Basketball: The Chosen Victim

Chapter 310 Are you here to fight for the sixth child?

Entering March, the league ranking battle has become intense.

In the Eastern Conference record rankings, the sixth to ninth teams are clustered together, with winning rates around 50%. They are the Hawks, Celtics, Heat, and Bucks respectively.

老鹰的战绩是33胜31负，凯尔特人的战绩是33胜32负，热火与雄鹿的战绩是32胜32负。

The Hawks, who are ranked sixth in terms of record, have only one more win than the Heat and Bucks, who are tied for eighth and ninth, and only one win less than the seventh-ranked Celtics.

The four teams are competing to the extreme. No one wants to be the ninth or eighth team. After all, the ninth team has no tickets for the playoffs, and the eighth team has to face the defending champion Cavaliers. That feeling is even worse than being the ninth team.

They don't really want to be seventh. They have to face the Knicks. The Knicks are quite weird this season, especially after Anthony won the AMVP, he actually scored 10+ points in 30 consecutive games, averaging 28.5 points per game. !

At the top of the game, everyone has to avoid the edge.

Of course, in addition to Wu Di and the Cavaliers, Wu Di has scored 10+ in 35 consecutive games, basically losing the MVP of this season. Gua Ge has to show his presence.

而虽然骑士与尼克斯的战绩排名只差了一位，但骑士的战绩是58胜7负，比尼克斯42胜24负的战绩多了足足16个胜场！
This means that even if the Cavaliers do not play the remaining 17 games and the Knicks win them all, they will not be able to surpass the Cavaliers' record ranking!
So much so that when the New York media boasted that the Knicks had achieved their best regular season record in the past 10 years, they only talked about second place in the Eastern Conference and never dared to mention the record.

But with the exception of Wu Di's Cavaliers, no team in the east or west can get away with the Knicks.

Therefore, each of the four teams in the Eastern Conference wants to be the sixth player, especially the Heat, who are determined to win the sixth position.

Riley's calculations are very shrewd. The Heat are not without potential. The new Big Three can occasionally perform superbly. For example, they once won the Cavaliers on the road with a score of 108-103.

Although the Cavaliers somewhat underestimated their opponent in that game, the hand factor cannot be ignored, especially when James made 9 of 7 three-pointers and Ray Allen made 5 of 5 three-pointers!
No matter how James shoots, he can score blindly, which makes Cleveland fans angry and makes Heat fans cry with joy.

It's a pity that after that outbreak, the Heat seemed to have exhausted all their luck, and in the blink of an eye they suffered a four-game losing streak.

In any case, it proves that the Heat's new Big Three still have potential!

Flames rose in Riley's eyes. He actually knew that Howard and James' playing styles were not balanced, but he had no choice!

He has been forced into a corner. The original Big Three have proven unable to match the Cavaliers. He can only give it a try and hope that Howard, the league's number one center, can create a chemical reaction with James.

Howard used non-renewal to force him to put pressure on James to improve his style of play, but Riley didn't care at all.

On the one hand, he stopped participating in team training after he was dismissed as head coach last year. The risk is too great, so it is best to let Spoelstra handle it. He does not need to take the pole.

On the other hand, if he puts pressure on James to make this guy improve his style of play, then the Heat won't lose so miserably before.

And regarding the issue of Howard's contract renewal, he thinks more clearly. If the Heat can achieve results this year, even in the Eastern Conference Finals, Howard will not leave. If they cannot achieve success, he will not be able to keep Howard if he wants to.

Riley's mentality has quietly changed, but Spoelstra's mentality is still tenacious.

Although James repeatedly snitched on Riley and asked him to be dismissed from get out of class, he still has a glimmer of hope for James and the current Heat!
After all, he is an Asian team coach who grew up from being a video analyst with difficulty. The energy that Spoelstra burst out at this moment is definitely qualified for the position of coach.

It's just that he didn't treat James differently, and it seemed that James regarded him as a sign of cowardice.

James... James still has confidence in himself at this moment, especially after spending a lot of money to hire a psychiatrist. As long as he has a basketball... ah no, bah bah!

