On May 2, the first round of the NBA playoffs was decided. The Hornets eliminated the Nuggets 4-2. Prior to that, the Lakers eliminated the Jazz 4-1, the Spurs eliminated the Mavericks 4-1, and the Cavaliers eliminated the Pistons 4-1.

Eastern Conference semifinals Hawks vs. Cavaliers, Bobcats vs. Magic.

Western Conference semifinals Timberwolves vs Lakers, Hornets vs Spurs.

On May 4, the second round of the playoffs will kick off again, with the Bobcats hosting the Magic.

Hayes didn't do much strenuous activity during this time, except for practicing pitching every day. In the playoffs, in addition to strength, you also have to fight for physical strength.

Gao Tongxuan was in charge of cooking dinner. Hayes hugged Taylor Swift on the couch and chatted, Taylor said, "Chuck, play more tonight and try to score more than 50 points!" ”

"50 points is not something you can get." Hayes laughed.

"Then get a triple-double, your teammates have been so bad lately. Often the vacant seats are not thrown, alas. Taylor added.

"Gerrard, Corunna, they're all good. The reason for the low score is that they have too few shots, and if they shoot away, they can score a lot of points. If I do the main attack, the others will play worse. At the beginning of the game, we played and ran, didn't they play very well? Hayes laughed.

"Why didn't you play like you did at the start of the game? I think the Bobcats scored a lot less after the All-Star break, and there were too few dunks, which was not exciting enough, so I should have let Landry play more. Taylor pouted. Pseudo-fans like to watch the offense, as long as they play well, it doesn't matter if they don't win. Landry is the Bobcats' favorite dunk player, so he is more popular.

Hayes smiled bitterly: "When the game is particularly intense, it's not easy to dunk, and it's easy to get injured. ”

Landry has a lot of problems, he has average judgment in defense, is prone to shaky and often gets into foul trouble against tall players, which is the main reason for his short playing time. But Landry does play with passion.

Passionate players are always easy to be liked by the fans. The most typical example of Hayes' past life is "Birdman" Chris Anderson. Anderson's 08-09 season statistics were 6.4 points, 6.2 rebounds, 0.4 assists and 2.5 blocks. He is on the thin side, his single defense ability is terrible, his confrontation ability is poor, he can't shoot, his rebounds are average, he has almost nothing, he just blocks and dunks more passionately, and he has a group of fans. The Nuggets gave Anderson a five-year, $26 million contract in 2009. In the next two years, Anderson has been a substitute in the Nuggets, and the average playing time in one season is only 22 minutes, the stats have been declining, and the number of blocks has never exceeded two.

In fact, the strongest person for Bobcats to dunk is Moon, but he doesn't have much chance to play. If the fans knew this, it would probably be time to call for Moon to play.

The Bobcats' game did lack passion, and Hayes, a core player, rarely dunked and liked to use shots to settle battles. The play of the core will drive the rhythm of the whole team. Bobcats players look to Hayes as a role model and rarely dunk. Weaver, who participated in the McDonald's Slam Dunk Contest, became a pitcher.

After dinner and goodbye to the two beauties, Hayes went to the arena to prepare for the game.

The U.S. media has given Hayes a high rating in almost every game, while also criticizing other Bobcats players for not supporting Hayes enough. The more news like this, the more the players can't let go.

Bobcats have failed to play at the level of Hayes in his previous life. Barnes, for example, has dropped his stats to 4.3 points and 4.2 rebounds this season, as if he can't do anything but defend. Moon is even more tragic, barely playing time. In his previous life, Moon played well in his first season with the Raptors and was selected to the league's All-Rookie team. He is now the most marginal of the marginal. There are also point guards, Calderon, Felton, and Rondo have all decreased their stats compared to their previous lives.

The only people who played better were Weaver and Azubuike. The two men were given a chance to get ahead of the curve.

If you want to become a star, you need opportunities. Moon and Barnes are already on the verge of death on the Bobcats. Rondo is also showing signs of becoming a pure blue-collar worker. The Bobcats' lineup leaves much to be desired.

The Magic have a good roster this season.

Dwight Howard needless to say, there is the most improved player this year on the front line, Turkoglou, the scoring guard is Vince Carter, and the point guard also has a strong breakaway Jamal Nelson. The No. 4 position is the Magic's only weakness.

If Bagnani doesn't get hurt, Hayes has absolute confidence to knock out the Magic, but it's a little harder now. Bagnani's injury has healed, but he has not played for too long and is recovering, and his condition is terrible. Only 13 players could be signed up for the playoffs, and the coaching staff finally decided not to let Bagnani participate in the playoffs.

Time Warner Arena has become one of the league's most attended home venues, and fans arrived early in the Eastern Conference semifinals to chant Hayes' name before the game.

Hayes, who was far away in the dressing room, could hear it clearly.

"Chuck. Your popularity has reached a point where no one can beat it. D'Antoni said as he looked at Hayes.

"It's really enviable. You should go to Hollywood and make a movie or something this holiday. With your current fame, even if you don't do anything, eating steak and chocolate in a restaurant will have an audience watch. Azubuk said.

Can I still eat with this combination? Hayes smiled.

D'Antoni and the other players changed their clothes and said: "Against the Magic, it is very important to defend the outside, and their offense is not launched from the inside. The style of play is generally Howard on the inside and on the outside. The outside three-man attacked. Pay attention to the marking, Jose (Calderón) defense Nelson. Steven Gerrard (Wallace) defends Turkoglou and Corunna (Azubuuk) defends Carter. Chuck, you're still playing center against Howard today. ”

"With me here, it's not so easy for Howard to get inside." Hayes smiled confidently.

