NBA: Start by torturing Jordan and add points to upgrade

At the beginning of the third quarter, Jordan once again angrily glared at Mashburn.

As for the reason?

Lin Tian read out the data during the halftime break.

"I scored 24 points in the first half, which was OK. Michael, you played really well, you scored 18 points in the first half!"

Just such a simple sentence made Jordan's murderous intent arise again!
Your 24 points are pretty good, but my 18 points are awesome?

Are you just talking bullshit here?
I scored 6 points less than you, why do I think I'm awesome?
Go to hell!

It was such a simple and plain reason that made Jordan keep a close eye on Mashburn from the beginning of the second half.

If you, a bastard, hadn't trash-talked so loudly and that trash Lin had heard it, would he have said something like secondary attacker or second in command?

It’s all your fault!

In the first attack at the beginning of the third quarter, Jordan forced a dribble attack against Marsh, then suddenly stopped and faked the ball after reaching the mid-range!

Mashburn, who was fooled by Jordan in this series and had no chance to find his underwear, was fooled again and jumped up after Jordan again.

"Dudu!"

The referee's whistle sounded immediately, Mashburn's third foul!
"FUXX!" Mashburn slapped himself in frustration. He was really annoyed by being fouled by someone.

I was really beaten to the point of being in a trance.

"Shut up, you son of a bitch." After Jordan committed a foul, he continued to stare at Mashburn and put a finger in front of his mouth: "Keep quiet, or I promise you will die on the court tonight!"

As Jordan spoke, his eyes flashed with cold light, which made Mashburn shiver involuntarily, and then he quickly turned around and walked aside.

Talk back?

Malone and Mourning are not with him now, so he doesn't dare to do so. As for others, whoever dares to talk back can do so!
Although he had no idea why Jordan suddenly became so angry and acted as if he had an irreconcilable grudge against him, Mashburn said that there was no need to know what happened or why Jordan was angry.

What can he do? Can he explain to Jordan why it doesn't work?
That's too cowardly!

I can't afford to lose this guy.

Anyway, it’s impossible to defend against it.

It's just being beaten up.

I’m not the first one to be beaten up, and this is not the first time I’ve been beaten up.

There's nothing to be ashamed of.

I opened and closed my eyes, and 24 minutes passed quickly. I just thought of it as being possessed by a ghost.

After making up his mind to lie down, Mashburn chose to be quiet.

I chose to play basketball honestly and be a low-key person.

Jordan, you can hit me as much as you want, I won't fight back or commit a foul.

Not only on the defensive end, but also on the offensive end, Mashburn wished he could tie up his elbows and arms and stick them to his body.

He was afraid that if he passed the ball out a little, he would hurt Jordan, and then he would be beaten even worse!
What can I say about Mashburn's offensive form at this moment? His body posture and shape.

It looks very much like the way General Fan normally walks.

With his arms crossed and his neck stretched out, he looked indescribably strange and funny.

But everyone could see that Mashburn was scared.

Anyway, Silas saw it clearly.

"Jamal! Go get him! What are you afraid of! You are a 'monster'! You can destroy everything! You are just a 40-year-old Jordan, what are you afraid of!" Silas lost his patience and yelled at the court after Mashburn missed two attacks.

After all, it wasn't that Marsh simply missed the shot, but it was obvious to the naked eye that he was scared! He didn't dare to confront Jordan.

Marsh was very impatient with Silas's roar and completely ignored his head coach.

Come on! If you are good, come on!
Damn, you don’t know how badly I was beaten. You didn’t see how scary Jordan’s eyes were. He almost wanted to kill me!
You still want me to let go and fight him?
It seems like the one who will be beaten up later isn't you, and the one who gets hit isn't you, right?

It’s easier to talk while standing than to have your waist hurt!

However, even though Mashburn was scared, Jordan had no intention of letting him go!
Moreover, Jordan was cursing while playing.

