I’m Really Playing Basketball

At noon on April 26, 2004, Chen Xiao and the Cavaliers played the Cavaliers' second home game of this series last night. Early this morning, they took the Cavaliers to the Princeton University campus in Princeton, New Jersey.

Amid a warm welcome from New Jersey fans and Princeton University players, Chen Xiao walked into Princeton University with the Cavaliers players flanked by cheers and applause.

Seeing that Chen Xiao and the Cavaliers received an even grander welcome back to New Jersey and Princeton this time, Teacher Zhang and Xiao Su, who had been following the Cavaliers, couldn't help but feel proud and excited, and excited and excited. There is a sense of ease in it.

To be honest, in yesterday's game, G4 between the Cavaliers and Nets, after the Cavaliers lost 75-90 to the Nets at home by 15 points, they were really worried that the Cavaliers might receive some criticism in New Jersey.

Because in the G3 game, after the Cavaliers relied on Chen Xiao's last copy of Miller's 0.7 seconds to defeat the Nets 82-80, not only the public opinion in the United States, but the public opinion in New Jersey, they all felt that G4 The Cavaliers might still win!

But in the G4 game, the Cavaliers played their worst loss in the series.

As soon as the first quarter came up, the Nets scored 25 to 13, and the score opened up by 12 points.

Although relying on Crawford's performance in the second quarter, the Cavaliers led this quarter 25 to 21.

But in the third quarter, the Nets beat the Cavaliers 24-14, which was very uncomfortable.

After three quarters, the Cavaliers lost 52-70 by 18 points.

In the end, the Cavaliers lost 75-90 by 15 points.

Although the Cavaliers' defense was still very good in this game, Crawford's efficient 21 points of 7 of 12 were useless in the case of Chen Xiao and James' offensive sluggishness.

In this game, Chen Xiao made 11 of 30 shots, 3 of 10 three-pointers, and 5 of 6 free throws. He only scored 30 points in the game.

Xiao Zhan was even worse, 4 of 20 in the game, 2 of 9 three-pointers, and 12 points in the game. Compared with G3, Xiao Zhan's touch in this game is simply incomparable.

In short, after losing a game that New Jersey fans were looking forward to, Teacher Zhang and Xiao Su were really worried that Chen Xiao and the Cavaliers would be ignored in New Jersey.

Obviously, they are overthinking.

As the eighth-ranked Cavaliers in the Eastern Conference, they faced the Nets, the strongest team in history. After the previous four playoff games, the big score was 2-2. Who can tell what is wrong with this result?

Even if Nets fans really expect the Cavaliers to beat the Nets right away.

However, that is just expectation, and the gap between expectation and reality is acceptable to them.

Even if the expectation is not realized, they can accept it.

Besides, if you are in the NBA and ask in the United States, if the Cavaliers and Nets played like this in the first round of the playoffs, is it far beyond everyone's expectations?

Before the start of this round of the series, who would have thought that this round of the series could be played like this?

The Cavaliers and the Nets were not eliminated after four games, and they were 2-2.

And they were still leading 2-1 but were chased 2-2 by the Nets.

In this series between the Cavaliers and the Nets, the Cavaliers are leading and the Nets are chasing.

Therefore, every game the Nets is a "battle to save the strongest team in history", this puts too much pressure on the veterans of the Nets.

That is to say, the veterans of the Nets are really able to withstand pressure.

If it were to be an ordinary team, after the Cavaliers led 2-1, it is indeed possible that the strength of the home court combined with the high morale would lead to a 3-1 victory.

The strongest team in history does have two tricks, and finally got the score back.

Faced with a warm welcome from New Jersey fans and Princeton players like Cleveland fans.

James, Crawford, Chandler, Diop, Darius Miles and other young players are really happy.

In this round of the playoffs between the Cavaliers and the Nets, they are at home in every game.

This is really no joke.

Cavaliers players are considered their own no matter whether they are in Cleveland or in New Jersey.

