NBA: Start by torturing Jordan and add points to upgrade

Under Lin Tian's crazy performance, the Pacers' ranking failed to continue to climb, but after the end of the nightmare-like January, the Pacers' record was temporarily stabilized at 1 wins and 29 losses, and they are still ranked seventh in the Eastern Conference.

In addition, the Cavaliers, ranked eighth in the Eastern Conference, now have 27 wins and 23 losses and may overtake the Pacers at any time.

That is to say, the Celtics, who were originally ranked ninth, and the Knicks, who were originally ranked tenth, also performed extremely badly in January. Otherwise, the Pacers might have been kicked out of the playoffs!
Then, on February 2, the Pacers' first game of the entire February, the Pacers suffered another heavy blow!

Lin Tian was injured!
At the end of the second quarter, Lin Tian, ​​who had played the entire first half, was trying to make a layup. Perhaps he was exhausted, or he had been exerting too much energy recently, or maybe it was some other reason. In short, he failed to stand firmly when he landed, and his ankle clearly flipped 90 degrees!

Lin Tian was lying on the floor, holding his ankle and feeling pain, but he knew very well: it was no big deal!

Lin Tian felt that he could just stand up and stomp his feet and continue walking.

But he was really tired at the moment, and he wanted to lie on the floor for a while and recover his strength.

But Lin Tian obviously underestimated Carlisle's extremely tense nerves and his almost collapsed spirit.

Because of the team's series of injuries, this guy has increased his number of church visits from 0 times a week to 3 times.

When a person places his hopes of getting the team back to health and back on track on Jesus, it means: he is really powerless.

This time, Lin Tian's fall to the ground made Carlisle jump up.

After the team doctor briefly checked Lin Tian's injuries and quickly confirmed that Lin Tian was fine, Carlisle didn't even let the team doctor say "Lin is fine". He just waved his hand impatiently, signaling the team doctor to take Lin Tian away.

"Go straight to the hospital, get an MRI, and give me the results tomorrow."

"but……"

"No buts! Take Lin out right now! The team doesn't need him tonight! Let him have a good rest! Have a good rest, understand?" Carlisle raised his voice and cursed: "I won't let Lin play again! I don't care what grade of sprain he has!"

"I don't want to hear good news or bad news now! I want Lin to leave the stadium immediately! If you think there is no need for an MRI, great, then take a taxi and let Lin go home to sleep! Anyway, tonight! I will not let Lin play on the court at even a 1% risk, understand?"

"Understood!"

The team medical team were all good at observing people's words and expressions, so they didn't say anything more. They called for a stretcher and wanted Lin Tian to get on it and go with them.

"I can walk, why do I need a stretcher?" Lin Tian, ​​who had finally recovered his breath after lying down for a while, stood up from the floor by himself. He happened to see the stretcher brought by the team doctor: "What are you doing?"

"Rick asked you to do that. He said no matter how severe your sprain is, you have to rest. You have to rest! He won't let you play tonight."

"After all, although your sprain this time is fine and not even a grade one sprain, it is indeed due to excessive fatigue that led to insufficient leg strength, which is why this accident happened."

"It's true that you're fine this time, but if you keep fighting, as your fatigue increases, no one can guarantee that you'll always be fine! So I think we should listen to Rick and take a rest."

Lin Tian could only nod his head at what the team doctor said. He was not an extremely paranoid person like Kobe or Iverson. He could not do such a thing as to fight in an ordinary regular season game with the hidden danger of injury.

It's not the playoffs, the finals or any key regular season battle, there is no need at all.

Since Carlisle is afraid and doesn't dare to let me fight, then don't fight.

Lin Tian shrugged his shoulders and did not refuse, but he did not get on the stretcher either. However, considering that it would be a bit inappropriate for such a person to walk out comfortably, Lin Tian let two team doctors support him and jumped out.

