Chapter 621 Reaching the Western Conference Finals
This evening, the second round series between the Timberwolves and Trail Blazers begins.
The three-headed monster headed by Garnett was really powerful. The two teams didn't decide the winner until the final quarter. In the end, the Blazers relied on their powerful inside attack to win.
Payton's performance was average, with only 8 points, 3 rebounds, 5 assists and 2 steals. His field goal percentage was only 36%, and his three-point shooting percentage was only 25%. His performance was far inferior to that of the regular season, and his age was clearly evident.
On the 4th, in the last game of the first round of the Eastern Conference, the Heat's tiebreaker against the Hornets began. In the end, the Heat won the tiebreaker and finally advanced to the second round.
The attention-grabbing No. 5 pick in the first round of 2003, Dwayne Wade, averaged 15.4 points per game in the seven-game series in the first round. His performance was somewhat unstable. The highest was 27 points in one game and the lowest was only two points.
.
But it's better than LeBron James. The No. 1 pick has no chance to play in the playoffs this year.
On this night, the Suns defeated the Lakers again at home, completing their second consecutive victory.
In this game, other teammates performed well. Lao Wang reduced his shots and focused on defense and rebounding. At the same time, he cooperated with Nash to organize fast breaks and scored 24 points, 20 rebounds, 8 assists, 3 steals, 7 blocks, 2 turnovers and 4 fouls.
On the same day, the Pistons defeated the Pacers on the road and the two teams tied at one.
On the 5th, the Timberwolves defeated the Trail Blazers in the away game, and the two teams tied at one.
On the 6th, the Nets' belated second round finally started.
In the end, the Nets won at home. The Heat had just finished the tiebreaker, and their physical fitness was far inferior to that of the Nets, who were waiting for work. They lost the first game.
On the 7th, the G3 games between the Suns and the Lakers, and the Pistons and the Pacers began.
In the end, the Suns once again defeated the Lakers on the road, scoring a big score of 3-0. They had the match point in hand and were about to sweep their opponents.
Lao Wang had a quadruple-double of 27 points, 16 rebounds, 10 assists, 2 steals and 11 blocks. Six of his ten assists were obtained by directly passing the ball after grabbing backcourt rebounds.
On the same day, the Pistons defeated the Pacers at home and led 2-1.
On the 8th, the Nets failed to perform, lost at home, and tied with the Heat.
At the same time, the Timberwolves were defeated by the Trail Blazers, falling behind one to two.
On the 9th, the Suns and Lakers started a G4 battle at Staples Center.
As the series became more and more unfavorable, the conflicts between the OK team became more and more serious. Although there was no public falling out, there was no communication at all on and off the court. The Lakers did not resolve their internal conflicts because of the huge pressure of being swept.
Before the game, Phil Jackson emphasized to Fisher in front of Kobe that he must pass the ball low, and told him that if you can't do this, prepare to come down.
Kobe also had no attitude and didn't say a word.
The atmosphere in the home team's locker room was like a dead person, cold and cold, completely unlike the lively atmosphere in the visiting team's locker room at this time.
Outside the locker room, listening to the commotion inside, Old Buss shook his head in great disappointment, turned around and motioned to general manager Kupchak to follow him farther away, and then said: "Mitch, how big a contract does O'Neal want?"
"Maximum salary, he won't accept a salary cut," Kupchak said.
Shaking his head, Old Bass said: "Then prepare to trade, if he still has some trading value."
"Okay, boss, I'll start processing it right away," Kupchak said.
Old Bass also wanted to say something, such as being careful not to let the news leak out, but think about it, this game may be swept by Old K, and it doesn't matter if the news leaks.
Thinking of old K, he felt regretful in his intestines.
In the new season of 2002, when Old K returned from injury, he thought that Old K was in trouble, so he just offered a pension contract without any sincerity. As a result...
"well!"
He sighed secretly, waved to Kupchak, turned and left.
