no shortcuts in basketball

Chapter 279 The final showdown

The winner has been decided in the Eastern Conference Finals, but the conference finals in the Western Conference Finals are still going on and have reached a fever pitch.

On the second day after the Eastern Conference Finals, the Warriors and Thunder fought in the Battle of Tianwang Mountain.

Xu Yong and Butler watched the live broadcast of this game together.

Before the game started, they made daily bets. When James felt a chill in his back, Xu Yong bet on the Warriors, while Butler bet on the Thunder.

The familiar daily routine reminded Xu Yongyong that they had done similar things at this time last year.

"Jimmy, I owe you one more thing." Xu Yong reminded Butler.

"Senior, I have nothing else to ask for now except winning this championship."

Xu Yong laughed after hearing this. The championship cannot be regarded as Butler's personal wish. It seems that this will continue to be owed.

"How is your recovery from your foot injury?" Xu Yong then asked with concern. Since the injury, Butler has only been riding his bicycle on the sidelines at most and has never practiced with the team again.

"The team doctor said he can play in the first game of the Finals." Butler said, reaching for the dried fruit on the table.

"Really?" Noticing Butler's eyes, Xu Yong confirmed.

"Okay, the team doctor said it's best to rest for another week, but I don't think it's a big problem." Butler knew he couldn't hide it from Xu Yong.

Xu Yong nodded, but didn't say much.

According to the current situation of the Thunder and Warriors, it is not impossible to play seven games. Then three more games will actually be a week later.

At this time, the game was about to start, and Xu Yong also looked at Durant in the picture.

Xiaoshuai, work harder!

An hour later, at halftime, the Thunder led the Warriors by 6 points.

Looking at this half of the game, Xu Yong felt almost in two ways. On the one hand, Durant was indeed in great shape, scoring 28 points in the first half.

On the other hand, the Warriors are much more mature than they were in the regular season. The main reason is that after the regular season, Green seems to have fully accepted the role of doing the dirty work.

And don't look at the Thunder's lead at halftime, which is based on Durant's good condition.

Durant's physical fitness is always a hidden danger. It is an exaggeration to say that he can only play half a game, but he is already the limit by focusing on three quarters.

Sure enough, in the third quarter, Durant's physical fitness was obviously a bit unable to keep up, and the Warriors also used their ultimate five-pointer, speeding up the three-pointer and quickly overtaking the score.

After three quarters, the Warriors in turn led the Thunder by 6 points, which is equivalent to saying that they beat the Thunder by 12 points in this quarter.

This season, Cole has adjusted the use of the death five, and will basically replace it for about two minutes in the third quarter.

This game seems to explain the reason why they did that. There was a high-intensity confrontation in the first half, and the pace of the game suddenly accelerated in the third quarter. Not only would the opponent not be able to adapt to the change in the pace of the game, but their physical exertion would also not be able to keep up.

Because of this, they also received an evaluation from the fans as "the strongest third quarter".

However, someone unexpectedly stood up for the Thunder in the fourth quarter.

Harden started the fourth quarter and led the bench to quickly chase points, and continued the momentum in the first few minutes when the main force returned.

Because of his different experiences, Harden has changed from the Harden Xu Yong knew in history.

Or perhaps, his experience last season allowed him to rebound and reach the peak of his career, but his light was overshadowed by Durant.

At the final decisive moment, Harden's physical fitness declined, and Durant began to take over the offensive flag. The two sides have been entangled in the final moment.

In the Thunder's last attack 20 seconds before the end, Durant's breakthrough layup missed. The Warriors launched a defensive counterattack. Curry hit a three-pointer from one meter away from the three-point line, instantly lighting up the Oracle Arena.

The Thunder no longer had a timeout at this time. Durant directly held the ball from the backcourt and pushed forward. When he was one meter away from the three-point line, he dropped down and slowed down for a three-pointer, at a 45° angle on the right. position facing James for a three-point shot...

