The Way of Basketball: Never Talk Shit to Him!
Chapter 294 - 177 Eastern Conference Finals, Here We Come Again!

Chapter 294: Chapter 177 Eastern Conference Finals, Here We Come Again!

As soon as the second half started, Arenas displayed his firepower post-"Chicken Soup," making three shots in a row despite Artest’s defense, all successful hits. This drove Artest nuts, his eyes bloodshot.

Su Wan almost couldn’t hold himself back from reminding Arenas to watch his ribs.

Luckily, Arenas wasn’t someone who typically talked trash.

Or rather, he used to enjoy talking trash until last year when Larry Hughes told him during halftime after trash-talking Wade, "If you talk trash again, you’ll be defending by yourself." After that, he calmed down a lot.

Seeing Artest nearly going insane, Arenas didn’t dare to talk trash. He even wanted to comfort Artest, "Seriously, man? You had me totally covered in the first half, and I only made three baskets..."

As he spoke, Arenas stopped himself, unsure if his words were comforting or...

Mocking?

Anyway, it wasn’t the effect he wanted. Artest completely transformed into a "raging bull," with Arenas becoming the target of his fury.

Intense confrontations also ignited Arenas’ competitive spirit.

But as the "ball holding big core," facing such fierce pressure tactics drained him physically.

By the end of the third quarter, he was gasping heavily, unsure if he was playing basketball or boxing.

The physical clashes hardly ever ceased.

Arenas felt his body burning. From his past experiences, he presumed that by the end of the game, he would turn into a "Purple Man."

Is this Artest’s confrontation?

Until now, Arenas had always faced Su Wan; this was his first prolonged encounter with Artest’s defense, especially an infuriated Artest at full anger mode.

Just yesterday, he saw in the news that LeBron considered Artest worthy of the "Best Defensive Player Award" this season. He didn’t feel much then, but now he thought LeBron was right.

That oppressive and suffocating feeling from his defense was something no other defender brought.

And this brings us to Su Wan.

Originally, Artest didn’t play for a year after being suspended. But this time, during his suspension, he never stopped his bullfighting with Su Wan.

As Su Wan continually improved, Artest maintained his solo defensive state effectively.

This season, after announcing his bid for the "Best Defensive Player Award" again, he focused solely on defense.

The only change in him from two years ago was that he had become more robust.

This likely made him less adept at defending those who catch and shoot from the outside. Given his bulk, continuous running drained him much more than usual. But defending Arenas, that was absolutely his forte.

After Arenas scored three baskets at the start of the third quarter, his shooting percentage quickly fell to 2-for-8.

During this period, the Wizards once again fell behind by double digits.

In the fourth quarter, Arenas changed his style; facing the "Beast’s" close entanglement, he began looking more for his teammates, with Caron Butler and Jia Misen taking on more of the scoring responsibilities.

But soon, Jia Misen also revealed the reason he managed great personal stats with the Warriors but was eventually let go:

Once targeted by the defense, his scoring efficiency plummeted.

Little O’Neal’s movement speed near the three-point line was slightly slower than his. However, pulling back a bit then sidestepping to interfere with his movements was no issue. At the same time, Su Wan would also help defend, which brings us to Jia Misen’s biggest problem—he didn’t have good passing skills!

A scorer could lack a wide field of view, but they must have passing skills; otherwise, when the opponent aggressively doubles up, it becomes challenging to handle the ball.

Like Jia Misen, who continuously forced shots and missed in those rounds, causing the Wizards to lose their last resistance.

to 93, the Pacers won over the Wizards by a landslide 15 points, almost effortlessly claiming victory in the first game of the semi-finals.

A big lead of 1-0.

Immediately after, Artest rushed to the assistant coach, grabbed the game stats from his hand. Su Wan and Little O’Neal also came over, the three of them covering the "number of baskets/made shots" stats on the sheet, slowly revealing them one by one, like scratching a lottery ticket.

Arenas 24 shots made 10, a 41.7% hit rate, scored 25 points, 5 rebounds, 6 assists;

Caron Butler 15 shots made 6, a 40% hit rate, scored 14 points, 4 rebounds;

Jia Misen 18 shots made 7, a 38.9% hit rate, scored 17 points, 8 rebounds;

Judging by the hit rates, Artest should treat them to dinner.

But when the three of them added up the opponents’ scores, they found...

points!

Just one point over the "55 points" that Rick Carlisle had mentioned.

"Damn!"

"Fuck!"

Su Wan and Little O’Neal almost blurted out curses simultaneously.

As for Artest, he also shouted, but a relieved smile immediately appeared on his face.

Foster and Dior stood next to them, hearing that none of the trio escaped, they immediately called Tinsley and the others over. This meant a big meal for lunch tomorrow, and they needed to discuss it properly.

Watching their lively antics, Su Wan and Little O’Neal exchanged looks, simultaneously rolling their eyes at Artest.