The rest is just noise

The Knicks, who have won 66 games, have full home-court advantage in the playoffs.

Behind them are the Portland Trail Blazers with 64 wins, the Los Angeles Lakers with 62 wins and the Boston Celtics with 60 wins.

There are two 60-win teams in the East and West at the same time, and they are the top four chasing the championship this year.

Ironically, the least favored team is also the No. 1 ranked team.

There are many reasons why the Knicks are not favored. They are too young and immature, their best player is plagued by injuries, their best shooter is in trouble off the court, and their two most reliable players are a second-year player and a rookie.

The Knicks' first-round opponent is interesting.

Sixers from Philadelphia.

The interesting thing about this matchup is not the suspense of the series, but the players on both sides.

There are three former Knicks players in the 76ers' set.

In last year's offseason, the Knicks sent away many rookies, and they all ended up miraculously coming together in Philadelphia.

In addition, there is a gimmick in the first round.

That's the endgame for "Dr.J" Julius Erving.

He has decided to retire at the end of the season, which means that the 76ers will enter a new era.

April 24, 1987

Game 1 of the first round of the Eastern Conference playoffs

As always, former Knicks players from the 76ers came to say hello to Louis.

"Coach, you shouldn't trade me." Tony Campbell missed the days when he was praised to the sky even though he was a good player in the Knicks.

"Probably shouldn't be"

Campbell's style of play and attributes are destined to become a commodity sold by Louis.

Louis has never regretted trading Campbell. He proved in the 76ers that he really needed the Knicks' system.

He mistakenly believed that the Knicks also needed him, but in fact, that was not the case.

"Coach, I won't be polite." Gerald Wilkins was both grateful and disgusted with Louis.

Because Louis traded him.

When he met A.C. Green, Louis' first words were: "Did you save your virginity?"

"Of course." A.C responded.

"Congratulations." Louis patted him on the shoulder, "Come on."

This game is also Kevin McHale's comeback battle.

He had resumed high-intensity training at the end of the regular season and could play games at any time, but Louis forced him to rest until the playoffs before returning.

Against the Knicks, the 76ers started to have a headache from the matchup.

Cheeks vs. Stockton, Gerald Wilkins vs. Dale Ellis, Dr. J. vs. Wilson, A.C. vs. McHale, Sam Bowie vs. Ewing.

"The suspense of this series is huh"

The partner CBS was responsible for commentating on this game was the classic Barry and Russell.

Speaking of the suspense of the series, it is difficult for Barry to say without conscience that there is any suspense in this series.

"The suspense is whether the Doctor can limit Benj's youthful vitality." Russell came to the rescue for him.

"Yes, this is very important."

They have started talking nonsense.

Before McHale was injured, Wilson averaged 20 points, 6 rebounds and 4 assists per game.

Then, in the remaining 20 games, he averaged 25 points, 7 rebounds and 6 assists per game, abruptly increasing his scoring average to 21.5 points per game.

Wilson is an all-around wing that can survive in any era, and that's exactly where the Doctor is limited.

At the beginning of the game, Wilson's running tactics easily penetrated the doctor's defense.

Since the game had just begun and the doctor was very physical, he wanted to make things difficult for this young man with a promising future.

As a result, Wilson had become accustomed to the movement of the N.UCLA system during Ellis' hip-stretching game. At this time, he took the lead and ran an Exhange Riky (high dynamic attack) to get rid of the doctor, catch the ball, and shoot.

5 to 0

These 5 points were all scored by Wilson.

The Knicks players are gradually proving why the 76ers' senior players were traded.

Wilson was far stronger than Campbell, and the scene of him ravaging the doctor in a fancy way made the MSG fans feel sorry for the visiting team members.

It is too difficult for a 37-8-year-old veteran to be beaten so violently by young people.

Wilson produced a spark at the beginning, followed by McHale's fancy 2High Japanese P mismatch play.

McHale, who had just come back, caught Wilkins' misplacement, Cheeks' misplacement, and Doc's misplacement.

Not a single possession was defended by the 76ers' interior line.

Later, the 76ers' defense was in a stage where they were basically throwing themselves at each other. McHale took no chances and made 5 of 6 shots. The Knicks scored 42 points in a single quarter, launching a chilling attack wave.

