NBA: Start by torturing Jordan and add points to upgrade

At the beginning of the seventh game, the Pacers gave the Pistons a hard blow on the head!
Lin Tian, ​​whose 3-point shooting touch in the previous few games had been mediocre and whose hit rate was far below his average level, faced Billups at the start and made 3 consecutive shots from the left, right and center!
Apparently, the consecutive three-pointers in the final moments of the third quarter of the previous game made Lin Tian's touch return. He showed off his powerful abilities right from the start tonight!

While Lin Tian scored three consecutive three-pointers, the Pistons missed their shots repeatedly and were blasted into a 3:9 offensive climax by Lin Tian at the start.

This time Brown changed his formation very quickly. He didn't dare let Lin Tian, ​​who was shooting like crazy, take shots from outside the three-point line.

Hamilton, double-team!

As long as Lin Tian holds the ball close to the three-point line, Hamilton's help defense will arrive immediately!

Seeing that the Pistons were double-teaming him in advance, Lin Tian responded with ease!

He first dribbled backwards to draw two defenders away from the others, then found Christie who was missed and passed the ball to her quickly.

Christie received the ball from outside the three-point line and threw it just like that, and he made the three-pointer!
In the next round, when Lin Tian was double-teamed again, and this time the Pistons' defensive rotation was obviously faster, they quickly filled the gap left by Hamilton's double-team.

But what is the level of Lin Tian’s vision?
The timing of his pass this time was even more tricky and the pass route was longer, successfully fooling everyone on the Pistons.

The basketball was stuffed directly into Miller's hands under the basket. At this time, Big Ben had just left the basket and was preparing to defend Artest who was missed. This was also the person the Pistons thought would receive Lin Tian's pass.

But no one expected that Lin Tian would dare to throw the ball directly into the inside!

After getting the ball, Miller jumped up and slammed the ball into the basket with both hands!
14: 0!

Then, the Pistons finally scored, with Hamilton receiving the ball from mid-range and making a 2-pointer, alleviating the team's scoring drought in the early stages.

But no matter whether it is the Pistons or their supporters, they are destined not to have any happy and relaxing time tonight, because Lin Tian once again found Haslem, the least conspicuous point of the Pacers, when being double-teamed. After getting the ball, Haslem was extremely calm and even stretched out his hand to make a fake move, tricking Rasheed into flying off the ground.

Haslem immediately rubbed against Rashid who was jumping, and then he shot the basketball steadily.

"Shh!"

"beep!"

2+1!

Haslem, who was almost beaten to pieces in the previous games, successfully got revenge and scored a 2+1! Haslem, who created career highs in points and rebounds in the previous game, started the game very strongly, as if he wanted to take advantage of this round of the series to continue to refresh his career records!
Haslem made the free throw.

17: 2!

Then Lin Tian and Artest successfully lured Billups into a defensive trap and completed a steal. Artest dribbled the ball wildly, rushed to the basket and dunked with one hand!
19: 2!

At this point, the Pacers' five starters have all scored points and maintained a 100% shooting percentage!

Tonight, they really came to Detroit with the intention of defeating the Pistons!
In the subsequent games, the Pacers' efficiency naturally began to decline. They scored 4 points in the first 19 minutes of the first quarter, and by the end of the first quarter, they had only scored a total of 35 points.

However, the decline in shooting percentage in the second half did not prevent them from expanding their lead.

After all, the Pistons' offense was worse, or it could be said to be quite bad!

They only scored 15 points in the first quarter, dug a big hole for themselves at the start and fell behind by a full 20 points!
Then in the second quarter, Lin Tian rested again!

He got the rare rest time at the end of the regular season, between the first and second quarters.

The playoffs are getting easier and easier!
Because the score difference between the two sides remained at around 20 points, Lin Tian did not play much in the entire second quarter. He played the entire first quarter and only played for 6 minutes in the second quarter, but he also made 4 assists and scored 7 points.

Of these 7 points, except for Ben's 3-second defensive free throw by Lin Tian, ​​the remaining 6 points came from the end of the second quarter. In the last 40 seconds, Lin Tian made two 3-pointers from the left and right! His 3-point shooting was really perfect tonight, and he made 5 of 5 shots in the first half!

