In the fourth game, Coach Sloan finally stopped using Ostertag and only played him for 6 minutes in the game.
Everyone knows that such a heavy center is not good at guarding pick-and-rolls and three-pointers, and the SuperSonics are the team that shoots the most three-pointers in the league. Because Ostertag plays for a long time, Billups is in this series.
Playing like an All-Star, averaging 205 per game.
Sloan made this arrangement in order to strengthen the offense, but it was purely a helpless move. The Jazz had too few scoring points. After all, Ostertag had the advantage of height and weight, and it was difficult for others to take shots when being guarded.
The Jazz players' mentality collapsed. They fell behind by 31 points at halftime and surrendered early.
Core Karl Malone made 5 of 17 shots in the third quarter, 4 of 4 free throws, 14 points, 4 rebounds and 2 assists, and his shooting percentage was only 29.4%.
Stockton made 3 of 7 shots, 2 of 2 free throws, and scored 8 points and 7 rebounds.
Today is Stockton's retirement performance. It is no different from previous games. It seems to be just an ordinary ball game. This is the style of Stockton in key games, like an invisible man. He has no beautiful breakthroughs and no quickness.
Push forward, slowly pass the ball across the half court and wait for the opportunity.
He averaged 10.5 points and 7.3 assists per game and performed well as a role player.
The SuperSonics won 121-82 and swept the promotion with a total score of 4-0!
After the game, the Jazz players did not leave the court immediately. Even though they lost, the fans in Salt Lake City gave them warm applause.
After seeing Stockton and Sloan hugging each other hard, Malone's eyes were red from crying. He tried to speak, but the teammate who played with Stockton for 18 seasons couldn't make a sound.
It's all over, and it's a pity that they couldn't bring a championship to the Jazz together in the end.
Put aside the home whistle and star whistle of the Devils' home court of the Jazz; ignore Stockton's stepping on the instep, knees, dirty hands, small elbows, chokeholds, and attacks on the opponent's private parts; forget Malone's head-breaking and bloody muscles.
The torn iron elbow, the kick that dislocated Duncan's nose bone...their basketball is very pure.
Because of these things, if Malone wants to join the SuperSonics in the summer, Yang Jian hopes that he will not come.
Anyway, there is Boozer in the team with a similar style. Malone's arrival will not improve the team much, and it will also affect the team's training of Boozer. He will only get one point for helping Malone win the championship, nothing.
What does it mean?
Yang Jian's idea changed. Now that Boozer has become his teammate, he cannot cheat his teammates. If Malone joins and even wants to start, Boozer's playing time will be greatly shortened, and Lewis will be a little embarrassed.
Malone was hesitating whether to join the SuperSonics, but he didn't know that he wanted to hug his thighs, but they didn't like him.
In addition, Yang Jian feels that Malone is not only bad, but also very bad. If he signs him, the Sonics might be so bad that they lose the championship.
Yang Jian, who can travel through time, believes in metaphysics more than anyone else. Such examples are real and there are many.
For example, in the 2013 Finals, McGrady was just a marginal player on the Spurs but could influence the overall situation. McGrady sat on the sidelines and glanced at Bosh, who grabbed the most critical rebound in his life and passed it to the corner.
Ray Allen. McGrady glanced at Ray Allen again, and the latter made the most critical three-pointer in his career.
Another example is the lousy-looking Cousins, the No. 1 center from the neck down, who has only played in the playoffs once in his career.
The Warriors, who signed Cousins, were depleted by injuries in the 2019 playoffs and lost the championship. It took several years of rebuilding before they regained their strength. Cousins was unlucky, and his team was cut.
The Lakers won the championship in the 2020 shortened season.
Do you think this is a coincidence? No, this is fate.
Malone seems to be the same kind of loser. He has no chance of winning the championship. When he first joined the Lakers, the Lakers were called "F4" in the summer, and fans felt that there was no suspense about the championship. The result? The Lakers were defeated by the Pistons in the Finals.
Disband immediately after the fight.
Among the Lakers F4, only Malone has never won a championship.
In other Western Conference series, the Mavericks easily eliminated the Spurs 4-1.