As long as Howard honestly grabs rebounds and provides him with support, they will first use the Pacers, an easy persimmon to find a feel for in the playoffs, and then attack his former defeater Melo, and finally have a decisive battle with the Cavaliers in the Eastern Conference Finals...

He told Wade his thoughts. After holding it in for a long time, Wade decided to side with James. After all, he had handed over the position of team leader to James, so how to lead the team to victory was James's responsibility. question.

But convincing Howard is not an easy task, especially since James' sixth-year plan is not so attractive in his opinion.

So what if we reach the Eastern Conference Finals? Isn’t it still losing to the Cavaliers?
If James' style of play doesn't change, it's impossible to win!

Anyway, no matter what James said, Howard's left ear went in and the right ear came out more. He looked like "you won't change and I won't change, why not see you next year", which made James very angry.

It took a few more games like this. On March 3, the battle for the sixth place suddenly took a turn. The top-ranked Hawks unexpectedly lost to the Trail Blazers, who were ranked low in the Western Conference.

Lillard had an amazing scoring explosion in this game, while Aldridge restricted Horford, who has suddenly emerged this season!

The Hawks' victory suddenly became unstoppable, falling from sixth to eighth in the Eastern Conference.

The Celtics were instantly stuck in the sixth position, and the Heat, who were promoted to seventh place, were also gearing up!

On April 4st, the Heat played away against the Nets, currently ranked fourth in the Eastern Conference. James tried his best, and Howard also knew the importance of this game. He put away his temper and was willing to temporarily sacrifice his data to adapt to James. The way to play!
However, he lost the game again...

Wade faced Deron, and he played pretty well, almost half-suppressing him. Howard completely suppressed Lopez in terms of rebounding, but James had a serious hip stretch!
The Nets made a defensive arrangement against him, letting the strong Kris Humphries defend him. Keith Bogans and Luo double-teamed and harassed him at any time. The crowded inside greatly weakened James' explosive advantage, and James' outside line also If it is not opened, the lethality drops sharply and makes no achievements.

And Joe Johnson, who was traded to the Nets by the Hawks just this season, seemed to still miss the friendship between his old owners, played extra hard, and killed the game with a solid mid-range jumper at the last moment!

Not only did he fail to become sixth, he was overtaken by the Hawks and fell to eighth again. James was so angry that he flew back to Miami to see a psychiatrist overnight!
However, misfortune never comes singly. The ninth-ranked Bucks unexpectedly defeated the No. 4 Thunder in the Western Conference in a game on April 5, directly knocking the Heat from the eighth position!
The angry Heat fans never expected that the finale of the league they were talking about would actually be the finale of the Heat...

After several days of fierce battles, on April 4, the Heat narrowly defeated the Knicks 10-98 at home, bringing their record to 100 wins and 40 losses, ranking seventh, eighth, and ninth with the Bucks and Hawks. They could take a breather temporarily.

The Heat's official Twitter posted three posters to celebrate, but Heat fans didn't buy it at all. They rushed to the Heat's official Twitter to leave messages:

"That's too bad! How dare James say he is No. 1 in the league with his performance in leading the team?"

"Shet, you are treating the fans like fools!"

"With a salary of tens of millions, what do you do for a living? Even if you can beat a bad team like the Knicks for half your life, how can you expect revenge in the playoffs?"

"Before Bosh left, he was either first or second in the Eastern Conference. Once Bosh left, all his tickets for the playoffs were gone. It's self-evident who is the real winner!"

"Ray Allen must be regretting it. He took a salary cut to come to the Heat, and now he doesn't have to play in the playoffs. It's really funny!"

"My dear mother, I am so happy to beat the Knicks by 2 points. Has that person's era passed..."

"Howard was right not to renew his contract. This mess is worse than the Magic!"

……

Heat fans are furious, while Cavaliers fans are so happy that every day feels like Chinese New Year!

As the regular season enters its end, the Cavaliers have won 8 consecutive games at home and 14 consecutive victories overall!

And every next game is a new winning streak!

