Jim Bass Ambition

Chapter 229 The Iron-Strike Divisional Semifinals
After eliminating the Timberwolves with a total score of 4-1, the Lakers became the first team in the four-group matchup to break through to the conference finals.

The Indiana Pacers, aiming to avenge the Lakers for the championship, encountered tenacious resistance from the Miami Heat. The frontcourt composed of Grant, Odom and Caron Butler was full of vitality, which put strong pressure on the old Pacers forward.

It's a pity that the performance of the starting shooting guard Eddie Jones is really sorry for his salary. Facing the 39-year-old Reggie Miller, Jones only shot less than 40% of his shots and averaged only 9 points and 4 points per game. Board, the data is [-]% off the regular season.

"Eddie Jones is the same as he was 10 years ago. I know him. He's thinking about vacationing in Hawaii now. When your team needs to make a big shot, he will step back. But if someone else steps up and takes over the responsibility that should belong to him and makes those damn shots, he will be dissatisfied again, this is Eddie Jones." In an interview, O'Neal made no secret of it Own disdain for Eddie Jones.

Being publicly challenged by O'Neal, Eddie Jones has to be a three-pointer even if he is a clay figurine. The Heat are fighting to the death, rookie Bosh and sophomore Butler are still immature. In this case, Eddie Jones did his part to take on the offensive burden. He took 21 shots and hit 6 of them. He scored 28.6 points and 16 rebounds with a shooting rate of 4%, breaking his series. It has been lowered to 35%, which proves that O'Neill's words are indeed correct with practical actions, and Jones himself is indeed not the material to be the boss.

Led by Eddie Jones' super ghost performance, the Heat narrowly lost to the Pacers in the sixth game 70-73, with a total score of 2-4, and regrettably bid farewell to the playoffs of the 0304 season.Turned from a small team to the second round of the Eastern Conference, Caron Butler and Chris Bosh are full of talents, and the future is promising. Lamar Odom is full of gorgeous skills and often has amazing performances. This season For the Heat, it has been considered a success, but the big contracts of Brian Grant and Eddie Jones have become a further obstacle for Pat Riley's team.

On another field, the New Jersey Nets and the Detroit Pistons played inextricably. The first four games were tied 2-2. In the fifth game at the Palace of Auburn Hills, Kidd still maintained his iron production, 14 shots Only 4 hits, but Scalabrine broke out suddenly, came out of the bench, scored 8 points on 7 of 17 shots, caught the Pistons by surprise, and Kittles and Richard Jefferson were in the opposite position. Tuckerhouse and Reid also showed brave state, Jefferson scored 31 points, Kittles 20 points, 11 rebounds and 5 assists.

For the Pistons, Reid also scored 31 points, but only made 29 of 9 shots. Stackhouse scored 15 points on 5 of 18 shots. Only Cassell's performance was normal, scoring 12 points on 6 of 17 shots.

The two sides fought hard for 3 overtimes, and finally the Nets won the away game and took the lead.

But Joe Dumars has been working hard all summer, and his goal is by no means to stop in the Eastern Conference semifinals. The Pistons, who are fighting to the death, showed amazing combat effectiveness in the away game. Although Ben Wallace only scored 11 points on 2 of 6 shots, he grabbed 20. rebounds, contributed 5 blocks, covered the sky with one hand in the paint, and defended Kenyon Martin in the dark.

Brad Miller had 14 points, 10 rebounds and 7 assists. Whether it was Jason Collins or Scalabrine, there was nothing he could do about him.

The Pistons defeated the Nets 88 to 76 and dragged the game into the tiebreaker.

Under normal circumstances, the upper limit of a team headed by a traditional point guard is not too high. A celebrity who did not want to be named once said: "You are the best player in the team with a salary of 2000 million. But the task of scoring shots is expected to be done by players with 500 million dollars?"

Of course, it is not without precedent for a point guard to lead a team to win the championship, such as the point guard double pride Magic Johnson and the smiling assassin Isaiah Thomas in the 80s.

But Magic is originally a non-mainstream point guard. When necessary, he can reach the center position and score 42 points and 15 rebounds. Although Isaiah Thomas is just over 183 tall, he also averaged 13.9 assists in the season. But when he needs to score points, he is absolutely unambiguous. The feat of scoring 25 points in a single quarter of the finals with a broken leg is not something that anyone can do.

双方的抢七战刺刀见红，肯扬·马丁找回了尊严，在大本的防守下12投6中砍下17分12篮板；杰弗森拿下18分，并且防得对面的斯塔克豪斯9投1中仅得3分，基特尔斯17投8中得到20分，并且让对面的里德23投仅7中，就连替补科林斯上场的罗德尼·罗杰斯都拿下了13分7个篮板。

The second, third, fourth, and fifth leaders of the team tried their best, but the Nets still failed to take away a victory. The reason is that Kidd completely lost himself in this game. He played 43 minutes and made 8 of 0 shots. No points, only 5 rebounds, 7 assists and 2 turnovers.

With Kidd's assists, the Pistons fought hard to eliminate the Nets in seven games, and joined the Pacers in the Eastern Conference finals. Some were happy and some were sad. Kidd and Eddie Jones carried their meeting materials and went home to fish.

"Mitch, think about it now, how wise we didn't listen to Phil's advice. Just imagine Kidd wearing our jerseys on the court..." Jim turned off the TV and mourned the Nets' exit. To say that the Nets' luck is indeed a bit bad, the important signings of Uncle Mu last season were basically useless. This season, in order to strengthen the inside line, Mourning was signed again. As a result, Mourning's kidney disease recurred and he played 12 games. The game will be reimbursed for the season, and the Nets can only rely on Jason Collins and Scalabrine and the like inside. It is already a very good result to be able to play the tiebreaker with the Pistons.

In the fifth game between the Spurs and the Kings in the Western Conference semifinals, when the outside players felt cold, the Twin Towers finally showed their strength at the same time. Duncan scored 34 points and 13 rebounds, and Rasheed Wallace scored 25 points and 14 rebounds. After blowing up the king's inside line, Adelman regretted letting Keon Clark go. After Divac committed 6 offenses, no one could use the inside line. He could only let Webb play five and Peja play four. The situation on the court was miserable Incomparable.

In Game 102, the Kings relied on an explosive three-pointer to hold the score, and finally relied on Anthony Peeler's lore to beat the Spurs 100-[-] at home, dragging the series into the tiebreaker.

As a result, Duncan never gave the king another chance. He scored 28 points, 22 rebounds and 6 blocks, completely suppressing Webber. Rasheed Wallace also contributed 23 points and 6 rebounds. Facing the huge inside advantage of the Spurs, the king relied on Bibby The touch with Christie lasted for three quarters, but in the end the two were unable to recover. The Kings lost the tiebreaker and missed the Western Conference Finals.

(End of this chapter)