NBA: Start by torturing Jordan and add points to upgrade

The entire month of February was definitely tough for the Pacers. Although both Christie and Howard returned early, Parker also had a good performance in the games he started, averaging 17 points and 6 assists per game.

But relying on them alone is obviously not enough to put the Pacers, a team with enemies everywhere who want to beat them up, back on track.

Not to mention getting on the right track, the Pacers were almost unable to win a game in February.

The disappointing All-Star Game was the least of their terrible February.

整个2月份12场比赛，步行者队只拿到了1胜11负的糟糕战绩，其中一波4连败一波7连败，更是输到整个印第安纳都要绝望了。

The fans have truly forgotten the last time the team was so bad.

They lost so badly, and the reason they lost like this was not because of the team's lack of strength.

They really have almost injured the entire starting lineup. The team's two most important core players and a substitute are all unable to play. The fans of the Pacers are really unwilling to accept this!
If it weren’t for injuries, we definitely wouldn’t be where we are now!

What's even more painful is that Lin Tian, ​​whom the Indians miss so much, is always absent no matter how the team loses. There is no update on his injury, no recovery progress, nothing.

What the Pacers give their fans is endless waiting.

When February finally came to an end, the Pacers' record had dropped to 2 wins and 30 losses, and their winning rate was less than 32%!

And their ranking has dropped to ninth in the Eastern Conference, and they have been overtaken by the Celtics!

The Celtics currently have a record of 31 wins and 31 losses, with a winning rate of exactly %, slightly ahead of the Pacers.

The Cavaliers, ranked seventh, have already achieved 35 wins and 25 losses, leading the Pacers by more than 6 wins!

With only about 20 games left, if the Pacers' Lin Tian can return and maintain a good form, then it will be no problem for them to surpass the Celtics.

But if they want to catch up with the Cavaliers, who have been in pretty good form recently, their chances are slim.

The fact that they have not yet been caught up by the tenth-placed Knicks is purely because the Knicks are so bad and they really can't win. This group of talented young people are really playing against each other with almost no coordination.

The reason why the Knicks are ranked tenth is not because they are so good, but because the teams behind them like the Raptors, Hawks, and Bulls are really terrible.

But no matter how bad they are, they still have a winning rate of about 35%. If the Pacers continue to lose like this, they will really be surpassed by the Knicks!
In March, with great melancholy, helplessness and the pain of losing, the Indians opened their eyes early and habitually opened the newspapers they subscribed.

Then, cheers and crazy shouts were heard from countless houses.

Because any Indian who reads the newspaper will see a piece of news on the front page.

"Caesar is back! Bird announced that Lin Tian will return in the team's home game against the Kings on March 3!"

"Lin Tian finally returns after a month of absence! The Pacers have waited for the savior!"

《God is back! The Alliance is destined to tremble again! 》

"What kind of injury did Lin Tian suffer from his foot? The Pacers have not yet issued any medical report!"

"Can he return to his peak? How serious is Lin Tian's injury this time!"

"There are rumors that Lin Tian was forcibly injected with a sealed tube to fight! Bird bluntly said it was bullshit!"

《The team is still incomplete, but the general of the central army has finally returned! 》

……

The Indian was so excited when he saw the news about Lin Tian's comeback that suddenly came out that he almost jumped up!

They waited for a month, lost for a month, and finally their God of War came back!

We must take back everything we lost!
On this day, the Indians were extremely excited. They worked even harder! Countless people began to ask for tickets to the team's game that night! They hoped to witness Lin Tian's comeback game live.

The Conseco Center has been surrounded by enthusiastic fans since 5 p.m. This kind of enthusiasm is probably only seen in the finals for other teams.

The fans who had tickets were extremely happy with their choice, and they felt that they were very smart to have bought the tickets in advance.

TNT even temporarily changed its broadcast plan and stopped broadcasting the Western Conference peak battle between the Lakers and the Timberwolves that it had previously planned to broadcast, and instead broadcast the game between the Pacers and the Kings.

