On May 30, in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Finals, the Philadelphia Digital Team narrowly defeated the Bucks by one point at home, 3-2, and got the match point.
Philadelphia wins in steals and free throws, with 7 more steals and 12 more free throw opportunities than the Bucks. In other areas, it lags behind the Bucks.
Zhou Quan didn't watch this game. He only learned from the newspaper the next morning that the Bucks' Ray Allen and Cassel both scored 20 points, while Iverson made only 5 of 27 shots under Cassel's defense. The shooting percentage was only 18.5% and only 15 points were scored.
However, the media still praised Iverson. He ranked second in the regular season MVP. He averaged 31.1 points per game in the regular season, which was also second. In the first round match against Reggie Miller, he averaged 31.5 points per game and shot 41%. In the second round match against Wen Scutt averaged 33.7 points per game and shot 40.4 from the field.
So far this season, Iverson's performance in his peak period has been top-notch. Without Zhou Quan, he has a good chance of winning the first MVP and scoring title.
On June 1st, in the G6 game of the Eastern Conference Finals, the Bucks defeated the Digital Team at home, 100:110.
Iverson performed well, making 14 of 33 shots and a shooting percentage of 42.4%, including 5 of 9 three-pointers and 13 of 15 free throws. He scored 46 points, 2 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal, and 1 block. 6 turnovers.
It's a pity that Ray Allen scored 41 points, Cassel scored 22 points, and controlled the mistakes, thus successfully winning the championship.
Got off the game.
In the six-game series, the Bucks' turnovers in the first five games were higher than those of the digital team, but this time the Bucks' turnover ratio
Numbers team is missing four times
June 3rd, tiebreaker of the Eastern Conference Finals.
Zhou Quan decided to watch this game. Iverson and Ray Allen are still one of the best defenders in the league today, so the game is still worth watching.
He also likes Iverson's fearless breakthrough, but if he is asked to choose a teammate, he hopes to partner with Ray Allen.
Iverson played extremely efficiently, making 17 of 33 shots and a shooting percentage of 51.5%, including 4 of 6 three-pointers and 6 of 7 free throws. He scored 44 points, 6 rebounds, 7 assists, 2 steals, 2 turnovers and 4 fouls.
Mutombo also scored 20 points and 19 rebounds, and showed his strength on the defensive end, sending 7 big blocks, which made Ray Allen and other outsiders dare not rush in and play.
In addition, three players from the digital team scored in double figures, and a total of five players scored in double figures.
For the Bucks, Ray Allen, Glenn Robinson, and Cassell scored 26 points, 24 points, and 20 points respectively. They all performed well. A total of four people scored in double figures.
Unfortunately, in terms of steals, Philadelphia had as many as 11 and the Bucks only had 4, with 13 fewer free throws and 9 fewer rebounds.
The final score was 91:108. The Philadelphia Digital Team won the tiebreaker at home and reached the finals with difficulty.
"The finals! We are going to the finals!"
"Finals, here we come!"
Iverson was ecstatic after the game and celebrated wildly, while Ray Allen and others left the court frustrated.
"Allen, in the three-round series, you faced off against three first-class defenders, Reggie Miller, Vince Carter and Ray Allen, and defeated each other. Do you want to say something to them now?" After the game? the reporter asked during the interview.
Iverson still retained his excitement, shook his head and said with emotion: "It's not easy, our opponents are all the best, they are amazing, they are all the best opponents.
But we did better and we made it to the Finals, and I'm super excited to do that and touch the Finals floor for the first time. "
"Do you want to say something to the Iron Fist King?" the reporter asked again.
Iverson's excited expression suddenly subsided, but he immediately became excited again, saying: "I am looking forward to the showdown with the Iron Fist King. He is so high. I really hoped to have the opportunity to challenge him in the playoffs, but we did not play." The opportunity in the finals, now that I have the opportunity, I will cherish this opportunity.”
"In the Western Conference Finals, Kobe was locked up by the Iron Fist King and rarely even attacked with the ball in front of the Iron Fist King. How do you think you will perform differently from Kobe?" the reporter asked again.
"NONONO..."
Iverson shook his head repeatedly and said: "I will not be afraid of the Iron Fist King's defense. Even if he steals me ten times a game, I will launch the eleventh attack. Without offense, I will no longer be me."
"What do you think is the chance of winning the finals?" the reporter finally asked.
Iverson smiled bitterly and said: "I know how powerful he is, super powerful. He is the god of point guards. No, in my eyes, he is the god of basketball. It will be difficult for us to beat his team. But we won't If we admit defeat, we will lose on the way to attack."
