When pride still matters

Chapter 411 My script is higher than your script
"Why is Game 5 of the Western Conference Finals so important? It's not just because the winning team will get the match point, but it's also because this is the game where the MVP proves why he is the MVP."

Doug Collins said in the final minutes of the game.

At this time, the game has already entered garbage time.

Yu Fei, who scored 54 points, 14 rebounds and 10 assists, has already gone to rest.

The Sonics' lead remained at more than 13 points at the end.

As for the Lakers, there's not much they can do.

After Kobe was beaten, the Lakers' morale collapsed inevitably. Even if Kidd wanted to maintain the situation, he couldn't do it because he was not a trustworthy presence on the offensive end.

Jermaine O'Neal is starting to wonder about his Lakers journey.

What is he doing with the Lakers?
Of course it’s to win the championship.

After his arrival, the Lakers did show their championship temperament.

However, the competition with Yu Fei obviously put Kobe's psychology at another extreme.

He said he didn't care about the MVP, but in fact he did. Not only did he care, but he also had a competitive desire to fly. He wanted to prove that the media people voted wrongly.

So he can ignore the team's play style and constantly find Yu Fei for singles.

The Lakers were made by Kobe, and they were also ruined by Kobe.

They clearly have better inside advantages, but they invest all their resources in the outside.

Now, Kobe is defeated by Yu Fei.

The series is not over yet, but who still believes that the Lakers can win the series? In fact, they even have the luxury of returning home to drag the series to Game 7.

Kobe's hand injury worsened in Game 5. As the only person on the team who can match Yu Fei's strength on the outside, if he has problems, the Lakers will not be able to compete with the Sonics.

The last few minutes were excruciating for Xiao Ao.

The Lakers began to play inside a lot in an attempt to narrow the gap.

This is not about winning, but about losing looking good.

As long as they can win, the Sonics don't care how many points they win.

Therefore, they let Frye play the fifth position and then let Durant play the fourth position, with the purpose of using the playoffs as a training ground to test more tactics.

Xiao Ao therefore got everything he wanted in the paint.

Whenever he scored, Kwame Brown would boo him: "No offense!"

Xiao Ao hates this person so much. Why is he so annoyed?

In the last minute, low-intensity garbage time allowed Durant to perform bravely.

He really didn't know why the previous physical confrontation could be so intense.

How good is this now? Everyone is superficially defensive, you brush me up, and then face the last moment of the game.

The final whistle sounded, 117 to 104. The SuperSonics defeated the Lakers at home, with a big score of 3 to 2 and took the lead in getting the match point.

The Seattle fans at the scene cheered, and the SuperSonics were only one game away from becoming the Western Conference champions.

Home announcer Bob Black enthused: "This is like 1978, the first year that most Seattleites became lifelong Sonics fans."

Thirty years have passed, and the SuperSonics have experienced the baptism of many eras. They are facing the risk of the team being relocated, but they are about to reach the pinnacle of the Western Conference again.

This is undoubtedly a dream.

Yu Fei, who scored a triple-double with 54 points, accepted an on-site interview.

ABC has many problems.

Yu Fei answered all questions.

"If you make it to the finals, how sure are you of winning the championship?"

"100%."

"If you win the championship this year, you will become the first player in history to complete three consecutive championships by changing teams. Does this give you motivation?"

"No, it doesn't have anything to do with it." Yu Fei said, "Rather than changing teams to win three consecutive championships, I would rather stay with one team and win three consecutive championships. Unfortunately, I didn't do it in Milwaukee, so this is what I want to do in Milwaukee." Seattle's goal. I'm more focused on the present than this big goal. We're going to win, not just for ourselves, but for everyone. Seattle needs this championship. We've been waiting for it for 30 years."

That night, the Los Angeles media broke the news that Kobe's hand injury had worsened and his appearance in Game 6 was doubtful.

This did not affect the Sonics' preparations at all.

Because Kobe will definitely play Game 6. Therefore, this smoke screen has no effect.

A day later, the Sonics were back in Los Angeles.

If you look at the sports pages of major newspapers at this time, or browse on websites such as ESPN, you will find that many people still believe that the Lakers will make a comeback.

Just like the Celtics in the Eastern Conference will definitely enter the finals.

Since the summer of 2003, the league's image has been hit many times, and its ratings have plummeted. In the latest labor agreement, the NBA is the only major American sports league that has signed a new broadcast contract but has not increased its overall revenue.

