It is generally believed that Chris. Paul really started to mature after a major injury in the '09-10 season.

From then on, Paul began to assist his teammates with the deadliest passes and hit the opponent with the easiest score.

After the Pacers won three championships, people felt that Paul was already the most dominant point guard in the league. It wasn't until two years ago that Paul's reign over the number one position in the league finally came to an end.

For the second year in a row, Paul's injury in the playoffs has led to a consensus that the point guard of this dynasty team is finished. The bane that had been planted before began to explode, and Paul's status in the hearts of the people became lower and lower.

This can be seen from this year's All-Star starters. In the past, in the East, Paul's starting point guard position must have been untouchable. Henson even believes that even in the West, where there are many strong players, Paul can still be an All-Star starter.

But this year, Paul was only named to the All-Star bench. Even if fans don't want to admit it, it's a fact that Paul's influence is gradually declining.

Although Henson knows, Paul is still one of the best point guards in the league. His popularity declined not because of a lack of strength, but because of injuries.

But others, however, don't think so.

For example, Kyle in the Raptors' "Trash Brothers". Lowry.

April 29 is six days after the Pacers have swept the Bulls. In Washington, D.C., the Toronto Raptors finally won Game 6 of the series thanks to the excellent play of DeRozan and Lowry.

At this time, the total score of the series also became 4-2. Toronto made it past the first round of the playoffs to become the Pacers' next opponent.

The Raptors' goal this year is not to say that it is a championship, but the Eastern Conference championship, they definitely want to win. So meeting the Pacers in the second round early made the Raptors feel that they were particularly unlucky.

Although winning the first round, most journalists know about it. Their pace is likely to end there.

But Lowry doesn't think so, and in an interview with the media after the game, Lowry said, "In the next series, I'll see Chris dead, and DeMar will cause a lot of trouble for George." Kevin. Rooney and Ibaka will contain Antetokounmpo. In the end, we will win the victory. ”

Lowry smiled confidently as he faced the camera.

See, everybody thought that Paul was now at the mercy of others. They seem to have forgotten how terrifying a healthy "queen bee" is.

And Henson's task is to help them regain their memories.

On April 30, the last day of April, Henson and his players began to officially prepare for the game against the Raptors.

And tomorrow, May 1, the Eastern Conference semifinals of the Pacers vs Raptors will officially begin.

For this Eastern Conference semifinals, the Pacers have rested for more than a week, while the Raptors have only one day off. In this regard, Henson already has a huge advantage.

After arriving at the training ground on the 30th, Henson also found the players very excited, as if they had been waiting for the Eastern Conference semifinals for a long time.

Chris. Paul showed up early in the morning to warm up in the gym, although Kyle. Paul didn't respond to Lowry's words, but that doesn't mean Paul wasn't angry.

Tomorrow's game, Paul will let Lowry see who is watching whom.

It's no secret that Lowry's playoff performances tend not to be as good as they were in the regular season. And Paul has always believed that a player who can only play in the regular season is not a good player.

Kyle. Lowry, tomorrow will be beaten back to his original form.

Paul is in excellent form, as Henson expected. Having fallen in the Eastern Conference semifinals for the second year in a row, Paul will definitely want to fight his way through.

But during the afternoon of confrontational training, Henson discovered another new surprise besides Paul.

On the pitch, Paul was steady on the ball. In the face of Brogdon's marking, Paul has been pushing his little brother with small movements.

A lot of the new players in the Pacers' confrontational training have to get used to a while because everyone is playing very seriously in training.

After dismissing Brogdon's attempt at a steal, Paul beckoned Siakam to come and cover.

Henson now likes to use a mix of bench and starting lineups for confrontational training, so that no matter how Henson makes substitutions in the middle of the game, there will be no such thing as a lack of tacit understanding.

Paul borrowed Siakam's cover to break through, and he was very aggressive during the break. But halfway through, Paul gave the ball to Siakam, who was standing on the outside.

