Chapter 42 Advance to the Western Conference Finals
Enemies are extremely jealous when they meet.
The Warriors players looked at Zhang Zhiyuan fiercely, but unfortunately it had no effect.
If he encountered a group of such ferocious enemies on the street, Zhang Zhiyuan might be a little scared, but this is an arena and there are a lot of referees and security guards.
No matter how vicious the Warriors players' eyes were, Zhang Zhiyuan knew that he was safe.
Zhang Zhiyuan was not affected at all, but the Warriors were a little too excited.
When Zhang Zhiyuan came on the court, Warriors players frequently attacked his defensive strength.
This act of partiality to the tiger mountain trip is courageous, but the result is tragic.
After failing to score several times in a row, the Rockets widened the point difference.
After being unable to deal with Zhang Zhiyuan on the offensive end, the Warriors players thought of embarrassing Zhang Zhiyuan on the defensive end.
But how could Zhang Zhiyuan be that stupid? How could he take the risk and attack knowing that the other party was targeting him?
He stood just outside the three-point line and ran a few steps from time to time, leaving the Warriors' defense full of holes.
The pressure on the other Rockets players was greatly reduced, and it was easy to shoot.
After the first quarter, 18 to 32, the Warriors were already 14 points behind.
During the timeout, Don Nelson scolded the entire team and asked them to correct their attitude.
This scolding had an effect, and the Warriors players quickly adjusted and no longer struggled with Zhang Zhiyuan.
It's a pity that it's too late. Their strength was not as good as the Rockets to begin with, and now they have dug a big hole.
It is easier to dig a hole than to fill it. After the first half, the score difference between the two teams had reached 18 points.
"Let him be proud for a while longer."
In the media area, a reporter said helplessly.
Because of Zhang Zhiyuan's provocation after the game, this game caused a lot of attention and a war of words.
These reporters came specifically to see Zhang Zhiyuan's jokes. If Zhang Zhiyuan did not play well, they could criticize Zhang Zhiyuan verbally and label him arrogant.
Unfortunately, Zhang Zhiyuan performed well today. Although he scored very little, he had a great effect and was not easy to blame.
"Yes, he always performs well sometimes."
Another person echoed.
In their expectations, this game ended without any suspense.
87 to 108, the Rockets won by 21 points.
This is because the Rockets replaced their main players in the last few minutes, otherwise they would definitely have won more than this.
Except for Davis, whose performance is still up to standard, everyone else on the Warriors team has stepped up.
Especially Jackson and Barnes.
The two of them had the deepest resentment towards Zhang Zhiyuan, and Zhang Zhiyuan's fetter chain was tied to them, causing them to be in poor condition.
For the Rockets, Tracy McGrady recovered, shooting 13 of 27 from the field and scoring a total of 31 points.
Zhang Zhiyuan took very few shots in this game. He only took 9 shots, made 4 of them, and scored 10 points.
Ever since, the media began to advocate that Tracy McGrady and Yao Ming are the core of the Rockets, and Zhang Zhiyuan's previous data only benefited from tactics.
They were the ones who talked about Zhang Zhiyuan's Big Three, and now they are the ones who say Zhang Zhiyuan's tactics benefited from them.
After all this fussing and fussing, they just want to stir up controversy.
On May 9, the third game between the Rockets and the Warriors began.
Zhang Zhiyuan was booed wildly by the fans when he appeared on the stage. He has become a public enemy of Oakland and the most unpopular person.
But Zhang Zhiyuan didn't care, he didn't consider going to the Warriors anyway.
Zhang Zhiyuan smiled and waved to the tens of thousands of people who hated him, making the fans lose their temper.
For a player with a strong heart, their boos suddenly seemed so weak.
When the game started, the Rockets were not as relaxed as the previous game.
After all, this is the home court of the Warriors, and the penalties will be more or less biased in favor of the Warriors.
Moreover, after a few days of adjustment, the mentality of the Warriors players has returned to normal.
Even Barnes' hatred value has dropped a lot.
The Rockets had a hard time playing, but the Warriors didn't have it easy either.
With 2 minutes left in the game, the two teams were tied at 92-92.
In the last two minutes, both teams fought tooth and nail without reservation.
In the end, with 8 seconds left in the game, the Warriors took the lead 95-94.
Deafening cheers erupted from the scene, as if they had already won.
The Rockets called a timeout and arranged their final attack.
Zhang Zhiyuan volunteered, after all, he had never made a winning shot yet.
This is a rare opportunity.
"Yao will definitely be guarded under the basket, so the chances from the outside will be greater. When Sean serves, Raf will observe after receiving the ball to see who has a better chance, Tracy or Zhang, and then pass the ball.