"How does it feel to be beaten by the opponent's second-leading scorer?"

"As the second-in-command of a team, I played okay, right?"

"You're a coward now? If you had stood firm to the end, I would have considered you a hero! But you turned out to be a sissy? I'll teach you what a man is!"

"How dare you fight back? How dare you use your elbow on me? If I don't teach you a lesson, do you really think I, Jordan, am easy to bully? I'll beat you to death!"

"Speak! Aren't you good at talking? You were good at trash-talking in the first half, but you don't have the ability to fight me one-on-one in the second half!"

"Come on! Show your elbows! Didn't you say I'm the team's secondary attacker and the Pacers' second-in-command? How does it feel to be beaten by the second-in-command?"

"I never said that!" After being criticized by Jordan for half a quarter without any context, Mashburn finally couldn't stand it anymore. After being hit from behind by Jordan again, he exploded!
He pushed Jordan and said to Jordan, "Are you stupid? I didn't do anything. Why do you want me to chat with Michael? What are you doing? Stay away from me! Do you think I'm afraid of you? I tell you, I grew up on the streets too! I'm not afraid of you!"

Mashburn's outburst this time was only halfway through.

Because before he finished speaking, he suddenly felt that the air around him stopped flowing, and time and space seemed to solidify at the same time.

There is a black, thick and hard object like an iron tower in front of Marsh himself, it is Big Ben.

Standing next to him was a big guy with a ruffian look on his face, his feet ready to step under his feet. It was Weber.

Behind him stood a young man who was eager to fight and looked like he would hug Mashburn to "stop the fight" as soon as it started. It was Arenas.

Then, there was an Asian man with a vicious face standing next to Jordan. This guy only said one sentence to Jordan and made Mashburn's legs a little weak.

"Kill him?"

This is Lin Tian!

In the blink of an eye, five Pacers players surrounded Mashburn. If this guy said one more word, his fate would be miserable!
To be honest, if Mashburn is a little tougher now, at least two Pacers players will be suspended for the next game, and the Hornets will have a much greater chance of winning.

But Mashburn got scared. Not only did he not continue to attack, he also shouted at the referee beside him:
"I didn't move! I didn't move! Referee! I didn't move."

Mashburn's extremely cowardly words stunned Davis and Wesley, who were about to rush forward to help their men.

They were less than two meters away from Mashburn's encirclement. After hearing this, the two guys stopped, with a little more disdain in their eyes, and then they completely relaxed.

There was definitely no fight going on, but Mashburn also lost the respect of these two guys!
There was contempt in both of their eyes.

If such a situation happens again, I am afraid that the two of them will no longer think of helping Mashburn.

At this moment, the referee had also rushed over, separated the two groups of people, then stopped the game and began to watch the video of the conflict.

"Michael, did you hit him too hard?" Lin Tian said, "That's unnecessary. We were already leading by 30 points, and you were still bullying him and making him angry? That's too much."

"Too much?" Jordan snorted. "Ask this guy what he said to me! He insulted me! I'm going to beat him to death today!"

"I didn't!" Mashburn was now very tough. He heard Jordan's words from a distance and shouted at him, "I didn't insult you! How can you slander my innocence out of thin air!"

"Didn't you say I was the second in command, the secondary attacker, and that I was Lin's henchman? I'll let you know who is the boss of the Pacers!" Jordan looked at Mashburn and continued to threaten him.

"What are you doing! What are you doing! Shut up! Shut up!"

The referee ran over quickly and said to Jordan: "Michael, don't force me to give you a technical foul!"

"And you, if you want to be kicked out, just keep going!"

After saying that, the referee looked at both sides threateningly, then turned back to the technical desk and continued to watch the game replay.

"I think his words, hiss... just... well, not that vicious?" Even someone as thick-skinned as Lin Tian felt a little embarrassed at this moment.

After all, he knew better than anyone that it was he who said it.

I didn't expect that the shadow it cast on Jordan would be so big?