The Spurs fell behind 2-0 and relied on Duncan to show off his strength at home, scoring 40 points, 15 rebounds and 7 assists to get back into the game.
"Admiral" David Robison will definitely retire when his contract expires. He averaged only 5.3 points and 5 rebounds per game in the series.
There is also good news for the Spurs. Robinson and Steve Smith will have a lot of salary space when their contracts expire, and the Spurs can dig big-name stars in the free market.
Of course, the premise is that there are big names willing to join the Spurs in the summer, which I guess there won't be.
The Lakers eliminated the Timberwolves 4-2, and the process was not easy. The Lakers mainly relied on OK combinations to score, and the others were responsible for defense and rarely took any shots.
Garnett, the core of the Timberwolves, performed no worse than O'Neal, averaging 27 points, 15.7 rebounds, 3.7 assists, and 2.8 blocks per game, with a shooting percentage of 51.4%. This was the best playoff performance of his career, but it was a pity that he still lost.
The Timberwolves lack scorers. The second scoring point in the playoffs is point guard Troy Hudson. He averaged 23.5 points, 2 rebounds, 5.5 assists and 1.3 steals per game, shooting 43.6% from three-point range and scoring 2.8 goals.
Lakers point guard Fisher is a heavy point guard and cannot defend a flexible player like Hudson. With this series, Hudson will probably get a good contract and his life will be guaranteed.
The most surprising series in the Western Conference was the Kings vs. Trail Blazers, which was an upset.
The Trail Blazers lost two games on the road, then won three games in a row to gain match point. After being dragged into a tiebreaker by the Kings, the Trail Blazers defeated the Kings 105-99 on the road to advance to the second round.
The key figure in the Blazers' victory is power forward Zach Randolph. This fat black man has not lost in four games against Chris Webber, which is astonishing.
The inside line composed of Randolph and Rasheed Wallace gave the Kings a headache. One is good at post-up play, and the other likes to pull out for jump shots.
The Trail Blazers' outside hero is Bunchy Wells. His impact is very strong and he has the upper hand in a one-on-one challenge against Doug Christie. Christie's defensive awareness is very good, and it is uncomfortable to encounter such a reckless man who relies on physical play to force a breakthrough.
The opponent doesn't play with technique, only with physical strength.
In addition, the Trail Blazers also signed Reuben Patterson, who stepped on Yang Jian back then, to strengthen their wing defense.
After watching the results of the game, Yang Jian felt that the SuperSonics had another opportunity to poach forward Gerald Wallace. The future "Elvis" would not get any chance to perform under Adelman, and was delayed.
Very miserable.
If Gerrard could get stable playing opportunities in the first few seasons of his career, he might be stronger. He missed the period of rising goals.
Even though Wells averaged 19 points per game, Adelman did not consider letting Gerrard, who had the best physical fitness, to defend against a wave. The Kings resolutely attacked their opponents until they were eliminated at home. Gerrard could only
He only appears during garbage time, averaging 2.6 minutes per game in the series.
There were no upsets in the first round of the Eastern Conference, and the scores for advancement were all the same.
The Nets eliminated the Bucks 4-2, the Bulls eliminated the Pacers 4-2, the 76ers eliminated the Celtics 4-2, and the Pistons eliminated the Hornets 4-2.
The reason why this happened is because the top four teams in the Eastern Conference have no absolute advantage, and the points difference in winning is relatively small. When the two teams are similar in strength, home court advantage can play a big role.
Yao Ming started his career with the Bulls. In only his second season, he reached the second round of the playoffs and had home court advantage. His destiny changed.
The 76ers are the team that shoots the fewest three-pointers in the league. They like to hit the basket and are restrained by the Bulls. Experts predict the outcome of the game and are generally optimistic that the Bulls will advance to the Eastern Conference finals this year.
This is metaphysics. Yao Ming has no idea what kind of bad luck he has escaped.
Fortunately, the relationship between him and McGrady in the parallel world is not good. McGrady said in the locker room that he would isolate Yao Ming, otherwise he might be gone. Don't believe it? Go and see how many relatives and friends McGrady has died.
The Sonics players are waiting for work, and their opponent in the second round is the Lakers...