At the end of the first half, the Pacers expanded the score difference to 3 points thanks to Lin Tian's two three-pointers!
60: 35!

The Pistons are getting closer and closer to a big defeat!

In the third quarter, both teams played listlessly. It seemed that the Pistons were finally tired. They did not make many counterattacks, and even their defensive aggressiveness and toughness had obviously declined and decreased.

Needless to say, it was Brown's arrangement and speech during the halftime break that failed to resonate with the players and failed to inspire their final potential!

At the beginning of the third quarter, under the leadership of Lin Tian, ​​the Pacers once again launched an 11:4 offensive climax, successfully expanding their lead to more than 30 points!
And it was after this wave of attack that everyone saw the next trend of the game.

Everyone knew: the game was over, the Pistons were finished!

The subsequent games were all routine.

In the seventh game of the series, all the players of the Pacers finally exploded and everyone came back alive!
It was a Pacers-style, exhilarating victory!
The fans at the Palace of Auburn Hills have become extremely quiet since the start of the second half. They have not yet accepted the fact that their team has been reversed.

They still felt that they should be leading 3:1 and that they should be able to break the Pacers' monopoly in the East and advance at any time.

But how, how did we lose?
Detroit fans still can't believe what is happening before their eyes, but the Pacers have already begun to replace their main players.

At the beginning of the fourth quarter, Carlisle directly withdrew all the main players. Except for Parker who was left on the court to stabilize the situation and prevent the Pistons from chasing too fast, the rest of the players were all daily water dispenser guards of the Pacers.

The Pistons still have their full main lineup at this time!
Brown still wants them to fight.

They really tried their best.

At the start of the fourth quarter, the difference between the two sides was as high as 31 points.

Seven minutes into the fourth quarter, the difference between the two sides was 7 points.

With two minutes left in the game, the number was reduced to 2 points.

But that’s about it.

The Pistons played against the Pacers' pure substitutes with all their main players, and they won by 16 points in most of the quarter, which is not something to be proud of or happy about.

Seeing the time slowly running out, Brown finally stopped being stubborn. After a long sigh, he replaced all his main players and announced his surrender.

The Pistons lost!
They lost a 3:1 lead, and even in the fifth game of the series, they were leading by 18 points in the fourth quarter! They were so close to promotion.

But tonight, they were eliminated by the Pacers.

A decisive victory without any suspense.

In this game, Lin Tian scored a big triple-double of 29 points, 14 rebounds, 16 assists and 4 steals, and he only played for 30 minutes before going off to rest. He really played in an easy manner tonight and hardly even sweated.

Artest, who hit the buzzer-beater in Game 20, scored 7 points and rebounds tonight, the second highest on the team. After fighting with Wells for a whole series, Artest finally won!

In addition, Christie, Miller, Parker, Howard and Haslem all scored in double digits! The Pacers eliminated the team that is known as the most united, most civilian and most average team in the league with a team performance of 5 players scoring in double digits!
Then, when the whistle sounded at the end of the game and the score between the two sides was fixed at 113:100, the Pacers won three games in a row. Not only did they climb back from the edge of the cliff, but they also threw the Pistons off the cliff!
First in the Eastern Conference, officially bidding farewell to the playoffs!

The Pacers became the first team to complete the black eight miracle after the NBA changed the first round of the playoffs to a best-of-seven system!

At the same time, it is also the first team in the division to win three consecutive games after falling behind 3:1!
"Congratulations!" After the game, Big Ben and Rashid rushed over one after another, hugged Lin Tian and congratulated him.

Then the twin stars Hamilton and Billups also came over generously, chatted with Lin Tian casually, and after saying a few harsh words like "I will kill you next year", they turned around and walked into the player tunnel.

"Lin, your contract has expired. Would you consider coming to Detroit?" Brown finally stepped forward and shook hands with Lin Tian while starting the routine recruitment.

Lin Tian has heard this sentence at least 40 times this year!

