On the 23rd, NBC, ABC, ESPN, TNT and several other TV stations also analyzed and predicted the playoff situation.

This time, instead of directly predicting the odds of winning the championship, these media outlets only predicted the situation in the first round, which is a change.

Taking NBC as an example, in the East, the Bulls have a 100% chance of advancing in the first round, the Magic 95%, followed by the Knicks and the Heat.

The Knicks are sixth in the East, the first round against the third Pacers in the East, in the NBA's view, the Knicks' first-round promotion probability is the third in the East, which means that NBC is still optimistic about the iron-blooded team built by Pat Riley, and is optimistic about super center Ewing.

If the Knicks do eliminate the Pacers, who are third in the East, and complete the Black Six, it will be an upset.

In the West, the superSonics and Mosaic have a 100% chance of qualifying, which is more absolute than that in the East, which shows that NBC is extremely optimistic about Mosaic's Big Three lineup.

The remaining two teams are the Jazz and Spurs, and the top four teams with the best chances of advancing are the top four teams in the Western Conference regular season, and NBC does not think there will be an upset.

"Shit-like analysis and prediction! It's NBC's disrespect for the Pacers' efforts throughout the season, and we're going to fight back and we're going to beat the Knicks in the first round. ”

Reggie Miller was very angry and angry after seeing NBC's playoff situation analysis, and openly expressed his dissatisfaction with NBC in an interview with the media.

On this day, the league also announced that it will announce the MVP winner after the first round, and the best team and best defensive team will be announced after the second round.

However, the media has predicted that Zhou Quan will win the regular season MVP for the second time.

As for the best team and the best defensive lineup, the major media have also lined up, and Zhou Quan and Jordan have also been selected for the first defense team of all media.

……

On the 24th, the league held a press conference at its headquarters in New York, where David Stern personally announced the ratings of this season's regular season SuperSonics.

The SuperSonics' highest viewership in the regular season was 23.2 million, and the Bulls' first regular-season game, which has surpassed any single-game ratings in history, including the Finals, and the previous Finals G5 game in '91, with 16.5 million.

The average viewership was as high as 7.12 million, which also broke the all-time record, and the previous high was more than double the Bulls' 90/91 season of 3.05 million.

These two data completely shocked the whole United States.

David Stern was very pleased to say at the press conference: "We are very happy that Iron Fist has chosen the NBA league, he will promote our development around the world, and we will be on a fast track. ”

"It's a change brought about by Iron Fist, and he has attracted countless new fans to the SuperSonics, even if these new fans are just trying to be fresh and no longer watch NBA games in the future, and he has also set an unprecedented record for the NBA." Larry Bird said in an interview.

"Hopefully, the supersonic boom will spread to other teams, and Tekken will become a superstar like the Magic Bird and Michael Jordan who will play a key role in the development of the NBA league." Abdul-Jabbar said in an interview.

Zhou Quan also gave an interview, saying: "I'm very happy that the SuperSonics game broke the record ratings, which is great, but I hope it continues, our game is exciting, and I hope more fans will join us." ”

On April 25, 1996, the first round of the 95/96 playoffs began.

In the East, the Bulls and Hawks, and the Cavaliers vs. the Heat, in the West, the Mosaics vs. the Kings, the Spurs vs. the Trailblazers, and the remaining four groups will start on the 26th.

That afternoon, the Suns also arrived in Seattle.

After dinner, Zhou Quan lay on the game room and S-shaped deck chairs on the dock, the curtains on the shore have been closed, the weather is good tonight, the sky is full of stars, and there is a crescent moon hanging in the sky, he feels that the whole person is integrated into the world, and his spirit has been relaxed to a certain extent.

This feeling reminded him of his hometown when he was a child.

Every hot night in summer, the grandparents would move the bamboo bed outside to cool off, and he and his younger siblings would sleep, and the two elders would sit on one side and use a fan to catch mosquitoes for them, and only go back to the house to sleep when it was cold at night.

Later, the two elders made an appointment, and they passed away within a year, and he also grew up, so it was his mother's turn to catch mosquitoes for his younger brothers and sisters.

"Husband, look at the bull, right?"

"Yes, TNT."

Zeng Lifu poured two glasses of water, looked at the time, it was almost eight o'clock, she went over and turned on the TV, and tuned to the TNT channel.

"Victory!"

At the Chicago Union Center, the roar of a bull rang out.

"This guy is still so motivated." When he saw Jordan, Zhou Quan couldn't help but smile.

"Husband, can you win him this year?" Zeng asked Tanuki.

Zhou Quan smiled: "In the regular season, we won one and lost one, and in the second game, we had an incomplete lineup, which had no reference value, but in the first game we defeated the Bulls with a complete lineup."

