. It defeated the Pacers 4-0 in the first round, which was much smoother than their thrilling elimination of the Hawks last season. People have reason to expect more from them. Sure enough, in the second round, the New York Emperor and his generals were like cold-blooded killers, ruthlessly admiring the enemy. The New Yorker who scored two games in a row has entered the Eastern Conference Finals with one foot, so let us expect more.
fox Sports: 2-0, a new era of the Eastern Emperor.
The Knight's King is no longer a king after leaving Cleveland, but this alliance will never lack a new overlord. The new emperor of New York is even more fierce. He wants to prove that he is the real chosen son of God.
espn: The leader of the New York quasi-triple dominating the battle situation, the melons fall to the ground, and the roses wither.
The Bulls were successfully reversed by the Knicks in the second game, and the total score was 0-2. Hugo scored 33 points, 9 rebounds and 12 assists. Stoudemire scored 40 points and 16 rebounds. The two scored together to hit a season high. The Knicks' probability of advancing has reached 89.5%.
Knicks official: The Holy Lord ruled the world, and the Knicks made rapid progress!
Hugo continues to maintain the honor of unbeaten in the playoffs. Although he has been behind since the beginning, the performance of the Holy Master at a critical moment of the game makes people feel a kind of kingly appearance. Not only is the key shooting unruly, today Hugo has once again become the rebounding king, grabbing key rebounds repeatedly to help the team stabilize the victory. The Knicks finally defeated the Bulls 114:111 and led 2:0 in the total score.
Bulls official: He is the last king in the peak battle, with $75 million or a waste of money.
Another miserable defeat. The reason why we have to add a "miserable" before the failure is because the smaller the score difference, the more miserable it is, it means we have a chance to win the game.
In recent months, we have become more and more familiar with the taste of losing. The difference is that today's pain has come more unforgettable. After establishing a lead early in the game, we failed to find a way to continue to pull the scores, and eventually failed.
This team shouldn't have failed like this, Boozer has to bear most of the responsibility. In this game with no way out, Boozer's data looks good, and his performance of 18 points, 10 rebounds and 3 assists is still the data of a top power forward. But looking at Boozer's weak performance on the court, the Bulls offered him a 5-year, $75 million contract, but when he was fighting for bayonets, he couldn't even win a 193m point guard. Of course, we mean rebounds, rebounds!
Just when the two teams were sing praises and taking the blame, the league announced the list of the best defensive team this season in a low-key manner. Dwight Howard, who won the best defensive player of the year, won the most votes, and four All-Star players, LeBron James, Kobe Bryant, Kevin Garnett and Rajon Rondo, also joined hands to be the first team of the best defensive team. Among them, Garnett and Kobe were selected for the first team of the best defensive team for the ninth time. They tied the results of Michael Jordan and Gary Payton, becoming the most selected players in the first team of the best defensive team in NBA history.
The NBA's best defensive team's candidates are not media people and journalists, but head coaches of the League 30 teams. Each of them gets a vote with two sets of names of 10 players in the lineup. The players written in the first team will get 2 points and the players in the second team will get 1 point respectively. For fairness, coaches of each team are not allowed to vote for their team players in the voting.
In this vote considered to be the fairest among all NBA selections, Howard won 27 first-choice votes and 2 second-choice votes, ranking first with a super high score of 56 points. LeBron James, scored 39 points and 17 first-choice votes, ranking second. Rajon Rondo, scored 39 points and 16 first-choice votes, ranking third.
The Knicks' second team player scored the highest score, with 20 points, while the other four selected were Chris Paul, Tyson Chandler, Gerald Wallace and Jockin Noah.
Both Wu Huang and Tony Allen were very frustrated. One of them ranked fourth in the point guard with 14 points and the other ranked fifth in the defender with 15 points. Both of them were very close to the second team. Such a scoring shows that the league coach recognized their excellent defense, but they were not the best two in their position.
