Chapter 1113: Crazy eating of melons, the crowd went crazy with joy
In the East, with the Celtics successfully advancing, there is now only the last group left in the league, and the conference semifinals have not decided the winner.
Chicago Bulls VS Cleveland Cavaliers!
The first four games between the two sides ended in a 2:2 tie. The fifth game at Tianwangshan was moved to the United Center in Chicago, where the Bulls faced the Cavaliers at home.
Whoever can win the battle of Tianwang Mountain first will have the opportunity to advance to the Eastern Conference Finals.
The day passed quickly, and on May 16th, two blockbuster contests will be scheduled tonight.
The first thing to be fought was the Battle of Tianwang Mountain between the Eastern Bulls and the Knights.
At 4 o'clock in the afternoon on May 16, Rose took out the formal clothes he had already prepared in the locker room. After going to the bathroom to change clothes, there was a knock on the door.
He quickly adjusted his mood and returned to the state of being a leader.
Yes, that’s the leader!
Although Anthony Davis is recognized as the strongest player on the Bulls, as long as Rose is in Chicago, he will be the undisputed King of Chicago.
The name Windy City Rose has almost been integrated into the blood of the Chicago Bulls, deeply affecting countless local fans in Chicago.
Fortunately, Davis is not someone who likes to fight for power. He has a relatively easy-going personality and a Buddhist attitude. After joining the Bulls, he and Rose became more and more harmonious.
Moreover, the two of them, one playing outside and the other playing inside, can form a very good complement to each other, so that many fans now call them the Bulls version of the OK combination.
The Bulls' success this year is due to the sincere cooperation between the two... Although Flash Wade is a little older, he also deserves a lot of credit!
The camera returns to the locker room.
Ross took one last look at himself in the mirror and made a decision for you.
He will hold a big press conference later!
Opening the door, there are team staff dedicated to serving him.
"Derek, are you ready? The press conference is about to begin."
"I understand, Vivas, let's leave now."
When Ross arrived at the conference room, he saw that the large conference room, which could accommodate more than 300 people, was already packed with reporters. Even though he was used to seeing big scenes, he was still a little surprised!
But if you think about it carefully, this is actually normal. Rose and Davis are already very popular, and they also have the support of the elderly Flash. And tonight’s opponent, the Cleveland Cavaliers, is recognized as one of the top teams in the league.
LeBron James is a natural topic center. If he can defeat them in Tianwang Mountain tonight...
"call!"
Rose took a deep breath and sat down in his seat. The team's head coach Fred Hoiberg and the inside core AD Davis had already arrived.
Uncle Wei did not attend the press conference. In his own words, "Where are we now? I haven't even touched the floor of the Eastern Conference Finals. I'll do it again when the finals arrive!"
Versailles's remarks are very Wade-like. In his early years, Wade was also a famous pressing king in the league!
The reporters had already asked some questions one after another. After Rose attended the scene, everyone's attention was focused on him.
The Bulls press officer began selecting media outlets to ask questions, and the interview began.
"The battle against the Cavaliers at Tianwangshan is about to start in an hour. Are you confident in defeating your opponent?"
Ross was unhappy when he heard this question. What does "confidence" mean?
Now they have the home court advantage, but when the media asked this question, it was as if the Bulls were the disadvantaged team in this series.
"Whether it's the Cavaliers or another team, we always maintain full confidence to face every next game."
"Who do you think has a better chance of making it to the Eastern Conference finals, between you and the Cavaliers?"
"Of course it is us, we are confident that we can defeat all opponents!"
"Including knights?"
"Of course, it's not just the Cavaliers. Our goal this year is to enter the finals. I want to win the first championship trophy for the Chicago Bulls in the new century!"
Rose's answer made the media at the scene think they heard it wrong. They were just asking Rose if he had the confidence to defeat the Cavaliers. As a result, everyone was already looking forward to the championship...
Did Fengcheng Rose take any medicine today?