"Definitely not considering Detroit." Lin Tian shook his head and refused without even thinking.

"Why? Aren't your best friends here? I think you'll get along pretty well with them!"

"Because I can't stand your style." Lin Tian looked at Brown and said bluntly: "I can't stand playing like a machine, strictly following the tactics, being methodical and cautious. I can't do this and I don't like it."

"Don't tell me you'll change. Even if you change, we won't be able to live together. We're really not suitable for each other."

Brown shrugged his shoulders and stopped talking. Then he turned around and disappeared into the player tunnel with his players.

Looking at the outstanding and lonely figures of these guys from the Pistons, Lin Tian was really relieved.

The most difficult level is finally passed!
Next, at least in the Eastern Conference, we won’t encounter any more difficult situations than this round of series!
But while Lin Tian was relaxing, he could also see that these players were really sad. They worked hard for a whole season, won the first place in the Eastern Conference and 60+ wins, but were ultimately eliminated in the first round.

Thinking about it this way, it would be better not to get angry with the Magic and not fight for the first place in the Eastern Conference!
How great it is to be second in the East!

Fighting against a rookie-led ragtag knight, I can beat them with my eyes closed!

What kind of lousy team could lose to the Cavaliers led by a rookie?
Answer: Magic!
This round of series can be said to be quite fantastic.

Although the Magic decided to change their strategists after being upset last year and fired head coach Rivers.

The team's regular season record this season also proves that the choice made by the team management was extremely correct!

But when the playoffs started, when the Magic thought they had avoided the strongest Pacers in the lower half and faced the weakest Cavaliers, everything became strange.

This series between the Magic and the Cavaliers doesn’t feel like the second team versus the seventh team, but more like the seventh team against the second team!

The Magic never had any advantage from the beginning of the series. In the first game of the series, they were caught off guard by the young Cavaliers led by Wade, Big Z, Boozer and others!
Both Boozer and Big Z are shooting and skilled inside players. They enjoy throwing the ball left and right, while Duncan is really unable to deal with these two mid-range masters alone.

Because once he leaves the basket, Wade's breakthrough will let the rest of the Magic know what the 'Flash' is.

But if Duncan didn't leave the basket, these two would really just keep shooting from mid-range!

As for Duncan’s inside partner?
Not worth mentioning, not worth mentioning at all!
You know, the Magic have one thing in common with the Pacers.

That is, they have been doing subtraction and saving costs in recent years. The most classic deal is that they would rather offend McGrady and sell the young Miller just to save about 100 million in salary.

With Hill continuing to be out this season, this Magic team has no third player worth mentioning except Duncan and McGrady.

Due to the lack of help, the Magic were upset by the Cavaliers, who were in great form, in their first game and lost their first home game.

Although they won two games in a row afterwards and regained the home advantage.

But in the fourth game, Wade broke out, scoring 36 points from inside and outside, while limiting McGrady to only 21 points!
The duel between the two outside stars ended with the young Wade's complete victory, and the Cavaliers naturally won the game!
The following fifth game became the most exciting and interesting one in the entire series. The two sides were in a close fight from the beginning of the game, going back and forth and refusing to give in to each other until the last 5.4 seconds before the end of the game, when the two sides were still tied.

In the final moments, Wade once again became a hero. He dribbled the ball outside the three-point line, changed direction, broke through McGrady, and after reaching the area below the free throw line, he jumped to receive the ball and made a layup.

With a crisp sound, Wade defeated the Magic!

3: 2!

The Cavaliers won the decisive game and got the match point!
Just one step away from promotion!
After Wade's shot, the entire Orlando fell into despair.

They could never have imagined that they, the second in the Eastern Conference with two superstars, could be forced into a desperate situation by a team led by rookies. Although the team had not been eliminated and McGrady and Duncan were still on the team, the hearts of the Orlando people had really cooled down.

They already think that the team's construction in recent years has been a complete failure.

Not to mention that Duncan, who has not signed a new contract with the team, will become a free agent in the summer. He may leave Orlando at any time. By that time, the Magic will inevitably be in a mess again.