Siakam made a false shot and flew away from the elder Frye. Seeing this, Siakam broke through with the ball. Although Brooke. Lopez has made up for the basket, but Siakam has no intention of slowing down.

His momentum eventually led Lopez to give up the block, and the white center could only watch as the young No. 43 striker scored with a one-handed pull.

"Well done, Pascal!" Paul shouted in delight, then high-fived Siakam.

Lopez shook his head, both guys were playing too aggressively today. Not to mention training, even in official competitions, no one can stop those two guys from cooperating.

"Pascal seems to be very excited today." Seeing Siakam complete the dunk in training again, McMillan, who was next to Henson, sighed.

"yes, he and Paul completely blew up the audience today." Henson smiled, he almost forgot that Siakam was traded by the Raptors in the first place.

Any player who has been traded by their parent club will definitely want to re-show themselves on the pitch as a way to prove how wrong the team that traded them was.

Siakam was dissatisfied with the Raptors not giving him a chance before, but now, a good opportunity for "revenge" is in front of him, and there is a powerful "accomplice" of Paul, can Siakam not be excited?

Kyle. Lowry also thinks he and the Raptors can get through it and make the next offence. But Henson thinks the Raptors had better pray now that the Pacers don't win, because that's the only way they can fight themselves!

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Early in the morning of May 1, countless fans poured into the streets to make their way to the Bankers' Life Arena.

Today is the day the Eastern Conference semifinals begin. The Pacers have fallen to the Eastern Conference semifinals for two years in a row.

So, Indianapolis fans are looking forward to this game. They hope that Henson can lead the team out of the gloom as he has done before.

Siakam drove his second-hand SUV to the entrance of the arena, and the crowd outside the stadium made Siakam's scalp tingle.

It's hard for him to imagine that just a few months ago, he was even playing at the NBDL, which had an average audience of 2,000 people. And now, he's about to play his greatest game in front of thousands of fans!

Siakam looked up at the arena and smiled in relief. On it, there was already a huge poster of him.

At the same time, Chris. Paul has already started today's shooting drills with Fraser by his side. Paul's expression was very serious, and the terrible scenes of the past two years flashed before Paul's eyes. But Paul didn't think about it, he knew it was time to get rid of the damn things.

In the afternoon, the Raptors' team bus arrived at the Bankers' Living Arena. Kyle. Lowry grimaced at DeRozan in the car, hoping that the guy who was suffering from depression would be happy.

"Don't pull your face, DeMar. It's a playoff game, and unless you save all four games in your hands, it's not over. Look, I'll pass you the ball today! After Lori finished speaking, he was the first to get out of the car. As soon as he got out of the car, he was surrounded by reporters.

There is no doubt that Lowry's remarks two days ago have made him the most talked-about player for the Raptors.

"You heard it right, I'm going to see Chris die today. That's what I have to do and that's the only way we can win the game. Even though the troops were already in the city, Lowry still didn't give in.

On the other side, Raptors coach Devin . Casey has also become the target of a frenzied siege by reporters. The question for him was simple, "Do you regret that the team traded Siakam in the first place?" ”

To this, Casey's reply was very disdainful, "We have Sergi. Ibaka and Kevin. Wayne Rooney, our number four is strong. So, why should I regret it? ”

I don't know, Devon. Is Casey really not regretting, or is a dead duck with a hard mouth. After all, it was he who strongly advised Ujri to trade Siakam.

Before the game started, the reporters had already hyped up the atmosphere of the big battle. After interviewing the Raptors, reporters naturally set their sights on the Pacers. And in the pre-game interview, how can Henson be missing?

Before the game began, a reporter approached Henson with a simple question, "Do you think the Pacers can make it past the Eastern Conference semifinals?" Are the Raptors going to get you in trouble? ”

Faced with this simple question, Henson just smiled slightly.

"Have you ever seen a cartoon called How to Train Your Dragon? Today, the Banker's Life Arena will stage a live-action version of "How to Train Your Dragon". ”