no shortcuts in basketball

Chapter 263 So what about fighting against the alliance?

James has an obvious character weakness that many people have: an inability to face failure.

This has given rise to many famous scenes such as [Embrace after winning game, tunnel for losing players], [Your life is not satisfactory], [Decision] and other famous scenes.

Also, whether he is polite or brutal on the court is determined by whether the team is leading or falling behind by a big score.

At this very moment, James encountered these two mentalities almost at the same time.

He was played like a toy by Xu Yong, and the team was once again drawn apart. When he felt the warmth blowing in his ears, and turned his head to see Stephenson's bright eyes, his heart finally broke. .

At this time, Williams' second free throw hit the frame. James grabbed it and swung his elbow hard towards Stephenson.

Stephenson fell to the ground and the referee's whistle sounded.

Stephenson was on the ground clutching his neck with a painful expression. Butler rushed over and pushed James, and the players from both sides faced off directly.

Fortunately, it was a free throw at the moment, and the referee was at the bottom line. He quickly intervened and separated the players on both sides.

There were overwhelming boos.

This kind of backward and dirty behavior is really losing both the game and the people.

The game entered a technical timeout, and Stephenson also went to the bench with his hands on his neck.

Xu Yong walked to him to show concern, but found Stephenson turning his head and winking at him.

He understood in an instant.

At this moment, the replay of the scene was played on the large LED screen.

James' elbow hit Stephenson directly on the collarbone, and then also rubbed the side of Stephenson's face.

Stephenson's falling action was slightly exaggerated, and combined with his subsequent series of actions, it was obviously staged.

This is also normal. Stephenson will naturally be wary of his opponent's reaction when he is trying to provoke others, but James' intention to commit a flagrant foul is very obvious.

The referees gathered together to discuss the final penalty.

They looked cautious.

This involves the league's malicious points rules. In a season, a player will accumulate 1 point for a first-level malicious foul and 2 points for a second-level malicious foul. When a player's season points are 0 or 1 point, when a second-level malicious foul is committed again, the player will accumulate [-] point for a second-level malicious foul. The league will review whether to add additional suspensions;

If a player who has accumulated 2 points is convicted of a second-level flagrant foul, he will be automatically suspended for one game;
  A player who has accumulated 3 or 4 points will be automatically suspended for one game if he is convicted of a first-level flagrant foul.

When Xu Yong was expelled before, he was called Level 2 Malice and was not additionally suspended, but his current accumulated points are [-] points.

In addition to the conflict with Xu Yong, James was called Level 2 malicious again in the previous playoffs against the Pacers. The accumulated points were also [-] points. If he was called Level [-] malicious, the next game would be You will be banned directly.

This also explains why James has been able to suffer for so long, and the impact of the suspension in the playoffs is too great.

In the end, the referees discussed the result and James was sentenced to a first-level flagrant foul.

"Refree Sucks!"

There was a lot of scolding at the scene.

Xu Yong can guess what the referees are thinking. If James is sent out of tonight's game, there won't be much suspense. And if James is suspended for an additional game, the suspense of the entire series will be gone.

But just this level of malice is enough for James to bear, because if he does another level of malice later, he will be banned directly.

James was not ejected, but the Cavaliers' morale was clearly dampened.

They were already more than ten points behind, and giving the Bulls two free throws further widened the point difference, and you could see obvious frustration on the faces of the other Cavaliers players.

In fact, after James wrote that "letter home", Irving and Davis were deeply moved. You can even say that the letter subverted their impression of James and they were willing to work hard with him.

But over the past two years, James has personally destroyed that good impression bit by bit.

Especially Owen, for a moment, you could even see disgust on his face.

Maybe what he is thinking about at this moment is what will happen if James leaves the Cavaliers now.

The Bulls rarely lost points on this bench. After the main force returned, the Bulls continued to expand their advantage, leading the Cavaliers by 69 points 51-18 at halftime.

With this point difference, the Bulls no longer know how they lost.

Back in the third quarter, Irving scored 14 points in a single quarter, but it failed to help the Cavaliers narrow the point difference. The two sides ended up playing garbage time.

The Bulls finally defeated the Cavaliers 118-102 and won a good start in the Eastern Conference Finals.

