After the 97~98 season came to April, the competition between the teams for a better ranking has reached a white-hot stage.

In the Western Conference, the Lakers, SuperSonics, and Jazz all have a chance to get the first place, while in the Eastern Conference, the Pacers officially fell behind, and the Knicks and Bulls began to compete in the air.

Every game in April, Jeff Van Gundy would secretly pray before the game, praying that the Knicks would win, and at the same time, praying that the Bulls would pull the ball and lose!

On the night of the 9th, perhaps God heard the devout prayer of the bald young marshal, and the Bulls overturned in the game against the Cavaliers!

At 85:91, the Cavaliers successfully sniped the Bulls.

When New York fans saw the game, they immediately burst into laughter and began to celebrate wildly.

As a result, on the evening of the 12th, the Knicks challenged the Heat away, and the two sides started a hand-to-hand battle again, and finally 80:84, the Heat successfully blocked the Knicks!

After the game, the New York media was so angry that they ridiculed Pat Riley for being inappropriate, and seeing that the regular season was about to end, the record ended in a tie with the Bulls.

Fortunately, the Pacers are true friends of the Knicks, and on the night of the 13th, at 114:105, the Bulls lost again!

Unfortunately, the Knicks suffered another injury in the final moments, Larry Johnson and Oakley were injured, and at 104:100, the Wizards completed another block.

After that, the Knicks didn't make any more mistakes, 79-108, beating the Raptors, and the Bulls, who also suffered injuries, lost to the Pistons 79-87!

At this point, the Knicks' record has come to 62-19. The Bulls' record came to 61-20.

April 18 happened to be the last regular season game between the two sides.

If the Bulls can beat the Knicks again, then they can use the advantage of winning games to lock up the first place in the East.

And if the Knicks manage to beat the Bulls, they can get 63 wins, and then kick the opponent down!

It's not enough to just focus on this game, the media in New York also have to keep an eye on the game between the No. 19 Jazz and the Lakers!

Also with a 62-19 record, if the Knicks lose and the Jazz win, then the opponent will lock up the top spot in the league and enjoy home-court advantage throughout the playoffs.

The inflated New York media had already taken out a loan for the finals, and everyone thought it was okay to pay attention to potential opponents in advance, but this behavior once again annoyed the Chicago media.

Before the game even started, the two sides began to taunt each other:

"In order to win the assist king, Lee has become a data brush, and the MVP only belongs to Michael Jordan!"

"Michael Jordan can only win sympathy with the news of his retirement! He wants to steal Lee's MVP! ”

The Chicago Tribune and the New York Times went shirtless, mercilessly satirizing each other's leading stars, and every day the newspaper became the scene of a tearing battle.

For New York fans, new and old hatreds are counted together, as long as they can kick the Bulls down, everyone will be happy!

The media in Los Angeles are also not convinced, the Lakers currently have a 60-21 record, and at the end of the regular season, O'Neal went from strength to strength:

"The Lakers will reach the Finals again, and the MVP belongs to O'Neal!"

Jazz fans feel like they're being ignored, and the media in Salt Lake City want to speak up for Karl Malone, but they don't have enough strength and no one cares about them at all.

The three big ball markets are all saying their own things, waving their flags and shouting for the leading stars, as for the MVP, it is really hard to say!

On the night of the 18th, at the United Center Arena, from the start of the game, the Bulls fans who arrived at the stadium shouted wildly and kept cheering for the home team.

At the end of the half, thanks to Michael Jordan's brave play, the Bulls led by 4 points at 53:57.

5-of-13, 15-of-16 free throws, 25 points, 2 rebounds and 1 turnover, almost smashing the Knicks

In the third quarter of the game, the Knicks finally began to explode, and the Bulls' big delay allowed Li You to find teammates frequently.

Veteran Buck Williams, who started tonight, scored consecutive points on a mid-range jumper and two rebounds under the basket!

Chris Mills, who got the starting spot, also made a series of free throws in this quarter of the game to help the Knicks score points.

