"Shaq, you are one championship away from being like Michael and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar!
You are my brother and I am more happy than you for your honor.
I want to help you win the sixth championship in your career, and I want to see the day when you become one of the top three or even number one in history.
The series is still going on, and in this next battle, I will give everything I have! "
When he heard Wade suddenly talk about the championship, O'Neal, who was still laughing and joking in the locker room, was stunned.
"What's going on, Dwyane? I usually PUA you, why do you have to CPU me now? When did your brain become enlightened?"
O'Neal wondered why Wade suddenly said this.
As a veteran, O'Neal naturally knows what Wade means by what he just said.
They were beaten 2-0 by the Bulls. If O'Neal doesn't exert his strength, he will be kicked out by the Bulls.
In the past, when encountering this kind of situation, the Heat's core duo, Wade and O'Neal, should naturally cooperate sincerely and try their best.
However, when facing the 73-win Bulls led by Dunn, O'Neal had no idea and determination to burn the boat and go all out.
It is true that if he can win one more championship at the end of his peak, even if it is the second championship, O'Neal would like it very much.
The problem is, this second dick championship is too difficult to win!
In the Eastern Conference alone, we encountered a 73-win team like the Bulls, which was aggressive, murderous, and went all out, risking everything to win the championship.
With their current strength, the Heat will have to shed their skin if they want to get past the Bulls and reach the finals!
Besides, when it comes to the finals, there might be some historical championship team emerging!
O'Neal came back from traveling in the West and knows the strength of the Western Conference teams. These days, the Western Conference teams are getting stronger year by year. I really don't know what kind of monsters the Western Conference will raise this year!
O'Neal was very satisfied with winning the fifth championship last year. If he hadn't been traded away by the Lakers, he was holding a breath in his heart. O'Neal wouldn't even care whether he won the fifth championship or not.
After all, Magic Earvin Johnson, the top three player in history and the first player in Lakers history, only has five championships.
With his current achievements, O'Neal is already firmly in the top five in history.
Jordan, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Magic, Russell, and O'Neal, these five people have at least five championships. If the latecomers don't have five championships, don't try to compete with them.
Even without last year's championship, four championships would place O'Neal among the top ten in history.
It is precisely because of this that O'Neal, whose historical status is firmly established, is not worried about being forgotten by fans at all.
Now that he has both historical honors and a big contract, for O'Neal at this stage, the only things that really need to be considered are family life issues.
Of course, good health is also very important. If you die before all the money is spent, it would be a tragedy.
In order to avoid risks, O'Neal is naturally not willing to play too hard in the fierce playoffs.
In short, Wade takes the lead in the charge. If he can win, he will use his strength. If he cannot win, he will protect himself wisely. This is O'Neal's way of survival.
Who knows now that Wade has discovered that relying on his own strength alone, there is no way to lead the Heat to win, and there is no way to defeat the Bulls who are strong and have championship qualifications.
In this case, the only thing that can tap the potential inward and enhance the Heat's hope of winning the championship is to inspire O'Neal's power.
After realizing this, Wade expressed his heartfelt thoughts to O'Neal.
It's a pity that O'Neal, as a veteran, will not be fooled at all.
“Brother, I understand what you mean.
But don't forget, you are the boss of the team!
If you can't fight like a strong player, we can't win with Shaq alone.
But don't worry too much, Shaq will help you with winning the championship.
After all we are brothers! Shaq will give everything for his brothers! "
Wade is still the same Wade. After being inspired by O'Neal, he immediately swept away the haze in his heart and resurrected with full blood.
"Don't worry, Shaq, I won't let you down! Let's win the Eastern Conference Finals, reach the Finals again, and win that damn championship!"
Looking at the passionate and ambitious Wade, O'Neal nodded in agreement while doubting.
"This guy Dwyane can't really help me win a championship, can he?"
When he thought that his opponent in the Eastern Conference Finals was the Bulls led by Duane, O'Neal no longer had any doubts.