No, it won't be such a big shadow. Who is Jordan? How many big scenes has he seen?

You, Michael Jordan, are just making indirect accusations and making an example of others to scare the monkeys!
"You speak for him?" Jordan looked at Lin Tian with an aggrieved and shocked look. At this moment, Jordan made Lin Tian feel like a child in a movie or TV series who was slapped by his own father.

He seemed to have suffered a great injustice, and roared at Lin Tian: "You hit me? No one has ever hit me in my life!"

If this were a movie, Jordan would run out crying and shout that he would never come back to this house again.

If it were real, Lin Tian would slap Jordan on the other side of his face and tell him, "I'm going to hit you today."

But unfortunately this is the NBA, Lin Tian could only quickly change the subject and said: "Then beat him to death!"

"kill him!"

This sentence basically spells the death of the Hornets and Mashburn.

After all, Mashburn's push just now did not cause too bad an impact, or rather, it could be said that his push had a greater psychological impact on him.

Next time this guy sees the Pacers, he'll probably start to tremble in his calves.

Therefore, the referee only gave the trembling Mashburn a technical foul and signaled the game to continue.

Now it was Mashburn's turn to be unhappy.

I pushed Jordan, pointed at his nose and cursed him, and was almost beaten up by three people, and you give me a technical foul?
This is inappropriate!

I apply for 24-hour personal protection from the referee!

No, I need another technical foul and go down to rest!
But unfortunately, the referee was too lazy to pay attention to him. But you let Mashburn provoke Jordan again and ask for a technical foul?
Well, he really doesn’t dare!
Who knows whether it will be the Pacers' iron fist or the referee's justice that will hit him first. What else can he do?
Just hit him like this! Be careful, you won't get beaten!

The team has lost by almost 30 points. Just be patient, it will be over soon!

Mashburn could only convince himself in his heart. His defensive movements became more cautious, clean and concise. His aggressiveness on the offensive end also completely disappeared. When the basketball came into his hands, he would either jump shot directly or pass it back to his teammates.

When a team's top scoring point plays so cowardly and the opposing team's scoring spearhead smashes, loots and burns him, it's impossible for the Hornets to catch up!

At the end of the third quarter, the difference between the two sides reached 35 points!
So in the fourth quarter, neither side used their regular rotation lineups, and 10 players on the edge of the bench started playing to kill all the garbage time.

121: 99!
In the end, the Pacers once again easily won a 22-point victory and got the match point in the series, leading the Hornets 3:0!

If it was last year, they would have been able to consider their next round opponents by now.

But unfortunately, this year's system is a best-of-seven format, so they can only officially consider their second-round opponents one day later.

The Pacers did not consider their next round opponents in advance because they were more cautious.

Well, okay, it's not cautious. Ben and Christie went to find their angels and babies early, Arenas went to visit the weapon store in New Orleans, Parker went back to the hotel to continue watching his Desperate Housewives, and Ginobili wanted to go to a local barber shop in New Orleans. He heard that the shampoo there was very moisturizing.

In short, everyone is going their separate ways, all anxious to have fun. Who has the mood to think about the next round of opponents?
But some teams are not so cautious. They consider their opponents in the next round before the Pacers do.

magic!

The Magic, who finished Game 3 a day earlier than the Pacers, took a 1- lead in the series against the Pistons, not to mention that they still have two home games to play. From any perspective, they have secured their promotion.

Then McGrady made his number one aphorism at the press conference after the game that day: "If it were last year, we would already be thinking about the next round opponent."

No one had any objection to McGrady's arrogance, including Lin Tian, ​​who didn't think there was anything wrong with it.

After all, in the reversal he remembered, the Magic had McGrady as the only core, while the Pistons had a five-man combination of Billups, Hamilton, Prince, Big Ben and Rasheed.

But what about this time?

The polarity is reversed!

McGrady has the powerful Duncan by his side, while the Pistons are without Ben Wallace and Prince.

