Chapter 331 Dāng, Dāng, Dāng!

Uh...

To be fair, Su Feng's subsequent performance really exceeded D'Antoni's imagination.

However, recalling the mysterious confidence on Rivers' face when he spoke to him just now, D'Antoni felt that there was something wrong with this guy.

Oh, you big liar, Doug, did you really watch Jordan's peak games live?

At this moment, noticing D'Antoni's unfriendly gaze, Rivers wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and said to D'Antoni with a guilty conscience:

"Actually, Michael Jordan often missed shots during his peak."

D'Antoni: "..."

Seriously...

Doug, you can twist it back like that?

At the Air Canada Centre, under the tenacious counterattack of the Philadelphia gangsters, the Raptors were instead 3 points behind them at the end of the first half.

The halftime score for the two teams was 54 to 57.

In the middle and late stages of the second quarter, Su Feng's touch declined somewhat. He made 9 of 19 shots in the first half, scoring a total of 24 points including three-pointers and free throws.

On the Philadelphia side, Iverson made 8 of 18 shots, scoring 22 points with three-pointers and free throws.

The young Yao Ming became a key figure in the Philadelphia gangsters' counterattack against the Raptors in this Iron King battle.

In the second quarter, after returning to the court, Yao Ming scored 8 points and 5 rebounds in a single quarter.

It is worth mentioning that during the halftime break, Barkley, recalling his bet with Smith, now felt like an idiot.

Logically speaking, if it weren't for the fact that players like Yao Ming tend to have relatively stable scoring...

In Barkley's view, he would have probably lost his bet with Smith long ago.

And on TNT, Smith, who had just streaked back from Washington not long ago, did not forget to remind Barkley remotely before the start of the second half:

"Charles, don't forget, your bet with me is for the entire 00/01 season!"

Although kissing Barkley's butt wasn't a big deal for Smith, who had already experienced streaking...

However, Smith would still be happy to see Barkley suffer.

On the court, after the halftime break, the game continued.

At the start of the third quarter, the Raptors shifted their main offensive focus to Nash.

With O'Neal Jr. and Carter out, Nash naturally had to take on some offensive pressure for Su Feng in the game.

As a result, this season, after this newly crowned assist king unlocked his offensive seal, Raptors fans finally discovered...

That when it comes to scoring, this Nash is not afraid of any point guard.

On the Philadelphia side, Yao Ming, who was repeatedly teased by Nash in the third quarter, began to doubt his life a little.

Because he really couldn't understand how Nash dodged him and threw that damn ball at the backboard.

In Su Feng's previous life, in Yao Ming and Nash's career head-to-head record, although the Suns relied more on lineup matchups at the time, in the actual game, Nash's low-hand layup had troubled Yao Ming more than once.

In fact, Yao Ming also said after retiring that in the NBA, he actually preferred to face those black and hard players rather than those technical players with unique skills.

Because most of the frontal hard charges of those black and hard players would be directly blocked by Yao Ming.

In addition, a most direct example in the future is that after Nash joined the Warriors' think tank, Stephen Curry's field goal percentage near the basket has never been lower than 64%.

In contrast, Francis and Westbrook, who look much fiercer than Nash, have career field goal percentages near the basket of only 56.2% and 59.3%.

Of course, some people like to use the fact that Francis and Westbrook have more charges to the basket than Nash and Curry to explain this.

However, as a small player, knowing that charging up will lead to death but still charging up non-stop...

What's the difference between this behavior and Iverson's?

Pa——!

Pa——!

In the third quarter, after shifting his main focus back to the defensive end, as Iverson's stamina declined, Su Feng also sent him two blocks in a row.

Watching the increasingly intense atmosphere between the "Ai Feng" duo on the court, many Ai Feng fans felt their hearts were breaking.

Because in their words:

The man who has always been protecting Iverson by Iverson's side...

Isn't that Su Feng?

But...

Why!

Why did it become like this?

Clang——!

At the Air Canada Centre, soon, Su Feng personally shattered the obsession of these CP fans. (CP = couple pairing)

After coordinating with Nash to score a tomahawk dunk, Su Feng, upon landing, pounded his chest and shouted at Iverson and Yao Ming:

"Listen up, this is my territory!"

What a joke.

The playoffs are a battlefield of life and death.

Su Feng would not show mercy on this stage.

