novelhk Chapter 475 Overcoming the Most Difficult Situation! The East, After All That Fierce Competition
Chapter 475 Overcoming the Most Difficult Situation! The East, After All That Fierce Competition
At the start of Game 7, the Pacers dealt the Pistons a heavy blow!
Lin Tian, whose three-point shooting had been mediocre in the previous games and whose shooting percentage was far below his average, started the game by throwing three consecutive shots at Billups, one from the left, one from the right and one from the middle!
Clearly, Lin Tian's consecutive three-pointers in the final moments of the third quarter of the previous game brought him back to his touch, and tonight he started the game by showcasing his powerful abilities!
While Lin Tian hit three consecutive three-pointers, the Pistons missed many shots and were hit with a 9-0 run by Lin Tian at the start of the game.
Brown made a quick change of tactics this time; he dared not let Lin Tian, who was on fire, take any more shots from beyond the three-point line.
Hamilton, move up to double team!
As soon as Lin Tian gets close to the three-point line with the ball, Hamilton's help defense will arrive immediately!
Seeing the Pistons double-team him early, Lin Tian dealt with it with even greater ease!
First, he dribbled backward to draw two defenders away from the others, then found Christie who had been left out and quickly passed the ball to her.
Christie received the ball outside the three-point line, pulled up and shot, and the three-pointer went in!
In the next possession, Lin Tian was double-teamed again, and this time the Pistons' defensive rotation was noticeably faster, quickly filling the gap left by Hamilton's double-team.
But what level is Lin Tian's vision?
This time, his pass was even more unpredictable in timing and in a longer trajectory, successfully fooling everyone on the Pistons team.
The basketball was shoved straight into Miller's hands under the basket. At that moment, Ben Wallace had just left the basket to prepare to defend the left-out Artest, who was the Pistons thought would receive the pass from Lin Tian.
But no one expected that Lin Tian would dare to throw the ball directly into the paint!
Miller pulled up for the ball and dunked, slamming it into the basket with both hands!
14: 0!
Then, the Pistons finally broke their scoring drought when Hamilton hit a mid-range shot for two points, relieving the team's early scoring slump.
But for the Pistons and their supporters, there was no time for joy or relaxation tonight. Lin Tian once again found Haslem, the least noticeable player on the Pacers, when he was double-teamed. Haslem was incredibly calm after getting the ball and even made a fake move, tricking Rasheed into jumping off the ground.
Haslem immediately brushed against Rasheed as he jumped, and then released the basketball steadily.
"Whoosh!"
"beep!"
2+1!
Haslem, who was almost completely outmatched in the previous games, successfully avenged his defeat with a 2+1 play! Haslem, who set career highs in both points and rebounds in the last game, started the game strongly, looking like he was going to continue to break his career records in this series!
Haslem made the free throw.
17: 2!
Then Lin Tian and Artest successfully lured Billups into a defensive trap and stole the ball. Artest dribbled wildly, drove to the basket, and slammed it in with one arm!
19: 2!
By this point, all five Pacers starters had scored and maintained a 100% shooting percentage!
Tonight, they really came to Detroit with the intention of completely crushing the Pistons!
In the subsequent game, the Pacers' efficiency naturally began to decline. They scored 19 points in the first 4 minutes of the first quarter, and by the end of the first quarter, they had only scored a total of 35 points.
However, their shooting percentage dropped in the second half, but that didn't stop them from extending their lead.
After all, the Pistons' offense was worse, or rather, quite terrible!
They only scored 15 points in the first quarter, digging themselves a huge hole right from the start, falling behind by a full 20 points!
Then, in the second quarter, Lin Tian rested again!
He got very little rest time, even towards the end of the regular season, and it was between the first and second quarters.
The playoffs are getting easier and easier!
Because the score difference between the two sides remained around 20 points, Lin Tian didn't play much in the second quarter. He played the entire first quarter, but only played 6 minutes in the second quarter, and still delivered 4 assists and scored 7 points.
