Chapter 521 Western Conference Finals

   At this time, the result of another game came out. The Pacers won two wins against the Heat, and they also won two consecutive home games.

  Assistant coach Portka said: “Under Mourning’s defense, Ewing scored 31 points and shot 49%, and the efficiency is not low. Today Mourning’s defense is not good.

  Reggie Miller’s performance was much stronger than in G1, returning to his normal level, scoring 22 points, shooting 42.5%, and hitting 3 3-pointers. ”

Having said this, he smiled and said to Pharaoh: “Old K, your fellow Hu did well, he scored 16 points and hit 43%, slightly worse than the previous game, but as a substitute, this is Quite a performance.”

Lao Wang nodded with a smile. Hu’s hit rate seems to be higher than that of Reggie Miller, but it should be noted that most of the time he faces opponents from the Heat’s bench, so although the hit rate is higher, it is not equal to Lao Hu is stronger than Reggie Miller.

   But Lao Hu is indeed capable, and this performance is enough for him to get the main position in a weak team.

   Both the Lakers and the Pacers won two consecutive victories, which was beyond the media’s expectations. In other words, the Pacers’ two consecutive victories were taken for granted by the media, but the Lakers’ two consecutive victories surprised the media.

The Lakers scored a record 74 wins in the regular season, and they showed great strength in the playoffs, especially the way they won the Jazz. With a strong backup lineup and the physical advantage of the old K, the Jazz was dragged down, allowing the Knicks. The Blazers and the Green Team have all raised their vigilance and have a great sense of urgency.

The Blazers are a little better. Although Da Meng really wants to win the second championship, his desire to win is not so strong after all. Duncan is a rookie. Although he really wants to prove himself, his desire to win is actually the same as Da Meng. Same.

   However, the Blazers owner Paul Allen did everything to win the championship, so Da Meng and Duncan were also full of energy and wanted to fight.

   Their lineup is actually quite good, not slightly worse than the Lakers and Knicks, but the perimeter defense and offensive efficiency are not good, but if they play well, the Lakers and Knicks are not opponents.

   The people with a stronger sense of urgency are Jordan and O’Neal.

  Jordan did not hesitate to come to New York in order to win the old K. He really didn’t know what to do if he lost again this time.

   His contract with the Bulls is two years, only this year, if he loses again, should he renew his contract with the Knicks, continue to fight for another year, or simply retire?

   And O’Neal was crushed by the old K in all honors. His desire to break through was no less than Jordan’s, so he was willing to accept Jordan’s encouragement and train harder.

   In fact, having said that, the people and teams pressing him in the East are Jordan and the former Bulls.

   However, after careful analysis, Jordan believes that the Knicks still have an advantage.

   No matter who the Pacers or the Heat make it to the Eastern Conference finals, the Knicks can easily kill them and make it to the finals first, so that they can wait.

   And what about the Lakers? There is a high probability that he will play the Blazers in the Western Conference Finals. With the strong lineup of the Blazers, he has no certainty. Even if the Lakers win, it will definitely be very difficult to win, and reaching the finals will also be a tired team. The Knicks There will be physical advantages.

The Lakers have Chris Mullin and Fox on the bench, but the Knicks’ bench is not bad. His appeal is not weaker than that of Old K. He has also recruited some veterans with basic salary. Win or lose is not a good idea.

And the thickness of the Knicks’ lineup is not bad. He and O’Neal played in the regular season. Although he did not truce, his average playing time was controlled at 35 minutes, and O’Neal was truce for 22 games. Only 36 minutes, their physical consumption is much lower than the old K, which is also an advantage.

But now there is also a problem. The green team is desperately biting them. They actually lost the G2 game to the Celtics at home. It is best to win the next two away games, otherwise they will lose a game and tie them. During the hard battle, it will affect the subsequent series.

   There will be no games on May 7th, one day off, on the 8th, the G3 match day.

   On this day, the Lakers arrived in Salt Lake City, and the Pacers also arrived in Miami.