In Su Feng's view, if Yao Ming and Iverson only had this much determination to defeat him...

Then defeat him?

Maybe in another five hundred years!

In the third quarter, relying on Nash and Su Feng's outstanding performance on both offense and defense, the Raptors extended their lead to 11 points before the start of the final quarter.

At the end of the third quarter, the score between the two teams was 74 to 85.

NBA convention, the away team is first, the home team is last.

In the final quarter, Su Feng still did not rest.

On the Philadelphia side, Carlisle also sent Yao Ming and Iverson on at the beginning of the fourth quarter.

As a result...

Looking at Su Feng, who seemed to be blessed by the gods on the court, Rivers, who had been "wronged" by D'Antoni before, felt extremely aggrieved.

Mike, did you see that?

I, Doug Rivers, really didn't lie!

Uh...

Standing next to Rivers, D'Antoni, of course, could see Su Feng's performance on the court.

But in Old De's view...

This is just Su Feng performing normally...

You say Su Feng has been bricking shots for almost two quarters, if he continues to brick shots in the final quarter, then wouldn't it be Stackhouse wearing Su Feng's jersey on the court tonight?

In Su Feng's previous life, in his entanglement with Kobe, Christie relied more on attrition warfare to torment Kobe's patience.

However, facing Su Feng...

Christie, on the other hand, became the object of Su Feng's torment.

Although in this game, Christie and Snow had made relatively successful defenses against Su Feng, what they had done was far from enough to defeat the experienced Raptors.

On the other side, because the young Yao Ming's ability to attack tough situations was not stable enough, Big Ben also defended him many times in the final quarter.

As the king of getting beaten in this league, second only to Su Feng, Big Ben's greatest advantage is that he will not give up defending because of previous defensive failures.

Of course, the reason for Su Feng's outstanding performance in the final quarter was also related to Nash's complete opening up.

Throughout the second half of the game, in addition to repeatedly scoring for the Raptors through breakthroughs and layups, Nash also made five of five shots from beyond the arc, opening up a second battlefield for Su Feng.

In the end, amidst Iverson's firework-like bricking sounds, the Raptors happily secured the opening victory of the division semi-final G1.

Su Feng, who made 17 of 35 shots, including 2 of 6 three-pointers and 8 of 9 free throws, scored a game-high 44 points, along with 9 rebounds, 2 assists, 3 steals, and 3 blocks (all of them on Iverson).

Nash scored 28 points and 9 assists.

On this night, Big Ben, who dreamed of returning to the "Rejection Head" era, grabbed 20 rebounds.

On the Philadelphia gangster's side, Iverson, who made 13 of 36 shots, scored 37 points, 4 assists, and 3 rebounds, including free throws and three-pointers.

Yao Ming made 7 of 12 shots, scoring 18 points, 10 rebounds, and 2 blocks, including free throws.

After the game...

Looking at Su Feng, who had led the team all the way this year, Barkley felt that he had been completely conquered by this younger player who was 15 years his junior.

Because this game...

Su Feng's consumption was considerable.

On the offensive end, he was the team's only reliance at critical moments.

On the defensive end, he proved his DPOY (Defensive Player of the Year) title with his strength.

Even though he was repeatedly embarrassed by Iverson in the game, the end result was that Iverson bricked 23 shots in front of Su Feng.

"Does it hurt?" On the Raptors' bench, looking at Su Feng, who was using ice to compress his ankle, Barkley took the initiative to ask.

Does it hurt?

To be fair.

Don't look at how arrogant Su Feng was when he told Yao Ming and Iverson that this was his territory...

But at that time, Su Feng's heart was clearly panicking, okay?

Ptooey!

How could Su Feng panic?

Anyway, if you were to ask what state Su Feng was in after this G1 battle...

Then it was roughly the state of Jordan and Pippen, who almost had their legs run off and ankles twisted by Iverson.

Even an iron man like Su Feng couldn't withstand such consumption.

Therefore, after this G1 battle, unlike the Raptors fans who were immersed in joy, Su Feng knew that he had to adjust the plan for this semi-final in a timely manner.

Because...

If they couldn't solve this Philadelphia gangster in 6 games...

No!

If they couldn't solve this Philadelphia gangster in 5 games...

Then when they reached the Eastern Conference Finals...

