Time soon came to April 16th. After three days of intensive preparations, the mcI Center was filled with a playoff atmosphere.
Thousands of Wizards fans came from all corners of the city and gathered at the MCI Center to cheer for their home team.
At the same time, there are countless media waiting for the press conference before the game. Tonight's interview is definitely the most watched, because there are too many experts and media who believe that this set of duels is the most likely to happen. Even Li Kaiming himself didn't expect that he would lead the team to third place in the Eastern Conference, and there were still so many people who didn't think highly of him. Isn't this group of people's faces swollen enough?
At six o'clock in the afternoon, the press conference at the mcI Center was full of people. Various camera equipment filled the space of only a few dozen square meters. Everyone was waiting for the arrival of the Wizards players.
As soon as Sanders walked into the scene with Li Kaiming, he immediately attracted the attention of all reporters. The protagonist of the interview tonight is no longer Li Kaiming alone. As the first time Sanders led the Wizards to the playoffs, Coach, he will definitely be greeted by reporters as well.
"Philip, what do you think is the point of this game?"
Sanders also came prepared, "The Hawks' lineup is relatively average. They have scorers like Jamal Crawford on the bench. Our main thing here is to pay attention to the team's rotation and not let our Pure bench lineup and Crawford playing at the same time.”
"Then what role does Li Kaiming play during the rotation stage? Will his playing time exceed 40 minutes?"
"No one can say this before the game starts. Lee is the core of our team and the team relies on him to run. No matter how our tactics and strategies change, he plays the most critical role in it. His playing time remains the same. It depends on how the game develops. If we can beat the opponent into garbage time, I think he may not need to play too long." Sanders' response was perfect.
Sanders' last words made all the reporters laugh. Was it garbage time? Now many people are predicting that you will be defeated by the following. It’s good that you didn’t lose the game. You still want to play until garbage time? The most ridiculous thing in the world!
"You won 3 out of 4 games against the Hawks in the regular season. Do you think this will give you confidence? Does the tactics of the regular season have any inspiration for the upcoming playoffs?"
"There is no doubt that, yes, we have the upper hand in the regular season, which will undoubtedly give us a strong psychological support, but I reminded these boys that when the playoffs start, we need to forget about the regular season Everything, because the playoffs are a completely different game, we will not be immersed in the history of defeating our opponents in the regular season, life always has to look up and look forward." Tonight, Sanders turned into a master of philosophy, answering the game You can even offer a few philosophical remarks when dealing with related questions.
Sanders' interview is over, and it's Li Kaiming's turn next.
"Lee, you averaged 33.6 points per game in the regular season this season. This is the fifth time in history that a rookie has won the scoring title, and the first three times were in ancient times. That is, in the history of modern basketball, you are How do you feel about being the first rookie to win the scoring title?" ESPN's reporter first asked a question related to regular season data.
Li Kaiming coughed and then pulled the microphone closer. "It feels very good. I enjoy this journey very much.",
"So what do you think of the first regular season experience? Can you still perform like this in tonight's game?"
"The NBA is the top professional league on the planet. I should be honored to be in this league and compete with all kinds of great players. As for tonight's performance, I think my data should be the same as the regular season. It's different, after all, this is the playoffs." Li Kaiming deliberately let it slip.
"Oh? Are you saying that your performance may not be as impressive as in the regular season?" The reporter thought he had captured some big news and immediately asked.
"No, no, no, I mean, it's the playoffs, so of course you have to play the game seriously! Some games in the regular season are still a bit careless, but you have to cheer up in the playoffs. After all, NbA We were only given four chances per team..."
reporter:……
Can you still be so pretentious? Learned a lot!
After the pre-game interview, Li Kaiming returned to the court and began to warm up. His good brother Elliott Williams, Jiang Shan and his uncle were sitting in the area closest to the court because the Wizards gave each player a They all gave away a few tickets to their family members, and Li Kaiming gave them to them to watch the Wizards' first playoff game!
Williams had the best eyesight. He was the first to notice Li Kaiming coming out, and then he started waving from a distance and even called Li Kaiming's name.
Li Kaiming turned around and saw that his relatives and friends were sitting there, looking at him with happy smiles on their faces, so he responded with his right hand.
Of course, the pre-game repertoire - signing autographs for the little fans must not be missed. Every time these little guys look at Li Kaiming, they make him feel like a superhero saving the world.
The fans in Washington are very considerate. The McI Center was packed for the playoff opener, and the Wizards also prepared Wizards-themed blue short-sleeves for every ticket holder. The fans were very cooperative after they arrived. They put on their support clothes, and looking around, the mcI center turned into a blue ocean.