  The group of Buckley didn’t come. Now the business of the trading company is very hot, they went to the company to inspect their business.

   That night, the Knicks and the Blazers went their separate ways to defeat the Green Team and the SuperSonics, both with a two-to-one advantage.

   On the evening of the 8th, the Pacers fought the Heat first, and half an hour later, the Lakers and the Jazz fought.

   Around 10 o’clock, the Heat defeated the Pacers and pulled back a game.

   In another half hour, the Jazz also defeated the Lakers and pulled back a game.

   In the second round, all four groups of opponents fought two to one.

On the Pacers and Heat side, Mourning only scored 18 points against Ewing, and sent 7 blocks in the game, 4 of which blocked Ewing. With his defense, the Pacers did not dare to enter the paint area.

   The Lakers and the Jazz didn’t decide the winner until the last minute, and the Jazz only won by 3 points.

The Jazz have used foul tactics from the very beginning. All the players slashed Pharaoh with big knives and made 16 of 26 free throws in the game. Although his free throw shooting rate reached a normal level of 61.5% today, so many fouls also cut him. He was completely out of form. He made 3 of 10 shots from the past two points and 8 of 11 shots from the basket. In total, he made 11 of 21 shots, and the shooting rate was only 52%, which was far lower than the 70% hit rate in the previous two games.

In addition to the free throws, he scored 38 points, 13 rebounds, 3 assists, 4 blocks, 5 turnovers and 5 fouls. The rebounds were not enough, and the state was not good because he was cut too many times. There were also a lot of mistakes and offenders. These are the reasons for the loss today. .

   Other players, Kobe Bryant exposed the inadequacy of the sophomores, only scored 8 points and shot only 33%.

   Richmond had a good day today, scoring 21 points, but shooting only 40.1% from the field.

  Mark Price was not in good shape today. Under Stockton’s defense, he made as many as 6 pass errors and could only get 8 points and 4 assists.

  In the 9th minute of the second quarter, Danny Fortson couldn’t help but threw his fist at the big bug under the stimulation of the big bug, the second-degree offender, and then was sent off.

   On the other hand, Mullin, Fox and Hill scored 8 points, 11 points, and 6 points respectively in the bench lineup.

   After the game, the Lakers hurried back to the locker room and the coaching staff summed up the game.

  Pharaoh and others soaked in the medicine bucket in the bathroom and listened to the head coach Harris talking outside.

   Harris first affirmed Pharaoh’s performance. He believed that he scored 38 points and the shooting percentage could remain at the level of 52%, which is already the performance of a superstar.

Losing tonight, one is that everyone is in a bad state. The Jazz are too strong at home. Every time they get the ball, they will be booed and scolded, so they make frequent mistakes and their state is sluggish. Second, the Jazz have home field advantage and play quite well. , Postman scored 34 points, Sabonis 18 points, Hornacek hit 4 three-pointers, scored 19 points, and even Stockton scored 16 points.

   There is another important reason. The big bug is in very good shape today, grabbing 21 rebounds, 8 more than the old Wang.

   Under all kinds of advantages, even if the Lakers have a physical advantage, they have been biting the score, but they have not been able to pull it back in the end.

Then he didn’t criticize anyone. After analyzing the game, he warned: “Everyone should have a good rest tonight and tomorrow. It’s normal to be in a low state for a while. I hope everyone will work together to win the G4 game the day after tomorrow. Back home with second-round match points.”

  Magic Johnson walked in and said to Pharaoh: “Old K, they will definitely cut you in the next game.”

   “Just cut it, we didn’t play well today, and they only won by 3 points. Are we afraid of them?” Pharaoh said confidently.

   Kobe also confidently said: “In the end, their physical fitness may be worse, and our physical fitness advantage will be greater.”

   “Kobe, you only got 8 points. Sure enough, you have a hand in choosing the number of your jersey, so you chose number 8 on purpose?” Pharaoh joked.

   “Then I want to change the number, so I will choose number 100.” Kobe said angrily.

   “Haha…” Everyone laughed.