Of those 7 points, aside from the free throws Lin Tian made after a defensive play by Ben Wallace, the remaining 6 points all came at the end of the second quarter. In the final 40 seconds, Lin Tian hit two more three-pointers, one from the left and one from the right! His three-point shooting touch tonight was truly perfect; he was 5-for-5 in the first half!
At the end of the first half, the Pacers extended their lead to 25 points thanks to Lin Tian's two three-pointers!
60: 35!
The Pistons are getting closer and closer to a crushing defeat!
In the third quarter, both teams played somewhat listlessly. The Pistons seemed to have finally exhausted themselves, and they didn't put up much of a comeback. Even their defensive intensity and toughness noticeably declined.
It goes without saying that Brown's halftime instructions and speech failed to resonate with the players and unleash their final potential!
At the beginning of the third quarter, led by Lin Tian, the Pacers went on an 11-4 run, extending their lead to more than 30 points!
And it was after this wave of attacks that everyone could see how the game would go from here on out.
Everyone knew: the game was over, the Pistons were finished!
The subsequent matches were all just routine.
In Game 7 of the series, the Pacers finally had a collective explosion of energy, and everyone came alive!
They delivered a Pacers-style, resounding victory!
The fans at the Palace of Auburn Hills have been incredibly quiet since the start of the second half; they haven't been able to accept the fact that their team has been overturned.
They still felt they should be leading 3-1 and could break the Pacers' dominance in the East at any time and advance.
But how, how did we lose?
Detroit fans still can't believe what's happening, but the Pacers have already started changing their starting lineup.
At the start of the fourth quarter, Carlisle pulled all the key players. Apart from Parker, who was left on the court to stabilize the situation and prevent the Pistons from catching up too quickly, the rest of the Pacers players were just regular benchwarmers.
The Pistons, on the other hand, were still fielding their full starting lineup!
Brown still wanted them to give it a shot.
They really gave it their all.
At the start of the fourth quarter, the score difference between the two sides was as much as 31 points.
With seven minutes left in the fourth quarter, the score difference between the two teams was only 20 points.
With two minutes remaining in the game, that number was reduced to 15 points.
But that's how it is.
The Pistons, with their full starting lineup, defeated the Pacers' bench players by 16 points in most of the first half of the game, but there's nothing to be proud of or happy about.
As time slowly ticked away, Brown finally gave up his stubbornness. After a long sigh, he substituted all his key players and announced his surrender.
The Pistons lost!
They squandered a 3-1 lead, and even in Game 5 of the series, they were leading by 18 points in the fourth quarter! They were so close to advancing.
But tonight, they were eliminated by the Pacers.
A decisive and utter defeat.
In this game, Lin Tian scored a triple-double of 29 points, 14 rebounds, 16 assists and 4 steals, and only played for 30 minutes before going to the bench to rest. He really played with ease tonight, barely breaking a sweat.
Ron Artest, who hit the game-winning shot in Game 5, scored the team's second-highest 20 points and grabbed 7 rebounds tonight. After battling Wells for the entire series, Artest finally secured the victory!
In addition, Christie, Miller, Parker, Howard, and Haslem all scored in double figures! The Pacers eliminated what was touted as the most united, most average, and most evenly distributed team in the league with a team performance of seven players scoring in double figures!
Then, when the final whistle blew and the score was 113-100, the Pacers won three straight games, not only climbing back from the brink of defeat but also throwing the Pistons off the cliff!
The top seed in the East has officially bid farewell to the playoffs!
The Pacers became the first team to pull off an upset after the NBA changed the first round of the playoffs to a best-of-seven series!
At the same time, they are also the first eighth-place team in the division to come back from a 3-1 deficit to win three consecutive games!
"Congratulations!" After the match, Ben and Rashid rushed over and hugged Lin Tian to congratulate him.
Then Hamilton and Billups, the twin stars, graciously walked over, chatted casually with Lin Tian for a few words, and after making some harsh remarks like "I'll kill you next year," they turned around and walked into the players' tunnel.
"Lin, your contract is expiring. Would you consider coming to Detroit?" Brown was the last one to step forward, shaking hands with Lin Tian as he began the routine recruitment.
Lin Tian has heard this phrase at least 40 times this year!
