NABC Chapter 487 Thanks to my Los Angeles buddy for sending me a rocket from afar!
Chapter 487 Thanks to my Los Angeles buddy for sending me a rocket from afar!
"I'm very grateful to my Los Angeles guys for this game... uh, the guys in Los Angeles! Thank you for your efforts! If it weren't for the 100+ overtimes the Timberwolves went through, we wouldn't have won so easily tonight."
"The intensity of the game? It was alright, nothing special. It was a little harder than when we played the Bucks, but it was nothing compared to the Pistons! Against the Pistons, I really felt like I was suffocating, but I didn't feel that way tonight."
"The Timberwolves' defense is alright, a bit better than the Bucks', but it's nothing special."
"How did I feel tonight? I broke a light sweat, that's about the level of intensity. I know I played for 43 minutes, but that's because the intensity was too low tonight. I didn't get into any real energy, I just couldn't get myself together."
"How to describe tonight's feeling? Just like an ordinary regular season game!"
"Yes, I made a lot of mistakes, some of which I would never normally make. I am very dissatisfied with my performance, extremely dissatisfied. Yes, that's it."
"How much of the turnovers have to do with the Timberwolves' defense? Not really! After all, I was matched up against either Allen or Sam, both of them are great, but their defense, you know."
"I hope I can find my rhythm in the next game and make fewer mistakes. I need to increase the intensity of my training and get myself into a more focused state."
"I probably won't get nervous during the match, since the next match might not be as intense as tonight's, so I've decided to do an extra set of strength training when I get back tonight. Hmm, never mind, tomorrow then. I'll do an extra set of strength training tomorrow."
"Why not tonight? Of course, it's not because I'm tired. I have plans. Well, the whole team has plans. I booked a really famous restaurant in Minnesota. We're going to celebrate tonight's victory, and maybe even celebrate another championship ahead of time."
"After all, I've already started thinking about what posture I'll use when I lift the championship trophy again!"
"Yes, we're going to win, that's what I think. After this game, I'm sure we're going to win, so I want to thank the guys in Los Angeles again! If they hadn't fought so hard, we wouldn't have won so easily!"
That night at the press conference, Lin Tian was like a Gatling gun in full power, spraying bullets in all directions!
He criticized this and that, even mocking the entire Timberwolves team, and then he didn't forget to disgust the people of Los Angeles as well.
As for the Bucks, who were also mocked by him...
Well... nobody cares about their feelings.
Not worth mentioning.
But I was still furious.
Everyone was furious.
What kind of bastard can disgust everyone in the room after winning a game?
"Allen, if you're still a man, then fucking pin that bastard Lin to the ground and beat him to a pulp!" Even the proud Kobe couldn't hold back his anger at this moment, and called Iverson that very night, demanding that Iverson teach Lin Tian a lesson.
"If it's too difficult, and you think you can't do it, then I'll do it myself next year!"
"I can't do it? I'm just a little tired today. When the next game starts, I'll beat Lin to a pulp!" Iverson cursed as he hung up the phone, glaring angrily at Garnett in front of him. These guys were all furious with Lin.
Of course, while some people were furious, others were overjoyed.
"Did you hear that, Rashid? Lin said we're the strongest opponent he's faced this year! He praised us! He said we're the overall runner-up!" Big Ben happily called Rashid.
Then the Pistons' formidable frontcourt duo, who struck fear into the hearts of the entire league, burst into unrestrained laughter.
"We need to share our joy and achievements with Chauncey and Richard!"
"I'll call Chauncey, you call Richard!"
After having a good laugh for a while, the two sycophantic duo quickly reached an agreement, hung up the phone, and each called the team's backcourt duo.
"Fuck you, you're out of your mind." Billups didn't even let Rashid finish his sentence before hanging up the phone.
"Get lost! I'm jogging." Hamilton slammed down the phone.
Two lunatics.
Hamilton and Billups had the same thought at the same time.
I initially thought these two inside players were just not very smart, but it turns out they really are!
That night, Lin Tian and his teammates arrived at one of the largest nightclubs in Minnesota with great fanfare, swaggering and swaggering, and requested the largest private room.
Then?
After the waiters placed a large amount of drinks, fruit platters, and other items in the private room, Lin Tian slammed the door shut. Then, looking at everyone in the room, he grinned and said, "Guys, tonight we're only having fruit platters!"
"A fruit platter?"
Although the group of people at the scene didn't quite understand what was going on, judging from Lin Tian's expression, they all knew that what he was about to say was definitely not good news.
"There are no girls tonight. All these drinks will be packed up and taken back to the hotel. We can't drink them tonight."
