no shortcuts in basketball

Chapter 305 Park champion, the future is yours!

Compared with the Mavericks, the Raptors' road to the championship this season appears to be more tortuous, and can even be said to be much more bizarre.

First, shortly after the start of the season, Leonard's ankle injury recurred.

After that, Leonard was in and out of the lineup, which had a great impact on the Raptors' chemical reaction. Their ranking in the Eastern Conference was quickly widened by the Bulls, and was even overtaken by the Celtics in the end.

Then the epidemic hit, and Leonard, like other players with glass attributes, performed well after adequate rest.

They also achieved a record of 7 wins and 1 loss in the park, and then rushed to the second position in the Eastern Conference.

When they entered the playoffs, they fought hard all the way, eliminating the Celtics in the process and reaching the conference finals.

The Raptors' configuration is very strong, with the dual-core of Leonard and Antetokounmpo, Lowry, Valanciunas, and Siakam. These are all top-notch role players, and even their bench has There's VanVleet who's starting to show his head.

But after actually playing against the Bulls, they exposed their biggest problem, game toughness.

In G1, they led by 15 points entering the final quarter, and the situation was great. However, in the face of adversity, the Bulls began to counterattack under the leadership of Butler. Butler scored consecutively like a magic weapon descending from the sky.

The Raptors first asked Antetokounmpo to face off, but Antetokounmpo couldn't guard him. Later, after switching to Leonard to guard, Butler used this matchup to create opportunities for his teammates. In the end, the Bulls The team came back to defeat the Raptors.

By G2, Leonard's performance was obviously not as good as G1.

Because of Antetokounmpo's inconsistent shooting, the Bulls were too targeted in last year's Eastern Conference Finals. Basically, the Bulls won with Leonard's unparalleled performance.

But after he was stepped on by Pachulia before, the glass nature of his body has been awakened, and this season's incessant play is the sequelae.

Later, in order to avoid further serious injuries, he began to play selectively, which was the predecessor of [load management].

This allowed Leonard to finish a season in good health, or to be more precise, half a season. However, he obviously did not dare to play unparalleled like last season. He worked hard in one game and basically stopped playing in the next game. kind of.

Therefore, the pressure of G2 was put on Antetokounmpo, and Antetokounmpo also withstood the pressure.

To be honest, Antetokounmpo's outside shooting this season has been significantly improved compared to the past, which makes him no longer as easy to target as in the past.

But the Bulls are very strong this season, especially Butler's performance at the peak of his career. Leonard's decline in performance has become the decisive factor. The Raptors have always been passive in the situation.

In the second quarter, Butler started his daily power moment again, and it was another personal wave at the beginning of the second quarter.

This is because I have been rivals with James for a long time, and I have learned to stagger the peak, but this is not a staggered trip, but a staggered effort.

Antetokounmpo was once again substituted to defend Butler, but he still couldn't guard him.

Butler's outside shooting touch is too good this season, and although Antetokounmpo is flexible in the fourth position, he still looks clumsy in front of Butler.

Seeing that the Bulls are about to open up the score again, and if the Raptors lose 0-2 and fall behind again, they will basically miss the finals this season.

And after forming a luxurious lineup, if they fail to win the championship for two consecutive years, the blow to the Raptors, especially their self-confidence, will be huge.

He really wanted to win.

He identified the blind spot of Butler's vision, and accurately and silently reached Butler's landing point when Butler broke through.

This kick was his final kick after his failure to step on Xu Yong two years ago. Butler was unprepared.

And this time Butler is not as lucky as before. He can rest for a while and then come out to play, but he will be reimbursed for the season.

Without Butler, the Bulls were unable to compete with the Raptors and eventually lost 2-4.

This result also explains why the act of stepping on one's feet is so shameless and immoral, but there are always people who enjoy it.

In the past, Bowen helped the Spurs achieve the legend of championships in odd years, and later in history, Antetokounmpo stepped on the championship before Xu Yong was reborn, because it can really bring huge benefits.

Of course, because of this tortuous and controversial road to the championship, the Raptors have now become the public enemy of fans.

The Mavericks, already blessed by Xu Yong's popularity, have become the embodiment of justice.

Entering the finals, even though it was in the park and nothing seemed to have changed around them, the mentality of the Mavericks team members was also changing, and they began to become very excited.

Xu Yong and Jokic are the rare ones who are calm. After all, one of them has the most championships among active players, and the other has also had several championship trips, but everyone else has entered the finals for the first time.

