Basketball Legends: Strikers Are King

After experiencing two consecutive losses, the Pacers were back on track. They won more games than they lost in the following games. Although they failed to close the gap with the Bulls and Heat, the top two players in the Eastern Conference, they were slightly closer to the Hawks behind them.

It firmly ranks third in the Eastern Conference.

After defeating the Wizards for their 30th victory of the season, on the last day of March 2012, they traveled thousands of miles away to challenge their next opponent away from home.

The opponent is the Spurs, who have won 35 games and lost 14 games and are now ranked second in the Western Conference.

A different kind of atmosphere quietly rose in the Pacers team, and a very eye-catching gimmick also appeared in the game preview:

Fight the old master.

In 1988, Tom Chambers became the first free agent. He left the SuperSonics as a free agent and successfully joined the Phoenix Suns.

Since then, NBA players have finally found a third way outside of the draft and trade, without subsidizing free agent signings from their original teams.

It was also from then on that the battle against the old master became one of the gimmicks of the game.

It's okay to break up with the old club peacefully, and lead the new team to win, which can be said to be an outstanding performance;

When you fail, you can also use your affection to restore respect.

But if there is an unpleasant quarrel with the old club, then the old teammates may hold back their anger and play. It would be exciting if it were at the original home court.

George Hill is the latter. Although he has no conflicts with his former teammates and even has a good relationship, he still cannot peacefully accept the fact that he was traded by the team.

This can be guessed from his increasingly strenuous training.

In some ways, the Pacers' two point guards have something in common.

On the other side, as one of the subjects of the transaction, fans are paying more and more attention to Leonard.

It's just that Leonard doesn't use social media, and he usually focuses on training, so he can be called a model player.

Of course, this also protected him from being affected by the rhythm of the previous period.

And as an add-on to the transaction?

The guy from 2005 probably won’t land in the NBA and will only stay in Europe to play;

The No. 42 pick will come to the NBA, but it will be six years later.

Therefore, Qi Tian becomes the only weight. If he plays well, it will arouse fans' interest in why the Spurs traded him and George Hill, and then pay attention to Leonard instead;

If he doesn't play well, the fans will say, "No wonder he appeared as a trade addition, that's all."

Of course, the crude words of the black fans will not make Qi Tian feel at ease, because he knows that the rhythm master will not appear until he truly grows up.

But what does that have to do with him?

Apart from the past experience of being drafted by the Spurs, Qi Tian is still very interested in the legendary San Antonio.

As a team with a long history in a small ball market, they have only failed to enter the playoffs four times since the merger of the ABA and NBA in 1976, and won the championship four times in 1999, 2003, 2005 and 2007.

Championship, these four championships alone put the Spurs above other teams, only behind the Celtics with 17 championships, the Lakers with 16 championships and the Bulls with 6 championships.

Due to Ginobili and Duncan's injuries last year, the shadow of being beaten by the Grizzlies will no longer hang over them. Under the leadership of Popovich, the Spurs, who have added Leonard in addition to GDP, will move towards themselves.

The fifth championship was launched.

"Hey, does it feel more rural here than in Indiana?"

Qi Tian, ​​who came to the AT&T Center for the first time, was a little emotional.

He originally thought that Indiana was already lagging behind, but now he realizes that there are people outside the country.

West next to him chuckled and said to him:

"Close your eyes, Seven."

"Hey, you won't hit me hard in the face, will you?"

Ignoring Qi Tian's teasing, West said:

"If you take a deep breath, you might even smell the fresh cow dung."

Before 1999, the Spurs did not have a dedicated theme arena. Instead, they stayed in an arena designed for American football and needed to be separated when playing basketball games.

After winning the first championship in team history in 1999, residents voted in a referendum to use tax dollars to build a special arena, which was put into use in 2002.

Since it was built using tax dollars, the city of San Antonio also has the right to use it. Therefore, starting in February every year, a two-week livestock show and competition will be held in the stadium.

"Eh-uh."

Next to him, Stephenson grinned and successfully designated the Spurs' home stadium as his least favorite arena.

"alright!"

Vogel signaled the end of training and summoned the players for pre-match training.

"Today's game is very critical. Our opponent is a strong team in the Western Conference. We must go all out."

Since the opponent is a Western Conference team, Vogel is determined to try his best to bring out the full strength of his players. Anyway, the next dialogue with the Spurs will be next season.

When the lineup changes, the team's offensive and defensive tactics may also change.

What, you mean the finals?

If the Pacers can really advance from the first round to the finals, Vogel will laugh out of his snot bubbles.

Needless to say, the record is enough to illustrate the strength. The Pacers' starter walked onto the court with a solemn expression.

Among them, West's face was the most serious. When he was with the Hornets, he had played against the Spurs.

In the 2008 Western Conference semifinals, West once scored 38 points, 14 rebounds and 5 blocks, but the team was still eliminated by the opponent in the tiebreaker.

In the playoffs that year, Duncan averaged 20.2 points, 14.5 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 2.1 blocks per game, completely dominating the interior.

It can be said that West's peak was playing against Duncan, and Duncan, who was opposite him, had been performing like this for several seasons.

The Pacers' starting lineup is still Hibbert, West, Granger, George and Collison;

The Spurs started with Duncan, Blair, Leonard, Green and Parker.

"Dudududu!"

The referee blew the whistle to start the game and threw the basketball in his hand.

Hibbert jumped hard, but Duncan snatched the basketball from his head and shot it into the Spurs' half.

Parker advanced with the ball calmly and organized the attack.

George Hill was expressionless off the court.

In his expectation, the one who would appear at the team's point guard position should be his younger self.

How far can 30-year-old Parker lead 35-year-old Ginobili and 36-year-old Duncan?

What, the main force is too old and is seizing the day?

So why trade your 26-year-old self for a 21-year-old rookie?

The Spurs rotated the basketball quickly and quickly found Green on the outside.

Green stopped and made a three-point jumper.

"clang!"

The basketball jumped out of the hoop.

Hibbert, who was under the basket, saw the basketball pop up and was about to make a move, but was blocked by Duncan in front of him. Blair jumped up and took the basketball, turned around and handed it to his teammates.

"Oops!"

Seeing Duncan getting the ball in an open position, George rushed to the basket and fought for it.