NBA: I have 3, no D, and I can't dribble

Arenas, who was beaten two games in a row by the Knicks led by Lin Fei and lost both games and money, was already irritable and angry. He had a fierce argument with his wife Laura and even got violent.

Although the "General" now earns tens of millions of dollars a year with the Wizards, that is only before tax. After deducting federal and state taxes, plus the commission for agents, he actually only gets about six million dollars a year. .

Even if he still has an endorsement contract with Adidas, he still can't live up to Arenas's luxurious life. This time he lost to Lin Feishasha and 900 million US dollars, which caused a huge loss to Arenas, who was already suffering from a financial crisis. Influence.

Although there are already a lot of debts in all aspects, after all, the current "General" is at the peak of his career, and he is expected to sign a maximum salary in the future, so naturally he will not reach the stage of bankruptcy.

The biggest blow to the "General" was the two consecutive losses in the Eastern Conference Finals, especially the second game. Arenas felt that he had reached his maximum potential, scoring 54 in a single game in the Eastern Conference Finals. points, but in the end it still failed to help the team win the game.

After returning to Washington, Arenas, who was somewhat depressed, spent all day drinking and even missing team training, which aroused the dissatisfaction of Wizards head coach Eddie Jordan and the boss, and his credibility among his teammates began to decline.

Lin Fei accompanied the Knicks players on a special plane and flew to Washington in advance to actively prepare for the next two away games.

The task given by head coach Isaiah Thomas to the players is to win at least one away game. Of course, it would be best if they can directly sweep the Wizards.

After the first two games of the Eastern Conference Finals, Lin Fei has completely become Gilbert Arenas' nemesis in the Eastern Conference. Experts believe that the probability of the Wizards reversing the Knicks and reaching the finals is almost zero.

As the capital of the United States, Washington is the political center of the country. It has almost no industry and ranks low among major cities in the United States. There is a huge gap between it and New York, the largest city in the world.

On the morning before the third game of the Eastern Conference Finals, in the subway car on Line 1 in Washington, two middle-aged men in suits and ties, holding briefcases, casually talked about NBA games.

"I have already bought tickets for the second-floor stand for tomorrow night's game. I heard that the president is also going to watch the game!"

"The Wizards management must make changes next. Such a lineup can only reach the Eastern Conference Finals at best. It is simply impossible to get past the Knicks!"

As a two-time third-team and two-time second-team winner, and a starter in the Eastern Conference All-Stars for two consecutive years, Arenas is already well-known in Washington, and fans are always looking forward to the "general" bringing a team to the Wizards. Second championship in history.

"If anyone dares to say that Lin beat up Gilbert, I will never be friends with him again!"

"Anyway, I still hope to win the G3 at home tomorrow. I bought the Wizards for 5000 US dollars!"

"Back on our territory, we must make Lin and the Knicks look good!"

The next afternoon, Capital One Arena, Chinatown, Washington.

"Gilbert is obviously strong in offense and weak in defense, and as a point guard, his organizational skills are average. The entire Wizards team also has this problem. They often work independently at critical moments, and it is difficult to form a combo!"

"To be honest, I was very excited when Gilbert scored 2 points in G54 of the Eastern Conference Finals, but he really doesn't have the leadership ability like Lin!"

"The Wizards lost so miserably in the first two games. Gilbert couldn't beat Lin after all. Although I am a fan of this guy, I have to admit the obvious gap!"

"Michael Jordan also said that Gilbert is no match for Lin. John, do you even want to question Jordan's words?"

Although the Wizards are a veteran team in the NBA, they entered the league as early as 1961 and later won the first championship in team history in the 77-78 season.

Although the Wizards are not a wealthy team in the NBA, their home stadium, Capital One Arena, is the NBA's second-largest arena that can accommodate 20356 seats, second only to the Bulls' United Center.

At a local Royal Middle School in Washington, children who love basketball and NBA are also discussing tomorrow's game.

But the reality is cruel. The rapid rise of Lin Fei and the Knicks ultimately destroyed the championship dreams of Wizards fans.

On the contrary, this made the Knicks players feel that coming to Washington from New York was like coming from a big city to a rural town.

"I feel like I have no hope of reversing the Knicks in this series. I just look forward to winning a game at home. Don't think about being swept again like last year!"

