Chapter 12: The Battle of the Four Kings of Detroit
The 76ers did not play well in the first game between the two sides, and the main players were slow to find the feeling of offense in the game, Eric Snow only made 3 of 13 shots, Coleman shot 1 of 4, Van Horn shot 1 of 8, and Marshburn scored 28 points on 8 of 21 shots on the opposite side, but the final victory still belonged to the 76ers, the reason was Iverson, who scored a crazy 55 points on 21 of 32 shots, with a little data of 8 assists, 4 rebounds and 2 steals, the 76ers when other players were not performing well, Relying on Iverson, who was against the sky, he snatched the victory of the game! The second game was the same as the first, Iverson scored 29 points, Kenny Thomas scored 17 points and 16 rebounds The 76ers beat the Hornets again, and the Hornets who returned to the home court in the third game began to fight back, Baron Davis scored 28 points and 8 assists on 11-of-26 shooting, Magloyer scored 18 points and 9 rebounds on 6-of-10 shooting, PJ Brown scored 17 points and 12 rebounds, on the other hand, the 76ers, Iverson played an inefficient game again, scoring only 28 points on 10-of-29 shooting, The other players, Coleman, Kenny Thomas, and Van Horn, each scored 12 points, and the others did not shine again, and the 76ers lost 85-99.
In the fourth game, Baron Davis continued to work hard in the last game when he was in good shape, and he shot 12 of 19 from the field and efficiently scored 34 points and 7 assists, but it was the 76ers who had the last laugh, although Iverson scored 22 points on 9-of-28 shooting, but Snow stood up, this player who looks very much like Mei Chaofeng in Jin Yong's novel was almost omnipotent in the game, and only took 8 shots in the whole game, scored 17 points, sent 12 assists, 6 rebounds and 5 steals, There was only one turnover, and the 76ers won the fourth game 96-87, indicating that the first round of the playoffs this season has also begun to use the best-of-seven system, so the 76ers still need a win on the way to promotion.
In the fifth game, the two sides played extremely anxiously, 1 minute and 40 seconds before the end of the game, the two sides fought to a tie of 85:85, Mashburn missed the shot, at this time, former 76ers teammate George Lynch played a huge role, he struggled to grab the rebound in the front court, and made a rebound! Coleman scored two points, and a minute before the end of the game, Mashburn missed again with the ball, and at this time, it was George Lynch who grabbed the key rebound, and Lynch hit the basket again! These two balls hit the 76ers players, and then Iverson's pass was stealed by PJ Brown, and there was not enough time, and the 76ers had to use foul tactics, Mashburn hit one of two free throws, and the 76ers trailed by three points at 87:90, and there were only 23 seconds left in the game, Iverson missed a three-point shot, and Alex Noe struggled to grab a gold-precious frontcourt rebound, and then Iverson scored two points under the basket, At 89:90, with only 13.6 seconds left, Iverson fouled Mashburn again, and Mashburn hit one of the two free throws again, the difference was 89:91, and the 76ers had the hope of equalizing or even killing! But! Attention, everyone, I'm going to say but! George Lynch killed the 76ers' hopes of winning, Van Horn's dribble was cut off by Lynch, and with 6.1 seconds left in the game, McGee immediately fouled Baron Davis, but Davis made both free throws to lead the team to a complete retreat on the 76ers' home court! also made Iverson's performance of 30 points and 7 assists in vain!
In the sixth game, there was nothing to say, it was purely a duel between the stars of the two sides, Mashburn scored 36 points, 5 assists and 4 rebounds on 14-of-27 shooting, Baron Davis scored 21 points and 11 assists on 8-of-13 shooting, 76ers Van Horn scored 18 points and 18 rebounds, Iverson scored 45 points on 14-of-30 shooting, and he also scored the final 6 points of the 76ers, and under Iverson's brave play, the 76ers narrowly defeated the Hornets 107-103 and advanced to the second round. Iverson averaged 34.8 points, 4.3 rebounds and 5.7 assists per game while shooting 44.4 percent from the field, while Gieth Van Horn, who was highly expected by the team, averaged 13.0 points and 8.3 rebounds per game and shot 38.2 percent from the field, which was not as good as the regular season.