The fans all thought: The Magic are finished.

The fans' pessimism also affected the Magic players, who generally felt frustrated, disappointed and regretful.

This kind of bad mood will certainly greatly affect the team's combat effectiveness, and the Magic team is facing the Cavaliers team who are united and have high morale. As one team gains strength while the other loses strength, the Cavaliers will no longer give the Magic team any chances and will not give them the chance to drag the series into a seventh game!

70: 98!

In Game 6 of the series, the Cavaliers did not give the Magic any chance. The team showed unparalleled fighting spirit and game state from the very beginning. They took a big lead from the first quarter and continued to lead until the end of the game.

The Cavaliers, after many years, once again advanced to the second round of the playoffs!
The whole of Cleveland cheered!
In the Eastern Conference, the Dark Seven and Dark Eight happened at the same time, and the first and second teams in the Eastern Conference were upset at the same time. This was also the first time in history!
The Magic and the Pistons, two brothers in distress, became the most embarrassing first and second in the division in history.

Apart from these two miraculous battles in which the underdogs defeated the superiors, the other two series in the Eastern Conference did not cause any waves and there was not much to watch.

The Nets easily swept the 76ers, who barely made it to the playoffs without Iverson and only relied on "Big Dog" Robinson and a group of good role players. This can be regarded as defending the dignity of the top three teams in the Eastern Conference.

The Hornets and Bucks, ranked fourth and fifth in the Eastern Conference, played out a game of weak teams fighting each other. Both teams were not very strong, and the quality of their stars was just so-so. The two mediocre teams played a mediocre series.

In the end, the Bucks relied on Michael Redd's 35 points in the sixth game of the series and 6 three-pointers in a single game to win the key game of the series, successfully eliminated their opponents and entered the second round of the playoffs.

The Bucks also became the Pacers' second-round opponent. After trading away three of the team's musketeers in the past two years, the Bucks have completed their reconstruction at a rapid pace.

As for the other matchup in the East, it is of course the Nets against the Cavaliers.

The Nets, one of the best teams in the Eastern Conference in the past few years, faced off against the Cavaliers' young team with a united spirit!
The Nets' twin towers Yao Ming + Gasol VS the Cavaliers' twin towers Big Z + Boozer.

UFO Carter VS 'Flash' Wade.

This round of the series is quite interesting.

I just don’t know if Yao Ming can defeat his destined enemy Boozer this time.

In the West, the suspense in the first round of games is even less than in the East.

The Lakers and the Timberwolves, the two dominant teams in the Western Conference, left no chance to their opponents. They swept their opponents with ease, defeating the Rockets and the Trail Blazers respectively!
The only thing worth mentioning in these two rounds of series is that the Trail Blazers' rookie Bosh performed very well. He averaged 19 points and 9 rebounds in the series, and he scored 31 points and 15 rebounds in the third game of the series!
If the Timberwolves weren't so strong and Iverson hadn't scored 44 points in Game , the Trail Blazers could at least have won the game thanks to Bosh's outburst and avoided being swept.

The Mavericks, ranked third in the Western Conference, successfully avenged themselves against the Jazz who eliminated them last year. New head coach 'Little General' Avery Johnson brought his talent and leadership qualities to full play in this series.

His passionate shouting on the sidelines and his very personal coaching style left a deep impression on people.

4: 1!

The Mavericks, who were eliminated by the Jazz last year, got their revenge and successfully advanced to the Western Conference semifinals.

After the game, Ma Long, who rarely smiled during his career, appeared at the press conference with ease. He said to the media and reporters with great ease: "My career is over."

Malone retired!

The league's former number one villain and representative of toughness, dirtiness and ferocity, ultimately failed to get the championship ring he had always dreamed of and left the league with regret.

At the same time, Mark Jackson, who entered the league in 87 and played for the Rockets for a year, returned to the Bulls to fight for another year, and Scott Pippen, who entered the league in 87, also announced their retirement after finishing their last game of the season.

With the retirement of Malone and others, although there are still a few players who entered the league in the 80s playing in the league, they are ordinary rotation players who have little influence and strength, both in their peak period and now.