"Absolutely not considering Detroit." Lin Tian shook his head and refused without even thinking.
"Why? Aren't your best buddies here? I think you'll get along quite well with them!"
"Because I can't stand your style." Lin Tian looked at Brown and said bluntly, "I can't stand playing like a machine, following the tactics perfectly, step by step, being overly cautious. I can't do that, and I don't like it."
"Don't tell me you'll change. Even if you did, we still wouldn't be able to get along. We're really not compatible."
Brown shrugged, said nothing more, then turned and disappeared into the players' tunnel with his players.
Seeing the dejected figures of the Pistons players, Lin Tian truly breathed a sigh of relief.
The toughest hurdle is finally over!
Going forward, at least in the Eastern Conference, we won't encounter a more difficult situation than this series!
But even as Lin Tian relaxed, he could see that these guys were really heartbroken. They had worked hard all season, achieving the best record in the East and 60+ wins, only to be eliminated in the first round.
Thinking about it this way, it's better not to get angry with the Magic and not to compete for the top spot in the East!
Second in the East is so great!
I could easily crush a bunch of rookie knights led by a complete idiot!
What kind of incompetent team could possibly lose to a rookie-led Cavaliers team!
Answer: Magic!
This series can be described as quite unpredictable.
Although the Magic decided to change things up after their upset loss last year and fired head coach Rivers.
The team's regular season record this season has proven that the team management's choice was absolutely correct!
But when the playoffs began, and the Magic thought they had avoided the strongest team in the bottom half of the bracket, the Pacers, and were facing the weakest team, the Cavaliers, everything started to go strange.
This series between the Magic and the Cavaliers doesn't look like the second team versus the seventh team at all; it looks more like the seventh team versus the second!
The Magic have not gained any advantage from the start of the series. In the first game of the series, they were caught off guard by the young Cavaliers team led by Wade, Zydrunas Ilgauskas, Boozer and others!
Boozer and Zydrunas Ilgauskas are both shooting and skill-based big men. They were shooting at each other with great enthusiasm, and Duncan alone was really no match for these two mid-range masters.
Because once he leaves the paint, Wade's drives will show the rest of the Magic what the "Flash" is all about.
But if Duncan doesn't leave the paint, then these two can just keep shooting and scoring from mid-range!
As for Duncan's inside partner?
Not worth mentioning, not worth mentioning at all!
It's worth noting that the Magic have one thing in common with the Pacers.
That is, they have been cutting back and saving expenses for the past few years. The most classic trade was that they were willing to offend McGrady and trade away the young Miller in order to save about 100 million in salary.
With Hill out for the rest of the season, the Magic have no other notable players besides Duncan and McGrady.
Lacking support, the Magic suffered a shock defeat in their first home game against the in-form Cavaliers, losing their first home game.
Although they then won two consecutive games, regaining their home advantage.
But in the fourth game, Wade exploded, scoring 36 points with inside drives and outside shots, while limiting McGrady to only 21 points!
The duel between the two star perimeter players ended with a complete victory for the young Wade, and the Cavaliers naturally won the game!
The fifth game that followed became the most exciting and entertaining game of the entire series. The two sides were neck and neck from the start, trading blows and refusing to give an inch until the final 5.4 seconds of the game, when they were still tied.
In the final moments, Wade once again became the hero. He dribbled past McGrady beyond the three-point line, drove to the area below the free-throw line, took a step back, gathered the ball, and launched a floater.
With a crisp crack, Wade sealed the victory against the Magic!
3: 2!
The Cavaliers won Game 5 and took the series lead!
They're just one step away from advancing!
After Wade's shot, the entire city of Orlando was plunged into despair.
They never imagined that they, the second-best team in the East with two superstar players, could be pushed to the brink by a team led by a rookie.
Although the team is not yet eliminated, and although McGrady and Duncan are still on the team, the hearts of Orlando fans have truly turned cold.
They have come to believe that the team's development over the past few years has been a complete failure.
Not to mention that Duncan, who has not yet signed a new contract with the team, will become a free agent in the summer and could leave Orlando at any time. When that happens, the Magic will inevitably be in chaos again.
