no shortcuts in basketball

Chapter 240 6VS35
121:83.

Barkley's commentary became the most appropriate adjective for this game.

The Bulls were like a beast that had been locked in a cage for two days before being let out. They tore the Pacers to pieces. The Bulls, Pacers, and team names all matched up.

数据统计方面，徐永打了三节得到30分5板7助攻，罗斯20分2板3助攻，巴特勒17分4板5助攻4抢断，亚当斯11分20板，弗耶10分。

步行者队那边，保罗22分7助攻，安东尼21分5板，但是23投仅6中，拜纳姆18分7板。

At the post-game press conference, Xu Yong took Adams with him.

"Relax." Seeing Adams who was slightly nervous attending a press conference for the first time, Xu Yong reached out and patted him on the shoulder. Adams was good at everything, but his temper was too gentle.

"We all know rebounding is the lifeline of the game and he won that line for us. I can't remember the last time a Bulls player grabbed 20 rebounds, and he grabbed six? I'm sorry, I misremembered. With 6 offensive rebounds, he has the potential to become the best center in the league."

When the press conference arrived, Xu Yong was full of praise for Adams, so much so that the latter even blushed.

However, if you don't fight well, you should criticize, and if you fight well, you should naturally praise them, so that things will develop in a positive direction.

After the press conference ended, Xu Yong met Paul in the player tunnel. He was coming to attend the press conference with Anthony.

Because of James, the relationship between Paul and Xu Yong is much better this season than before. He even gave Xu Yong chocolates during the All-Star Game.

When they met, the two also smiled and hugged each other and said hello.

"You guys fought so well, but we're going to be in big trouble next." Paul sighed after putting away his smile.

"I don't think so. The next step is our real competition." Xu Yong looked serious.

Paul was stunned for a moment, then they both laughed, and then they separated.

The moment they separated, Paul put away his smile and his expression became extremely serious.

"What's wrong?" Anthony couldn't help but asked curiously when he was almost at the press conference.

Paul glanced at Anthony, then shook his head with a smirk.

But when he turned around, a sad look appeared on his brows again.

Originally, after a big win, if Xu Yong was relaxed or even confident, the Pacers would still have a chance.

But now with Xu Yong's mentality, it will be difficult for the Pacers to win in the future.

After the extra training was over, Xu Yong returned home and took a look at the situation in the west.

Because the conference semifinals ended at different times, they had played two games here and only one game there.

As a result of the game, the Thunder won 116 to 110. Durant scored 38 points and Curry scored 28 points.

Xu Yong went to find the live video of the game. After watching it, he felt that it was indeed a little different. The Warriors were very strong, but they were far behind in experience.

After all, the Thunder's lineup is already in its fourth year, and the chemical reaction has reached its peak.

If they really keep playing at this pace, he and Durant may really have a belated agreement.

Two days later, the Bulls and Pacers moved to Indiana to compete in G3.

The first two games between the two sides ended in a 1-1 tie. The Pacers still have the upper hand because they now have home court advantage.

After the game started, the Pacers and Bulls came on the court and launched a super high offensive and defensive intensity from the beginning.

Every victory or defeat in the series has a great impact on the situation, especially in this critical game after most of the draws, they don't have many retreats.

And on the offensive end, Vogel also made adjustments according to the situation in the previous game, allowing Anthony to play more without the ball. In addition, Anthony felt good today, and the effect was obvious.

However, the Bulls' performance here was no worse than last time, and these changes made by the Pacers did not establish an advantage in the opening game.

In the anxious situation, the two sides also began to smell of gunpowder, and trash talk continued.

In fact, not just tonight, there was a lot of trash talk between the two teams in the past two games.

Between Butler and Paul, between Xu Yong and Anthony, on a stage of this level, there are several masters of trash talk, so it would be strange not to talk trash.

Anthony was in good form tonight and was chattering in Xu Yong's ears.

"Don't be like a resentful woman. Wait until you have played in the finals before coming back."

Xu Yong's trash talk made Anthony furious, and he continued to chatter on Xu Yong's head.

Xu Yong also pushed forward. In this environment of trash talking, whoever strikes first will get the T.

Anthony couldn't help it at first, and stretched out his hand to push Xu Yong. Seeing this, Xu Yong immediately grabbed his hand first, and the two became entangled.

The referee's whistle sounded, and Anthony was still struggling, but the next second he suddenly felt his feet leaving the ground.