"But hey, there's plenty of fruit platters, plenty of bottled water, and plenty of snacks! Alright, guys, let's eat and drink!"
"If we're not drinking and not looking for girls, then what are we doing here?" Howard's little head was filled with big question marks.
"What a load of crap! This will chill the hearts of our brothers sooner or later." Artest spread his hands, expressing his dissatisfaction.
"This is called strategically underestimating the opponent while tactically taking them seriously! We're trying to fool those idiots on the Timberwolves! This is Minnesota. Do you think they don't know whether we're here to have fun or not, and how we're doing?"
Lin Tian spread his hands and continued, "I bet someone's already tipping off Iverson and the others, telling them how much alcohol we ordered, how long we played, and how much fun we had."
"Then in the next game, they'll treat us like drunkards, underestimate us, and be eager to win and take the victory!"
"They underestimate us, they're careless, they're overconfident—we can easily take them down!"
"No drinking tonight, but after we win the championship, we'll drink for a whole week straight, and it'll be on me. Is that alright?"
"No problem! I'll have three more servings of popcorn and two more chicken drumsticks." Artest, who had been the most vocal protester, instantly switched sides and was now munching on a bucket of popcorn. "Where are the rookies? Where are our rookies? What are you standing around for? Go put on a show!"
The happiest person that night was undoubtedly Christie. He didn't want to come, but Lin Tian insisted on keeping him there, using phrases like "unity," "we are a family," and "we can't do without you" to drag him along.
Christie arrived with trepidation, explaining to her wife along the way what was going on and why she had to come, repeatedly assuring her that she was just there to make an appearance and would leave and return to the hotel in 15 minutes at most.
Then, after Lin Tian explained how they would play tonight, Christie got incredibly excited.
He called his wife directly: "Tonight we won't drink, we won't invite any outsiders, we'll just chat, eat fruit, and drink Coke here!"
At almost the same time, Iverson hung up the phone, his face full of anger as he looked at Garnett sitting next to him and said, "Those bastards actually went to celebrate! And not to celebrate their first win."
"According to my friend, they're celebrating their victory! Celebrating their victory ahead of schedule! FUXX! These bastards! And you know Kevin? Even that bastard Christie went! They're really carried away, thinking they've got it in the bag!"
"Then let them know they're not stable at all!" Garnett's face was equally cold. This feeling of being looked down upon and completely underestimated was terrible!
Next match, counterattack! We must counterattack!
Let the Indians know who the real king is!
.........
Two days later, the second game of the series took place.
"How were the nightclubs in Minnesota?" Before the game started, Iverson even had a hint of resentment on his face as he looked at Lin Tian. "I heard you guys had a great time all night?"
"An unforgettable night!" Lin Tian said with a smile. "Let me put it this way, I never thought I could have so much fun in a club! It was so much fun, Alan, I'll take you next time."
"What do you say to each other after we win the championship?"
"You'll pay for your arrogance and hubris!" Iverson glared at Lin Tian and said viciously, "You underestimated us, and we'll make you pay!"
"I underestimated you guys in the last match too. Didn't you notice I wasn't even playing properly?" Lin Tian shrugged, casually saying, "What price did you make me pay? Did you excitedly buy out the entire nightclub's worth of drinks after the match?"
"You definitely contributed to Minnesota's GDP! We spent tens of thousands of dollars that night!"
"You'll pay for this, Lin! You'll regret this! FUXX!" Iverson cursed as he walked away. Watching his retreating figure, Lin Tian pulled the rest of the Pacers' starters to his side.
"Tonight, we won't give them any chance, not even a glimmer of hope. From the very beginning, we'll completely dominate the game and utterly crush them!"
"Whether it's offense or defense, we'll give it our all! We'll give it our all! In the first quarter, I want a lead of at least 15 points! How about that, confident?"
"have!"
Artest and the others raised their hands and shouted together; they were feeling incredibly frustrated and annoyed.
A bunch of grown men spent the whole night eating pizza and popcorn, howling and shouting all night long.
It was so unsatisfying, so stifling, so utterly unsatisfying.
I'm taking out all this frustration on those damn Minnesos tonight!
It's all your fault! It's all your fault!
I'll beat you to death to vent my anger!
The players were angry because they didn't have fun, and they wanted to vent their anger, or rather, the anger transformed from lust, on the Timberwolves, thus unleashing tremendous fighting power. This was an unexpected gain for Lin Tian. He really didn't expect that this kind of pure, abstinent game, without drinking or looking for girls, could make the team more united than ever before.
It seems we should organize more of these kinds of events in the future!