"Gilbert is the hope of Washington and the Wizards. I believe he will rise tomorrow!"

But after the 90s, the Wizards declined rapidly and were almost always at the bottom of the Eastern Conference. It was not until the arrival of "General" Arenas that the Wizards returned to the playoffs for three consecutive years.

However, Washington's urban facilities are still very complete, and the subway lines are busy. There are few financial elites here, but more government officials from various departments.

Tonight's Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Finals has attracted much attention. In addition to many Wizards fans who bought tickets in the front row to watch, many Knicks and Lin Fei fans at home and abroad also traveled thousands of miles to come to the scene.

Not only were the 20356 seats in the auditorium fully occupied, but the crowds in the square outside the arena also exceeded .

Even though it is far less prosperous and lively than New York's Madison Square Garden, tonight's Wizards home court is destined to once again become an unforgettable memory for countless fans.

Above the roof of the Wizards' home stadium, the glory of the predecessor Baltimore Bullets is also inherited, flying the championship flag the team won in 1978.

There are also retired jerseys of players such as Elvin Hayes and Wes Unseld, the only player in history to win the MVP in his rookie season.

What makes many fans feel strange is that Michael Jordan, the "God of Basketball", also joined the Wizards after his second comeback and played here for 2 seasons. So why did the Wizards not choose to retire Jordan's jersey? Woolen cloth?
You must know that although Jordan joined the Wizards at the end of his career, his personal condition declined significantly. He averaged just over 20 points per game in two seasons and failed to lead the Wizards into the playoffs.

It stands to reason that with such an achievement, other players would not be eligible to retire their jerseys, but it is Jordan after all. Even the Heat retired Jordan's jerseys. What on earth is going on with the Wizards?

It turned out that after Jordan came back for the second time, he originally wanted to join the Lakers and join forces with OK, but then Wizards owner Abi Paulin promised to give Jordan shares, and Jordan chose to join the Wizards.

However, after Jordan retired, the shares promised to him by the Wizards were still not fulfilled. The relationship between the two parties was very tense, which led to the Wizards boss disdain to kneel and lick Jordan like Pat Riley. , therefore the Wizards have never retired Jordan's No. 23 jersey in the Wizards.

Despite this, Jordan is still an unforgettable memory for many Wizards fans, even though the guy was nearly 40 years old at the time.

The game is about to start, and many fans at the scene are also talking about tonight's game. "Every time the Wizards beat the Knicks, they are disappointed. I hope everyone can do their best tonight. I just hope they won't be swept by the Knicks again!"

"Gilbert has been playing very well in this series. The 54 points in the last game is the best example. He is the sixth player in the NBA to score 50 points in a single game in the playoffs. I believe he can also play efficiently tonight. Performance!"

"The Wizards still have a big problem right now. It seems that the lineup is reasonable, but strong offense and weak defense have always been the biggest problem. At the same time, the connection and cooperation of the entire team is also a big problem!"

"I don't know if you have noticed, but the G2 team only has 13 assists in total, which is not as many assists as Lin alone in the Knicks!"

"Although we don't lose to the Knicks in rebounding, the number of assists as a team is more than half less than the Knicks. The problem of individual offenses is too big!"

"Gilbert's organizational ability is a flaw, but he is also a core player with the ball. It is difficult to play without the ball. This makes the team's reinforcements face a big problem!"

"Would it be better if an organizational small forward like LeBron James came to the Wizards and joined forces with Gilbert?"

"Haha, if LeBron comes to the Wizards, will Gilbert still be the boss?"

In a luxury box on the roof of the stadium, Wizards owner Abby Bolin, who is in his 60s, also looked solemn at this time, worried about the future of the Wizards.

As one of the famous NBA owners, Abi Paulin can be said to be a clear representative of someone who started from scratch in the NBA.

As early as 1964, Abby Pauling spent only $110 million to buy the then-Baltimore Bullets. After years of operation, the Wizards quickly became the NBA's Eastern Conference powerhouse and successfully won the 1978 NBA championship. championship in , and later introduced Jordan to join.

Today, the market value of the Washington Wizards is close to 3 million U.S. dollars. Just by owning this team, Abi Paulin has made his worth reach 2 million U.S. dollars, which is a legend.

However, after the first two games of this year's Eastern Conference finals, Abi Paulin has thoroughly seen the embarrassing responsibility of Gilbert Arenas. His attributes determine that he cannot become the leader of a championship team, but he also has the same Nor can he be a qualified second-in-command.