Fans all think: The Magic are finished.
The fans' pessimism also affected the Magic players, who generally felt frustrated, disappointed, and regretful.
This negative mood will certainly have a significant impact on the team's fighting power. The Magic are facing a Cavaliers team that is united and full of morale. With this shift in momentum, the Cavaliers will not give the Magic any more chances and will not give them the opportunity to drag the series to a Game 7!
70: 98!
In Game 6 of the series, the Cavaliers gave the Magic no chance. The team displayed unparalleled fighting spirit and game-winning form from the very beginning, taking a large lead from the first quarter and maintaining it until the end of the game.
The Cavaliers have advanced to the second round of the playoffs once again after many years!
The whole of Cleveland erupted in cheers!
Meanwhile, in the East, both the seventh and eighth seeds suffered upsets simultaneously, marking the first time in history that the top two seeds in the East were both unexpectedly defeated!
The Magic and Pistons, these two unfortunate brothers, became the most embarrassing first and second place teams in history.
Aside from these two upset victories, the other two Eastern Conference series didn't generate much excitement or offer many interesting moments.
The Nets easily swept the 76ers, who were missing Iverson and only managed to make it into the playoffs with "Big Dog" Robinson and a bunch of decent role players, thus upholding the dignity of being one of the top three teams in the East.
Meanwhile, the Hornets and Bucks, ranked fourth and fifth in the East, played a rather uneventful series, with neither team being particularly strong and their star players being just average.
Ultimately, the Bucks secured the crucial victory in Game 6 thanks to Michael Reed's outstanding performance, scoring 35 points and hitting six three-pointers in a single game, thus eliminating their opponents and advancing to the second round of the playoffs.
The Bucks became the Pacers' second-round opponent. After trading away three of the team's key players in the past two years, the Bucks have completed their rebuilding process at a rapid pace.
As for the other matchup in the East, it's naturally the Nets versus the Cavaliers.
The Nets, one of the best teams in the East over the past few years, faced off against the determined young Cavaliers!
Nets' twin towers Yao Ming and Pau Gasol vs. Cavaliers' twin towers Zydrunas Ilgauskas and Carlos Boozer.
UFO Carter vs. "Flash" Wade.
This series is certainly full of highlights.
It remains to be seen whether Yao Ming can defeat his arch-rival Boozer this time.
In the West, the suspense in the first round of matches is even less than in the East.
The Lakers and Timberwolves, the two Western Conference champions, gave their opponents no chance, easily sweeping them aside and defeating the Rockets and Trail Blazers respectively!
The only noteworthy aspect of these two series is the outstanding performance of Trail Blazers rookie Chris Bosh, who averaged 19 points and 9 rebounds per game, including a remarkable 31 points and 15 rebounds in Game 3!
If the Timberwolves hadn't been so strong, and if Iverson hadn't scored 44 points in Game 3, the Trail Blazers could have at least won a game thanks to Bosh's breakout performance, instead of being swept.
The third-ranked Mavericks in the West successfully avenged their loss to the Jazz, who eliminated them last year. New head coach Avery Johnson showcased his talent and leadership to the fullest in this series.
His passionate shouts from the sidelines and his highly distinctive coaching style left a deep impression on everyone.
4: 1!
The Mavericks, who were swept out of the Jazz last year, got their revenge and successfully advanced to the Western Conference semifinals.
After the match, Malone, who rarely smiled throughout his career, appeared relaxed at the press conference. He casually told the media and reporters, "My professional career is over."
Ma Long has retired!
The league's former number one villain and a tough, dirty, and ruthless figure ultimately failed to win the championship ring he had always dreamed of and left the league with regret.
Meanwhile, Mark Jackson, who played a minor role with the Rockets this year and entered the league in 87, returned to the Bulls and fought for another year. Scottie Pippen, who also entered the league in 87, announced his retirement after finishing their last game of the season.
With the retirement of players like Malone, although there are still a few players who entered the league in the 80s playing today, they are just ordinary rotation players who have little influence and are not very strong, whether in their prime or now.