Xu Yong scored 34 points in the first quarter, 6 points in the second quarter, 18 points in the third quarter, and finished the game with 58 points in the third quarter.

For comparison, Kobe scored 30 points in a single quarter during the regular season against the Mavericks, scoring 62 points in three quarters; Anthony scored 33 points in a single quarter, and finally scored 45 points in the game.

Jordan's highest score in a single quarter was also 30 points, but like Xu Yong, he was in the playoffs and ended up scoring 52 points.

Then you will discover one thing. This explosive scoring in a single quarter of a player consumes a huge amount of physical energy.

It's just like exercise. If you go slowly for ten minutes or even half an hour, it doesn't feel big. But if you sprint at high speed, you will feel like your body is being hollowed out, and it will take a while to slow down.

At the post-match press conference, when Xu Yong appeared, there was a burst of applause.

This was not organized by anyone, the reporters were completely spontaneous.

Because during this period of time, Xu Yong brought huge traffic and attention to the NBA, which even surpassed the emergence of Carter.

Xu Yong was a little surprised, but he accepted it happily. He sat down with a smile and said, "I just thought I was in the wrong place."

After he said this, there was a sudden burst of laughter.

After the laughter subsided, Xu Yong turned his head and indicated that he could start asking questions.

The first one to get up was a female reporter from ESPN.

"You scored 34 points in the first quarter. It was an amazing score. You were only 3 points away from the number one record in history. Will this be the next time?"

Xu Yong put away his smile after hearing this. This was a linked question, involving the topic he said at the last post-game press conference [69 points next time]. He thought for a moment and took the microphone to himself. In front of him, a smile reappeared on his face: "First of all, I don't think anyone would want to go through what I went through. It is a huge test."

Xu Yong told the truth. With the intensity of the defense he faced tonight, there was a high chance that someone else would be injured.

But as soon as he said these words, the press conference was immediately filled with the smell of sea.

A score of 34 means that no one would want to go through what he went through, that's it.

"Second, if the team needs it, I will do it."

Okay, now we're at the seafood market.

The second reporter who stood up to ask a question was also from ESPN, but he was a male reporter.

"I noticed that there seemed to be no intention of taking the initiative to attack at the beginning, but then you scored 12 points in a row in the opening game, all facing LeBron. Did LeBron inspire your desire to play?"

When Xu Yong heard this, he gave the reporter a strange look, "You are really smart."

"You know, playing against him can bring out my strengths, so that's okay if you explain it that way."

As soon as Xu Yong finished speaking, the press conference was already in commotion.

What does it mean to take advantage of playing against him?
  This is James, the winner of five first defenses!
  But the reality is that Xu Yong was telling the truth, because he really passed James in various ways in the first quarter, and finally forced Lu to replace James.

It's just that Xu Yong's words were too hurtful to Zhan Mi's ears. He really didn't know how to respect people at all.

After the press conference ended, Xu Yong and Butler walked toward the locker room together.

"Senior, will LeBron take revenge on you in the next game?" Butler couldn't help but say. He felt that Xu Yong was much more aggressive in tonight's press conference than in the past.

"You reminded me." Xu Yong touched his chin and stopped, then looked at Butler, "You have to be more careful in the next game."

There are different ways of saying the same words, and the reason why he chose the ones that looked offensive was indeed to anger James.

This is not just a matter of mentality, but if James reaches 2 points as a criminal, it is very easy to be suspended.

Judging from tonight's performance on the field, James is unlikely to dare to attack him, and he is not afraid if he does, but the rest of the Bulls will be in some danger.

After all, when James eliminated the Heat with the Pacers, it was not Wade but Granger who was the backstop. This should be a warning.

The strength of the Bulls and Cavaliers is about the same. All they need to do is eliminate one of the Iron Triangle.

He has no desire to look at Adams' body, and James probably has no idea. In contrast, because Rose has been injured in advance, Butler is the most dangerous one.

Because Butler's style of play itself involves a lot of confrontation, and his endurance is not about physical hardness.

Butler reacted belatedly and nodded.

Xu Yong's remarks caused a lot of controversy on social media after the game, but it was obviously less than before.