At eight o'clock, the game starts.
When Lao Wang came on the court, the Lakers fans still gave him huge cheers. He also gave the Lakers fans some face by not openly shouting a sweeping slogan.
After all, in the sky above the Staples Center,
Flying are the three championship dynasty flags he won for the Lakers, and his No. 31 Lakers jersey is also hanging on them.
Sun attack.
Lao Wang did not enter the paint area, did not go into the low post, and settled on the left wing two steps away from the paint area, with the purpose of pulling O'Neal out and making full use of his mobile advantage.
O'Neal could only follow, but Lao Wang immediately turned around, dropped the former, and quickly cut to the basket.
Under Kobe's defense, Nash used Joe Johnson's pick-and-roll to quickly complete the pass.
"Bang!"
Lao Wang and Nash completed an alley-oop dunk.
Zhang Lili smiled and said: "The pass-cut cooperation, Tiejun pulled out first, and then cut in. The postman was too slow. After being pulled out by Stoudemire, he could not help defend the basket in time. As long as Nash's ball can be passed in, this ball is basically
It can be done.
The Lakers brought in the Postman and assembled a giant lineup, but in fact it was not very reasonable, because if they wanted to help defend the Iron Army, the power forward must be fast, and the Postman couldn't be fast at all.
The formation of the lineup must be reasonable and based on the main opponents. The Lakers' main opponents in the Western Conference are the Suns and Trail Blazers. If they play against the Trail Blazers, the Lakers' lineup is barely enough, but it will not work at all against the Suns.
The power forward position is too slow."
At this time, the Lakers attacked, Fisher advanced to the frontcourt with the ball, Kobe and O'Neal asked him for the ball at the same time, and he passed the ball to Kobe on the right wing first.
The Suns were still in a two-one-two zone defense. The moment the ball was passed, Marion in the middle quickly pounced on Kobe.
When Kobe received the ball, Marion was already rushing to his side. He immediately turned around and relied on Joe Johnson to break through with the ball from the outside.
At this time, Stoudemire below immediately moved upward, creating a three-to-one momentum.
At the same time, Marion and Joe Johnson retreated downward at the same time.
But at this moment, Kobe suddenly stepped back and shot a jumper, retreating directly outside the three-point line, completely getting rid of the three-man double-team. By the time the nearest Joe Johnson stepped back to grab the ball, it was already too late.
"brush!"
The water splashed and he hit a three-pointer.
When the ball passed through the basket, it fell into Lao Wang's hands. He immediately retreated to the baseline while observing his teammates on the outside.
Sure enough, Joe Johnson and Marion next to Kobe are starting up, Nash outside the right wing three-point line is also starting up, and Stoudemire below is also starting up.
"Quick attack!" Su Qun shouted.
"Whoosh!"
In the next moment, Lao Wang took a step to the right, avoided O'Neal in front of him, threw a one-handed ball, and the ball flew towards Nash like a meteor.
After passing the ball, he immediately stepped down and personally participated in the fast break.
Rushing forward from the bottom line, after three steps, he caught up with the Fat Shark, and after two more steps, he overtook the postman.
Nash was the fastest player on both teams. He started quickly from the right wing, and Devin George was in a trailing position from the beginning.
The ball passed the center line and was already two steps ahead of Devin George, getting further and further away.
On the left wing, Marion was faster than Joe Johnson and moved closer to the center after crossing the center line.
Kobe chose to follow Joe Johnson because Fisher was in the middle.
"The Lakers are quick to defend, don't force the attack!" Su Qun said quickly.
The Lakers' three perimeter defenses were indeed quite fast, but Postman and O'Neal held them back. When Wang rushed through the center line, the Suns formed a five-on-three situation in the frontcourt.
Nash rushed to the right wing but did not enter the paint area. Instead, he suddenly passed the ball to the left wing.
