Chapter 622 Reaching the Western Conference Finals + Two Great Tragedy Destroying Super Giant Retirement

   This evening, the second round series between the Timberwolves and the Trail Blazers began.

  The three-headed monster headed by Garnett is really powerful. The two teams did not decide the winner until the end of the quarter. In the end, the Blazers relied on a strong inside offense and won the victory.

  Payton's performance was mediocre. He only scored 8 points, 3 rebounds, 5 assists and 2 steals. His shooting percentage was only 36%, and his three-pointers were only 25%.

  No. 4, the last game of the first round of the Eastern Conference, the Heat's tiebreaker against the Hornets started. In the end, the Heat won the tiebreaker and finally reached the second round.

Dwayne Wade, the No. 5 pick in the first round of 2003, averaged 15.4 points per game in the first round of the seven-game series, and his performance was somewhat unstable. The highest game was 27 points, and the lowest game was only two .

   But better than LeBron James, the No. 1 pick has no chance to play in the playoffs this year.

   And on this night, the Suns defeated the Lakers again at home, completing the second consecutive victory.

  In this game, other teammates performed well. Lao Wang reduced his shots and mainly did defensive and rebounding work. At the same time, he cooperated with Nash to organize a fast break and scored 24 points, 20 rebounds, 8 assists, 3 steals, 7 blocks, 2 turnovers and 4 fouls.

   On the same day, the Pistons beat the Pacers away, and the two teams tied.

   On the 5th, the Timberwolves beat the Trail Blazers away, and the two teams tied.

   On the 6th, the Nets' belated second round finally started.

  In the end, the Nets won at home. The Heat had just finished the tiebreaker, and their physical fitness was far inferior to the Nets who were waiting for work. They lost one game first.

   On the 7th, the G3 battle between the Suns and the Lakers, and the Pistons and Pacers started.

  In the end, the Suns once again defeated the Lakers in an away game, scoring a score of 3-0. With the match point in hand, they were about to sweep their opponents.

   Lao Wang scored a quadruple-double of 27 points, 16 rebounds, 10 assists, 2 steals and 11 blocks. Among the ten assists, six of them were directly passed after grabbing backcourt rebounds.

   On the same day, the Pistons beat the Pacers at home, leading 2-1.

  8, the Nets failed to play, lost at home, and tied with the Heat.

  At the same time, the Timberwolves lost to the Trail Blazers, falling behind one to two.

   On the 9th, the Suns and the Lakers launched a G4 battle at the Staples Center.

  As the series became more and more unfavorable, the contradictions of the OK combination became more and more serious. Although they did not publicly turn their faces, there was no communication on and off the court. The Lakers did not resolve internal conflicts because of the huge pressure of being swept away.

  Before the game, Phil Jackson emphasized to Fisher in front of Kobe that he must pass the ball to the low post, and told you that if you can't do this, get ready to come down.

   Kobe also had no attitude and didn't say a word.

  The atmosphere in the locker room of the home team was like a dead person. It was cold and cold, not at all like the heat in the locker room of the visiting team at this time.

  Outside the locker room, listening to the movement inside, Old Buss shook his head in great disappointment, turned his head to signal General Manager Kupchak to go a little further with him, and then said, "Mitch, how much contract does O'Neal want?"

   "Maximum salary, he won't accept a salary cut." Kupchak said.

   Shaking his head, Old Bass said: "Then prepare to trade, there is still some value in trading with him."

   "Okay, boss, I'll start dealing with it right away." Kupchak said.

  Old Bus still wants to say something, such as be careful and don't let the news leak out, but think about it, this may be swept away by Old K, and it doesn't matter if the news leaks.

  Thinking of old K, he felt remorse in his intestines.

  In the new season of 2002, old K came back from injury. He thought that old K was going to die, so he just offered a pension contract, which was completely insincere. As a result...

"Ugh!"

  He sighed secretly, waved to Kupchak, turned and left.