This is too important for the Cavaliers.

Most of the players on the Cavaliers are young people. Of the 10 players on the Cavaliers in this playoffs, except for Chen Xiao, 9 are playing in the playoffs for the first time.

If they were facing a real NBA playoff-level away game, it would be difficult for these young players to be so focused.

If you came to New Jersey to be booed and scolded, the Cavaliers would never come to an away game so many days in advance.

The G5 Tianwangshan game will be played on April 28th, and it will be here on April 26th. Arriving in New Jersey two days in advance, it can be said that the Cavaliers can minimize the impact of travel and travel in the away game, and the game status of the Cavaliers players can be very well guaranteed.

If it weren't for the full support of New Jersey fans, it would be even more difficult for Chen Xiao to lead the Cavaliers against the Nets.

After all, this is only a visible benefit to the Cavaliers.

What's unseen is that playing every game on the road puts even more pressure on the Nets, who are already under pressure from public opinion.

Therefore, many people say that the reason why the Cavaliers played so well against the Nets in the playoffs this time is because every game is 6-on-5.

Indeed, that invisible teammate is on the Cavaliers' side every game.

Coming to New Jersey is like coming back to Cleveland. It's really cool.

"With their support, I feel that we will be more confident in the G5 Battle of Tianwang Mountain."

Watching the New Jersey fans and Princeton students greet them so well, this series gave James a taste of how refreshing standing for justice can be.

This series is the first playoff series for the 18-year-old Xiao Zhan. In the first playoffs, he encountered the strongest team in history that was almost impossible to defeat.

This can definitely be said to be a playoff that shaped Xiao Zhan's career outlook.

Because they represent justice, the fans support them, and because they represent justice, God supports them.

The Cavaliers won two games all with that magical Miller moment.

If it weren't for the strong metaphysical power of 'justice will prevail', it would be hard for anyone to believe that Chen Xiao could stage two Miller moments in the four games of the playoffs.

Reggie Miller himself said in an interview: "You should ask God why this is!"

Representing justice can get so many benefits, so only a fool would become an evil person!

Even though the G4 Cavaliers lost miserably at home, James and the Cavaliers are more confident.

The first four games told them that the advantage lies with me!

As long as we can compete with the Nets, God will be on our side!

This psychological suggestion is too strong.

Although their strength is far behind the Nets, it is impossible for them to collapse in the first quarter of every game.

As long as they persist until they are within 10 points behind after the first three quarters, the Cavaliers will be favored by God.

Chen Xiao said: Hmm, so, you guys like me, you guys have to work hard. It’s not as easy as me, the ‘god’, to take action.

This will make the mental state of Xiao Zhan and the Cavaliers players very relaxed.

In such a tense playoff matchup, it's great to have such a relaxed mentality.

On the opposite side, the Nets are exactly the opposite, because God is always on the side of the Cavaliers at critical moments, and they are under great pressure.

A small lead is really not safe, a big lead is needed.

As far as the Cavaliers' defense is concerned, if the Nets want to take a big lead, they need to continue to take risks.

Taking risks is prone to problems.

Therefore, although he lost the game yesterday, and it was a big loss, Chen Xiao was relieved to see that Xiao Zhan and his teammates were more confident.

After reaching this level in the playoffs this time, Chen Xiao knew that the Cavaliers had indeed begun to slowly establish their own advantage.

If Xiao Zhan and his teammates hadn't slowly felt this advantage, how could Xiao Zhan be so excited now and want to continue throwing in the next game after hitting 4 of 20 in the last game? Keep taking action.

After the last game, the Nets proved to the world that they are still the strongest team in history.

But now, the Cavaliers have completely emerged from their powerful shadow and are beginning to look forward to staging their own legend.

Those 15 score experience cards are really worth using!

After coming to Princeton University, the Cavaliers had no training mission on the 26th.

All Cavaliers players, including Chen Xiao, were required to take a mandatory rest to wipe away the fatigue from the previous G4 game and greet G5 with full power.

