Chapter 486 Sweeping the Magic Finals against the Rockets
How could O'Neal, who was still in the juvenile shark stage, lead the Magic to victory when they were completely one versus two?
The same situation happened again in the second game of the Eastern Conference Finals on May 25.
O'Neal made 15 of 21 shots, 9 of 15 free throws, and scored 39 points and 10 rebounds.
In this game, Hardaway was in slightly better shape, scoring 17 points on 7-of-15 shooting, with an online shooting percentage. Although his score was slightly low, he sent out 15 assists and at the same time controlled his turnovers to 5.
This kind of performance can be considered quite good when facing Wang Feng's defense, at least it helped a little bit.
However, even this still couldn't help the Magic win.
Because they had no way to contain Wang Feng's scoring.
In the entire game, Wang Feng made 14 of 22 shots, 7 of 12 three-pointers, and 7 of 8 free throws. He scored 42 points, 7 rebounds, and 6 assists. Even with close shots, he scored higher than O'Neal.
This means that Wang Feng's efficiency value is higher than O'Neal.
An outside player has better efficiency and stability than an inside player. In the 1990s, when defense was extremely intensive, only Jordan could do this.
But since Wang Feng eliminated Jordan and the Bulls in the last round, it doesn't seem surprising that he can do this.
But for Magic fans, it is really unacceptable that O'Neal, who is almost invincible offensively, would lose to Wang Feng.
After two games of the Eastern Conference Finals, the score went directly to 2:0. The Magic already had half their foot on the edge of the cliff, with almost no way out.
On May 27, Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Finals came to the home court of the Magic.
Sitting at home, O'Neal, who should have been stronger, unexpectedly performed mediocre in this game.
In the whole game, he made 8 of 17 shots and 8 of 14 free throws. He only scored 24 points, 8 rebounds and 4 assists.
Although forward player Denis Scott stood up in the game and scored 27 points on 6 of 11 shots from beyond the three-point line, O'Neal failed to show enough lethality, and Hardaway only had 15 points in the entire game and continued to be beaten.
Wang Feng was so suppressed that he could not lift his head.
Therefore, the Magic team, playing at home, still failed to win the game and lost 105:100, which can be regarded as the most critical game.
When the final whistle sounded, the faces of the Magic's home fans were filled with despair.
They never dreamed that after finally reaching the Eastern Conference Finals, they would have such a result.
Originally, they were all ready to welcome the Magic to their first Finals and win the championship, but it turns out that the Magic are not ready yet. Even though they have performed extremely well this season and have the super combination of O'Neal Hardaway, this is obviously still far away.
not enough.
The total score is 3:0, and the suspense of the Eastern Conference Finals has been completely lost.
Under such circumstances, in the G4 game of the Eastern Conference Finals on May 29, O'Neal further stretched his hips. Although his personal scoring ability was not reduced, he made 8 of 12 shots. He was still unbeatable at the basket, but his free throws were extremely bad. 8
0 shots, a rare 0% free throw percentage.
The Knicks tried to use the shark-cutting tactic in the first quarter of the game and got unexpected results, and they couldn't stop at all.
O'Neal, whose mentality seemed to have been completely shattered, failed to make free throws no matter how hard he tried. In just a few rounds, the point difference exceeded double digits.
The Magic had to take O'Neal off the court to avoid the edge temporarily, but without O'Neal, how can the Magic compete with the Knicks?
16 points and 10 rebounds, these are O'Neal's statistics in the G4 Eastern Conference Finals.
Looking back at the way he shot 83% in Game 1 and looked so proud, it's not too ironic.
Facts have proved that O'Neal is strong, but his shortcomings are still too fatal.
In the future, some people will compare the big shark to an invincible existence, thinking that O'Neal will definitely be invincible in the small ball era.
The level of people who can think like this is probably not much higher.
No matter how strong O'Neal is, he is still a human being, especially O'Neal in his prime. He carries an unusually heavy weight. Just the fast-paced offense and defense and frequent back-and-forth runs in the small ball era can give him a lot of trouble. After all, you are a basketball player.
No matter how NB you play, you can't help but defend when the opponent is on a fast break, right? When the time comes, their frontcourt will be 5-on-4, won't their scoring efficiency be higher than yours?
Then, when I finally have the opportunity to play positional warfare, I sit under the basket and prepare for a powerful two-handed dunk. Before you can move, I will try to make a foul first. If you want to score, you can go to the free throw line.
