Chapter 562 Three Years of Consecutive Championships
The 2006 All-Star Game was held in the space city of Houston. There was no doubt that Tracy McGrady and Yao Ming became the absolute protagonists.
The All-Stars in the Western Conference, especially Kobe, are working hard to help McGrady win an All-Star Game MVP.
As for the Eastern Conference, because Chen Jie won the All-Star Game last year when he participated in the All-Star Game for the first time, and in that All-Star Game, Chen Jie also won all the awards that he could win, so in 2006
, Chen Jie has no idea about these awards. Watching McGrady win the MVP, to be honest, it is a very happy thing for Chen Jie.
But Chen Jie thinks so, but it doesn't mean that others think so too. At least, LeBron James, who has never won any personal honors, is determined to compete with Tracy McGrady.
In the 2006 All-Star Game, compared to 2005, the biggest change in the lineup was that Garnett came to the East. He occupied a starting position in the East. O'Neal was still the starter at the center position, and Iverson was the guard.
Neither Chen Jie nor anyone can shake their status. Because of the arrival of Garnett, Vince Carter was not included in the starting lineup. The Canadian Flyer came to the Nets in the winter of 2005 and formed a team with Kidd-Jefferson.
Although he has formed a powerful Big Three, he still belongs to the Eastern Conference All-Stars. Carter, who did not enter the starting lineup, became a substitute for the Eastern Conference All-Stars. This year, the Eastern Conference bench lineup can be said to be particularly strong.
The Pistons' top five, Pierce, Ray Allen, and Vince Carter, are definitely not much different in strength from the starting lineup.
As for the Western Conference, it was Stoudemire who replaced the departed Garnett as the starter. In terms of strength alone, the Western Conference has declined compared to last year.
Before the game, many people also analyzed that the Western Conference would not be able to beat the Eastern Conference this year.
It's just that the All-Star Game is never a place to compare strengths. Who has a stronger fighting spirit is even more important than who is stronger.
This year, Chen Jie still participated in the Rookie Challenge, but he represented the second-year team. Compared with the 0304 world, the quality of the 2005 rookies has dropped significantly. In addition, there is the league's first player
Led by Chen Jie, the second-year team can be said to have won without a fight. Chen Jie did not perform too much. Chen Jie, who has already won all the honors, is not interested in a MVP of the Rookie Challenge. The winner of the Houston All-Star Game Rookie Challenge
mvp, made Chen Jie’s former Bulls teammate, Luer Deng!
Chen Jie did not participate in the subsequent slam dunk contest, three-point contest, or skills challenge.
You only need to do something like this once.
In the end, Howard won the dunk contest championship, and the Heat's Kapono became the three-point shot contest champion. The skills challenge championship was won by Dwyane Wade.
Of course, for All-Star Weekend, the most important thing is the All-Star Game.
In the 2006 All-Star Game, although Chen Jie started the game, after half a quarter, everyone could see that Chen Jie had no fighting spirit at all.
Rivers, the head coach of the Celtics and also the head coach of this year's Eastern Conference All-Stars, saw Chen Jie like this and didn't let Chen Jie play more.
Chen Jie left the game and was replaced by Billups. The Pistons' top five players are determined to compete with Kobe this year, hoping to help LeBron James win the MVP.
The two sides fought fiercely. In the first half, McGrady performed well in the Western Conference and the Western Conference took a big lead. However, the situation suddenly changed in the second half. James, together with Billups, Hamilton and Double Wallace of the Pistons, led the Eastern team to a 20-point lead.
The score difference was evened out.
The game continued until the last 20 seconds of the last quarter, when Wade's tip-in helped the Eastern team go ahead by 2 points, and the outcome was still undecided.
Chen Jie, who was sitting off the court, looked very anxious. Everyone thought he was afraid that the Eastern team would lose to the Western team today, but no one knew that Chen Jie was anxious about whether the Western team could equalize the score.
I remember that in his previous life, McGrady never competed with James.
Chen Jie was afraid that everything would proceed according to the trajectory of historical development. In that case, McGrady would be sad.
Not to mention that in the past life, Chen Jie particularly admired McGrady. In this life, Chen Jie and McGrady can be said to have a very good relationship. Of course, he hopes that his good friend will win the All-Star Game MVP.
After Wade scored a tip-in, Kobe's key ball helped the West tie the score.
At critical moments, Kobe is still more trustworthy than Tracy McGrady.
Immediately, LeBron James suddenly scored two points, and the Eastern team took the lead again. At this time, with five seconds left before the end of the game, the Western team called a timeout.
Everyone can guess that this attack must go to McGrady.
Otherwise, even if the Western Conference team wins and McGrady wins the MVP based on his data, he will still be unconvinced.
