On May 19, the Western Conference Finals were the first to start.

The Lakers and Nuggets staged an offensive battle at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, and in the end, the Lakers came out on top, narrowly beating the Nuggets 105-103 to win their first victory.

This game was a battle between Kobe Bryant and Anthony, one of them scored 40 points, 6 rebounds and 4 assists, and the other scored 39 points, 5 rebounds and 6 assists, and they fought equally.

But in the most critical fourth quarter of the game, it was Kobe Bryant's victory.

In the fourth quarter of the game, Kobe Bryant scored 18 points and single-handedly supported the Lakers' offense in the final quarter of the game, on the other hand, Anthony's side, although he scored more points in the first three quarters, only scored 9 points in the fourth quarter.

In fact, 9 points in a single quarter is not less, but his opponent is Kobe Bryant after all, and the Nuggets are just a little bit short of scoring, and finally lost by 2 points.

On May 20, the day after the first game of the Lakers and Nuggets' Western Conference finals, the Eastern Conference Finals also started as scheduled.

Because the Magic team is ranked higher than the Celtics in the regular season, the Magic, who have the home court advantage, ushered in this game at the home court of Orlando.

On the day of the game, the entire Magic home court was enveloped in a sea of white.

All the fans who attended the stadium wore white T-shirts that represented the colors of the Magic's home stadium and cheered.

This is the second time the Magic have participated in the Eastern Conference Finals, they defeated the Celtics to reach the Finals last year, and this year they still have to beat their opponents to return to the Finals, and complete their revenge in the finals to lift the championship trophy!

……

The Magic vs Celtics game, in terms of attention, is obviously more eye-catching than the Western Conference finals Lakers vs Nuggets, after all, although the Nuggets are strong, they are only a team with 50+ wins in the regular season, but the Magic and the Celtics are both real 60-win teams, and it is a real battle for the dragon.

Whether it is the Huaguo CCTV Sports Channel, or the local TNT, ESPN and even other TV stations with live broadcast rights, all broadcast the whole process of the game.

When Wang Chao passed through the players' tunnel, he saw a Chinese reporter crowded at the front.

When they saw Wang Chao, all the reporters were dazzled, and they raised the microphone recorder one after another, competing to ask Wang Chao questions, usually, the players will not answer, but occasionally when the players are in a good mood, they will also answer one or two questions.

At this time, Wang Chao looked at the reporters in Huaguo.

"Wang Chao, are you confident of winning today's game? Who do you think is the tougher opponent for the Celtics or Cavaliers? ”

The Chinese reporter asked very slyly in Chinese.

The reporters around him were stunned when they heard this, what did they say? They can't get an interview if they want to.

Wang Chao smiled slightly, and replied with the same Chinese: "Of course we are confident of winning, we beat the Celtics last season, and this season will be the same result, as for your second question...... I think it's about the same, the Celtics may be a little more difficult because of the Big Three configuration, and the Cavaliers just need to find a way to limit James. ”

Other reporters looked confused as Wang Chao said a bunch of Chinese and then turned his head and walked to the players' tunnel, completely unable to understand what they said.

But judging from the surprised expressions of several Chinese reporters, it must have gained a lot.

"MD, you must learn some Chinese in the future, otherwise it will be too passive!"

……

In the first game of the Eastern Conference Finals, neither the Magic nor the Celtics had any changes to the starting list and the regular season.

Magic starters: Nelson, Petrus, Turkoglou, Chao Wang and Howard.

Celtics starters: Rondo, Ray Allen, Pierce, Garnett and Perkins.

At the end of the warm-up, the starters of both sides came on the pitch to prepare for the jump ball stage.

Wang Chao looked at Garnett and took the initiative to ask, "Who are you going to let defend me today?" Is it you or Paul (Pierce)? ”

Garnett smiled and asked rhetorically, "Who do you want to defend?" ”

"Whatever." Wang Chao shrugged his shoulders and said very honestly: "Anyway, I can't prevent anyone from coming." ”

The corners of Garnett's mouth twitched, this kid is really arrogant.

But he was not wrong, before the start of the Eastern Conference Finals, the Celtics held a number of discussions, and the focus of the discussion was how to limit the Magic's core scoring point, Wang Chao.