"The Knicks have made good use of mismatch advantages. On the contrary, the 76ers always have gaps in their matchups. If they find them, they will target them. For example, in a certain round, Benj suddenly faced Mo (Cheeks), and others opened up the space.

, so close to the basket, one defense and one defense, the 76ers were half a beat too slow this time to help defend."

"So, it can be said that the 76ers were destroyed by the Knicks' offense. Don't think that the Knicks' shooting percentage is incredible. The 76ers' matchup arrangements, defense changes, misplaced protection, and assist defense rotations were a mess. They caught up again.

The opponent's touch was online, and our own offense lacked stable means, so the game was unwatchable."

Barry wanted to say he was broken, but it didn't feel right.

He said "I can't watch this game", but it was actually something more serious than "it collapsed".

Fans are used to it, these two people have been talking nonsense since the beginning.

In the next three quarters, the 76ers never saw hope.

The reason is very simple. Louis is very "lazy" sometimes. If he is sure that he has a move that his opponent can't break, then he will use infinite Tsukuyomi on his opponent to torture him until the end of the game.

In the era of weak three-point lines, if the opponent is a team that is not good at shooting, he will ruthlessly let go of all long-distance two-pointers and three-pointers and defend the penalty area. There is no team that can kill him.

The 76ers' players traded by Louis, especially the wings, basically have short ranges.

In addition, Dr. J himself does not pose much of a threat as long as he stays away from the free throw line in actual combat.

Louis grasped this point when his athletic ability was still at its peak and suggested that Bill Fitch use a pocket formation to defeat him.

Looking back, the 1981 Eastern Conference Finals is the reason why all teams use pocket formations today.

If basket-rushing monsters like Dr.

Even Magic and Jordan were forced to practice three-pointers in advance. The situation was stronger than others.

The difficulty of the 76ers' offense is visible to the naked eye. The Knicks resolutely chose not to retreat, and the pocket formation was firmly entrenched, which required the 76ers to not miss the mid-to-long-range jumper. As a result, Cheeks and Gerald Way could only

Elkins came to shoot, but neither of them were superstars who could end the suspense of the series in this way. They had no opportunities off the ball, and the limitations brought by the lack of outside threats also determined that it was impossible for the 76ers to catch up.

Throughout the fourth quarter, Louis rested McHale and Ewing and used the inside combination of Artis Gilmore and Oakley.

On the outside, Hornacek, Curry, and Rodman were also tried as partners.

As a result, the 76ers only recovered 4 points more.

The result is destined.

123 to 94

In Game 1, the 76ers were defeated by 29 points.

"This is one of the worst losses of my career." Dr. J forgot that there were at least two more games in this series.

"I plan to have everyone play in this series," Louis told reporters.

Then, an Asian face appeared among the reporters.

"Including Song Tao?" the other party asked in English with a strong accent.

Louis knew that reporters from China were beginning to go to the United States to report.

How many years earlier was this than he thought?

In his memory, Chinese reporters came to the United States to follow the game live, and they probably had to wait until Wang Zhizhi landed in the NBA.

It's 1987 now.

Because of Louis, this event was brought forward at least 15 years.

"Coach Lu, what role do you think Song Tao will play in this series?"

A typical Chinese reporter, Louis can imagine that D'Antoni in 2018 would be very upset if a reporter asked him, "What role do you think Qi will play in the playoffs?"

This kind of question falls into the category of "as long as I'm not embarrassed, you will be the one who is embarrassed."

"He will be a 'sing a victory song' type of character." Louis said, "When he appears on the stage, you will hear Madison playing the song of victory live."

Louis wanted to say "human victory cigar", but he was worried that this sentence would be misinterpreted, so he said it more mysteriously.

The other party was very happy and it seemed like an acceptable answer.

Well, he finally got over it. If he asked a few more embarrassing questions to Louis, Louis would have to step on Ewing's feet and make him tell a cold joke that made everyone present uncomfortable. This created a scene where everyone was happy.

A very uncomfortable world.

Back in the locker room, Louis didn't say much, and the players wouldn't celebrate. They knew that this game was just the beginning, and there was no need to be happy.

Their goal is not the first round, not even the second round.

The Knicks set their sights on the Celtics early on. Even though no one was optimistic about it, including Louis himself, who thought it was too late, they still had to challenge to see the gap.

The Celtics' combat effectiveness in the playoffs is very different from that in the regular season.