The effects of a shrinking season are finally starting to fade in the divisional finals.

In the rush to end the semi-finals and the announcement of the major awards, the critics often did not have time to warm up the game, and the series ended abruptly after back-to-backs.

By the time it came to the divisional finals, all four teams had precious time to recuperate, and the media could take it easy to warm up for the game.

In the Eastern Conference Finals, before the start of the Pacers vs. Knicks, Spike Lee, who was interviewed by the New York Times, brought up the old story and poisoned the milk in advance:

"The Knicks are completely different, we have a slight advantage in the regular season in the past two years, and Reggie Miller has started to go downhill."

"There will be no more of the past, we are ready to win another crown"

"I can't even wait to see Reggie Miller lose, and the New York fans will welcome him with the biggest boo!"

In the 94 Eastern Conference Finals G5, in the face of Spike Lee's provocation, Reggie Miller, who finally broke out, sent a "throat lock salute".

In the '95 Eastern Conference semifinals, the "Miller moment", 8.9 seconds and 8 minutes, Reggie Miller helped the Pacers counterattack the Knicks.

The above two famous scenes, old fans in New York still remember vividly, during the regular season, as long as they meet the Pacers, everyone will send boos, this time the Eastern Conference finals have not started, there are many fans shouting slogans:

“Knicks In Four！”

Reggie Miller, who is about to turn 34, has matured a lot and is about to enter the end of his career, so he naturally knows that time is running out for him to win the title.

After nearly toppling the Bulls last year and reaching the Eastern Conference Finals again this year, the Pacers' veterans cherish this opportunity and they don't want to miss it again.

Starting point guard Mark Jackson is 34 years old and Chris Mullin at the No. 3 position is 35 years old;

Dale Davis is 30 years old and Rick Schmitz is 32 years old, and in terms of age structure, the Pacers have more experience in the game!

Most of the starting five are still in their playing years, and the sweep of opponents in the first two rounds of the playoffs is also expected by critics.

On May 29, in TNT's program, in addition to predicting the game between the Trail Blazers and Spurs that night, he did not forget to comment on the matchup between the "old enemies" of the Eastern Conference Finals.

McHale has been in a good mood since Duncan broke the Lakers' interior line, and his tone has become more and more brisk when he comes to the studio these days:

"The Knicks' defense has slipped this season, and Ewing and Oakley have had issues with their lateral speed."

"The interior combination of Rick Smits and Dale Davis is at its peak, and with Reggie Miller on the outside, the inside and outside are balanced, and this is the perfect time for the Pacers to win the championship!"

Looking at the surface lineup, the Pacers do have a high level of superiority on the inside.

After all, Rick Schmitz is 2.24 meters tall, and when he was playing, he seemed to be in better shape than Ewing.

Kenny Smith is still bullish on the Knicks, and soon gave his opinion:

"The regular season is a testament to the quality of the team, and don't forget that the Pacers were only 14th on the defensive end of the regular season."

"They didn't have a lot of challenges in the postseason, and I don't think the Pacers could limit Lee and Alan Houston."

"They don't have a very good defensive strategy, and when they encounter pick-and-rolls, they can only delay as they did in the regular season."

"Lee will completely tear down the Pacers' defense, and he likes to play against big man centers who move slowly."

All the famous coaches are out, and TNT's program does not mention tactical adjustments at this time, and both of them start from the technical characteristics of the players.

Ernnie Johnson heard the two arguing without stopping, and hurriedly reminded him:

"We have to talk about tonight's game, the Trail Blazers are also very good inside!"

"Tim Duncan will respond."

“.”

Tim Duncan's popularity skyrocketed after he reached the Western Conference Finals, and the ball critics did not hesitate to praise Duncan as a flower.

In the Western Conference Finals that night, the Spurs Twin Towers continued the highlight performance of the previous series, cutting 20+10 double-doubles one after another.

Although Rasheed Wallace scored a game-high 28 points on 12-of-20 shooting, his frequent positional offense could not penetrate the Spurs' defense.

At 76:80, the Spurs successfully defended their home court.

Lee also watched the final moments of the game from his apartment in Manhattan.

Noting that technically, the two teams combined 17 times outside the three-point line and hit 5 shots, and for a while he secretly shook his head in his heart.

Christen Little, who has been acting as a shield for Li You for the past two days, asked curiously while surfing the Internet:

"I think Sanders is beautiful too! She also won a gold medal at the Olympics, don't you like her? ”

Having just joined the NBA Inside Stuff program, former Olympic swimming champion Bernie Sanders has become the show's new female hostess.

Sanders has been in charge of interviewing the Knicks recently, and has been filming with the team, and Lee Youtong is playing stupid for the other party's hints.