Lin Tian's real goal that night was, of course, to make Iverson, Garnett, and even the entire Timberwolves team think that the Pacers had underestimated their opponents and that they had been drinking too much and getting too excited.
Then the Timberwolves will think they might have a chance to beat the Pacers!
In the end, they fought with all their might, completely exhausted themselves, and lost the game, and the entire series!
It's worth mentioning that Christie's face is now beaming with a happy smile.
Because his wife talked to him on the phone almost the entire night, after learning that this group of people were actually eating pizza and singing in a nightclub, Jackie casually said: You can attend this kind of gathering once a month from now on!
Christie was overjoyed by this benefit.
Of course, only he is happy. As for the others, they would never participate in such a game again, no matter what!
It can only be said that human preferences are not the same.
Soon, the starting players from both sides took to the field again. It was the same ten players, with no changes. In fact, neither coach had much room for change either. They only had so many options left.
"Beep beep!"
The referee blew his whistle, and the second game of the finals began!
Miller easily secured possession of the ball on the first possession, giving the Pacers an offensive opportunity.
After receiving the ball, Lin Tian accelerated and charged forward, breaking through the Timberwolves' defense in the blink of an eye and heading straight for the Timberwolves' basket.
In the last game, when Lin Tian drove to this point, Garnett was able to get back on defense and stand under the basket to contest the shot. But today, Garnett is still near the free-throw line.
Even if he risked his life, he could never catch up with Lin Tian!
Even when Garnett was just trying to speed up his return to defense, he immediately felt waves of fatigue, and his legs felt as heavy as if they were filled with lead.
too tired!
In the very first round, Garnett felt a growing sense of powerlessness.
The same feeling was also present among other Timberwolves players.
The Timberwolves could only watch helplessly as Lin Tian drove to the basket and slammed it home.
2: 0!
Then, when the Timberwolves attacked, Lin Tian immediately started guarding Iverson closely from the backcourt, while Christie stayed with Cassell. The remaining Pacers players returned to their respective halves of the court to prepare for half-court defense.
The Timberwolves' two backcourt players were tightly marked by the Pacers' two best defenders, which caused huge problems for their offense and playmaking. Although they didn't make any direct mistakes in the early stages, the attitude shown by the Pacers really startled the Timberwolves.
The Timberwolves, who originally wanted to show their strength from the start and gain the upper hand, were caught off guard by the Pacers' high-intensity defense!
Although Iverson managed to dribble the ball up the court and quickly called Garnett for a screen, he still managed to get the ball to the frontcourt.
But this time Haslem's help defense came incredibly fast. He was much faster than in the last game. In short, before Iverson could even assess the situation, Haslem had him glued to his skin.
If it were a normal Iverson, he would have easily shaken off Haslem's defense at this point. But tonight, Iverson, like Garnett, also felt fatigue in the early stages of the game. He tried to change direction and dribble away from Haslem, but he stumbled and almost fell down.
Even though Iverson reacted quickly, catching the basketball before anyone else and without making a mistake, he didn't even have time to catch his breath before Lin Tian arrived!
"Snapped!"
Lin Tian spotted the ball Iverson was holding, reached out and slapped it, sending the basketball flying out of Iverson's grasp.
After getting the basketball, Lin Tian didn't even need to think twice before dribbling and sprinting!
This time, because the starting position was relatively close to the inside, by the time Lin Tian reached the frontcourt, three Timberwolves players had already returned to defense.
However, Lin Tian only glanced at the three guys and then ignored them, jumping up and shooting from beyond the three-point line!
A three-pointer in pursuit!
"Whoosh!"
Then, after another crisp sound, Lin Tian quickly turned around again, found Iverson, and pressed against him.
"At least 10-0!" Lin Tian shouted. "I'm going to start with a 10-0 run! Get your spirits up! All-out defense! I'm going to make sure those Minnesota bastards can't even see the basket!"
"Dry them to death!"
"Awooooo!"
"Ron, shut the hell up! What are you yelling about?!"
Lin Tian rolled his eyes. This Artest is fine when he's not playing against the Timberwolves, but why does he always howl like a mole when he plays against them?
If you're going to yell like that against the Timberwolves, then why didn't you do any piston-like movements when you played against the Pistons?
"But I'm a 'beast'!" Artest continued, sounding aggrieved.
"You're a domestic fowl!"
"You're just poultry in front of me, but to others I'm... Run! Lin, run!"
Artest was speaking when his long arm suddenly shot out and slapped the ball that Iverson was trying to pass to Nesterovic, making a direct interception in mid-air. Then he flicked the ball forward, assisting Lin Tian to complete another fast break!
