Chapter 21

On the 21st, in Toronto, the Raptors returned to their home court to face the Knicks.

With Ewing healthy, this Knicks team still didn't pose much of a threat to the Raptors.

Ever since being dunked on in turns by Su, Carter, and McGrady in the opening game, Ewing's standing in the league had plummeted.

Adding to the rhythm set by the New York media, Ewing not only couldn't hold onto his title as the "Fifth Center," but many people firmly believed that he was the culprit behind the NBA lockout...

...the reason everyone couldn't see this Raptors team play a full season.

Although social media wasn't developed in the '90s, facing the violence of public opinion, Ewing, who originally felt he had seen through the world, had no choice but to pick up his butcher knife again...

...and slice it across his own neck.

Not long ago, in an interview, Ewing, who had been feeling the pressure, said that the lockout had nothing to do with him. He was just helping everyone fight for their interests at the time.

Well...

After Ewing's statement, even some New York fans who still supported him turned against him.

Because fans could understand Ewing fighting with capitalists for his own benefit.

However, the fans couldn't accept Ewing shamelessly saying that he was doing it for everyone after taking the biggest piece of the pie.

So, in a daze, Ewing felt like he must have raped the goddess of fate in his past life.

Because now, as soon as he opened his mouth, fans and reporters thought he was anxious.

But he couldn't not speak, because if he didn't, fans and reporters would think he was withdrawn.

In short, Ewing found that everything he did was wrong, and even breathing fresh air would be considered polluting the environment.

What made Ewing even more uncomfortable was that, this season, as Sprewell gradually stole Jeff Van Gundy's love, the fickle Van Gundy also began to not protect him so blindly.

Even worse than Su Feng's previous life, this season, Ewing was only averaging 15.4 points and 9.4 rebounds per game, with a shooting percentage of only 41.5%.

Ewing, who would be 37 years old this August, was no longer in his prime, which was an objective fact behind the "Great Ape's" declining stats.

However, Ewing, who believed he could still play, thought that Jeff Van Gundy's "anxious" offensive tactics had caused him to become an outsider on this Knicks team.

However, facing the unreasonable demands of his "ex-wife," the straight-laced Jeff Van Gundy showed his "cold-blooded and ruthless" side this time.

Because in Jeff Van Gundy's eyes, Sprewell was not only serious about training, but also well-behaved and sensible, and didn't always complain.

As a result, even though Jeff Van Gundy made an accurate judgment this time, because of his problematic way of speaking...

Ewing completely broke down.

In the devilish month of March, the Great Ape only averaged 11 points and 7 rebounds, with all his main stats far below the season average.

In order to save his precarious career, and also to prove himself, Ewing regarded this game against the Raptors as a lifeline.

Although not very intelligent, Ewing still knew the principle of getting up where you fall.

It's just that...

It would have been better if Ewing hadn't tried so hard.

Because as the season progressed, this Knicks team had gradually shown their "black eight potential."

Don't be surprised, Jeff Van Gundy in the 98/99 season, his brain was definitely the only time it worked in his entire life, and before he became a commentator.

Under the stimulation of Davis next door, Jeff Van Gundy, who had been devoted to studying the Raptors, although he didn't quite understand why the Raptors were so awesome, after carefully observing and learning for a period of time, Jeff Van Gundy quietly discovered:

Hey!

Isn't our lineup quite similar to the Raptors?

Look, if you remove Ewing...

Aren't Allan Houston, Latrell Sprewell, and Larry Johnson also three top swingmen?

As the saying goes, authors copying chapter reviews can't be called plagiarism, and coaches copying tactics are just learning, so the clever Jeff Van Gundy began to make the Knicks learn from the Raptors in a decent manner.

And you know what...

Even if it was just a resemblance, because of the Knicks' strong lineup, after they took the initiative to speed up, there weren't many teams in this league that could stop them.

However...

Now the problem has come.

Originally, Jeff Van Gundy was supposed to figure things out after Ewing was injured.

But now, Ewing is still there, and Jeff Van Gundy figuring things out has highlighted the conflict between the Knicks' coach and general?