"Shaq is not a child, how could he be so naive?
However, if Dwyane really performs well enough, then Shaq might as well play harder.
If you can really win the championship, who would be willing to give up? "
O'Neal naturally has more ideas for the next battle.
Time flies to May 27, at the AmericanAirlines Arena in Miami.
The Heat, who returned to their home court, were not affected by their second consecutive away defeat. After the game started, Wade also followed the previous agreement with O'Neal and went all out as soon as possible.
Normally, playing at home will result in better game conditions due to familiarity with the environment and the support of the fans.
Therefore, the Bulls did not pay much attention to Wade's heroic performance.
They just continue to use the strategy of Luol Deng leading the defense and Du En assisting in defense to limit Wade.
However, O'Neal also started to exert force in the first quarter, which forced Duan and others to pay attention.
After all, O'Neal catches the ball in the low post and the Bulls basically have no way to restrict it.
Even in the first two games, O'Neal only scored more than 20 points in each game, but his shooting percentage was as high as 60-70%.
For a high-intensity game like the Eastern Conference Finals, this kind of scoring efficiency is very scary.
If O'Neal hadn't been overweight, had limited physical strength, and was unable to digest more ball rights, the Bulls might have been defeated by O'Neal's constant offensive inside.
"Josh, keep an eye on Shaq and don't let him catch the ball.
Tyson, wear down Shaq hard and don't let him get too comfortable.
Block positions, grab rebounds, and don't skimp on physical strength as long as you have the chance to compete with Shaq.
As for the rest, I'll take care of it! "
After discovering that something was wrong, Dunn immediately ordered Tyson Chandler and Josh Smith to do something, asking them to flank O'Neal to consume O'Neal, limit O'Neal's scoring, and affect O'Neal's performance on the court.
At the same time, Duane also said that he would help defend Haslem.
In this way, Duan will undoubtedly have to do more things on the defensive end.
However, it was not just Wade and O'Neal who were in good form from the beginning tonight, Antoine Walker also played well.
Moreover, Antoine Walker uncharacteristically did not stay outside and shoot. Instead, he continued to hit the basket after receiving the ball.
Because Wade is also very good when playing without the ball, and Dunn not only has to help defend Wade, but also needs to pay attention to Haslem who is left open.
In this case, Antoine Walker kept hitting the penalty area with the ball, and Duan's defensive energy was naturally dispersed a lot.
The Heat relied on this style of play and scored a lot of points through constant breakthrough combinations.
Of course, the most important thing is that the Bulls choose to flank O'Neal on the defensive end.
I would rather other players score than let O'Neal score.
Every gain must come with a loss. In order to win, the Bulls had to suffer this dumb loss first.
Fortunately, the consumption of bulls is not without effect.
O'Neal used to play seven or eight minutes in the first quarter, but tonight he only played more than six minutes before leaving early.
O'Neal has already scored 8 points in the first quarter. According to this trend, it is normal for O'Neal to score 30+ points tonight.
In order to ensure that O'Neal had the physical strength to score the remaining 20 points, Van Gundy naturally agreed that O'Neal would leave the game early and rest.
After O'Neal came off the court, the Bulls finally had sufficient defensive resources.
At the same time, Ben Gordon, Andres Nocioni, Diaw, Kukoc and others have rotated on, providing the Bulls with a lot of firepower and vitality.
In the second half of the first quarter, the Bulls adopted a run-and-gun style of play, further consuming the physical strength of the Heat's main players.
Wade, who was sweating profusely, was unable to play the entire quarter. In the last two minutes of the first quarter, the Heat relied on White Chocolate and James Posey to hold on.
The Bulls relied on Duan to attract the defense and scored consecutive simple goals. At the end of the first quarter, they had a 9-2 spurt and overtook the score in one fell swoop.