This kind of excitement is not a bad thing. For players, the championship means honor and money, which can best stimulate people's original desires.

Before the finals started, Barkley also came to join in the fun. His remarks caused fierce controversy and brought the heat to the highest level.

"No matter which team in the Western Conference reaches the finals this year, they will be the NBA champions."

This statement was supported by many people. After all, the Raptors' victory this year was too disgraceful.

Of course, some people think that Barkley is doing it as an afterthought. After all, it is the Mavericks who entered the finals.

A little trivia: before this, Xu Yong had never lost as long as he entered the finals in his career, and he had never even played in a tiebreaker.

On this point, he and Jordan are consistent, or in other words, this is the biggest characteristic of the rulers of that era.

So what reason does the Mavericks have to lose?

In the first game of the finals, both sides showed their best, and the game was particularly fierce.

Although the way the Raptors entered the finals was not glorious, it does not affect their ability to be an outstanding team.

Especially Leonard, who spent less time in the Eastern Conference Finals, came to life in the Finals.

Malone began to use Wright to guard him, but Leonard's physical fitness was so good that Wright couldn't guard him at all.

Seeing this, Xu Yong directly switched back with Wright without waiting for Malone to adjust. Then he began to confront Leonard head-on on both offense and defense.

This is not a rational choice, because among active players, Leonard is one of the few who can compete with Xu Yong on both offense and defense. Especially on the defensive end, Leonard's defensive ability is better than Xu Yong's.

But Xu Yong also had his own purpose in doing this, which was to consume Leonard.

When the Thunder beat the Mavericks before, Brooks pursued this strategy, but unfortunately it didn't work against Xu Yong.

But Leonard is not Xu Yong. If it was Leonard in a healthy period, this may not be effective, but the current Leonard has made it easy.

Facts quickly proved that Xu Yong's strategy was right, because as soon as a quarter was played, Raptors head coach Nurse was already thinking about how to protect Leonard.

In order to do this, the Raptors had to mobilize other defensive resources, and this also gave opportunities to the rest of the Mavericks.

Among them, DeRozan's performance is the most active.

He kept in mind what Xu Yong said before. Nothing would make a mother in front of the TV happier than performing well on the finals stage.

Moreover, as the Raptors were the team that abandoned him in the first place, he also had a strong instinct in his heart.

This is like a person who has been broken up with. Who wouldn't want to live a better life than their ex when they meet them?

At halftime, the Mavericks led 56-48.

DeRozan made 11 of 9 mid-range shots in the half and scored 20 points.

Fortunately, Antetokounmpo on the Raptors was in good shape and made three three-pointers from the outside. Otherwise, the Mavericks would have already won the half.

Then in the second half, when Leonard was exhausted and forced to hold back, Xu Yong began to exert his strength.

He started looking for Antetokounmpo in various ways.

Although Xu Yong is no longer with the Bulls, because he was in the park, he saw Butler immediately after being kicked off.

He could see Butler's unwillingness. If it weren't for Antetokounmpo, Butler would most likely have faced him in the finals this year. He didn't say anything at the time, he just told Butler to recuperate and not think too much.

But after leaving, his face became ugly.

After James was punished for stepping on his foot, he knew how to restrain himself, but Antetokounmpo only intensified his efforts. Is this because he wants to be better than his master?

So when there is a chance, Xu Yong will never show mercy.

Antetokounmpo had long expected that Xu Yong might target him, after all, he had a guilty conscience.

So facing Xu Yong, he did not escape like James, but worked very hard to defend.

After all, he also made the defensive first team this year.

But that's of no use.

After all, he couldn't even guard Butler, so how could he guard Xu Yong?

This is not to say that Antetokounmpo's burst of moisture is as great as James's original performance. After all, his current defense against James is still quite good.

Rather, he really seemed too clumsy when facing a swingman with comprehensive skills.

Over the years, Antetokounmpo has continued to gain weight in order to increase his inside threat, and his flexibility has decreased while fighting.

Xu Yong can handle him more easily than he did James back then.

And at this time, thanks to DeRozan's outstanding performance in the first half, Nurse took advantage of the situation and did not dare to excessively mobilize defensive resources.

As a result, the fans witnessed Xu Yong's violent scoring in the second half, and at the same time they also witnessed a wave of Antetokounmpo's embarrassing figure, which was very satisfying.

In the end, DeRozan scored 20 points in the first half and Xu Yong scored 28 points in the second half. The two went one after the other, giving the Raptors their first defeat.

It is worth mentioning that Jokic scored a bizarre triple-double of 11 points, 15 rebounds and 20 assists in this game, which was an eye-opener for the fans.