And with ESPN constantly popularizing various little-known facts to New York fans...

The New Yorkers had already begun to think that Ewing was a cancer.

Plus, in tonight's game, Ewing himself raised a knife and continued to confirm that he was the scourge that was hindering the Knicks' progress...

So, for a time, as ridicule and mockery came from all directions, the "Great Ape," who was once famous in the NBA, fell down "weakly."

In the third quarter of the game between the Raptors and the Knicks, Ewing, who was 2 of 7 from the field and only had 6 points and 4 rebounds including free throws, after forcibly breaking through Ben Wallace's defense, didn't have the extra strength to jump and was met with a sky-covering block from Su Feng, the director of the Toronto Aerospace Control Bureau.

And because he exerted too much force during the breakthrough, Ewing, while having his basketball dream swatted away by Su Feng, also lost his balance and knocked over a camera on the sidelines.

At the Air Canada Centre, the Raptors fans at the scene watched the replay and mourned for Ewing for three minutes in their hearts.

As everyone knows, generally speaking, if an athlete screams in pain when injured, it is likely that the injury is not as serious as it looks.

But if an athlete can't even scream when injured, then things are serious.

Because, the pain of not being able to even shout out, only those who have experienced it firsthand can understand.

Ewing, who was about to turn 37, already had badly damaged knees.

Therefore, Ewing couldn't speak not because the camera hit his eyebrow.

"Patrick doesn't seem to be able to continue the game, my God, his calf was almost bent!" Smith said worriedly on TNT.

There was no way around it, Ewing could only blame himself for this kind of injury caused by losing his balance and falling.

Perhaps, God couldn't bear to see Ewing's recent encounters, so he chose to save his last bit of face in this way?

At the Air Canada Centre, when Ewing was carried back to the locker room on a stretcher, the Raptors fans at the scene didn't kick him while he was down.

After all, they had no grudges against Ewing, and they still wanted to see Su, Carter, and McGrady dunk on Ewing again...

Amidst the applause and blessings of the fans at the scene, Ewing left the court in dismay.

No one knew if the Great Ape could return to the court after this injury.

But at least, compared to the recent bad luck, Ewing raised the corners of his mouth before losing consciousness, hearing the applause from the scene.

Then, tears streamed uncontrollably from the eyes of this giant.

That's right, Ewing's IQ was worrying, and his fate was tragic.

But you can't deny that he also had a champion's heart, even though he was repeatedly used as a background in the NBA.

Throughout history, success or failure determines the hero.

In the 90s, Ewing wasn't the only one who received a 20 million dollar contract in the NBA.

However, unlike the successful Jordan, in competitive sports, being bad is the original sin.

On the court, watching Ewing being carried off the court, at this moment, Su Feng was even more determined to win many, many championships in the future.

Oh, that's not right.

The future is too far away.

It's better to seize the present!

The reason why Su Feng didn't refuse Jordan's addition was because no one knew better than him how tragic it would be for a superstar in the NBA to not win a championship.

After the wheels of history began to run wild in this life, even Su Feng couldn't guarantee what would happen in the future.

Therefore, in this shortened season, seizing the championship one step ahead of Duncan, O'Neal, Kobe, and others was completely different.

At the beginning of the century, wasn't Iverson, who fought against Shaq and Kobe in Los Angeles, highly regarded?

But in the future, who knows how many people would criticize Iverson for being a ball hog and a scoring champion who relied on taking shots.

There are 29 teams in the NBA, but there is only one champion each season, and if you're not playing basketball for the championship, then the basketball game can't just be a game, right?

It is worth mentioning that, just as Su Feng was feeling emotional, Jordan was also feeling emotional, thinking how lucky he was to have been kicked to Toronto by Chicago.

It was the same feeling he had when playing against the Lakers.

The more miserable the later years of the old rivals who competed for the championship together, the more Jordan felt that he was really old.

Championship.

He couldn't wait any longer.

It had to be this season.

After getting it, he would retire successfully. At that time, who would care about the flood after me?