"I'm not interested in being associated with an Olympic champion! In my opinion, you're much prettier than her! ”

On the sofa, Li You hooked his hand, and the little attendant smiled and glued to his body, and Christen-Little, who had completely become a big girl, was currently an energetic beautiful girl except for being a little flat.

Compared with the Olympic champion who took the women's rights line independently, Li You still feels that it is safer for a small follower.

Christen-Lit, who combed her long black hair into a ball and wore only cool pajamas, leaned into Li You's ear and whispered something in her whisper.

The two whispered to each other, and the little attendant was a little short of breath, and whispered again:

"Honey, what if there is?"

"Of course it was born, it must be a lovely child!"

On the evening of May 30, the Eastern Conference Finals officially began.

Despite the pre-game provocations from Spike Lee and the New York media, no one from the Pacers responded.

In the Eastern Conference semifinals last year, in order to show their determination to win, the Pacers players all shaved their heads, just to be able to win against the Bulls.

After the loss, this year's playoffs, this year's playoffs, this team led by Larry Bird is more mature, and they only want a championship.

Madison Square Garden Arena, shortly after the opening, the boos grew louder and louder, with Alan Houston hitting back-to-back iron as Reggie Miller chased him down.

Coupled with Ewing, who threw the iron from the open position, the game played 4 minutes and 42 seconds, and Jeff Van Gundy on the sidelines frowned for a while.

The Pacers attacked, Reggie Miller quickly slipped across the baseline from left to right, bounced to the right wing, and broke through after receiving the ball.

Completely getting rid of Alan Houston's defense, Reggie Miller scored a long two-point pullup jump shot!

At 4:10, Jeff Van Gundy immediately called a timeout.

"Shh

With a bad start and Madison Square Garden boosing, Bob Costas began to praise the Pacers performance again in the NBC commentary box:

"There were no physical issues on both sides, on the defensive end, the Pacers were better after the opening."

"Reggie Miller used his excellent defensive experience to successfully limit Alan Houston's play."

Subtle gestures can really interfere with pitchers, and Doug Collins is more concerned with the defensive strategy of both sides:

"Both Rick Schmitz and Dale Davis showed great defensive flexibility after the opening and cooperated with their teammates to complete the delays."

"Lee handled the ball very well, unfortunately Ewing didn't feel good tonight, and there was a mistake in the inside pass, hopefully they can get back to the game in time after the timeout."

As soon as the game began, the Pacers turned on the pack mode, and when Lee Dribbled close to the three-point line, the weak-side defender would cooperate with Mark Jackson to wrap the ball.

Chris Mullin played the most games and Larry Johnson, who picked up after the opening, couldn't respond in time.

The opponent resolutely implemented the entrapment strategy, caught the Knicks by surprise, and the noise on the scene was loud, Jeff Van Gundy sat in front of everyone, holding the tactical board and exhorting loudly:

"Get moving, move the ball to the basket and play it back again, pull their defense, be patient, we'll take our chances!"

Ewing took a breath, and after the opening, Rick Schmitz made a few strong attacks in the low post, and with a lot of physical confrontations, the Gorilla started with no touch.

Li You also just nodded, the best way at the moment is to be patient, there is really no solution to the problem of teammates not being able to hit the open shot.

After the timeout, the two sides returned to the court, with Mark Jackson clapping his hands and cheering himself on, and Reggie Miller shouting out to his teammates to help defend.

From the beginning of the game, everyone in the Pacers team was fully engaged in the game, and the warm greetings from the scene did not affect them in any way.

The New York fans continued to cheer loudly, and when Li You received the baseline ball, Mark Jackson stepped forward to lead the defense as soon as possible.

Advancing quickly against the defense, Li You first pretended to accelerate after half the court, then quickly dribbled behind his left hand, switched to his right hand and shook a distance, and immediately made tactical gestures.

Ewing hurriedly moved to the top of the arc, and as soon as Lee You was about to break through on the right side, Rick Schmitz raised his hands and slid quickly to cooperate with his teammates to wrap up.

Continuing the opening game strategy, Li You, who had been prepared for a long time, suddenly boasted with one hand this time.

While the basketball passed through the crotch, it also happened to pass between the two defenders, Li You leaned in, squeezed through the defense in an instant, and then grabbed the ball with his left hand and quickly rushed to the basket.

Mark Jackson tried to chase down again, but he bumped into Ewing, and Rick Schmitz also had no time to retreat.

Dale Davis, who was near the baseline on the right side, helped defend the basket for the first time at this time, and Li You did not choose to pass, and after rushing up in three steps, he jumped quickly.

Grabbing the ball with one hand with his left hand, Li You dodged the cover in the air, and Dale Davis sensed that something was wrong and simply hit his left arm.