But the more they researched, the more helpless they felt.

Who would have thought that in just a few years, Wang Chao would grow from a little-known small role to a top scorer?

He has too many means on the offensive end, his mid-to-long-range projection is extremely accurate, and his breakthrough with the ball is also first-class, once he encounters a bag, he can also use superb off-ball runs to find opportunities, and the most troublesome thing is Wang Chao's blocking and pick-and-roll cooperation with Howard.

Wang Chao's three-point long-range shooting ability, combined with Howard's ultra-high mobility after blocking and dismantling, it is very difficult to deal with whether it is an outside shot after blocking and dismantling or a dunk in the air.

The Celtics face Wang Chao, and they must face top players such as Kobe and James, and the common point of these top players is that they can't defend at all, and the score depends entirely on the player's own state and feel.

However, although there is no result in the discussion and research, at this time, Garnett will not admit defeat, as one of the players with the highest level of trash talk in the league today, Garnett's ability to spray people is only stronger than Wang Chao.

"If you're so good, why did you only score 70 points in one game in the regular season, and you could only watch the team lose in the other three games?" Garnett scoffed. "If you have the ability, will you reproduce it for me in today's game?"

The Celtics and the Magic have a 3-1 record in the regular season, and except for the game where Wang Chao scored 70 points, the rest of the games were won by the Celtics.

Wang Chao also laughed. "Don't worry, I will!"

His words made Garnett's heart burst out, and he faintly had a little bad feeling.

"Will it be ......?"

Shaking his head slightly, Garnett really didn't believe it, in the playoffs where the defensive intensity and physical confrontation far exceeded the regular season, especially in the Eastern Conference finals, Wang Chao could still replicate the performance of 70 points in a single game.

The referee took the basketball to the halfway line, and it was Howard and Garnett who were in charge of the jump ball.

Facing Garnett, who is 33 years old and has a significant decline in bounce and explosiveness, Howard perfectly interprets what it means to be afraid of boxing.

In the jump ball session, Howard won by an overwhelming margin and moved the basketball to his backcourt.

Magic ball possession, game on!

Nelson dribbled the ball past half court, and then immediately consciously handed the ball to Wang Chao, and ran neatly to the bottom corner of the three-point line as a fixed-point shooter.

After Wang Chao took the pass, he looked at Garnett in front of him and couldn't help but smile.

"Sure enough, it's you who will defend me."

There is no way, the best choice for the Celtics to find a defensive Wang Chao is Garnett, after all, even if the competitive state declines, Garnett is still a player selected for the first defense, and his defensive ability is one of the best in the league.

"Boy, come on, let me see what you're capable of!"

Garnett lowered his body and slammed his hands on the floor, shouting with great momentum.

But Wang Chao was not fooled at all, he raised his hand to make a gesture, Garnett's heart was over, and the next moment Howard ran out of the inside line and blocked Garnett's side.

Wang Chao took advantage of the situation to wrap around Howard's back, raised his hand and threw it.

Perkins, who was chasing Howard to defend himself, was late.

"Brush ——!"

The crisp sound of brushing the net sounded, accompanied by the thunderous cheers of the Magic fans in the audience.

"This guy ......"

The corners of Garnett's mouth twitched, he didn't expect Wang Chao to be so straightforward, as soon as he came up, he asked Howard to block and dismantle the cover, and he didn't have the idea of touching him head-on at all.

Before the game started, he made bold remarks, but as soon as he came up, he relied on his teammates to block and cover to score?

Wang Chao glanced at Garnett and smiled.

Can you hit a fart? Come out and talk about the background of the forces...... No, if you have to fight your brain on the field, and you only know how to go heads-up, wouldn't it become him to force him to be strong. Yang?

The current Wang Chao has the ability to score even if he is fully capable of single-handing Garnett, but there is no need for that, Garnett is the top defender in the league after all, and his defensive position is obviously anti-shooting and not breaking through, although Wang Chao's ability to break through with the ball is also very good, but after all, it is based on the speed and agility of guards, and has not yet reached the top level in the league.

It's time-consuming, laborious, thankless, how can there be a fragrance that can be dismantled?

