Chapter 67: The Storm Before the Playoffs
After handing the Chicago Bulls a losing game at Union Center, the Knicks flew back to Madison Square Garden overnight to wait for the Bulls to visit the next day. Pen @ fun @ pavilion wWw. ļ½ļ½ļ½Uļ½Eć ļ½ļ½ļ½ļ½
Wang Zhuo doesn't want to exchange courtesies, he just wants to kill the Bulls' hopes of making the playoffs and at the same time solidify the Knicks' eighth position in the East, the NBA is like that, being merciful to the enemy is cruel to oneself, especially when entering the stage of the regular season finale to compete for a playoff ticket.
Rose was still unstoppable in this game, shooting 13-of-23 from the field, 2-of-4 from three-point range, and 2-of-3 from the free-throw line, scoring a game-high 30 points, but the Bulls suffered another defeat.
The Knicks' overall shooting percentage was not high, but a wave of three-point rain in the fourth quarter directly took away the game, and also took away Rose's efforts throughout the game, and even took away his gradually cold heart.
How much Rose hopes to lead the Bulls back to the top and rebuild their glory, but reality tells him that all glory is a thing of the past, and all hope is just a wish.
"Derek, the Knicks' door is still open for you!"
After the game, Wang Zhuo stepped forward and hugged Rose again, still with the same sentence in his mouth.
"Wang, I have decided to join the Knicks, and I have made up my mind!"
Rose's answer did not surprise Wang Zhuo, the season is coming to an end, if Rose's attitude still does not change, it can only mean that Wang Zhuo's plan has failed, and the answer in front of him proves that things are progressing according to Wang Zhuo's setting.
The media's camera just captured the picture of the two hugging, and the content of the conversation between the two could be judged by the lip language, and the media was in an uproar.
The day after the game, the New York media reported on the hug, and it continued to ferment and spread, and finally shocked the league, Adam Schieval even came forward to publicly warn Wang Zhuo to privately recruit players with contracts on non-trading days, which stopped the media from continuing to expand, Wang Zhuo did not care about these meaningless punishments.
Rose wants to go, the Bulls will never stop him, as long as there are the right trading chips, Wang Zhuo is not worried, after a season of training, there are not many players who have performed well in the Knicks, and there are definitely players that the Bulls want, but it depends on whether Wang Zhuo is willing to give.
"Stubborn!"
Ain Tyrem was furious, and Rose almost put the deal on the table, and was so resolute that he ignored the warnings of his professional agent.
Soon, the corners of Aine Tylem's mouth showed a treacherous sneer, since he can't control a person, then the best thing to do is to destroy him, he sold a news about Rose to a not very well-known media outlet, the content is roughly that Rose once drugged and assaulted a girl, but the two sides made an electronic agreement, as long as Rose transferred to the Knicks, the media can choose to spread the news at a certain time.
For such a blockbuster news, involving NBA superstars, it is likely that they will quickly become popular, so the head of the news outlet readily agreed to sign the agreement, but Rose did not know, and he even thought of reaching a settlement with Ain Tylem to find a compromise to stop Yoyo.
The Knicks won two games against the Bulls, and the Detroit Pistons just lost to the Boston Celtics, so the Knicks temporarily secured the eighth place in the East, but there is still a big gap between the Pacers and the seventh place in the West.
With less than 10 games left in the regular season, the situation is almost clear in the East and West, with the Golden State Warriors at the top of the Western Conference still riding their way to a record of 73 wins, with the San Antonio Spurs and Oklahoma City Thunder behind him.
Although the Clippers are also close behind, but Griffin's sudden injury makes the future of the Clippers uncertain, and the Trail Blazers also advanced to the playoffs, but the gap in hard power makes its competitiveness relatively weak, the most dramatic is that the Grizzlies, Mavericks, Jazz and Rockets four teams with extremely close records compete for the remaining three playoff spots, almost every game is hand-to-hand combat, which shows how fierce the competition is.
The East is relatively mild, the Cleveland Cavaliers are still far ahead, the Raptors and Hawks behind them pose almost no threat to the top of the Cavaliers, the Bulls who have lost two in a row are gradually drifting away from the fight for a playoff spot, and the only thing to watch is whether the ninth-place Pistons can squeeze out the Knicks and get on the last boat of the playoffs.
However, the Knicks have been on a strong streak lately and are two wins ahead of the Pistons, and if nothing else, they should be able to secure the last ticket to the playoffs and even compete with the Pacers for seventh spot in the East, but the Clippers' experience is a wake-up call for Wang.
Calderon and Anthony both have old injuries, Anthony often chooses strategic breaks in back-to-back games, Afflaro and Lopez also have hidden diseases, and 100% healthy players are probably only the rookies who have no playoff experience, so Wang Zhuo decided to make a strategic break for the whole team under the condition of ensuring that the playoff spots are not squeezed out.
In the next game against the Cleveland Cavaliers, Wang Zhuo chose to suspend Anthony, and there was no confrontation between James and Anthony on the court, and the two opponents who are likely to meet in the first round of the playoffs did not have a fierce playoff preview.
In the end, the Cavaliers easily defeated the Knicks, completing the sweep of the Knicks in the regular season, further cementing their position as the leader.
Immediately after facing the Pelicans away, the Knicks played with all their members, but Anthony Davis's truce not only did not make the Pelicans give up completely, but also played more tenacious, Wang Zhuo tried his best to meet with Kim Terry, and finally, relying on Anthony's takeover of the game at a critical moment, the Knicks narrowly defeated the Pelicans away from home and struggled to achieve a crucial victory.
In the second leg of the Texas road trip, the Knicks came to the Dallas Mavericks' home route center arena, and the Dallas Mavericks, who were aiming for a playoff spot, were united, but Wang Zhuo was quite calm in the face of championship coach Rick Carlisle, and the game was fiercely fought until the last two seconds.
10 seconds before the end, Nowitzki's 45-degree independent step-back jumper on the left side helped the Mavericks complete the overtake, and the fans of the Center Arena and the owner of the Mavericks, Mark Cuban, suddenly fell into a state of madness, but happiness is always so short-lived, and Wang Zhuo's stunner tactics made the Mavericks' victory come to naught.
All the Mavericks players, even Carlisle, thought that Anthony would make the final shot, and in fact, everyone on the court was indeed covering for Anthony, but in the end, Calderon deceived everyone's attention and received the ball near the free throw line to complete the final stunner.
In the end, O'Quinn made a hard save, Nowitzki made a fatal mistake, and the final whistle blew, and the Knicks went to the next city and ended their Texas trip with a smile.