In short, such an unremarkable regular season was made as exciting as the finals because of Lin Tian’s comeback!

It is said to be mediocre because the Pacers have suffered from injuries and are only ranked ninth in the Eastern Conference, while the Kings are not much better. The Kings, who could still compete with the Pacers in the finals two years ago, have been experiencing a period of decline over the past two years.

Divac is getting older and older. He has already said that this year will be his last year in the NBA. The team leader Peja has also suffered from an elbow injury this year and has only played 43 games. In addition, players such as Bibby and Bobby Jackson have also experienced injuries of varying degrees.

So far, although the Kings have achieved a good record of 35 wins and 26 losses, they can only rank sixth in the Western Conference and no longer have the strength they had in previous years to compete with the Lakers and Mavericks.

If nothing unexpected happens, when Divac, the inside pillar, retires, the Kings' once brilliant but never complete Princeton system will officially disappear from the league.

The Kings' era is over before it even began.

But of course, that's a matter for the future. At least for now, the Kings are the team with a better record. No matter how many injuries the Kings suffered in the early and mid-season, at least at this point in the season, the injuries are far away from them.

Now, they are all out in battle!

The Pacers' Webber and Ginobili are still a long way from returning!

But at least, Lin Tian is back, right?
30 minutes before the game started, Lin Tian appeared in the Conseco Center again after a month. He was still wearing his training suit and was the last one to enter the stadium.

Then, what greeted Lin Tian was overwhelming cheers and shouts that lasted for a minute!

At this time, one sentence can describe the fans' thoughts.

"Mr. Lin, we miss you so much!"

After a month of rest, Lin Tian's figure has not changed at all, and he has even lost a little weight. Obviously, this guy did not give up training at all, he just didn't play in the game!

This month, Lin Tian considered that his future consumption would only be greater, so in order to maintain his physical strength, he lost some weight, reducing his weight from 95KG to 93KG. Although the loss of 2KG of weight does not seem obvious, it will definitely make Lin Tian's physical strength stronger than before!

During the warm-up, Lin Tian even did a gliding slam dunk from the free throw line to show that his condition has really recovered!
Then, amid the cheers of the fans, the Pacers' five starters walked onto the court.

Lin Tian, ​​Christie, Artest, Haslem, Miller!

Even with such an incomplete lineup, fans all over the world waited for a month before finally seeing it again!

Pacers, set sail again!
"He's back! Lin is finally back! A month of rest, to be honest, is over much faster than we thought! I was really worried that Lin would be out for the season!" Barkley couldn't help but say in the studio: "But it's great that he's back!"

Kenny followed up, “Yes, I was really worried about Lin’s injury. I was also really worried that Lin’s injury would affect his career, but now it seems that Lin should be completely fine!”

"But now I am even more curious. What happened to Lin during this month? What happened to him that could have caused him to be injured so badly, yet he only had one month to rest?"

"I think tonight's game will definitely give us the answer!"

"Dudu!"

Amidst everyone's anticipation, the referee blew his whistle and threw the basketball into the air.

The younger Miller had the upper hand in the jump ball and passed the ball directly to Lin Tian.

Lin Tian took the ball and directed the game without any pause. Instead, he increased his speed directly and increased his impact force to the extreme!

Then Lin Tian rushed towards the Kings' inside area without any hesitation!
"Whoosh!"

Bibi, nicknamed the 'White Devil', only felt a gust of wind breaking through the air in his ears, and then he found that he had lost Lin Tian.

It was too fast! I couldn't react at all!

The Kings' entire defense was also unable to react!
The Peja players had just retreated to the three-point line, and Divac had just completed his turn with great difficulty. Except for his eyes, no part of his body could keep up with Lin Tian.

Although the power forward from Lithuania ran as fast as he could, he could not keep up with Lin Tian's speed at all. He could only watch Lin Tian forcefully overtake everyone on the team, then rush to the basket and complete an incredible slam dunk!
"boom!"

After a loud bang, Lin Tian completed a lightning attack and thunderous dunk in just 3.3 seconds!

