basketball boulder

Chapter 377 Regional Finals
Feeling the attitude of the fans and the pressure of public opinion, the league management can no longer turn a blind eye.

Originally, David Stern valued the fans the most.

When Li Lei was a rookie, Stern told him: fans are the God of the NBA.

If the incident at the Palace of Auburn Hills had not involved fans, Stern would not have been furious and given the heaviest punishment in NBA history.

Therefore, the top management of the league quickly took action and issued an announcement to investigate some teams and players in the league. If malicious competition is involved, heavy penalties will be imposed.

After getting the news, the Grizzlies players understood a little bit, and asked Li Lei again: "Boss, is this your purpose?"

Put pressure on the Spurs through the league, disrupt the Spurs' pre-game preparations, and give the Grizzlies more advantages in the next series.

Sounds logical.

But not so.

In fact, Li Lei knew that the pressure from the league meant little to the Spurs.

Don't say that the matter is over, and the investigation is meaningless.Even if the problem is really found out, can the league still suspend the Spurs players?

Going long is a penalty, and this actually doesn't put too much pressure on the Spurs.

But that night, David Stern contacted the referee union.

"In the next game, there cannot be any favoritism for the Spurs."

"Yes, Mr. President! But what if it's the home of the Spurs?"

"Neither!"

……

After that, Stern contacted Popovich again: "Greg, I don't want what happened to Nash to happen again."

Popovich: "Mr. President, I think you misunderstood, Robert didn't mean to hurt people! He just..."

Stern didn't listen to Popovich's explanation at all: "That's the best!
But you also know the current public opinion, if there is another... beep! "

Stern only spoke half of the sentence and hung up the phone.

Popovich looked ugly.

He knew, Stern had sounded the warning.If there was one more time, Stern would strike hard.

Putting down the phone, Popovich thought of the interview Li Lei had given before.

"Is this his purpose? What a cunning young man!"

……

On May 5, the Eastern Conference finals took the lead.

The strength of both sides is very strong, and it can be said that they are the favorites to win the championship.

76ers starters:
Yao Ming, Joe Smith, Iguodala, Korver, Iverson.

Magic starters:
Howard, Turkoglu, Hill, McGrady, Nelson.

Just looking at the platoon has attracted countless fans.

There are two four shooting guards, Iverson who is still at the peak, and Tracy McGrady who is in full swing.

There are two super centers. O'Neal is getting old, Yao Ming is regarded as the successor of the traditional center, and Howard also has unlimited potential.

10名球员里，状元就有4个，1995年的状元乔史密斯、1996年的状元阿伦艾弗森、2003年的状元姚明、2004年的状元德怀特霍华德。

Among them is Grant Hill, who won the All-Star vote in the hands of the "God of Basketball" Jordan.

So it must be a Mars crashing into Earth.

Sure enough, in the first quarter, the two sides played inextricably.

20: 19.

The 76ers led by 1 points in a single quarter.

McGrady and Iverson are red-eyed.

Needless to say, Iverson played every game as his last. He scored 9 points, 2 rebounds, 2 assists and 1 steal in the first quarter.

And McGrady, who has always been commented by fans as "not high desire to win", opened his sleepy eyes and scored 7 points, 2 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 blocks in the first quarter.

The role players on both sides are also in excellent form.

Iguodala has shown solid defensive skills, and many fans no longer call him "Little AI", but "Pippen's successor".

Korver's open three-pointer hits all the shots.

Joe Smith takes on all the tiring and dirty work.

Nelson can shoot suddenly.

Turkoglu is good at organizing, connecting the inside and the outside.

Hill's sword is not old.

After halftime, 43:43, the two teams drew.

However, no one expected that in the second half, the situation would change suddenly.

In the second half of the 76ers team, Yao Ming began to take on more offensive tasks.

Facing Howard, Yao Ming scored three goals in a row relying on tonnage, footwork, and technique.

But Howard faced Yao Ming, but continued to eat big hot pots, showing his shortcomings of rough skills to the fullest.

Relying on Yao Ming's performance, the 76ers quickly widened the point difference and kept it to the end.

In the end, 89:81, the 76ers took the lead.

Yao Ming had 24 points, 12 rebounds, 2 assists and 5 blocks.

霍华德9分9篮板3盖帽，另外还贡献了5次犯规5次失误。

In the last round of the series, facing the Pistons, Howard showed amazing talent, a living monster.

And tonight, Howard faced Yao Ming and was beaten like a chihuahua.

Iverson had 29 points, 5 rebounds, 7 assists and 3 steals.

麦迪拿下全场最高的35分7篮板5助攻2抢断3盖帽。

It's a pity that the second master was hindered, and McGrady couldn't support him alone.

Immediately after the game, Li Lei sent a text message to Yao Ming: "Yes, Dayao, the tickets for the finals have been secured."

After only watching one game, Li Lei already guessed the result.

Howard is very strong, but he happened to be restrained by Yao Ming.

In fact, in North America, many fans do not recognize Yao Ming as the best traditional center forward. This is because of his strength and his nationality.

So many American fans prefer to call Howard O'Neal's successor.

But in fact, Howard and O'Neal are completely different.

They all look like beasts, but O'Neill is a lion, and Howard is at most a hyena.

Technically, although O'Neal likes to use his body to force him, it is well known that O'Neal's skills are very comprehensive, such as footwork at the basket, back frame, dribbling skills, hooks, jump shots, fake moves... When he was young, he could even Launch a full-court snap like a guard.

And Howard's technique...was too crude.

There is still a big difference between having technology and not using it, and not having technology.

Then physically, they are all the same, they can run and jump.

However, O'Neal is heavy and has a stable foot, and he is still partial to the floor.

Howard is lighter, with a strong upper body, but a thinner lower body, and is more inclined to fly into the sky and escape from the ground.

……

Li Lei analyzed these characteristics, and immediately made a judgment that Howard was not Yao Ming's opponent at all.

It can even be said that facing Yao Ming, Howard has no advantage.

Not long after, Yao Ming replied to the message.

"It's okay, I'm very confident here. What about you, are you confident playing against the Spurs?"

Li Lei thought for a while and returned: "I've been very lucky this year, otherwise I might not be able to make it through when I met the Mavericks in the second round. It's luck to reach the conference finals. It's hard to beat the Spurs, but I hope my luck will continue. , so that we can join you in the finals."

(End of this chapter)