The Way of Basketball: Never Talk Shit to Him!
Chapter 622 - 244: 6 Years, 5 Titles_3

Chapter 622: Chapter 244: 6 Years, 5 Titles_3

Such ass-kissing!

The Indiana media felt quite uncomfortable, it wasn’t that they questioned the views of the "New York Times".

It was...

Couldn’t we say such things ourselves?

Why must you say it for us?

New York has so many things you don’t pay attention to, why are you obsessing over Su Wan every day?

They absolutely had reason to believe, that at this time, even if Su Wan farted in front of a camera, New Yorkers would definitely use two words:

"It’s fragrant!"

Of course, the Indiana media would say the same.

But...

They just looked down on New York.

They’ve always said that the New York media are the craziest, but these past couple of years they don’t seem to live up to that reputation anymore!

They’ve become Su Wan’s most loyal "lick dogs"!

Truly disgusting!

Why don’t you dare to have a showdown with Su Wan, huh?

The Pacers smoothly entered the finals.

On that side in the West, Kobe and the Lakers also passed the Phoenix Suns 4-2, entering the finals.

For the second consecutive year, the fourth time in four years, the "Pacer-Laker Battle" commenced!

Although it was the third time in four years,

The outside world believed, this would be the final season for these two teams in the finals.

Yao’s injury from the Lakers’ side led to a significant drop in team strength, and more crucially, such an injury typically takes about a year to recover from, and even after recovery, no doctor could give a precise answer as to how he would perform.

It took Shaquille O’Neal two years to return to about seventy or eighty percent of his peak condition, and this was after sacrificing some weight and with very patient recovery during the summer.

Yao Ming...

Did he have the time to recover?

Additionally, if he lost weight, would it affect his strength, was another unknown factor.

Keep in mind that in the past few years, Shaquille O’Neal’s playing style relied on mobility and mid-range shooting.

Yao Ming was different; he was a center that scored through rugged play under the basket.

If he really lost weight, it would be synonymous with a complete transformation, which was quite challenging.

As such, most of the outside media did not look favorably upon Yao Ming’s return to his peak.

After all, his sheer size was there for all to see, weighing at least about 50 pounds more than Shaquille O’Neal.

Stress fractures were most likely to recur in heavy players like him!

Even some media believed that Yao Ming would experience continuous season-long injuries leading to complete retirement.

This was the situation with the Lakers.

The Pacers’ situation was even more severe.

First was the conflict between Su Wan and the new owner.

Then the contracts of several main players were expiring, and the cost of keeping all of them was very high.

These two factors combined led the dismantling of the Pacers this summer to a foregone conclusion.

And most importantly, Larry Bird, the general manager capable of "turning stones into gold," was replaced by the new owner, extinguishing the possibility of transforming through trades.

These two factors made this encounter between the Lakers and Pacers seem like the last clash of their glory.

The outside world paid close attention.

The first game of the finals started on the Lakers’ home court.

Before the game, when the media asked Kobe if he was confident about this round of the finals, he said, "Of course!"

Yao Ming’s season-ending injury was a fact, but to Kobe, this was no reason for them to give up resistance.

Their goal remained the championship, and Yao’s absence wouldn’t change that.

The entire Lakers team was spirited under his leadership.

There was no wavering despite the "second core player" being out for the season.

In fact, up to this point, the Lakers had been very strong in the three series leading to the finals.

They lost a total of 3 games in the three series.

In contrast...

This gave the Los Angeles media and fans, especially the entire Lakers team, confidence; in their view, the team’s fighting capability remained among the league’s top.

It was just even more bug with Yao...

Think about it!

If they were not a "Cosmic Lake" level team, how would they possibly achieve a 72-10 record?

Now without Yao, let’s just say the Lakers lose 10 more games; they still have 62 wins.

The gap between them and the Pacers wasn’t that significant.

Of course, this was how they encouraged themselves before the finals started.

Once the game actually began, they realized that sometimes strategic constraints and records didn’t have much to do with each other.

Last season, even with Yao on the court, the Lakers still couldn’t handle the Pacers’ inside game in the finals.

Now without Yao...

Paul Gasol was like a sapling in a storm, battered and swaying. He could now relate to what Yao felt when facing the Spain Team in international games.

"Uncomfortable" was an understatement.

After the first game, Paul Gasol’s stats clearly showed how tough it was for him: only 6 out of 18 shots, with five turnovers, and even on the free-throw line with just 3 out of 6.

If you didn’t know better, you’d think Shaquille O’Neal had returned to the Lakers.

In the end, Zach Randolph scored 21 points and 11 rebounds, while Shaquille O’Neal scored 19 points and 8 rebounds, helping the team establish a massive 20-point advantage on the inside.

And this was just the most direct manifestation on the scoring side.

If you counted rebounding and other aspects, the advantage...

The Pacers, with their "Twin Towers," gained at least a 30-point advantage on the inside.

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