"boom!"
After that dunk, the Pacers had already taken a 7-0 lead over the Timberwolves!
The Timberwolves haven't even managed a single shot yet!
"10-0 might be a bit conservative. I think 15-0 would better reflect our momentum tonight!" After scoring, Lin Tian and Artest high-fived, and then they went back to full-force defense.
This time, the Timberwolves finally showed some improvement on offense. Garnett held the ball at the high post and faced Lin Tian with his back to the basket. Then, as expected, he didn't back down the ball again, but instead made a high post jump shot!
"Bang!"
With the sound of a shot hitting the brick, the Timberwolves finally made their first shot of the night!
After Miller grabbed the rebound, the Pacers didn't rush into a fast break this time. Instead, led by Lin Tian, the whole team slowly made their way to the frontcourt.
Lin Tian, standing at the top of the arc, raised one hand and called out the tactics. The players ran continuously according to the tactics. Then, Lin Tian suddenly made a one-handed no-look pass. He was still outside the three-point line, but the basketball directly pierced through the entire Timberwolves' defense and cut into their heart of the game!
Artest caught the ball passed to him by Lin Tian, jumped up from the spot, and slammed the ball into the basket with both hands!
9: 0!
Less than three minutes into the game, the Timberwolves were completely overwhelmed by the Pacers!
Fortunately, the Timberwolves have some truly top-tier stars!
At this moment, Iverson stepped up once again. He successfully broke through Lin Tian, then drove to the basket and forced a layup against the double team of Miller and Lin Tian, sending the ball into the basket with a high backboard shot!
9: 2!
The Timberwolves scored!
"What number did you say you were going to beat us 0-0? Did you do it? Huh? Tell me louder, did you do it?" After scoring, Iverson immediately found Lin Tian and started trash-talking him.
"I! Did! Not! Do! It!" Lin Tian put his hands to his mouth in a very cheeky manner and shouted at Iverson, "But if my team gets down 9-0 at the start, I won't start yelling after scoring a goal."
"We scored four times as many points as you! What gives you the nerve to argue with me?"
"FUXX!" Iverson realized that, apart from directly attacking Lin Tian with the simplest swear words, there really wasn't any other good way to deal with him.
That bastard is so annoying.
Unfortunately, while Lin Tian was "indebted," he was also incredibly strong.
Especially when he was determined to give the Timberwolves a shock and wanted to completely crush them in the early stages of the season, he was unstoppable!
On offense, Lin Tian repeatedly charged into the paint, penetrating the Timberwolves' territory to attack and assault them. When the Timberwolves players became intimidated by his onslaught and started retreating to the basket, he began to showcase his excellent touch and terrifying shooting range.
He kept taking mid-range and long-range shots, and they all went in!
Lin Tian in the first quarter was simply unstoppable!
If their offense is unstoppable, that's fine; the Timberwolves can fight back with their offense like they did in the last game.
The problem is, the Pacers' defense tonight was on a completely different level compared to the last game!
After the first quarter of the game, the Timberwolves players were alarmed to discover a problem.
That was in the last game; it seemed like the Pacers weren't even playing at full strength!
Because their defensive competitiveness, aggressiveness, and level of physical confrontation have all been raised by at least one level!
The open spaces that were available in the last game are nowhere to be found in this game.
The space that could have been gained with a single physical confrontation in the last game is gone.
The Timberwolves felt that the Pacers' players had improved to a whole new level!
That's not true.
If we had to pinpoint the difference between the two Pacers games, it would be Lin Tian.
Although Lin Tian's stats were explosive in the last game, he didn't put in much effort on the defensive end, and he deliberately let many balls pass.
More importantly, the Pacers' defense relies heavily on Lin Tian's command, encouragement, and reminders. In the last game, Lin Tian hardly directed his teammates on defense, but today, he did so from the very beginning!
In addition, Lin Tian and Christie spared no effort throughout the first quarter, using full-court press defense to pressure and chase down the Timberwolves' Iverson and Cassell.
Under the pressure of the two players, the Timberwolves' offense came to a complete standstill, making it difficult to organize a proper attack. In addition, the whole team didn't run much or have much energy to run, so the Timberwolves' offense was really struggling.
Finally, and more importantly, it's not that the Pacers have gotten stronger, but that the Timberwolves' stamina has truly run out.
They were more tired, slower, and less responsive than in the last game.
They were almost completely helpless!
After the first quarter, the Pacers were already leading by 16 points! Lin Tian's bold statement at the start of the game had come true!