Of course, the fans didn’t know how serious Lin Tian’s injury was. They couldn’t hear the conversation between Carlisle and Lin Tian. They could only analyze Lin Tian’s injury through the body language of the players and coaches.

But unfortunately, the scene that the fans saw was super terrible!
What they saw was Lin Tian falling to the ground injured, then covering his ankle and screaming in pain, and then the big screen replayed the sprain.

A 90-degree sprain! The kind of angle that hurts when you see it and makes you scared when you think about it.

Then the fans saw the team doctor come in, and after the examination, he came to Carlisle with a "serious look" to report the situation to him. Then the team doctor said no more than one sentence, and Carlisle flew into a rage, yelling wildly as if he had been stimulated by something.

Then a stretcher came in, obviously to carry Lin Tian out.

Finally, it was the most heart-wrenching and terrible scene that the fans had ever seen.

Lin Tian, ​​who obviously already felt that he was seriously injured, was unwilling to admit defeat. Instead, he forced himself to stand up, wanting to prove that he was fine. However, after taking two steps with all his strength, Lin Tian's face was covered with sweat from the pain and he could no longer hold on.

But even so, the competitive and strong Lin Tian still refused the stretcher and refused to be carried out.

However, the intense pain prevented Lin Tian from walking out of the stadium on his own. He could only settle for the next best thing and let two team doctors support him as he walked out of the stadium.

All the above scenes put together are enough to show how serious Lin Tian’s injury is!

A second-grade sprain? Or even a third? Or a problem with the ligaments or even the Achilles tendon?

In short, based on what just happened on the court, everyone who watched the game was worried about Lin Tian’s injury.

And except for those who knew the situation, everyone agreed: Lin Tian’s injury was quite serious!
It was so serious that he couldn't even walk on his own.

The person who made the fans sure that Lin Tian’s injury was really serious was Carlisle.

Less than 3 minutes into the third quarter, this guy was angrily raising his hands and yelling, cursing because of a penalty. He didn't calm down until the referee gave him two technical fouls and expelled him.

This is the first time Carlisle has been ejected in his career!
Carlisle, who is always known for his elegance and calmness, was so angry and abnormal, which once again confirmed the fans' thoughts.

Lin Tian's injury was serious! It was most likely a serious injury that would end his season. Otherwise, Carlisle would never be so crazy and angry.

If it was just an ordinary injury, he would definitely not be so angry and abnormal.

Extreme anger, despair about the season, anger at unfair fate, only these mixed together could lead to Carlisle being directly expelled.

This time, it’s definitely confirmed!
That night, many micro-expression experts and analysts came online to analyze the severity of Lin Tian's injury through one of his grinning expressions, Carlisle's clenched fists, or the pain Lin Tian felt when he landed.

Countless fans came to the forums and websites and began to pray for Lin Tian.

More people were constantly checking the news, wanting to know Lin Tian’s situation as soon as possible. They wanted to know what happened to Lin Tian.

Many commentators, reporters, commentators and hosts came online and began to criticize Carlisle for his incorrect use of Lin Tian. They all said that it was the incompetence of Carlisle and Bird, and the boss's frugality, that led to Lin Tian's overload, which then led to injuries and the Pacers' season ending early!
Then, almost all professionals said that night: The Pacers dynasty is over!

The Pacers, who won five championships in the past six years, four consecutive championships and created the first dynasty of the 6st century, collapsed.

Las Vegas even changed the Pacers' championship odds this season overnight. Although the Pacers were originally ranked only 7th in the Eastern Conference, they were ranked 5th on the odds list, which means that bookmakers and actuaries are still optimistic about the Pacers.

But after Lin Tian's injury, even though it was not certain how serious Lin Tian's injury was, Las Vegas had already rapidly lowered the Pacers' championship odds overnight.

Before dawn, the Pacers fell from fifth place to 15th place.

This ranking basically means that they are not optimistic about the Pacers being able to win the championship this season.

There are also many good friends of Lin Tian in the NBA who either expressed their blessings to Lin Tian in front of the camera and hoped that he was fine, or directly called or texted Lin Tian to ask about his injury.