Carlisle's arrangements for the Cavaliers are very detailed.

In this playoffs, Carlisle's performance actually surprised Chen Xiao.

This is a very good head coach.

A perfect fit for him and this young group of guys on the Cavaliers.

On April 27, 2004, after a half-day rest, the Cavaliers players began preparations for the G5 Tianwangshan battle at the Princeton University training facility early the next morning.

The morning is restorative training, and the afternoon is the time for the team to study together.

"LeBron, in the last game, you took 20 shots, but only made 4 hits. In the next game, I need you to take more shots, and at the same time, I hope you can hit more."

"In the past four games, how you feel has had a great impact on Chen's offense. Most of your shooting opportunities are half-open or even fully-open shooting opportunities. This is a very good shot opportunity. You have to remember Stop it, your shots and your scoring are not to liberate Chen, Chen does not need you to liberate, no matter what your shooting percentage is, the Nets will not let us liberate Chen's offense."

"You don't need to put any unnecessary pressure or responsibility on your shot. When you encounter an open space on the court, if you think it's the same as training, you can take the shot. The hit will naturally be good. If you can't hit, it doesn't matter. , believe in our own defense and believe in the defense of our partners, we can make the Nets’ shooting percentage the same as ours!”

Carlisle is always so to the point when explaining game plans.

Xiao Zhan couldn't help but nodded after listening to Carlisle's words.

After four games, the winner of the series between the Cavaliers and Nets has become very obvious.

As long as the Cavaliers can enter the fourth quarter with no more than 10 points behind, "God's Favor" will be triggered, and Wonder Boy, God Chen will go berserk.

Everything the Cavaliers are doing now is for this purpose.

The entire purpose of the Nets is to prevent such a goal.

So in the last game, the Nets were on full fire in the first quarter. In order to be on full fire, they even replaced Payton in the starting lineup and replaced Fisher with a stronger three-pointer.

I have to say that Phil Jackson is really strong when he is in danger. After losing G3, the whole world felt that the Nets might collapse. After all, Chen Xiao and the Cavaliers made two shots in the Miller moment in three games.

Unexpectedly, Phil Jackson actually stabilized the situation of the Nets.

In the last game, Phil Jackson was attacked by Phil Jackson, causing him to collapse in the first quarter. In the next most important battle at Tianwangshan, the Cavaliers will of course no longer be able to passively accept the Nets' choice.

Carlisle is ready to take the initiative to choose his own destiny!

"LeBron, remember, Fisher's defense on you will only be more difficult than Payton's defense on you!"

In this series, James faced single defense, and it was Payton and Fisher's single defense.

If there are only two players on the court and James and Payton are dueling, James can make Payton vomit and make Fisher cry.

But the game is for five people, and the Nets' insiders are O'Neal and Malone.

The two super gates are stuck there one behind the other, and any breakthrough player will cry.

Payton and Fisher were able to defend James so well one-on-one in the previous four games, not because they could guard James.

It's that Malone and O'Neal can defend James' breakthrough.

Of course, Fisher and Payton are different.

Fisher defended James so well in the last game, mainly because James was really solid in the last game.

When Fisher defended James, he let James go even bigger.

Although there were O'Neal and Malone behind them, Fisher and Payton still let their shots go when they defended James. The reason is of course that the Nets' O'Neal and Malone were in the paint, while Carter and Richard Jefferson were crazy. to encircle and suppress Chen Xiao.

The Nets have a lot of space from the three-point line to the paint. If James successfully breaks through Fisher and Payton, it will be completely open.

James' shooting is not very good, but the Nets don't dare to give James too many complete openings.

In order to gain a greater advantage in the fourth quarter and establish a winning streak from the beginning, the Nets started off Payton and put Fisher on. This was the Nets' opportunity.

This is also an opportunity for the Cavaliers.