Seeing that the scorer was frozen at 29-27, Wade, who had just come off the court for a short break, besides quickly wiping the sweat off his face, could only drink a few more sips of water while he was still resting off the court to replenish the lost water. return.
When the game started again in the second quarter, Wade did not wait until the substitutes could no longer stand it before coming on as he did in the previous two games.
This time, Wade took the initiative to lead the team with O'Neal, trying to reverse the score.
However, just like the previous two games, Du En returned to the court after a short five-minute break.
The beginning of the second quarter is often the time when Duane breaks out, and tonight is no exception.
It is said that Duen didn't take many shots in the first quarter. At the end of the first quarter, Duen was just a space point that attracted the defense.
In the second quarter, Duen started holding the ball in the high post and playing pick-and-rolls.
Although the Heat still decisively attacked Duen, Duen used the pick-and-roll as soon as he came up and shot a few three-pointers to try his hand.
Shooting three-pointers with the help of pick-and-rolls is a one-on-one strong shot at most!
In the playoffs, when the star players encounter a one-on-one situation, all they can say is that there is a lot of room for shooting!
And because of Duen's height, even if Wade switches defense and jumps in front of Duen, the shooting interference will not be great.
As a result, the Bulls relied on Dunn's 3-for-5 three-pointers early in the second quarter to widen the gap again.
However, Duen is not an iron man and had to take a rest after half the second quarter.
Without Duane to lead the team, the Bulls' offensive performance dropped a lot.
At the same time, without Duan to help defend, the pick-and-roll cooperation between Wade and O'Neal would be too strong!
Within a few minutes of Duan going down, the Heat relied on constant attacks on the basket and free throws to turn defeat into victory and reverse the score.
In this situation, the Bulls can only speed up O'Neal first, wait for O'Neal to rest, and then resume the normal game rhythm.
The Heat players actually know this very well.
If they can't take advantage of Duen's absence to establish an advantage, then when Duen comes back, the Heat will be in a disadvantageous situation again.
In other words, Wade really worked hard tonight. In order to win this game, Wade didn't regard himself as a human being and kept rushing inside carrying explosives.
Wade seemed to have blocked out the pain. Even if he bumped into someone, it was just a heavy fall to the floor after a confrontation in the air.
Relying on Wade falling again and again, although there was also the help of the home whistle, the advantage was slowly established by relying on two-pointers and one-pointers.
49 to 55, with 2 minutes left in the second quarter, Wade has led the team to a 6-point lead.
And all of this was accomplished by Wade's desperate spirit.
As an opponent, Du En was also quite touched when he saw this situation.
"I'm sorry, Dwyane, I also have a reason to win!"
Duen, who returned to play at the end of the second quarter, started to travel at staggered times again. In order to make up for the previous points difference as soon as possible, Duen did not shoot from the outside, but directly shot inside after a high pick-and-roll.
This is the skill Wade used the most tonight, and now it shines in the hands of Duen.
Duan has long legs and a long stride. In addition, the Heat's main force played too long in the second quarter and consumed too much physical energy, resulting in a decrease in lateral speed.
Duen relied on this to reach the penalty area very easily.
When the Heat defended inside, Duan didn't play empty games, he went straight to the body, either drawing a foul or playing two plus one.
Duan was full of aggression, but the referee seemed to be controlling the game tonight.
Duane, who returned to play at the end of the second quarter, did not receive the preferential penalty treatment he had received in the past. Even a two-plus-one after a physical confrontation was called an offensive foul.
It is precisely for this reason that this time Du En did not even out the score difference in one fell swoop after coming up, but only scored 3 points.
The referee was biased, which made the Bulls players very angry. The Heat players took advantage of the Bulls players' defensive distraction and used the transition attack to score two goals.
By the end of the second quarter, the score reached 52-59, and the Heat had accumulated a 7-point lead in the first half.
By the third quarter, bias in penalty decisions already existed.
However, the Heat's overall offensive status also showed symptoms of decline due to excessive consumption in the first half.