Lin Tian’s close female friends called him one after another to inquire about his condition. Some of them even wanted to fly directly to Indiana to check if his injury had moved up to the base of his thigh. They were worried!
In short, because of Lin Tian’s injury, everything in the outside world is changing rapidly. Everyone is worried about what happened to Lin Tian. Including in China, countless people are worried about whether Lin Tian’s injury will affect the upcoming Olympics.

They also want to rely on Lin Tian to lead the team to win three consecutive world championships!

Of course, if the outside world knew that while Lin Tian was frantically worried and speculating, he did not even go to the hospital, but went straight home to sleep, they would most likely send razor blades to Lin Tian's home.

There's a deafening sound of killing outside, and you're just sleeping at home, right?

Shameless!
But no matter what happened outside, Lin Tian slept soundly.

She was so beautiful that when he went to training the next morning, he had a smile on his face.

Very comfortable! It can be said to be a full recovery.

It’s time to start the battle in February!

But what greeted Lin Tian was a basin of cold water.

After he arrived at the stadium, he was stopped by Bird and Carlisle before he even reached the locker room.

"The organization has decided that you have a grade 1 ankle sprain. You need to rest until after the All-Star Game." Carlisle looked at Lin Tian with a relaxed look on his face. It was obvious that he had already communicated with the team doctor and knew that Lin Tian was fine, he was just suffering from fatigue.

"The All-Star Game is from February 2th to 13th!" Lin Tian said in confusion, "I'm fine, why are you letting me rest for half a month?"

"Now the organization has decided that you will rest for three weeks!" Bird quickly added, indicating that you can rest for one more week.

"Then I might as well not play for the whole of February, go home and sleep, and then play again in March."

"Good idea!" Bird clapped his hands and said with satisfaction, "Then come back in March! Rick, who will we play against in the first game in March? The Kings? Perfect! Look, how clever! The first game after the comeback will be against an excellent team but one that doesn't defend."

"It's a good opportunity for you to find your form, play efficiently enough, and boost your confidence."

"No, are you crazy?" Lin Tian looked at Carlisle and Bird and said, "I can understand taking a 3-5 day break, but what the hell is a month of rest? What about the team's record?"

"If it was last year, the year before, or any other year since I got here, I would have no problem with you telling me to do that, but it's impossible this year! Don't you two know what the situation of our team is like right now?"

"Chris and Manu are both likely to be out for the season, Doug and Josh are not back yet. If I don't play for another month, have you ever thought about how bad our record will be this month? Have you ever thought that we might be kicked out of the playoffs directly?"

Bird waved his hand to signal Lin Tian to calm down, and then said calmly: "It is precisely because the two of them are unlikely to come back this season that we let you rest! Because we can't afford the consequences of you also being written off for the season! That's when we're really done! Lin, we all know that this injury was caused by excessive fatigue."

"Yes, we all know that you are fine this time, you are lucky, but what about next time?"

Bird looked at Lin Tian and said earnestly: "Don't worry about the team's record. We are only seventh in the Eastern Conference right now. Whether you play or not, we can't make it to the top half this season, so fifth or eighth is not important at all!"

"There are only 2 games in February. Considering that the Celtics, who are in ninth place, have a record of less than 12%, and the Knicks, who are in tenth place, have already fallen behind, even if we lose all 50 games in February, we will not fall too far behind."

"The best we can do is to be ninth in the Eastern Conference! We still have more than a month to catch up. Or do you, Lin, not even have the confidence to catch up with the Celtics? Do you think we can't even make it to the playoffs without you for a month?"

Lin Tian still shook his head and said, "Of course I am confident, but there is no need to be. I am fine. I didn't even have a grade one sprain last night. I just couldn't stand steadily. If you are really worried, I will just rest for a week!"

