Bulldozer of the NBA’s Restricted Area

Damn, the backboard has been ripped off?

Although similar things have happened several times before in the hands of Li Shengli and O'Neal, all teams in the league have also replaced the basketball stands in each home court, with the basket and board integrated.

But even so, Li Shengli still pulled the basket and tore off the backboard.

Did American West Arena cut corners?

Otherwise, how could something like this happen again?

You know, the backboard O'Neal smashed in February was at the American West Arena, home of the Suns. It shocked everyone at the time and the game was stopped for more than half an hour. Fortunately, it was not needed in this game. Because...the sun has gone out and the timer has reached zero.

In the first game of the Suns, they were defeated at home!

…

The fans at the scene were wailing. Suns coach Paul naturally had a bad look on his face. All the Suns players were also in terrible pain. The worst was of course Fat Miller. Not only did he take the blame for missing a key free throw, but he was also hit by a backboard in the end. Confused.

On the other hand, the Jazz won the first victory.

The three of them raised their arms, welcoming this difficult victory. After all, winning the first away game is crucial to this series, because the Suns' home winning rate is quite abnormal... In the regular season of this season, at home, The winning rate reached 83.3%.

Winning this first win is indeed a good start.

Jerry Sloan couldn't help laughing, and Stockton and Malone couldn't restrain their excitement. After all, this is their most promising time to win the championship, and it doesn't matter who they play in the finals, as long as they make it to the Western Conference Finals, It has already created the best result for the Jazz in the playoffs.

But Li Shengli...

He became more and more public on the road to breaking records. The 14 blocks in this game reached the top in one fell swoop, beating Olajuwon to the top of the single-game blocks list in the playoffs. At the same time... 26 rebounds beat Olajuwon again. Got to fifth.

What hatred, what resentment?

The Rockets led by Olajuwon were knocked down by the Jazz, and then... every record held by him was also swept away by Li Shengli, almost suffering from internal injuries.

…

In the next two days, Jazz trained step by step.

The first game is on May 24, and the second game is scheduled for the 26th, also at the Suns' home court.

As soon as this game started, Paul released Fat Miller, continuing the arrangement against Li Shengli in the first game. However, the same threshold would not fall twice. Li Shengli's free throws in this game were extraordinary, which directly destroyed the Suns' victory. Targeted placement.

However, the Phoenix Trident was in astonishing shape. Marley felt explosive and hit 10 of 14 shots. Coupled with Barkley's steady performance and Kevin's thread-like passing, the Trident teamed up and scored 52 points. .

As for Limas, although Li Shengli was liberated, Malone was hit hard by the Suns, and Stockton was restricted for a whole game, which was far inferior to the performance of the Trident.

Until the end, the Jazz lost by 8 points, with a score of 1:1.

…

After playing the Suns' two home games, the Jazz finally returned to their home base to fight.

Although the Jazz's home winning rate is not as amazing as the Suns' 83.3%, it is a familiar venue after all and has a certain psychological advantage, so both home games were close to victory and they narrowly defeated the Suns.

At this point, the Jazz seized the match point with a score of 3:1, and Salt Lake City fell into wild cheers.

The advantage of 3:1 is too big, which means that the Jazz only need to win one more game to advance to the finals, and this is the Jazz's first trip to the finals. Looking at the Suns... how much pressure they have, no matter how much pressure they have, they can advance to the finals. Know.

If you want to reach the finals, you must win the remaining three games and finish with three consecutive victories.

And the only good news for them is... In the next three games, the Suns will occupy two home courts, with a Jazz home court interspersed in between.

June 1st, Suns home court, Game 5 of the Western Conference Finals.

The Suns, who had been forced to a dead end, were greatly boosted in morale. They fought against the Jazz in a last-ditch battle, and each position exploded with amazing combat effectiveness.

Trident and Limas, you sang and I came on the stage, and the battle was evenly matched, but in the confrontation at the small forward position, the Suns' Cedric Ceballos successfully added weight to the Suns' victory.

Ceballos, 1992 Slam Dunk Contest Champion.

Because he came from a small school in the NCAA, he was selected late in the draft and was selected by the Suns with the 21st pick in the second round. However, due to his hard training, he quickly got more playing time, and during the regular season, he made 57.6% of his field goals. The rate reached the top of the league.

In this game, he made 8 of 12 free throws and 5 of 6 free throws.

In one fell swoop, it became the last straw for the Jazz, helping the Suns beat the score to 2:3.

…

On June 3, the game returned to Salt Lake City again.

The Jazz still had the upper hand in this game, firstly because of match point, and secondly because of home court. However, the Suns' counterattack was unexpectedly brutal.

The combined power of Limas and Mars was not weak, and they scored 55 points together, but the Phoenix Trident completely went berserk in this game, shocking the entire league.

First came Kevin Johnson, who made 5 of 11 shots and 3 of 4 free throws. His shooting percentage was average, but his 10 assists provided offensive guarantee for the other two players.

Based on this, Dan Marley made 12 of 17, including 8 of 10 three-pointers and 2 of 2 free throws, scoring a total of 34 points.

This kind of shooting rate is really terrifying, especially 8 of 10 three-pointers, which tore apart the Jazz's perimeter defense.

Even more terrifying is Charles Barkley!

He made 16 of 22 shots in the game, made 11 of 11 free throws, and scored 43 points. In addition... 10 rebounds, 10 assists, and a triple-double of 40+ points.

It is worth mentioning that...Marley and Barkley both played 47 minutes, which shows that the Suns are really fighting for their lives against the Jazz.

In this battle, the Phoenix Tridents jointly scored 91 points and won the sixth game, successfully dragging the Western Conference Finals into the tiebreaker.

The pros and cons are instantly changed!

The Jazz, who were originally in a good position, suddenly fell into a huge passive situation. You must know that the seventh game is the home court of the Suns, and the home court advantage in the tiebreaker will be the most deadly poison.

Ambitious and want to enter the finals?

But no one expected... Jazz would be forced into a corner.

Huge pressure swept over everyone like a wave, and the three of them, Limas, were the first to bear the brunt.

Li Shengli was a little reluctant, but fortunately there was still a chance.

It is estimated that few people can understand the feelings of Stockton and Malone... It is like buying a lottery ticket and winning a jackpot of tens of millions of dollars, but when receiving the prize, they found that they were riding on the horse. Wrong number?

This psychological gap is so great that it can completely defeat a normal person. Even Jerry Sloan has been so angry recently that he has been unable to sleep all night.

As for the Eastern Conference, the Bulls faced the Knicks 4:2 and advanced to the finals ahead of schedule, while the finals in the Eastern and Western Conferences were the last.

June 5th.

Tie-break!

The entire league, all fans, and all major media have turned their attention to Phoenix. The Jazz and Suns are in a battle of life and death. The winner will challenge the Chicago Bulls, who have won two consecutive championships.