If we analyze the strength of the two teams, the depth of their lineups, their core capabilities, and so on, it should be a foregone conclusion that the Magic will win Game 5 and advance to the Eastern Conference semifinals.

However, there are no absolutes!
For example, everyone must now think that the next game to be played is the fifth game between the Magic and the Pistons.

But that game would have to wait.

Now it’s game four between the Pacers and the Hornets!
After being pushed to the edge by the Pacers, Silas made his adjustments.

He took out Mashburn, who had performed very poorly in the last game or the previous few games, was completely beaten by Jordan and even scared by Jordan. He brought in George Lynch, a more solid defensive player although his talent was far inferior to Mashburn, and made him the starter to face Jordan.

Although Lynch has a high probability of not being able to beat Jordan, he will almost certainly be beaten by Jordan.

But at least this guy is tough enough not to be scared by being beaten.

As for Mashburn, he has caused dissatisfaction among Davis and the team's locker room leader Wesley. Letting him play as a substitute will also have a positive effect on the team's unity.

Then, Silas's change of formation was useless!
Whether Mashburn is on the field or not, he will be beaten by the Pacers' offense. In the matchup between the second lineups, Mashburn's firepower is really no match for the Pacers' three substitutes. The Hornets once again showed their all-round backwardness in the game.

The starting lineup couldn’t beat him, and neither could the substitutes.

They lost the fourth game in a row completely and thoroughly!

4: 0!

The Pacers easily swept the Hornets and became the first team to advance to the divisional semifinals!
Entering the divisional semifinals a step later than them was the Western Conference No. 3 Lakers. The Lakers, who started their game two hours later than the Pacers, also had a 0: advantage before this evening.

In the fourth game of the series, the Lakers did not give the Suns any chance in Phoenix. Kobe took on the responsibility of defending Marbury, coupled with Kirilenko's ubiquitous help defense and O'Neal's deterrence under the basket.

In this game, Marbury only made 16 of 3 shots and was almost chased all over the court by the Lakers!
What's even more terrifying is that this 16-for-3 game wasn't even Marbury's worst game in this series!
In the first game of the series, he had an outrageous efficiency of only 11 of 1 shots!

In the entire series, Marbury only scored more than 20 points in one game and his shooting percentage was over 40% in only one game. It can be said that the Suns' loss started when the boss was completely restricted by the Lakers!

Of course, if Phoenix had Hardaway, they wouldn't be squeezed so hard. At least the team would have more ball-handling points, right?

But unfortunately, the Suns may never have Hardaway again. His knee, which was almost healed, had problems again when he was resuming training. He needs to undergo another surgery and will be out for at least 8-10 months!

This unlucky guy is once again ruled out for next season!
It is worth mentioning that it was this time that Hardaway's repeated injuries made the Suns management feel desperate and impatient with their medical team. They finally replaced all members of the team's medical team and recruited a new medical team.

This personnel change, which seemed to be no big deal, announced the birth of a dynasty combination in the team medical field.

The world-renowned top orthopedic surgeon Thomas Carter and one of the best recovery trainers in the world, Aaron Nelson, have officially joined the Suns medical team!
After this personnel adjustment, the team doctors in the league will be divided into two types: Sun Doctor and others!
It is also worth mentioning that the rookie Prince on the Lakers bench also performed well in this series. In the duel with the Suns' potential forward Marion, he was not at a disadvantage and the fight was very even!
The Lakers relied on the absolute advantage of everyone from the starting lineup to the bench to be able to perform and suppress their opponents, which enabled them to easily advance with a score of 4:0!
The Lakers and the Pacers are also the only two teams that entered the second round by sweeping in the first round. It has to be said that the best-of-seven system can indeed effectively increase the number of games and reduce the number of sweep series.

With one inside and one outside, we can sell a lot more tickets!
The second-ranked Mavericks in the Western Conference faced the seventh-ranked Trail Blazers.