"
Van Gundy handed over the decision-making power to Alstom, which made Alstom burst into tears.
Alston accepted this offending task with tears in his eyes, returned to the court, and patted the basketball.
Yao Ming was desperately fighting for position under the basket, acting as if the Rockets were about to hand the ball to him. McGrady and Zhang Zhiyuan were running around on the outside, looking for open opportunities.
It's not easy to hit a winning shot, and it's actually quite difficult to prevent a winning shot.
The Warriors dare not let Biedrins guard Yao Ming alone, it would be too dangerous.
So Barnes also stayed on the inside.
As a result, the Warriors will inevitably have one less player on the perimeter.
There is no other way, they can only rely on rotation to plug the loopholes.
Seeing that time was almost running out, Alston finally passed the ball.
It was Zhang Zhiyuan who caught the ball, and McGrady was entangled by Richardson.
As soon as Zhang Zhiyuan caught the ball, Jackson dropped Battier and pounced.
Unfortunately, he was still a step too late, Zhang Zhiyuan had already taken action.
The scene suddenly became quiet, and time seemed to have stopped at this moment.
Only the basketball is still moving in the air, flying towards the basket.
The ball goes in.
Zhang Zhiyuan did not use props. After all, this game is not a life and death battle, and losing is acceptable.
Maybe because he was relaxed, the goal was scored very simply.
"Nice job."
Alston came over and bumped shoulders to celebrate.
This is a game-winner, a game-winner in the playoffs, and it has to be the top of today's top five goals.
Rockets players and front office staff were cheering, while most Warriors fans were heartbroken.
Falling behind 0 to 3 is basically the same as being eliminated.
Only a few rational fans and some Chinese applauded.
No matter how much Zhang Zhiyuan hates it, this shot was really beautiful and undisputed.
After the game, Zhang Zhiyuan received the most coverage.
Although he didn't score much, only 14 points.
But he hit the buzzer beater.
The light of that moment directly overshadowed the foreshadowing efforts of Yao Mai and others.
There is no way, the fans' energy is limited, it is impossible for them to remember the process of a game, it is too brain-consuming. But remembering a buzzer beater is more than enough.
On May 11, the fourth game between the Rockets and the Warriors began.
In this game, the Rockets players were too relaxed, while the Warriors players fought hard and fought very hard.
It just so happened that they felt good, and it started to rain for a while.
In the end, the Rockets lost the game.
Some fans began to act like smart people, saying that the Rockets deliberately let things go and lost the game in order to earn more ticket money.
Zhang Zhiyuan, who played the game in person, knows very well that this is nonsense.
They did not work as hard as before in this game, but they would not let it go. If they could win 4-0, the players would definitely not refuse.
Losing is just because the opponent played well, it is a very common thing.
Back in Houston, Van Gundy gave everyone an ideological and political lesson, asking them to take it seriously and never be careless.
Although there has never been a 3-0 overturn in history, it is only a matter of time.
If you don’t want to be the first team to come back from 3-0 and be remembered by fans in the same shameful way as the Mavericks, you have to pay attention to your opponents.
The results of this lesson were good. In Game 5, the Rockets players showed full energy and did not give the Warriors a chance.
In the end, 108 to 93, easily won.
The Rockets led from the beginning to the end of the entire game, giving people a feeling of being crushed by their strength.
This further confirmed those smart guesses. The Rockets' last loss was indeed intentional.
4 to 1, after ten years, the Rockets once again entered the Western Conference Finals.
"It's not easy. The last time the Rockets entered the Western Conference Finals, Charles, are you still on the team?"
Smith sighed.
"Yes, Hajim and Clyde and I reached the Western Conference Finals and then lost to the Jazz."
Buckley sighed.
"Hajim, Clyde and I won the championship together."
Smith laughed.
"...."
Buckley.
The Rockets advanced first, and the other three groups of duels are still in progress.
The Cavaliers lead the Nets 3-2, the Pistons lead the Bulls 3-2, and the Spurs lead the Suns 3-2.
On May 12, the Rockets had no games and no training.
The intensity of the playoffs is too great, and the team gives the players sufficient rest time.
It's a pity that Zhang Zhiyuan won't be able to enjoy it. He has to accept a live interview with Lu Yu that day.
People from CCTV, Guangdong Satellite TV, and some other TV stations have applied many times, hoping to have an exclusive interview with Zhang Zhiyuan so that fans can get to know him better.
It's just that Zhang Zhiyuan has always made excuses to turn it down. It's not that he doesn't have time, but that he thinks those traditional interviews are boring.
He could even imagine that scene.
Host: "It's not easy for a person to come to the United States to play ball."
