The rest is just noise

Chapter 772: The end of the glorious Celts and the second generation of the Tragedian

In Game 5 of the 1991 Eastern Conference Finals, the Knicks failed to win as easily as expected.

The Celtics carried out fierce resistance and counterattack.

Bird's condition was not as good as in the previous game, but Sampson and Isiah Thomas were both at full capacity.

Especially Thomas.

His three-point shooting percentage has been below 30% all year round, but tonight he shot 50% from three-point range.

There was not a second of rest in the game. After Sampson fouled out and left the game, he scored 19 points in the fourth quarter and took the game to overtime.

Then, he played the full overtime and scored 6 of the Celtics' 8 points in overtime, but Ewing missed a tip-in with 0.4 seconds.

When Ewing added the ball in, the buzzer sounded.

Thomas fell to his knees, emotionally broken...

Isiah Thomas, who played 53 minutes and scored 50 points and 9 assists, gave everything he had for the Celtics in the last game of the 1990-91 season.

Winning the championship is the reason why Thomas stays with the Celtics.

But after losing the championship in 1988, he stayed for three more seasons.

Even if you had already made up your mind last summer and wanted to leave, at the beginning of the new season, when you see the team's good record, you won't talk about the trade anymore and will try your best to finish the season.

This is the difference between him and Barkley and Drexler, and it is also the key to the Celtics winning four consecutive championships from 1984-1987.

Bird is the GOAT, Sampson is the only gentleman, the only gentleman who dares to compete with The Lord of the Rings, Beidou, and Sky Gou. What about Thomas? Everyone will remember his smile and his insignificance when he was next to these two giants.

And his "selfishness" in requesting a trade in his final year.

Louis walked up to Thomas and helped him up.

Seeing Louis, Thomas's grievance and unwillingness had nowhere to hide.

"I've tried my best."

"I know, Isiah." Louis had mixed feelings. He never thought that one day, he would say to the smiling assassin sincerely, "You are a well-deserved Celtic glory."

Thomas pushed Louis away fiercely: "You are a Boston traitor! You are a deserter who gave up halfway! You don't know how I came here all these years, and you are not a real Celtic. You have no right to say that!"

Even Louis himself never thought about the impact he had on the Celtics, and how much trouble and pressure he brought to Thomas.

Louis burst out laughing when Thomas accused him of being a traitor and a deserter.

"Isiah, it's not up to you to decide what I mean to Boston. History will give me a fair evaluation. And you, I think from the bottom of my heart, you are the hero of Boston and this generation of Celtics."

"One of the three greatest players in the world, Larry is greater and Ralph is even better, but none of them can be ranked in front of you. Without any one of you, the Celtics will not be so great." Louis finally said.

, "I'm so proud of you, Isiah."

Thomas remembers Louis as a bastard who didn't approve of him at all.

He barely heard Louis say a few kind words to him.

So when Louis honestly commented on Thomas's 10 years in Boston, he had a reaction of shock, anger, and then refused to accept it or interact with anyone else on the Knicks without shaking his opponent's hand.

Exit.

Some people want to leave, but you can't stop them.

Louis asked everyone not to talk about Thomas's move of leaving the game without shaking hands and paid the Celtics the greatest respect.

There are many signs that this year is the final push for this generation of Celtics.

Thomas is determined to leave. He chooses to finish the season because he wants to have an end to the beginning.

If he can't win the championship, he won't stay.

Even if he held this idea, he overdrawn all his strength in this series.

There are many reports that Bird's old injury recurred in the series against the Knicks.

He needs rest and recuperation. If the series is extended, with Bird's temperament, he will definitely fight to the end.

Everyone knows the intensity of the Knicks' games, and it's hard to imagine what the consequences would be if Bird was in his current condition and had another head-to-head fight.

Sampson ended a historic season.

He won every honor except the championship.

At this time, in the Western Conference Finals, the Trail Blazers and Lakers were tied in the first four games.

In the Battle of Tianwang Mountain, Jordan used a free throw line jumper that froze time and beat Pippen's defense at the buzzer, giving the Trail Blazers a 3-2 lead.

However, Drexler was ineffective, Nance was injured, Schmitz was completely outplayed by David Robinson, and Clifford Robinson's soft-ball attributes in the playoffs were highlighted. The Trail Blazers did not have enough lineup depth in sixth place.

Game ends the series.

In the tiebreaker, we can completely see the difference in the understanding of the game between the tragedy maker and Jordan, as well as the difference in the degree of torture.

Jordan currently has no technical shortcomings.

The three-point threat spread from the top of the arc to the left and right wings, with a shooting rate of 35%.