"Smack!"

"Squeak!"

The whistle scored the ball, and the crisp sound of the thug made the referee immediately blow the whistle, and the New York fans at the scene waved their fists in celebration when they saw Li You landing, and immediately cheered loudly.

Lee Woo sent the ball into the basket after three consecutive games, Dale Davis was a little helpless, and Coach Larry Bird on the sidelines just made a steady gesture.

At 7:10, he hit a free throw, and Li You helped the Knicks narrow the gap.

On the commentary bench, Bob Costas began to praise Lee for his performance:

"Lee broke to the basket twice after the opening, and the effect was very good, once he made a free throw, this time he hit a three-pointer, and his basket finishing was much better than in the previous two seasons."

Doug Collins on the side noticed that Mark Jackson gave the ball to Rick Schmitz, who was low on the left side of the court and asked for the ball with his back, and immediately commented:

"Slowing down the pace of the game, playing more inside on the offensive end, the Pacers took advantage of their advantage from the start."

Rick Schmitz dropped the ball with his right hand and hit it with a clatter, trying to take advantage of his height and shoot as soon as he approached the paint.

"Bang!"

The basketball slammed out of the frame, and Oakley stuck Dale Davis behind him and grabbed the rebound.

The Pacers quickly retreated, and the Knicks couldn't complete the transition offense at the first time.

The game was completely scorched, and Reggie Miller didn't have many scenes on the offensive end, but on the defensive end, he pestered Alan Houston.

Forcing the trap was destined to take its toll, and Larry Johnson received a pass from Lee Woo at the top of the arc and hit an easy three-pointer from the left wing when he hit the opening iron.

“Wow！”

The first three-pointer of the game finally appeared, and the New York fans breathed a sigh of relief, followed by shouts of joy.

The Pacers continued to slow down the tempo, hitting and hitting for 24 seconds, and Reggie Miller dummy and then broke through and suddenly made a sharp stop and hit a free throw.

Alan Houston, who received the second foul, slapped his thigh in frustration and was replaced by Sprewell.

"Mad Man" is still in charge of chasing Reggie Miller, but the effect is much better than Alan Houston.

Not caring about his foul at all, Sprewell started a pull-and-pull defensive style, and the Knicks started the iron-blooded mode early...

After a tough defense, Sprewell also showed a good touch on the offensive end, helping the Knicks score consecutive points.

Seeing the Knicks regain their offensive rhythm, Doug Collins changed his voice and began to praise the substitution option:

"Sprewell had a better game tonight, and while there were rumors that he would leave in the offseason, I think staying with the Knicks would be the best option."

Bob Costas naturally noticed the news and noticed that the scores were slowly rising, and added:

"Reggie Miller is not an easy opponent to deal with, and Sprewell did his job brilliantly."

With the help of the "madman", at the end of the first quarter, the score was fixed at 25:22, and the Knicks narrowed the difference.

The mood of the New York fans at the scene was a little unbeautiful, and everyone did not expect that the Pacers would take the lead.

Li You played 2-of-4 in the first quarter and 3-of-3 from the free-throw range, scoring 7 points, 1 rebound and 2 assists;

Sprewell scored six points on 2-of-3 shooting and 2-of-2 from the free-throw line, and the two accounted for half of the Knicks' scores.

Back on the bench, Ewing, who was replaced early, felt a little aggrieved in his heart, and some opportunities to eat bread stably were all wasted

The point difference is within one round, and Li You is not worried about the situation on the court, as long as the Pacers continue to play positional offense, they will not be able to really open up the point difference for a while.

In the noise of the scene, the rotation lineup of the two teams appeared.

The Pacers didn't have any starters on their second lineup.

On the back line is 180 Travis Best and forward Jalen Rose, and the inside trio is Derrick McKay, Sam Perkins, and Antonio Davis.

The Pacers drop in height and rise in flexibility!

In the second quarter of the game, Sprewell continued his efficient form in the first quarter, constantly hitting response shots, allowing the Knicks to bite the score.

Alan Houston's playing time was compressed, with the starting lineup only coming back with 4:24 left in the half.

The two sides played more and more slowly, and the single quarter came to 19:20, and at halftime, 44:42, the Knicks narrowed the gap again.

Madison Square Garden is getting noisier and louder, and fans in New York can tell that several starters are in average form.

With 5-of-9 shooting and 4-of-4 free throws in the half, Sprewell scored 14 points efficiently.

Since the news of his departure from the team, no one in the locker room has paid attention to him, and the "madman" is aggrieved, and playing such a performance at half time tonight can be regarded as proving himself again.

After entering the players' tunnel, the excited Sprewell shouted loudly at this time:

"Shet! You need me so much! ”

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(End of chapter)