Regardless of the media's speculation, in past press conferences, Rose always gave off a general air and a relatively calm personality, rarely speaking out loud in front of the media.
But today, Rose feels different!
Even Davis, the head coach and good partner next to him, feels this way.
However, it must be said that Rose's proactive attitude has won the appreciation of many people.
Especially the media people, they are not even afraid of the sky falling, let alone Ross's little arrogance.
…
At the end of the interview, the reporters didn't get any breaking news from Fred Hoiberg and Anthony Davis. Well, they easily got it from Rose.
On the way to the training facility to warm up with Hoiberg and Rose, Davis hesitated for a long time and finally couldn't help but ask: "Derek, do you really think we can make it to the Finals?"
"..."
Rose suddenly felt that his good partner was a little unreliable. He was talking about winning the championship, but when it came to Davis, it became whether he could enter the finals.
This left him speechless. Thinking of a certain Blazers player No. 36 in the Western Conference, he couldn't help but complain: He also came out of the 12th class, why are you so low-spirited?
But Rose must not say what he is thinking, otherwise it would be too disrespectful to Davis.
"We can definitely make it to the Finals, right, Fred." Rose gave coach Hoiberg a look.
Hearing this, Hoiberg understood deeply, and at the same time, his chest suddenly rose with great pride. He nodded fiercely, and then cooperated with Rose to constantly cheer Davis: "AD, never underestimate yourself, you are already the best in this league.
The fourth position is a recognized superstar! To be a superstar, you must have a super personality. You must not be timid at this time. The Cavaliers are nothing great, and the Celtics are nothing great. We will use facts to prove that the Bulls
They are the strongest team in the Eastern Conference!"
Fred Hoiberg is a former NBA player. But unlike those talented players who are sought after by thousands of people in college, Hoiberg, although he led his team to win the Iowa State Championship in high school, is considered
The most promising high school player. But after entering the college NCAA tournament, the difference in talent made him realize the huge gap between himself and real talent.
In the 1995 NBA draft, he was ultimately selected by the Indiana Pacers with the 23rd overall pick in the second round.
At that time, not many people thought that this second-round pick with mediocre talent could establish himself in the NBA, but in fact, everyone was very disappointed.
Hoiberg has played in the NBA for a total of 10 seasons, playing for the Pacers, Bulls and Timberwolves. He has played 541 times in his career, averaging 4 points and 6 assists per game. His career field goal percentage is 43%.
Among them, the three-point shooting rate is close to 40%.
In the 2004-05 season, Ibogo made 70 of 145 three-pointers, with a three-point shooting percentage of 3%, becoming the "three-point king" in the league's three-point shooting percentage rankings at that time!
From a second-round pick with mediocre talent to a veteran who has been in the league for 10 years, and also became the league's "three-point king" during this period, Hoiberg's career is not uninspiring, and he can definitely be selected as the best second-round pick in NBA history.
Show list.
But behind this inspiration is hard training day after day and a big heart that is fearless in challenges and enterprising. So when Rose announced the winning trainee at the press conference, Hoiberg was immediately praised.
The infection has hit him, and at this moment his ambition is extremely surging, and his expectations for the Bulls playoffs are getting higher and higher.
Hoiberg was hired as the head coach of the Bulls last season, and this season he led the team to the second round of the Eastern Conference playoffs. Such a report card is undoubtedly something to be proud of for a rookie coach!
Before Davis could reply, Hoiberg added fuel to the fire: "AD, don't forget that you are the No. 1 pick in the 2012 draft. Your old rival Wang Zelin has won the MVP and the championship three times in a row, and this year he won more.
They are aiming for a fourth championship. According to the estimation of the coaching staff, although the Warriors can cause some trouble to the Trail Blazers, they will never be able to stop Wang Zelin's monster under the basket."