Bar.
How to play this?
O'Neal is definitely very strong. In the small ball era when the paint is weak, it is definitely not difficult to average more than 30 points per game. However, the so-called invincibility and easily dominating the entire league is somewhat taken for granted.
Even in O'Neal's peak years, he did not dominate the entire league. Otherwise, why did he not win the championship in the first three seasons with the Lakers? He waited until Kobe grew up and became a regular on the All-NBA and All-Defensive teams.
, finally won three consecutive championships.
Having said all that, it is a foregone conclusion that O'Neal and his Magic team were swept out by the Knicks 4:0.
Wang Feng was not surprised by this result.
After all, in the original history, when facing the Rockets in the Finals, the Magic were swept out 4-0.
The Knicks, who now have Wang Feng and Ewing at the same time, are already stronger than the Rockets in terms of overall strength. Wang Feng has an almost blood-line suppressive power against Hardaway, so it is natural to sweep them.
——
The Magic were eliminated early, and the Knicks entered the Finals for the second consecutive year and were gearing up to avenge last season's Finals.
In the Western Conference, the matchup between the Rockets and the Spurs in the Western Conference Finals is gradually becoming clearer.
As one of the four major centers, why is Olajuwon regarded as the first of the four major centers?
The reason is very simple. In the two seasons when the Rockets won the championship, Olajuwon tortured the other three of the four major centers.
In the 1993-94 season, the Knicks defeated Ewing in the finals and won the championship.
In the 1994-95 season, the Magic swept O'Neal's team in the Finals and won the championship.
David Robinson, who is also one of the top four centers, did not escape either.
Although they are both Western Conference teams, the two have never met in the finals, but in this season's Western Conference Finals, Olajuwon and Robinson will have the opportunity to face off directly.
In the regular season, the statistics of the two are very close, both are around 27+11, and both average more than 3 blocks per game. It's hard to tell which one of the two is stronger and which one is weaker.
But when it came to a direct confrontation in the Western Conference Finals, David Robinson's true colors were immediately revealed.
Facing the big dream, the dignified admiral was completely suppressed unilaterally.
In 6 games, he averaged 23.8 points and 11.3 rebounds per game, shooting 44.9% from the field.
In fact, this data looks pretty good, just so-so.
But the problem is that Olajuwon, who played against Robinson, averaged 35.3 points, 12.5 rebounds, 5 assists and 4 blocks in 6 games, and his shooting percentage was 56%.
Defeat in a direct duel is unavoidable no matter what excuse you make.
And David Robinson's situation is even more special. This season he is the first candidate for regular season MVP. What's the result? That's it? Still the regular season MVP?
This is different from Jordan's loss to Wang Feng. Although Wang Feng and Jordan had an overall advantage in the duel, Jordan performed well on the one hand and even scored slightly higher than Wang Feng. On the other hand, even if he lost the game, Jordan fans also have something to say, Michael hasn't played basketball for two years and has never returned to his peak form. Even if he loses, it won't be a shame.
David Robinson no longer has this excuse. Being completely suppressed by Olajuwon at his peak state only proves that Olajuwon is stronger than Robinson.
——
4:2, the Rockets eliminated the Spurs and successfully advanced to the finals. In this way, last season's finals matchup was successfully repeated, and it was the Knicks VS Rockets again.
Although David Robinson lost one game after another, he still received good news as the Western Conference Finals ended.
The season rewards were announced, and David Robinson was elected the 1994-95 regular season MVP with the first vote share.
Ewing's dream was shattered, and he ultimately failed to compete with Robinson.
The news that Robinson was elected as the regular season MVP caused dissatisfaction among many fans in New York. Many Ewing fans complained about their idol.
"Obviously Patrick has led his team to the Finals for two consecutive years, but you, David Robinson, can't even pass the Western Conference Finals. Why is the regular season MVP yours?"
But anyone who knows a little bit about football actually understands that the regular season MVP refers to the player who performed best during the regular season of the current season.
Neither the performance in the playoffs nor the overall performance in the past two years has reference value.
Under this premise, David Robinson led the team to a record of 62 wins this season, and he led the team with a single core, and his personal data was better than Ewing. It is natural to be elected as the regular season MVP.
Ewing, whose dream was shattered, could only set his sights on the final grand prize, which was the championship.
