Bulldozer of the NBA’s Restricted Area

Last game day.

Originally, the Mavericks and Kings were competing for eighth place in the Western Conference.

If the Kings lose to the Jazz, the Mavericks, who have the same record and a higher division ranking, can advance regardless of win or loss. But the problem is that the Kings unexpectedly defeated the Jazz, and the Mavericks are the only path to the playoffs. The only way is... to win the Lakers and squeeze out the Kings in a life-or-death battle.

In this case, the game between the Lakers and the Mavericks became the most watched game of the day.

Because this game will definitely determine the scoring champion this season, and it will also determine whether the Mavericks can enter the long-awaited playoff list.

The battle for the scoring title...

The Celtics and 76ers had just finished playing in the morning, and they were about to watch the Lakers game in the afternoon. The three O'Neal brothers, Iverson, and Big Ben brothers were all paying special attention. After all, the initiative was no longer in their hands. , and in the hands of the Lakers.

On O'Neal's side... Since the yellow-green war restarted, even past grievances and hostilities have restarted. So based on the principle that what we Celtics can't get, you Lakers can't get it, the Celtics are here Under the leadership of O'Neal, he made the last 'resistance' before being eliminated.

Although the last quarter can't be regarded as letting go, it can only be said to be giving up on targeting, but Iverson's scoring ability and personal competitive state are both excellent. The closing score of 58 points did create a lot of trouble for the Lakers.

As for Iverson and Ben... O'Neal has been eliminated, and Kobe needs to reach a high score of 51 points to catch up. This situation makes the brothers very happy with the current situation.

Iverson needs a scoring champion to prove himself, and this is the best opportunity.

In fact, Big Ben also needs Iverson to win the scoring title to prove his existence and role.

What's more important is that with Li Shengli supporting Kobe, if he can still help Iverson achieve this goal, he feels that he can start his own business and sell data packages like Li Shengli... 76ers Branch of Lao Li Data Group , this idea is okay!

Thinking of this, Ben was even more excited than Iverson.

In addition to the competition for the scoring title, there is also today's protagonist, the Mavericks...

As a life and death battle, Dallas fans will definitely not miss this game. Whether it is the attention of the fans or the importance of the game itself, the pressure on the Mavericks players is very high.

…

Waited for a while.

Both sides finally appeared...

The Lakers' starting lineup is Li Shengli, Green, Artest, Fisher, and Kobe.

Artest has begun to move closer to the starting position, and the reason for taking the starting position in this game is that Phil Jackson speculated that the Mavericks lineup will have more backcourt players, and Artest, a defensive warrior with certain offensive power, Special can limit one person, and it is extremely possible to encounter Finley, the Mavericks' scoring leader and swingman at the small forward.

This speculation is well founded.

In Phil Jackson's view, the Mavericks' increased backcourt strength is not only to defend against Kobe Bryant on the perimeter, but also to increase the speed of offense and defense transitions to prevent Li Shengli's rebound long pass and Kobe Bryant's fast break.

When they saw the Mavericks' lineup, the Lakers generals discovered that Phil Jackson's speculation was indeed correct.

The Mavericks' starters today are Sean Bradley, Dirk Nowitzki, Michael Finley, Eric Strickland, and Steve Nash, and the Mavericks' leading scorer Finley is indeed in the starting lineup.

Except for Finley.

The Mavericks also have Dirk Nowitzki, who has made a huge improvement, and is currently averaging 17.5+6.5 per game. Dazhi, who is growing well, serves as Nowitzki's substitute and helps make up for Bradley's center time. His playing time has exceeded 12 minutes is not much, but it is good news.

The focus should still be on Bradley at the center position.

The height of 2.29 meters does have advantages in this long-man sport. He has outstanding blocking ability, but his confrontation ability is really poor and he suffers many injuries. After Li Shengli left Dallas, Bradley became the successor of the Mavericks' top center. , The pressure is super high.

The statistics are getting smaller and smaller, the injuries are getting more and more, and it is completely unsatisfactory.

More importantly, Bradley's contract is not small.

That season's annual salary of 7.56 million was already a lot, but that season he averaged 24.7 minutes per game, 8.4 points, 6.5 rebounds, 0.8 assists, 0.9 steals and 2.5 blocks. Although his terrifying height also has a deterrent effect in the penalty area, overall, this contract is definitely a premium. Yes, it would be appropriate to cut the annual salary in half.

People in Dallas can't understand why the Mavericks management was very aggressive with Li Shengli's contract. After letting Li Shengli go, they made a blind trade to Bradley in the middle of the season, and the contract they were given was still a huge premium.

What, revenge consumption?

Although Bradley's contract is at a premium, it is still much lower than Li Shengli's current contract, but the problem is that Li Shengli's average time per game is sufficient, and he has continued the Jazz's iron man style without any major injuries, and is much more stable than Bradley. many.

This means that the Mavericks now need Bradley and Lukes as substitutes to fill the center's time. A rough calculation shows that the annual cost of the center group has exceeded 10 million, and the effect is less than 5 million.

But if he had chosen to force Li Shengli's new contract, based on the Lakers this season...

Li Shengli can fill more than 40 minutes of center time by himself, which is worth the tens of millions of dollars spent by the Mavericks center team. Although he currently has an annual salary of 17 million, this is only considering the amount of time and not Considering the 'quality', if we consider the 'quality' per unit time, it is incomparable. Several players in the Mavericks' center team and horses cannot catch up.

What's more important is that compared to the uncertainty of others, players who are ranked as super giants can use their old ones.

This is true for Olajuwon, Robinson, and Ewing. The eternal city requires the perseverance of the players and the sincerity of the team. The Mavericks missed the best opportunity to rise four years ago.

Maybe Kidd and Garnett won't be able to keep him after forcing Lee Seungri.

It may not be possible to select Nowitzki, the Mavericks' new star of hope, in the draft.

But what people in Dallas have no doubt about is... if they choose Li Shengli, any lineup will be fine, even if they don't have a championship, the Mavericks will definitely be a nail in the playoffs, but they have to wait for a certain time to take off.

But things didn't go as planned, and a series of saucy operations caused the Mavericks to collapse. The original owner Perot was so angry that he sold the team directly. Now the new owner Mark Cuban takes over the Mavericks.

Cuban knew about Li Shengli.

So after taking over the team, although the original management and coaching staff were retained, Toby, the once prudent general manager, was fired directly. And watching the game today... apart from the Mavericks' life-and-death battle, Cuban is actually the most The one I want to see is Li Shengli.

And unlike ordinary bosses, Cuban's passion is 30 years ahead of other bosses.

The game hadn't even started yet, but he was shouting Li Shengli's name from the sidelines even though he was so close. This made old Nelson blush and embarrassed the Mavericks players... Why, even the boss rebelled?

"Steve, what is our boss...doing?" Nowitzki, who started the game, asked Nash, who had the best relationship with him.

"Who knows, this is so embarrassing. Boss Li is from the Lakers, and we are Mavericks players." Nash was a little confused, and looked at Li Shengli again and said: "What's even more embarrassing is... Boss Li doesn't seem to be here yet." It’s so embarrassing to talk to our boss!”

"Forget it, never mind, let's start now, everyone pay attention to Kobe's position!"