"Okay, Lin." Carlisle chimed in, "It's settled. One month! You said it yourself. A real man should do what he says! Or do you really want to go to Los Angeles and win another All-Star MVP?"

"Who cares about that shit." Lin Tian rolled his eyes, but looking at the expressions of the two management members of the team, he knew that these two people had already made up their minds. They were not here to discuss with him at all, they were here to inform him.

Seeing that Lin Tian seemed to have loosened up, Carlisle immediately said, "Besides, if everything goes well, Doug and Josh will be able to return as early as this week. With them, even if we still can't win too many games this month, we won't collapse completely."

"I promise you, when you come back, we will still be in the playoffs, that's all!"

"And the most important thing." Bird also said: "This year is your contract year! Lin, although we have a working relationship, I feel that I am your friend and we are good buddies! We both know very well how big a contract you can get this year!"

"That is definitely a signing that will shock the entire sports world! I want to see this happen, so as a friend, compared to the team's performance this year, I hope you can get a top contract safely without any injuries!" "I am really doing this for your own good. I hope you are well. Some things are really unnecessary! Just like I don't have to build a road for my mother myself, so take a rest!"

"I brought a recorder, and I want to tell Brother Simon what you said." Lin Tian broke all the beauty of Bird's extremely rare expression of true feelings and the emotional atmosphere he had worked so hard to create with just one sentence.

"FUXX!" Bird rolled his eyes and cursed, "You bastard should go to hell. You don't deserve anyone's kindness to you. You don't deserve anyone's kindness. Go home, bastard. For the next month, I don't want to see your face or have any communication with you."

"I hope that this February, you can disappear from my world completely as if you were dead!"

"I'll satisfy you."

Now that things have been said, there's no need for Lin Tian to keep on making excuses or giving up Xuzhou three times. Just let me take a month's paid leave, and I'll take a rest!

Anyway, my salary will be paid as usual, so how can I suffer any loss?
The Mercedes-Benz luxury car that Daimler gave to Lin Tian left less than 20 minutes after it entered the Pacers' training hall.

Then, this scene was captured by reporters.

This scene was also regarded by reporters as evidence that Lin Tian was indeed seriously injured!

Then, that same night, the Pacers updated Lin Tian’s injury status.

"Sprained ankle, out indefinitely."

Normally: the shorter the news, the more serious the injury.

But this time: because there is no injury report, it is difficult to write the injury details, so I can only write a vague indefinite absence.

It's unlimited, it can be the maximum or the minimum.

Returning tomorrow and ending the season can both be replaced by this sentence.

Reasonable.

When Carlisle faced the media, he could only deal with them with nonsense and ambiguous words.

"The good news is that there is no structural damage. The ligaments and Achilles tendon are fine, and the bones are fine. It just hurts, and there seems to be swelling. Lin can feel very sore, and there is obvious pain when he steps on the floor."

Professionals can sense that there is something wrong with what is said above, because it is as if Carlisle said nothing at all.

No specific details were revealed, and no one knew where the injury occurred, but Lin Tian just couldn't fight anymore.

If Carlisle was just making up stories but at least still talking about Lin Tian's injury, then Bird was shameless when facing the media.

"I wasn't there, I don't know what happened, but I'm sorry, it was terrible, yes, very terrible, I was in a bad mood, everyone was unhappy, we had a bad night, I thought it was a dream, but unfortunately it wasn't."

"It reminds me of the 80s when I was still playing basketball. There were a lot of bad memories back then, but I think it should be OK. Lin will probably be back to full health. He will come back at any time, just like Superman will always save the world."

"The good news is that everyone is looking forward. We are not stuck in the past. We have forgotten some bad situations. I hope everyone can forget about this. We have introduced some players. I hope these players can play a role. I will take a look at the trading market and think of a solution."

The reporters almost couldn't help but curse at Bird for what he said.

What did this bastard say?
This bastard said a lot, but no bullshit message was revealed. Not a single word of what he said was useful. It was all useless nonsense repeated over and over again.