In fact, at this point in the game, McGrady still didn't have Kobe's mentality of winning tonight.
It's just an All-Star Game, a big party, just come and have fun, why bother taking it so seriously.
If you get injured, it won't be worth it.
This is what McGrady thought after receiving the coach's tactics.
With such a mentality, how could he possibly score this buzzer-beating shot?
In the previous life, when Chen Jie didn't appear, McGrady missed the final kill just because of this.
It seems that history is really about to repeat itself.
But just as McGrady walked lazily onto the court, ready to finish the final attack casually, he subconsciously glanced at the Eastern Conference bench.
There, Chen Jie, wearing the No. 1 jersey of the Eastern Team, was looking at the field anxiously.
Seeing Chen Jie's expression, Tracy McGrady was stunned for a moment. Why is he so anxious? He has already won the MVP, including the MVP of the All-Star Game and Regular Season Finals. He shouldn't have anything to pursue?
What's more, even if the Eastern Conference wins today and he only scores 10 points, he still can't become MVP?
Then why is he so anxious?
McGrady was stunned at first, and then a flash of lightning flashed in his head. Was he trying to worry himself?
Maddie suddenly had such an idea?
Does he want to get this mvp for himself?
As a good friend, Tracy McGrady definitely understands Chen Jie, and he knows that Chen Jie definitely wants his best friend to be better.
But, Chen Jie, in your heart, does the value of Tracy McGrady need to be measured by such an MVP?
Without this MVP, wouldn’t the history of the league remember my status?
Are you looking down on people too much?
McGrady thought so, with a look of anger on his face.
But at this moment, McGrady remembered one thing again, and that was now. It can be said that Chen Jie has won all the honors in the league. He won all the honors during the All-Star Weekend. He was selected to the first team last year and ranked second in defense.
The lineup is still regular season MVP, Rookie of the Year, and Finals MVP.
It can be said that in just one year, Chen Jie accomplished what many people cannot accomplish in a lifetime.
And among these many people, I should also include myself?
Thinking this way, McGrady felt a little ashamed.
He has only been in the league for one year, and he has already received so many honors. He has not slacked off yet and continues to work hard.
As for myself, except for two scoring titles, I haven't won anything now.
There is no honor that can be achieved, and I want to compete for the championship. However, I am too lazy to compete for the All-Star MVP right in front of me.
How can it be possible to succeed with such a mentality?!
At this moment, McGrady made a decision in his heart, that is, since he wants the O'Brien Cup, he must start from now on, work hard bit by bit and never slack off.
It starts now, with this All-Star mvp.
McGrady's thoughts only happened in a moment.
The TV camera was locked on McGrady, and the audience saw that McGrady's eyes changed from lazy and wistful to suddenly determined.
No one knows what happened.
No one knows that a brand new Tracy McGrady will appear starting from today!
In five seconds, McGrady received an inbounds pass from Nash, and with James' defense, he made a pull-up jumper for a three-pointer. When he was in the air, McGrady's eyes were so firm and confident.
And this three-pointer also hit the net.
The Western team takes the lead by one point!
Fans throughout Houston's Toyota Center went crazy.
The game was finally settled at 128-127. The Western Team won, and McGrady also got his wish and won the MVP of the 2006 Houston All-Star Game!
After the game, Kobe looked excited. It seemed that McGrady was even happier to win the MVP than he was to win the award.
James is not too depressed. After all, he is just an All-Star Game MVP. James is still young and wants to compete. There are still opportunities. What he thinks more about now is to lead the Cavaliers further in the Eastern Conference playoffs.
However, several people on the Pistons were a little unhappy. They even went back to the locker room after the game without greeting the Western Conference All-Stars.
Living in the shadow of the Big Three of Chen Jie in the Eastern Conference, I never expected that they would not be able to win the Western Conference in the All-Star Game.
Several Pistons players feel as if their time has passed.
The disintegration of the Pistons' five tigers seems to have also laid the groundwork for this All-Star Game.
After the All-Star Game, the regular season has entered its final sprint.
The battle between the Celtics and the Bulls for the top spot in the Eastern Conference was bloody, but the Heat stayed firmly in third place. There was a big gap between the top two and a big gap between the fourth place. They had become the best team in the Eastern Conference.
An easy team. James' Cavaliers are ranked fifth. They still want to move forward and compete for the home court advantage in the first round of the playoffs. For the Eastern Conference, the situation is still the same as before the All-Star Game.
What's surprising is the Western Conference. Originally, the Lakers, with Gasol joining them, have remained firmly at the top of the Western Conference after Phil Jackson returned. The Spurs are old and strong, ranking third in the Western Conference.