The Raptors would become the lamb to be slaughtered in the hands of the Celtics.

……

On the 7th and 8th, taking advantage of the rest days, Su Feng specifically asked the assistant coach for the game tapes of this year's Philadelphia gangster.

Although watching more replays of Iverson's routes wouldn't save his poor ankle...

However, through specific analysis, Su Feng could further optimize the area in which he chose to limit Iverson in the game.

You know, compared to when he was teammates with him back then, the current Iverson has changed a lot.

"It seems that the two-pointers should still be given up."

After watching the games with the highest critical hit rate for Iverson this year, Su Feng found that this "Answer" had indeed returned to the old path of the 96/97 season.

As early as the 96/97 season, Su Feng had encouraged Iverson at the time to increase the number of three-point attempts in the game.

And this season, don't look at Iverson's three-point shooting percentage of only 34%, but compared to his high-position pull-up jumper with a shooting percentage of only 40%, after optimizing the shooting structure, Iverson's true shooting percentage this season is a full 8 percentage points higher than Su Feng remembered.

In addition, in the games where Iverson scored more than 40 points this year, he averaged more than 5 three-pointers per game.

Therefore...

Once Iverson gets into a rhythm in the game, in Su Feng's view, it's much more terrifying than letting him break through.

In the G1 battle between the two teams, through selective defense and positioning, Su Feng's success was that he forced most of Iverson's shots to choose low-efficiency mid-range jumpers.

And now, Su Feng intends to go a step further.

That is, he plans to try to prevent Yao Ming from playing a perfect pick-and-roll with Iverson in the upcoming games.

In this way, even if the Raptors still can't stop Iverson from scoring, his efficiency will definitely decrease further, and the possibility of him hitting high critical hits in the game will also decrease further.

However...

As a problem that has plagued countless teams this year...

Can Yao Ming and Iverson's pick-and-roll really be cracked by Su Feng?

Evening of May 9th.

The G2 battle of the Eastern Conference semi-finals between the Raptors and the Philadelphia gangsters continued at the Air Canada Centre.

In G2, both sides used the same starting lineups as before.

On the court, after the tip-off, the Philadelphia gangsters attacked first.

At this time, across the screen, fans in front of the TV could feel the killing intent from Iverson.

In fact, for Iverson himself...

He doesn't really care about those comments that say Su Feng is stronger than him.

However...

He cares a lot about those comments that say his desire to win in G1 was not as strong as Su Feng's.

Because in his view, such comments are desecrating the friendship between him and Su Feng.

At the same time, it is also a disrespect to the Philadelphia players who gave their all in G1.

Therefore, looking at the figure on the court who no longer wears a headband, what Iverson wants to do most at this time is to tell the world...

In this series, he wants to win more than anyone!

On the court, with Yao Ming's screen, Iverson has stepped on the accelerator to the bottom.

However...

Just as he was about to speed up, Big Ben interfered with his breakthrough from the side.

And only a few tenths of a second later, Su Feng once again stood in front of him!

Unsolvable pick-and-roll?

Doesn't exist.

The young Yao Ming has a large model, but his tonnage is not enough.

To put it bluntly, his pick-and-roll is not solid enough compared to a few years later.

And no matter how fast Iverson is, he will have a gap period before speeding up.

Therefore, as long as Su Feng and Big Ben can find their tacit understanding when rubbing each other's backs...

Then the strongest pick-and-roll defense combination in NBA history between the two of them...

Is the biggest nemesis of the "Oh Yo" combination!

Watch carefully, Rick Carlisle.

In my dictionary, there is no such word as impossible!

On the court, Su Feng, who successfully forced Iverson into a dead end, forcibly intercepted the ball from Iverson's hands.

And then...

At the Air Canada Centre, along with Su Feng's leap...

Nearly 20,000 Raptors fans were immersed in a sea of joy!

And at that moment...

Looking at Su Feng, who was raising his hands high and enjoying the cheers from the crowd...

The young Yao Ming finally understood...

Why, no matter how well he plays, Philadelphia fans will only miss Su Feng more.

Because...

That young underdog back then has long been immortal.

……

ps: Second update, 4000-word short eggplant chapter delivered! Because it felt just right to end with the last sentence, I stopped writing.

ps2: I have been updating 10,000 words for n days in a row! It's not too much to ask for a recommendation vote, right, handsome readers?