Chapter 221: "Forcing the King"

The Knicks were the victors today, but Wu Huang did not show the slightest generosity, after the game he sang and sang with the New York media, the latter specifically asked him questions with the smell of gunpowder, Wu Huang said unceremoniously: "These two games have allowed us to find our true selves again, and the next game will definitely be very different from the first game." In the first game we had most of the players in the playoffs for the first time, we didn't fully show our quality, that's not where we really are. By the second game, we had already found the feeling of the game and in the end we just lost on experience. And in the last two games, as you can see, they are not our opponents at all, and I can't wait for the next game. ”

Iguodala, who was sitting next to him, couldn't help but wipe her forehead with her hand, but there was no sweat on it.

At the post-match press conference, the first brother, who has always been very low-key, originally wanted to say a few kind words, but when Wu Huang messed with it, he could only say: "Every team has the potential to be defeated by the opponent, we lost the first two games, but as Hugo said, we are getting better every game, and now we are confident that we will defeat the opponent and enter the next round, and the fifth game will be the key to this round of the series." ”

D'Antoni also agreed with Wu, saying: "Hugo is playing like he's played a lot of playoff games, and for him, it's not a big picture at all. He's done a good job, he's leading the team to win, he's scoring like a bag, he's doing a good job defensively, he's already a playoff star and I've only seen that kind of terrifying lethality in Amare. ”

The mustache could guess Emperor Wu's high-profile intentions, and sometimes he said it to death in advance. On the contrary, it can reduce the possibility of the team underestimating the enemy. Because if you talk too much, you can't lose. Otherwise, it would be too face-saving.

Secondly, Wu Huang is also continuing to attract media attention and opponents' attention for his teammates, although he is actually stealing the limelight and pretending to be more likely, but the advantage of this is that the other players of the Knicks will face much less pressure, and they can hide behind Wu Huang and play more easily.

In the end, he can continue to irritate the Hawks players by doing so, and the more angry the opponent is, the more he will care too much about Wu Huang in the next game. That gives them more room to adjust, and the Eagles add a lot of possibilities to lose out of thin air.

Wu Huang finally mentioned his 3 consecutive games of 40+ without a trace, he said that he didn't think it was an incredible or magical performance, and said with a little humor: "The biggest pitfall in this league is that no matter how hard you try to get good results or historical performances, as long as you look up, you can see Michael and Wilt standing on the top of the mountain and smiling at you: 'Come on'." ”

Of course he is not right to say this, there are many players who have scored 40+ in consecutive games in NBA history, but there are not many players who can do this in their rookie season and playoffs, in fact, there are few players who can lead the team to play the playoffs in the first season. This is his favorite thing to do, and many fans in China have given him the third very apt nickname - "Forcing King".

One more thing to mention here. No one in the history of the Knicks' team has ever scored 40+ in three consecutive games in the playoffs, and Wu Huang unknowingly set a new team record, and after the game, he still pretended to be forced without a trace, and these two home courts are really a happy journey for him.

The Hawks were much more low-key after the game, Larry Drew was just repeatedly emphasizing that the team's loss on the road does not affect their indestructible home advantage, the Knicks have a high home win rate this season, and the Hawks were mentally prepared to lose here in advance, but don't forget that they have one more home court advantage than the Knicks, as long as they win the next third home court, the Hawks can hold three match points, they still occupy the initiative of the series, and losing two games in a row is by no means the end of the world.

Yahoo Sports, which has always liked to watch Wu Huang after the game, naturally jumped out to cheer for the Eagles, and they couldn't agree with Larry Drew that the two defeats don't say much, and the series won't change much because of it.

The Knicks are very strong at home, having beaten the likes of the Cavaliers and Celtics at Madison Garden, but their road record is the lowest of the eight playoff teams in the East. So it's clear that the Knicks can't win all three games in a row, and if they really want to win three or even four games in a row to eliminate Atlanta, it's probably harder than getting China to send an astronaut to the moon.

However, that doesn't mean the Hawks can't take this defeat seriously, and they need to ask themselves, what did we let our opponents do?

Such a heart-wrenching report was quickly reprinted by the angry Chinese media, and countless Chinese fans, even non-fans, were furious when they saw such a metaphor, and they scolded Yahoo Sports for being suspected of blatantly provoking all Chinese, and they were naked and despising Chinese.