Larry Johnson isn't at his best physically, but he also contributes on the defensive end.

At 35:26 in the single quarter, at the end of the third quarter, the United Center Arena was silent, and at 88:83, the Knicks overtook by 5 points!

Michael Jordan had to rest in the fourth quarter of the game, and if he wanted to get free throws, he had to keep attacking the basket, and he scored another 12 points in the third quarter, and he had to breathe a sigh of relief.

Harper only played 14 minutes before he was unwell and didn't play again.

In the final rotation period, Steve Kerr and Scott Burrell partnered in the backcourt, with Pippen and Rodman at the front and Cookcic at center.

Of course, Phil Jackson wanted to win the game, and the playoff standings were too important, and he also chose to fight to the core.

On the Knicks' side, Li You didn't rest at all, and he made a lot of shots in the first three quarters of the game, and in the fourth quarter, he no longer took care of the organization.

The Bulls, who took the lead in attacking, Pippen hit a jumper near the free throw line before the 24-second mark!

"Bang!"

The basketball slammed out of the basket, Chris Dudley grabbed the backcourt rebound, and after Li You answered, Kerr immediately stepped forward to delay, and the Bulls quickly retreated.

In the lead, Li You did not rush to advance, but steadily dribbled through the half.

Outside the three-point line, Lee Yo, who was holding the ball in his right hand, protected the ball sideways, and the Knicks' two interior lines all sank to the baseline position, while Larry Johnson and Alan Houston pulled away from the wing.

Kerr continued to give physical confrontation, Li You, who had been sideways to protect the ball, suddenly exploded the ball vigorously when he was close to the three-point line, twisted his body at the same time, pretended to catch the ball with his left hand, and then suddenly turned quickly, and lowered his center of gravity at the moment when he grabbed the ball with his right hand, and accelerated with all his might.

With a slight hesitation on the defensive end, Kerr was stuck half a body by Li You and was forced to slide to the blocking position.

Li You suddenly stopped suddenly, and then blew the ball again with his right hand, taking advantage of Cole to adjust the center of gravity of the defense, and completed the change of direction in front of the body very quickly.

Switching to the left hand, Li You pretended to break through, and Cole was so shaken that he hurriedly slid to the right rear.

As a result, he moved to the vicinity of the paint area, but Kerr saw that Li You just crossed and pulled back, completely lost the defensive position, and watched Li You shoot a mid-range jumper.

"Huh!" The two-pointer hit the ball steadily.

"Shh

There was a huge boo in the United Center arena, and the Bulls fans in the stadium didn't want to lose, they didn't want to fall to second place.

Kukoc then scored a low back-to-back single on the left side, and on the bench, the Bulls coaching staff breathed a sigh of relief.

The Knicks continued to serve the baseline quickly, and this time Lee Woo came to the right wing after halftime to hand over the ball.

Alan Houston at the top of the arc answered, Larry Johnson and Chris Dudley also took up two elbow positions at this time, and Lee Yo quickly crossed the line at this time.

Under the double cover, chasing until Kerr was delayed, Cooke immediately switched defenses, raised his hands high, and tried to control his body's center of gravity.

Coming to the left flank, Li You received Alan Houston's horizontal pass and didn't make much action, and simply lifted the ball and made a jumper!

Looking at Li You, who was still drifting to the left, Kukchi was a little dazed, and then there was a boo in his ears, and he immediately knew that Li You had scored again.

"Lee is in attack mode, it's hard for Kerr to limit him, the Bulls shouldn't hesitate, they should continue to make big delays."

On the TNT commentary bench, Hubby Brown couldn't help but whisper a suggestion when he saw Li You's quick finish, while Dick Stockton on the side gave a different opinion:

"In the third quarter, the Knicks' role players played so well that they responded in a timely manner."

"Mai Buckle should have played early, after all, tonight's game is very important for them!"

Regardless of whether the Bulls scored or not, Lee Yoo did not reduce his aggressiveness.