D'Antoni believes in Hayes' abilities. Howard's weakness is obvious, and the range is limited to the inside of the box. Every time Hayes could prevent him from being uncomfortable.

"When attacking, I still use the triangle offense first, Chuck plays inside, and shoots the ball to the outside players at any time. Gerrard also has to step up his singles and share the pressure with Chuck, and in one-on-one situations, it should be difficult for Tekoglu and Carter to guard you, so you have to have confidence in yourself. Andris pays attention to controlling the rebound. ”

When Hayes walked onto the pitch, the crowd gave him a standing ovation. The cries of MVP are deafening.

Hayes' excitement is indescribable, he played well in the regular season and played superstar in the series against the Raptors. In this case, the MVP should already be in his pocket. Two years, championship, MVP...... Although he has not yet won the championship and established a dynasty in the Bobcats, he seems to have stood at the peak of the NBA and is the object of everyone's chasing.

Hayes looked at Howard not far away, and felt that the monster was not as terrifying as it was when they first met. still remembers the first time the two met in the preseason that year, Howard dunked on his head continuously, and he couldn't do anything about it. Now, in a one-on-one match, he is confident of beating Howard.

Howard looked at Hayes, not coming up to say hello this time. Howard was under a lot of pressure, and the Magic's defensive tactics in this game were to guard against the other Bobcats and put Hayes and Howard one-on-one. The two have faced each other four times in the regular season, and Howard has not taken any advantage, and his stats have dropped across the board.

"Are you guarding me again?" Vince Carter walked up to Azubuke and said.

"No, my mission is to stand far and watch you jump shot, and that's all you need anyway." Azubuk smiled sarcastically.

Carter relied mostly on jump shots on offense this season, and rarely scored inside dunks, so although he averaged 22.3 points, 5.7 rebounds, 5.1 assists and 1.2 steals per game, he still missed the All-Star Game. People love Carter who can fly high, ride on a defender's neck, and smash the ball into the hoop.

"I'm going to look good for you in a moment." Carter said coldly.

Before the game, the players of both sides had already begun to compete. The last time the two teams met, Carter had a bad hand, shooting 5-of-18, and the main defender was Azubuuk, and since that game, Azubuuk has been dubbed a "defensive giant". Carter wants to save face with this game.

Magic starters: Nelson, Carter, Turkoglou, Barty, Howard.

Bobcats starters: Calderon, Azubuuk, Wallace, Hayes, Biedrins.

The game started, Howard won the jump ball, and the Magic had the ball.

Nelson gave the ball to Vince Carter. The Magic all pulled away to give Carter room to play alone.

Carter took the ball with both hands on the outside, shook it for a moment, and rushed from the left side to the inside. Azubuuk followed Carter. Carter didn't change direction, protected the basketball with his body, and walked to the baseline. Azubuuk kept following and accidentally squeezed into a basket with Biedrins, a pause that delayed time, Carter smiled slightly, took the ball and stepped back to shoot a jumper, and hit it steadily. 0 to 2.

The media likes to say that Carter is lazy. This is not the case. Carter plays very hard, and he will repeatedly ponder the game video before the game. In order to better study his opponent, Carter spent a lot of time, and he watched the game of the Bobcats and the Timberwolves several times. He wants to study and figure out the weaknesses of his opponents. In addition to watching other people's videos, he also watches games that he didn't play well, wanting to see what he did wrong and how he should change.

Azubuk is very close to the individual defense, but the ability to assist the defense is average, and he often ignores the position of his teammates. Carter took advantage of that in the first round, directing Azubuk in the direction of his teammates.

Even with just a jumper, Carter is a star. His dunk was prettier than Jordan's, but God played a joke on him and gave his knee a form called the "Bouncer's Knee Complex." If he wants to extend his career, Carter needs to dunk less. But whenever he has the chance, he won't skimp on dunks under the basket.

Hayes took the ball at a 45-degree angle on the right side, and the defender was Howard. Hayes dribbled with his back to the ball and stepped back to face Howard. Howard reached out with his right hand to pull the ball out when Hayes turned, but Hayes immediately pulled the ball up after facing the frame, turned past Howard with another turn, turned to the middle, and scored with an easy jumper. 2 to 2.

Magic attacked, Carter scored a three-second zone under Howard's cover, got the ball away from Hayes at full speed, and dunked the basketball with one hand before Biedrins made up the defense! 2 to 4.

To this day, Carter is still a half-human and half-god. Hayes sighed and served the ball.

Gerard Wallace ran up to Hayes and said, "Chuck, if you're being guarded on the inside, pass me the ball." ”

Hayes nodded. Go to the high post and pass the ball to Wallace, and by the way, give him a cover. Wallace bypassed the defending Turkoglu and burst into the box. He jumped up at a position about the same as Carter's dunk just now, and beat Barty for a dunk! 4 to 4.

Wallace returned a dunk and the fans applauded. Wallace's performance wasn't over yet, as Nelson dribbled across half court and was ready to hand the ball back to Carter. Carter is the Magic's No. 1 point of attack. At this time, Wallace alertly let go of Turkoglou, and one hand crossed Nelson's passing route, and the ball was successfully broken!

Howard hadn't yet stepped into the box and was immediately back on guard after seeing Wallace break the ball. As a center, he was actually the fastest defender of the Magic, and saw Howard retreat into the restricted area. Wallace didn't pass the ball, but took the ball down the middle and ran towards the Monster's penalty area, taking a step and jumping with all his might.

Wallace wants to slam Howard!

(To be continued)