Zhou Quan looked at the data comparison between Iverson and Ray Allen that appeared on the TV screen. The former averaged 30.5 points, 4.8 rebounds, 6.8 assists, and 2.2 steals per game, with a shooting percentage of 34.4%. The latter averaged 27.1 points, 3.3 rebounds, 5.4 assists, and 0.9 steals per game. The rate is 46.8%.
In terms of efficiency, Ray Allen completely beat Iverson and scored slightly lower.
The Bucks lost in the paint, and Mutombo averaged 16.6 points, 15.6 rebounds and 2.7 blocks per game, which was a key guarantee for the digital team to advance.
The main center of the Bucks, Earvin Johnson, only averaged 6.9 points and 10.7 rebounds per game. The team averaged only 42.2 rebounds per game. The digital team averaged 48.3, which is 6.1 fewer rebounds per game. This is exactly the rebound gap between Earvin Johnson and Mutombo. .
With the end of the Eastern Conference Finals, the schedule for the Finals will be released soon. It will start on June 6th, at the SuperSonics' home court, with a two-three-two home and away system.
On June 4, many media began to make various analyzes and predictions about the finals.
Regarding the outcome of the finals, it was almost one-sided. Few media believed that the digital team could win the finals. Even the Philadelphia media were very pessimistic.
The main analysis by the media is whether Philadelphia can avoid being swept. After all, the Lakers, who are as powerful as the OK combination, were also swept.
Many media interviewed several celebrities of the digital team.
Dr. J said: "The offense of the digital team relies too much on Allen Iverson, but what he has to face is the defense of the Iron Fist King. Judging from the confrontation between the two in the regular season, Iverson is at a disadvantage. Well, okay , is a big disadvantage. But I believe in Iverson, he can create miracles."
Moses Malone said: “The alliance has entered an era of Iron Fist belonging to King of Iron Fist. The previous era belonged to the era of black and white magic birds, but the era of King of Iron Fist is more terrifying and cruel than the era of magic birds, and is full of more terrifying dominance.
In last year's Western Conference Finals and the Western Conference Finals that just passed, he averaged 50+ per game for two consecutive years. When we face such terrifying opponents, it is easy to have a negative mentality of being powerless and unable to match and resist.
But I believe Iverson, he can do it, he has endless fighting spirit, he is the best leader, I believe he will launch a strong challenge to the Iron Fist King. "
Barkley had just finished the live broadcast of the Eastern Conference Finals. He talked about the upcoming finals on the TNT program, waving his fist in encouragement and saying:
"Allen, you can do it. Don't think how powerful he is. Your strength can challenge anyone. I will support you mentally and I will also go to the scene to support you."
The media also interviewed some other stars.
Magic Johnson said: "Our Western Conference Finals are very frustrating, yes, being swept out for four consecutive years is a tragedy, and we have become a tragedy.
well! Now some people in Los Angeles have lost hope in us, they think King of Iron Fist is invincible, OK Group... oh, sorry, I digressed.
Well, back to the finals, I don’t have confidence in the digital team’s finals. They will not be stronger than the OK combination. When Iverson is locked up by the Iron Fist King like Kobe, a sweep is the most likely thing. In the ending, the Sonics are very likely to defend their title with a complete victory.
If you want to ask me what the probability is, I will tell you, 99%. The remaining 1% is that the Sonics will suffer extensive injuries, or even require the Iron Fist King to be seriously injured.
The most frightening thing about King of Iron Fist is not that he can score 70 points in a game in the series, but that he can average 50+ points in the series for two consecutive years.
How terrible is this? Some teams can only score 60 or 70 points in a single game in the playoffs, but he can easily score 50 points by himself.
Two years after his retirement, he has entered his peak period. Anyone who hopes to defeat him can only expect him to reach his peak.
It's hard for me to imagine him being beaten in his prime, especially with the Sonics' lineup, which is almost impossible.
In the history of the NBA, no one has ever been as terrifying as him. Even the basketball emperor Wilt Chamberlain and even Jordan have never had such a performance in the playoffs. "
Pacers head coach Smiling Assassin accepted an interview with the media in Indiana and said: "I think the SuperSonics will win all the games and win the championship. The digital team does not have the ability to win a victory from the Iron Fist. That would be too difficult.
I even think that Iverson's scoring will be limited to single digits by Iron Fist, or his shooting percentage will be limited to less than 30% or even 20%. "
At three o'clock in the afternoon on June 5, the Philadelphia Digital Team's special plane arrived in Seattle.
After getting off the plane, Iverson called Zhou Quan. He didn't mention the finals, just a normal greeting.
At five o'clock, the digital team held a media conference in the hotel.