In the past, James would even buy trolls to control online public opinion because he was supported by Nike. However, this situation has basically disappeared after he switched to Adidas. In addition, James has been constantly changing fans over the years. Turning black, there are not many Zhongzhan fans left.

Even they couldn't find anything to say to excuse their idol after the game when Xu Yong got passed by him.

This wave is really the work of James Smart's basketball brain, and the result is that the chicken is stolen and the rice is lost.

But by the next night, what was being discussed on social media was no longer about the Eastern Conference Finals.

Because something completely unexpected happened in G1 of the Western Conference Finals between the Warriors and Mavericks, and a person directly became a hot search topic.

Leonard was in outstanding form in G1 against the Warriors, scoring 26 points at halftime and leading the Mavericks to a 20-point lead over the Warriors.

The Warriors were completely unable to pick up their offensive pace under the Mavericks' high-intensity defense, scoring only 42 points at halftime.

And more importantly, the Warriors' positional battle was very jerky under the pressure of Leonard's big hands.

In the second half and third quarter, the Warriors' strongest period did not change. The Mavericks launched a 5-0 offensive in the second half, pushing the point difference to 25 points.

If we continue playing at this pace, we won't have to wait until the end of the third quarter before the game is over.

At this time, when Leonard was making a step-back jumper to break through the baseline, Pachulia took two steps forward and accurately sent his foot to Leonard's feet.gif.

Leonard was injured and retired immediately, and the Warriors also completed a shocking 25-point comeback.

And the MRI report after the game showed that Leonard suffered a season-ending ankle sprain.

Pachulia was directly scolded on the hot search list because his name is preceded by Zaza, which in China is homophoned as "Zha", so he lives up to his name.

Xu Yong was silent for a long time when he saw the news.

Because they were not in the same division, and their game with the Warriors had been played before March, he didn't even know that Pachulia had gone to the Warriors.

In his impression, it was only after Bogut left that the Warriors found Pachulia, which was somewhat inconsistent with the history he knew.

But there seems to be no deviation, because the incident of Pachulia stepping on Leonard really happened.

Now with Leonard's early rise, this matter seems to be advanced.

So he thought that Leonard's fate had changed when he went to Dallas, but for a moment he didn't know how to describe his mood.

In the end, I can only say that some people on the Warriors are worthy of respect, but some people are really shameful. If we encounter such an opponent in the finals, we must completely defeat them.

Two days later, Game [-] of the Eastern Conference Finals between the Bulls and Cavaliers continued in Chicago.

What Xu Yong expected was that James did not switch to guard Butler, but still faced him, and even trash-talked him at the beginning of the game. This wave of reverse operations initially knocked him out. Gotta be a little confused.

However, when James made a "strong" provocative move towards him after cutting and dunking, he began to come back to his senses.

This is most likely a reminder from James' team after the flagrant foul in the last game, making James aware of the problem of flagrant foul points.

James also confirmed this with his previous offensive remarks after the game.

He seems to have underestimated James a little. Although his emotional intelligence is not high, as a representative of Smart basketball, his IQ is not low.

So after realizing my own points problem, I would naturally pay attention to his points.

Are you trying to imitate him and provoke him in this way?

This is obviously a better strategy than destroying people, especially since Pachulia's deposing Leonard was so violent.

However, Dong Shi’s failure in imitating him was not because she didn’t look the same, but simply because she was ugly!
  How could James lose his mind with a style of play that always calls pick-and-roll when facing him? It would only make him want to laugh.

So the result is that James did succeed in irritating Xu Yong, but instead of making Xu Yong lose his mind, he increased his desire to attack, just like Antetokounmpo did when the Bulls beat the Raptors.

In fact, this is good news for the Bulls, because after Rose's injury, the Bulls need Xu Yong to do more.

116 to 106, the Bulls made another victory. After winning two consecutive home games, the big score has reached 2-0.

At this time, the Cavaliers' situation fell into an extremely passive situation.

Because after Xu Yong's sparks of desire were sparked one after another, the Cavaliers couldn't hold them back at all.

In the first two games, Xu Yong scored 58 points in one game and 42 points in the other. After the two games, he averaged 50 points per game.

Most players, even most All-Star players, will never play a 50-point game in the playoffs throughout their entire careers!

The match that was originally considered to be evenly matched is now beginning to develop towards a one-sided trend.