Although the Bulls didn't have much run-in at that time, and they just got an All-Star caliber center, it can also say that we are not worse than them.

But whether you can win in the end depends on the on-the-spot performance of both sides. But I believe we have a better chance, he can't stop me. ”

In the end, that night, the Bulls beat the Hawks by 35 points, and Jordan scored 33 points, 7 rebounds, 7 assists and 2 steals.

In the West, the Mosaics beat the Kings and the Spurs beat the Trail Blazers, but neither of them played an upset.

Only in the other group of games in the East, the Heat, who were fifth in the regular season, defeated the Cavaliers who were fourth, which was barely a small upset, not strictly speaking.

The next day, the SuperSonics started the first round and successfully defeated the Suns, and Zhou Quan scored 32 points, 15 assists, 6 steals and 3 blocks to win the first win of the series.

In the other three groups, the Jazz beat the Lakers, the Magic beat the Pistons, and the Pacers beat the Knicks.

"I said we would win, and that's our answer to you."

After the game, Reggie Miller, who scored 28 points, 6 assists and 3 steals, excitedly spoke to the media and made a slap in the face.

This action was understood by the media as Reggie Miller slapping NBC.

After getting the news of the Pacers' win after the game, Zhou called Reggie Miller to congratulate him on his first victory.

Reggie Miller was really excited, clamoring on the phone to make it to the second round.

However, in the subsequent series, the Pacers gradually disadvantaged, first being equalized by the Knicks at home, and then losing two consecutive games on the road, with a score of 1-3.

His previous words were also ridiculed by the media and the Knicks, who said that he was a big mouth.

The Knicks eliminated the third-place Pacers in sixth place in the East, which is called the Black Six, which is considered an upset.

Previously, the Bulls, SuperSonics, Magic, and Mosaic four teams had completed the first-round sweep, the Jazz eliminated the Lakers 3-1, and the Spurs eliminated the Trail Blazers 3-1, leaving only the Cavaliers and the Heat to a 2-2 draw.

On May 5, the Heat defeated the Cavaliers and were the last to reach the second round.

At this point, the second round is out.

East, Bulls: Heat, Magic: Knicks

West: HyperSonic: Jazz, Mosaic: Spurs

The second round will start on the 7th, with the first day being the SuperSonics and Jazz, and the Magic and Knicks, with the remaining two groups being the 8th.

On the 6th, major media analyzed and predicted the second-round series.

Taking NBC as an example, the media believes that the Bulls in the East have an 85% chance of reaching the Eastern Conference Finals, the Magic has a 70% chance of reaching the Eastern Conference Finals, the Western SuperSonics have a 90% chance of reaching the Western Conference Finals, and the Mosaic has a 75% chance of reaching the Western Conference Finals.

Larry Bird was interviewed by the New York Times in New York, saying: "It's really hard to get an upset in the series, but the strength gap between the Magic and the Knicks is not that big, and the difference between O'Neal and Ewing is not that big, I think the Magic should have a 55% chance of reaching the Eastern Conference finals, and the Knicks 45%.

And the Bulls and the Heat, I think it should be 70% and 30%, Pat Riley's Heat is not bad, they have run in for a season, I think it's time to make a difference.

As for the West, given the Iron Fist John Stockton, I agree with the 90% chance prediction that the Jazz don't have much of a chance.

And the Mosaic Big Three, defeating the Spurs should not be a problem, David Robinson is difficult to support alone, and the probability of about seventy percent is reasonable.

Of the four sets, I think hypersonic is the most relaxed. In fact, in the first-round series, Tekken averaged only 32 points and 15 assists per game, more assists than in the regular season, and scored fewer points than in the regular season, and it is clear that he hasn't really hit the offensive end yet. ”

The difference between Larry Bird and NBC's perception is actually not very big, mainly because there are some differences in the judgment of the East.

At noon that day, Philip came to Zhou Quan's villa, and after the three of them had lunch, they turned on the TV and tuned to the NBC channel.

"There should be no suspense." Philip said with confidence.

"If this year's MVP is not given to me, I will leave the NBA after this season." Zhou Quan said in a joking tone.

Philip laughed, "If that's the case, David Stern is a fool." ”

At this time, the cooks, security guards, gardeners and other workers at home also ran over, waiting to send congratulations.

Zeng Lifu was also ready, and came out with two bottles of champagne and some wine glasses, and everyone poured a glass.

One point, sports news, the league officially announced the winner of the 95/96 regular season MVP, and David Stern proved that he was not a fool.

"Cheers."

Zhou Quan took the champagne handed over by Zeng Li, and after clinking glasses one by one, everyone drank it all.

Philip laughed: "Zhou, you are the second person to win MVP, scoring title, DPOY in the same season, the first is Jordan.