To a certain extent, if it were not for the referee's help, Wade and O'Neal got more free throws, otherwise the Bulls would probably have achieved a lead in the third quarter.
However, just when the score difference widened to more than 10 points and the game situation became increasingly clear, Wade developed sprained foot symptoms while performing a confusing step and changing direction to dodge.
"Dwyane, are you okay?"
Although they are opponents, they are still good brothers. Du En stepped forward to care about Wade's injury.
Wade said it was okay, and after being pulled up by his teammates, he tried to stamp his feet, hoping to temporarily numb the discomfort in his legs.
However, it seemed that the injury was not serious. As soon as the forefoot landed, Wade staggered, and at the same time, his facial features were twisted together. It was obviously very painful.
Seeing that Wade was unable to stand firmly, the Heat team doctors and staff had no choice but to come up and help Wade back to the locker room.
Wade is the boss of the Heat and the key to the Heat's victory.
In the third quarter of G3 of the Eastern Conference Finals, Wade left the game due to injury. The Heat were panicked and naturally could not withstand the Bulls' counterattack.
When a star is accidentally injured like this, the on-site referee no longer chooses to control the field.
Obviously, tonight's situation is more like the league calling the shots to help the Heat, wanting to sell more tickets and enhance the ratings.
After realizing that the Heat could not be saved, the penalty scale for both participating parties became even again.
However, what people didn't expect was that before the fourth quarter started, Wade returned to the sidelines.
Seeing Wade's return as king, the morale of the Heat players naturally cheered up.
After the on-site referee confirmed the situation with the envoy sent by the league officials, the Bulls were treated unfairly in the fourth quarter.
But it doesn't matter, because Wade's injury is real.
Wade, who returned to the court, no longer dared to rely on his body like he did in the previous three quarters and rely on his explosive power to rush to the basket.
Wade no longer has the threat of a sudden attack, and his own basket is unstable. The return of the king this time, apart from stabilizing the morale of the army, actually does not have much effect.
It is also because Wade is injured, the only threats to the Heat are O'Neal, White Chocolate and Antoine Walker.
In this situation with clear goals, it is not that difficult for the Bulls to limit the Heat's scoring.
Duane personally defended Antoine Walker, and Baron Davis also said he could prevent White Chocolate from dying.
The remaining O'Neal was double-teamed in the paint and was affected by physical factors. He played more than four minutes in the fourth quarter and went to rest.
The Bulls relied on defense to gradually narrow the point difference until they finally overtook the score again with more than 4 minutes left in the fourth quarter.
However, James Posey once again stood up at the critical moment, relying on a three-pointer and an offensive rebound to help Haslem score, helping the Heat re-establish their advantage.
Just in time, O'Neal was almost rested, and Van Gundy sent O'Neal back to the court to try to defend tonight's home victory.
In fact, O'Neal's performance after coming on the court was relatively average, but who allowed the Heat to have home whistle protection?
In the next more than two minutes, instead of narrowing the score, the Bulls' point difference widened to five or six points, and it took two or three rounds to catch up.
However, the Bulls, led by Duane, did not give up the game.
When Ben Gordon hit a three-pointer, the Bulls sounded the horn for counterattack.
Since you won't get a normal whistle when hitting the basket, and you may even be called for an offensive foul, you might as well try shooting from the outside!
In the last minute or so, the Bulls continued to hit three-pointers from the outside on fast breaks, just betting on touch.
The Heat wanted to slow down the pace of the game, but failed to do so.
With the last 17 seconds, Duen made a crucial three-pointer to lead by 1 point, and the Heat were somewhat defeated by Duen.
Because when Wade is injured, no one can hit the buzzer-beating shot.
In the end, it was Wade who took the lead, but failed to win the game.
With 6.5 seconds left in the game, the Bulls made a long pass to the frontcourt, trying to consume the game time.