"Wang Zelin already has three championship rings in his hands, but he is still thinking about constantly challenging himself. On the other hand, we have nothing now, so shouldn't we be seeking to make progress? AD, don't you want to personally defeat Wang Zelin on the championship stage?"
Defeat Wang Zelin personally on the championship stage?
Hoiberg's last words were like a key to open Pandora's box, and images of countless duels with Wang Zelin frequently appeared in Anthony Davis's mind.
From his high aspirations during the draft, to his disastrous defeat in head-to-head battles, to Wang Zelin's endless success in harvesting honors like crazy.
And what about yourself?
He can only act as a spectator on the side, no, he is not even a spectator, because when he was leading the team in the Western Conference, it was difficult to even make the playoffs!
Except for those players with strong minds, such as Jordan, Kobe, Iverson, etc., most players will inevitably recognize the reality and restrain their energy after encountering repeated setbacks.
During those years in the Wild West, Davis spent four years that could be called a devil's journey. How could this former son of the United States still have the lofty arrogance he had back then?
If you change the channel, Brother Nongmei's current situation is very similar to the way those fledgling talents in the fantasy world of immortality gradually have their hearts broken after successive setbacks.
Otherwise, he wouldn't have questioned Rose's championship declaration just now.
But after head coach Hoiberg's heart-warming words, Anthony Davis's originally about to be shattered moral heart began to recover. He once vowed to catch up with Duncan and Garnett when he first entered the league.
The famous "Son of America" is back again!
"Mr. Fred, I know what to do!"
At this time, Davis's face was extremely determined, and a high and undying fighting spirit began to spread around.
Seeing this, Rose and the head coach both smiled at each other and nodded silently.
Sure enough, every NBA head coach is a born chicken soup master, and his skill in making chicken soup is really incredible!
…
Portland.
The second major playoff matchup officially scheduled by the NBA today is the second game of the Western Conference Finals between the Trail Blazers and the Warriors.
In order to avoid having two games at the same time and spreading the heat, the Battle of Tianwangshan between the Bulls and Cavaliers is scheduled for 5 p.m., and the second game of the Western Conference Finals between the Trail Blazers and Warriors is scheduled for 8 p.m.
Generally speaking, an NBA game usually takes more than two to three hours from the start to the end. There is exactly three hours between 5 o'clock and 3 o'clock, which is enough for fans to watch these two focus games in one day.
.
Coach's lounge.
Terry Stotts looked at Derrick Rose on the TV screen who was publicly announcing his championship declaration, and his grin was even harder to suppress than AK.
He was thinking about how to reduce the popularity of the Trail Blazers, but unexpectedly, a Windy City Rose came out halfway. With his kind words and ambition, he attracted all the popularity of today's two games.
"You are a great man!"
Coach Terry couldn't help but give Rose a thumbs up on the screen.
Well, relying on Rose's declaration of "winning the Bulls' first championship in the new century", he successfully set off a storm on the entire network, allowing the Blazers to spend the final preparation time in an unusually calm manner.
At 4:30, Coach Terry summoned the coach and players to the conference room for a pre-game meeting. After that, everyone watched the battle between the Bulls and the Cavaliers at Tianwang Mountain.
The Bulls and Cavaliers are currently the two Eastern Conference teams with the most championship potential, and their opponents in this year's finals are very likely to be born between the two teams.
At 5 o'clock in the afternoon, the battle between the Bulls and the Cavaliers began!
As this battle was the key to victory or defeat, the two teams fought fiercely from the beginning.
James, the star of the Cavaliers, chose to take fewer shots at the beginning and actively created opportunities for his teammates. He continued to break through and distribute the ball, or opened up and allowed Irving and Cousins to play pick-and-rolls.
Although the Bulls' Robin Lopez can be regarded as a high-quality insider in this era of declining centers, there is still a grade gap compared to Cousins.
When Irving and Cousins engaged in pick-and-roll tactics, it was as if two cups of poison were placed in front of the Bulls. No matter which cup they chose, they would be poisoned by the other.
