"The Rockets took another timeout, there was 1 second left before the end of the game, 1 second of time, the two sides were tied at 112, the Rockets' last attack, overtime or the end of the series, just watch for a second. This is a torment for all Lakers fans, they may not have expected that the Lakers will encounter such a situation, 1:3 down, the fifth game is in jeopardy, the Lakers have done their best in this game, but it still seems that they can't bring down the Rockets...... Okay, the pause is over, let's see if there will be a miracle in this last second......"

On May 7, the day before the sixth battle between the 76ers and the Bucks, the fifth game between the Lakers and the Rockets reached the last moment of regular time.

Immediately after the Lakers' last attack, Byron Scott missed a two-point jumper, the Rockets grabbed the rebound in the front court and called a timeout, and the Rockets had a chance to make a final attack, but it was only a short second.

Around this second, the Rockets and the Lakers called a few timeouts back and forth, which was a battle of wits between the coaches of the two sides, the Rockets arranged offensive tactics, the Lakers counterattacked, and then the Rockets called a timeout to destroy the Lakers' arrangement, which is enough to see the importance of both sides for a second.

The Lakers have reached the edge of the cliff, and the Rockets do not want to give the defending champions any respite.

In this game, the two sides did their best at the beginning, and the Lakers set off an offensive frenzy in the first quarter, 14 seconds before the end of the first quarter, Magic Johnson hooked his hand, and then made a successful steal, and the change to a layup was interfered with by Sampson, and Sampson got the rebound.

But then Cooper made another steal and hit a three-point shot with a second left, and the whole arena was boiling, but unfortunately the referee then ruled that the ball was invalid, even so, the Lakers were in high spirits, and the atmosphere of the whole team and the court reached its peak.

However, the Rockets' three consecutive victories have allowed them to accumulate enough self-confidence to deal with the Lakers' tidal wave of offense and the terrifying warm atmosphere at home, Olajuwon and Sampson have taken advantage of it on the inside, especially Olajuwon, whose performance in the third quarter was simply superb.

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Rambis, and Maurice Lucas couldn't stop the two giants from turning over on the inside, especially Lucas, an important addition for the Lakers in the summer, who missed shots in the crucial third quarter, scoring just four points on 2-of-6 shooting from the field, and a disappointing performance.

Lucas even lost his mind because of this, and in the fourth quarter, Sampson maliciously fouled Sampson in a shot after grabbing a rebound in the front court, and pulled Sampson down hard, if it wasn't for Olajuwon's pull Sampson, the two sides would probably be punching and kicking.

However, Olajuwon, who had just pulled Sampson, got into a fight with Kubrick in a matchup two minutes later, and finally Olajuwon was also sent off and had to sit on the bench to watch the rest of the game.

But just like that, the Rockets withstood the Lakers' crazy offense and got a last-second chance.

In a second, if you want to hit the ball, you can basically only touch the ball in your hand and then you have to shoot, and if you hesitate a little, it will be too late.

"The Rockets serve, last second...... Sampson...... He threw it! He threw it! It's over, it's all over! ”

The TV announcer probably couldn't believe his eyes, McGregory threw the ball out, Ralph Sampson jumped up to catch the ball in the corner, and without even turning around, he threw the ball straight back to the basket, which bounced twice on the hoop and fell into the net.

It's not like a shot, it's like a setter in volleyball, except that no one makes the final smash, and the ball flies straight where it should be, sending the Lakers to the grave.

Michael Cooper fell to the ground in pain, his face full of helplessness, and he had done his best to score 15 points and hit the team's only three-pointer.

Maybe he's thinking that if that three-point press counts, the Lakers might have won this game.

But there was no such thing as a basketball game, and to everyone's surprise, the Rockets relied on Sampson's flying stunner to eliminate the defending champion and reach the division finals.

That's right, it's the division finals, and in the original history, they should have made it straight to the Finals, but now, they have to face the Portland Trail Blazers in the West to compete for the Western Conference championship and the Finals.

Their opponents have been waiting for a long time.

………………

After identifying the opponent for the Western Conference Finals, the Trail Blazers finally began comprehensive targeted training, and the coaching staff led by Ramsey also began to rack their brains to think about strategies against the Rockets.

Fortunately, under Gan Guoyang's reminder, Ramsey started to make some preparations early, plus the Trail Blazers swept the Nuggets 4-0, so he had more time to adjust the plan in training.

For the Trail Blazers' coaching staff, the team's main problem is not how to deal with the twin towers, but how to deal with the Rockets' formidable perimeter.

In the series with the Lakers, Ramsey repeatedly studied, and the Rockets' twin towers played on the inside is definitely the basis for the Rockets to win, five games, Akim Olajuwon averaged 31 points, 11 rebounds, 4 blocks and 2 steals per game, and Ralph Sampson 20.4 points, 8.8 rebounds, 4 assists and 2.2 steals, which is undoubtedly the most powerful interior combination in the playoff series in NBA history.

