Chapter 85: The Great Deal (2)

This was followed by several other trades that broke out in the league, and on February 16, 2008, the Hawks sent Anthony Johnson, Tyronn Lue, Sheldon Williams, Lorenzen Wright, and a second-round pick to get the 'White Devil' Mike Bibby to bolster their guard line.

Clearly, the Eagles don't want to pass up the chance to play in the playoffs, and they are still willing to fight for a playoff spot. Subsequently, the Spurs also broke out a trade.

Chapter 105: A Different Warcraft

On May 6, 2008, the playoffs resumed.

The quick-loan arena, which had been deserted for several years, once again emitted an earth-shattering noise.

Cavaliers vs. Magic, Celtics vs. Pistons, Spurs vs. Hornets, Lakers vs. Jazz, four rounds of playoffs started on the same day.

The first is the confrontation between the Western Lakers VS Jazz, in the first round, overall, although the Lakers defeated the Denver Nuggets 4:1, but the overall state of the Lakers is unsatisfactory, after entering the playoffs, the Lakers seem to be a little uncomfortable, and even if it is not for Iverson's sudden injury that makes the Nuggets lose their ability to resist, with the explosive power of the backcourt double guns, whether the black eight is still between the two.

The Lakers' sluggish state makes those Lakers supporters can't help but be a little worried, after all, with this state, not to mention the finals, the championship, even the Spurs troika will definitely not pass.

But in the first game of the second round, the Lakers seemed to gradually wake up from their slumber, in the first round of the Staples Center against the Utah Jazz, the Lakers had a mediocre performance in the first half, and ushered in an explosion in the second half, scoring 74 points in the two quarters, with a total score of 95:127, and the Jazz were defeated in one fell swoop.

In this wave of offensive freaks, Gasol's play is remarkable, and Gasol is indeed the most suitable kind of interior for the triangle offense, he can score, defend, grab rebounds, and even organize in the high post, this interior line from Europe brings the skills of the classic center that has long been lost in the NBA to the Staples Center. It was precisely because of his play on the inside that opened up the situation that the Lakers were able to fire at full power.

At the end of the game, Gasol was undisputedly elected MVP of the game with 27 points, 11 rebounds, 9 assists, and 2 blocks and quasi-triple-doubles, even Kobe Bryant also scored 36 points.

After this game, the Lakers' star Kobe Bryant praised the second-best Gasol.

"Paul is definitely one of the best power forwards in the league, he's smart and capable, and he's completely integrated into the triangle offense. Forrest Gump"

For Kobe Bryant, the combination with Gasol is really comfortable. Gasol has the quality to open up the situation on the inside, and apart from the troublesome fat man, Gasol is the best player he has always worked with. And even more important, Gasol's xìng grid. He was not born to be the boss, and more importantly, he himself didn't seem to have the intention of being the boss at all, although Gasol took away part of his own shooting rights in the triangle attack and made him a little unhappy, but the team's winning streak made this unhappiness disappear. As for Gasol's occasional limelight, in Kobe's view, as long as his status in the Lakers remains unchanged, it is not a big deal to let Gasol occasionally be in the limelight, but it is more conducive to the unity of the team.

In addition to Gasol, Kobe's consecutive scores, Artest's tough defense on the outside were also praised by the media.

Relatively speaking, Artest, the team's other strong signing, is not so happy for Kobe. Artest is also very strong, and his defense on the outside is difficult for even Kobe Bryant himself to deal with. A championship team does need a guy who can increase the defensive intensity of the whole team with toughness and defense, like Dennis Rodman during the Bulls era.

It's like Bruce Bowen on the Spurs, especially Bruce Bowen on the Spurs.

When it comes to the Spurs, the first person that comes to mind must be Duncan, the Spurs' GDP troika, Admiral David Robinson, and the iron handsome Vicky. But everyone understands that the Spurs would not have won championships so often if it weren't for Bruce Bowen, the outside defensive finisher, who did all the dirty work and even did the dirty things that violated sportsmanship.

Even if such a guy may not be popular and can cause all kinds of trouble, a championship team can't do the dirty work that others don't want to do. Artest is such a guy who can do the dirty work.

It's just that this guy isn't very obedient!

He obviously couldn't see his own weight and position clearly!

Don't forget that the reason why Artest was sent to the Kings by the Indiana Pacers was not only because of the Auburn Hills palace incident, but also because of the competition for the boss between him and O'Neal Jr. was an important reason why Indiana's management chose to drive Artest away, and it was obvious that the Indiana Pacers chose to support O'Neal Jr. at that time.