  At eight o'clock, the game begins.

  When Pharaoh played, the Lakers fans still gave him great cheers, and he also gave the Lakers fans a little face by not blatantly chanting sweeping slogans.

   After all, over the Staples Center, there are still flying the flags of the three championship dynasties he won for the Lakers, and his No. 31 jersey for the Lakers is also hung on it.

   Suns offense.

  Pharaoh does not enter the paint area, does not play low positions, and sets up two steps away from the paint area on the left wing, with the purpose of pulling O'Neal out and making full use of his mobile advantage.

   O'Neal could only follow, but Lao Wang immediately turned around, and after throwing off the former, he quickly cut to the basket.

   Under Kobe's defense, Nash borrowed Joe Johnson's pick-and-roll to quickly complete the pass.

"boom!"

  Pharaoh and Nash completed an alley-oop dunk.

Zhang Lili smiled and said: "Pass-cut cooperation, Tie Jun pulls out first, and then cuts in. The postman's speed is too slow. After being pulled out by Stoudemire, he cannot help defend the basket in time. As long as Nash's ball can pass in, the ball is basically the same. It will be done.

  The Lakers brought in the postman and assembled a giant lineup, but in fact it is not very reasonable, because if they want to help defend against the Iron Army, the speed of the power forward must be fast, and the postman cannot be fast at all.

The construction of the lineup must be reasonable and based on the most important opponents. The main opponents of the Lakers in the West are the Suns and the Trail Blazers. The power forward position is too slow. "

   At this time the Lakers attack, Fisher advances to the front court with the ball, Kobe and O'Neal ask him for the ball at the same time, he first passes the ball to Kobe on the right wing.

  The Suns were still in a two-one-two zone defense. At the moment of passing the ball, Marion in the middle quickly rushed towards Kobe.

  Kobe Bryant received the ball, and Marion was almost at his side. He immediately turned around and leaned on Joe Johnson to break through with the ball from the outside.

   At this time, Stoudemire below immediately moved up, making a three-in-one momentum.

  At the same time Marion and Joe Johnson backed down at the same time.

   But at this moment, Kobe suddenly stepped back and shot a jumper, retreating directly beyond the three-point line, completely getting rid of the double-teaming of the three, and it was too late when the nearest Joe Johnson stepped back.

"brush!"

   Splashes appeared and a three-pointer was hit.

  When the ball passed through the basket, it fell into Lao Wang's hands. Immediately, he retreated to the baseline while observing his teammates on the outside.

   Sure enough, Joe Johnson and Marion next to Kobe are starting up, Nash outside the right-wing three-point line is also starting up, and Stoudemire below is also starting up.

   "Fast attack!" Su Qun shouted.

   "Whoosh!"

  The next moment, Pharaoh took a step to the right, avoided O'Neill in front, and threw the ball with one hand, and the ball flew towards Nash like a shooting star.

  After passing the ball, he himself immediately made a quick move to participate in the fast break.

  Rushing forward from the bottom line, after three steps, he caught up with the fat shark, and after two more steps, he overtook the postman.

  Nash is the fastest man of the two teams, starting from the right wing, and Devin George is in a backward position from the beginning.

  Catching the ball across the center line, he has already thrown away Devon George by two steps, and the further he throws it, the further he throws it.

   On the left wing, Marion is faster than Joe Johnson, and moves closer to the center after crossing the center line.

   Kobe chose to follow Joe Johnson because of Fisher in the middle.

   "The Lakers return to defense quickly, don't force it!" Su Qun said quickly.

  The Lakers' defense from the three outside lines was indeed fairly fast, but the postman and O'Neal held back. When Lao Wang rushed across the center line, the Suns formed a five-on-three situation in the frontcourt.

   Nash rushed to the right wing but did not enter the paint area, but suddenly passed the ball to the left wing.