"LeBron, I hope you can take more than 30 shots in this game, especially in the first three quarters. I hope you can take at least 8 shots in each quarter. Except for Chen, you don't have to pass to Tyson and Darius. ball."

"Resolute, resolute, strong!"

"LeBron, you are the King. Only you can bring God down from heaven!"

Before this battle, the player Carlisle focused on stimulating was Xiao Zhan.

From the beginning of Diop to the current Xiao Zhan, except for Chen Xiao, Carlisle has almost stimulated these young players of the Cavaliers.

I have to say that Carlisle's eloquence is really amazing.

Xiao Zhan was so excited that he howled.

Xiao Zhan, who had always been very resistant to shooting training, no longer performed the dunk training that Xiao Zhan thought was cool at the training ground, but changed all training to shooting training.

"The feeling of the hand is God's business. Whether I can hit the open shot is my business!"

"If I can hit all the open shots in the next game, then I can bring God down from heaven!"

I am the only King in the world who can communicate with God!

"Xiao Chen, am I right?"

"Yes, but Xiao Zhan, I think you should be more familiar with pull-up jump shots."

"Xiao Zhan, your pull-up jump shot doesn't need to be so urgent. You can pause and aim."

Chen Xiao, who guided Xiao Zhan in shooting practice, said with a smile.

Xiao Zhan's eyes lit up and he nodded repeatedly.

In order to win the G5 Tianwangshan battle with the Nets, the Cavaliers are now preparing with confidence.

On April 28, 2004, the evening of the Cavaliers' away game against the Nets, the Continental Center Arena in New Jersey.

At this time, there were 20,000 spectators at the scene, commentators from various countries on the sidelines, major media in the United States, and NBA players, coaches and celebrities in front of the TV.

Everyone is already looking forward to it.

The way the Cavaliers and Nets played in the playoffs has far exceeded everyone's expectations.

Even Pat Riley, who always believed that the Cavaliers could cause a lot of trouble for the Nets before the matchup, did not expect the Cavaliers to cause so much trouble for the Nets.

"The Cavaliers are really favored by God in this series."

Pat Riley said with envy when he thought about the way the Cavaliers had won the past four games.

In this playoffs, the Eastern Conference really made him complain.

The Nets, the No. 1 team in the Eastern Conference and the strongest team in history, beat the Cavaliers. It seemed that the Cavaliers had been cornered and wanted to defeat them.

Third in the Eastern Conference, the Pacers, who were blacklisted last season, were tied 2-2 by the 76ers after four games. They seemed to be in dire straits and were about to be blacklisted again.

The Heat, who are fourth in the Eastern Conference, are playing against the Pistons, who are fifth in the Eastern Conference. In his opinion, this series is absolutely within his grasp, but it actually ended in a 2-2 tie. He really looked at the Pistons a little bit. Well, this civilian weak chicken team turned out to be a big bad wolf.

Even for the Magic, which is second in the Eastern Conference, and the Raptors, which is seventh in the Eastern Conference, Duncan and Tracy McGrady's Magic had a very difficult time in G4 before narrowly defeating the Raptors led by Nash, and the score was 3-1.

Although the Raptors are 1 to 3 behind, the Raptors have a chance to tie the score to 2 to 2 in G4, as long as Marshall makes the three-pointer that can kill the Magic in the end.

It can be said that after Chen Xiao led the Cavaliers to defeat the Nets in G1, this season's Eastern Conference playoffs became as toxic as a virus.

Of course, the most poisonous pairing is of course the Cavaliers and Nets.

"If we can easily defeat the Pistons and advance, and the Cavaliers and Nets play like this, it will be perfect for us!"

It's a pity that in this series between the Heat and the Pistons, the Heat also had a hard time, not as easy as the Nets.

This made Pat Riley sigh.

In fact, Larry Brown was also sighing at this time and watching the game between the Cavaliers and Nets.

At this time, the starting lineups of the Cavaliers and Nets were already shown on TV.

Playing at home, the Nets' starters are center O'Neal, power forward Malone, small forward Richard Jefferson, shooting guard Carter, and point guard Fisher.