The current Artest has not been to the Rockets as in history, and then was directly abandoned by the Rockets in the competition for the position of the team leader. So, the current Artest hasn't learned enough about it.

When it comes to the Lakers, he obviously hasn't relented yet. Maybe he still dreams of becoming the Lakers' boss one day? No kidding. However, in order to win his first championship, Kobe Bryant is willing to tolerate Ron Artest's misdeeds a little. Put up with his indiscriminate shots in the middle of the attack.

But if this guy dares to cross the line, he will definitely let this guy who thinks he is right learn a lesson.

The Cavaliers vs Magic game, after the Lakers vs Jazz game and the Spurs vs Hornets game began, the third pick was held at the home of the Cavaliers, the Quick Loan Center Arena.

When jumping the ball, the Magic team stood up with the opponent's center Dwight Howard, and on the Cavaliers' side, Zhang Kong was naturally in charge of the jump ball, and the two stood in the center circle, waiting for the referee's whistle and waiting for the moment when the game started.

"Why does this guy look a little weird?" Before jumping the ball in the center circle, Zhang Kong looked at Dwight Howard, and he vaguely felt that Dwight Howard today seemed to be a little different from usual. It seems that the temperament on the body has changed a lot.

However, Zhang Kong didn't pay much attention to it, after all, he didn't know Howard well, and to be honest, he didn't know what he really looked like. In addition, the game was about to start, so Zhang Kong didn't care too much.

When the referee's whistle sounded, he was still jumping the ball as usual, ready to win the ball!

Winning the ball is a very simple thing in Zhang Kong's opinion, and so far this season, there has never been a person in the league who can beat him on the jump ball. Because he can jump higher than everyone else, he can bounce much faster than everyone else, and he can jump before the basketball reaches its highest point, so he can always get to the basketball before everyone else.

But today......

Syllable~~~~

One black and one yellow, the two big hands hit the basketball almost in no particular order!

"This guy?" A question arose in Zhang Kong's heart, the basketball did not deviate to either side under the impact of the two big hands, but was clamped out of the hands of the two and flew towards a higher place.

The moment he landed, Zhang Kong jumped again!

And Howard also jumped again quickly after landing!

Syllable~~~~

Once again, two big hands slapped the basketball in the air almost at the same time!

This time the basketball did not fly into the sky again, because of the angle, it was knocked down, no one got the basketball, it bounced on the floor and flew off the court.

Zhang Kong ran towards the basketball, and Howard flew towards the basketball!

That's right, it's flying over!

He took two steps, leaped, threw himself in the air, and threw the basketball back onto the court before it fell into the audience.

Nelson grabbed the basketball before Larry Hughes and took advantage of the chaos on the court to sneak straight into the baseline to score. Howard, on the other hand, plunged headlong into the audience.

Howard, who was planted in the audience, immediately climbed up with both hands and feet, and then ran back to his own half of the court unchanged.

"This guy?" Zhang Kong frowned.

Today's Howard does give people a completely different feeling,

"Dwight, are you alright?" Nelson, who stepped back after the layup, probed Dwight Howard and asked, "It's not hurt, the game just started, you don't need to work so hard." ”

"Oh, I'm fine." Howard answered, his eyes never lingering on Nelson's body for a moment, his eyes staring straight at the front.

Howard's heroic act of flying to save the ball also won him cheers. Even Cavaliers fans couldn't help but applaud Howard's heroic act of flying to save the ball.

The Magic scored the first goal in this way, and the Cavaliers were a little surprised. But I didn't take it too seriously, Howard's hard work is indeed commendable, but the Cavaliers will not have the emotions that will be feared by this, we have James, we have Zhang Kong, we are afraid of eggs......

Gibson carried the ball to beyond the three-point line and handed it to James. The man who defended James was the winner of the Most Improved Player award this season, Siddo Turkeglu. However, although Siddo-Turkglou's offensive statistics are dazzling, in defense, he is simply a natural big colander, who wants body without body, speed without speed, and skill without skill.

Such a defender is nothing short of a showmanship in front of James.

As soon as the cloth accelerated, James did not make a feint, and went directly to the right, sticking to the body of Siddo Turkogru and forcibly squeezed into the inner line.

However, the Magic also expected that Siddo Turkoglu would not be able to guard against James, and they adopted a joint defense. Power forward Shalad Lewis immediately pounced on and prepared to join forces to pinch James. But he clearly miscalculated James' speed and impact.

Before the two of them could finish the pack, James rushed forward, hit Lewis's body, and made a layup!

Bang......

The basketball bounced off the rebound and landed in the hoop.

Source: Forrest Gump