If the Bulls choose to guard Cousins, Irving can punish the opponent with unsolvable mid-range singles; if they choose to guard Irving, Cousins can not only cut in and directly dunk, but can also pull back and shoot from the outside. This move is really
Absolutely amazing!
In just one quarter, the Bulls were already 9 points behind the Cavaliers.
Entering the second quarter, the Bulls' role players seemed to be thrown into the refrigerator, and they frequently hit open spaces on the outside, allowing the Cavaliers to easily launch a defensive counterattack.
After halftime, 58:38, the Bulls were already 20 points behind. The reason why they were so disadvantaged in the first half was that they did not feel well today. On the other hand, the Cavaliers' three giants had a clear division of labor. Among them, Irving
He and Cousins were in even hotter form, scoring 33 points together in the first half, almost catching up with the Bulls' scoring total.
Irving scored 15 points and dished out 4 assists, while Cousins scored 18 points and grabbed 8 rebounds!
Intermission.
Home team locker room.
All the Bulls players were silent, and everyone was stunned by this sudden huge disadvantage.
Head coach Hoiberg was pacing back and forth, scratching his head and ears, but he couldn't find a solution to the Cavaliers' pick-and-roll tactics. It could be seen that he was under great psychological pressure.
After all, this famous NCAA coach was still inexperienced and couldn't think of any good ideas for a while.
At this moment, Davis suddenly stood up, and Bing made a surprising decision:
"Coach, let me play the fifth position in the second half! I will be responsible for defense and rebounding, and you are responsible for taking care of their perimeter."
"No, that would be too risky. What if you get injured accidentally against the attendance clerk?"
Hoiberg shook his head like a rattle and sternly refused.
"Coach, if this game doesn't change, we don't have to play it." Davis replied insistently.
Hoiberg looked at the tactical board and thought about the situation in the first half, clenched his fists, and finally made up his mind to turn around and shouted to the players: "Robin, you rest first in the second half. Nikolay, you and AD will play together."
, we have to increase our speed in the second half and outrun them!"
Everyone is forced out. Seeing Davis being so persistent, Hoiberg suddenly had an idea and decided to go all out and replace Robin Lopez, who was dragging down the team's rhythm, and let Nikola Mirotic
Go play inside with Anthony Davis.
The Spaniard has excellent body balance, ability, mobility and wingspan. He has a soft shooting touch and is relatively stable in mid-range and long-range shooting. He is a skilled low-post scorer with good ball-handling skills and good organization.
Letting him partner with Davis can make a qualitative leap in the Bulls' inside mobility.
It's just that Mirotic's defense is average. With this lineup, the team's interior defense will rely entirely on Davis. This will be a great test for Davis.
But when he thought about falling behind by 20 points at halftime, Hoiberg couldn't care less.
Give it a try and turn your bicycle into a motorcycle!
After returning from the intermission, the two sides changed sides and fought again.
After the substitutions, the Bulls' five players on the court are Derrick Rose, Dwyane Wade, Doug McDermitt, Nikola Migtic and Anthony Davis.
Everyone in this lineup has three-point ability. Except for Miglic's poor defense, the other four players have online defensive abilities. Davis has a terrifying defense close to the DPOY level.
With this small lineup, Bulls head coach Hoiberg can now think of the only solution to break the game.
Cavaliers coach Tyronn Lue was a little surprised to see the Bulls change their formation, but only a little.
The Cavaliers are still the regular starters. They relied on this lineup to take a big lead in the first half. Now it is the Bulls who are anxious, not them. Director Lu feels that he has no reason to change the lineup.
The Bulls took the lead in attacking.
Mirotic gave the home fans a surprise as soon as he came up. He quickly served from the backcourt and sent the ball to Wade in the center circle. At this moment, the Flash suddenly burst out with its previous dazzling glory. Taking advantage of the Cavaliers' defensive stand
The position was not stable, and he passed two people. When he encountered the defense of his old acquaintance James, he passed the back pass to Davis who cut in and completed the basket.
