The rest is just noise

Chapter 1,494 I am the world champion, you are just NBA champions. Many unexpected things happened in the 2001 NBA playoffs.

The most unexpected thing was the implosion of the Lakers.

In the first two games of the Western Conference Finals, the Lakers won by double-digit scores and took a 2-0 lead. In the third game, the situation suddenly changed.

Don Nelson suddenly focused his attack on the Lakers' strongest point - the inside line. The Lakers' inside line is definitely the strongest in the league.

Starting with Kevin Garnett and Ben Wallace, this interior pairing ensured suffocating defensive pressure. On the bench were Karl Malone, Rashard Lewis and Brad Miller.

No matter what style of insider they encounter, they can find a player that matches them.

Coupled with the fact that Kobe and Artest are both very defensive players, the Lakers have become the only strong defensive team in the regular season. Although many people are not optimistic about their playoff journey, they are undoubtedly the best.

Teams that match the version.

What the Lakers didn't expect was that the Mavericks, who suddenly changed their style of play and relied on short attacks and long attacks, found a way out. Nowitzki's 42 points and 10 rebounds in a single game defeated Garnett, who claimed to be the best in the world.

Bodilloga and Nash played endless roll call on the left and right sides, playing the Lakers' inside line. When the wind is going smoothly, it is easy to unite as a team.

But if there's a dilemma like tonight, it's hard to say.

The reason why the Lakers are the thickest in the league is that most people are dissatisfied with their tactical status. Garnett is the only one who is content with the status quo.

Malone thought he was here to assist Garnett and Kobe, but he was actually assigned to come on the bench?

Miller and Lewis's demands were more direct. This was their contract year, so they could only serve as substitutes, but they were not allowed to start. They even picked up strong players like Malone from the free market and returned them to further reduce their playing time.

Winning results in the regular season can cover up the darkness of people's hearts, but the playoffs are the place where conflicts are most likely to explode. A defeat will allow some people to find opportunities.

Malone said euphemistically: "The pursuit of ultimate defense will put us into a dilemma of playing less and more on the offensive end."

When the Mavericks tied the score, Larry Bird took the starting position, let Garnett play the five position, and let Malone start. Malone, who can take into account both defense and comprehensive offensive skills, helped the Lakers win.

Tianwang Mountain.

In Game 6 of the Western Conference Finals, Kobe missed the key shot that killed the game, and the series entered a tiebreaker. "I can't wait to go to the finals and tell Ti that he stole my MVP." Before the start of Game 7 of the Western Conference Finals,

Bodiloga told reporters.

Not long ago, the MVP was announced.

People who participated in the voting did not believe that Kobe and Garnett had MVP-level strength. Duncan was elected as the MVP of this season with a very high vote rate. Duncan's election as MVP means that the Generation of Miracles has harvested all the top honors that can be harvested this year.

Except for Nash, the other four players were all selected to the first team, and Nash himself was selected to the third team. Except for Nash and Bodiloga, the other three players were all selected to the first defense.

Now, Duncan has won the MVP trophy again.

He became the second member of the Generation of Miracles to be elected MVP after Bodilloga. Louis' past predictions are being fulfilled one by one.

Duncan, who was elected MVP, led the Heat to an unstoppable run in the Eastern Conference Finals.

The Knicks obviously have an excellent lineup, but they lost in five games.

"The Lakers team that swept everything didn't disappear." Knicks coach Rudy Tomjanovich said, "They were just brought to Miami by Tim Duncan." The Heat, who advanced early, were able to wait and wait for the birth of the Western Conference.

This year's winner.

In the seventh game, the Lakers proved one thing.

Maybe they're not ready yet, but sticking to the principle of defense first is the right thing to do.

Their defense allowed the Mavericks to perform below average, and even Bodiloga's 35-point triple-double was of no avail. The Lakers had an overwhelming lead in rebounds, steals, blocks and other statistics.