Although Yahoo Sports quickly took down the content of the report and publicly apologized, it did not punish any of its employees, apparently not taking the protests and angry scolding of Chinese netizens seriously, and such insincere apologies did not eliminate the anger of the Chinese people.

Emperor Wu did not express an opinion on this, of course he was also very angry, this was actually aimed at him, otherwise why bring China?

But he knows better that it doesn't hurt to slap people in the face now, in case the Knicks really lose the next game, at that time, it will not be slapped in the face by others, but by others, so he has always won the game and then settled accounts with these people, saving the time to be beaten back and make people see jokes.

The New York Times was naturally looking down on the Atlanta Hawks at this time, and they changed their tactics in their reports to belittle the Atlanta players, claiming that the advantage of the Knicks Youth Army was undoubted, and the only star that the Hawks could get their hands on was Joe Johnson.

But fans who watched the game know that the star guard didn't perform well against the Knicks, contributing only 17 points in the third and fourth games combined, shooting just 25 percent from the field and 12.5 percent from three-point range. That's and he's averaging 21.3 points per game this season. He shot 45.8 percent from the field. Three-point shooting percentage of 36.9% is a big difference.

Another restricted player for the Hawks is all-around king Josh Smith, a two-way forward who averaged 15.7 points and 8.7 rebounds per game this season, but combined for just 22 points and 13 rebounds in the third and fourth games, and his role was greatly limited.

The final gap is when it comes to scoring on the bench, and apart from Crawford, the Hawks don't have the depth of the bench that they can really get their hands on. On the other hand, Harrington averaged 12 points per game in four games, and Danny Green hit a total of four three-pointers in the last two games. Dujon also scored 14 points today, and the Knicks' bench contribution was significantly stronger than the Hawks.

The Hawks can really cause problems for the Knicks is Al Horford, who has a big advantage in the fight against David Lee, but this advantage is also missing in today's game, David Lee cut 20 points and 15 rebounds in the fourth game, Horford only has 12 points and 9 rebounds, if David Lee can continue his excellent performance in Game 5, the Hawks may only be stuck in two wins.

Later, Da Sabi did not hide his praise for Wu Huang in the report, of course, they couldn't follow Wu Huang's invisible pretenses, but did not hesitate to bow down to his 3 consecutive 40+ performances.

The second half of this story. The protagonist is Wu Huang alone, Da Sabi wrote: After today's game. Hugo became the first player in Knicks history to score 40+ points in three consecutive playoff games, and also became the first player since Jordan in 1989 to score 40+5+5 in three consecutive games, and also had a triple-double, such a performance is unique.

Such a feat has not been done by Kobe Bryant of the Lakers, James of the Cavaliers, and superstars such as Wade, Anthony, and Iverson have not done it......

In the past 10 years in the NBA, not to mention the playoffs, even if the players who can score 40+ in three consecutive games in the regular season are only Anthony, Iverson, Carter and Kobe, this alone can show that when Hugo wants to score, no matter what kind of defense is difficult to stop him, you must know that their opponent today is the Atlanta Hawks, this team is the Western Conference semifinals team last season, and the third in the East this year, and it is also recognized as a strong defensive team in the league.

In addition, Hugo's 40 points, 12 rebounds and 12 assists in the previous game are also something that no one in the active players has ever done, although James has scored 40+10+10, but it is not as good as Wu Huang's performance. Jordan is the only one who has had such crazy numbers in the last 30 years, so we can conclude that Hugo's individual ability is no less than that of the superstars of the 03 generation? So is he the best rookie in NBA history?

Although the New York Times report is a bit exaggerated, in the entire basketball world, people who know the ball know what Wu Huang's performance in these three games means. However, the mainstream sports media in the United States chose to keep a low profile and used the reason that the Hawks' point guard was too inferior to reduce the gold content of Wu Huang's data, and only the local media in New York hyped Wu Huang's phenomenal performance.

This phenomenon can be understood in this way: if Wu Huang, a Chinese, only plays at the level of an ordinary main player or a quasi-all-star, then his Chinese identity can allow him to enjoy all-star or even a higher level of exposure, and the American media will also give him a thumbs up.

But now it's different, Wu Huang is playing too well, it has exceeded the range they can bear, and at this time, his Chinese identity has made many media and senior fans in the United States feel uncomfortable, and only huge pseudo-fans or female fans who completely look at their faces will become Wu Huang's crazy fans.