"Allen, the media and many stars are not optimistic about you now, including the Philadelphia media and Dr. J. Do you think this view is correct?" a reporter from the New York Times asked.
"We knew this would happen. After all, King of Iron Fist is so powerful. I have already said that we are going to challenge King of Iron Fist. What will be the result, but it depends on God." Iverson said.
"Iverson, do you think you have any hope of winning?" the reporter asked.
"We will do our best to make this series more suspenseful," Iverson said.
On the 6th, the G1 game day of the finals.
Although they are overwhelmingly optimistic about the Sonics and there is little to no suspense, there are still many people coming to Seattle to watch the finals, which shows that this one-sided finals still attracts a lot of attention.
Zhou Quan still held a party at home these two days to entertain friends who came to watch the game. It was full of guests and very lively.
Far away in Los Angeles, Kobe has begun his additional training.
After being swept out for four consecutive years, he was going crazy.
Under the defense of the Iron Fist King, he once again played a shitty Western Conference Finals, which was particularly unacceptable to him.
Among the top four shooting guards, Iverson, the No. 1 pick, has always surpassed him in terms of popularity and strength. Now Iverson has reached the finals and touched the floor of the finals. When will he be able to surpass the Iron Fist King and enter the championship? The door to the finals?
Practice more! Practice more! Practice more!
Only crazy training can temporarily get him out of the shadow of failure.
O'Neal decided to lose weight, but was swept for four consecutive years and has yet to win a championship, which deeply affected his self-esteem.
At the same time, after seeing Zhou Quan's statement about his tonnage, he also thought it made sense. Even if he only had a tonnage of 140 kilograms, let alone 150 kilograms, it would be enough to destroy all centers, so he decided to reduce it to 145 kilograms.
If the increase from 130 kilograms to 140 kilograms in the Magic was a result of training, then his current tonnage is not a result of training, it is all a result of eating.
"Please, Mike, you have to keep my mouth shut or I'll fire you," he said to his agent and uncle, Mike Paris.
This year he fired his original agent of 10 years and formed his own personal finance company, with Mike Paris in charge of his agent work.
"Fuck you!"
After hearing O'Neal's words, Paris just wanted to slap the super big burger he just bought on O'Neal's fat face.
"Hey, Shaq, that's your mouth, not mine. How do you want me to control it?"
"That's your business. You are my agent. You have to complete the work assigned to you by the boss."
"Okay then, I'll eat this burger. Can I order a medium rare steak for you? And a chicken breast?"
"Oh, no, I'll eat this burger first and then lose weight."
…
In the evening, downtown Seattle was full of people and cars. Countless people came from all over Seattle, and a sea of people had already gathered outside the New Center Stadium.
"Grand champion! Grand champion..."
"Defending the title! Defending the title..."
"The fifth crown! The fifth crown..."
In the square outside the Central Gymnasium, bursts of huge shouts erupted from time to time.
"King of Iron Fist! King of Iron Fist..."
At a quarter past six, when Zhou Quan's car appeared, shouts quickly swept through the square.
The game started at 8:30, and at 6:30, the venue opened and people began to flow into the central gymnasium.
At this time, the entire Sonics team had arrived in the locker room and started preparing for the game.
Ewing and Campbell are lying down getting a massage. They have both returned and started participating in team training the day before yesterday. The SuperSonics lineup has returned to completeness.
Ewing's physical condition is actually not very good. He injured his knee again and again and can no longer play. However, he is absolutely unwilling to miss the finals, so he strongly requested to come back. The Sonics also agreed to the veteran's request.
There were other people doing activities and chatting, and the atmosphere was very relaxed.
At the scene, there were dozens of retired and active NBA stars, plus some Hollywood star models, making it look bright and starry.
The Smiling Assassin waved his right hand and came to Buckley, smiled and said: "Hey, Flying Pig, are you interested in taking a gamble?"
Barkley wanted to find a knife to chop off the assassin's right hand, which contained three championship rings. He turned his head away from the assassin and hummed, "What do you want to do?"
"Aren't you optimistic about the numbers team? Let's bet $10,000 on the SuperSonics." The assassin smiled.
"Do you think I'm stupid?" Buckley said angrily.
"Ha ha……"
The assassin laughed. Showing off his championship ring in front of Barkley was his favorite thing to do and it made him feel great.
"Damn guy, sooner or later he will be fired by the Pacers. When you get up tomorrow morning, you will find that you are unemployed." After the assassin turned around and left, Barkley cursed.
But I have to say that he is very envious and jealous of the Smiling Assassin from the bottom of his heart. There are three championships, let alone three of them. As long as there is one, he will wake up laughing in his dreams and his mouth will burst from laughter.
(End of chapter)