This embarrassed everyone.

After taking a closer look, everyone realized that Adams had appeared beside Anthony at some point, picked him up and carried him to the three-point line.gif.

Even if Anthony has lost weight this season, his weight is still close to 108 kilograms, but now he looks like a coward in Adams' arms.

Anthony struggled for a while to think about it, and then he realized that Adams' hands were like iron chains, firmly fixing him unable to move.

And when Adams put him down, he wanted to fight with Adams, but found that Adams raised his hand to indicate that he meant no harm.

For this wave of operations, even Anthony had never seen him after so many years in the league, and he was immediately speechless.

A conflict was resolved in this way, and Xu Yong was happy to see it. Being gentle was not all bad. This kind of [convincing people with virtue] was also a way.

After a brief conflict, the game continued.

As the game progressed, the Pacers slowly fell into a disadvantage due to excessive investment in the opening and excessive physical exertion.

From the comparison of the two games of G3 and G2, we can see that the Bulls are not only strong in the iron triangle, but also in the strength of the rotation. Rose has been in quite good shape since entering the playoffs. He and Butler play as a substitute. It will put a lot of pressure on your opponent.

In the end, after four quarters of fierce fighting, the Bulls defeated the Pacers 113-105, leading 2-1.

数据统计方面，徐永36分5板4助攻，巴特勒22分4板6助攻，罗斯17分5助攻，亚当斯12分11板1抱人，韦斯特11分。

For the Pacers, Anthony had 33 points and 11 rebounds, Paul had 18 points and 13 assists, Bynum had 16 points and 13 rebounds, and Korver had 15 points.

Both games G1 and G2 were "accidents". The Bulls in G1 were slack, and the Pacers in G2 were caught off guard. As Xu Yong said, G3 is the official contest, and in this contest, the Pacers The team played very tenaciously, but there is still a clear gap with the Bulls.

After the game, Paul seemed very depressed because the result of the game confirmed his suspicion that the Pacers did not have many chances.

A week later, the game in the Eastern Conference Finals ended first.

The Pacers still played very hard in G4 and G5, especially in G5. They only lost 1 point to the Bulls in a last-ditch battle.

However, as Anthony's buzzer beater was blocked by Xu Yong, they were eventually eliminated 1-4.

At the end of the game, the Bulls players started celebrating wildly.Xu Yong suppressed his emotions on the field, including at press conferences. When faced with reporters' questions, he responded with words like "We haven't accomplished our goals yet, we haven't accomplished anything yet."

But when he returned to the locker room, he yelled with his teammates and gave Thibodeau a familiar champagne bath.

"We haven't accomplished anything yet" was meant for the media and players. After all, they had just experienced the consequences of slacking off.

But the actual situation is that after two years, they finally made it back to the finals again!
Thibodeau's eyes were a little red, and he didn't know if he was hit by the champagne, but his almost bald hair showed the pressure he had been under in the past two years.

"Let's get that damn trophy back!" Thibodeau took the lead in shouting after wiping the champagne from his face.

“Let’s get that damn trophy back!!”

The shouts floated out of the locker room and blew like the wind throughout every corner of the United Center.

After returning home from the celebration, Xu Yong had a phone call with Theron.

Theron's due date is in July, just over a month away.

However, this kind of phone calls are all about children, and there is not much personal emotion involved.

Because of traditional concepts, Xu Yong has been trying to keep in touch with Theron for more than half a year to see if there is any possibility of developing a relationship.

After all, Theron has agreed to have a child, so even if they don't coincide with each other at their peak, they can still try to get together for the sake of the child.

But it turns out that the impulse that night was temporary. Theron has a strong sense of independence, and there is basically no possibility of changing his concept of not getting married.

Or in other words, he has experienced the relationship between illegitimate parents, which he has never experienced in his previous life, but is very common among wealthy people in the West. He can do many things for the sake of his children, except being together.

So now he has looked away, as long as the child can grow up healthily.

Of course, he has learned a lesson. Even if he is immune to injuries, he still needs to wear an umbrella. He doesn't want to end up like Howard.

After making the call, he then paid attention to the west side.

Unlike the situation in the east, where the situation is clear, the west is quite anxious. After the first four games, the score was 2-2, and the battle of Tianwang Mountain has just been completed.

In the first four games, the two sides staged an offensive battle, but when they arrived at Tianwang Mountain, it directly turned into a hand-to-hand battle, with constant fighting.