Now that the number of followers on Facebook and Twitter has surpassed that of James and Kobe? The reason is not that there are more fans who like to watch him play, this is because the number of face and pseudo fans in the world is the largest, and the United States is naturally no exception, so although Wu Huang was resisted by senior fans in Europe and the United States, he successfully attracted more brain-dead fans to protect himself.

These fans may not even fully understand the rules of the NBA, in fact, they are not watching basketball at all, but looking at Wu Huang as a person, and even as long as Wu Huang's personal data in the game is good, even if the team loses, they will not care too much. Instead, he will come up with "teammates' CBA reasons" to wash the floor for him willingly.

After this game. Although the coverage of Wu Huang in the American media is not small. But they also put a lot of resources on other teams and stars, which makes many fans who don't know much about the NBA even wonder how amazing Wu Huang's three consecutive 40+ games are?

This made Wu Huang feel that it seemed inappropriate to choose a low-key approach, he originally wanted to pretend to be invisible, and let people take the initiative to praise him for how good he was, which made him even more awesome, didn't he? But he never expected that someone would give him a plan, and Emperor Wu would be blinded all of a sudden, and this "force" was not pretended!

Of course. In the past few days, the media in Asia has behaved much more professionally than the American media, and several domestic sports giants have also turned out all the players who have won 40+ in three consecutive games to evaluate, and then compared Wu Huang's strong place with the weak place of other big names, and finally suddenly found that Wu Huang seems to have no one anymore? He is already better than Jordan, Kobe Bryant and James and others are like scum in front of him, and in the end, even these media themselves think, are they a little overblown?

After the fourth game, although Wu Huang felt that his news was less than expected, he didn't care about hyping himself anymore. The team is now ready to get ready for Game 5. And don't look at him blowing the cowhide out there, as if a finger could stab the Eagles to death. But in fact, he is not completely sure about this away game.

Yahoo Sports is right about one thing, the Hawks' home court is indeed strong, and the Knicks' away game is a bit weak, so they will naturally not have much of a grasp of it.

D'Antoni is now hoping to build on the momentum of the second consecutive game to chase down the momentum, and perhaps use their offense to destroy the Hawks, who are currently in a sagging mood, and it will depend on whether he, the core of the team, can continue to play well in Game 5, especially in the first quarter of the game.

On April 26, the fourth game of the first round was over, and on this day the league gave birth to the first team to be swept away.

The most unsuspenseful game in the Eastern Conference is the Orlando Magic VS Miami Heat, although Howard only got 15 points and 10 rebounds in the fourth game, but the Magic only took three quarters to extinguish the Heat, so that Warcraft sat on the bench in the fourth quarter and watched his teammates continue to teach the opponent a smile, and the Warcraft smiled happily on this day.

O'Neal Jr. allowed Howard to average only 7 points and 6 rebounds per game in these four games, such a performance was completely unsatisfactory, maybe the Heat would not have lost so badly when they met other teams, even if they encountered the powerful Celtics, but when they met the Magic team with strong abuse ability, they really had no chance at all.

Wade looked frustrated in his post-game press conference, and he even revealed his dissatisfaction with the team's strength in his speech, which made the Flash, whose contract expired this summer, instantly become a big fish in the free market.

After Miami was eliminated, Wade was already a free agent, and teams in the league who want to get the superstar guard can now make sneaky contacts in private to test the tone of the popular superstar.

After the Magic finish this series, they will have to sit back and see the winner of the Knicks and Hawks. Back then, New York fans dared to look down on others, but now no one dares to say so, no matter how arrogant they are, they don't think that Emperor Wu at this time is better than Wade. Since even the Flash can't break through the defense of the Magic team, although Wu Huang has better shooting ability and some restraint on the defense of the Magic team in terms of play, he still has little hope of leading the team to defeat the Magic.

The Celtics, another strong team in the Eastern Conference, were pulled back by the Bobcats on the road, and the Big Four did not just hold on to the key moments in the fourth quarter this time, and the Bobcats used their home court advantage to play a very brutal defense, although the Bobcats paid the price of two technical fouls and two players leaving the court, they finally managed to hold on to their home honors, did not shave their heads at home, and forced a 2-2 draw with strong opponents.

Now, theoretically, the Bobcats are tied with Celtic, and the odds of the two teams qualifying are not much different. But in reality - the Bobcats are exhausted. In this battle, they won the game in a dishonorable way, but the league will definitely not take care of them like this in the future, and if there is no accident such as injury, the chance of the Bobcats is not good.

