NBA Old Age Star System

Chapter 345 Raptors-LeBron’s old grudges and enemies
The Lakers swept the Rockets 4-0 and successfully advanced to the Western Conference Finals.

Two consecutive rounds were swept, which can't help but give fans a lot more expectations for the Lakers.

"The Lakers are not really going to sweep the championship, right?"

"It's impossible. I don't believe the Warriors can't win a game."

"The Warriors can indeed win at least one game, but the final series victory is hard to say."

"The Lakers are gaining momentum right now, and this series with the Warriors is really hard to predict."

"The Warriors' three-consecutive championship dynasty encountered the biggest obstacle in history!"

"It's difficult. It's difficult to win three consecutive championships. Since OK, there has never been three consecutive championships in the league."

On the Lakers side, after the game, they flew directly back to Los Angeles.

Because the Lakers ended too quickly, the results of other series have not yet been announced, and the Lakers can only wait.

In the Western Conference, in the match between the Warriors and the Nuggets, the Warriors temporarily have the upper hand, leading 3-1, but it will take two days to get the result.

In the East, the Bucks face the Celtics with a clear advantage. It is difficult for the Green Army to prevent Antetokounmpo's impact with the ball.

The Bucks, on the other hand, seemed much more calm when dealing with the Celtics.

The day after the Lakers and Rockets game ended, the Bucks also defeated the Celtics 4-1 and successfully advanced to the Eastern Conference Finals.

The other group in the east, the Cavaliers and Raptors, were locked in a fierce battle.

The two teams are currently tied 2-2.

Leonard's performance may seem ordinary, but in fact he is full of killer moves.

And Leonard's defense against James is also among the top in the league.

James is very anxious. He wants to have another person in the team to take on some of the responsibilities, but Anthony has degraded and Love is only suitable as a support.

Clarkson, who had high hopes from James before, has now used his own strength to prove that he is still an ordinary young player.

"Sure enough, not everyone is Su." James sighed helplessly in his heart.

On May 5, the Tianwangshan match between the Cavaliers and Raptors started, and at the same time, the match between the Warriors and the Nuggets in the Western Conference also started.

Su Tian stopped watching half of the game between the Warriors and the Nuggets, because the Warriors were already leading by a large margin at this time, and as long as nothing unexpected happened, the Nuggets had no chance of winning.

The final result of the game was as Su Tian predicted. The Warriors defeated the Nuggets 4-1 and successfully met the Lakers in the Western Conference Finals.

As for the Cavaliers and Raptors, the game was so ups and downs that people didn't want to go to the toilet.

At the beginning of the game, James took the lead to gain the score advantage.

Immediately afterwards, Leonard began to lead the Raptors to chase points. It was not until the middle of the third quarter that Leonard finally caught up with the score.

At this time, James' shooting percentage began to decline due to physical problems, and his efficiency began to decline.

As a result, at the end of the third quarter, the Raptors successfully overtook the score and led the Cavaliers by 5 points.

At the beginning of the fourth quarter, James continued to play.

But at this time, James no longer played the main offense after playing again, but began to pass the ball to assist his teammates, switching from the offensive end to the organizational end.

Attracted by James' strong defense, Anthony was fed the ball continuously, and the point difference gradually narrowed.

In fact, by this time of the game, Anthony's physical strength was exhausted, but he still relied on his willpower to continue catching and shooting.

It seems that Anthony knows that this is the closest he is to a championship. If he misses this opportunity again, it will be difficult to have such an opportunity again.

Finally, with the joint efforts of James and Anthony, the two teams were tied 5 minutes before the end of the game.

At this time, Anthony was tired and out of breath. Tyronn Lue quickly replaced Anthony and arranged tactics to let James dominate the ball.

The last 5 minutes of the game are also the most exciting 5 minutes of the game.

After James took over the main attack again, he first made a strong breakthrough to the basket and scored a layup.

This is James announcing his return.

But then, turning around, Lowry hit a three-pointer.

After Lowry made the shot, he looked at James with firm eyes and a serious look on his face.

The brothers Lowry and DeRozan have been suppressed by James in the East for so many years and have never given up their resistance. Now they finally have a chance to stand up, but this was achieved at the expense of DeRozan.

