The next day, the James elbow incident continued to escalate.
News of the on-court conflict between the Suns and the Cavaliers dominated the headlines on major sports pages, and the popularity even overshadowed Chen Yan's five consecutive triple-doubles!
Usually Chen Yan steals other people's headlines, but today it was rare that someone else stole the headlines.
Many NBA stars also commented on the incident through the media.
Reggie Miller: "I watched the replays several times. I don't think James did it on purpose. He has never been such a dirty player. When you compete with your opponent for strength, sometimes you have to make extra moves in the process.
Using force, LeBron accidentally hit Barnes in the face when he used extra force."
Olajuwon: "James is a good gentleman. Conflicts on the court are normal. He should not be pushed to the forefront."
Karl Malone: "I don't think Barnes's reaction was excessive. He is a tough guy. No matter who gets a cut in the face, he will want to get back on his feet as soon as possible."
Rodman: "You call this a conflict?"
Subsequently, the league also issued additional fines.
Cavaliers forward LeBron James was suspended for one game, and Suns forward Matt Barnes was suspended for two games.
The official explanation is that James elbowed Barnes in the face, which caused a conflict on the court. Barnes repeatedly acted unsportsmanlikely, causing the situation to almost get out of hand.
As soon as the punishment result came out, fans at home and abroad were in an uproar, and netizens pounded the keyboard to express their comments.
"The person who hits someone is suspended for 1 game, and the person who was hit is suspended for 2 games???"
"Upstairs, be careful what you say. What does hitting mean? It was obviously Barnes who hit James' elbow with his face!"
"You guys, please save your energy and stop being the same guy. James is not that dirty player. Everyone knows that."
"Barnes usually doesn't play cleanly, and this time it's retribution."
"It's true that James struck hard. I'm a fan of James, so I really can't do anything about it this time."
On major basketball forums and post bars, Zhan Hei and Zhan Mi were involved in a chaotic fight, with neutral fans eating melons crazily and laughing at the fight.
Later in the evening, James finally gave his first interview to the media after the conflict.
"I know everyone is talking about yesterday's conflict, but I can guarantee that I am not that kind of player. It was just an accident. Both Barnes and I lost our balance when we were stuck. I don't want to see the follow-up.
The conflict escalated. From a fair point of view, my actions should be expelled, whether intentional or unintentional, but I don’t think I should be suspended, but the league has made their ruling, and we have to accept it.”
But no matter what James says, the feud between him and Barnes is finally over.
On March 20, before the heat of the conflict had dissipated, the Suns faced back-to-back challenges from the Nets at home.
Since the Nets' core point guard Jason Kidd left for the Mavericks, the Nets' strength has plummeted.
Carter and Jefferson, the two outside scorers, can still maintain a stable output of 20, but they are not the kind of players who can connect the team.
Moreover, the relationship between the two and the Nets' senior management has been very tense recently. They both want to imitate Kidd and move elsewhere when the team loses its competitiveness.
After all, players at this age want to pursue a championship.
Facing such a disintegrated team, the Phoenix Suns defeated their opponent without any blood, 110 to 83.
While winning six consecutive games, Chen Yan once again scored a triple-double!
Chen Yan played 36 minutes in this game and scored 31 points, 11 assists and 10 rebounds.
"Chen has scored a triple-double in six consecutive games. He looks unstoppable!" Kenny Smith said with emotion during the commentary session after the game.
"This guy has a lot of momentum. Nash's injury also gave him more ball rights than usual, but he successfully seized the opportunity." Barkley continued.
At this time, Kenny Smith didn't know where to take out a data sheet: "Chen is one game away from tying Jordan's record of triple-doubles in seven consecutive games. What the outside world said is indeed true. Isn't this guy here?"
Breaking records means being on the way to breaking records!”
When he heard that Jordan's record was about to be tied, Barkley immediately became excited: "Oh! If Chen really does it in the next game, I want to connect with Jordan live and ask him what it feels like to have his record tied!
"
After listening to this, Kenny Smith also started to think: "Haha, if Chen's three consecutive double figures tie or even surpass Jordan, does this mean that he is more comprehensive than Jordan?"
"As a rookie, Chen performed perfectly, but he still has a long way to go before he can compare with Jordan." Although he and Jordan are mortal enemies, Barkley is not the kind of person who would belittle his opponent.
After speaking, Barkley added with gloating: "But I'm looking forward to him breaking the records set by Michael one by one. That scene should be very interesting."
Kenny Smith chuckled after hearing this.
...
...
In order to help Chen Yan in this game, a rather controversial scene occurred on the court.
In the last five and a half minutes of the fourth quarter, Chen Yan's points and assists were in double figures, but he only had 6 rebounds.
In the next few minutes, in order to help Chen Yan continue his triple-double performance, Stoudemire and Diaw frantically helped him block the backcourt, allowing him to collect backcourt rebounds more comfortably, and finally achieved a triple-double.
At the post-game press conference, reporters also questioned D'Antoni on this issue.
As the coach of the Suns, D'Antoni tried his best to defend his beloved disciple: "Brushing data? No, this is a tactic I customized for him. This tactic can not only help the team better protect the backcourt rebounds but also improve
It improves the team’s fast break efficiency, which can be reflected in the data.”
D'Antoni was speechless when he directly criticized reporters who used data to speak.
When Chen Yan was asked about brushing data, his response was very domineering.
"When a team gets good statistics but loses, that's called brushing up on statistics. Winning is called contribution. How many consecutive victories have the Suns had now?"
In fact, Chen Yan does not object to brushing data from the bottom of his heart. After all, who doesn’t like beautiful data?
But the premise is to lead the team to win, otherwise everything is meaningless, and it will only be a pure brush in the eyes of fans.
On March 22, after a day of rest, the Suns went to Milwaukee to challenge the Bucks.
On this day, fans across the United States are discussing a topic.
That is whether Chen Yan can pursue Michael Jordan's record of 7 consecutive triple-doubles!