The final group of matches in the Eastern Conference is the Cavaliers vs. Bucks, and the result is not suspenseful. The Clevelands comfortably beat the home team on the road. The Milwaukees are far away.

The bucks actually ran out much earlier than the bobcats and donkeys. It can even be said that they have nothing to do with the Cavaliers and James from beginning to end, and the victory in the first game is more about luck + the Cavaliers themselves are careless, but it has nothing to do with the Bucks themselves, they may not even know how they won the game in the first place.

So this team, which should have been swept, has now been beaten 3:1, and they are not far from being out.

On the western side, the Purple and Gold nobles fly in the Oklahoma Wave. Soaring 200 miles and finally overturned, and now the two teams are also forced to play 2:2, and a large wave of spinach dogs have gone to the rooftop, but these people in the Lakers' game also dare to eat subsistence, which is also their own death.

The game between the Trail Blazers and the Suns also surprised fans, and Roy, who played with an injury, was unable to play in the first round, but he insisted on returning early and came off the bench today, but only scored 10 points. Aldridge finished with 31 points and 11 rebounds as he led the Trail Blazers, who were stubbornly defending at home, to a narrow three-point victory.

The Suns players didn't lose to their opponents today. They lost because they didn't feel good and that was the main reason why they lost this game. However, the Portlanders also have a big problem after the game. That is, Roy's condition is very bad, and although the Saint Seiya who fought with injuries fought hard, he could only play half of his strength, and there was a risk of aggravating the injury, and the situation was becoming more and more unfavorable for them.

The focus of the Western Division, the "Cow and Horse War", ended in the tragedy of the cowboys. Basically, as in previous years, when it comes to the playoffs, the Spurs are rejuvenated. While their aging legs can slow them down, their fighting spirit has always been the strongest. Although the Mavericks have home-court advantage, they quickly lost everything in front of the playoff maniacs, and now they have been driven into the abyss by the Spurs.

The Spurs have been strong this year with a different guy jumping out with each win, and today it was George Hill, who scored a game-high 29 points on 11-of-16 shooting, more than the previous three games combined. Ginobili had 17 points and 7 assists, Parker had 10 points and 6 assists, and Tim Duncan only scored 4 points on 1 of 9 shots, but grabbed 11 rebounds, but Shi Fo's poor play did not affect the Spurs to win by two points at home, and the Mavericks died a little aggrieved.

Finally, there was the battle between the Nuggets and the Jazz, and after the Denver man lost two games in a row, Anthony thought they could turn things around with just a few small tweaks. However, there is no change in the Nuggets today, both offensive and defensive are unsatisfactory, especially in the face of the Jazz who are missing two main players, the Nuggets are still helpless.

The Jazz, who have not had much luck this year, have lost three straight games in the playoffs, but they have won three straight games with their tenacity of willpower, Boozer has 31 points, 13 rebounds and five assists today, Deron Williams has 24 points and 13 assists, CJ Myers has 21 points and Wesley Matthews has 18 points.

The player's biggest enemy, "injury", did not break the Judah, but allowed them to fight against the Nuggets to get the match point, which was a result that most people did not expect before the game.

The Nuggets are also facing the fate of being eliminated, and Carmelo Anthony has 39 points and 11 rebounds, but also has a whopping nine turnovers. Chauncey Billups and Kenyon Martin each scored 14 points, Nene Hilario had 10 points and 11 rebounds, and J.R. Smith was hacked all over the court.

The Utah Jazz lost a game with Memet Oku and Andrei Kirilenko both unplayed, but their fighting spirit was more tenacious and the loss in the first game did not discourage them, and it was a battle of determination and willpower. And in this regard, Anthony is obviously not mature enough, if Bosh is not counted as a giant, he may be the most talented one of the 03 generation, but now he is the least accomplished of the 03 generation superstars.

After the first four games of the first round, the situation in the east and west regions has become clearer:

Western Conference - Lakers (2) VS (2) Thunder; Mavericks (1) VS (3) Spurs; Suns (2) VS (2) Trail Blazers; Nuggets (1) VS (3) Jazz.

Eastern Conference - Cavaliers (3) VS (1) Bucks; Magic (4) VS (0) Heat; Hawks (2) VS (2) Knicks; Celtics (2) VS (2) Bobcats. (To be continued.) )