Curry made 10 of 2 three-pointers, and Durant only made 25 of 9 shots. Under this intensity, rebounding became the decisive factor.

The Thunder grabbed 55 rebounds, 10 more than the Warriors. Among them, Ibaka grabbed 14 and 7 offensive rebounds, which overwhelmed Green.

After winning Tianwangshan, the Thunder also got a match point in the Western Conference Finals, and G6 was still at the Thunder's home court.

If nothing else, we will play against the Thunder in the finals.

This is to be expected, and it's time for the Thunder's configuration to produce results.

And counting the last season the Bulls achieved 72 wins, which was the 1995-1996 season, their opponent in the finals was the Thunder's predecessor, the SuperSonics.

And that Sonics team reached the finals after Sean Kemp and Gary Payton worked together for four or five seasons.

"History is always surprisingly similar" is verified again here.

However, when you think there are no accidents, accidents often happen.

Curry rebounded strongly after a downturn. He made 12 of 6 three-pointers and scored 35 points, helping the Warriors beat the Thunder on the road.

After the game, the situation between the two sides took a polar turn.

The Warriors not only regained their confidence, but more importantly, the tiebreaker was played in Oakland, and they had a good chance of reaching the Finals.

Xu Yong, who was a little silent after seeing the results, suddenly realized a problem. He seemed to have a flag this year, so he couldn't be optimistic about anyone.

So for the sake of his good brother Harden, he decided not to watch the tiebreaker.

And whether it's the Warriors or the Thunder, it's actually the same. The game will definitely be more intense, but he is confident in bringing the championship trophy back to Chicago.

At the end of the team's training session that day, Butler suddenly ran over in high spirits.

Because that day happened to be the tiebreaker of the Western Conference Finals, he thought the game was over, but then he thought the game was at night.

"Nike announces it will not renew LeBron's contract."

Xu Yong was stunned for a moment. Although he had thought about this possibility before, after all, ESPN's abnormal actions and the unexpected results of the best lineup have been releasing signals one after another, but when it actually happened, people would still be stunned.

When this domino fell, the sound that sounded was the collapse of a "kingdom".

James' biggest reliance is Nike. This brand has officially fallen. His league status cannot be said to be affected, it can only be said to have plummeted.

"Senior, which brand will LeBron go to?"

"It's the same wherever you go." Xu Yong said nonchalantly after coming back to his senses.

Because as long as it is not Nike, no other brand can affect the league, which means that there will no longer be similar walking rules and vertical take-off rules, and there is no need to listen to ESPN bragging about it every day, even if James is no longer Kneeling down will have no effect.

When he got home in the evening, Xu Yong turned on his phone and couldn't help but curiously take a look at the incident between Nike and James.

At first glance, it was Nike who gave James a contract offer of 10 million for 1.8 years. James' team thought it was too insulting, so they rejected it.

This kind of operation is normal when negotiating contract renewal, which is to negotiate the price.

However, I never expected that when Nike saw James' refusal, they announced that they would give up the contract renewal, which caught James off guard.

Xu Yong looked at the contract, which was indeed a bit insulting. After all, their last offer from Nike was 5 million for five years. Normally, let alone this price, it should be time to sign a lifetime endorsement contract.

But, at that time, James had just won two consecutive MVPs and joined the Heat to form the Big Three. The market was booming, but now, he has not won a championship, is still wandering around, and even the Big Four have been fucked, Nike I really have no interest in continuing to train him.

Not to mention that Nike actually had this plan last year, because they matched the contract given to Durant by AU and renewed a 10-year contract worth 2.8 million yuan with Durant. This is clearly to promote Durant.

So James' team probably wanted to get at least the same contract as Durant, but they didn't expect to overestimate James' current influence.

The number of fans has always been directly linked to the performance of the players. James has not produced results in recent years. Many James has lost his fans and the sales of sneakers have dropped. This is a chain reaction.

However, James's fan base still exists, including Adidas, New Balance, and even Anta in China are rumored to pursue James.

If nothing else, James will most likely choose one of these brands.

Although as he said before, as long as it's not Nike, signing anything will be the same.

After reading this, he switched to the Western Conference Finals.

Durant scored 43 points, and the Thunder won the tiebreaker 106-101, returning to the Finals again after 2013.

This kind of Durant is probably the reason why Nike gave up on James.

In this way, the belated showdown between him and Durant is finally coming.

(End of this chapter)