In order to reflect the home court advantage, the entrance ceremony for the home players tonight was also very grand, just like in the season opener. The DJ at the scene shouted "The last one in the starting lineup, All-Star, scoring champion, Li ! Kai! Ming!” When the whole mcI center was filled with deafening cheers and screams!
"mVp! mVp! mVp!"
Now Li Kaiming is the spiritual totem of this city. The fans shouted his name in unison, which made Li Kaiming who ran out feel his scalp numb!
So this is what it feels like to fight for the city?
The lights returned to normal, and tonight's on-duty commentators, Glenn Counsell and Dave Johnson, began introducing the starting players for both teams.
Washington Wizards: Point guard Kirk Hinrich, shooting guard Nick Young, small forward Sun Yue, power forward Li Kaiming, center Andre Blach.
Atlanta Hawks: Point guard Jordan Crawford, shooting guard Joe Johnson, small forward Josh Smith, power forward Al Horford, center Jason Collins.
In order to match the height of the Wizards' two inside men, Larry Drew actually asked Horford to play power forward, and then replaced him with a 213 meat shield center Collins to face Blatche. It seems that Larry Drew wanted this series Sai also did a lot of homework.
The players from both sides moved their bodies a few times, and then spread out on both sides of the center circle. Blatche and Collins jumped the ball. As the referee threw the ball into the air with one hand, the whistle went off!
Playoffs, start!
Brac pulled onions on dry land and jumped high into the air with both feet on the ground. His take-off speed and height were better than Collins, so he easily won the jump ball!
Li Kaiming ran over skillfully, took control of the ball with one hand, and then handed it to Hinrich who was standing behind.
The fans at the mcI Center cheered when they saw the home team winning with a jump ball. Although the jump ball does not affect the ownership of the ball in the entire game, it can boost the morale of the Wizards captain and get the game off to a good start.
Hinrich dribbled the ball to the frontcourt and faced Jordan Crawford's defense. After waiting for his teammates to get into position on the outside, he asked Blatche to come up and cover.
Collins, who followed Blatche, shouted to pay attention to the cover and rushed over to help delay Hinrich's breakthrough. Jordan Crawford heard Collins's reminder and took a step out with his left foot in advance, just in time to avoid it. Brachi's cover.
But Bratsch's 7-foot body was placed here. Although Crawford was not stuck by Bratsch, he was still a few steps behind Hinrich. Hinrich took advantage of this gap and directly made a move. Changed direction and drove inside, facing Collins.
The Hawks' defense was still very targeted. Jordan Crawford did not give up chasing after being passed over, and Collins did not switch defenses. He just raised his arms to delay, determined not to let the Wizards play out of position.
Hinrich dribbled to the three-point line, then slowed down and jammed Crawford with his body, waiting for Blatche to move inside, and slowly moved into the penalty area.
Blatche turned around after the pick-and-roll and went to the basket one step ahead of Hinrich. Collins had no choice but to follow in, which created space for Hinrich in the mid-range.
When Hinrich was still two meters away from the basket, he suddenly took off with both feet and threw. Collins tried his best to interfere, and he successfully defended the ball.
However, Collins made the save, and there was Blatche under the basket. At this time, the latter used the gap to block the position under the basket, preparing to rush for the offensive rebound.
Horford, who was guarding Li Kaiming next to him, saw that it was not working and joined the struggle at the basket. He and Collins began to double-team Blatche.
The three of them fought for a long time, but in the end no one controlled the ball. The ball just flew into the hands of Li Kaiming who was about to go to the basket.
As soon as Horford saw this situation, he immediately rushed towards Li Kaiming. Larry Drew's voice was still echoing in his mind, "Al, your mission tonight is just one, to entangle Li Kaiming. As long as you do your best, By clinging to him, we'll win half the game!"
Seeing Horford coming, Li Kaiming dribbled the ball, then jumped to rush to the basket with Horford, stretched out his left arm to block Horford's block, then gently picked the basket with his right hand, and as the basketball bounced off the board, it fell. Entering the basket, Li Kaiming scored his first career playoff point!
2 to 0!
The fans at the scene cheered, the opening jump ball was won, and the first attack was scored. Everything was going in the best direction...
Consol in the commentary box also clenched his fists and cheered, "Well done, Lee scored the first point for the team!"
Sanders on the sidelines crossed his arms with a faint smile on his face.
I have Li Kaiming in my hands, why are I afraid of being overpowered? What a big joke!