The Celtics attack.

Rondo holds the ball past half of the pitch and then organizes the attack.

This season is the third season of Rondo's career, and after the first two seasons, the outstanding point guard has shown good ability, averaging 11.9 points, 5 rebounds and 8.2 assists per game in the regular season, and his personal data has risen to 14.5 points, 7.5 rebounds and 9.8 assists in the playoffs, becoming the Celtics' fourth giant.

As the fourth largest "point guard" in addition to the non-defense, the base does not attack, and the fourth largest "point guard" in addition to the pass, Rondo is almost perfect as a point guard except for the weakness of shooting.

Rondo's excellent reach allows him to make up for his lack of height, and also gives him a strong perimeter defensive ability, and Rondo was selected to the All-Defensive Team 2 this season.

In terms of passing strategy, Rondo also gradually began to show everyone's demeanor.

In the face of Nelson's defense, Rondo accelerated to the basket with the ball, and then assisted Pierce to score a layup with an exquisite pass.

Howard's attention was completely absorbed by Rondo, and he was no longer able to take care of Pierce on the other side.

3:2。

The ball is converted and the Magic team attacks.

Wang Chao repeated his old tricks and once again cooperated with Howard in blocking and dismantling.

This time, Garnett was prepared for a long time, and did not give Wang Chao a chance to shoot three points behind Howard in advance.

But in this way, Wang Chao directly chose to throw the basketball in the direction of the basket, and Howard also accelerated to the basket and took off, ejecting and jumping to catch the ball and scoring an empty slam dunk.

Perkins, as a heavy center, has no problem withstanding Howard on the inside, but let him move clumsy and heavy steps in and out with Howard's outside and inside lines, he really can't keep up with Howard, after all, Howard in his prime has speed and explosiveness comparable to that of outside players.

On the Celtics bench, head coach Doug Murphy. Rivers' brow furrowed quickly.

His worst fears had happened.

The Magic team played very simple and clear at the beginning, which was to focus on Wang Chao and Howard, the two core points inside and outside.

For the blocking and pick-and-roll cooperation of the two, the Celtics really don't have any way to deal with it at the moment.

……

"At the beginning of the game, the Magic team relied on Wang Chao and Howard to block and dismantle and occupy the initiative in the game!"

In the CCTV sports studio, the person responsible for commenting on the East Final is still the combination of the golden partner Yu and Zhang Guidance.

Seeing that the Magic team immediately used Wang Chao and Howard's blocking and pick-and-roll cooperation to establish an advantage at the beginning of the game, Director Yu said very happily.

Anyone who watched this game in Huaguo, 99% of the fans must support the Magic team, Da Yao's Rockets team has fallen in the division semifinals, and now Wang Chao's Magic team is the only remaining home team in the eyes of Huaguo fans.

"The cooperation between Wang Chao and Howard is getting more and more tacit." Director Zhang also said: "Looking at the blocking and dismantling cooperation of the two of them, I can't help but think of the Utah doubles that dominated the league back then, Malone and Stockton became the Western powerhouses by relying on one-handed blocking and dismantling cooperation, and met Jordan's Bulls in the finals twice in a row. ”

"Oh? Coach: Who do you think has the better blocking and pick-and-roll tactics, the Ultra Magic Combo or the Utah Twins? Director Yu took over the topic and asked.

"These two groups have their own advantages and disadvantages, Stockton's passing skills are better than Wang Chao, Malone also has the ability to shoot in the middle, and he is more selective after blocking and dismantling, but Wang Chao's scoring ability is far better than Stockton, and Howard is also more mobile than Malone after blocking and dismantling." Director Zhang analyzed very seriously: "If I had to choose, I would definitely be more optimistic about the super magic combination, after all, Wang Chao is our Huaguo player, and in terms of the upper limit, in my opinion, Wang Chao and Howard's partner combination is higher, and the inside and outside are the top players." ”

Between the two commentators and a question and answer, the game continued on the field.

The Magic, which gradually gained the upper hand, scored 33 points in the first quarter of the game, including 12 points for Wang Chao and 10 points for Howard, and the two alone scored 23 points.