The Cavaliers peripherals were sold out, the tickets hit record highs, owner Gilbert made a lot of money, and the people of Cleveland were completely proud!
However, privately, Gilbert became increasingly unhappy, especially when he looked at Under Armor's soaring stock price and the fact that Wu Di was ranked higher than him on the Forbes rich list... But he was not stupid, he had never been This kind of discomfort has been expressed in front of outsiders. Even the Jordan trade incident in the previous offseason caused David Griffin to rush to the front.

On the contrary, he tried to please Wu Di in all kinds of ways. Wu Di already had a house, a car and a plane, so he collected various collectibles or introduced his celebrity friends to Wu Di...

After all, Wu Di has reached an unprecedented height in the hearts of fans, and it is still rising rapidly. Although he has never heard of the allusion of "the star drowns the person in spitting water", as a self-made businessman, he deeply understands risk control. importance.

Gilbert pretends to be grandsons in order to avoid public criticism, but the Heat's Big Three have already become grandsons in the hearts of fans!

There are less than 5 games left in the regular season. The Heat have an unprecedented luxury lineup, but they have not yet fully won the playoff tickets!

Public opinion has become more and more harsh in criticizing James, and its contempt for team-building has risen to a new level. The entire Heat team is physically and mentally exhausted, but they dare not relax at all!

4月12日，热火在主场以101-109拿下凯尔特人，暂时保持第7。

4月14日，又在主场以116-102大比分输给骑士，又回到并列第8。

The Cavaliers relied on this game to push their record to 71 wins and 9 losses!
On April 4, the Heat's penultimate regular season game was an away game against the Bucks.

This is a crucial game. The two teams have the same record. Whoever wins will directly lock in the eighth place!

But Heat fans never thought that this would be a crucial game, especially when they saw that the opponent's biggest player was Monta Ellis, who was sold off by the Warriors:
"The Bucks don't even have an All-Star!"

"Oh my god, are the Heat already in such bad shape... Damn it, they're still lagging behind at the start! James, stop making blind shots!"

"If you lose, give me a good time!"

……

At the critical moment of life and death, James showed up and used the Eyes of Death, but it was not that exaggerated. The Bucks are not the Nets, and they are seriously short of major generals in the process of rebuilding.

Unreliable starting center Samuel Dalembert is the kind of No. 5 position that James can defend. He has no low-post ability and poor defensive awareness. He has become a complete toy of Howard.

As the Heat played a wave, the scale of victory was completely tilted, 120-95, the Heat won a big victory!
If we don’t win, we will really have to fight 120!
But the Heat's risk has not been completely eliminated. You must know that facing the Cavaliers in the first round is no different from not entering the playoffs. It is even worse than not entering the playoffs...

Fortunately, the Hawks, who were originally ranked seventh, lost to the Grizzlies the night before. Their current record is exactly the same as that of the Heat. According to the ranking rules, the Heat are directly ranked seventh.

In the last game, the Heat will face the Pacers, who have the third-best record, while the Hawks will face the Kings, who have no hope of the playoffs. Therefore, in comparison, the pressure on the Heat is not small.

People in Miami are still having mixed feelings, but people in Cleveland have already rushed to the streets to celebrate in advance!

伴随着骑士主场以97-102拿下湖人，他们已经追平了1995-96赛季的公牛，获得了赛季72胜！
And they have one game left, and they are facing the weaker Wizards, which means that the Cavaliers will have a greater chance of breaking the record set by the Bulls!
"This is the second team in NBA history to win more than 70 games in the regular season!"

In the TNT live broadcast room, Barkley said with emotion.

"It's unbelievable! The Cavaliers' style of play has changed the rules of the game, and Wu Di has changed the rules of the game!"

Kenny Smith also spared no words of praise.

O'Neal made a classic head-up expression, then spread his hands and said:

"What else can I say? Let's go home! Let's go home!"

On the court, Kobe, who was sweating profusely, stopped Wu Di, who was about to leave after high-fiving the Lakers players:
"Hey! Boy! Keep the jersey!"

Wu Di smoothed his hair and frowned:

"You bitch, who are you?"

Kobe's expression froze, and the next moment he used his big elbow to use the noose on Wu Di:

"I'm making a fool of myself in an away game, but you're so good..."