In the end, the Lakers defeated the Mavericks by 16 points, advancing to the finals with a 4-3 score.

After passing the Mavericks, the number of fans advocating for the Lakers began to increase, and the media wanted to see them win five consecutive championships. Judging from the roster, the Heat were obviously weaker than the Lakers.

This is why Louis never cared about outside public opinion.

Judging from the paper lineup, how could the 11-year Heat lose to the 11-year-old Mavericks? But it just happened, didn't it?

Card strength is only part of competitive sports, and there are many factors that determine success or failure far beyond the competition itself. Compared with the Lakers, the Heat's maturity and stability are too good.

In the first game of the finals, the Heat won with stability.

The Lakers, who blindly pursued speed and bet on the defensive end, tried to defeat the Heat through a large number of defensive counterattacks, but encountered the Heat's perfect game. The perfect game is a concept proposed by Billy Donovan.

This season, the NBA averages 14 turnovers per game.

Since the statistics of turnovers were introduced, the highest turnover rate in the NBA has been only 16 per game in a season.

Donovan's concept of a perfect game is that if a team has an above-average offensive performance with less than 5 turnovers in a single game, it can be called a perfect game.

Tonight, the Heat scored 118 points and only committed 4 turnovers.

After that, the Lakers relied on the sheer strength of their roster to win two of the first four games of the finals.

Although the two sides were tied 2-2 after four games, the Heat seemed to be the better team. They always had a double-digit advantage in the games they won, while the Lakers won two games with a point difference of no more than 4.

point.

The most dramatic fifth game, the suspense of the game was maintained until the last 6 seconds.

The two sides were tied and the Heat had the ball. Liu Yuqing missed a three-pointer and a long rebound popped up. Under Duncan's fight, the rebound flew to Liu Yuqing's position.

In the last 6 seconds, Liu Yuqing caught the ball and shot in one go, as fast as lightning, the lights turned red, the ball went in, and the buzzer-beater beat the Lakers, helping the Heat win the battle at Tianwang Mountain, with a big score of 3-2.

At this moment, all Americans watching the game remembered how the Chinese killed them in the Olympics.

"If one day I have to choose a person to use shooting to save my life, I will choose this person without hesitation!" Laimbeer exclaimed excitedly, "He is so cold that he is not like a human being. The buzzer-beater is so cruel to him.

There is no pressure, look at his face, there is no expression, how terrible! Smile, Jiang Duo, for the sake of God, smile!"

Louis took a break from his busy schedule and watched Game 6 between the Heat and the Lakers.

In the last 6 seconds, when Duncan moved the ball towards Liu Yuqing's position, he felt that the Lakers were about to be defeated.

Whether it was the cold-blooded shooter during the Lakers era, or the Oriental lunatic who personally extinguished the fifty stars of the United States in the Olympics, or tonight, after missing the last ball, he could still adjust his body to the best within 6 seconds without changing a look.

A killer who can seal his throat with a sword, Liu Yuqing can always bring a sense of peace of mind to his supporters.

How strong is that sense of security?

As long as he catches the ball at the critical moment, everyone will be relieved. He is so reliable!

Seeing the Lakers in decline, with Miller, Lewis and others still blaming each other, Louis thought to himself, it's over.

The Lakers have the strongest lineup, but the position distribution is too deformed. For a novice coach like Bird, this problem is too difficult. If their opponent is not a team with perfect chemistry like the Heat, maybe they can use

Hard power wins.

Two days later, the Heat, in peak condition and morale, won the cup at home. Moreover, an interesting thing happened within the Heat team.

When the Heat players returned to the locker room and found that the tactical board had written "Welcome back, world champion!", Liu Yuqing went up and erased "World Champion" and changed it to "NBA Champion."

"Jiang Duo, what are you doing?" Duncan asked cheerfully.

Liu Yuqing hummed: "I am the world champion, you are just NBA champions."