The rest is just noise

"I admit that New York has the advantage in the series. Losing 47 points in a single game is shameful, but do they want to play again and even win more than tonight?"

"Haha, I can tell you clearly, it's impossible, absolutely impossible!"

The next day, Hornets coach Alan Bristow responded to Louis' harsh words that he would continue to set the Hornets' record for most points lost in a single game.

Besides him, there were others on the Hornets who responded.

For example, Larry Johnson, this strong man who looked extraordinary, said slightly angrily: "Coach Lu's words not only insulted us, but also insulted Charlotte. If they can beat us by 50 points, I will retire."

!”

Since the next two games will be played at the Hornets' home court, the two sides are already at odds with each other, and Louis' words will inevitably cause the Knicks to suffer a lot of ill will on the road.

However, Louie couldn't help laughing when Larry Johnson said he would retire if he lost.

He recalled what RNG's top laner Xiaohu said before a regular season game in the summer of the S10 Summer Split.

The general meaning is the same as Larry Johnson, retire when you lose.

In the end, RNG really lost, but Xiaohu did not retire, so there is no need to consider whether Larry Johnson's ruthless words of betting on retirement are possible.

In the words of the Hornets' retort to Louis, it's impossible, absolutely impossible.

Instead, it was Larry Johnson's words that brought more attention to this game.

The Hornets players expressed their determination one after another.

Glenn Rice said he will play the next game as the most important game of his career.

Rex Chapman believes that their strength may not be as good as the Knicks, but as long as they work together, it is not impossible to win, let alone lose by 50 points.

Only veteran Dale Ellis did not support Larry Johnson.

It is not news that Ellis and the young players of the Hornets are not dealing with each other. Regarding this turmoil, his view is: "Unless I feel good and take 30 shots, we will not be able to stop New York."

Moreover, Ellis is a famous Louis flute player.

"Although many people don't believe that we will lose by 50 points in Game 3, including myself, but historically speaking, Coach Lu will always get what he wants."

This is similar to Durant's famous saying "Looking at history, the brave always lose".

But no one took his words seriously.

Before the start of Game 3, the league first announced the winners of major awards in the regular season.

First, the best lineup: Jordan, Drexler, Wilson, Manning, Sampson.

Best second team: Petrovic, Pippen, Barkley, Malone, Olajuwon.

All-Pro Third Team: Price, Dumars, (Larry) Johnson, Gathers, Ewing.

Best Defensive Team: Dumars, Jordan, Wilson, Rodman, Olajuwon.

All-Defensive Second Team: Pippen, Marley, Kemp, Robinson, Ewing.

DPOY: Rodman.

Sixth Man of the Year: Clifford Robinson.

Head Coach of the Year: Billy Donovan.

General Manager of the Year: Lewis Shafir.

Since Louis entered the professional basketball circle in 1978, he has never seen a more competitive season than this year.

Although Sampson is still young, apart from occupying a pit, his defense is no longer comparable to Olajuwon and Ewing, and even Mutombo is better than him.

Even though Sampson still averages 2.8 blocks per game, except for protecting the rim, his sweeping area has dropped significantly.

In the playoffs, Sampson is still the first offensive and defensive center, but his physical fitness is no longer enough to sustain him through the long regular season.

Therefore, if you want to survive the regular season smoothly, you have to make trade-offs on both offense and defense.

Just like Kareem Abdul-Jabbar back then, Sampson's first deterioration was defense, followed by rebounding.

You can see from the shortlist of the best team how inward the Eastern Conference is.

Three All-NBA teams, 15 players, 10 from the Eastern Conference.

However, even though the alliance has taken care of everyone as much as possible, there are still voices of dissatisfaction.

The media that made this noise came from New York.

They have two dissatisfactions.

Ewing is not in a double lineup? Why does that old Sampson occupy a hole?

How is Olajuwon better than Ewing?

Ewing fell to the third team and the New York media was outraged.

But the alliance’s arrangement makes sense.

Due to the addition of new stars like Yu Tiancan and the growth of Kemp, Rodman once again led the league in rebounding. Ewing's average per game this season dropped to 20.4 points and 9.6 rebounds.

Based on this data, being able to make the third team depends on the Knicks' second ranking in the league and the geographical superiority of New York City.

Otherwise, the Suns' Doherty and the Magic's super rookie O'Neal are both qualified to replace Ewing.

Therefore, the New York media's criticism of Ewing is purely protective and is not justified.

In addition to complaining about Ewing, they also complained about Kemp.

They believe that Kemp can at least make the third team. Why should Larry Johnson, a bastard, make the third team? Both head-to-head confrontations in the semifinals were crushed by Kemp.