Receiving a hand-handed pass from Chris Dudley at the right elbow position, Lee Woo dribbled a step to get rid of the chasing Kerr, and made a jumper from the free throw line!

Back to the Bulls' side, Pippen missed a three-pointer, Lee Woo received a long rebound, the transition offense was interfered with and missed the basket, and the follow-up Larry Johnson made a layup to score points.

The Bulls attacked again, Pippen broke to the basket and responded with a layup under Dudley's interference!

The Knicks quickly sent the baseline ball, Li You received the ball on the left flank, put the ball with his left hand, broke through with a cross step, pulled back the crotch in the left blocking area, and also scored a mid-distance emergency stop jump shot.

The two sides started a battle again, constantly switching without the ball with the ball, and Li You showed no signs of physical exhaustion.

After forcing a breakthrough to the basket and causing a foul on Cooke, Li You, who stood on the free throw line, was booed again.

Cole, who is constantly chasing defense, has begun to gasp for air, and he will not have so much playing time in previous games.

The whole audience stared at Li You, and Cole felt that this job was not easy to do at all.

After Lee Woo hit both free throws, the score came to 101:91 with 7 minutes and 48 seconds left in the game, and Michael Jordan reappeared at this time.

At this point, the double-digit lead has already boiled over the Knicks' atmosphere group.

Ewing, dressed in a formal suit, was also on the bench, but it was a gorilla with mixed feelings.

In March, I was busy with the issue of collective bargaining agreements, and when I returned to the team, there was a hint of strangeness

With a double-digit lead, Li You also began to slow down the pace of the game, and while taking a breath of relief, he immediately started to play tactics again.

It's just that after two rounds of teammates hitting the iron, seeing Mai Buckle and sudden punishments, Li You began to take over the attack again.

The Bulls' one-point rain was very ferocious, but Lee's three-point shot was not soft.

This time on the right flank, Li You, who was bombed, took advantage of the situation after receiving the ball, and when he saw the center of gravity of Cole's defense, he immediately released the ball and then retreated laterally.

Kerr tried desperately to block on his side, but Li You's shot was too fast, and he made a jump shot after drifting slightly.

"The Bulls need to pick up the pace of the game, time is running out!"

Huby Brown saw Li You hitting iron outside the three-point line and the Bulls protected the rebound, and subconsciously shook his head and said.

Before Dick Stockton could explain the Bulls' fast break, Larry Johnson immediately fouled Pippen.

"The Knicks were very calm and you could see that they had prepared well before the game, and Lee was in control of the pace of the game tonight."

As the clock ticked on, Phil Jackson also started walking around the sidelines, and Jeff Van Gundy yelled to remind his players to watch out for rebounds.

With 58 seconds left in the game, Cookic also stepped to the free-throw line.

"No amount of free throws can win the game, maybe you can try a three-point shot, maybe it will have some effect!"

Li You laughed outside the three-point line and teased the button on his side, this old man with a long face, obviously knew that there was a high probability of losing tonight.

"It doesn't matter where I stand, I'm still going to be the winner."

Mai Kou didn't say anything, and responded simply, and stopped looking at Li You, and his mood was very unbeautiful.

After hitting both free throws, the score came to 114-107.

In the next round, as Lee Woo assisted veteran Buck Williams to score two more points with a basket 24 seconds ago, the United Center arena booed.

At the last moment, the Knicks continued to foul and the Bulls continued to make free throws, but the game time was not enough, and the Bulls fans at the scene could only watch Jeff Van Gundy throw punches on the sidelines in celebration.

116:111, in the end, the Knicks relied on Li You's excellent play in the fourth quarter and successfully won the game!

In the fourth quarter of the game, Li You was 6 of 11, 3 of 6 from beyond the three-point line, and 2 of 2 from the free throw line, scoring 17 points;

He played 44 minutes in the game, 13-of-28, 7-of-14 from beyond the three-point line, and 7-of-8 from the free-throw line, with a double-double of 40 points, 5 rebounds, 10 assists, 1 steal and 3 turnovers.