DeRozan is gone.

Every time Lowry scores a goal, he can't help but think of his brother.

"Demar, may you be with me!"

"I will prove to the world that we are not garbage! We are the All-Stars of Toronto!"

After being responded to, James continued to attack with the ball.

But the Raptors' defense is very layered, with Leonard on the outside, Ibaka and Gasol helping to defend.

This made it very difficult for James, who wanted to score.

Just when James reluctantly took a shot and wanted to go for a layup, Ibaka jumped up and touched the basketball with his fingertips.

boom--

Basketball strikes, Gasol immediately grabbed the rebound and passed a long pass to Lowry on the fast break. Lowry received the ball and made a layup.

At this time, Ibaka, who barely blocked a shot, was high-fiving his teammates in celebration.

This scene also reminded Ibaka of the summer of 2012, when the Thunder fought against James and the Heat in the Finals, but unfortunately lost to James in the end, allowing James to win the first championship in his life.

At that time, Ibaka was still very young and had been blaming himself for not being able to help the team. Now, the time has come to make up for his regrets.

"Since the championship was taken away by you 7 years ago, I will take it back from you now!"

When Lowry looked at him, James didn't feel anything. Now that Ibaka was looking at him bitterly, James felt something was wrong.

Just when James was about to attack with the ball again, Leonard made a steal and snatched the ball away from James.

After successfully stealing the ball, Leonard directly launched a fast break with the ball, and James followed closely behind Leonard.

While paying attention to James' position, Leonard collected the ball and took off for a layup.

Swah——

drop--

"2+1! Leonard successfully scored and got an extra free throw!"

When Leonard was going for a layup, he deliberately found James' position. After a physical collision, Leonard shot and fell to the ground.

Leonard stepped to the free throw line and took the ball from the referee.

At this time, James was still talking to the referee on the bottom line, seeming to emphasize that he had not committed a foul.

But Leonard no longer cares. At this time, Leonard only has eyes for the basket in front of him.

At this time, Leonard couldn't help but recall his famous scene in the 6 Finals 2013 years ago.

In 2013, Leonard was only 21 years old. He was under too much pressure in the finals and missed key free throws, which ultimately led to the loss of the championship.

Leonard will always remember that scene, and he can remember it for a lifetime.Although the Spurs succeeded in revenge the next year, that free throw was still like a thorn in my heart.

Immediately afterwards, Leonard shook his head, stopped thinking about it, and took the shot calmly.

Swah——

The basketball hits steadily.

"LeBron, your time has passed. You will eventually become my stepping stone to the top!" Leonard thought secretly in his heart.

At this time, James' discomfort became more and more intense, and he even felt a sense of crisis.

"what's going on?"

James couldn't figure out what was going on, but he could feel that this was not a good phenomenon, so he quickly joined the game.

At this time, for the Raptors, Lowry, Ibaka, and Leonard have all completed their mental transformations, and their hostility towards James has all turned into fighting spirit.

The overall attributes of the Raptors have once again risen to a higher level!
In the next few rounds, the three Raptors seemed to work hard, contributing their own strength on the offensive and defensive ends.

In the end, James still failed to surpass the Raptors.

The Raptors defeated the Cavaliers 115-110, with the big score reaching 3-2, and the Raptors took the lead.

Su Tian happened to watch the second half of the game and was surprised by the Raptors' sudden performance.

Although Su Tian knew that he should not underestimate the Raptors, the Raptors in this state still exceeded Su Tian's expectations.

"I just don't know if this is normal for the Raptors in the playoffs or if it's a special situation. If it's normal, it would be scary."

"It seems we still need to be more vigilant and not underestimate anyone or any team."

The Raptors' example served as a reminder to Su Tian.

On May 5, Game 11 between the Raptors and Cavaliers began.

This game is the Raptors' home court, and the Raptors have a certain advantage.

Su Tian was also watching the whole game.

The Raptors scared Su Tian in the last game. Su Tian wanted to see if the Raptors could continue their performance in the last game.

After the game started, James still performed strongly. He attacked with the ball from the beginning and successfully took the lead.

Although the lead was almost the same, due to the efforts of the Cavaliers, it lasted for a long time. The Cavaliers still maintained the lead until the last few minutes of the third quarter.