The opponent in the second round is the powerful Detroit Pistons, this Pistons is only a semi-finished product of the Pistons team that won the championship in 2004, the five King Kong in 2004 only made up 4 in 2003, "roaring Tianzun" Rasheed Wallace has not yet come, the big forward position player of the year is Clifford Robinson, this brother is the founder of the "Headband Gang", 208 cm tall, rebounding is not outstanding, but he is a very good three-point shooter, before Dirk Nowitzki made his 1000th three-pointer, Clifford Robinson is the tallest person in the NBA history to shoot the 1000th three-pointer, this brother is the same as Robert Hawley, born with awesome attributes, career eighteen seasons, seventeen of which his team has reached the playoffs, it can be said that it is a miracle, but Robinson has been a veteran who has been fighting in the league for 14 seasons, but he can still contribute 12 points and 4 rebounds per game in the regular season.
In the first game between the two sides, the Pistons gave the 76ers a blow to the head, and they took away the victory of the game 98-87, Richard Hamilton and Chauncey Billups combined to score 49 points, and the 76ers Iverson and Coleman combined to score 48 points. Lost on the bench, "Turkish Heavy Artillery" Memet Oku showed his killer nature, hitting all 7 shots in the game, scoring 16 points, and directly knocking over the 76ers.
Chauncey Billups was sidelined due to injury in the second game, which was a great opportunity for the 76ers to win, and the two teams did their best in the game, and 13.7 seconds before the end of regular time, "The Little Prince" Tyshawn Prince hit a 2-point shot to tie the score, Snow barely missed a three-point shot, missed the kill, and the game went into overtime. The 76ers had hoped to win the game in the fourth quarter, but the Pistons' Joan Barry's suddenly strengthened three-point skill package, Rick Barry's eldest son, a player who wasn't too good in his career, shot 3-of-3 from three-point range in the fourth quarter, plus two free throws, and he shot 11 points in the first half of the fourth quarter! The goal scored by Prince before the end of the game seemed to have opened up his second vein, and the little prince turned into a big bad wolf in overtime, extremely ferocious! In 5 minutes of overtime, the Big Bad Wolves shot 3 of 3, including a three-pointer, and scored 7 points, you must know that the 76ers only scored a total of 5 points in overtime, and finally the 76ers lost 97:104 in overtime, Iverson scored 31 points and 7 assists on 12-of-29 shooting, Kenny Thomas scored 15 points and 19 rebounds, and the Pistons Richard Hamilton and Chacky Atkins, who replaced Chauncey Billups, both scored 23 points, Ben Wallace contributed seven points, 15 rebounds and two blocks, while Prince came off the bench to finish with 20 points and nine rebounds.
In the third game, the little prince played a 17-point performance again, and Richard Hamilton also contributed 24 points, but this time it was the 76ers who won, Iverson scored 25 points and 11 assists, Van Horn scored 17 points and 6 rebounds, Coleman had 15 points and 8 rebounds, Kenny Thomas 10 points and 14 rebounds, and the team's good play allowed the 76ers to win the victory. In the fourth game, the 76ers continued to work hard to make the next game, although the Pistons Hamilton scored 30 points, but Iverson also scored 36 points and 11 assists, and other players also performed well, Kenny Thomas 14 points, Coleman 14 points and 15 rebounds, Snow 11 points and 6 assists, and Aaron McGee scored 12 points. The big score of the two teams was tied 2-2.
In the fifth game, the key battle of Tianwang Mountain, the shooting rate of both teams was not high, no more than forty percent, but the game was very ups and downs, 1 minute and 30 seconds before the end, the 76ers fell behind by 4 points at 70:74, and then Iverson steals Oku, hit the basket and caused Hamilton's foul, and the score was narrowed to 2 points after two free throws, and then Iverson stole Chaggie Atkins again, but was robbed by Ben Wallace again, Oku missed the shot, Iverson quickly counterattacked and scored two points again, 74 draw! 16 seconds before the end, Prince hit a 2-point layup to give the Pistons the initiative, and then the Pistons' joy did not last long, Iverson picked up Snow's Eric Snow received a pass from Coleman and hit a three-pointer, 77:76! The 76ers took a one-point lead, with only 3.6 seconds left before the end of the game! Will there be a lore? Chaggie Atkins tells you out loud that there is! And it was given away by 76ers player Coleman for nothing!