The Heat could only get the ball back with a tactical foul on Bulls backup center Mickey Moore, leaving 4.3 seconds left in the game.
Mickey Moore seemed to be unable to withstand the pressure. He made his first free throw and failed to help the Bulls win the game with free throws.
"Relax, we believe you."
Du En stepped forward to applaud Mickey Moore. In fact, Du En wanted to just miss the next free throw.
In the last 4 seconds, fighting for rebounds can almost consume the time.
However, Dunn was worried that if he said this, Mickey Moore would be unlucky and happen to make the free throw.
At that time, if the Heat rely on the last 4 seconds to score a three-pointer, the situation will be very bad.
For this reason, Du En still chose to believe that Mickey Moore could perfectly realize what Du En wanted at a normal level.
Sure enough, Mickey Moore did not disappoint Duan. The rebound hit the back edge of the basket, and then fell from the right side of the basket.
Because there are three Heat players under the basket, the Heat naturally have the advantage in rebounding.
Perhaps O'Neal was pressed for time and in order to avoid wasting the little remaining game time by grabbing rebounds, he slapped the ball to the outside so that his teammates could better get the ball and call for a timeout.
But unexpectedly, Duen, as an outside player, did not participate in the process of grabbing rebounds.
Seeing the basketball not far away, Du En immediately stepped forward to fight for it.
However, Wade got the ball first.
Worried about being fouled for making too big a move, the Heat resorted to free throws to kill the game, so Duan just stepped forward and bluffed, trying to run out the game time.
However, I don’t know whether Wade’s hands were too sweaty or because he was frightened by Du En. Wade actually slipped and the basketball fell into Du En’s hands.
After Duan got the ball, Wade made a quick recovery and fouled Duan.
Du En was also a little confused when he saw this. Is there such a good thing?
Dune scored 39 points tonight, one point shy of 40.
You know, many stars who have scoring titles have only a handful of 40+ games in the playoffs.
Naturally, Duen would not miss this opportunity to perform free throws to improve his record and statistics.
Du En patted the ball, relaxed the muscles in his arm, and then threw the ball steadily.
brush--
The first goal was scored!
Du En looked at the game timer and saw that there were 1.2 seconds left in the game!
"it's over!"
Du En said with a smile before executing the second penalty.
Duan was not prepared to score the second free throw. Even if the Bulls scored 3 points, they would still be invincible.
However, playing overtime still carries certain risks.
In order to end tonight's game, Duan deliberately missed the shot.
"Why is the arc of this ball so low?"
"No, Duen did it on purpose, rebound!"
"There's no time, grab the rebound!"
Before Duan made his second free throw, few people on the court realized that Duan was going to miss the free throw on purpose, and he interestingly bounced the ball to the outside with the help of the front edge of the basket.
Duang
The basketball flew to the outside, and Du En stepped forward to borrow the ball, then turned around and left.
However, at this time, Dududu——
The referee whistle sounds!
"Who committed the foul?"
Everyone present had a huge question in their hearts.
However, the referee at the bottom line immediately signaled that someone entered the line early, and Duan made the second free throw again.
The Bulls players wanted to curse when they heard this, but they were worried about getting a technical foul, so they could only return to their previous position.
Du En also signaled to his teammates to be calm and at worst, they would just take free throws again.
When Duen repeated his old trick and once again hit the edge of the basket with a low arc ball, and then stepped forward to catch the ball, everyone at the scene realized that Duen really has the ability to control whether the free throw goes in or not, and how the free throw bounces out of the frame. Location.
The three referees on the scene were numb when they saw Du En performing such operations one after another.
"Isn't this guy Du En too scary?"
"It's not unreasonable for a foreign player to be the MVP for two consecutive years."
"Forget it, we tried our best..."
As the last second of game time ran out, the Bulls successfully won G3 of the Eastern Conference Finals!
Taking into account Wade's sprained foot, it can be said that the door to the finals is basically open to the Bulls!
(End of chapter)