Second, last year, the small ball storm swept the league, and the Suns fell to eighth in the Western Conference. However, the sudden rise of the Mavericks, who also played small ball, was surprising. Except for the Lakers, Suns, and Spurs, other teams formed the second group. They could not
To threaten the status of these three teams, they can only compete for home court advantage in the playoffs.
The Jazz in fourth, the Rockets in fifth, the Grizzlies in sixth, the Warriors in seventh, and the Suns in eighth, they formed the second group.
But after the All-Star Game, this situation was broken.
What broke this situation was the Rockets, who suddenly broke out after the All-Star Game.
McGrady seemed to have found a new life. He was omnipotent. Coupled with the powerful center Yao Ming inside, the Rockets' record soared. In the last round of the regular season, they defeated the Lakers and completed a major reversal in the rankings.
The 22-game winning streak in the final stage helped them eventually become No. 1 in the Eastern Conference. This ranking was something no one expected.
Coincidentally, the final ranking of the Eastern Conference was only determined in the final round.
Just like in the Western Conference, the battle for first place will ultimately come about through direct dialogue.
The Celtics play against the Chicago Bulls at home to determine who will be No. 1 in the Eastern Conference.
In the end, in a classic and heroic showdown, the Chicago Bulls narrowly won by four points, 121-117.
Chen Jie's 88 points created the third-highest score in league history. Paul Pierce's 62 points made this matchup an eternal classic in the league.
This seems to be the first time that two players have scored 60 points in a game.
All fans, media reporters were shocked by the result of this game.
And this game will undoubtedly be remembered in history!
The Bulls entered the playoffs in the first round, and their opponent was the Wizards, their opponent in the second round of last year's playoffs. Arenas ended up sitting out for a year due to a knee injury after last year's playoffs.
This time, the Wizards faced the Bulls and had no power to fight back. In the end, the Bulls swept 4-0 to advance.
The Celtics and Heat also swept their opponents 4-0 to advance.
The most attractive matchup in the first round is of course the 45-place matchup between the Pistons and the Cavaliers.
This is a gut-wrenching showdown.
James took his personal heroism to the extreme. He seemed to be transformed into Chen Jie in last year's finals. Almost single-handedly, James led the Cavaliers to eliminate the Pistons 4-2.
The former championship Pistons didn't even make it past the first round of the playoffs.
After this series, the top five Pistons chose to leave. Billups went to the Nuggets, Hamilton went to the Bulls, Prince stayed with the Pistons, Rasheed went to the Trail Blazers, and Big Ben came.
Cavaliers.
Of course, this was during the summer vacation of 2006.
After James led the Cavaliers into the second round, their opponent was Chen Jie.
For David Stern, the showdown between James and Chen Jie is actually what he hopes to see in the Eastern Conference Finals.
It's just that it seems impossible for things to develop according to his wishes.
This series is even better than Wade O'Neal challenging the Big Three.
The four matchups in the second round were the Celtics and the Heat, the Lakers and the Mavericks, the Rockets and the Spurs, and the Bulls and the Cavaliers. Eighty percent of the people chose to watch this series between the Bulls and the Cavaliers.
After all, James and Chen Jie are currently the two players with the most outstanding personal abilities recognized by the league officials, and they will rule the league together.
In the first game at the United Center, Jay Artester, Hinrich Duhon and others jointly performed a three-point rain, which made the Cavaliers ruthless. They bloodbathed their opponents at home.
In the second game at the United Center, James unleashed all his fighting power. He scored a triple-double of 54 points, 12 assists and 10 rebounds. However, he still failed to lead the team to victory because Chen Jie was on the opposite side.
, scored 62 points.
Returning to Cleveland for the third time, James' three-pointer at the last minute allowed the Cavaliers to retain a glimmer of hope.
However, Chen Jie's perfect performance in the fourth game, with a 16-point three-point performance in a single game, allowed the Bulls to advance to the Eastern Conference Finals.
In the end, the Bulls returned to Chicago and continued their efforts. They defeated the Cavaliers three times at home and entered the finals with a total score of 4-1.
After the game, looking at Chen Jie's celebrating figure, James silently made a decision in his heart.
That is, leave the Cavaliers and go to a team that can compete for the championship.
In another matchup in the Eastern Conference, O'Neal's injury made the Heat's already slim chance of winning against the Celtics even smaller. Wade struggled to support it alone, but how could he defeat the Big Three?
.
The Heat were eventually eliminated by the Celtics 2-4 and stopped in the Eastern Conference semifinals for the second time.
After the series, Wade also had thoughts of quitting.
As a good friend of James, he talked about his ideas with James during the summer vacation. The two hit it off immediately, and with the addition of Bosh, finally, a giant alliance incident that shocked the league was born!