But Jordan was not tortured by the Celtics like a tragic figure until he didn't know what else he could do.

The Trail Blazers' problems are simple, injuries and poor performance.

Facing the powerful Lakers, Jordan averaged 40 points per game and scored 38 points in the tiebreaker, which was lower than the series level.

On the opposite side, the tragedy maker scored a series-high 42 points, 11 rebounds and 18 assists, 5 of 7 three-pointers from outside, and Robinson also had an explosive output of 40 points in a single game.

The Tragedian understands better than Jordan where they win as a team.

If Jordan could cooperate more with Drexler, maybe he would understand, but in the end, he chose to believe in himself because the teammates who could help were either injured or the intensity of the game did not match the Lakers and could not provide help.

Watching two finals-level teams play like this in the conference finals, Louis felt very relieved.

116 to 109

The Lakers defeated the Trail Blazers by 7 points in the tiebreaker.

The 28-year-old Jordan put his hands on his hips and averaged 40 points, 10 rebounds, 8 assists and 3.3 steals in seven games. He was as confused as the tragic man.

Why can't he win despite being like this?

The Portland media ultimately placed the blame for the loss on Drexler, who averaged only 16 points per game in seven games.

They all agreed that if the Glider does its best in the series, the Blazers will advance to the finals.

Drexler also said something that raised questions about his work ethics.

"Since MJ enjoys everything, and the media also thinks he can handle everything, why do the people around him have to bear so much? Why is it that every time we lose, we are the ones who get scolded, and he has nothing wrong at all?"

The media used practical actions to tell Drexler the answer: "Yes."

The Lakers have a roster as good as the Knicks: Tragedy, David Robinson, Scottie Pippen, A.C Green, Derek McKay, Divac, Fat Leaver, Ed Pink

Nick, Jeff Hornacek, Sam Perkins.

However, their head coach is no longer Pat Riley.

At the end of last season, the Lakers announced that they would not renew Riley's contract.

Riley is currently dawdling as an announcer, planning his next comeback, while the Lakers' coaching job has fallen into the hands of rookie coach Mike Dunleavy.

Dunleavy has a characteristic: he has soft ears.

The reason why the billion-dollar Blazers he led did not achieve much was that, on the one hand, the big-name players introduced with heavy sums of money were past their prime, and on the other hand, Dunleavy, as the head coach, could not control the locker room and loved to shirk responsibility. If

When someone asks for playing time, he won't refuse because these people are famous guys.

As a result, the players on that team played very even minutes, but no one was satisfied.

Dunleavy succeeded in antagonizing everyone.

On a star-studded Lakers team, he made the exact same mistake.

Except for Tragedy and Robinson, everyone else's playing time is not guaranteed.

Even if the Lakers use their financial capabilities to make the team's paper lineup close to the Knicks, they cannot match the Knicks in terms of combat power.

The difference is most obvious in the first game.

In Game 1, Louis played an eleven-man rotation, used Jordan's rules to deal with the tragedy maker, and used the team's athletic ability to mark Hornacek to ensure that his outside touch could not continue to be online.

Let David Robinson eat the cake under the basket.

Today's Admiral is just like the little bully Stoudemire who averaged 38 points per game against the Spurs in the series.

His statistics completely surpassed Duncan's, but his team lost miserably because of it.

Because they were tactically shorted.

Except for Robinson, every other player on the Lakers was playing uncomfortable.

Looking back at the Knicks, Wilson is everywhere. After years of training by Louis, Ewing has grown into the most comprehensive defender in the league. Louis asked him to give up defending Robinson, and he devoted his energy to taking care of other Lakers players.

.

Then, Rodman showed his defensive impact as DPOY last season.

Every time Scottie Pippen tried to attack the basket, or Hornacek gave up his shot and broke through with the ball, he would bump into his defense.

Then there's the Knicks' bench ready to go.

Kemp led the second team to a devastating blow to the discordant Lakers second team. Reggie Williams selflessly controlled the transitional offense. Ainge was always strong and his shooting was accurate.

Both sides have 100-point lineups. The Knicks' chemical reaction is 100%, while the Lakers may be less than 70%.

In the first game of the Finals, the Knicks defeated the Lakers 124-109.

This game not only showed the strength of the Knicks, but also clearly demonstrated the gap between the two teams, and also hinted at the future of the series.

The tragedy of Elgin Baylor is beckoning to the tragedy master Nidaime.

Louis doesn't want to win four consecutive championships for the time being, he just wants to take a sip of Coke.

Zhao Yuanzheng prepared Coca-Cola astutely.

Louis took a drink and shouted for the whole game. He was instantly refreshed by the cold soda.