Legendary star

Chapter 736 The Strange Progress of the Finals

"Meng, can you tell me why you took the initiative to apply for the exit in the fourth quarter? Is there any other reason?"

In the first game of the Finals on June 2007, 6, the Pacers finally defeated the Spurs at home 9 to 109. In the entire first half of the game, the Spurs were inseparable from the Pacers, and even let the Pacers beat the Spurs. People once saw the hope of winning, but after entering the second half, Meng Xu took over the entire game. After playing 96 minutes, he scored 41 points, 59 rebounds, and 11 assists. When he was only 7 point away from winning the 1+ finals, he took the initiative to apply for exit, but many people lamented that this was 60+ in the finals. Meng Xu just gave up, so at the press conference after the game, As soon as Meng Xu sat down, the reporters in the audience asked Meng Xu questions.

"There is no reason. With the score at that time, we were already sure that we would win the game, and I was tired too. It's as simple as that, not as complicated as you think." Meng Xu answered the reporter's question calmly, but his heart was full. They are already cursing MMP secretly. It is my freedom whether I play or not. Instead of caring about whether I play or not, you might as well ask the head coaches of both sides how they will play in the next game.

"Meng, we all saw your hard work today. Before that, you didn't take a break for 1 minute. You really paid a lot, but you don't think you are only 1 point away from scoring 60 points in the finals, no? Is it a pity? This is the finals, not the regular season!" Compared with the reporters of the Los Angeles Times, the tone of the reporters of USA Today is much more subtle, not so obvious aggressive, and compared with the New York Times and the Los Angeles Times , these two are either blackmailing Meng Xu, or just look down on Meng Xu’s media. America Today’s attitude towards Meng Xu is much better. America Today, which is known for its fairness, will not maliciously blackmail Meng Xu like the New York media. .

"No, statistics or something has never been a problem for me. 50 points or 60 points in a single game is no different for me from 20 or 30 points. Compared with these dispensable data , what I want more is victory. There are 7 games in the finals. Get ready for a game." They reciprocated with peaches, and the USA Today reporters gave face, and Meng Xu's attitude towards them was naturally much more relaxed than that of the New York Times and Los Angeles Times. In the end, Meng Xu also made peace They made a joke: "If we score 60 points in a single game, the league will award us the O'Brien Cup directly, then I am very willing to try it in the game."

After Meng Xu said that he didn't care about statistics, the New York Times reporter on the side wanted to pooh him immediately. You don't care about statistics. You set the NBA's second-highest single-game scoring record in the game against the Knicks ?You don't care about the stats, when you had a 50+ triple-double against the Knicks?You don't care about statistics. In the four regular season matchups between the Pacers and the Knicks this season, you scored 40+ games?Ghosts believe you.

"Meng, congratulations on winning Game [-] of the finals. Judging from this game, the San Antonio Spurs are not as strong as everyone expected, so will you end this season's finals in just four games? "The New York Times reporter, who was very upset with Meng Xu, immediately asked Meng Xu a very vicious question after hearing Meng Xu's words that I don't like data.

Although the Knicks missed the playoffs again this season, the New York media still loves the finals matchup this season. A Spurs and a Pacers are teams they hate very much, no matter who laughs In the end, the New York Times was able to take advantage of the other.

"The teams that can enter the finals are the strongest teams in their respective divisions. The Pacers are like this, and the Spurs are like this, so we try our best to play every game well and strive to get a satisfactory team. The result." Meng Xu basically wouldn't answer this kind of obviously provocative question. If the Pacers' current opponent was a team like the Knicks and Pistons, Meng Xu would definitely answer him. Yes, we're ready to send you home with four games.

Meng Xu's caution is obviously beneficial, because in the second game of the finals two days later, the Pacers lost. If Meng Xu had said something unknowingly when he was interviewed by reporters, we would have already Thinking about when to raise the O'Brien Cup, Meng Xu must have a big deal now.

Since the schedule of this season's finals is still 2+3+2, whether they can win an away game, for the Spurs, the result is a world of difference. If they return to San Antonio with a big score of 0 to 2, for For the Spurs, it is no different from standing on the edge of a cliff, but if the Spurs can win an away game and return to the home court with a big score of 1 to 1, then the next three home games, the Spurs are likely to go all out , Kill the Pacers directly.

Therefore, in the second game of the finals, the Spurs played this game with all their might, especially Tim Duncan, after scoring 32 points and 14 rebounds in the first game, he played again in the second game. In the two games, they scored 43 points, 23 rebounds, 8 blocks, and 5 assists. Under the leadership of Tim Duncan, the Spurs finally defeated the Pacers 98 to 94 and successfully moved back. A round.

Since Meng Xu's advantage over the Spurs in the first game was almost crushing, when the system reminded Meng Xu before the start of the second game that Tim Duncan's game state was crazy, Meng Xu also did not He didn't take it too seriously, but with a hint of anticipation, he wanted to have a tough fight with Tim Duncan, who was in a state of enchantment.

However, the final result was that Tim Duncan directly crushed all the insiders of the Pacers, NN Hilario, Jermaine O'Neal, and Darko Milicic were all sent off for 6 fouls. -Duncan scored as many as 27 free throws in a single game. Although Meng Xu also scored 41 points in this game, Meng Xu's layup at a critical moment was taken away by Tim Duncan. As a result, the Pacers also missed the last hope of a comeback.

"Wonderful, really wonderful, this is the finals I want, this is what the finals should look like."

After the two finals, the most excited person is undoubtedly NBA President David Stern. The Wake Forest two-horse duel is the result that David Stern dreamed of, and Meng Xu, who finally joined the finals And Duncan did not disappoint David Stern, the ratings of the first game of the finals reached 15.8%, which is the highest ratings of all the finals since Jordan retired. In the second game of the finals, the Pacers and Spurs created the second highest ratings of 19.6% in history.

Behind such terrifying ratings, there are piles of dollars. Most intuitively speaking, the TV contract negotiations between the NBA and ABC, TNT, and ESPN have gone from $8 billion in eight years at the beginning of the negotiations. It has risen to the current 80-year 8 billion US dollars. If the remaining games of the finals can maintain the ratings in the second game, then the TV broadcast contract for next season will rise further, and finally the average annual value will be very high. Likely to exceed $110 billion.

Some people are happy and some are sad. Just when David Stern was still preparing for the NBA to enter another prosperous era under his leadership, the Pacers fell into the quagmire of losing streak. In the third game of the finals, the Pacers lost again.

Compared with the first two games dominated by Meng Xu and Tim Duncan, the third game of the finals became the stage for Manu Ginobili to perform. Ginobili, who came off the bench, scored the highest score in the game. Especially in the critical fourth quarter, Manu Ginobili caused consecutive offensive fouls by Meng Xu, which became the turning point of the whole game.

After the Spurs won two games in a row, the situation in the finals of this season has also become subtle. From the Pacers' absolute advantage in the first game, to the close match after the second game, and now the Spurs are coming from behind. The finals of the season finally have a little "taste" of the finals.

(End of this chapter)