Marion, who was moving closer to the center, caught the ball. Before that, he looked back and knew that Old K had rushed up. So after catching the ball, he pulled to the left and pulled Fisher away from the center. Then he turned around and casually
Throwing the ball into the air in the paint.
Lao Wang rushed in from the top of the arc, with no obstacles in front of him. After crossing the free throw line, he took off directly. He caught the ball with one hand in the air, stretched his body backwards, drew an arrow, and then made a powerful slam.
"Bang!"
As the fierce explosion of the basket sounded, the Staples Center also burst into warm cheers.
"This has become Lao K's home court." Su Qun said excitedly.
"The Suns are completely different if they have an iron team and if they don't have an iron team."
Zhang Lili said happily: "Without the Iron Army, the fast attack would be out of control, the quality of positional warfare would be poor, and there would be no defense.
With the Iron Army, everything is controllable. Even if the fast break fails, positional warfare is still at the top level in the league, and there is also defense."
Su Qun smiled and said: "Old K can also attack fast, which is even more terrible. O'Neal and the postman can't keep up at all."
"Kobe just made his first three-pointer. It seems that Kobe's touch may be good tonight." Zhang Lili added.
"It's still Joe Johnson's defensive skills that are a little worse. He is the main defender and has not kept up with Kobe's pace." Su Qun said.
When the Lakers attacked, Kobe passed the ball in the backcourt, then rushed to the frontcourt and made a sudden jump shot, but missed. Wang protected the backcourt rebound.
However, the fast break failed this time, so we immediately switched to a positional battle, waiting for the old K to get into position.
When Lao Wang reached the frontcourt, he still pulled out. This time Stoudemire cut in, but Nash had no chance to pass the ball in time and was caught by Kobe.
Zhang Lili said: "The opportunity to pass the ball is just that moment. When the ball cannot be passed in time, the opening disappears and Stoudemire's cut becomes useless."
Stoudemire could only pull out again, but at this time Nash seemed to be right but actually left, using a fake move to temporarily get rid of Kobe's entanglement.
Lao Wang keenly observed Nash's passing opportunity and reacted immediately. With a fierce step, he directly passed O'Neal face to face and quickly cut into the paint area.
O'Neal hurriedly turned around to pursue the defense, and the postman who had just been pulled out also hurriedly dropped Stoudemire and returned to defend the basket.
"Whoosh!"
When Lao Wang cut inside, Nash passed the ball.
"Crack!"
As soon as he passed O'Neal, Wang received the pass and then rushed into the paint area.
At this time, the postman had returned to the basket, and Lao Wang casually threw the ball high over the postman's head. In the next moment, the postman's head was shrouded in shadow.
"not good!"
The postman was shocked.
"Bang!"
The next moment, he was knocked forward and staggered forward, and at the same time, the basket above his head exploded.
"Beautiful! Old K scored the ball in time, and Stoudemire dunked the postman from behind." Su Qun shouted excitedly.
"Tiejun didn't take too many shots in G2G3, and it seems to be the same today. As long as his teammates perform well and make other contributions, he can still lead the team to victory. In this way, the atmosphere in the team will be better." Zhang Li laughed.
road.
Su Qun nodded and said: "Old K has indeed passed the time of chasing points long ago. It allows his teammates to perform better and is also conducive to the stability of the lineup."
The Lakers were attacking, and while Fisher was still in the backcourt, Kobe asked for the ball again. Phil Jackson couldn't help it and shouted toward the court: "Derek, execute the strategy."
Fisher had no choice but to ignore Kobe's move for the ball and move forward with his head down.
Su Qun laughed and said: "The Lakers lineup should be dismantled. There is no communication at all on and off the court. How can we play together like this? There is no synergy at all."
Zhang Lijia smiled and said: "It's useless to pass it in and let O'Neal hit. Without Kobe's cooperation, O'Neal can't beat the Iron Army."
"Crack!"