"Shh!"

The same up and down!

Curry completed a quasi-kill, but Durant completed the final kill.

This Tianwang Mountain is all about the heart.

Butler couldn't help but stood up from his seat with excitement, but he grinned in pain and sat down again.

Xu Yong was also a little excited. Durant scored 46 points tonight, which was not like the Durant he knew.

"Senior, do you think the Warriors won't be eliminated by the Thunder?" Butler couldn't help but ask.

"No matter what, it's good news for us."

Xu Yong did not make any judgments, because he always felt that the Warriors were stronger in terms of strength, but the Thunder's performance was really impressive.

And in terms of the current big score, the Thunder have indeed got the match point.

If the Warriors are eliminated, it will be comparable to the four-star Cavaliers stopping in the conference semifinals two years ago.

But even if the Thunder don't win in the end, that's good news, because that means the two sides will have to play to the tiebreaker, and wouldn't that be enough time for Butler to recover from his injury within a week?

Therefore, they do not lose anything.

The Western Conference Finals game is still going on, but Xu Yong got a new news. It is expected that this summer, the league will sign a formal sports league betting tactical contract with the betting company, and the NBA League will be able to travel from all NBA teams in the United States. 1% tax is collected.

The content of this news can be summarized concisely and clearly in five words: Betting on sports is made public.

This news is absolutely accurate, because the source of the news this time does not come from Schwartz, but from Tatum.

Since the last trip to the New York headquarters, Xu Yong and Tatum have had more private exchanges and talked about many things, including Tatum's concerns about the future development of the alliance.

Tatum feels that every move Xiao Hua takes now is like compressing the money the NBA will make in the next few decades into more than ten years.

He worries that the NBA will completely lose attention in a dozen years and eventually become a money-making tool like WWE.

Otherwise, he has Chinese ancestry, and his perspective on the problem is also long-term.

But there is nothing he can do about what is happening now, because as Xiao Hua continues to bring short-term benefits to NBA owners, the league committee's recognition of Xiao Hua is also increasing day by day.

It can even be said that if the contract with the gambling company is really signed, then Xiao Hua will use another way to obtain Stern's position on the committee.

After all, from promoting a nine-year, 9 billion sky-high-priced broadcast contract, to promoting an 240-year, 8 billion jersey sponsorship contract with Nike, and then to this uncapped spinach tactical contract, it can be said that it is one step at a time.

And looking at the continuous money coming into the bank account, it is difficult for the bosses not to let Xiao Hua continue to work.

This summer will be a very critical time point.

In G6 of the Western Conference Finals, the Warriors won, and they won so easily that it even felt a bit sudden.

In this aspect, Thompson was just like last year's Finals. He was inexplicably accurate in G6. With the assists of Curry and James, he threw 11 three-pointers, which directly broke the NBA historical record.

After this game, fans took to social media and gave Thompson the new nickname "G6 Soup" based on his performance in last year's finals.

On the other hand, Durant and Harden in Tianwangshan also consumed too much.

Sure enough, the two sides still reached the tiebreaker.

If nothing else, the grudge between the Warriors and Thunder this year could write a storybook and it would probably be a hit.

The game really comes down to this, and Xu Yong sincerely hopes Durant can win this year.

Not only because of what Durant has done for this season, but also because Durant has suffered repeated defeats over the years. He needs such a meaningful victory to vindicate himself and build confidence in himself.

In G7 of the Western Conference Finals, NBA ratings once again hit a new high.

This time, Xu Yong was not only sitting around with Butler, but also Jokic and others, watching the live broadcast of this game.

This time they did not place bets, but concentrated on watching the game.

The game was fierce from the beginning. The Thunder strengthened their defense against Thompson, and their condition was obviously better than that of G6.

But the Warriors also played with great momentum at home. Curry and James both performed very well, especially Curry.