In terms of the heavier team of the season, the new MVP Wu Huang led the team to the best record in the league this season and finally successfully selected the point guard in the first team. LeBron James of the Miami Heat led the team to the best team small forward. Kobe of the Lakers, Durant of the Thunder and Howard of the Magic occupied the other three positions.
But what made Wu Huang feel dissatisfied was that James actually won all the votes in the first team, and he was the player with the highest score and the least questionable score in this lineup. In the Heat of the Big Three this season, he can still score 26.7 points, 7.5 rebounds and 7.0 assists.
In the eyes of many fans, the best team is not as fair as the best defensive team in the selection, but it is much better than the ones selected by reporters. This selection was selected by 119 NBA commentators and commentators. They need to list the best one, two, and three teams in their minds. The players listed in the first team won 5 points, the players listed in the second team won 3 points, and the players listed in the third team won 1 point.
Wu Huang didn't know if he offended the media a lot. He only got 66 first-team votes, 49 second-team votes, and 4 third-team votes. The final total score was only 481 points, making him the lowest score in the first team.
James scored a total of 595 points, which means that 119 judges listed him in the first team. Howard followed James by two points, while Kobe scored 551 points (98 first-team votes), and Durant had 492 points (69 first-team votes).
At the same time, the 2nd and 3rd NBA lineups were also released, the list is as follows
Second team: Dwyane Wade, Dirk Nowitzki, Paul Gasol, Zach Randolph, Derek Ross.
Third lineup: Lamarcus Aldridge, Amal Stoudemire, Yao Ming, Manu Ginobili, Chris Paul.
Although Wu Huang felt that he was embarrassed to be the lowest scorer in the first team, the Asian media did not feel that way at all, especially the Chinese fans were crying and very happy.
It is a pity for all Chinese fans that Yao Ming has not been selected for the first team. In the 2006-07 season, Yao Ming was only more than 20 points less than Sir, which was the closest Chinese player to the first team. Now Wu Huang has become the first Chinese player in NBA history to enter the first team of the year, and broke the youngest record of 21 years and 5 months set by Wes Unseld, which is another milestone breakthrough for Chinese athletes.
"Wait, I'm breaking the record again?" Wu Huang still knew from Christine that he broke the record again.
Yesterday he received a leak from Hermione, and Christine seemed to be a little intimate with Alan Page in the same crew recently. These two girls who are considered to have come out are getting together to hook up. It would be strange if people don’t doubt it. The British girl is obviously suspected that her girlfriend has cheated, so she asked her boyfriend to come and have a chance.
Emperor Wu didn't want to come at first, but he couldn't help but call Emma Watson repeatedly. It seemed that little Hermione was really jealous, which made Emperor Wu feel very distraught.
Alan Page is also a girl who is reported to be lily-oriented by the media. Emperor Wu is also a little dissatisfied with this. It would be fine if he is hooked up with his girl now. After all, he can still come back, which is not a loss. But if he comes back with a woman he doesn't know, he also wants to interfere. Emperor Wu suddenly feels that he has lost a lot, and he won't come back!
Unfortunately, Emperor Wu didn't even ask any slightest in the end. He couldn't ask such a thing too directly. Christine sometimes showed her cold side. At this time, Emperor Wu would feel like she was being eaten and sheltered.
In fact, after discovering the misfortune between Christine and Emma Watson, Emperor Wu could feel that the cold girl was sometimes enthusiastic about herself, but sometimes she was a little cold. To be honest, he was very willing to change her mind. On the contrary, he was very satisfied with the result of killing two birds with one stone. But I just don’t know if the girl will feel bored after a long time. One day, Christine or Hermione kicked him off and got a marriage certificate with the other party. This is not impossible.
"It seems that I have never exposed their bad things!" Emperor Wu remembered when he went to Chicago the next day. He seemed to have never exposed her relationship with Hermione in front of Christine. Although this was already very obvious, the relationship between them was that is really complicated after careful consideration.