His speed was so fast that even the fans at the scene couldn't react immediately. They didn't even expect that Lin Tian would use such a crazy way to announce his return!
"Lin is back!" Barkley's response to Lin's slam dunk was simple and direct: "The complete Lin is back! He is not even troubled or affected by any injuries! He is absolutely 100%!"

"I even think that he is more decisive than before he was injured!"

Yes, more decisively!

After resting for a month, Lin Tian returned again and showed an almost terrifying desire to attack!

Except for the slam dunk in the first 3 seconds, Lin Tian made crazy shots in the following time, one after another, attacking non-stop and constantly attacking the basket!

And his offensive performance tonight was quite similar to any of his previous crazy nights.

That is fire coverage without blind spots!
As long as you pass the midfield, it is Lin Tian’s reasonable offensive area. As long as the basketball is in his hands, he has 100 ways to send the basketball to the basket from various positions!

In the first quarter, Carlisle was worried that Lin Tian would be overly excited and cause a counterproductive effect, so he only let him play for 8 minutes before taking him off the court to rest.

但就是这8分钟，林天已经出手14次并命中9球，其中还有两个3分和3次罚球！
In the first quarter, Lin Tian scored 23 points, 4 rebounds and 2 assists!

Under his leadership, the Pacers scored 8 points in just 30 minutes. When Lin Tian came on the court, the Pacers were already leading the Kings by 7 points!
But after Lin Tian rested for 4 minutes in the first quarter, Carlisle was not in a hurry to let Lin Tian play in the second quarter. According to his plan, there must be a time limit for Lin Tian's first game after his comeback. He couldn't let Lin Tian play however he wanted like before!
Must be time limited!

So Lin Tian did not appear in the first four minutes of the second quarter.

But in just 4 minutes each before and after these two quarters, a total of 8 minutes, the Pacers were outscored by the Kings on a 16:3 offensive frenzy!
The 7-point advantage that Lin Tian had left before he came on the field was wiped out in the blink of an eye!
This is also the reason why the Pacers have been mediocre in the first half of the season.

That is, as long as Lin Tian is on the court, the Pacers' level will immediately drop to the bottom of the league, and no matter who it is, they can gain an advantage in the battle against the Pacers without Lin Tian.

No matter how many advantages Lin Tian accumulated, they would always be quickly lost by the Pacers' substitutes.

The ability to dig holes is too strong!
"Good job guys!"

With eight minutes left in the second quarter, Lin Tianxin walked onto the court and high-fived every Pacers player.

"Next, it's my turn to perform!"

Watching Lin Tian high-fiving every player on the court, Barkley couldn't help but say again: "I think this is one of the most attractive and fascinating things about Lin! Have you ever heard Lin complain even once?"

"Have you ever heard Lin complain about his teammates, referees, coaches, team policies or anything else? He never complains. He only relies on his own strength to change the environment and change everything! And he has done it all!" "In fact, there is such a possibility." Kenny suppressed his laughter and said, "When other players complain that their opponents are too dirty or the referees are too biased, Lin will directly take action. In front of him, there is nothing to complain about. He will use his fists to solve the problem until no one dares to provoke his fists again!"

"Hahaha, that's right!" Barkley said with a smile: "Lin is indeed such a person, but he has never beaten his teammates. No matter what his teammates do, he always encourages and supports them."

"If it were any other star in the league, they would have complained a lot and wanted to portray themselves as the most miserable person in the world when their team kept cutting back and letting go of strong players for years, causing the team's competitiveness to decline step by step."

"I think everyone knows that four players released by the Pacers became All-Stars this year! What if the Pacers kept all of them, or kept two of them? Would the Pacers still be in the current situation? They would definitely still be a league powerhouse!"

Here, Barkley was promoting Lin Tian on TV, praising his responsibility and bravery. On the court, Lin Tian had already started to chase points for the team!
As soon as he came on the court, he made a 3-point shot after a single screen. This shot was made against Divac's defense. Poor 36-year-old Divac dragged his old arms and legs from the inside to the 3-point line to block the shot, but he became a sight for Lin Tianzhi.