Gilbert Arenas is similar to Allen Iverson. He is only suitable to be the boss of a relatively good team. He has statistics and popularity, and also has a large number of fans, but it is difficult for him to lead the team to win the championship and he is not able to win the championship. Be willing to help others.

Although this round of the Eastern Conference finals has not yet been played, as the owner of the Wizards for more than 40 years, Abi Paulin has seen through Gilbert Arenas’ upper limit.
In the weakly competitive Eastern Conference, reaching the Eastern Conference Finals is already the limit for Arenas and the Wizards.

If the team wants to go to the next level, in Abi Paulin's opinion, the only option is to reluctantly send Arenas away, and while he still has huge trading value, he can make early plans for the Wizards.

The reconstruction and rise of the New Orleans Hornets is Abi Paulin's most optimistic model now, and it has considerable reference significance.

At 7 o'clock in the evening, the game officially started with the whistle, and the starting players of the two teams also continued the lineups from the previous two games.

Arenas, who returned to his home court, was eager to explode at the start of the night. On the Wizards' first attack, he relied on his teammates' pick-and-roll to get enough distance away from Lin Fei, and the three-point shooter from the outside shot up and down.

"Shh!"

Knicks (0): (3) Wizards.

Arenas clenched his teeth with fierce eyes, beat his chest at Lin Fei and roared:
"Lin, on our territory tonight, I want you to spit out all your wins before!"

Arenas, who has always liked gambling, is obviously addicted and always wants to get his money back in one game.

Lin Feiyun was calm and gentle. How could he turn away the beautiful sword that came to his door?
The Knicks came to the offensive end. Lin Fei ran around the screen continuously without the ball. He received the ball in the high post on the right and swung past Stevenson who was defending him. He accelerated into the penalty area and then jumped sideways to make a dunk.

"Boom!"

Lin Fei, who landed gracefully, turned around and raised his eyebrows at Arenas: "How do you want to compete tonight?"

Arenas gritted his teeth and said: "It's not about anything else, it's about winning or losing!"

Lin Fei nodded happily: "Happily, it's a deal!"

In the next few minutes, Lin Fei really let Arenas appreciate the strongest defense at the DPOY level. In addition, Arenas was in an impatient state tonight and was not as stable as the previous two games.
Therefore, after hitting a three-pointer in the opening game, Arenas made 5 consecutive shots, all of which were iron-free. In the middle, Lin Fei had 1 steal and 1 block, and he also made 2 turnovers.

Throughout the first quarter, Arenas made 6 of 1 shots and only scored 4 points including free throws. He was completely restricted by Xinke DPOY's defense.

However, the overall performance of the Wizards team is still good. Taking advantage of the momentum at home, Jamison, Caron Butler, and Brandon Haywood all performed well.
Stevenson, the 3D player at shooting guard, played his role of catching and shooting very well. He took 5 three-pointers in the first half and hit all of them.

Lin Fei put all his defensive energy on Arenas alone, and changed the rotation of the previous two games. When Arenas was on, he was on, and when Arenas was off, he was off. It was a complete match.

"Lin is going up and down with Gilbert tonight? It seems that he is determined to prevent this guy from death!"

"Although Gilbert only scored 4 points in the first quarter, Lin focused most of his energy on defense, and his personal offensive touch seemed to be average. He made 5 of 3 shots in the first quarter and only had 8 points. Make money!"

"Although Lin only had 8 points on the offensive end, he had 2 steals and 1 block on the defensive end, completely crushing his opponent!"

"Except for the general, everyone else on the Wizards team was in really good shape tonight. Their combined shooting percentage in the first half reached 56%!"

After the entire first half,
Knicks (61): (63) Wizards, but still 2 points behind their opponents.

However, Lin Fei's defensive restrictions on Arenas in the first half reached the point of madness, allowing him to make a total of 10 of 2 shots, only 6 points, 4 turnovers and 2 fouls.

Although Arenas played uncomfortably, he saw that the team was not falling behind and winning was the key, so he intentionally reduced his personal shots and focused more on helping his teammates.

Playing at home is sometimes a very magical thing. The cheers and frenzy of the Wizards' home fans also have a certain impact on the Knicks players' state. (End of chapter)