In other words, the 80s generation, who entered the league in the 80s and dominated the league, winning countless honors and championships, has completely withdrawn from the stage of history.

Their time is over.

Top forward-guard swingmen such as Jordan, Drexler, Miller, and Pippen, first-class point guards such as Kevin Johnson, John Stockton, and Tim Hardaway, muscular monsters in the interior such as Barkley and Malone who created a new power forward era, and of course the three famous centers.

Olajuwon, Ewing, David Robinson.

These people have all left the alliance.

From today on, there will be no more people born in the 80s in the alliance!
The league will officially belong to the middle-aged generation who entered the league after 90.

Of course, the young people who entered the league after the 21st century will not give their predecessors too much time.

They can't wait and want to stand at the highest point of the league to see the scenery that Malone has never seen.

As for the fourth-placed Kings and fifth-placed SuperSonics in the West, it was the only matchup in the West that created some suspense.

Today's Kings are obviously no longer in their glory days, and the team's strength has declined significantly. Facing the Sonics' three-man outside offense, the Kings really can't defend them. But if they play a counterattack, because Divac's condition has declined significantly, Peja's injury has not yet healed, Bibby has to face Payton's devilish defense.

As one side gained strength while the other side lost strength, although the Kings withstood the pressure and won the first game of the series, they lost three games in a row afterwards and were forced into a desperate situation by the Supersonics.

Then in Game 5 at home, the Kings held their ground and prevented the SuperSonics from eliminating them in Sacramento.

But there is only so much the Kings can do. They don't have the resilience and ruthlessness of the Pacers, and Bibby and Peja are not stars of Lin Tian's level.

Under such circumstances, there was naturally little suspense in the final game in Seattle. The Kings failed to bring the series back to Sacramento, and they lost cleanly and thoroughly in Seattle.

4: 2!

The SuperSonics successfully eliminated the Kings and advanced to the second round of the playoffs.

They will challenge the Lakers in the Western Conference semifinals!
Another matchup is a head-to-head matchup between the Mavericks, a regular in the Western Conference Finals in the past few years, and the Timberwolves, an upstart in the Western Conference.

In addition, during the break between the first round of games, the league also announced various league awards.

The Best Rookie award was won by James of the Spurs, and this result caused quite a bit of controversy. Some people said that Anthony also deserved the Best Rookie spot, some people said that Wade led the team into the playoffs and should not be ignored, and some people said that Bosh and Milicic were also qualified to win the award.

Although no matter how much people discuss it, it cannot change the final facts, but such heated discussions and different voices also prove that the quality of this year's rookies is really great!

For example, the five people mentioned above were eventually selected into the first team of the best rookie lineup!
The top five draft picks were all selected to the first team of the All-Rookie of the Year lineup. Looking at the entire history of the league, this is truly the first time in the league's history!
In previous years, there were either a few people in the top five who performed well, or the overlooked geniuses at the back would make a comeback and defeat the strong.

But this year, the top five rookies of the 03 generation have protected their dignity as high-ranking rookies. Each of them deserves his draft pick!

As for the All-Rookie Second Team, the Pacers had two players selected: Although Haslem was an undrafted player last year, this is his first time playing in the NBA, so he is also eligible to be selected for the All-Rookie Team this year.

In addition, Howard was successfully selected into the second team of the Rookie of the Year lineup with his good performance.

Of course, these two also got a lot of playing time because of the injuries of Webber and Ginobili. If they were not reimbursed for the season, it would be hard to say whether Howard and Haslem could enter the team's rotation this year.

As for the other three members of the second team, they are TJ Ford, Kirk Hinrich and Jarvis Hayes.

This year's Pacers once again defended their magical reputation of having an invincible draft level and always being able to find treasures in low positions.

This team can always select players who meet the team's needs and have certain strengths no matter whether they are in the high draft, low first round or second round!

Now, it's Bird's turn to have a headache again.

What should I do if these two run away again?

Please don't let any bastards offer these two contracts that exceed their value.

I'm really going to be drained.