In other words, the 80s generation, who entered the league in the 80s and dominated the scene, winning countless honors and championships, has now completely left the stage of history.
Their era has ended.
Jordan, Drexler, Miller, Pippen and other top-tier swingmen; Kevin Johnson, John Stockton, Tim Hardaway and other first-class point guards; Barkley, Malone and other interior muscle monsters who ushered in a new era of power forwards; and of course, the three famous centers.
Hakeem Olajuwon, Patrick Ewing, David Robinson.
These people have all left the alliance.
From this day forward, there will be no more players born in the 80s in the league!
The league will officially belong to the middle generation who joined the league after the 90s.
Of course, the younger players who joined the league after the 21st century also won't give their predecessors much time.
They were also eager to stand at the highest point of the league and see the scenery that Malone had never seen before.
As for the fourth-ranked Kings and the fifth-ranked SuperSonics in the West, it was the only matchup in the West that created some suspense.
The Sacramento Kings are clearly no longer the team they once were, and their strength has declined significantly. Facing the SuperSonics' three-man perimeter offense, the Kings simply cannot defend against them. However, in a shootout, Divac's performance has declined sharply, Peja is still recovering from his injury, and Bibby will have to contend with Payton's devilish defense.
With the tide turning, although the Kings withstood the pressure and won the first game of the series, they then lost three games in a row, pushing the SuperSonics to the brink of defeat.
Then, in Game 5 at home, the Kings held on and prevented the SuperSonics from eliminating them in Sacramento.
But that's about all the Kings can do. They don't have the Pacers' tenacity and ruthlessness, and Bibby and Peja aren't stars of Lin Tian's caliber.
Under these circumstances, the final game in Seattle was hardly a surprise. The Kings failed to bring the series back to Sacramento, losing cleanly and thoroughly in Seattle.
4: 2!
The SuperSonics successfully eliminated the Kings and advanced to the second round of the playoffs.
They will challenge the Lakers in the Western Conference semifinals!
Another matchup is a head-to-head clash between the Dallas Mavericks, a regular in the Western Conference Finals for the past few years, and the Timberwolves, a rising star in the West.
In addition, during the breaks in the first round of competition, the league also presented its various awards.
The fact that LeBron James of the San Antonio Spurs won the Rookie of the Year award has sparked considerable controversy. Some argue that Carmelo Anthony also deserved the award, while others say that Dwyane Wade, who led his team to the playoffs, should not be overlooked. Still others suggest that Chris Bosh and Darko Milicic also deserved the award.
Although no matter how much people discuss it, it can't change the final facts. But such intense discussions and different voices prove that this year's rookies are really great!
For example, the five players mentioned above were ultimately selected together for the All-Rookie First Team!
All five of the top five picks in the draft were selected to the All-Rookie First Team. This is truly the first time in the history of the league!
In previous years, either a few of the top five players were just average, or some overlooked geniuses would stage a comeback and achieve an upset.
But this year, the top five rookies of the 03 draft class have managed to protect their dignity as high draft picks. Each of them deserves their draft position!
As for the All-Rookie Second Team, the Pacers have two players selected: Haslem, although he went undrafted last year, is playing in the NBA for the first time this year, so he is also eligible to be selected for the All-Rookie Team.
In addition, Howard was selected to the All-Rookie Second Team based on his good performance.
Of course, these two players also got a lot of playing time because of Webber and Ginobili's injuries. If it weren't for their season-ending injuries, it would be hard to say whether Howard and Haslem would even be able to enter the team's rotation this year.
The remaining three players in the second unit are TJ Ford, Kirk Hinrich, and Jarvis Hayes.
This year's Pacers have once again upheld their reputation for unparalleled draft picks and their ability to consistently find hidden gems in the low draft.
This team can always draft players who meet the team's needs and have a certain level of ability, regardless of whether they are drafted high, low in the first round, or in the second round!
Now, it's Bird's turn to have a headache again.
What if these two run away again?
Let's hope no more bastards come along and offer these two contracts that exceed their actual value.
I'm really going to be completely drained.