The Alliance has always ignored such afterthoughts.

After all, except for FMVP, other NBA awards are based on regular season performance. If someone has to be awarded because of his outstanding performance in the playoffs, what about some MVPs who were crushed in the first round?

What's unreasonable about this matter is that the NBA only has awards for the regular season, not the playoffs.

There is an All-NBA team in the regular season, and there should be one in the playoffs, and the All-NBA team in the playoffs should be more valuable than the regular season, just like the playoff performance is far more valuable in the eyes of fans than the regular season performance.

However, half a century has passed and the Alliance has never entertained this idea.

Interestingly, even if the media is calling him out, Kemp, the real owner, also believes that Larry Johnson has taken his place.

Before Game 3, the Knicks were on the road, but they were not low-key at all.

The media in Charlotte wanted to give Louis a chance to change his ways. After strong demonstrations by the fans, they asked Louis again if he still wanted to beat the Hornets by 50 points on the road.

"I want to congratulate the Hornets, you have a group of loyal fans, so I will look forward to tonight's game even more. I don't know if these fans will be as loyal as they are now after seeing the Hornets lose 50 points at home.

"

Kemp took advantage of Louis' success and told reporters: "I will prove that I am more worthy of the All-NBA team than some people."

Charlotteans are rightly outraged.

They don't know where the Knicks' confidence lies.

For the Hornets and their supporters, Game 2 was a surprise.

Just like Paul fans would not take the 58 tragedy as a big deal. If he hadn't signed a maximum salary with the popular Netherworld team and failed to perform as a maximum-paid player after the contract came into effect, 58 would not have become the "XX" in the basketball circle.

”.

That night, after the game started, Charlotte, filled with anger, wanted to forcefully stop the Knicks.

However, Louis put together a 5OUT lineup tonight with Rauf, Ainge, Miller, Wilson, and Kemp.

Although the Hornets' plan is to use the traditional skills (melee combat) of the Eastern Conference's strong teams to lower the Knicks' shooting percentage.

But 5OUT specializes in all kinds of low-energy defense.

Useless melee fighting will only create loopholes in the defense line.

This night, every time the Knicks initiated a strategy, the Hornets' two wings would miss someone.

Miller felt hot, scoring 4 three-pointers in a single quarter, 7 three-pointers in the half, and 11 three-pointers in the game. He scored a game-high 46 points in front of former world No. 1 shooter Dale Ellis.

At the same time, this is also Miller's highest score in a single game in the playoffs.

During the game, after the Hornets' physical defense failed, they wanted to use their inside advantage to put pressure on the Knicks.

As long as the inside can establish a dominant advantage, the Knicks will have to give up the 5OUT lineup.

As a result, Wilson and Kemp proved that they were worthy of being selected to the All-Defensive Team.

Especially Kemp, as the center of the 5OUT lineup, he not only guarded Song Tao to death, but also built an insurmountable no-fly zone on the defensive end.

The effect of Wilson's guest appearance at the small-ball fourth position is also unexpected.

Whether it was grabbing rebounds or sweeping high, he performed as well as Kemp and Rodman in the fourth position.

Larry Johnson, who claimed that he would retire if he lost by 50 points tonight, improved his statistics to 23 points and 15 rebounds in garbage time, but it was no use.

Wasps are humiliating.

Because not only can they not decide their own life or death, they can't even control the points they lose.

When the point difference reaches 51 points, the Knicks will score a three-pointer to bring the lead to 52 points, and then let the Hornets easily score a two-pointer, so the point difference reaches 50 points.

Still remember how in the famous Japanese fantasy sports animation "Kuroko and His Harem", Teiko humiliated his opponent in the last battle in junior high school? In order to keep the score at the number they wanted, they took the initiative to help their opponent score.

ball.

Louis is a quality person. He will not let players deliberately shoot at his own basket in order to control 50 points. That would be too bad for his character.

But it was precisely their failure to shoot at their own basket that made the process of controlling points more humiliating for Charlotteans than losing by 50 points.

Before the end of the game, the Hornets' home audience was completely empty.

When the final whistle sounded, less than 5% of the fans witnessed the result of the game.

132 to 82

The Knicks defeated the Hornets by 50 points, once again setting the opponent's single-game point loss record.

At the end of the game, the Hornets players were in a daze.

Only Ellis looked like "I knew it would be like this". He dismissed the reporter's interview application with disdain and left alone.

Alan Bristow did not expect that Louis' revenge methods would be so fierce, showing no mercy at all, and simply stepping on their faces.

"I just want to know," Louis asked the reporter, suppressing a smile, "where will Larry Johnson's retirement ceremony be held?"