How shameless!
If Carlisle and Bird's style and behavior of not answering questions directly would only make the specific circumstances of Lin Tian's injury more confusing, then what Lin Tian said during the interview was truly earth-shattering.

This interview was not conducted face to face, because Lin Tian has not appeared in public since his injury, but has been hiding in his home.

But because the public was eager to know about Lin Tian's condition, Barkley could not resist the instigation of Kenny and others on a TNT program and was put on the show. For the sake of face, he was forced to call Lin Tian.

He hoped that Lin Tian wouldn't answer the call, but the phone was answered after only three rings.

"Lin, I'm on the TNT show. Everyone is curious about your situation. Can you talk to us about it?" Barkley was afraid that his friend would say something shocking, so he told Lin Tian what he was doing as soon as possible.

"On the show? Wait a minute, I'll change my position. It's tiring right now." After Lin Tian finished speaking, there was a noise from the other end of the phone, and then Lin Tian's voice came again: "Thank you for remembering me, Charles. What's wrong? What do you want to ask?"

"Are you exercising?" Barkley asked politely.

"Well, I'm doing recovery training. I'm worried that my body will be rusty when I return and I won't be able to adapt to the game. Sufficient exercise can keep my physical fitness in a sufficient state."

"You have started exercising! This is definitely good news! Can you exert force with your feet?" Barkley immediately became excited when he heard that Lin Tian was exercising.

"Well, it's a partial exercise. My feet don't have any strength. If I want to train my whole body, I think I'll have to wait for a while."

"Then can you tell me about your injury? How are you doing? When can you expect to return?" Barkley quickly asked the answer that everyone wanted to know most.

"Hiss, I... I think, hey." On the other end of the phone, Lin Tian's voice suddenly became a little strange, and his nasal tone became noticeably heavier. He took two deep breaths, and then Lin Tian said: "I will do it as soon as possible! I will definitely get myself into a state where I can play normally as soon as possible, and then return to the team."

When Lin Tian said this, many people who cared about Lin Tian felt depressed.

Lin Tian's attitude was too obvious! When he talked about his injuries, he became hesitant, sighed, and even cried a little. In the end, he was just like Bird and Carlisle. He didn't tell the truth about his condition or what kind of injury he had, but expressed his determination.

Who would avoid the question and not give a direct answer at this time?

Only when you are unsure, lack confidence, and are full of unknowns, will you use such words to evade and encourage yourself.

Lin Tian’s injury is probably really serious.

Affected by Lin Tian's obviously sad tone, Barkley's mood also obviously became worse: "Sorry to bother you, Lin, I'm sorry, I'm really sorry."

"Alright, alright, don't rush me, you bastards, don't you have any heart? Lin is my best buddy! We are good brothers!"

"Lin, one last question."

Barkley apparently had some arguments on the other end of the phone, then took the initiative to say it was time to ask the last question.

"Your injuries were so serious, why did you refuse the stretcher? Wouldn't it be safer to be carried out?"

Barkley clearly heard a sound similar to inhaling coming from Lin Tian on the other end of the phone. Lin Tian paused for more than 10 seconds, and then after taking an obvious deep breath, he calmed down his bad mood and gave his answer.

"I have imagined countless times what my last game on the court would look like, and I have imagined countless times what I would look like when I finally leave the court. I have had countless ideas about this, and I don't know which one is my favorite or the one I look forward to the most."

"But I am sure of one thing, the last time I left the stadium, I was definitely not carried out by anyone. No matter what happened, I would rely on my own strength to walk out of the stadium by myself. That was what I thought at the time."

"Finally?" Lin Tian's answer made Barkley's eyes widen in disbelief, and then he couldn't help but ask: "Lin, how serious is your injury..."

Before Barkley could finish his words, Lin Tian hung up the phone.

Hearing the busy tone coming from the other end of the phone, the entire TNT studio fell silent.

No one spoke, and everyone was thinking about the hidden meaning of Lin Tian’s last sentence.