"The Raptors' performance so far is quite normal. Was the last game just an accident?"

Just when Su Tian was confused, the Raptors suddenly ushered in a wave of explosions.

Moreover, this wave of explosion was not the explosion of one individual of the Raptors, but the joint efforts of the entire team, directly overtaking the Cavaliers with a wave of 10-3.

By the time the Cavaliers reacted, the third quarter had just ended.

Su Tian carefully checked the video and statistics of the Raptors' explosion and found nothing special. It was considered a normal performance.

"So, are the Raptors performing normally? Or are they just lucky in both games?"

"No!" Just when Su Tian was about to give up, he suddenly realized something was wrong.

"The Raptors actually conserved their energy at the beginning of the third quarter!"

Under normal circumstances, everyone will usually choose to explode at the beginning of the third quarter, because the main players have recovered a lot of physical strength just after the halftime break and can support the team's explosion.

But the Raptors didn't do that.

"I deliberately conserved my energy at the beginning of the third quarter and didn't start to exert strength until the second half of the third quarter. The fourth quarter should also be the period when the Raptors exert their strength!"

"Indeed, the Raptors' defense is very strong, which is enough to support the team in fighting the opponent in the first half of the third quarter without being too far behind."

"But once the opponent has almost exploded and their physical strength has been exhausted, the Raptors can directly take away the game with one burst."

"The Raptors are taking the approach of catching up from behind and striking from behind."

After figuring out the Raptors' tactical intentions, Su Tian continued to watch the fourth quarter.

The direction of the fourth quarter was similar to what Su Tian predicted. The Raptors team began to exert their full output, while the Cavaliers showed a lack of follow-up.

In the end, James was alone with the Cavaliers, and the Raptors won the game 118-109.

With a big score of 4-2, the Raptors eliminated the Cavaliers.

At the moment the game ended, Su Tian saw Lowry who turned his head to wipe away tears, Ibaka who looked up at the sky and prayed, and Leonard who showed a faint smile.

The Cavaliers' defeat still caused a large number of reporters to rush to report.

After all, before the start of the season, the Cavaliers were known as the only super team in the East and had basically booked a spot in the finals.

But I didn’t expect that I didn’t even enter the Eastern Conference now.

At this point, the opponents in the Eastern Conference Finals have been determined, the Bucks and Raptors.

During the post-game interview, James became the target of being mobbed by reporters.

"LeBron, from 11 to now, your team has entered the finals every year, but not this year. Is there anything you want to say?"

James pondered for a while, picked up the microphone and said: "Yes, this year's performance is very bad, the Raptors are very good, I will train harder next year, and still will not give up the fight for the championship."

"LeBron, as far as we know, your contract has expired this year. Will you continue to renew with the Cavaliers? Or do you have a goal for your next team?"

When James heard this, his expression immediately became serious.

"This is an offseason matter and should not be discussed here. Specific contract issues will be decided by my agent. The next question."

The end of the Cavaliers' game has basically announced the end of the Cavaliers.

Anthony's performance on the court is no longer enough to be taken seriously, and Love also has many defensive problems.

Relying on just one James, if the Cavaliers maintain their lineup, they will be out of contention for the championship.

Therefore, James' departure is basically inevitable.

The day after the game between the Cavaliers and Raptors ended, on May 5, the Western Conference Finals began.

The first game of the Western Conference Finals started at the Lakers' home court. Naturally, the Lakers played with all their main players and maintained the starting lineup from the regular season.

The Warriors are not so lucky.

As early as the Warriors and Nuggets series, Durant did not play in all games due to injuries and only played in the first two games.

Fortunately, the Warriors are strong and did not overturn the Nuggets. Curry is the main reason for this. After all, he is the unanimous MVP.

But, that's the Nuggets, and the Warriors can handle it without Durant.

Now we are facing the 75-win Lakers!
Without Durant, the impact on the Warriors will still be great.

As a result, the Warriors' starting lineup had to change.

Curry, Klay, Iguodala, Green, Looney.

Walton looked at the Warriors' bench, then looked back at his own side.

"Guys, the Warriors are missing Durant, this is a good opportunity for us! Don't lose this opportunity! The championship is already waving to us!"

(End of this chapter)