The Celtics, on the other hand, scored 25 points in the first quarter, trailing the Magic by eight points.

In the second quarter of the game, the two teams began to gradually send substitute players, and the main players on the Magic bench were Dragic, Avlaro and Barnes, in fact, the overall strength was not bad.

But the Celtics obviously have a stronger bench lineup, and Glenn, who is known as the "big baby". Davis and Eddie. House, Tony. Allen is the main bench player for the Celtics, and more importantly, the top configuration of the Big Three can allow the Celtics to reasonably arrange the rotation time. Alan.

Leaning on Ray. Allen led the team, and the Celtics managed to chase the deficit to within 3 points at the beginning of the second quarter.

But the Celtics weren't happy for long, and Wang Chao was back on the field.

The talent of a long-distance runner and the physical strength value of 94 have been obtained, so that Wang Chao's physical fitness is completely comparable to the physical strength value of 99, and he can play for a long time on the field.

With Wang Chao on the stage, the score that the Celtics finally caught up with immediately took a sharp turn, even if it was Tony, the Celtics' strongest outside defense, who was staring at Wang Chao at this time. Allen still couldn't stop Wang Chao from scoring.

As a last resort, Garnett had to return to the field early, but by the time he came on, the gap between the two teams had been widened back to more than double digits.

What the Celtics feared most happened anyway.

Wang Chao scored another 11 points in the second quarter of the game, and his personal score had reached 23 points at halftime, and the Magic team also ended the first half with 63:51 with Wang Chao's efficient play.

With a 12-point lead at halftime, the Magic had completely the upper hand.

In the second half, the Celtics tried to tie the point difference again with the help of the big three at the same time.

But Wang Chao and Howard did not give them this opportunity.

In the third quarter of the game, Wang Chao didn't have much time to play, only playing about 5 minutes, but in these 5 minutes, Wang Chao made 2 of 3 three-pointers and scored 6 points.

And these three shots, all of which were run out of the empty space by virtue of the elevator door tactic.

Seeing this scoundrel's tactic, Rivers' eyelids twitched.

In the Eastern Conference Finals last year, the Celtics fell under this tactic, and after a year, the Magic team actually played this game in front of them in the Eastern Conference Finals!

The dissatisfied Rivers immediately approached the referee to put pressure on him, but he was directly ignored.

Before the start of the Eastern Conference finals, the league's president, Stern, greeted him and hinted to the referee about the scale of the series.

The league hopes that the Magic team can advance to the finals and stage the finals battle with the Lakers again, the Lake-Kai battle has long been outdated, especially when Wang Chao and Howard are becoming increasingly popular, and Stern still wants to take a step closer to develop the Chinese market.

Wang Chao can also be regarded as eating the dividends of the times, just like the "Six Steps" in the 1.0 Cavaliers period, the future Rockets will meet Porcelain Deng, and the 76ers will be Embiid.

With the Green Army's comeback in the third quarter of the game being suppressed by the Magic, the Celtics completely lost the opportunity to turn the tables.

In the fourth quarter of the game, although the Celtics scored 36 points in a single quarter, the difference was close to single digits, but they still lost the game in the end because the hole they dug was too big.

107:103, the difference of 4 points is not too big, but winning is winning.

Wang Chao scored a game-high 35 points on 14-of-20 shooting, while Howard also had a double-double of 22 points and 14 rebounds, in addition to the two, the Magic also had three players score double-doubles, namely 13 points and 5 assists Turkoglou, 11 points Nelson, and 10 points Petrus.

For the Green Army, the highest score on the team was Ray with 23 points. Allen, followed by Pierce with 21 points, Garnett's form continued the slump in the division semifinals, with only 13 points and 8 rebounds, and while his personal data was poor, he also failed to complete the blockade of Wang Chao, which can be described as a failure.

However, Rondo has a great advantage in the face of Nelson, Nelson is relatively strong among small point guards, but he is not outstanding in terms of speed, so he was frequently broken through by Rondo with the ball in the game, resulting in Rondo scoring 16 points, 6 rebounds and 12 assists throughout the game, and he was also the main player who led the Celtics to catch up with the point difference in the fourth quarter.

(End of chapter)