When the Knicks came to Chicago, it was already No. 5. The first two matches of the division semi-finals had all ended. Among the frustrated people, there were the Lakers and Celtics who were more concerned by the media. The two teams were beaten 2:0, which made the media and fans pay more attention to the news.
Let’s talk about the Celtics in the East first. In the first game, they played hard to distinguish with the Heat, and the gap between the winner and lose cannot be seen. But in the second game, the Celtics’ old appearance was fully displayed, especially Garnett performed the most.
In the second game, the Celtics were at a disadvantage in the whole game and were mostly behind their opponent's double-digit score difference. When the game came to the last 40 seconds, Garnett, who got the ball at the basket, wanted to use a dunk to vent his chest depression even if he lost. But one second later, at the moment of falling down, he understood that he was wrong. Because just as he jumped, LeBron James, who was resting defense at the basket, also jumped into the air and waited for him. The repaired knee made Garnett no longer as stagnant as before. He fell faster than James. So, James' giant palm slapped Garnett's move mercilessly... Finally, Garnett's helpless and confused eyes lying on the ground behind him, the so-called old age was reflected at that moment.
If the end of the Celtics is because of the age of the core of the main force, and the Celtics still have two home games to try to turn the world, then the Lakers' fall may not be just because of age. I'm afraid the lack of motivation to move forward and the decline of the role players' state is the reason why the Purple and Gold Army is about to face elimination. Moreover, what the Lakers have lost are two home games, and there is no hope of a comeback. Of course, in addition to the Lakers' own problems, the Mavericks, who have always been underestimated, have such strong strength in the playoffs, which is the real master of the current situation.
Dirk Nowitzki, in the history of NBA superstars, his status is always lower than others. Perhaps he is not as high as Wu Huang now. He has never been regarded as a superstar of the same level as Kobe and James. In the same position as Duncan and Garnett, Nowitzki also lost slightly in the star matchup of his time. Even if the Mavericks won 50 wins for more than ten consecutive years, people always think that the Mavericks will be habitually weak in the playoffs, and believe that the King of Nobel will lose at critical moments.
This round of series may correct people's prejudice against King No. In fact, Nowitzki's playoff resume has never lacked masterpieces that turn the tide: for example, the epic tiebreak with the Spurs and the scoring 50 points against the Suns. In this year's playoffs, Nowitzki seems to have some unexplainable changes, and he seems to be showing a domineering spirit in a low-key manner.
It is still unknown how far the Mavericks can go in the end, but since the start of the inaugural round, the Mavericks have been underestimated, while Nowitzki silently led the team to fight, clearing Dallas and himself.
Wu Huang was more interested in this game. It was the last 26 seconds of the game. Atai finally hit his first three-pointer from the outside, but at this time the Lakers were already out of reach. The huge 11-point gap made them unable to turn the game back. Atai, who lost his calmness, rushed up to steal Baria while retreating. He and Odom joined forces to block Baria in the backcourt. Atai stretched out his right arm and hit Baria in the face, racquetted him and racked him with the racket.
This action was very bad, so Artai was directly sent out after the second technical foul in this game.
Experts from Los Angeles said pessimistically that Atai is likely to be suspended, and once it is suspended, it will undoubtedly be a big blow to the Lakers. Although the beast's defensive ability has deteriorated, it is still one of the best in the Lakers. Whether it is against Marion or Nowitzki, Atai can cause trouble for his opponents. If the Lakers lack Atai, the "tank car" and run away to face the Mavericks, the difficulties they face can be imagined.
Wu Huang said gloatingly on his Twitter and Facebook: "I have to admit that that punch should not appear in the arena. Our World Peace may be crazy. This is very stupid. His fist was directly swung to Baria's face. I think he must have found the feeling of the boxing ring again at that time, but the league will not turn a blind eye to such an action. He will be fined or suspended. Will it be 0:4?" Wu Huang also teased Artest and couldn't help but suck the Mavericks.