Howard is in a better position; he has a standard first-round rookie contract, which is four years in total. Even after this year's game, he still has three years left.
But Haslem, this guy signed a two-year, non-guaranteed minimum wage contract, which expires next summer.
Bird hates it!
Why couldn't you have been a little more generous last year and given Haslem a three-year base salary?
When the Pacers have Haslem's Bird rights, they will be able to both attack and defend!
But regrets and headaches are nothing for the Pacers to worry about right now.
The season isn't over yet!
Besides Rookie of the Year, this year's Sixth Man of the Year award went to Antawn Jamison of the Dallas Mavericks. This guy averaged 14 points and 6 rebounds per game this season, so winning this honor is well-deserved.
Especially after "Little General" Jensen took over, he actually convinced this guy to play as a substitute, which brought Cuban's messed-up three-forward lineup of Nowitzki, Jamison, and Walker back to life.
Of course, they were only barely surviving, hanging on by a thread. Everyone could see that the reason this lineup could get third place in the West was because their offensive firepower was truly terrifying!
Nowitzki, Jamison, Finley, Walker, Nash – this team has five players averaging over 14 points per game!
It's incredibly illogical; 1+1+1+1+1 at most equals 3, with absolutely no chemistry whatsoever. It's basically a lineup where everyone takes turns going one-on-one, and they managed to reach third place in the West solely through the players' pure talent.
The Most Improved Player award went to Carlos Boozer of the Cavaliers. Randolph, who should have won the award this year, broke out a year early and played well last year. Although he averaged 20+10 this year, he still missed out on the Most Improved Player award.
It's worth mentioning that the Pacers' Parker ranked in the top three in both the Sixth Man of the Year and Most Improved Player awards, but ultimately failed to win either.
He didn't win the Sixth Man of the Year award because he was a starter in the month when his stats were at their best and his performance was the best, and the team only had a record of 1 win and 11 losses.
He didn't win the Most Improved Player award because his statistical improvement wasn't significant enough, and he wasn't able to maintain his top performance from February.
Of course, the Pacers players didn't expect Parker to win the award anyway; being in the top three was already a pleasant surprise.
The Pacers' real surprise came from Lin Tian!
Lin Tian defeated opponents such as Ben Wallace and Ratliffe to win his first Defensive Player of the Year award!
Although his winning the award was somewhat unexpected, it was also quite reasonable!
This season, despite the departure of their former defensive anchor Ben Wallace and the further aging of Christie, the Pacers' defense has not plummeted. Besides the top-notch defensive ability of the newly acquired Ron Artest, the most important reason is Lin Tian!
This season, Lin Tian is averaging a career-high 9.4 rebounds per game! This includes a career-high 7.6 defensive rebounds and a career-high 1.8 offensive rebounds!
He is also the league's steals leader with 2.9 steals per game, and his 1.2 blocks per game is a career high. When Miller and Haslem are unable to be the team's last line of defense, Lin Tian always rushes into the paint to make crucial blocks.
Meanwhile, Lin Tian has managed to limit his opponents' field goal percentage to 38.9% this season, ranking first in the league!
Yes, Kidd contributed the most to this. This guy faced Lin Tian four times this year, hitting a total of 68 shots with a shooting percentage of only 23%. He really made a great contribution to Lin Tian winning the best defensive player award.
In addition, the difference in the team's defensive efficiency when Lin Tian is on the court and when he is off the court is the highest in the league! When he is on the court, the Pacers are an excellent defensive team in the league, but once he leaves the court, the Pacers' defensive efficiency will immediately drop to the bottom level in the league!
This influence is also number one in the league!
From these perspectives, although Lin Tian's rebounds and blocks are far inferior to Ben Wallace's, overall, Ben Wallace is in a team with a perfect defensive system.
Ben Wallace exists only as the heart and most important person in the team's defensive system. Even without him, the Pistons would still be a top-five defensive team. But Wallace made the Pistons go from the top five to the undisputed number one.
As for Lin Tian, he almost single-handedly transformed the Pacers from a team with terrible defense into a top-ten defensive team in the league.
Lin Tian's award is well-deserved! (End of Chapter)