This shows how little faith cable owners have in professional basketball.

The Donaghy incident last summer dealt a heavy blow to the NBA.

This top-notch shady story in the Stern era gives a reasonable conspiracy theory to all the unfair referee-led games that occur in the NBA.

From then on, as long as a referee performs poorly, fans will not think there is a problem with his level, but will think he gambled or received a task from the league.

All sports leagues driven by commercial interests need to create gods. Basketball halls like the NBA, which have rich experience in creating gods, can not only offer classic basketball games to the world, but also become WWE, which pretends to be a top sports league and serve as stars and partners. The team writes the playbook.

This kind of speculation has always existed until the Western Conference Finals between the Lakers and Kings in 2002 when people's doubts reached their peak, and the Donaghy incident turned this doubt into a truth lacking evidence.

People no longer believe in the sanctity of referees and the league.

In this case, how can the ratings be high?

This is why experts speculate that the Lakers will enter the Finals.

The Lakers vs. Celtics is like a sequel to a classic, just like "Love Apartment 2020" broadcast in 5. It may not be as exciting as it was back then, but it will definitely attract a large number of fans to watch.

However, this is ultimately a subjective inference made by the California media that puts itself at the center of the world.

Because there isn’t just one playbook for the league.

Having Frye save the Sonics was a much bigger play, and one that has had an entire season to build momentum for.

The SuperSonics' game ratings are also very high, and Yu Fei's starlight is also much greater than Kobe's.

The most important thing is that the Lake-Kevin dispute plays a decisive role in the history of the NBA. First, because the first-generation competition had a tragic color and historical background. The Lakers of Baylor and West could never defeat the Celtics, but won in Boston. All Bill Russells cannot be respected locally because of their black status.

This tragedy continued into the second-generation confrontation in the 80s, and it became pure class antagonism and skin color gimmicks, black and white heroes, Los Angeles and Boston, East Coast and West Coast, prosperous entertainment city and rational wisdom city, white-collar workers Battle against blue collar. It is also a special era that gives them a meaning far beyond basketball.

And now, can Hu Kai still be able to bear such a grand narrative?
No, even for the Lakers, their focus is on how Kobe transformed from a jerk to an angel, while the Celtics actually followed a similar script to the Sonics. They want a revival and want to drive away the series of bad luck that followed the sudden death of Len Byas.

But none of these stories are as compelling as Saving the Sonics.

Because Yu Fei did give up the opportunity to win three consecutive championships in Milwaukee and took the initiative to move to Seattle in order to save the SuperSonics, which was almost about to move. Now that the team is here to stay and have a few more years to secure a new arena, the local focus is on this as a team that hasn't been competitive in several years has become the center of the national conversation.

The Sonics are determined to end the series on the road.

The league's officiating arrangements for Game 6 made their views clear.

The referee is Joe Crawford, a bad-tempered referee who can sensitively feel that BYD is laughing at him just because Duncan is giggling off the court, and ejects him out of the game in anger.

Although Crawford is notorious, one thing is that he rarely calls controversial games.

This shows that the league wants Game 6 to proceed normally.

On game night, Kobe indeed entered the Lakers' starting lineup.

This proves that all the previous rumors are smoke screens put out by the Lakers.

For the Sonics, there is no impact.

The game was one-sided from the start.

Yu Fei fired from the outside, and the Lakers were repeatedly penetrated inside.

O'Neill and Foster are exhausted, but what's even worse is the outside.

Although Kobe played, his injuries have undoubtedly worsened. He has no shooting touch and can almost only be used as bait on the offensive end.

However, expecting Kidd and others to make up for his offensive firepower is a complete pipe dream.

The SuperSonics' offense became stronger and stronger, leading by double digits after one quarter. At the end of the first half, they had a 16-point lead.

In the second half, the Lakers, who gradually lost their fighting spirit, did not respond to the SuperSonics as fans thought. Instead, they collapsed without any decent counterattack.

At the end of the third quarter, the Lakers were already 27 points behind. At this point, defeat has been decided.

The fourth quarter was completely garbage time. The Sonics pursued the victory and eventually widened the point difference to 35 points. They defeated the Purple and Gold Army in an exciting away game with a score of 4 to 2. After 12 years, they once again advanced to the finals. .

(End of this chapter)