Although the Mavericks made a stupid trade during the offseason that made old Nelson furious, the old coach does have some skills after all. He actually tried out Cuban's ridiculous 3PF lineup!

The Mavericks have developed a very unique strategy by relying on their strange characteristics, such as being tall and good at shooting, slow but good at attacking, and many of their players having average athletic ability but huge bodies.

They still hold high the banner of offense, but their pace is really not fast. Their lineup is tall but their rebounding and scoring at the basket are both at the bottom of the league.

Such a strange team played easily against the rebuilding Trail Blazers, winning 3:0 in the first three games. After losing the fourth game in Portland, the Mavericks did not give the Portlanders any illusions after returning to the American Airlines Arena and won the game easily!

The Mavericks successfully advanced to the semifinals, but their arch-rival the Kings of the past two years ran into problems this time!

Facing the sixth-placed Jazz team in the Western Conference, led by O'Neal Jr., who have regained their iron-blooded style of the past, the Kings' elegance and splendor became a little flashy. They seemed unable to withstand O'Neal's strong attack and the fierce defense of the entire Jazz team.

In addition, Bibby has been in poor condition due to injuries this year, and Divac's ability has declined after he became one year older. When the two core players of the team are not playing well, it is obvious that the team's offense cannot be supported by only one shooter, Peja.

In this round of the series, O'Neal Jr. played an extremely wonderful performance, averaging 27 points, 12 rebounds and 3 blocks per game, and he has already shown himself to be the league's new generation of top power forward!
This deal was criticized at the beginning of the season, with some saying that the Jazz were blind to send away the all-around forward Kirilenko in exchange for a little O'Neal.

There were even people saying at the time that the Jazz management misheard the Lakers' offer and thought that the bargaining chip offered by the Lakers was Shaquille O'Neal, so they agreed to the deal and even gave away a first-round draft pick.

But after an entire regular season and this round of series, no one will say that the Jazz are stupid.

Because O'Neal Jr. deserves it!

In this round of the series, under the madness of O'Neal Jr., the Jazz defeated the strong and eliminated the Kings with a score of 4:2 to advance to the second round!
This is the first time they have entered the second round of the playoffs since Malone and Stockton left!
The iron-blooded Jazz team that dominated the 90s are gradually coming back!
The last matchup in the Western Conference is also the most exciting and tense one of the four games in the first round. The Supersonics, who just got Payton and Allen, challenge the Timberwolves led by Garnett and Sprewell!
As for the result?

The Timberwolves fell again and again!
They fell in the first round again!
And their problems were almost exactly the same as the ones that caused them to be eliminated several times before!
The attack power is insufficient, Garnett is unable to assume the responsibility of the team's first offensive point, and Sprewell's firepower alone cannot withstand the opponent's three musketeers.
Especially in the seventh game of the series, this problem was even more obvious!
The two sides were evenly matched in Game 7. Neither side could widen the score in the first three quarters, and the battle remained tense until the end of the third quarter.

In the final quarter, Sprewell unleashed the most violent energy in his life except for almost strangling Caresimo. He scored 17 points in the final quarter and led the Timberwolves to a 14-point lead at one point!
Even in the last 2 minutes, the Timberwolves had a 7-point lead! Just when the Minnesotans thought they could finally advance to the division semifinals for the first time in team history and win the first series in team history, the SuperSonics made a move!
First, two big shooters Lewis and Allen each made a 3-pointer from the left and right, narrowing the gap to 1 point!
During this period, the Timberwolves responded by having Garnett miss two consecutive high-post jump shots.

