Chapter 455: Western Conference Finals

There was no dark horse in the second round.

The Eastern Pistons won the Pacers 4:1, and the 76ers fought the Celtics 4:3 to reach the tiebreaker, and both advanced to the Eastern Conference Finals with the Pistons.

But judging from the regular season match records between the two teams, the Pistons won the four games against the 76ers 3:1. The style was relatively restrained. The Pistons dominated the inside line, while the 76ers' outside level was only average. Now they are all Optimistic about the Pistons advancing to the finals.

In the West, first the Lakers captured the Spurs 4-0, and Yao, who had completed the integration with Kobe, showed his absolute strength beyond that of another world. He steadily suppressed Duncan on both offense and defense for the first time, and obtained Yao. With the help of famous players, Kobe seemed to have completely released himself and entered his peak period ahead of schedule.

He averaged 35+ points per game, and in the last game, with Yao Ming's rebound protection, he scored 49 points, setting a new personal playoff scoring record. He was unstoppable, and with his style of play, he has become Quite a bit like the real Jordan.

This made Kobe Bryant gain a lot of fans, and also gave the Lakers a feeling of returning to their peak. Currently, they have become the biggest favorite to win the championship.

The Sonics continued to beat the Mavericks 4-0 without saying a word.

Lin Dong averaged a triple-double of 46.5 points, 14 assists and 11 rebounds per game, continuing to renew his myth of 40+ triple-doubles in the playoffs, and then became popular with a line from an old Stephen Chow movie - don't get me wrong. , I don’t mean to target anyone, I mean everyone here is LJ!

It is said on the Internet that Lin Dong said this as a joke, but in fact, how could Lin Dong say such a thing.

It first became popular on the Internet in Dragon Kingdom, and then quickly spread to the Internet in the United States, and even became popular in the entire world.

And it was precisely because of this line that was circulated by an unknown person and linked to Lin Dong that he was suddenly pushed to the forefront, causing a lot of trouble before the Western Conference Finals arrived.

——Lin Dong’s words are too disrespectful to Dayao. After all, they are all in the same national team.

——I hope to see the Lakers win the championship... I don't mean to target the SuperSonics, I just want to see Lin Dong lose once.

——Is it better for the SuperSonics to win three consecutive championships? The first dynasty team with our Dragons as the core.

——It doesn’t matter. It’s not bad for Kobe and Yao to win the championship. Yao hasn’t won a championship yet. He works so hard and there is still hope for this year.

This is the voice of Longguo Internet, which is relatively neutral.

For Lin Dong and Yao Ming, the support rate of Dragon Kingdom fans was originally about 73, but after that line came out, it was almost 50-50.

After all, the fact that Lin Dong married a "Japanese wife" and recognized a bunch of "Japanese brothers" is very unpopular in China. What's more, Dayao became famous earlier and has more loyal and die-hard fans.

Of course, for the sake of three consecutive championships and the energy of young fans and female fans, even if Lin Dong is more controversial, he can still maintain a 50-50 support rate.

But on the Internet across the United States, there are more and more voices that are unhappy with Lin Dong.

——Does this mean that Kobe Bryant and Yao Ming are also trash? This guy is too crazy. Michael was not as crazy as him back then!

——It’s only two consecutive championships, so it’s amazing how high the sky is. Michael has six championships! Kobe also has three consecutive championships!

——I feel like this Asian is becoming less and less cute.

——This guy is really good at being a big name. I heard that when Nike asked him to shoot an advertisement before, he was very perfunctory and didn't bother to go. In the last All-Star Slam Dunk Contest, he clearly voted for him, but he didn't even participate. Isn't this a big name?

——Come on, Lakers, kill the SuperSonics! Kill Lin Dong!

Frankly speaking, Lin Dong felt that this was instigated by someone with ulterior motives.

But to be honest, with Lin Dong's current temperament, he didn't care when he decided to marry Yuya. Will he still care about this sound now?

On the contrary, Zhou Xingchi, who was made famous twice in succession, took action. Before the Western Conference Finals, he called Lin Dong and wanted to prepare a basketball-related movie, "Kung Fu Basketball"!

Now his gold medal screenwriter Liu Zhenwei has almost finished the script, and a group of royal actors have all been negotiated. The filming will start at the end of this month. If Lin Dong is willing, he hopes that the offseason after the playoffs will arrive in August. During September, he took the time to make a guest appearance, and he was paid 10 million and given 5% of the film's net profit dividend.

Lin Dong was a little dumbfounded when he heard this. He never thought that he would one day enter the film and television industry.