Howard is fine, he has a standard first-round rookie contract, which is four years in total, and he still has three years left after this year.

But Haslem signed a two-year non-secure minimum salary contract, which will expire next summer.

Bird hates it!
Why couldn't he be a little more generous last year and give Haslem a three-year basic salary?
By then, the Pacers will have Haslem's bird rights, and they will be able to attack or defend!

But regrets and headaches are not what the Pacers need to worry about now.

The season isn’t over yet!
In addition to the best rookie, this year's best sixth man award went to Antawn Jamison of the Mavericks. This guy averaged 14 points and 6 rebounds per game this season, so he deserved this honor.

Especially after "Little General" Johnson took office, he actually persuaded this guy to play as a substitute, which made Cuban's damned three-forward lineup of Nowitzki, Jamison and Walker come alive.

Of course, they are just barely surviving and hanging on. Everyone can see that this lineup can get third place in the Western Conference simply because their offensive firepower is really terrifying!

Nowitzki, Jamison, Finley, Walker, Nash, five players on this team average more than 5 points per game!
A very unreasonable combination, 1+1+1+1+1 equals at most 3, and there is no chemistry at all. It is basically a lineup combination where everyone takes turns to fight one-on-one. They only relied on the pure talents of the players to reach third place in the Western Conference.

As for the Most Improved Player award, it was given to Carlos Boozer of the Cavaliers. Randolph, who should have won the award this year, broke out a year early and played well last year. Although he averaged 20+10 per game this year, he did not win the Most Improved Player award.

It is worth mentioning that Parker of the Pacers ranked in the top three in both the Best Sixth Man and the Most Improved Player, but in the end he did not win the award.

He didn't win the Sixth Man of the Year award because he was a starter in the month when he had the best stats and performance, and the team still had only 1 win and 11 losses.

The reason he didn't win the Most Improved Player award was that his statistics didn't improve significantly enough and he wasn't able to maintain his top-level output in February.

Of course, the Pacers players didn't think Parker could win the award, so ranking in the top three was already a pleasant surprise.

The Pacers' final real surprise came from Lin Tian!

Lin Tian defeated opponents such as Big Ben and Ratliff and successfully won the first best defensive player award in his career!
Although his winning the award was unexpected, it was also reasonable!
This season, with the departure of Ben Wallace, the team's former defensive core, and Christie's further aging, the Pacers' defense has not fallen apart. In addition to the top defensive ability of the newly joined Artest, the most important reason is Lin Tian!
This season, Lin Tian averaged 9.4 rebounds per game, a career high! Among them, 7.6 backcourt rebounds, a career high! In addition, 1.8 offensive rebounds is also a career high!
At the same time, he is also the league's steals leader, with 2.9 steals, the highest among all players, and 1.2 blocks, also a career high. When Miller and Haslem are unable to become the team's last line of defense, it is always Lin Tian who rushes to the inside and completes the key blocks.

At the same time, Lin Tian can limit the shooting percentage of his opponents to 38.9% this season, ranking first in the league!

Well, Kidd made the biggest contribution among them. This guy faced Lin Tian four times this year and shot a total of 68 shots with a hit rate of only 23%. He really made great contributions to Lin Tian winning the best defensive player award.

In addition, the difference in the team's defensive efficiency when Lin Tian is on the court and when he is not on the court also ranks first in the league! When he is on the court, the Pacers are an excellent team in the upper reaches of the league's defense, but once he leaves the court, the Pacers' defensive efficiency will immediately drop to the bottom of the league!
This influence is also the first in the league!

Analyzing from these perspectives, although Lin Tian's rebounds and blocks are far inferior to those of Ben, overall, Ben is in a team with a perfect defensive system.

Big Ben only exists as the heart and the most important person of the team's defensive system. Even without him, the Pistons are still a top defensive team in the top five, but Big Ben made the Pistons go from the top five to the undisputed first.

As for Lin Tian, ​​he almost single-handedly transformed the Pacers from a poorly defensive team into an excellent defensive team ranked in the top ten in the league.

Lin Tian deserves the award! (End of this chapter)