While this is surprising, one also has to lament Xu Yong's current hard-core personal abilities.

Even Jordan couldn't stand what Xu Yong did.

It can only be said that Xu Yong's version of steel and iron bones is unmatched in terms of durability because of the bonus of injury immunity.

The two sides of G3 moved to Cleveland to continue the game.

When arriving at the airport, what happened in the regular season happened again, and there were still many fans coming to pick him up.

This time, Jokic was really shocked.

The outcome of the regular season is not that important, but the playoffs are knockout rounds. It can only be said that Xu Yong's current influence is very close to that of Jordan back then.

And for a foreigner to be able to do this, it shows that he is really strong.

However, he has won three championships in the first seven years of his career, his playing style is both elegant and violent, he is a very charismatic player on the court, and he even has great looks, so there seems to be nothing unreasonable about him.

"Boss, I'm wondering if you will turn the away game into a home game?" Anderson said with a smile after getting in the car.

His flattery is much more explicit than Jokic's.

Xu Yong shook his head. It was not impossible, but basically impossible.

Unless the Cavaliers play badly, even if the fans like him in their hearts, they will not choose to shout out on the court.

"Be prepared for a real hard battle." Xu Yong turned around and reminded.

In addition to Nike, which can influence the scale of penalties, the NBA also has the league.

For this game between the Bulls and the Cavaliers, the league made sufficient and large-scale publicity before the game.

This collision between the Iron Triangle and the Big Four is unprecedentedly exciting. It means many things, such as attention, alliance influence, and... money.

For every additional game they play in the series, their on-field income is limited, but their off-field income is astronomical.

So no matter what point of view, the league will hope that the series can be extended.

This is not much different from whether the league president is Stern, or Silver, or Tatum.

Here's an example from the 2006 Finals. It's not necessarily true that Stern wanted to praise Wade. After all, the popular hotshot at the time was the chosen one who got a seven-year, 7 million Nike contract before he even entered the league.

The situation at that time was that the Mavericks were leading 2-0, especially in the second game. They had a 24-point difference in three quarters, and the last quarter was turned into garbage time.

The direct impact of this was a decline in ratings. At that time, the media felt that the Mavericks were going to sweep the Heat directly.

At this time, the whistle came out, and Wade won a large number of free throws through changes in the penalty scale, which began to reverse the situation of the game.

As for the subsequent results, it was completely the Heat's state of play, plus some luck (an overtime victory and a 3-point win) that finally contributed to the Heat's championship that year.

So when you say that the level of NBA competition is high, it's true, but it's also really easy to influence the situation.

The saying "the NBA has always been a business league" is not for nothing.

Therefore, it is foreseeable that the pressure they will face from the whistle in the next two games will make it more difficult for them than the previous two games.

When he arrived at the hotel, Xu Yong made a point of getting to know the referee who was officiating the third game.

Because he didn't pay much attention to this area in his previous life, his understanding of referees was relatively limited, but the name was very familiar to him.

Scott Foster is a famous whistler in the NBA, and the reason why he is a household name as a referee, even to people across the ocean, is because of the various grievances between him and Paul.

The appearance of Foster also confirmed Xu Yong's judgment, but it also made him more excited.

Although 5-on-8 games are difficult to play, that's why those who win in the end are remembered and widely circulated by fans.

The next night, Quicken Loans Arena was sold out.

Although trailing 0-2, Cleveland fans are still extremely enthusiastic.

When the game did not reach 0-3, no one would think that there was no hope of a comeback in the series.

You must know that there have been more than 0 2-30 reversals in the league so far. It is not impossible for the Cavaliers to become the next team.

The Cavaliers adjusted their lineup, replaced Love with Jefferson, and moved James to the fourth position.

Lu's purpose of doing this is very clear, which is to protect James.

When Xu Yong saw this, he felt worthless for Love. Although Bosh was squeezed to the three-point line, he was still able to start. Love, on the other hand, was pushed directly to the bench.

The two sides started the game. As Davis moved the ball back to the Cavaliers half, G3 of the Eastern Conference Finals officially began.

The Cavaliers' style of play has changed slightly from the previous two games. James did not attack with the ball in the opening game, but asked Irving to directly play singles mode.