The scores in the Western Conference Finals Grizzlies (1) vs (1) Thunder; Lakers (0) vs (2) Mavericks.
Eastern Conference Finals scored Knicks (2) vs (0) Bulls; Heat (2) vs (0) Celtics.
In addition to the two upstarts in this year's divisional semi-finals, the Grizzlies and Thunder, it is very likely that the other three teams will eliminate their opponents with big scores at the same time. It would not be strange if there are three 4-0 sweeping series in a few days.
Knicks coach D'Antoni first appeared in Chicago as the visiting coach. He led 2-0 and his voice was much brighter and clearer than the last game. As soon as he got off the plane, he issued a championship declaration with confidence: "This is one of the 16 wins we need to win. Now we are still 10 games away from the goal."
As for whether we can sweep the Bulls, D'Antoni was very low-key: "I believe we will enjoy this night when we spend the night here tonight, but once the time points to the early morning, we should focus on preparing for the third game. If you want to succeed in this league, you need to be focused on facing the task in front of you. We will have a brief celebration, but we will be back to work next."
In contrast, Bulls coach Thibodeau was a little worried. Speaking of the last game, he concluded: "We played badly in the second half. I think we were good in the first half, but we had a tough time in the second half. We didn't defend some fast breaks and pick-and-rolls, and we should do better."
Thibodeau doesn't think so when it comes to cracking the Knicks' defense is the most important issue for the Bulls: "We actually don't care so much about this issue. Their defense is not good, and our offense is not bad. Compared to that, we care more about our defense. This is our problem tomorrow night."
On May 6, the two teams rested for two days, and the players regained their energy and were ready for a decisive battle. Today, the United Stadium was filled with 20,000 fans who were looking forward to the home team's miracle.
"It's not 3:0 yet!" Jordan said briefly before the game. Although he admired Emperor Wu, he certainly supported his old club at this time.
In the third game, Jordan and Pippen were sitting on the sidelines. His huge jersey was just above the seat. Bulls fans also hope to use the blessing of the God of Basketball to defeat the Knicks at home and recover their huge disadvantage in the series.
0:2 behind, the Bulls' life was hanging on the line. Today they played more tenaciously, but Emperor Wu was still their nightmare. The Emperor of New York easily scored 11 points in the first quarter. Today he felt very good.
In the first quarter, the Knicks started 8:0. They did not let their opponents shoot a goal in the past 3 minutes, but this was not the Knicks' strong defense, but the Bulls players themselves were unable to throw the ball. Today, Jordan and Pippen were on the court and watched the game, which seemed to make the Bulls players even more nervous. Even Anthony failed to continue their efficient performance in the first two games. Instead, Boozer, who has been taking the blame, performed very well on the offensive end.
Since then, the Bulls' shooting rate has not improved. They have scored some insignificant points intermittently, and the goals cannot be kept coherent, so the scoring speed is naturally difficult to guarantee. Although the Knicks also made consecutive shots in the second half of the first quarter, the Bulls still lag behind 18:24 after this quarter.
"I knew that they couldn't beat us even if they performed exceptionally in the first two games, so they would never win!" After the first quarter, Emperor Wu began to bury himself.
However, if you have the strength, you are not afraid of milk. In the second quarter, Wu Huang did not rest and sent two assists when he came up. However, the Bulls counterattacked stubbornly and narrowed the score to 6 points at most.
The Knicks are not without problems. Sir and Iguodala performed averagely today, but Wu Huang and Gallinari played at the level. The Knicks' strong lineup depth allowed them to allow one or two main players to occasionally steal.
Halfway through the quarter, after Anthony made a layup, the Bulls narrowed the gap to 6 points with 28:34, but Wu Huang made two three-pointers thereafter, and the Knicks once again expanded the lead, leading the Bulls 8 points with 52:44 in the first half.
Jordan was chatting with Pippen in midfield, but the disappointment in their hearts could be seen from the two of them shaking their heads from time to time.