Lin Dong still has a good impression of this comedy king who will go down in history in the Dragon Kingdom film industry. In addition, Stephen Chow often went to Seattle to watch SuperSonics games before, and the two of them were very familiar with each other.

Listening to Stephen Chow saying, "It's guaranteed to be fun, just treat it as a holiday", "Don't worry, no one will dare to yell at you when I yell at you", "It's just to promote Dragon Kingdom basketball", "I'll delay you for a week at most!" ’ The trick came down.

Anyway, during the offseason after the playoffs, Yuya was still in Atlanta with her panda mother. She was just pregnant there. Yuya was so overwhelmed with the baby that she wanted to sleep next to the panda cage at night. After picking up the phone, he jogged for a hundred meters and then whispered at the end of the corridor, for fear of disturbing the sleeping panda in the cage over there... Tsk, what a pity, Lin Dong, who originally wanted to have sex on the phone, also All I could do was say nothing.

As for the 2005 Doha Asian Championships, I had already agreed with Lao Li not to participate. La Liga would be in the off-season, so I had nothing to do, so I agreed to it. The filming time is scheduled to be from early to mid-August.

This small decision will not distract Lin Dong from the upcoming Western Conference Finals.

He has won many NBA championships, but the honor of a three-peat is the first time. It would be a lie to say that he doesn't value it.

The Lakers are really strong this season. The chemical reaction produced by the combination of Yao Ming and Kobe is far beyond the predictions of all parties before the season.

In the Western Conference, the Supersonics played against the Lakers four times in the regular season, with a record of two wins and two losses. It's not that the Supersonics are letting the Lakers down, but that the Lakers' inside line is too strong.

Not to mention the main center Yao Ming. After the upgrade with Kobe, Yao Ming originally formed the top three centers in the league with O'Neal and Duncan. But now O'Neal has been playing poorly one after another, and various disagreements with his teammates have made him gradually fall from the former No. 1 in the league to a clown-like role. The glory in people's minds is no longer there, and Duncan was completely suppressed by Yao Ming in the second round of the playoffs that just ended.

This makes Yao Ming have the momentum to stand out from the current top three centers and become the strongest center in the league. The only shortcoming is that the physical problem can never be solved. If he really wants to burst out with all his strength, or if he encounters the combination of Sakuragi Hanamichi and Chandler of the Supersonics, Yao Ming's physical strength is only enough to support three quarters, and the fourth quarter is almost certain to be poor.

But the Lakers' backup center, the braided coach Grant, perfectly makes up for this defect.

As the most diligent engineer player in the NBA, his functionality in the interior is quite outstanding. He is also a great player who has taken 20+ rebounds in a single game. With the third leader of the Lakers, the power forward Lamar Odom, who is known as the most comprehensive star in the NBA, he is enough to support the Lakers' interior with Odom when Yao Ming needs to rotate and rest, so as to ensure Yao Ming's most sufficient firepower.

Yao Ming, Odom, Grant, the Lakers' interior composed of these three people, even Duncan was suppressed. The Sonics, relying on the combination of Sakuragi Hanamichi and Chandler, are generally at an absolute disadvantage.

But the Sonics' outside line is stronger than the Lakers, and Lin Dong's personal ability is still stable. Kobe's first line.

One is strong inside, and the other is strong outside, which creates a balance for the two teams, and the regular season ended in a 2:2 tie.

But only Lin Dong knew that the Lakers could not win the game...

Although everyone did not give 100% of their efforts in the regular season, the Lakers just did not explode at most. But as for the Supersonics...the Supersonics in the playoffs and the regular season are two completely different teams.

Especially when facing a team like the Lakers that is challenging enough.

Since entering the state of returning to nature this season, to be honest, Lin Dong feels that he has never played with all his strength.

It is not about technology, physical explosion, etc., but about the choice of ball possession and the desire to win in the heart.

The so-called desire to win should not be misunderstood as "not wanting to win", but a feeling of not feeling danger and being calm in the heart.

Lin Dong knows that this is an improvement, but to be honest, he doesn't like it very much.

After all, his body is just in his early 20s, and his overly mature state of mind always makes him feel a little awkward, and he can't find the passion he once had on the court.

But this time in the Western Conference Finals, facing a truly threatening opponent, Lin Dong finally felt a little passionate.

May 22, 2004, God Arena in Seattle...

As the Western Conference Finals, which was regarded as the "finals stage" by all parties before the game, naturally attracted widespread attention from all media and fans.

The 2:2 score in the regular season and the current eight games in the playoffs, with neither team losing, made the predictions for this game evenly split.