But Ramsey believes that the key to the Rockets' victory, or the winner, lies in their outside play, and under their strong pressing defense and the deterrence of the twin towers, the play of other players outside the Lakers troika can be described as miserable.

Byron Scott, who averaged 18 points per game against the Jazz in the first round and became the team's second scoring point, dropped his scoring to 13 points in this round, and his shooting percentage dropped from 55 percent to 44 percent; At the same time, the other seven players all scored in the series, like Goodmanson, McGee and others played to score 5 or 6 points per game, but in the series with the Rockets, they didn't even get playing time.

The role players were completely blocked, which drained Abdul-Jabbar, Johnson and Worthy, and three of the four games the Lakers lost collapsed in the fourth quarter because the main players were just tired.

In addition to the Celtics, the only team that can make the Lakers feel fatigued may really be the Houston Rockets, and even the Trail Blazers can't outrun the Lakers.

As for how to deal with the Rockets' super athletic and highly league-winning lineup, Ramsey thought about losing a few more hairs on his head, and tried them repeatedly in training.

For the inside line of the Rockets, Ramsey has decided to put the pressure on Gan Guoyang, and it depends on him whether the Trailblazers can withstand the twin towers that are in the limelight.

Judging from the regular season matchup, Gan Guoyang is not afraid of the Rocket Twin Towers on the inside, although he suffers from height, but regardless of speed, strength or skill, Gan Guoyang will not fall behind either of the two, and more importantly, Gan Guoyang has a strong fighting spirit, from the end of the series with the Nuggets to the present, Gan Guoyang has been using ultra-high-intensity training every day to maintain his condition, although Ramsey is a little worried about his injury, but he also knows that as long as the series starts, there is no need to worry about his state.

In the power forward position, Ramsey still trusts Sampson, even if the veteran's performance in the first two rounds is average, Jones and Kenny Carr have shared a lot of his playing time equally, but between the performance of Ralph Sampson against Mitchell Sampson in the regular season, there is reason to believe that the veteran can handle it.

Ramsey is most worried about the small forward position, the Rockets' McGray is the No. 1 choice to defend Worthy in the series with the Lakers, and he can play as long as Worthy, although the single defense effect is not so satisfactory, but the importance of McGray on the court is obvious.

Whether Vanderwicki's offense can once again make up for his holes on the defensive end is Ramsey's biggest concern, after all, the small forward really doesn't have much to do other than scoring.

At the same time, the immature backcourt composed of Drexler and Colter, whether they can break through the Rockets' high-wall defense line, will also be the key to determining the direction of the game, Drexler's lack of projection ability makes Ramsey very worried, and the experience of Colt and Porter in the point guard position is also a big problem, in the face of the Rockets without a point guard on the lineup, how can they deal with defenders half a head taller than themselves on the court, it will be very nerve-wracking.

Of course, the Trail Blazers are not without advantages, the Trail Blazers' bench is a big advantage point, the Lakers lost the series, and the bench players did not play a lot of strength at all, their summer focus on recruiting Morris Lucas in the first round is still a 12+7 qualified substitute, and in the semifinals it became a weak chicken with 7 points and 4 rebounds.

Paxson, Kenny Carr, Cauchy, and Porter on the Trail Blazers bench are much better than the Rockets' bench Peterson, Leeville, and Wiggins.

Just as the Trail Blazers coaching staff was racking their brains to prepare for the Western Conference Finals, the Eastern Conference matchups were also released.

In the sixth game, the 76ers, who fought hard to get away from home and returned home with a 3:3 tie, unfortunately lost to the Bucks by one point and were eliminated by the Bucks for the first time in six years.

The game was equally thrilling, with the two sides battling until the last minute, and with Julius Irving missing his final shot near the free throw line, the 76ers lost the life-and-death battle 112-113.

After the game, Charles Barkley returned to the bench to sit as if the game wasn't over yet, waiting for the coach to lay out the tactics and continue to finish the game.

But it was all over, the Bucks players were cheering and celebrating, the crowd was starting to leave, and the 76ers players were starting to walk to the locker room, where only Barkley was still sitting in a daze.

Maurice Cheeks walked over to Barkley and said a few words to him before Barkley returned to the locker room with Cheeks.

It was a painful loss for Barkley, and he definitely didn't play worse than Gan Guoyang, Olajuwon and Jordan in this series, but like Jordan, he lost, and if he lost, it meant that it was all over.

So in the post-match interview, Barkley said "My-speaking-career-is-over." Then he said nothing.

If Barkley's end is temporary, he can make a comeback next year, and for Irving, who missed out on a stunner, his journey may really come to an end.

The following season, the 76ers were eliminated by the Bucks again in the playoffs, and Dr. J. Irving retired, and it was a time to go.