against the front

Chapter 279 Special Rookie
"Haha, we won, we won, we won the finals!"

"We beat the Celtics, we beat a championship team!"

When the whistle sounded for the end of the game, all the Kings players on the sidelines bench rushed into the field in a swarm, shouting loudly and celebrating wildly. Those who didn't know thought they had already Defeated the Celtics in the finals and won the championship.

The course of the Kings this season can be said to be unfavorable all the way. Although the Kings successfully entered the playoffs last season and completed the miracle of black seven on the Nuggets, the current Kings team is A team without any background and a team composed of young people who lacked experience in the playoffs, so before the start of the regular season, everyone did not think that the Kings could achieve such a good record this season, just like last season , Being able to make the playoffs is already their limit.

But after the start of the regular season, the Kings created the longest season and the longest 18-game winning streak in the history of the Kings. At the end of the regular season, they ranked second only to the Los Angeles Lakers in the Western Conference. Second in the league.

Although the king's record in the regular season is very good, but after the start of the playoffs, there is still a lot of unfavorable voices to welcome the king, whether it is the semifinals against the Mavericks or the conference finals against the Lakers. Some media do not think that the Kings can defeat their opponents, because the Kings' main lineup is too young. In the playoffs where the intensity and atmosphere of the game are completely different, they are likely to be unable to adapt to the situation, but the Kings have eliminated the season one after another. The experienced Mavericks and Lakers made it to the finals in a historic way.

Similarly, before the start of the finals, not to mention that the media were not optimistic about this young king, even the king himself was panicked to death, because what the media outside said made sense, the king hadn’t played for decades. Having reached the finals, the team has a group of young players who have never touched the floor of the finals, and there is even a group of rookies with basically zero finals experience. Their opponent, the Celtics, two seasons ago, They just won the championship, so the Celtics have an absolute advantage both in terms of experience and psychology in the finals.

In terms of the strength comparison between the two sides, the king has no advantage. Although the king has Yan Hua, the strongest center in the league today, the Celtics have a group of old monsters, and they even shouted the slogan of the Big Four. The Cavaliers with the first record and the Magic with the second record in the league fell at their feet one after another. It was terrifying.

Therefore, when the Kings defeated the Celtics in the first game of the finals, the entire Kings team flooded into the court, using crazy roars to vent their excitement and excitement, and suppressed The haze in their hearts disappeared with the victory of this game.

From team leaders like Kevin Martin and John Salmons, to role players like Spencer Hawes, Andres Nosinho, Dante Green, and then to Danny Green , rookies like Zhu Holiday, the Kings team is extremely excited now, not just because of a victory, but because they really see the hope of winning the championship.

For almost all Kings players, regardless of whether they can play in the finals or how long they can play in the finals, they want to beat the Celtics and have the same goal of winning the championship, because as long as If the King can defeat the Celtics and win the championship, then all of them will become members of the championship, and becoming a member of the championship means that they are one step closer to reaching the pinnacle of their lives.

"22 of 14 shots, 9 of 6 free throws, 34 points, 17 rebounds, 6 assists, 4 blocks, 3 steals, it is hard to imagine that this is a second-year rookie in his career. The data played in the finals."

While the Kings players on the field were still celebrating crazily, Jeff Van Gundy, who was on the sidelines commentary, got the technical statistics sheet of this game and glanced at it for a while, then he appeared briefly stupefied.

Ten years ago, Jeff Van Gundy's first trip to the Finals was also the only trip to the Finals in Van Gundy's coaching career. In the playoffs of that season, Van Gundy led the New York Knicks to the eighth place in the Eastern Conference. Identity, all the way to the finals. After eliminating the powerful Heat, Eagles, and Pacers, Van Gundy and the Knicks had great expectations for the finals, but in that finals , the magic of the Knicks in one black, and Jeff Van Gundy's dream of a championship, but was destroyed by a second-year rookie.

Jeff Van Gundy can't remember the specific details of that finals. In short, in that finals, a fledgling second-year rookie faced a group of old ball ruffians. He dominated the game, and the championship dreams of Van Gundy and the Knicks were completely ruined by the second-year rookie. However, Van Gundy will never forget the jerky face of the second-year rookie at the time, and now , when Van Gundy saw Yan Hua, who was also in the second grade, after the statistics he played in this game, the figure of that guy naturally appeared in his mind.

At the same time, when Yan Hua, a sophomore, put up dominant statistics in the first finals of his career and helped the team win, it was inevitable that Van Gundy would take Yan Hua, and After comparing those historical stars, naturally, in Van Gundy's heart, the expectations for Yan Hua were once again raised a bit.

"This kid is really amazing!" Bill Walton, who was sitting next to Van Gundy, was amazed again and again after seeing Yan Hua's statistics in this game. In the first finals of his career, he faced the whole team. The Celtics, one of the strongest defensive capabilities in the league, under the intensive care of the opponent, not only did Yan Hua not show any discomfort or nervousness, but he also behaved like a seasoned veteran. One point is enough to be admired.

"What a special guy." When they were about to get up and leave, Bill Wharton and Jeff Van Gundy looked at each other again and gave their evaluation of Yan Hua in their hearts.

(End of this chapter)