Except for some personal comments, no real commentator dared to easily determine which side was stronger.

This suspenseful game also helped the NBA's ratings, which had been declining this year. The ratings in the United States exceeded 45 million for the first time this year, which is very close to the score when the Supersonics won the championship for the first time against the Wizards.

In Dragon Country and Asia, the ratings of the NBA have never dropped in the past two years. This year, the ratings of the finals in Dragon Country have exceeded 60 million before the first game. Including Japan and other Southeast Asian regions, the overall ratings exceeded 80 million, which has completely become the largest audience group in the NBA worldwide.

——Supersonics! Supersonics! Supersonics!

——GOD! GOD! GOD!

——Lin! Lin! Lin! Lin!

In the noisy stadium, Seattle fans were as enthusiastic as ever, cheering for the home team and their King Lin.

Both teams had just finished their appearances and warm-ups, and were making final preparations in the bench area.

The tactical arrangements and distributions that needed to be done had already been completed. All the Lakers players gathered together, holding hands and heads, and Kobe Bryant shouted loudly to everyone, making the final mobilization.

"The East is nothing to us. Beating the Supersonics means we have won the championship!"

"And if we want to beat the Supersonics, we must win the first game! If we can't show our momentum and suppress the momentum of the Supersonics, we will fall into a passive position!"

"Yao! The inside line is yours. When the red-haired guy comes around, Odom will support you at any time!"

"Chucky! Devin! Seal their perimeter and don't think Payton's three-pointer is bad. That old guy really dares to shoot now, and he really dares to score if left open!"

"... No matter how tired you are, no matter what other thoughts you have, put them all away,"

"This is the closest we are to winning the championship. If we break the Sonics dynasty, the championship will definitely be ours!"

"Championship! Championship! Championship!" Everyone followed him and shouted loudly: "The Lakers must win!"

"Ho! Roar! Roar!"

"We must win! We must win! We must win!"

"superior!"

Lakers starting five: No. 8 shooting guard Kobe Bryant, No. 11 center Yao Ming, No. 7 power forward Odom, No. 9 point guard Chucky Atkins, No. 3 small forward Devin George .

And the Sonics on the other side...

Although most of them are only third-year players in the league and can still be called newcomers, the team has won two consecutive championships and is aiming to defend three consecutive championships. The team's confidence is obviously very different from ordinary teams. anything else.

Everyone gathered together like the Lakers for the final pre-war mobilization, but the atmosphere was much more relaxed.

"Boss, are you coming?"

"Farke, are you kidding me? Haven't you been playing drums for the whole team in the past two seasons?"

"Mainly because my throat is a little dry today."

"Didn't you sleep well yesterday? Farke, didn't you? Didn't your wife go to Atlanta?"

"I was harassed by Bob yesterday. I talked to him on the phone all night. That guy is in trouble in New Jersey. Kidd..."

"What is this old guy thinking about? We have a game today, and we were on the phone with you for so long last night. Seriously, I'm going to scold him later, what are you doing..."

"Ahem, bosses, the game is about to start. Isn't this the time for small talk? We are mobilizing before the war. Everyone is waiting." Iguodala reminded the two team bosses in a dumbfounded voice. .

"That's right!" Sakuragi Hanamichi followed up and said, "Brother Takato, Lao Pei, let's do it quickly! After it's done, go home and spend time with your wife!"

Haruko was pregnant in early January and is now more than 4 months old. She has already begun to show her pregnancy. Sakuragi Hanamichi has recently canceled all team gatherings except for training. He spends time at home with his wife whenever he has time. "Accompanying his wife" has become his mantra.

Lin Dong looked at Payton with a smile, saying that his voice was hoarse and he didn't want to speak was just an excuse.

Payton, an old guy, will retire from the main force of the team next year. This team was built because of him, and this dynasty emerged because of him. Lin Dong just wants to leave him a final of good memories.

"Okay, okay, then I'll do it! I'll do it! The Sonics are still short of speaking, but what should I say?" Payton laughed and cleared his throat, thinking for three or four seconds: "MD I haven’t talked about this for a long time and I don’t even know what to say. Stop beeping and just do it!”

"Haha, yes! Just do it!"

"The SuperSonics will win!"

"superior!"

The SuperSonics starting five came out in high spirits.

No. 23 small forward Lin Dong, No. 7 center Chandler, No. 10 power forward Hanamichi Sakuragi, No. 9 shooting guard Iguodala, and No. 20 point guard Gary Payton!

Players from both sides took the field and took their positions, and the Western Conference Finals battle was about to begin.