Anthony the Reborn

Chapter 304

The Seattle Supersonics have achieved an excellent record this season under the leadership of the twin stars. At the end of the regular season, they won the first place in the division and thus advanced to the playoffs as the third seed in the West. Their opponents in the first round It was the Kings, who won the first round of the series 4:1, but in the second round, facing the second-ranked Spurs in the division, they couldn't take advantage of it at all. Thrilling each won a game, and in the sixth game, it was explained in San Antonio.

When the Spurs defeated the Sonics, the four teams in the East and West finals were formed. In the East, the Heat swept the Wizards and the Pacers. The defending champions of this season, one is an upstart with the addition of "Shark" O'Neal, and these two teams are bound to stage a wonderful fight against each other.

In the West, the Nuggets, who swept the Mavericks, have long been waiting, and their opponent is the veteran Spurs, a team that won the NBA championship in 2003 and was full of hatred and blood in last year's finals. It was also the team that knocked them off the horse last season. This season, the more powerful Nuggets, against such a team, is bound to be a game where sparks hit the earth, and the attention they attract will definitely not will be less.

After the semifinals, Anthony and his players, under the leadership of Coach Carl, devoted all their energy to the preparation and training of the game. It can be said that the only thing they did was to train and retrain except for sleeping and eating.

In fact, at the end of the series, almost every one of them knew the opponent they had to face in the next round. Although nervousness was unavoidable, it was more of a kind of excitement. They beat their opponents last year. To have the opportunity to challenge it in the same place is definitely a rare opportunity for anyone, especially for players like Anthony and Brand who were in the team last season, it is like a gift from God Give them a chance to prove themselves again.

Because the Nuggets have the best record in the league in the regular season, they have home court advantage against any team, so the first game of this round of playoffs against the Spurs will be played at the Pepsi Center in Denver.

The Nuggets players have the opportunity to avenge last year. As Nuggets fans, they also have the opportunity to witness such an opportunity at home. Their enthusiasm, since entering the playoffs, is the highest at this point When the price went up, the second round hadn't started yet. Except for the fans who had already bought the package tickets, those scalpers' tickets were ridiculously high, but the supply was still in short supply. The Denver fans crowded into the arena like crazy.

In this strong game atmosphere, on the day of May 5th, two teams full of origins started their first fight in this round of the series at the Denver Center.

For the Nuggets, the starting lineup has not changed from before. The guard line is still led by Nash and Ariza, while the two cores of Anthony and Brand are on the front line. Chandler is still in charge inside. On the other side, the lineup is exactly the same. Ginobili, who served as the team's sixth man last season, has become the starting shooting guard this season. He is partnered with Tony Parker, and Bowen and Duncan are on the front line. Nesterovic from Slovenia, players from both sides walked from the bench to the field amid the cheers of the fans.

Anthony looked at the slightly green Duncan opposite, and unconsciously recalled his nickname in the mouth of Chinese fans: old hooligan.

In history, this superstar who once swept the Cavaliers led by LeBron out in 2006, faced James and said the words "the future is yours", which is full of inheritance, but the final result was It was 8 years later, in 2014, at the age of 38, he eliminated James, who was already in the Heat at the time, 4:1, and the title of "Old Hooligan" came from this.

In a sense, such a thing has not happened in history. When Jordan was in the league, I don’t know how many opponents hated him again and again, especially those stars who were in the Eastern Conference at that time. It is said that even if they try their best, they will not be able to overcome the mountain of Jordan in the end.

And now, in front of Anthony, it may be an extremely similar scene. Whether he suffered hatred last year, whether it will repeat the same mistake today, this may be something that no one can predict, whether he will become the next James, or those from beginning to end. People who are unable to look up and are suppressed by Jordan in the end, all of these need to be verified by Anthony.

"beep!"

At this moment, the sound of the start of the game sounded from the sidelines, and the audience also cheered. Anthony's thoughts were pulled back, and then he focused on the field. A different kind of history, the game in front of you is the best test.