The two had a laugh, exchanged jerseys, and met in the finals. The photographers and reporters present shouted that they had material while taking pictures!
The next day, the headline about the Cavaliers tying their winning record appeared on the same page as the news about the Heat's difficulty in locking in playoff tickets. The strong visual contrast made Heat fans shout shame!

So much so that the prices of Heat peripheral products such as T-shirts, jerseys, ball caps, etc. collapsed!

James' signature sneakers have been severely affected, and Nike is selling them at a discount in advance!
In this case, on April 4, the Heat faced the Pacers at home.

The opening was full of excitement on both sides. James failed to find an opportunity in the pick-and-roll tactics and directly pushed into the paint like a tank!
Roy Hibbert immediately double-teamed over, and James quickly swung it to Howard!
Hibbert was already on guard and flipped his arm, successfully interfering with James' passing route. Howard stumbled, but just when he was about to scold James for not playing the ball himself, Wade cut in in time, picked up the ball and finished!
After changing sides and fighting again, Paul George was eager to make a contribution and shot the three-pointer towards James. He was not afraid at all!

James blocked the shot a step too late, but the basketball had its own ideas and bounced off the basket!

Howard carried David West to grab the rebound, but George Hill stole it from behind!
beep!
The referee blew the whistle and Hill's thug fouled!
The last key game was at the Heat's home court again, and the referee had already started to help James regardless of his appearance.

But when Howard served, Paul George flew to intercept the ball passed to Wade, and connected with David West to score!

With Howard and James already deeply grudged, it was too easy to judge the passing route. George deceived Howard with a cover-up move!

The Heat want to win this battle, and the Pacers are working hard!
In terms of hatred, Danny Granger, the son of Yincheng, was eliminated by Lao Zhan this time last year!

Poor Granger originally had a bright future, but after only playing 5 games this season, he was declared season-ending and underwent knee surgery!

The two sides played in a hazy state, with the scores taking the lead alternately. Although the Miami fans hated the Heat for not fighting, they still cheered hard for the Heat!

James once again resorted to the Eye of Death, but the Pacers refused to give in. Although it was the regular season, they played with the intensity of a playoff tie-breaker!
At the end of the second quarter, the score between the two sides was still 46-47, and the game between the Eagles and the Kings that started earlier was over. The Eagles won without any surprise!

The pressure on the Heat suddenly increased. As soon as the third quarter started, they increased their firepower, but the Pacers relied on good defense to withstand the Heat's attacks one after another!

In the last 20 seconds of the fourth quarter, the Pacers were trailing 96-99, but the ball was in George's hands!
James did not step forward to press, but David West suddenly stepped forward to pick and roll with 7 seconds left!
George got stuck in the rhythm and suddenly started, bypassing James and shooting from the start!
Both Haslem and James blocked shots a step too late, and the basketball was smashed directly into the net!
"Jue Ping! Who dares to stand upright with a sword, but I am General Qiao!"

In the live broadcast room of the sports channel, Zhang Weiping was amazing!
"Ouch, this is hard to beat! The Heat's bench is not as deep as the Pacers..."

Yang Yi said nervously.

Sure enough, as soon as overtime came, the Pacers took the lead with West's mid-range shot. Howard and James were completely out of energy. Ray Allen was not feeling good, and it was all thanks to Wade and Haslem to hold on. !
At the moment of life and death, Spoelstra took a tactical board and slapped it in front of James, asking him to stand up for the team!

James gritted his teeth, and when he came on the court again, he held the ball and forced it into the penalty area!
The ball didn't go in, but the referee blew his whistle!
The Heat relied on this move to gain a foothold, but they still failed to make the Pacers surrender. After the first overtime, the two sides were still tied at 108-108.

In the second overtime, as soon as Lao Zhan came on the field, he slipped and fell to the ground!
James looked in extreme pain, lying on the ground and beating the floor, unwilling to get up. His expression aroused widespread sympathy from the fans at the scene!
In the end, James was helped by his teammates to stand up, but he could not play the ball at all. He was helped by the staff and walked towards the player tunnel...

(End of this chapter)