Marion, who moved closer to the center, received the ball. He looked back before and knew that Old K had rushed up, so after receiving the ball, he pulled to the left to pull Fisher away from the center, then turned around and casually Toss the ball into the air in the paint.

  Old Wang rushed in from the top of the arc, with no obstacles in the way ahead, and took off directly after crossing the free throw line, catching the ball with one hand in the air, stretching his body back to draw the bow and nocking the arrow, and then slashing hard.

"boom!"

   With the sound of violent basket blasting, the Staples Center also burst into warm cheers.

   "This has become Old K's home field." Su Qun said excitedly.

  "The Suns have completely different appearances with iron army and without iron army."

  Zhang rationally said happily: "Without the iron army, the fast attack will lose control, the quality of positional warfare is very poor, and there is no defense.

   With the iron army, everything is controllable. Even if the fast break is not successful, the positional warfare is still at the top level of the league, and there is defense. "

  Su Qun said with a smile: "Old K can also play fast break, which is even more terrible. O'Neill and the postman can't keep up at all."

   "Just now Kobe made his first three-pointer. It seems that Kobe may feel good tonight." Zhang Lili said again.

   "Joe Johnson's defensive skills are still a bit weaker. He is the main defender and has not kept up with Kobe's pace." Su Qun said.

  The Lakers attacked, Kobe asked for the ball in the backcourt, then went to the frontcourt, made an emergency stop for a jumper, but missed, Lao Wang protected the backcourt and rebounded.

  But this time the fast break was not successful, so I immediately switched to positional warfare, waiting for the old K to settle down.

  Old Wang reached the frontcourt, but still pulled it out. This time it was Stoudemire who cut in, but Nash didn't have a chance to pass the ball in time, and was entangled by Kobe.

  Zhang Reasonable said: "The opportunity to pass the ball is that moment. When the ball cannot be passed in time, the open space disappears, and Stoudemire's cut-in becomes useless."

   Stoudemire could only pull it out again, but at this time Nash seemed to be right and left, and used a fake move to temporarily get rid of Kobe's entanglement.

  Old Wang keenly observed Nash's chance to pass the ball, and reacted immediately. With a ferocious step, he stepped directly into O'Neal face to face, and quickly cut into the paint area.

  O'Neill hurriedly turned around to pursue the defense, and the postman who had just been pulled out also hurriedly dropped Stoudemire and returned to the basket.

   "Whoosh!"

   When Lao Wang cut inside, Nash passed the ball.

"Snapped!"

  As soon as O'Neal was caught, Pharaoh received the pass, and then rushed into the paint area in one step.

   At this time, the postman had returned to the basket, and Lao Wang casually threw the ball high over the postman's head. In the next moment, the postman's head was shrouded in shadow.

"not good!"

  The postman paused.

"boom!"

  The next moment, he was knocked forward and staggered forward, and the basket above his head was exploded.

   "Beautiful! Old K scored the ball in time, and Stoudemire dunked the postman from behind." Su Qun roared excitedly.

"The Tiejun didn't take too many shots in G2G3, and it looks the same today. As long as his teammates perform well and make other contributions, he can also lead the team to victory, so the atmosphere in the team will be better." Zhang Li laughed. road.

  Su Qun nodded and said: "Old K has indeed passed the time of chasing points long ago. Making teammates perform better is also conducive to the stability of the lineup."

  The Lakers attacked. When Fisher was still in the backcourt, Kobe asked for the ball again. Phil Jackson couldn't help it, and shouted at the court: "Derek, execute the tactics."

   Fisher had no choice but to ignore Kobe's movement of asking for the ball, and moved forward with a dull head.

  Su Qun said with a smile: "The Lakers lineup should be dismantled. There is no communication on and off the court. It's like this. How can they play together? They can't form a synergy at all."

  Zhang rationally said with a smile: "It's useless to pass in and let O'Neal fight. Without Kobe's cooperation, O'Neal can't beat the Iron Army."