The explosive dunk at the beginning of the second half awakened the home fans at the United Center from their long-dormant depression, and bursts of cheers could be heard from all around.
"Tch, it's just a dunk."
Cousins curled his lips disdainfully. He was the Cavaliers' first big leg today. He scored 18+8 at halftime and overwhelmed the Bulls' interior. He naturally has the capital to be arrogant.
Cavaliers attack.
Irving and Cousins continued to play the pick-and-roll. Irving used the screen to get rid of Rose and pulled him outside the three-point line, quickly attracting Davis' help.
At this time, Cousins had already driven straight in and reached the basket.
Irving didn't even think about it. He passed a high-profile ball to the basket. Cousins caught the ball in the reasonable area, jumped on the spot, and was about to dunk with both hands...
"careful!"
James's voice suddenly came from the outside.
Cousins was a little confused, but the arrow was on the string and he had to shoot.
"I can't control that much!"
With a roar, Cousins raised the ball behind his head with both hands and slammed it down.
"Snapped!"
The next moment, Davis, wearing Bulls No. 32 jersey, burst out of the air and pinned the ball on the backboard.
Before it was over, he took off a second time after landing, took off the backboard, turned around and launched a one-stop fast break.
Faced with James' interference, Davis passed the ball to Rose who was on the sidelines. After receiving the ball, Rose sprinted all the way to the Bulls basket and suddenly felt a strong wind coming from behind.
He doesn't need to think about it, he knows who the man is?
Who else but James can have such a terrifying momentum for the Cavaliers?
Rose feinted a shot, dodged James' block, and then threw the ball back into the air.
"boom!"
The familiar figure of Bulls No. 32 reappeared, followed closely by Davis, who jumped into the air with a roar, grabbed the basketball, and completed a one-handed dunk (PS: Bulls No. 23 cannot be worn, so the thick eyebrows have to wear No. 32 instead)
.
Alley-oop from the Bulls duo!
At 42:58, the Bulls began to narrow the score.
And these two goals are just the beginning.
Relying on the ultra-high mobility of the small lineup, the Bulls' defense switching speed has reached a new level, successfully containing the pick-and-roll tactics of Irving and Cousins, and constantly counterattacking through defense, creating a flood-like offensive frenzy.
Under the leadership of Davis, the Bulls scored a crazy 44 points in the third quarter, beating the Cavaliers by 23 points in a single quarter, 82:79, and took the lead in one fell swoop.
Entering the final quarter, facing the Cavaliers' counterattack, Davis turned into a super frame-protecting machine and sent big shots to the Cavaliers' Big Three one after another, especially Cousins. In the second half alone, Davis took risks three times, and his "unhappy" mentality was complete.
explode.
In the end, the Bulls continued their violent output in the third quarter. The team scored another 31 points in the final quarter, successfully reversed the Cavaliers 113:105, and won the crucial battle of Tianwang Mountain.
The Cavaliers, who were in hot form in the first half and scored 58 points, only scored 47 points in the second half, and their shooting percentage dropped from 48% in the first half to 41%, a full 7-point gap.
The man who caused all this is none other than Anthony Davis, the core of the Bulls' interior.
Davis was like a god in the second half. Although he only scored 8 points, he blocked 9 shots and grabbed 15 rebounds.
In addition to 14 points, 5 rebounds and 2 blocks in the first two quarters, David said tonight he scored a super-block triple-double of 22 points, 20 rebounds and 11 blocks. This is definitely the strongest playoff game of his career so far!
Under Davis's insistence, Bulls head coach Hoiberg's small lineup tactics in the second half achieved miraculous results, and ultimately completed an epic reversal.
For the Bulls, after winning the key Tianwangshan, it also means that the door to the Eastern Conference Finals has been opened to them. ()