Against the Pacers, Rasu Nesterovic didn't play. Li Wei sat Hebodeau next to him, explained the team's defensive system with an interpreter, and asked him to take a closer look at the Pacers' center.

The Knicks are either seventh or eighth in the rankings this season. It's good that the first-round opponent is the Heat, and if they meet the Pacers, Nesterovic may be of great use.

"How's it going over there?" After the game, Li Wei asked Hibodeau.

"Although he doesn't speak English yet, he has a very good tactical level and the European team has been doing a good job of developing the fundamentals of the players. ”

"It's good to understand our tactics." Li Wei nodded, and said, "I almost forgot, Rasu should be able to speak some Italian, Mike, you can talk to him more when you have time." ”

Mike D'Antoni is Italy's Milan Olimpia legend, the No. 8 shirt was retired from that team, he not only has Italian nationality, but also speaks Italian very well. Nesterovic played in the Italian league for two years and knows some Italian.

"Okay, I'll have a good chat with him." Mike D'Anthony Dao.

On May 3, the Knicks sat at home to face the Celtics, and after the team took a big lead at the beginning, Li Wei sent Nesterovic to play against the Celtics' center and practice on behalf of the game.

Celtic's main center is named Vitaly Potapenko, who is from Ukraine and is known as Ukrainian Train. Many people may not have heard this name, but in fact, he is the man who once beat Kobe Bryant.

In the 1996 draft, Portapenko was selected by the Cavaliers at No. 12, followed by Kobe Bryant at No. 13!

Ukrainian train technology is comprehensive, people are also diligent, and he studied at Wright State University in college, averaging 21 points per game. Rick Pitino saw his potential and had to trade him, so the shrewd Cavaliers general manager robbed them of a first-round pick. Judging by the Celtics' record, this '99 pick would definitely be the No. 10 pick.

However, although Portapenko works hard, he is only 2.08 meters tall and has average physical fitness, so he has not performed too well after becoming the starting center of Celtic.

Nesterovic, who just came to the NBA, scored 2 points on 1 of 4 shots in the face of this short center with a height of 2.08 meters, in addition to 2 rebounds, and the defensive end did not let the other party bargain for anything.

In the last quarter, Li Wei replaced Big Ben on the court again. In terms of dealing with short centers, Li Wei obviously trusts Big Ben more, whether it is speed, defensive ability, or rebounding ability, Big Ben is better than Nesterovich.

After Big Ben came on the court, the Knicks won the game without danger. Poor Celtics have lost consecutive games, but they are grabbing lottery tickets for the Cavaliers, which is really sad.

On May 5, the Knicks hosted the Heat. It was the Knicks' last game of the season and the Heat's last.

The Bucks, who are seventh in the East, have won two straight games in the first two days, improving their record to 28-21. The Knicks now have a 27-22 record, and with a 1-2 record against the Bucks this season, they won't be able to grab seventh place even if they beat the Heat.

On the other hand, the Pacers ended the season yesterday with an overall record of 34-16 compared to the Heat's 33-16.

If the Heat win this game, the overall record will be the same as that of the Pacers!

In this era, when two teams have the same record and are both regional champions, or both are not champions, the criteria for determining the ranking and home field advantage are as follows:

1. Mutual achievements; 2. Records in different divisions (only two teams in the same division); 3. Record against teams in the league; 4. Win rate against playoff teams in the league; 5. The winning percentage of the playoff team against another league 6. Compare the total score difference.

The Pacers are the champions of the Central Division, and the Heat are the champions of the Western Division, and the two teams are tied 2-2 in the regular season, and they are not in the same division, so they can only compare the records against the Eastern Conference teams.

The schedule of the shortened season is more chaotic, the Heat take advantage, and if they win this game, the ranking will be ahead of the Pacers!

So, the Knicks faced a very interesting situation, he couldn't decide his own ranking, but he had the opportunity to decide which team was the Eastern Conference boss, and as the eighth place, they would face the Eastern Conference boss in the first round!

"Chuck, do you think we should lose or win this game?" Li Wei asked.

Chuck Daley smiled: "It's easy to lose, it's hard to win, the Heat will definitely fight hard to win this game in order to get the home-court advantage of the Eastern Conference Finals in the future!" ”

Mike D'Antoni said: "I think it's better to lose. Playing the Heat in the first round has two benefits for us. First, their center is shorter, and Big Ben is easy to defend. Second, last year, we killed the Heat, and this year we have a psychological advantage against them! ”

Byron Scott said, "I think so too! ”

Li Weidao: "Then it's decided, this main force will take a break!" ”

When the Knicks fielded Charlie Ward, Stephen Jackson, Rashad Lewis, Nowitzki, and Nesterovich, Pat Riley felt like he had won, and so did the Heat players.

However, things always turn out unexpectedly. The Knicks' water cooler king, Rashad Lewis, was very brave today, scoring 12 points in the first quarter, and 17 points in the middle of the second quarter, under his leadership, the Knicks have always maintained the lead!

Li Wei was stunned, and Pat Riley was also stunned!

At the critical moment, PJ Brown stepped up again and seemingly inadvertently bumped into Lewis when he made a layup!

Lewis is still too young to know how dark this league is at the moment, and he is in a hurry to show himself, and he is not prepared at all!

"Bang!"

The genius high school student fell sideways from the bottom line, and then felt a sharp pain in his fingers hitting the floor!

Li Wei hurriedly asked the team doctor to take him off the field, and after the examination, he came to the conclusion that the fingerbone was fractured!

"Fack!"

Lost Lewis, the Knicks lost, and after the game, Li Wei was furious!

"I have the impression that Pat Riley's team has always been about playing people, not playing. The year before, they provoked a brawl in the playoffs and managed to advance in a despicable way, and last year, they wanted to do the same, and thanks to Kevin's lack of emotion, Charles stepped up at the right time.

This year, they must have known that they couldn't win us in the playoffs, so they first injured our Maddie with a vicious foul, and this time they hurt our Rashad with a malicious foul, I think we will play the first round, maybe there will not be a healthy player left in the team, and we will have to go to the hospital! It's tolerable, it's unbearable! ”

Li Wei's speech sparked heated discussions among fans.

It is undeniable that there are some fans who are indeed fans of violence, and they like to watch everyone maim each other on the court, and they support the Heat from the bottom of their hearts, scolding Li Wei's team for being too soft.

If people abolish you, you just have to get it back, and you don't even dare to mutilate others, so you know that using public opinion to find sympathy is really insidious!

This soft egg doesn't deserve to play basketball!

However, more fans are peace lovers and are not interested in the "iron-blooded" style of play of the Heat. If you want to see confrontation, if you want to watch fighting, you go to watch boxing, you go to watch wrestling, basketball is an elegant sport, not every game has to be fought to the death!

So they condemned the Heat, called on referees to step up their blowing penalties, and called on the league to step up penalties for malicious fouls.