No one in the Knicks team cared about the boos at the scene, and the atmosphere team came to Li You's side and shouted happily, Oakley also breathed a sigh of relief, and Ewing on the side also pulled out a smile.

First in the East, they will have home-court advantage in the playoffs!

Jeff Van Gundy proudly shook hands with Phil Jackson:

"The champion coach is nothing more than that!"

Looking at the bald young marshal, Phil Jackson's heart was furious, and there was no smile on his face, if it weren't for the team infighting, the Bulls would not have only won 61 wins.

"In the face of the team's injuries, Lee stepped up and managed to finish the Bulls, 20 years old? What a performance! ”

On the TNT commentary bench, Hubby Brown only felt that the league was indeed going to be renewed, and Dick Stockton heard the director's prompt, and then smiled and praised:

"At 20 years and 108 days, Lee broke the record set by Magic Johnson tonight and became the youngest player in NBA history to score 40+10."

"If the Jazz lose tomorrow, then the Knicks will have the best record in the league, and the boys must be commended for their performance!"

“.”

The Knicks ended the regular season and flew back to New York overnight, with the coaching staff just in time to give the players a day off.

Winning the first place in the league completely swelled the New York media, and the articles in the newspapers and sports columns on the second day all had a common view:

"Knicks Championship!"

On the night of April 19, fans in New York were watching the Jazz and Lakers game.

After 4 quarters of fierce battle, at 98:102, the Lakers successfully defeated the Jazz at home.

Seeing such a result, fans and media in New York were in ecstasy:

"63-19, No. 1 in the league for the Knicks!"

That night, the regular season of the 97~98 season ended, and the rankings of the eastern and western teams were officially released:

The final standings of the Eastern Conference are:

63 wins for the Knicks, 61 wins for the Bulls, 58 wins for the Pacers, 53 wins for the Heat;

The Hornets with 51 wins, the Hawks with 50 wins, the Cavaliers with 47 wins, and the Nets with 43 wins.

The final Western Conference standings are:

Jazz with 62 wins, SuperSonics with 61 wins, Lakers with 61 wins, Suns with 56 wins;

The Spurs with 56 wins, the Trail Blazers with 46 wins, the Timberwolves with 45 wins, and the Rockets with 41 wins.

In the first round of the playoffs, the Knicks will meet the Nets, and the two teams are so close that there is no need to worry about the journey.

At the moment when the regular season officially ended, Li You, who was lying in the apartment, threw his mobile phone aside, stopped replying to text messages, and after taking a bath, he called out the talent panel this time.

At the end of the regular season, the Knicks won the Atlantic Division championship again, and Lee Woo can draw talent again.

Silently reciting God's blessing, Li You's mind moved, and before he could react, he had already received a hint:

Get [Michael Jordan's extraordinary core power].

Seeing that half of his newly acquired talent was still gray, Li You's face turned dark, which showed that his own core strength was a big step behind

Thinking of his efforts to increase strength training, and in the end, there was no good harvest, Li You couldn't help but just take the lemon:

"This is the Chosen One."

On the morning of April 20, as soon as Li You arrived at the training ground, he was blocked by a large number of New York media:

"Lee, we got the first place in the league, will the Knicks win the championship?"

"Can we knock out the Bulls? This year we have home field advantage! ”

"Will Pat return from injury in the playoffs? Lee, what are your thoughts on the MVP selection? ”

“.”

Looking at the media blocked in front of the locker room, Li You couldn't cry or laugh, and suddenly felt that these guys were starting to coax again:

"Of course we're going to make it out of the East, and we're going to win the championship!"

"But the game has to be played one game at a time, and everyone has to believe in the strength of the Knicks."

Maybe it's because the past playoff experience is really stretched, and most of the media are embarrassed and smiling, not because everyone is not confident, but because they lost before.

Li You waved his hand at the person, and then chuckled and teased:

"The Bulls may lose in the semifinals, a little bit of confidence in the Knicks!"

“.”

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(End of chapter)