It was all in vain, and they could only watch Lin Tian being hit so unreasonably!
Then on the defensive end, Lin Tian stuck to Bibby the entire time, not giving Bibby any chance or space to handle the ball comfortably, forcing this guy to almost commit an 8-second violation.

Fortunately, Bobby Jackson came forward to help in time, took the basketball from Bibby and prepared to organize an offense. But when Lin Tiandu was defending so hard, the Pacers' defensive intensity and enthusiasm had already been raised by the players!
Christie held on to Jackson tightly, making it impossible for him to organize the offense. In desperation, Jackson could only pass the ball to the team boss Peja.

But a shooter like Peja is most afraid of a beast-type defender like Artest who is full of brute force. After getting the ball, he didn't even have time to dribble before the grinning Artest directly snatched the ball away.

Then Artest grabbed the basketball and immediately passed it to Christie who was about to run. Although Christie is getting older and slower, his work is becoming more and more sophisticated!
After getting the ball, this guy actually made a Lin Tian-style one-handed ground pass!
The basketball went straight through Bibby's legs and flew straight behind him from under his crotch. Lin Tian felt so comfortable when he received the ball. He didn't need any adjustments at all. He just threw it and continued to shoot from outside the three-point line!
"Shh!"

After a crisp sound, Lin Tian made two consecutive three-pointers.

The gap between the two sides was bridged by Lin Tian in the blink of an eye!
"FUXX! What kind of person is this guy? Where does he get so much energy? In his first game after his comeback, doesn't this bastard need to find his form?"

Adelman, who was sitting on the sidelines, was helpless.

He really couldn't understand or figure out what kind of monster Lin Tian was!
Could it be that he is a god who traveled from another world?

Lin Tian: You’re half right! This old man who governs by inaction is quite intelligent!

In the next few minutes of the game, the Kings chose to strengthen their defense against Lin Tian. His firepower today was too scary! If he continued to play like this, it might be another game with 40 points in the first half and 70 points in the whole game!

This time, facing the double-team and key defense of the Kings, Lin Tian did not rush to do it himself, but started to share the ball.

He assisted Miller, Artest, Haslem and others to complete the offense. Although Lin Tian did not take many shots for a long time afterwards, the Pacers relied on their team offense to quickly widen the score gap in the game.

In the last 20 seconds of the second quarter, Lin Tian once again performed some fancy moves.

He did not waste time, but instead quickly rushed into the inside with the ball, and made a low layup against Divac to grab 2 points!
Then Lin Tian made a gesture, and the entire Pacers team pressed forward, using a full-court press defense in the last 17 seconds of the game!
The sudden intensity of defense and the sudden increase in the level of physical confrontation made the Kings players very uncomfortable!

They ultimately couldn't even find a way across half court, failing to get the ball across the midfield for a full eight seconds.

8 seconds violation!
Under Lin Tian's leadership, the Pacers forced the Kings into an 8-second violation!
Then with 9 seconds left before the end of the first half, Lin Tian got the ball at the top of the arc again. Just when everyone thought that Lin Tian was going to do it on his own, and even the Kings' double-team was coming up, Lin Tian suddenly played team basketball calmly!
When being double-teamed, Lin Tian passed the ball to Christie, Christie passed the ball to Artest in the low post, Artest passed the ball to Miller in the low post, and Miller passed the ball to Haslem from behind after getting the ball.

Haslem no longer hesitated and jumped up for his signature mid-range jump shot.

"Shh!"

"Buzz!"

The crisp sound of the basketball passing through the net and the buzzer sounded at the end of the first half. The Pacers hit a buzzer-beating shot and made a 4:0 climax before the end of the first half.

It was with these 4 points that the Pacers successfully expanded their lead to 15 points!
48: 63!

With this absolutely huge advantage, the Pacers completed the first half after Lin Tian's return.