Atkins received the serve without pausing, immediately hit the basket, less than a second away from the light to shoot, and still ran crooked and shrunk his neck to shoot, seeing that the basketball was going to the center of the basket, Coleman was cheap, ready to pick up the rebound, this stretched out, the ball went directly from the frame to reach, the referee finally discussed, interfered with the ball! Lore! The entire 76ers players were stunned, Brother Ke, what are you playing!
In the crucial sixth game, Chauncey Billups returned and played the role of savior, one minute and forty seconds before the end, the 76ers led 77:74, Billups caused Snow's foul, two free throws, and then Iverson burst into the basket to score 2 points, one minute before the end, Billups assisted Chris Williams to Aaron McGee to play two plus one, Williams hit a free throw, the score was tied at 79 and then Iverson did not shoot, Kenny Thomas grabbed the rebound in the front court, assisted Snow to shoot two points! With only 27 seconds left before the end of the game, the 76ers held a two-point lead, and for the Pistons, Chauncey Billups was still standing up! , his shot caused Snow's foul, and before the end, in the face of the boos of tens of thousands of spectators at the 76ers home court, the big-hearted Billups made both free throws steadily, and the game entered overtime!
In overtime, Billups completely dominated the game, first hitting two three-pointers to make the 76ers mess up, and then assisting Prince to score two points under the basket, and the 76ers Iverson is also a character who does not admit defeat, how can he be easily defeated? Gritting his teeth, he scored three goals in a row to score 6 points, plus Kenny Thomas opened with a rebound, and the two teams tied at 89 again one minute before the end!
And then what? This game is here, there is no end for the Philadelphia 76ers, and the 76ers have no one to score for the remaining full minute, and the Pistons' Billups hit an incredible third three-pointer, Atkins made one of two free throws before the end, and the Pistons defeated the Philadelphia 76ers by four points! Chauncey Billups scored 28 points in this game, including 9 points in overtime, Ben Wallace Martial Arts 10 points, 18 rebounds, 5 steals and 3 blocks, and there was not a single turnover, 76ers Iverson scored 38 points and 9 assists on 14-of-33 shooting, Coleman scored 14 points and 11 rebounds, and Kenny Thomas scored 12 points and 14 rebounds.
In the six series, Iverson averaged 28.5 points and 9.2 assists per game, shooting only 38.6% from the field, Coleman averaged 16.5 points and 11 rebounds per game.
After the end of the season, 76ers head coach Larry Brown did not achieve the goal in mind, voluntarily stepped down, at the beginning of the new season, his job is the head coach of the Detroit Pistons, the last opponent of his 76ers era, and in the first year of his tenure, he used the Pistons' five King Kongs, defeated the Lakers' luxury F4, and won the championship trophy, this is a later story, looking back at the Pistons to say this, Brown was replaced by a young coach named Randy Hayes, when he led the team to a 21-31 record, Fired by team management, Chris Ford has 10 years of coaching experience, and has coached the Celtics, Bucks and Clippers.
In the offseason, the team cleaned up the soft "cabbage" Van Horn, got the "big dog" Glenn Robinson from the Hawks, got center Mark Jackson from the Timberwolves, and signed the 22nd pick in the second round of the rookie conference in 2003, and Sanuel Darremport, who was reimbursed last season due to a knee injury, made a strong comeback and soon became the backbone of the team's interior. Averaging 8 points and 7.6 rebounds per game, John Salmons, who had little chance to perform last season, has been reused this season, playing in 77 games this season, starting 24 games, averaging 5.8 points and 2.5 rebounds in 20 minutes per game, Iverson has only played 48 games due to injury this season, and the team has won a total of 33 games this season and missed the playoffs.