But with that in addition to the assists and steals, you're the first person in history to win all five of these accolades, and you've made a lot of history this season. ”

The media is not surprised that Zhou Quan won the MVP of the regular season this season, as Philip said, there is no suspense.

Of course, there are still a lot of people who are sour, such as Karl Malone.

At a hotel in Seattle, the Jazz had just arrived, and the postman couldn't wait to turn on the TV in the room and adjust it to NBC.

Then he saw that Zhou Quan won the MVP for the second time, and although he had expected it, his emotions were still affected.

"Carl, you'll have a chance in the future." John Stockton reassured.

"Of course." The postman forced a smile.

In fact, John Stockton was also in a bad mood, even worse than the postman, so he was really in no mood to comfort him.

The Jazz were eliminated by the Supersonic in the second round of the playoffs in '94, were eliminated by Mosaic in the second round last year, and met the Supersonic again in the second round this time, and the media was almost one-sidedly optimistic about the SuperSound, and it was optimistic that the SuperSonics would advance by a big margin, and the Jazz could not break through the second round, which seemed to have formed a curse.

And between him and Iron Fist, it seems to have become a curse, he has become the object of restraint by Iron Fist, in the eyes of the media, Iron Fist has overcome him, this curse, has been tormenting him for five years.

"Carl, why don't we take it apart, and you go find a better one." He said suddenly.

"John, what did you say?"

The postman couldn't believe that his good friend was going to break up with him?

"I, I'm naturally restrained by an iron fist, and together we may never be able to win against him." John Stockton said bitterly.

"No, I believe we can beat him, nothing is impossible in this world. We lost once in '94 and this time we have to get it back. ”

The postman suddenly lost his mind and roared hysterically.

John Stockton knew the postman too well, and he knew that the postman did not disagree with him, on the contrary, the postman actually agreed with his words, but he could not accept the possibility of breaking up for the time being.

"Carl, John, it's time."

At this time, the Jazz held a press conference at the hotel at the request of the media, and head coach Jerry Sloan knocked on the door of the two.

"How?"

Seeing the expressions of the two, he asked with some trepidation.

"Nothing, Coach."

The postman shook his head, and John Stockton shook his head as well.

Jerry Sloan breathed a sigh of relief, he thought something had happened, something like an accidental injury.

Soon after, the press conference took place.

The first person to ask a question was a New York Times reporter, who asked: "Postman, the Jazz have stopped in the second round for two consecutive years, and this year they have encountered the supersonics, and the media is bullish on the supersounds, what do you think is the chances of the Jazz reaching the Western Conference finals?" ”

The postman asked with a straight face: "We scored a tie-break with Mosaic in the second round last year, and this year we are stronger, and we believe that we can reach the Western Conference finals." ”

The reporter immediately added: "The media thinks the Jazz have fallen under the spell of stopping the second round, do you think that's true?" ”

"It's shit!" The postman scolded with great displeasure.

The second to ask a question was a reporter from the Los Angeles Times, who asked, "Postman, do you think Iron Fist is really the Tekken John Stockton?" ”

"This is shit too! John is the best point guard, he's the best. The postman scolded angrily.

"If you are eliminated in the second round again this year, what changes would you like the team to make?" The journalist asked again.

"I'm not going to break up with John." The postman blurted out.

"What?" The reporter was taken aback.

"Oh, what that means they're thinking about breaking up?"

"God, are the Utah twins going to disintegrate?"

Buzzing, the reporters below immediately began to discuss.

The reporter was excited, and immediately asked: "In other words, postman, are you already discussing the breakup?" ”

“NO！”

The postman yelled angrily.

Jerry Sloan panicked, looking at the postman and then at John Stockton, he felt that something must have happened to these two lovers.

"Coach Sloan, is management interested in breaking up the current roster?" The reporter, who had not yet taken the microphone, immediately turned around and asked.

Jerry calmed down, shook his head, and said, "No, there is no such plan, yes, in fact, never had." I'm just going to make up for it, and this work has been done.

I think it's a very stable lineup, it's been built over the years, it's been on the rise, we're still getting stronger, there's no need to break it up, that's impossible, the management doesn't have that idea, and the boss doesn't have it. ”

He didn't lie, the Jazz really didn't have the idea or intention to break up the lineup.

This lineup is about to come out of the way, as long as it passes the supersonic and mosaic levels, there is great hope, neither he nor the management has any idea of breaking up.

What's more, the team owner will not invest a lot of money for the championship, and the ball market in Salt Lake City does not allow it, and now that this lineup has good results, it will not be chaotic if it can maintain the ball market.

Now he is only worried about problems within the team, such as the Postman and Stockton, and if they don't see any hope of winning a championship with the Jazz, whether they will choose to leave, that's what worries him.

(End of chapter)