There was no way. Sprewell was not Lin Tian or Jordan after all. He was exhausted! He was so tired that he couldn't even stand steadily. The game could only be handed over to Garnett, but Garnett failed to solve the game again!
After Garnett missed two shots, Sprewell finally caught his breath and once again broke into the basket and scored 2 points, widening the score difference to 3 points!
But this is his final release!
The next game became Payton's show time!
He first made a 1-point jump shot with his back to the basket with 2 minute left in the game, then cut off the dribble of Timberwolves starting guard Troy Hudson on the defensive end, and then launched a counterattack, hitting a key goal that allowed the team to overtake with 40 seconds left in the game!
In the following games, the Timberwolves missed many shots and could only send the Supersonics players to the free throw line again and again.

But unfortunately, as the Supersonics made free throws one after another, the Timberwolves fell further and further behind. In the end, they were unable to catch their breath and fell on the floor in the first round once again!
Moreover, they lost once again because of Garnett's weakness that although he was versatile, he just couldn't score!
After the game, a very serious discussion began within the Timberwolves.

They have to consider changing the team's team-building strategy.

At the very least, if we continue fighting like this, it will definitely not work!
Within the Timberwolves, there are currently three options:
1. Send Garnett away and start rebuilding.

2. Find a way to get a real top core and let Garnett be the second in command.

3. Continue to add scorers and attackers like Sprewell to give the team more reliable options at critical moments!

The Timberwolves will certainly continue to discuss which one to choose, but that is all in the offseason.

For them, this season ended in failure again!
At the same time, the two groups of matchups in the Western Conference semifinals have also been released:

Lakers VS Supersonics!
Mavericks VS Jazz!

In the East, the Nets had an easy game against the Bucks, who were also starting to rebuild. They only did a favor in the fourth game of the series and let the Bucks win. In the other four games, they won easily without any bloodshed.

4: 1!

The Nets advance to the Eastern Conference semifinals again!

The matchup between the fourth and fifth groups in the Eastern Conference is between Boston's twin stars Walker and Pierce and Philadelphia's single core Iverson!

Before the game, almost everyone predicted that this round of the series would be very intense, and it would take at least 6 games to decide the winner, and there was a high probability that it would go to a decisive seventh game!

But when the series started, everyone found out that their predictions were wrong!
Big mistake!

As for the reason? It's very simple.

Fat content!

The Celtics' two pieces of meat are fat and thick. The team they are best at and like to bully the most is the 76ers, a team that is underweight and relies entirely on flexibility and toughness.

Especially after the 76ers traded away Mutombo in the past two years, their current front line combination is the big white soft pitcher Van Horn and Coleman, who was once a meritorious player of the team but is now too old to play.

Just these two, against the two tough guys from the Celtics?
One line of lyrics can describe the result and process: The scene is so beautiful that I dare not look at it!

Pierce and Walker almost broke the 76ers' defense apart just by taking the ball in the low post and pushing hard.

Therefore, even though Iverson averaged 33.4 points and 7.6 assists per game throughout the series, he still couldn't avoid defeat!

The 76ers failed to cause much trouble to the Celtics and they were eliminated!

After this round of games, the 76ers began a very serious discussion within the team.

They have to consider changing the team's team-building strategy.

At the very least, if we continue fighting like this, it will definitely not work!
Within the 76ers, there are currently three options:
1. Send away Iverson and start rebuilding.

2. Trade for a core player who can take charge of everything and allow Iverson to concentrate on offense.

3. Continue with the previous team building ideas, add some functional players like Mutombo and Snow, continue to let Iverson play alone, and the whole team plays around him.

The 76ers will certainly continue to discuss which one to choose, but that is all in the offseason.

For them, this season ended in failure again!
At this point, there is only one final round of series left in the Eastern Conference!
The Magic team, which started considering the next round opponents the earliest, was forced into a game seven by the Pistons!
The biggest contributor to the team's ability to win two games in a row and advance to Game 1 despite being behind 3:2 was beyond everyone's expectations!
It's not the third overall pick Billups, not the marathon runner Hamilton, not even the all-around forward Rashid or any of the team's starters.

The hero who played top-notch performance in these two games was Bonzi Wells, who came to the team with Rashid! (End of this chapter)