In the away game, the Cavaliers' starters are center Diop, power forward Chandler, small forward Darius Miles, shooting guard Chen Xiao, and point guard James.

Judging from the starting lineups of the two teams, the starting lineups of the two teams in this game are exactly the same as the starting lineups in the previous G4 game.

However, in fact, this game is completely different from the previous game.

At the beginning of the game, the two teams jumped the ball. Chandler once again defeated O'Neal and the jump ball was successful. The Cavaliers started the first offense of the game.

In the Cavaliers' first attack of this game, the Cavaliers did not focus on Chen Xiao as usual.

After Chen Xiao took away the defense of Carter and Richard Jefferson through his own movement, James faced Fisher who was half a step away, bullied him directly and leaned on Fisher, and then used his body to Power and dribbling relied on Fisher's back to turn and break through Fisher.

Compared with Payton's current defensive ability or Fisher, which one is better?

It's hard to say.

After all, Payton currently lacks athletic ability.

But when it comes to defending James, Payton is still better.

Better height, more strength, more experience.

James' breakthrough is a tank breakthrough. Players with insufficient athletic ability like Payton and Bowen have ways to achieve tank breakthroughs after all.

But for the sake of offense, Phil Jackson could only make such changes.

The Cavaliers were caught off guard in the last game. They established a 12-point advantage in the first quarter and blindsided the Cavaliers.

Although these young people in the Cavaliers are brave, it is still to no avail. James, who suddenly became the main attacker in the last game, played very poorly with his hand feeling sluggish, and ultimately dragged down the Cavaliers.

In this game, it will be difficult for the Nets to win as easily as they did in the previous game.

but!

Bang!

After James broke through Fisher, neither Carter nor Richard Jefferson went back to help defend. Malone did go out to help defend, but it was too slow, and Malone would not help defend too far, at least not allowing James to break through. Chance.

This allows James to have a lot of space and time to shoot in the mid-range and long-range two-point positions.

At least when Fisher stood in front of James again, James was absolutely vacant.

Bang!

James glanced at the emergency stop before Fisher came up and hit the iron!

Seeing James' first attack iron, Phil Jackson breathed a sigh of relief.

James' score in this game will definitely be better than the previous game.

This is for sure.

But James' shooting can't kill anyone!

At the very least, it can’t kill the Nets!

In the end, the worst situation for the Nets is just to fight the Cavaliers at the last moment.

And the Nets are still the one in the lead.

"I absolutely don't believe that justice must believe in evil nonsense."

"I don't want you to think about it or believe it either."

"Miller's time has been used up by God. Now, God has no time to give the Wonder Boy. Therefore, you don't need to have any pressure. The Nets will win!"

This is what Phil Jackson said to the Nets players on the brink of despair before the game.

The effect is outstanding!

When F7 was formed, the whole world was paying attention to the seven star players of F7. As for Phil Jackson...

Many people think that the Nets can win the championship this season if he is replaced by Grandma O'Neal.

Facts have proved that everyone still underestimates the nine-time champion coach.

Without him, the Nets may have collapsed in this playoffs.

And now the Nets...

On the court, when the Nets were attacking, Fisher lobbed the ball to O'Neal. This time, O'Neal didn't use any tricks or tricks. Taking advantage of Diop's defensive posture not being fully in place, he grabbed the ball and almost directly hit Diop. This is A very expensive way to play.

Even O'Neal can't do it a few times in a game now.

But this time, there was a bang!

O'Neal directly knocked Diop away, and dunked with both hands hanging on the frame!

2 to 0!

O'Neal's incredible shark-like attack made the Nets fans at the scene exclaim.

After O'Neill scored, he ignored Diop, who was defeated by him, and ran directly in front of Chen Xiao, yelling at Chen Xiao.

“God’s gift to you is over, your moment is gone!”

"Now, it's my moment!"

ps: This is the first update today.