Speaking of which, Irving has averaged 26 points per game in the past two games and is in pretty good shape.

Irving took advantage of Davis's screen mismatch to hit Adams, and made a beautiful pull-up layup to put the ball into the basket.

At this time, in addition to lamenting Irving's personal abilities, you also have to lament the stupidity of the [vertical takeoff rule].

When defenders cannot turn around while defending in the air, they can only choose not to jump as much as possible, and this sometimes makes defenders, especially insiders, look very stupid.

Don't talk about Adams, even if you let Ewing come, he will change from a gorilla to a little monkey.

But this is not the point. The point is that after Irving scored a layup, the referee's whistle sounded.

The person who sounded the whistle was Foster, who reached out to indicate Adams' blocking foul.

This is a serious body hair whistle.

And it plays as soon as it comes up, disrupting your opening rhythm and showing your level of field control.

Although he knew what he might encounter tonight, Xu Yong still felt that Foster had gone too far.

He walked up to Foster and asked, "Do you want the Cavaliers to win directly?"

Foster was also stunned for a moment. He did not expect that Xu Yong would be so determined at the beginning.

And because the other party was Xu Yong, he didn't dare to ignore it. He just opened his mouth and patiently explained the non-existent obstacle.

"You'd better keep the same penalty scale." Xu Yong knew that the referee would not change the penalty, and his purpose was to put pressure on him.

"Yes, we will." Foster nodded seriously.

Irving's extra free throw hit and the Cavaliers started 3-0.

Xu Yong went to the frontcourt and looked at James, who was assigned to the weak side to guard Dellavedova, and suddenly had the urge to laugh.

Because he is guarding the weakest person on the field, he can help defend and block shots at the right time, which is why there are so many primary defenses.

But of course he didn't really laugh. He directly reached for the ball, and then beat Jefferson's strong shot inside.

Jefferson's lateral movement is stronger than James's, but his confrontation is much weaker. It doesn't require so many skills to beat him.

And more importantly, with the [surprise] foul in the first round, he wanted to try the depth of the penalty scale tonight.

Xu Yongqiang rushed Jefferson to the basket, but at this time Davis was stuck by Adams. In order to prevent him from taking action, Jefferson could only choose to foul early.

However, the referee did not blow the whistle. Xu Yong directly knocked away Jefferson's surprised eyes, jumped up and put the ball into the basket with one hand.

Jefferson...it was naturally impossible to ask the referee why he didn't call the call at this time. He or the Cavaliers members had already noticed the huge difference in penalty scale tonight.

Xu Yong did not continue to put pressure on Foster at this time, because after the ball was hit, he knew that even if he beat the referee, the opponent would not change the scale.

Because this is their mission tonight. If they don't follow the mission, they will not only get a beating, but also lose their jobs.

There is no need to waste your saliva at this time.

It's just that Xiao Hua's method is much worse than Stern's. Stern knows how to boost the weaker team's super giants so that both sides can perform more excitingly, but Xiao Hua can only boost the advantaged team's giants. Add a whistle, and the effect on this scene is completely different.

Irving continued to play pick-and-roll singles in the frontcourt, and the impact of the first whistle was revealed. Because two fouls in the first quarter will usually be replaced, Adams did not dare to be too active in defense. This gave Irving a chance, and Irving continued to show his outstanding personal status. , scoring in response to Adams' throw, scoring 5 points in a row at the beginning.

Xu Yong reached the high post in the frontcourt and continued to catch the ball with his back, then turned around and faced the basket to attack.

A triple threat with the ball in one hand, followed by a jump shot fake, and then he jumped past Jefferson in one step.

This time Davis defended in front of Xu Yong. Xu Yong got close and jumped up. He jumped sideways to dodge the lever and crossed Davis' body. Then before Davis turned around, he pulled the ball high and smashed the ball with both hands. Get into the basket.

During this process, Davis made a tugging motion on his clothes, but he didn't stop.

After landing the dunk, Xu Yong did not pay attention to Davis, but directly stared at death and shouted the whistle in his mouth, just like Foster shouting a lollipop.

If this is your master's mission, what about fighting against the Alliance?

He is just doing what Jordan did against the Pistons again!

(End of this chapter)