In the West, the Lakers relied on Kobe's magic and Gasol's stability to eliminate the Mavericks. Yao Ming and Tracy McGrady, who entered the second round of the playoffs for the first time, led their teams to fight the Spurs in seven games, but in the end they still fell to the veteran team.
In front of the Spurs.
However, this time Houstonians did not despair, they saw hope for the team's revival.
As long as Yao Ming and McGrady continue to play like this, the finals and championship are not far away from them.
In the Eastern Conference Finals, Chen Jie led the Bulls to face the Celtics, who were competing with the Bulls for the top spot in the Eastern Conference during the regular season. The strength of the Big Three of Ray Allen, Pierce, and Garnett was intimidating. Of course, no one dared to say that the Bulls
They will definitely lose. After all, with Chen Jie here, no one will ever underestimate the Bulls!
Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals was played at the United Center in Chicago. The physical conflict between Paul Pierce and Artester in the first quarter, Chen Jie dunking on Garnett, and the three-point contest between Ray Allen and Chen Jie became the highlight of this game.
The best footnote of the game.
The final score was 122 to 121, a one-point difference. The Bulls lost in the playoffs for the first time in two years at the United Center.
The Big Three let the world truly see their own strength.
The second game was still at the United Center, with Garnett's key block on Chen Jie. Paul Pierce returned as the king after his injury, and Artest was sent off, making the Bulls hate their home court again.
After a losing streak at home, the Bulls fell behind 0-2, and it seemed that the game was over.
Many people have lost hope in the Bulls.
Even Skiles felt that he might not make it to the finals this year. Defending the title is not that simple after all.
But at this time, there was still someone who didn't give up, and that was Chen Jie.
At the home court of the Celtics, Chen Jie helped the Bulls win two consecutive games with a shocking performance of 187 points in two games.
98 points, 89 points.
These are the two highest individual scores in the conference finals in the history of the league. Now, they all belong to Chen Jie!
Chen Jie became a god in two games! No one said that he was inferior to Jordan. In fact, even if the Bulls did not enter the finals, no one would question Chen Jie's greatness.
Back in Chicago, Chen Jie suffered bleeding from the corner of his eye during a fight with Garnett for a rebound and returned to the locker room.
Without Chen Jie, the Bulls seemed to have lost their backbone, and they were quickly opened up by 20 points by the Celtics.
In the battle of Tianwang Mountain, Chen Jie still doesn’t know if he can come back. The Bulls seem to be in a bad situation!
Just when the fans at the United Center were about to give up the game and prepare to leave the game, Chen Jie, who had received ten stitches in the locker room, came back. His left eye seemed to be unable to open, but this did not prevent Chen Jie from continuing to fight.
.
The United Center burst into endless applause. With such applause, Chen Jie came on the stage.
He made six consecutive three-pointers, helping the Bulls complete an incredible reversal.
In the Eastern Conference finals, they defended their home court for the first time, 3-2. No one expected that it was the Bulls who got the match point in this series first!
The crucial sixth game came to Boston.
Amid huge boos from the fans in Boston, Chen Jie, who was brought into the game, once again scored 88 points, leading the Bulls to win the Eastern Conference championship for the second consecutive year and advance to the finals!
One battle to become a god.
After this series, Chicagoans even forgot about Michael Jordan, and fans all over the world seemed to have forgotten the God of Basketball.
Because, a new god has been born!
Chen Jie, now I can say with no shame that I am not much worse than Michael Jordan!
In the Western Conference, the Lakers and Spurs fought in seven bloody games, and finally passed 4-3 in a thrilling manner. Kobe Bryant's performance of averaging 50.5 points per game made people excited.
There is Chen Jie in the East, and Kobe in the West. Although there is still a gap between Kobe and Chen Jie in terms of scoring, it is already shining brighter than any superstar in any period in history.
What kind of era is this.
Fans living in this era are the happiest, because they have seen the greatest performance in the history of the league, and they have witnessed it with their own eyes!
The finals will undoubtedly be a direct contest between No. 8 Kobe and No. 1 Chen Jie.
This time the ratings for the finals hit a record high.
The Bulls still have home court advantage. They played at home in the first two rounds.
As for the Lakers, if they want to win the championship, the most important thing they need to solve is how to restrict Chen Jie.
Everyone knows that it is completely impossible to guard against Chen Jie. When dealing with Chen Jie, you can only limit him.
Even if you let Chen Jie score 40 or 50 points in a game, it is a victory.
Phil Jackson sent Ariza to specifically guard Chen Jie, and Kobe Bryant could make up the defense at any time.
The Bulls, on the other hand, let Artest guard Kobe!
An unprecedented showdown is about to take place! (To be continued...)