For all those who support the Pacers, this half was perfect!

came back!All are back!
"The changes brought about by Lin Tian's return are definitely greater than the data he contributed on the surface. He alone can change the Pacers' entire offensive system. He alone is a system. He alone can bring a team at the bottom of the league to the upper middle level of the league!"

After the half ended, Barkley couldn't help but exclaim: "The simplest data can show how important Lin is! In the 8 minutes when he was absent, the Pacers were beaten 16:3 by the Kings, losing 8 points in 13 minutes."

“而他在的16分钟内，32：60！步行者队16分钟净胜28分！这就是林的影响力！他在与不在，步行者队输赢偏差值达到了夸张的41分！这还是半场！”

“This number is really unbelievable!”

Kenny followed up, "I have another set of data that can prove how powerful and terrifying Lin is. The Pacers played a total of 62 games this season, and Lin participated in 51 of them. In one of the games, he only played half of the game before leaving the game due to injury."

"In the 50 full games he participated in, the Pacers averaged 98.3 points per game, ranking 8th in the league. But in the 11 games that Lin was not in, the Pacers' average score dropped rapidly to 86.4 points, ranking 28th in the league, only higher than the Pistons!"

"But you have to know that the Pistons are the best defensive team in the league! Although they can only score 85.9 points per game, they only allow their opponents to score 78.2 points per game! Their defense is so strong that it is almost a cliff ahead of all other teams in the league!"

"But what about the Pacers? When Lin was there, they allowed an average of 94.6 points per game on defense, which was 103.9th in the league, which was considered average. But when Lin was not there, it was 27 points per game, th in the league!"

"Even if we further simplify and break down this data, when Lin is on the court this season, the Pacers can score an average of 109.8 points per game, which is first in the league, and allow an average of 97.3 points per game, which is fifth in the league!"

"When Lin is not on the court, the Pacers average 82.9 points per game, which is last in the league, and allow 116.3 points per game, which is last in the league!"

"Is there any more exaggerated statistic than this? Has anyone in the history of the league been able to bring a greater impact than Lin?"

"The influence on both offense and defense is ridiculous. With or without Lin, this team is not a team. They shouldn't even be in the same league!"

"Let me put it this way, Lin brought a Development League-level team to the playoff level!"

After Kenny finished his analysis, Barkley followed up with, "Okay, then, is there any need to discuss who is the best player in the league and who is the best player in the league? Also, is there any need to discuss whether Lin is getting old or not and whether his condition is declining?"

"The Pacers just suffered an injury, but Lin's level has not dropped at all! As long as he is there, the Pacers' existence cannot be ignored!"

"He has the ability to transform a bottom-ranked team by himself!"

"Some people think that 3200 million a year is too much for him?"

Kenny and Barkley's analysis made all the fans who don't pay much attention to advanced statistics and only watch the game know how terrifying Lin Tian is. It also made everyone feel even more incredible about Lin Tian's performance!

too crazy!

He is really dragging the Pacers forward alone!
…………

After the start of the third quarter, his firepower continued!

The game started with a one-handed slam dunk after a strong drive to the basket, followed by a mid-range jump shot after taking one step with a screen.

Then the Kings' shot missed, Lin Tian grabbed the rebound and drove all the way to the frontcourt, and shot a 3-pointer from outside the 3-point line!
"Shh!"

After a crisp sound, Lin Tian completed three consecutive attacks at the beginning and led the team to a 3:7 offensive wave. The gap between the two sides once again reached 2 points!
And Lin Tian’s own score once again reached 40 points!
At this time, the third quarter had only started for less than 2 minutes!
"It's terrifying!" Barkley said sincerely, "Lin's sustained and explosive firepower is something I've never seen in my life! Including Michael! Although Michael was invincible in his era, he has never been able to play such amazing and crazy games like Lin."

"He scored 40 points in less than a short time in the third quarter. I think it is very likely that Lin will score at least 60 points tonight."

When Barkley said this, '60 points guaranteed', the old fans who knew him and Lin Tian were disappointed.