Lao Wang used a block to provide the best proof for Zhang Liang's words.
O'Neal caught the ball, but the Shark turned around but did not shake Pharaoh away. Then he turned around and hit a hook shot, which was blocked from the front.
Zhang Lili shook his head and said: "Look, without Kobe's cooperation, the current Sharks can't do anything to the Tiejun. They can't break in. If they hit from behind, the Tiejun's defensive skills are too strong, and O'Neal may be evacuated at any time."
Back then, the Joe Shark duo could compete with the Lakers in the Finals, and the ratings were off the charts. They were considered capable of competing. They did not rely on the ability of Jordan and O'Neal to fight alone. They could only compete with the Iron Army and the Lakers if they worked together.
OK now, without cooperation, we cannot exert the power of 1 plus 1 which is greater than 2.
, they don’t even have the strength to compete with the Iron Army and the Suns, so it wouldn’t be a surprise if they were swept.”
On the sidelines, Phil Jackson shook his head helplessly. In silence, he turned around, sat back on the bench, and resumed his Zen master appearance.
He couldn't control it anymore, and there was absolutely nothing he could do about Kobe.
If Kobe's personality is similar to Jordan's, he doesn't admit it because he knows that Jordan can make compromises and communicate in order to win, but there is no way for him to communicate with the current Kobe.
Perhaps, he looked at Old K on the court. Only he could control Kobe.
In the end, the Lakers were swept by the Suns.
In the G4 game, Lao Wang scored 31 points, 15 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 steals and 6 blocks, with a shooting percentage of 80%.
He used a play style of pulling out first and then cutting in, and the bulky Sharks were completely unable to defend him.
In the four-game series, he did not try his best, scoring 42, 24, 27, and 31 points respectively, averaging 31 points and 16.75 rebounds per game.
Marion averaged 18.5 points per game, Stoudemire 17 points, Nash 13 points, and Joe Johnson 10 points. Five players averaged double figures in the second round of the series.
That night, the Pistons lost to the Pacers, and the two teams tied at 2-2.
On May 10, the Suns returned to Phoenix, waiting for the Western Conference Finals.
At noon that day, postman Karl Malone announced through his agent that he was officially retiring, ending his 19-year career.
In 2019, there was no championship, no MVP, only one AMVP. The hardest honor was some one-on-one defense. At the peak of his career, he was crushed to death by Wang Tiejun, and he didn’t even have the experience of a Western Conference Finals. It can be said that
Participated to the extreme.
In addition, he also has an important honor, ranking second in total scoring in history, second only to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.
The Lakers also retired two players at the same time, one of whom was super center Admiral David Robinson.
David Robinson has played for 15 seasons and is about to turn 39. He left the Spurs in order to win the championship. He failed to fulfill his wish in the Green Team and the Lakers. He no longer wants to stick with it.
Like the postman, he also achieved nothing. In his peak period, he was suppressed by Wang Tiejun in the West. He went to the Green Team, was suppressed by Jordan again, ran back to the West, and was suppressed by Old K again. He was never able to get ahead.
The news of the retirement of the two superstars immediately aroused emotion from the media and many retired stars.
Pippen said in an interview with the media: "Obviously, both the Postman and the General made a wrong choice. I just want to say that if anyone else hopes to win a championship at the end of his career, go to Old K.
, being by his side is the safest.”
"Scotty, where is Ewing?" the reporter reminded.
Pippen said disdainfully: "That was an accident, otherwise he would have won the championship. I also want to say one more thing, gloves, you will regret your choice last year. I advise you to leave the Trail Blazers immediately and go to the Suns.
"
The third Lakers player to announce his retirement is Rick Fox. He has suffered a lot of injuries and doesn't want to play anymore. He wants to officially enter the film and television industry.
In the past few years, he has played in Los Angeles and has played many roles, and his acting skills have been honed. He hopes to have a successful career change like Lightning Kevin Johnson.