Ross' performance today is still not good. This guy's poor shooting even made his teammates' morale drop. When your core can only shoot 39% of the field goal percentage and 24% of the three-point shooting percentage, do you still have the confidence to defeat your opponent?
Wu Huang has more and more experience in Ross' defense. He does not give the opponent a chance to shoot in the hot zone. He pinched Ross's several mid-range shooting points, and then used the help of his teammates to defend and break through. This kind of defense has already achieved results in the first two games, and its effect is more significant today, because Ross' own shooting confidence has also begun to shake, which makes it more difficult for him to score through the shooting.
"My three-point shooting percentage is higher than your shooting percentage. You might as well go home and sell sweet potatoes." Wu Huang has been using similar taunts to hit Ross' already low fighting spirit today. Later, he even used Jordan to stimulate Ross, which left the latter's psychology on the verge of collapse.
The Bulls fans comforted themselves in the midfield that they were only 8 points behind in the first half, and it was not the end of the day. Maybe Ross will find his form in the second half? Maybe Boozer and Anthony will be in a big way? Then wouldn’t they just beat the Knicks in one fell swoop?
However, imagination is beautiful, reality is cruel. It is not Rose who found the state in the second half, but Xiao Si. Although they all have the word "S" but the difference is huge.
In the third quarter, the Bulls' defense became much tighter, and Wu Huang's shooting percentage decreased. He only made 1 shot in 6 shots in a single quarter. The Knicks made only 6 of 19 shots and scored only 19 points in a single quarter. He only relied on Xiao Si to score.
The Bulls' defensive plan was successful, but their own offense was not played, and the score of 20 points in a single quarter was only one point higher than that of the Knicks.
The Chicago people can be said to have opened the net of heaven and earth, but it is still difficult to catch the Knicks in one go.
After the start of the fourth quarter, Wu Huang relied on his fast recovery and did not leave the court for a break. He had not had a rest yet today and continued to attack with the substitute lineup.
In the last game, the Knicks stood out with Tony Allen. Today, Green followed suit. He made two consecutive three-pointers in the fourth quarter, and these two three-pointers came from Wu Huang's assists. After the Knicks scored 10:4, they scored 13 points with 81:68.
After that, the Knicks began to control the situation. After Anthony scored continuously at low posts, Wu Huang also started his personal offense and frequently shot at mid-range shots. The Knicks always maintained a double-digit advantage.
When there were 7 minutes left in the game, Anthony could no longer hold on. Today Iguodala adopted a crazy close-fits-all defense, using this method of losing both sides to consume his physical strength, so that he only scored 2 points after three and a half quarters, but successfully consumed Anthony's physical strength and reduced Anthony's scoring efficiency.
At the 5th minute and 10th second, Monroe scored a mid-range shot and the Knicks led by 17 points with 93:76.
The Bulls made the last move, but Ross and Anthony missed consecutive shots, and they could only rely on Boozer to score. After Wu Huang scored 6:2 alone, the Knicks completely killed the suspense and led 102:82 with 2 minutes and 26 seconds left. Wu Huang led his another quasi-triple double to the court early.
Chicago fans began to leave the court, and the Bulls could only score in the last quarter by Boozer, who had been scolded by them for three days. If this could turn around, unless Wu Huang and Xiao Si fought and then accidentally knocked D'Antoni, who was struggling, was almost hopeful.
But the cruel reality is that the Knicks are about to lead 3:0, and the New Yorkers are in sight. NBA has not yet led the team that has been reversed 3:0, which means that one foot and a 28-piece of the Knicks player have entered the Eastern Conference Finals. It is already a smirk that the Bulls can not be swept.
Jeff Van Gundy said after Wu Huang left the court: "It seems that MVP cannot satisfy Hugo. Today he scored the third highest 44 points in his playoff career, with 8 rebounds, 10 assists and 2 steals, and almost got a triple-double again."
Chapter completed!