With the huge score difference and Barkley's golden mouth, it is very likely that Lin Tian will not be able to score 50 points tonight.

There are even some pessimistic fans who have already turned off the TV and are ready to find something else to entertain themselves.

Lin Tian can score 60 points tonight, I will take off on the spot and play the crazy Suns 3-block ceiling fan live!
I have to say that the fans have watched Lin Tian for so many years and listened to Barkley for so many years, and their understanding of these two people is quite thorough!

Tonight, Lin Tian once again showed the fans what it means to score 40 points in two quarters and three minutes, and 42 points in the entire game.

He played for another 5 minutes in this game, took two shots and scored 2 points in total. Then, with 4 minutes left in the third quarter and the score widened to 30 points, he walked to the bench without thinking, and put on ice packs and protective gear to help his body recover quickly.

Forget about 50 points, Lin Tian didn’t even get 45 points!
"Haha, Lin is really hard to figure out. How many times have I failed in my prediction?" Barkley was shameless and laughed, "I really don't know when I can predict correctly again."

Still predicting?
Please, sir, please take back your magical powers!

The fans are petitioning from the bottom of their hearts, sincerely hoping that Barkley can stop using his magical powers, quietly commentate on the games, and never make any predictions again.

Even on this evening, fans launched a petition on the Internet to "shut up Charles Barkley."

In just one night, less than 10 hours, more than 100 million people participated in this petition, and more than 99% of the participants said: Please ask Charles not to make any predictions when he is commenting in the future.

any!

Barkley is now the league's number one record destroyer!

As long as he opens his mouth, no one can achieve a milestone or set a new record under his crow's mouth.

so horrible!

The only person in the league who can defend Lin Tian is Barkley’s mouth?
Not to mention the fans and Barkley playing tricks on each other, back to the game, Lin Tian played only 24 minutes in his comeback night tonight and scored a perfect triple-double of 42 points, 10 rebounds and 13 assists! Relying on this triple-double and Lin Tian's comprehensive performance, the Pacers easily defeated the Kings.

89: 109!

A long-awaited big victory, a victory that was like a rain after a long drought, made all the fans in Indiana go crazy that night!
After all, they only won one game in the past month, and that was a win against the bottom-ranked Wizards. Other than that, they lost all the rest of their games!

Even before tonight, they were suffering from a horrific seven-game losing streak!
Lin Tian’s comeback finally helped the team get out of the shadow of losing streak!

But the Pacers have only emerged from the shadow of losing streak, and have not yet officially gotten back on track.

It’s still because of Lin Tian!

Because he had just returned, Carlisle imposed extremely strict playing time limits on Lin Tian!
His principle is: no matter what the game situation is, Lin Tian’s playing time will never exceed 30 minutes in the first week of his comeback!

His playing time limit will only be lifted after he has adapted and received permission from the team doctor to confirm that Lin Tian is completely fine and has fully adapted to the rhythm of the game.

And it was precisely because of this playing time limitation that the team was unable to immediately achieve a beautiful winning streak after Lin Tian’s return.

Apart from the team's easy win over the Kings, the Pacers subsequently lost to the Pistons and Nets, two top teams, and the Hornets, a regular playoff-level team, because Lin Tian could not be on the court for a long time.

During this period, they only won one game against the Wizards, which made their record not so bad.

In short, in the five games after Lin Tian's comeback, the Pacers had 5 wins and 2 losses, and their overall record was temporarily fixed at 3 wins and 32 losses!
Then, in a press conference right after the loss to the Hornets, Carlisle finally relented.

"We all noticed that the team's performance has not improved much due to Lin Tian's lack of playing time. When will Lin's playing time limit be lifted? Is he playing with an injury now?"

"Lin's body has recovered 100%. The reason for limiting his playing time is that he needs to adapt to the game, adapt to the intensity, and test whether his physical functions have fully recovered on the court."

"As for the playing time limit you mentioned."

"After communicating with the team doctor, I have decided: the night after tomorrow will be the day when Lin's playing time will be completely lifted!" (End of this chapter)