The scene of being the first to win the match point in the finals last season, only to be overturned by the Rockets in two consecutive games is still vivid in my mind. Facing their opponents in the finals, the Rockets, the Knicks were so angry that everyone was filled with enthusiasm and was ready to win. Take revenge for last season.
In such an atmosphere, Wang Feng, who was always relatively calm, seemed somewhat out of place.
After all, he is an outsider who traveled through time and space, so he really cannot understand the mood of other Knicks players.
But it doesn’t matter whether you understand it or not. You have already reached the finals and you will definitely win the championship.
Wang Feng is not sure if he will receive systematic season evaluation rewards for entering the competition midway, but there will definitely be rewards for winning the championship.
After playing against Jordan, Wang Feng had already realized that he was now strong, but he might still be a little weak if he wanted to completely suppress Jordan at his peak.
The main reason is that the number of badges Wang Feng invested in the defensive end is still too few.
In the future small ball era, when most players' main offensive method is long-range shooting, Wang Feng can meet the defensive needs in most situations with just a top-notch defensive shock.
But facing Jordan is obviously not enough.
There are as many as a dozen defensive badges, and there are always badges that can further restrict Jordan.
Before facing Jordan and his Bulls dynasty, Wang Feng naturally wanted to make his defense as flawless as possible.
Before the start of the finals, the league has been vigorously promoting this finals showdown, the fateful showdown between the Knicks and the Rockets, who is the strongest center between Olajuwon and Ewing, and Wang Feng, a newcomer who was suddenly dropped from the NBA.
Whether he can win a championship in his first year in the NBA remains a mystery.
But far away in China, on the other side of the ocean, the atmosphere is almost like a Chinese New Year.
The Chinese fans just feel like they are in a dream.
What is going on?
They just learned a few months ago that there were actually Chinese players playing in the NBA, and then they discovered that this Chinese player seemed to be a bit powerful, and his Knicks hardly lost any games.
Later, Jordan came back, Wang Feng VS Jordan, staged a classic 54 points versus 48 points.
Wang Feng became the first player in Chinese history to participate in the playoffs and the first player to be selected for the NBA All-NBA Team.
Then, eliminate the Bulls, advance to the Eastern Conference Finals, and then go to the Finals.
Every step Wang Feng takes in the NBA is setting new records for Chinese players in the NBA.
If he can win the championship..., then Wang Feng will also become the first player in Chinese history to win the NBA championship.
How can Chinese players be so good?
Wang Feng's name has gradually begun to spread in every household in China, even in an era when not everyone had a TV in their home.
This is actually easy to understand.
Although the speed of news dissemination is not as fast as that of the future Internet era, in this era, there are very few Chinese sports athletes who can reach the international level, especially the three major popular sports like basketball, which is like listening to stories.
In the eyes of most Chinese audiences, Wang Feng is trying to win glory for the country and showcase the Chinese people's elegance internationally.
Now, Wang Feng has stood on the highest stage of the NBA, and with the vigorous promotion of CCTV Sports and the Basketball Association, his popularity is naturally rising.
The NBA Finals will be broadcast live on CCTV Sports, and countless Chinese fans will watch Wang Feng's grace on the finals stage.
Under the spotlight, on June 7, the first game of the NBA Finals finally officially started.
In the first game, the home court is still the Knicks’ Madison Square Garden.
The absolute advantage in record gave the Knicks the initiative.
Knicks starting lineup: John Starks, Derek Harper, Wang Feng, Charles Oakley, Patrick Ewing.
Rockets starting lineup: Kenny Smith, Mario Elie, Clyde Drexler, Robert Horry, Hakeem Olajuwon.
Judging from the lineup alone, it can be said that the two sides are indistinguishable. Although the Rockets have two top superstars in Olajuwon and Drexler, and both of them were selected to the best third team this season.
The Knicks also had two people selected to the best team. Although Ewing's regular season statistics were not as good as Olajuwon's, he was successfully selected for the best second team due to the team's record. Wang Feng was selected because he played less times.
, obviously has excellent data but can only be ranked in the third formation.
Of course, although they are close in terms of season honors, and it is hard to tell the difference in terms of paper strength, there are obviously more people who are optimistic about the Knicks. After all, the Knicks eliminated Jordan's Bulls and O'Neal's Magic in the Eastern Conference. Wang Feng won in the playoffs.
His performance has proven that he is a super player who is not inferior to Jordan, and is obviously stronger than Drexler.