"Snapped!"

   Lao Wang used a block to make the best proof for Zhang Reasonable's words.

  O'Neal received the ball, the Sharks turned around but didn't shake Lao Wang away, then turned around and hit a hook, which was blocked by the front.

  Zhang rationally shook his head and said: "Look, without Kobe's cooperation, the current big sharks can't do anything to Tiejun at all. Burst, can't go in. Hit back, Tiejun's defensive skills are too strong, O'Neal may be evacuated at any time.

  Back then, the Joe Sharks team was able to play back and forth with the Lakers in the finals, and the ratings exploded.

   Now OK is not cooperating, and cannot exert the power of 1 plus 1 greater than 2. He doesn't even have the power to compete with the Iron Army and the Suns. It won't be surprising if he is swept away. "

  On the sidelines, Phil Jackson shook his head helplessly. In silence, he turned around, sat back on the bench, and returned to the appearance of a Zen master.

  He couldn't control it anymore, and he couldn't do anything about Kobe.

   If Kobe’s personality is similar to Jordan’s, he would not admit it, because he knows that Jordan can make compromises and communicate in order to win, but he has no way to communicate with the current Kobe.

  Perhaps, he looked at the old K on the court. Only he can control Kobe.

  In the end, the Lakers were swept by the Suns.

   Lao Wang scored 31 points, 15 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 steals and 6 blocks in the G4 game, and his shooting percentage was as high as 80%.

  He used the style of pulling out first and then cutting in, and the bulky big shark had no way to defend him.

  In the four-game series, he did not make all-out shots, scoring 42, 24, 27, and 31 points respectively, averaging 31 points and 16.75 rebounds per game.

  Marion averaged 18.5 points per game, Stoudemire 17 points, Nash 13 points, Joe Johnson 10 points, and five players scored in double figures in the second round of the series.

   This night, the Pistons lost to the Pacers, and the two teams tied 2-2.

   On May 10, the Suns returned to Phoenix, waiting for the Western Conference Finals.

   At noon this day, the postman Karl Malone announced through his agent that he officially retired, ending his 19-year career.

In 19 years, there was no championship, no MVP, only one AMVP. The hardest honor was some first defenses. At the peak of his career, he was crushed by Wang Tiejun, and he didn't even have the experience of the Western Conference finals. Participated in the extreme.

   In addition, he also has an important honor, the second in total scoring in history, second only to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

  The Lakers also retired two players, one of which was super center Admiral David Robinson.

  David Robinson played 15 seasons and is about to turn 39 years old. He left the Spurs for the championship and failed to do so in the Green Team and the Lakers. He no longer wants to stick to it.

  Like the postman, he also got nothing. At his peak, he was suppressed by Wang Tiejun in the West, ran to the Green Team, was suppressed by Jordan, ran back to the West, and was suppressed by Old K. He was still unable to make his mark.

  The news of the retirement of the two superstars immediately aroused the emotion of the media and many retired stars.

Pippen said in an interview with the media: "Obviously, both the postman and the general made a wrong choice. I just want to say, if anyone else wants to win a championship at the end of his career, go to the old K's side. , being by his side is the safest thing."

   "Scotty, where is Ewing?" The reporter reminded.

Pippen said disdainfully: "It was an accident, otherwise he would have won the championship. I also want to say, glove, you will regret your choice last year. I advise you to leave the Trail Blazers immediately and go to the Suns. "

   The third Lakers player to announce his retirement is Rick Fox. He has a lot of injuries and doesn't want to play anymore. He wants to officially enter the film and television industry.

   Playing in Los Angeles these years, he has also mixed in many roles, and his acting skills have been tempered. He hopes to have a successful career change like Lightning Kevin Johnson.

   "Rick, trust me, you will succeed."

   Lao Wang called and sent his blessings.

   "Thank you, I believe so." Fox said confidently.

  (end of this chapter)