The referee then tossed the ball into the air. Chandler and Nesterovic took off at almost the same time. Both of them tried to return the ball to their own half. , although he was not as good as the Slovenian in singles, but he took off early. At this moment, he touched the ball with his fingertips and turned the ball back to the Nuggets' half court. Ariza, who had already observed the movement of the ball, quickly moved forward. Jump, grabbed the ball, and then gave the ball to Nash.

The Nuggets, in the first game of the Western Conference Finals, got the chance to take the lead in attacking.

The fans at the scene suddenly burst into cheers, and the momentum of the home court was vividly reflected at this moment.

But at this time, compared with the scene where the fans were in full swing, the faces of the Spurs players were blank. There is a saying that emotions are contagious. Now, under the "leading" of Duncan, the Spurs players They didn't seem to be affected by the atmosphere at all. Their defensive defense was solid at the beginning. After the Nuggets entered the frontcourt, they couldn't find a suitable offensive opportunity for several consecutive pick-and-rolls without the ball.

Anthony was also stared at by Bowen at this time. Although Bowen was one year older, his defense was more sophisticated, his small movements were more subtle, and his offensive defense made him feel very uncomfortable.

However, compared to Bowen's defense, Anthony's current situation on the field is what worries him even more. Compared with the Mavericks in the last round, the Spurs are a completely different team. You can rely on momentum to defeat your opponent in one go, but the Spurs are different. Even if you lead him by 20 points, you can't take it lightly, because the latter will chip the ball back bit by bit, let alone want to lead them by 20 points. Points, how difficult it is, if you are not careful, you may be ahead of them by 20 points.

The Nuggets' off-ball pick-and-roll still couldn't be played, and the offensive time was eroded bit by bit. When it was within 10 seconds, the Nuggets finally had to give up the tactical cooperation and let Bu Rand began to demand status, ready to hit Duncan back.

At this time, because Anthony was entangled by Bowen, he didn't have a good chance to attack. It was somewhat helpless to choose Brand to end the game, but Brand obviously has the ability to attack. The ball was fed in, and the rest of the Nuggets began to pull away from 200 years, while Brand began to dig in with his back.

Tim Duncan, in history, can be said to be the number one power forward in history. Not only did he dominate the game on both ends of the offense and defense at his peak, but more importantly, his peak time was particularly long.

At the age of 29, Duncan is clearly at the peak of his career.

After the back hit, Brand first made a tentative turn to the right. After realizing that Duncan was unmoved, he followed a sharp left turn, and then made a fake shot. His move is very big. Usually at this time, even if the player defending him is not shaken up, at least the defensive center of gravity will definitely change. But what made him feel speechless in this round was that Duncan still didn't Impressed!
Brand was surprised, but after all, he is also a player who has contributed 20 plus 10 all the year round. After realizing that Duncan's center of gravity has not changed, he took a breath and turned the imaginary into reality. The original imaginary action suddenly became real. Pressing Duncan is a side throw.

At this moment, Duncan finally moved, and he raised his hand to cover Brand's shot.

Almost at the same time, an imperceptible smile suddenly appeared on the corner of Brand's mouth, and he abruptly withdrew again, and turned around to the other side without stopping at all!
This movement is a bit unbelievable. The coordination of the body and the coherence of the movement are very difficult. Brand has already thrown Duncan to the other side by using his body. In front of him is Kong Lan. shot.

"Snapped!"

Suddenly, there is a crisp sound!
At this moment, something happened that Brand, even the fans, didn't expect at all. After Duncan was thrown, he turned around at some point. A slap slapped his hand away!
Everything changed too quickly. By the time everyone realized it, Brand's shot had been slapped out of bounds, and the referee's whistle sounded.

The fans at the scene were in an uproar, and Brand was a little dazed. He had clearly shaken Duncan away just now, but he didn't expect that in the end...

Anthony smiled bitterly at the moment. No one else saw it, but he noticed Duncan's intentional flaw in selling just now. Perhaps this old hooligan had already guessed Brand's attack method. , the reward is extremely clean.

(End of this chapter)