  Pharaoh continued to tease: “I’m afraid it will be difficult for you to take my class with your performance!”

   “It’s just a bad game, I’m going to play 20+ in the end.” Kobe was full of confidence.

   On the second day, on the 9th, the second round continued.

   The Knicks and the Trail Blazers each defeated the Green Team and the SuperSonics with a big score of 3-1, and both returned to the home court with match points.

  10, the game between the Lakers and the Jazz started first.

  The Jazz’s home court is very powerful. Every time the Lakers get the ball, they will be greeted with huge boos and all kinds of abuse from the home fans.

   However, under the leadership of Pharaoh, the Lakers dealt with it calmly and fought a fierce battle with the Jazz. In the end, with the advantage of the thickness of the lineup, they still dragged down the Jazz in the fourth quarter.

Today, Pharaoh was hacked again. He reduced his offense, increased his rebounding control and defense, and scored 35 points, but his shooting rate was as high as 72%. Also sent out 6 blocks, 3 steals and 8 assists.

   He passed a ferocious dunk in the 9th minute of the second quarter and injured Sabonis, who had only been on the bench for 6 minutes, which was also one of the reasons for the win.

   Then the Pacers lost to the Heat again, and the two sides tied the game.

  Hu Weidong came off the bench in the 5th minute of the first quarter and played 34 minutes, scoring 20 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals.

The key reason for the loss was 24 points, but only 33.3% shooting. Ewing played inefficiently, and was frustrated by Mourning’s defense again. Blood.

  On the 11th, the Lakers returned to Los Angeles with the match point of the second round, and on the 12th there will be a G5 battle.

   That night, the Knicks fought the Green Team. The Green Team troika worked together to pull back another game. The two sides fought three to two.

   In addition, the Portland Trail Blazers beat the Sonics with a big score of 4 to 1, becoming the first team in the league to reach the third round of the series.

   “Michael is going to be bad!”

   “Haha, won’t the Knicks be eliminated by the green team?”

  Buckley and the glider group laughed.

  Pharaoh didn’t hold back, he called Jordan and joked: “Flying Man, if you can’t make it to the Eastern Conference Finals this year, it seems like your contract is over, why don’t you come to the Lakers to help me?”

   “Sheet! Old K, you should worry about yourself.” Jordan gritted his teeth in hatred, and swears directly.

“Ha ha…”

  Buckley and a group of people listening to the phone laughed nearby.

   “Charles, you’re on the old K’s side, holding his thigh, how does it taste?” Jordan heard Barkley’s voice and immediately sneered loudly.

“Michael, Old K is making us rich, do you know how profitable our trading company is? We can’t even finish importing and exporting orders. There are hundreds of VIP customers of K’s martial arts hall who are our trading and business partners. Our suppliers and customers are all over the United States, and the monthly trade volume has now exceeded 200 million US dollars.” Barkley is proud.

“Humph!”

  Jordan hung up the phone angrily.

   “Charles, is there a trade volume of 200 million now?” Old Wang said in surprise.

   “It’s not 200 million, but the monthly trade volume is 200 million. Old K, don’t you care about your own company?” Buckley said angrily, and other shareholders such as Lightning nodded in agreement.

   “I don’t understand, why do I care about it?” Lao Wang said indifferently.

   Lightning said with emotion: “Old K, you are really lucky. Your second sister helps you manage the business and make a lot of money.”

   “That’s right, my second sister is a genius.” Old Wang said proudly.

   “Little genius? What about the big genius?” Lightning asked suspiciously.

“Kevin, you are so stupid, of course the genius is my eldest sister! My eldest sister has been smarter than my second sister since she was a child, but she is very low-key. Now she has joined a physics institute, and every once in a while, she will be in some natural sciences. Publishing papers in magazines, I am very busy, I haven’t seen her for more than half a year.” Lao Wang said.

   “The two sisters are so smart, why are you so stupid?” Buckley asked suspiciously.

   “Damn fat man, who are you calling stupid?”