The reason why the Splash Brothers are difficult to guard against is because they are both at the top of their game at this time. If you take care of one, it will be easy for the other one to explode.

The Thunder had been focusing on guarding Curry before, but this time they were forced to focus on taking care of Thompson, and Curry completely exploded.

The third quarter of the game became a watershed. Curry made three consecutive three-pointers from the three-point line, one meter from the three-point line, and the logo, making the fans crazy, the commentators crazy, and even Butler and the others. It all feels incredible.

This is no longer a question of defensive strength, but of really playing crazy.

Across the screen, Xu Yong could feel Curry entering the zone.

The arrival of James has indeed caused Curry's data to drop a lot, but it has also reduced Curry's consumption a lot in the regular season, and he will naturally have explosive physical fitness in the playoffs.

At the end of the third quarter, the Warriors had opened the point difference to 15 points. The Thunder did not give up in the last quarter, but the point difference was indeed too large in a competition of this level.

In the end, the Warriors defeated the Thunder 127-120 in a tiebreaker at home and reached the Finals for the second consecutive year.

After the game, the Warriors went into a wild celebration, with Curry running around the court waving a towel like a schoolboy.

James directly looked for the camera, squatted down, covered his face, and cried, all in one coherent movement.

Although he was a bit used to looking for the camera, Xu Yong could feel that James was really excited at this moment.

"Stephen is really an epoch-making player." Even Butler couldn't help but sigh.

Others also nodded silently. Curry's game can be said to have refreshed most people's understanding of his upper limit.

"A super team doesn't win until the tiebreaker. Is it very strong?" Xu Yong then asked.

Although he also recognized Curry's magical performance in this game, and he even felt that the Thunder played very well, but to put it bluntly, the Warriors, a super team this season, are stronger on paper than before. In the 72 season, the stronger team reached the tiebreaker. This cannot be considered a success.

Just like Jordan did play tiebreakers with others in the playoffs (Jordan didn't play tiebreakers, only in the finals), but the peak Bulls actually never played tiebreakers.

Of course, the reason why Xu Yong said this at this time is also very simple. Being shocked by his opponent before they even fight is not necessarily a good thing.

"The boss is right. If Stephen's thighs weren't thick enough, the Warriors wouldn't have made it to the finals this year." Jokic said after reacting first.

This managed to make the others laugh.

Xu Yong couldn't help but smile at Jokic. Did the little black boy show his horns?

After watching the game, everyone else dispersed one after another. Xu Yong stopped Anderson and took him to the United Center.

It was already late after watching the game, and now they were practicing late at night.

Then, Xu Yong saw Murray again in the training hall, and the latter was also surprised when he saw him coming.

"You practice your own thing and don't worry about us."

After Xu Yong finished speaking, he started one-on-one offensive and defensive training with Anderson.

Anderson could completely feel Xu Yong's concentration, which was completely different from the relaxed atmosphere when watching the game before.

By the time the training was over, Anderson felt like he had almost broken a few more ribs.

He feels like he is just a punching bag now. The good thing is that his resistance ability has indeed improved significantly.

"Boss, I will guard that guy Draymond." Although Anderson is not as smart as Jokic, he can also feel Xu Yong's pressure in the finals from the confrontation just now.

Xu Yong smiled and said nothing.

He can see Anderson's efforts, but in this duel that will eventually come, Anderson can only do so much.

If Butler plays injured, he must do more.

After resting for about ten minutes, Xu Yong stood up again.

"One more round." After standing up, Xu Yong said lightly.

"Are you coming?" Anderson looked pained, but when he saw Xu Yong walking towards the court, he could only grit his teeth and get up to catch up.

This scene also made Murray next door stop involuntarily.

Looking at Anderson who was about to be beaten to pieces, Murray felt that Xu Yong was a little too cruel.

……

The Warriors and Bulls have the same regular season record, but because the Bulls beat the Warriors twice in the regular season, the Bulls have home court advantage in the finals.