At the end of the game, DeRozan couldn't see anything during the post-game handshake, but when he entered the tunnel, he was already crying against the wall.

When Xu Yong came in and saw him, he thought he was tired. After noticing that he was crying, he reached out and patted his back.

After the previous few outstanding games, DeRozan's mood did not change much, but in this game, he completely released his emotions.

When he looked up and saw Xu Yong, DeRozan wiped away his tears, looked at Xu Yong with red eyes, tried his best to smile and said, "It's like a dream."

Xu Yong smiled: "Then don't let it wake up."

Although DeRozan only played in one game, his impact on the finals was more than just one.

In the second game, Nurse still did not dare to give DeRozan a chance easily, but this also meant that he was giving Jokic and Xu Yong a chance.

Then the fans witnessed Xu Yong's scoring performance again in G2.

36投21中，56分8板4助攻。

"I think one day people will be numb to Xu Yong's scoring, because it is a normal performance for him." When Barkley sighed in the commentary box, fans responded on social media. of empathy.

"Nas must have a cognitive disorder to naively think that such a defense can deal with Xu Yong."

Such comments became popular after the game.

And perhaps to prove the ignorance of the fans, or perhaps because he was really afraid of being beaten by Xu Yong, Nurse performed a shocking performance in G3.

At the end of the game, he directly used the box-1 tactic against Xu Yong, which is almost never used in adult leagues.

The so-called box-1 is a defensive tactic even more extreme than Jordan's Law. It can be simply summarized in one sentence, mobilizing the entire team's defensive resources to restrict one person from catching the ball and attacking with the ball.

Then, a new word was born: [Xu Yougongli].

As the name suggests, as soon as Xu Yong catches the ball, opponents will all flock to him as if they are attracted to him.

And don't tell me, this actually worked for the first few turns.

Because there are too many defenders, it is difficult for Xu Yong to pass the ball to his teammates with the best opportunities.

The Raptors also took the opportunity to get the score closer.

But as the game progressed, Xu Yong gradually showed his ability to adapt to the game. That ability is not achieved overnight, but is the ability accumulated after years of training, and the self-confidence brought by that ability.

Although he can't necessarily pass the ball to his best teammate, he can get the ball to his teammates before the circle is formed, mainly Jokic.

Jokic is also very smart, starting to cut into the basket early, so that Xu Yong can score quickly as long as he hangs the ball in, and even if he can't score, he can distribute the ball to the teammate with the best opportunity.

So very quickly, Nurse's box-1 tactics proved to be useless, even a little funny.

And he also paid the price for his choice.

After winning the first away game, the Mavericks' score has reached 3-0!

No team can complete a comeback from a 0-3 deficit, and neither can the Raptors.

Although they played very hard in G4, even harder than in the past three games, because the game can be lost, but at least it cannot be so ugly as being swept.

Antetokounmpo has learned some things from James, but getting his head shaved in the finals is definitely not the part he wants to learn.

But sometimes things don't go as planned, and DeRozan shined again in this game.

The two sides fought until the last moment. Xu Yong gave the ball to DeRozan in the middle of a multi-player team. DeRozan feinted past his former teammate Antetokounmpo, who was helping to defend him, and then took the shot before the final whistle. , complete the killing blow.

4:0.

The Mavericks gave the Raptors a sweep.

Xu Yong led the Mavericks to the top of the park.

DeRozan was rushed off the court by his teammates after completing the buzzer-beater. He shouted excitedly, and then burst into tears the next second.

Xu Yong raised his hands high and looked calm.

This is not a fairy tale. This result is the result of their hard training last summer and three months of closed training during the epidemic.

No success is just luck. Others can post on social media and pretend to work hard, but the results will not lie.

The two teams shook hands after the game.

When Xu Yong saw Leonard, he saw a hint of frustration on the latter's originally rigid face.

One thing he could feel in this finals, which many people didn't notice, was that there was no chemical reaction between Leonard and Antetokounmpo.

This may sound strange at first, after all they have played together for two seasons.

But if you think about it carefully, it makes sense, because you only need to read this sentence: Leonard, who was kicked out of the game, relied on Antetokounmpo to step on his opponent's star and reach the finals.

It was at this moment that a sentence that best suited the scenery in front of him flashed through his mind.

When shaking hands with Antetokounmpo, Xu Yong glanced at Leonard, who was next, and then smiled and encouraged Antetokounmpo: "Come on, the future is yours."

(End of this chapter)