  Pharaoh was furious, got up and pressed Barkley and rubbed it on the floor, the others burst out laughing.

   “Shaq, solve the green team when you get off the court, you must not drag it into the tiebreaker.” Jordan dropped his phone over there, and he shouted at O’Neal.

   “I know, Michael, just play better off the court.” O’Neal said solemnly.

   “Puff!”

Oakley next to    burst out laughing.

  Jordan’s old face was a little red. He was in a bad state today. Although he scored 25 points, his shooting percentage was only 36%. It was his fault for losing.

   He stared at O’Neal fiercely, and the big shark held it for three seconds, but finally couldn’t hold back his fierce eyes, and looked away embarrassedly.

   No. 12, the Lakers fought against the Jazz, and defeated their opponents in one go, with a big score of four to one. After the Blazers, they reached the Western Conference Finals.

   ESPN commentator Rollin said regretfully: “The Jazz are old, otherwise they may not lose to the Lakers.”

Oldman nodded and said: “Basically, in the four games that were lost, although the first three quarters were behind, but the points difference was not too big, and they were able to bite, all of them suffered from physical collapse in the last quarter and were taken away by the Lakers in one wave. Really old.”

Rollin said: “If the Lakers’ strength is not strengthened next year, the veterans will be weaker, but Kobe should be stronger, so the strength will not become weaker. If it is strengthened, it will only be stronger than today. The chances are even smaller.”

   Oldman said somewhat grimly: “The second round is stopped this year, this Jazz is actually in the past tense, and the strength will only retreat and not advance.

   In the future of the West, at least five to seven years later, the Jazz will no longer be the superpower, and the West will be dominated by the Lakers and Trail Blazers. ”

  Rollin nodded and said: “The Lakers and Trail Blazers will meet in the Western Conference Finals. The series between these two teams will definitely be very exciting, so let’s look forward to the Western Conference finals in a few days.”

  The other team, the Pacers finally defeated the Heat and won the match point with a big score of 3-2.

   The next day, on the 13th, the Knicks and the green team started a G6 battle.

In the end, Jordan had a big explosion under various stimuli, scoring 48 points and hitting 51.8%, and O’Neal also scored 29 points and 14 rebounds. The big score of the second eliminated the opponent and entered the Eastern Conference Finals.

  On the 14th, the Pacers and the Heat started a G6 battle, the two sides tied again, and there was the only tie-break in the second round.

   There was no war on the 15th. This morning, the Lakers held a tactical meeting, including the boss, all relevant people participated.

First, assistant coach Bill Portka introduced the current situation of the Blazers. He said: “The Blazers are mainly because the main lineup is too strong. The bench lineup is the same as the Jazz. It is not as good as us. This is our advantage. There is a chance to come back on the bench.

In terms of the main lineup, they are strong in the interior, top offense and defense, and the No. 4 and No. 5 positions are very balanced in offense and defense. Weak them a lot.

Their back line is also quite strong. Ryder and Momo can also play 20+ star performances, but they have big weaknesses. First, they are not efficient, second, they are not good at defense, and third, their performance is unstable. It’s something we can take into account when we develop our tactics.

   The other 3 is our advantage, their small forward is just a role player, and we can blow them up in that position. ”

   Then head coach Harris said: “We have two wins and two losses with the Blazers in the regular season, and we are quite familiar with them.

Their main lineup seems to be very strong, but the inside and outside are not balanced. The inside line is more efficient. They only make so many shots in one game. Their offense is the same as ours. They even have two strong inside lines. The shots are not as good as our perimeter. We defend the Blazers and focus on the inside.

The Blazers traded Momoko from the Raptors this season. Momomoka averaged 17 shots per game in the Raptors last season, but was suppressed to 11 times in the Blazers. This season, he averaged only 12.2 points per game in the regular season. The hit rate is only 36.4%.

   So far in the playoffs, the score is about the same, and the shooting percentage is slightly higher than the regular season, reaching 39%, which is still not high enough.