The day before the game, the Warriors took a charter flight to Chicago.

"Sean, do you think Butler can go to the Finals?" In the front row of the plane, Iguodala was chatting with Livingston.

Because the Bulls have basically not changed much from the coaching staff to the core members over the years, Livingston, a former Bulls player, can be said to be quite important.

"As long as he can play, Jimmy will definitely play." Livingston said. Although Butler had not yet played when he was still with the Bulls, that kind of character was innate.

"He can't fight." At this moment, James in the back row said firmly.

Iguodala and Livingston both looked back in confusion.

Ayers, who was listening to music in the back row, also took off his headphones.

"A sprain of that level won't take more than a month to recover." Before James could speak, Pachulia on the side had already started to explain.

Iguodala and Livingston both had strange expressions, but they had to agree, after all, Pachulia and James are "experts" in this area.

Ayers in the back row put on his headphones again.

The Bulls, who are charging into the dynasty, faced off against [Universe Warrior]. This year's finals match did not require any publicity at all, and it has already attracted unprecedented attention.

After the two sides in the finals were confirmed, the topic on social media has exploded.

In a survey report given by ESPN, the proportion of fans who believed that the Warriors would win reached 58%.

That's not a very high number, but you have to remember that the Bulls are a team that's trying to make a dynasty.

The reason for this is actually very simple, because so far, the Bulls have not released any news that Butler can play in the Finals.

This may be the Bulls trying to paralyze the Warriors, but it is more likely that Butler really can't play.

Especially when a reporter photographed Butler pouting before entering G1 of the Finals, people were convinced that Butler really couldn't play.

On this day, the attendance at the United Center was overflowing.

Although the outside world is now more optimistic about the Warriors, that has not affected the enthusiasm of Chicago fans at all.

During the warm-up before the game, on-site photographers were also looking for Butler.

Butler did not take off his training clothes during the warm-up. He simply shot a few balls and then went to sit on the sidelines. This also made the fans at the scene more worried.

Of course, on the Warriors' bench, James' face felt like honey when he looked up and saw this scene.

Thank you Antetokounmpo and the Raptors. They have a share of the credit for this year's Warriors championship.

The warm-up ended and the scene entered the opening ceremony. The Warriors took the lead as the visiting team.

Curry, Thompson, James, Green, Pachulia.

Cole did not start the five small players as he did before. After all, it was the first game, and he is now more confident in the team's strength.

After the Warriors, the Bulls came next.

Accompanied by the classic "Sirius" music, the DJ's elongated voice came.

"From Arizona State University, 6-foot-8 shooting guard, No. 21, Jimmy~~Butler!!"

Butler can play and is the first to appear!

Everyone else on the Warriors couldn't help but look at James and Pachulia. What if they couldn't get in as promised?

James's face was livid. This move by the Bulls cannot be said to be accidental, it can only be said to be intentional.

As for why?

Look at the atmosphere in the United Center at this moment, the enthusiasm that seems to lift the ceiling off!

If the news was released before the game, fans might still be worried about Butler's recovery, but now that it has come out, it is really not a surprise.

Moreover, not only the fans, but the morale of the Bulls was also high before the game started.

"Now! 7-time NBA All-Star voting champion, 4-time scoring champion, 3-time AMVP, 4-time MVP, 4-time FMVP, 4-time championship winner, 6 feet 9 inches from Arizona State University, No. 6, Satan~Xu ~~Yong!

When the familiar guitar solo of "Sirius" sounded, accompanied by flames shooting from high in the sky, Xu Yong stood up from his seat.

After he stood up, he high-fived his teammates one by one, then raised his hands above his head, and other members of the Bulls team raised their hands one after another.

"Come on Bulls!"

When the loud shouts sounded, the atmosphere at the scene was pushed to its highest point.

Niu Yong War 2.0 is about to begin.

(End of this chapter)