The last time you walked off the field?
Has it gotten this bad?
Lin Tian, ​​are you actually considering retiring?

"Are you satisfied! FUXX! You bunch of damn bastards, are you satisfied?" Barkley's eyes were red. As a former professional player, he knew too well how frustrated Lin Tian was just expressing.

This guy must have cried!
Barkley has known Lin Tian for more than 10 years. He has never seen Lin Tian cry, let alone crying. He has never seen Lin Tian show any negative emotions.

In front of everyone, Lin Tian is an unbeatable genius, an invincible god of war. He always brings tears and pain to others, and he seems to have never had such a desperate moment.

"You pushed Lin to this point, forcing him to expose his weak side in public. Are you satisfied now? Are you satisfied?" When he said the last sentence, Barkley slammed his hands on the table in anger to release the depression in his heart.

"Lin treated me as a buddy, so he didn't hang up the phone even though he knew I was recording a show. Lin treated me as a friend, but what about you? You used me, and you hurt Lin just to satisfy your own pitiful desire to spy!"

"That's it, that's it! I can't continue recording tonight's show. Sorry, I can't do it anymore. I have to go to Indiana right away. That's it. You can fire me or deduct my salary. Anyway, I'm done today! I will never comment on Lin's injury again!"

After Barkley finished speaking, he wiped away the tears that had already fallen, stood up and walked out of the studio.

He really wanted to go to Indiana immediately to see his best buddy.

So, what is Lin Tian, ​​Barkley's best buddy and the one who made him go crazy in front of the American audience, doing now?
He is performing the duties of a dentist.

"Are you sure you rinse your mouth well?" Lin Tian was wearing a completely open white coat, obviously COSing a doctor, but the problem was that this was the only piece of clothing on his body.

The person in front of him who was having his oral examination done was Theron.

"I have rinsed my face clean! How dare you say that! Aren't you afraid that I might make some noise? The show just now was broadcast live across the United States, right?"

"Then why didn't you make a sound? You missed a chance to let the whole US know that we were together!" Lin Tian smiled and put his arm around Charlize Theron, who was wearing a pink nurse uniform, with a shameless look on his face: "Besides, it was you who insisted that I answer the phone just now."

"I am innocent!"

"I'm now disappointed and regretful that my mother didn't shoot you in the head!"

"You are a complete jerk!"

Although she said that Lin Tian was shameless, Sharon's behavior was still quite honest.

There's nothing she can do about it. Who made her like this scumbag and bastard?

Who made her hurriedly turn down her work and fly to Indiana to see if Lin Tian was okay when she heard that Lin Tian was seriously injured?
Who made her reluctant to leave after she found out that Lin Tian was fine?

…………

For a time, because of Lin Tian’s injury, three completely different situations emerged in the entire alliance.

Almost everyone who listened to Lin Tian’s telephone interview felt that Lin Tian’s injury was very serious. Countless people called Lin Tian to express their condolences and wanted to know if he was okay. But no matter who called, Lin Tian refused to talk about his injury and kept making excuses.

Of course, there are also a few who have a deep hatred for Lin Tian, ​​and they hope that Lin Tian will step down from the altar.

Then there is the Pacers. In the days without Lin Tian, ​​no one on their team was selected for the All-Star Game, only Howard was selected for the Rookie Game. The last time no one from the Pacers was selected for the All-Star Game was in the 93-94 season, a full 10 years ago!

Of course, it is worth mentioning that although no one from the Pacers was selected for the All-Star Game, Carter and Big Ben, who left the Pacers, both made the Eastern Conference All-Star Game, and Lewis and Arenas were also selected for the Western Conference All-Star Game.

I am not in the underworld, but everyone in it is my people!

This All-Star Game had almost nothing to do with the Pacers. Even Howard, who was selected for the Rookie Game, did not put in any outstanding performance. He just went to Los Angeles to play a supporting role and then returned to Indiana. (End of this chapter)