   His performance this season is far less dazzling than the previous two seasons, and he can no longer see any stars.

His performance has declined. In addition to the needs of the team, it is also related to injuries, but we cannot underestimate him. His speed is very fast, and his breakthroughs and assists are very threatening. It is very likely that even if the scoring efficiency is not high enough, it belongs to the level of top point guards.

   Shooting guard Ryder averaged only 15 points per game in the regular season and shot 42.3%. The score in the playoffs is similar, and the shooting rate is slightly lower at 41.8%. This efficiency is higher than his partner.

   But such a hit rate on the backline of the Blazers will not affect the outcome of the game unless they can slash 40+50+.

We don’t talk about advantages on the outside, but we don’t have any disadvantages. Our scoring ability on the outside is definitely not weaker than them. Including the bench lineup, we are even half a grade better than them on the outside. We have loopholes in the defense on the outside, but it should be better than them. Stronger, we have to suppress their scoring and efficiency on the back line through defense on the perimeter.

  In terms of the inside line, although we have old K, the combination of Da Meng and Duncan is too strong. We will play like the regular season. Old K will stare at the more stable Tim Duncan and cut off the connection between them.

  Dameng is indeed a bit old now, almost 36 years old. In the regular season, he scored 18 points, 10 rebounds, 3 assists, 1.8 steals and 2 blocks, with a shooting percentage of 49.3%. The score and rebounds in the playoffs have improved slightly, but not by much.

   And he was in average form in the first two rounds, with too few attacks at the basket. He gave up the space under the basket to Duncan. Duncan’s number of attacks at the basket was higher than him, and his shooting percentage was only 40.5%, which was lower than the regular season.

   However, he can still play 38 minutes in the playoffs, which is not bad. It means that his physical fitness is not bad, and his state has the potential to be tapped. He cannot be underestimated.

   But if he is still in this state in the Western Conference Finals, I think that on the premise that Old K kills Duncan, and they can’t kill Old K, we have a good chance of reaching the finals.

   However, under the premise of the old K defending Duncan, the big dream will definitely increase the attack at the basket, and the efficiency will be improved. We must be mentally prepared. ”

  Bill Portka said: “Duncan, a rookie, really made his debut and was at his peak. In the regular season, he played 20+10, with 20.7 points, 9 rebounds, 1.9 assists, 0.6 steals, 2.6 blocks, 2.8 turnovers and 2.7 fouls in the playoffs.

   The performance is slightly lower than the regular season, but his performance is very stable, and his threat is bigger than the big dream. His biggest threat to us is not scoring or rebounding, but his stable offensive and defensive performance. ”

   “Old K, please say a few words.” At this time, the head coach Harris said.

  Pharaoh nodded, stood up and said, “Playing the Blazers is definitely more difficult than playing the Jazz, we have to be mentally prepared.

They have four main positions, and both inside guys have 20+ scoring ability. If I target one, the other should be able to score 30+ points. In short, their two major insiders have an average of 40+ points per game. We have to count them in. .

Two positions on the outside, Momonga’s score is not to be feared, even if he can burst, it will definitely not burst the entire series, but be careful of his breakthroughs, and Ryder, who is very threatening and efficient, should also be careful, don’t Let him hit a blast.

   In general, I agree with what the coach said, our lineup is thicker than them, and we have a physical advantage. We can slowly drag them to death just like playing the Jazz. ”

At the tactical meeting, the Lakers made the decision to strengthen the rotation in the Western Conference finals, and use a stronger rotation to grind the Blazers to death. As long as the old king can hold the big dream and Duncan in the interior, this idea can still be realized. .

Wang Tiejun, Kobe Bryant, Richmond, Chris Mullin, Teelon Hill, Mark Price, Fortson, Rick Fox, these eight King Kong players are all at the level of the main players, although there are a few veteran players. , but it is entirely possible for everyone to take turns and grind to death the four main players of the Trail Blazers.

  The Blazers’ backup lineup, namely forward Brian Grant, is not bad, but he is useless by himself.