Lin Tian himself put up an incredible all-around performance in the first quarter, scoring 24 points, 5 rebounds, and 4 assists!
Iverson, who was matched up against Lin Tian, had a nightmare in the first quarter of the game tonight. He only made 2 of 10 shots and scored only 5 points while also committing 2 turnovers!
It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that this first quarter was the worst quarter of Iverson's career!
Then, at the start of the second quarter, even though the team was already down by 16 points, Sanders, who had long seen that his players were exhausted and needed rest, substituted all four of his key players, leaving only Szczerbiak to lead the team on the court.
This time, no Timberwolves player questioned Sanders, and no one said anything like "I can still play" or "I'm going to go up and beat the Pacers."
They are really tired!
Originally, Sanders was hoping that the Pacers could take advantage of the Timberwolves' bench players to crush them, giving him a legitimate reason to let his starters rest a bit more.
Even if the price of their return is two consecutive home losses, at least if the players can get one more game of rest, the team will still have hope if they go to Indiana.
But if this situation continues tonight, forcing the players to fight tooth and nail on the field for a victory that is virtually impossible to win, completely exhausting themselves, then the team is truly beyond saving and has no hope.
But at that very moment, Carlisle on the other side seemed to know what Sanders was thinking, and in the second quarter, he also fielded a lineup that was almost entirely made up of substitutes!
With only Artest as a starter, plus Parker and Howard, Tabak and Bonner, they formed a lineup that looked very weak on the court!
The ten people from both sides present were evenly matched, a clash of equals, and a battle of wits.
Everyone was terrible, their skill level was so low, so naturally no one could pull away from the score!
Even halfway through the second quarter, the Timberwolves managed to close the gap to 14 points, reducing the deficit to 2 points!
Carlisle was the first key player to be substituted in this time!
He was dissatisfied with the team's performance during this period and took the lead in criticizing Lin Tian and others.
But at this moment, Sanders held back!
He ignored Iverson and Garnett's strong desire and demands to play, and firmly rejected their idea of playing.
Not only did he not put those two on the field, he also replaced Szczerbiak!
Since we're going to rest, let's all rest together!
Sanders' decision this time was unwavering and left no room for doubt from any Timberwolves player; he resolutely executed his game plan.
Actually, Sanders has already realized what happened.
In the last match, I was most likely tricked by the opponent.
They didn't have any kind of situation where they were too tired to rest.
They didn't even reach the required intensity!
The opposing team deliberately lowered the intensity of the game so that their key players could play on the court as much as possible!
This is to further deplete and exhaust the players' physical strength.
Dirty!
It's so damn dirty!
Sanders looked at Carlisle across from him, and in his heart he wished he could beat that shady and dirty guy Carlisle to a pulp to vent his anger!
The reason he was angry was that Sanders knew very well that he had reacted too slowly. If he had figured out the Pacers' purpose in the last game, he would have rested the starters, and the outcome tonight would definitely not have been so one-sided!
The Timberwolves definitely have a chance to win tonight!
Sanders also believes that if it were a fair fight, his side would have a winning percentage of over 70%!
Unfortunately, he had no chance to regret it. He could only accept the hellish start of two consecutive away losses and then try to get back at Indiana!
Throughout the remainder of the second quarter, Sanders did not field any of his starters, refusing to let Iverson and others play despite their repeated requests.
This time, he finally stood up and became decisive!
Let this one go!
If the reserves on both sides could put up a fight, then when the Pacers' starters were beating the Timberwolves' reserves, it was a complete beating. They were pinned to the ground and beaten, then hung up and whipped, then candles were lit on them and dripped on them, and then...
cough cough.
We can't fight anymore; if we continue, it will be against the rules.
In short, I was brutally beaten!
In less than half a quarter, the Timberwolves' bench was down by 13 points, and by the end of the first half, they were already trailing the Pacers by 27 points!
The suspense of the match was essentially over and disappeared.
During halftime, Sanders snorted and walked into the players' tunnel without looking back.
Before he even entered the player tunnel, Garnett, Iverson, and the other guys he'd kept on the bench for the entire quarter had already gone into the tunnel before him, and they were extremely annoyed!
They couldn't understand Sanders' decision!
Sanders is well aware that, at least for now, he has lost the players' trust. He decided to have a serious talk with them during halftime and explain the situation clearly, otherwise the team might face a crisis of confidence.
Sanders absolutely will not allow this to happen.
He must regain control of the team.
Fortunately, although the guys on the team were all arrogant, they weren't cunning or scheming.
Sanders believed that the 15 minutes at halftime were enough for him to explain things to the players. (End of Chapter)