Chapter 314 The Third Battle of the Western Finals (9)
What is supposed to come will come sooner or later.
No one's road to victory is smooth sailing.
Why?
Because there is only one champion!
And the championship means honor and money!
If you win the championship, you will block other people's way of making money!
So no opponent will be polite!
This is a war without smoke.
The stronger the team, the more likely it is to win the championship, the more ruthless the attack will be!
Because they hope to win the championship, your presence really blocks their way to make money!
Destroying people's wealth is equivalent to killing their parents!
And if you want to win the championship, you must face strong teams!
So no matter who it is, the road to winning the championship will definitely not be smooth sailing.
Especially when there is a ruthless character in the opponent's formation!
Artest is such a person.
The fact is that every championship team will have such a presence.
Your team will suffer without such a person!
Because there is a high probability that you will have a championship opponent with such a character!
The Lakers are the defending champions and have proven themselves. Of course there will be such a role in the team.
This person is Artest.
Is Artest a bad guy?
Did he mean to harm others?
Is he dirty?
not necessarily.
This is Artest's playing style: tough!
Tough on defense, good in strength, strong in confrontation, and powerful in action!
This is the characteristic of Artest.
If I can defend myself, I will defend myself; if I cannot defend myself, I will find a way to defend myself!
When Artest is asked to defend Lopez, when the Lakers fall behind 0:2 and fall behind by more than ten points in the third quarter, Artest will do this!
Deng Fang knew about Artest.
Aside from the incident at the Palace of Auburn Hills, Artest is most famous for elbowing Harden.
That happened in April 2012 when the Lakers played the Thunder at home.
There were 1 minute and 37 seconds left in the first half. Artest held the ball and launched a fast break. Faced with the pursuit and interception of Thunder players, he still rushed to the basket and completed a wonderful left-hand dunk. After scoring the goal, he was extremely excited.
Artest clenched his fist with his right hand and kept beating his chest and roaring.
According to Artest's own recollection, at that time he wanted to make the same celebration with his left hand, but Harden blocked the retreat line. Due to the sharp rise in adrenaline, he lost his composure for a moment.
Artest then swung his elbow directly at Harden who blocked him, hitting Harden hard in the face.
Artest is a famous muscular man in the NBA, so you can imagine how powerful his elbow strikes are.
As a result, Harden was hit and fell to the ground with his head in his hands. He was even in pain and could not stand up at one point.
Harden then returned to the locker room for treatment, and it was confirmed that he had a concussion. Artest was directly expelled from the game, and was later suspended for 7 games!
After the game, Artest issued a brief statement on the matter, believing that he was too emotional after completing the wonderful dunk and did not do it on purpose!
When Ibaka came to him for "theory", he kept saying "what", and even he didn't know why he did that...
Artest, with such a personality, was humiliated by Lopez's back-up blows continuously, and the team was still lagging behind by a big score. It would be strange if he didn't do something!
Fortunately, Lopez was hit in the abdomen, not in the head.
Of course, it would be difficult for Artest to hit Lopez on the head...
Although the abdomen is very soft and hurts when hit, there are generally no serious injuries.
Lopez was trying to dunk, and his muscles must have been tense, not loose.
So it shouldn't be a big problem.
At most, it's just a break for one or two games.
While the referee was watching the replay, Deng Fang gave instructions to the players.
The key is not to lose your mind and forget about the game just because you are angry!
Our focus is to win!
Victory is the best consolation for Lopez.
Only when you win the game can you have the right to speak!
Only by defeating your opponent can you really make your opponent suffer!
What we have to do is focus on playing the game well.
It’s okay to increase confrontation during the game, but don’t hurt people intentionally and don’t be caught by the referee!
We are on the road!
The referees are watching!
Soon, the referee watched the replay and found out that Artest committed a first-level foul and the Warriors made two free throws.
This penalty is not a big problem.
Did Artest do any elbow strikes?
have!
Is it obvious? Not too obvious.
You know, Artest is not a fool. He didn't get too excited and lost his mind just now. He just wanted to give Lopez some color.
Although Artest hit Lopez in the abdomen with his elbow, it seemed to outsiders that he just pushed outward and his elbow hit Lopez.
The title of best defensive player is not for nothing!
Suspension will result in salary deduction!
Who can have trouble with money?
In short, Artest's elbow strikes are definitely there, but they are not obvious.
The most important thing is that the Lakers are now 0:2 behind, and they are still behind by more than 10 points in the third game!
The Lakers tried their best and used every trick!
They gave the Lakers 6 points right from the start!
Even so, the Lakers still can't beat the Warriors!
But the league doesn’t want the series to end so early!
The referees who can officiate the conference finals are all talented people.
After being a referee for so many years, I don’t even know what the league is thinking. Isn’t it a waste of time?
If Artest is punished, the Lakers won't have to fight!
The game is over immediately.
Therefore, Artest’s action can be given to first-level criminals or second-level criminals, so let’s give it to first-level criminals!
Although the result may not be the same if Artest is on the court, the result is almost certain if he is not on the court!
Deng Fang had no objection to this penalty.
If you have any objections, you can’t say anything!
Since Lopez was unable to play, Deng Fang designated the free throw shooter.
Of course, if you pick anyone at random, it would be Curry!
As expected, Curry made two free throws.
The score became 76:61!
The Lakers are 15 points behind!
Just played 2 minutes in the third quarter!
The Lakers worked hard for half a game, but they were still so far behind!
Of course, there is still good news for the Lakers, that is, Lopez cannot play!
Lopez is very important to the Warriors' tactical system.
Being able to shoot three-pointers, play in the low post, and play pick-and-roll passes with Curry to assist, these things are irreplaceable for Jordan.
No one in the Warriors can replace Lopez.
Lopez cannot play, who will replace Deng Fang?
DeAndre Jordan?
On the offensive end, Jordan could only pick-and-roll and take advantage of alley-oops. He was unable to punish the Lakers' small lineup!
Since Artest is feeling hot in this game, the Warriors dare not give him an open shot right now.
On the defensive end, both Jordan and Lopez have to expand near the three-point line.
Otherwise, it would be impossible to truly defend against Artest's three-pointer.
Once they reach the three-point line, the two cannot return to the penalty area in time to help defend.
In turn, the Lakers' speed advantage is very obvious.
If they can't punish the Lakers on the offensive end, the Warriors will be in trouble.