Self: "Yes."
Host: "How did you overcome those difficulties."
Self: Make up a touching story.
...
If it were Lu Yu, she would definitely say: "Really? I don't believe it. Your family is so rich, your English is so good, and you are so good at playing ball, what difficulties can you have?"
Relatively speaking, Lu Yu often asks tricky questions and says weird things.
Although these questions can sometimes embarrass guests, they can also bring out more real content.
Many guests will be very careful when speaking during interviews and pay attention to their own image. If the host does not ask the question, the interview will become an image promotion of the guest, and the audience will not be able to see a real guest.
For example, when interviewing Zhou Xun, Zhou Xun obviously just wanted to show his respect for his predecessors and pretended to be so excited. Lu Yu's words "I can't imagine" can wake up many viewers.
In his past life and this life, Zhang Zhiyuan has seen many interviews, but very few have left an impression, and Lu Yu’s accounted for the majority. I have to say that this is Lu Yu’s success.
There are many people who hate Lu Yu, but Zhang Zhiyuan has no prejudice against Lu Yu.
Accepting an interview with Lu Yu was just to compete with Lu Datou.
Although it may be embarrassing to be asked by Lu Datou, at least it can leave memories for the fans and audiences instead of letting the audience forget after watching it once.
It was originally scheduled to be a personal interview with Zhang Zhiyuan, but the house Zhang Zhiyuan rented in Houston was too small, so he finally chose to go to Yao Ming's house.
Yao Ming will also make a guest appearance to accompany him.
At 9 o'clock on the 12th, Chinese fans sat in front of the TV on time.
Zhang Zhiyuan has been famous for some time, but fans' understanding of him is still very limited, and they are very eager to know more about him.
At the beginning of the show, Zhang Zhiyuan and Yao Ming were sitting on the sofa, and then Lu Yu walked over and sat on the sofa next to them.
With its big head and bamboo pole body, it has a comical image.
After witnessing it with his own eyes and recalling those famous scenes of Lu Yu, Zhang Zhiyuan couldn't help but smile.
This sudden and inexplicable smile made Lu Yu a little confused. She couldn't help but look at herself, and then asked: "Is there anything funny?"
"Oh, I remembered some happy things."
Zhang Zhiyuan came as soon as he opened his mouth.
"What's up?"
Lu Yu asked.
"I won yesterday."
Zhang Zhiyuan said.
This was obviously nonsense, and Yao Ming couldn't help but smile.
"Brother Yao, why are you laughing again? Did you win too?"
Lu Yu asked.
She rushed to Houston last night and just memorized some information about Yao Ming and Zhang Zhiyuan before the show started. She didn't react for a moment, forgot that Zhang Zhiyuan and Yao Ming were on the same team, and asked a very stupid question.
"Yes, I won too."
Yao Ming suppressed his laughter and said, this time Zhang Zhiyuan couldn't help it even more, but it seemed impolite to continue laughing.
The way he wanted to laugh but had to hold it back but couldn't help it was exactly the same as the policeman in The Mermaid.
In front of the TV, the fans were shocked.
"Do you always laugh like this?"
Lu Yu asked curiously.
"No, no, no, we are all trained not to smile during interviews unless we can't help it."
Zhang Zhiyuan said.
What he said was a bit inexplicable. Lu Yu secretly said that he had not done enough homework and did not understand Zhang Zhiyuan.
So, she started to get straight to the point. "Xiao Zhang, can you briefly introduce yourself?"
"certainly."
Zhang Zhiyuan said to the camera: "Hello everyone, my surname is Zhang, arrogant Zhang. My name is Zhiyuan, and I have high aspirations. I am 19 years old and come from a certain corner of Foshan, Guangdong. I have loved singing since I was a child, so I chose to play basketball.
..."
What is this mess?
Lu Yu felt like crying but had no tears. She had never seen such a "nonsensical" self-introduction before.
"Xiao Zhang, why didn't you come to the United States to play in the NCAA instead of playing in the CBA like Brother Yao?"
After Zhang Zhiyuan finished introducing himself, Lu Yu asked the questions he had prepared in advance.
"There's no special reason. It's probably because my family is relatively wealthy. Even if I couldn't play basketball, they might throw me into the American Gold Plate."
Zhang Zhiyuan said calmly.
These words were so bold that the audience couldn't help but wonder how much money Zhang Zhiyuan's family had.
Lu Yu helped the audience ask this question.
"I don't know exactly how much, but I never have to lick the cap of the bottle when I drink Nutritional Express, and I always add two eggs to my pancakes."
Zhang Zhiyuan said.
In an era when online jokes were not yet developed enough, his way of answering made the audience feel very fresh.