……

In the end, in the game against the Knicks, the Raptors easily won 96 to 112.

After the game, Jeff Van Gundy frowned, because even without an MRI, the team doctor had already confirmed that Ewing would miss the rest of the Knicks' season.

Just...

Jeff Van Gundy probably wouldn't believe it if he said it.

In Su Feng's opinion, with Ewing out for the season, the Raptors had to prepare for a tough battle in the first round of the playoffs.

Because if the Knicks still advanced as the eighth seed in the East in this life, then without Ewing, they would be a completely different team.

So, similar to the "Old Rogue's" expectation that the 76ers would climb up the standings...

Su Feng was also hoping that the Knicks without Ewing could reach the seventh seed in the East and create some trouble for Duncan.

As the saying goes, better a dead Daoist than a poor one. In Su Feng's opinion, Little Duncan clearly needed more experience than himself.

On the 22nd, after defeating the Knicks, the Raptors flew to New Jersey overnight to prepare for a back-to-back game against the Nets on the road.

To be honest, the progress of Su Feng's [Legacy of God] mission had slowed down recently, which was not only due to the gradual recovery of Jordan's strength, but also to the tight schedule of the new season.

After all, Su Feng could keep playing, but Jordan still needed to rest.

Although Su Feng could now share nutrient solutions with the "Old Rogue," because of the setting that nutrient solutions could not be used on game days, its effect was far less than in the regular season in the shortened season.

Moreover, in terms of restoring physical strength, nutrient solutions were not as effective for veterans like Jordan as they were for young people like Su Feng.

In simple terms, if the stamina bar of young players like Su, Carter, and McGrady was 99, then Jordan's stamina bar was only about 85 when full, so it was no use replenishing too much.

In New Jersey, the Raptors were dragged into a tough battle in their back-to-back game against the Nets.

In the new season, Brown's disciple Calipari ultimately did not get to enjoy the "Van Horn + Cassell + Thomas + Pierce" lineup.

Similar to Su Feng's memory, the Nets' management gradually lost faith in Calipari.

Therefore, regarding who was stronger between the two, there may still be controversy, but in terms of leading the team, there was absolutely no need to say that McGrady's ability to lead the team was inferior to Pierce.

In this game against the Nets, after Su and Jordan turned Pierce into an outsider, the real reason the Raptors were dragged into a tough battle was Van Horn.

Although he had personality problems, once a player like Van Horn got hot, it would be difficult to limit his performance even if the Raptors' defensive rotations were in place.

Of course, the most exciting part of this game was still in the third quarter.

Because after Carter landed from a dunk, McGrady angrily watched Carter and Pierce engage in a live trash-talking match.

"Tell me, Vince, besides hiding behind Michael and Su to dunk, what else can you do?" Pierce said to Carter.

"At least, I'm stronger than you," Carter retorted.

"I averaged 20+ in my rookie season, what about you?" Pierce said.

“……”

He didn’t know why, but Jordan, who was watching the show from the side at the time, always felt that there was a big problem with the atmosphere of the league now.

Because Jordan found that the young people now were more eloquent than the last.

In the NBA, trash talk was also an old tradition left by the predecessors.

However, how could Pierce make Carter surrender with just a few words?

Feeling ignored, McGrady had no intention of holding back his cousin tonight.

So, in the fourth quarter, after scoring on Pierce in a one-on-one situation, Carter directly said to him: "Is that all you got from averaging 20+ while looking like a grey mess? You’re really amazing."

Even the hard-mouthed Pierce couldn't answer for a moment.

Just like in "Tom and Jerry," you can't offend both Tom and Jerry at the same time.

Look at how smart Kobe was?

Although the Lakers lost to the Raptors not long ago, in the post-match media reviews, people didn't think that Kobe had lost.

But Pierce was different.

On this night, Jordan not only scored 32 points over his head, but Pierce didn't even get 10 points under Su Feng's defense.

Are you kidding me?

Su Feng couldn't be happier about Pierce, a trash-talking player.

In the end, under the joint hammering of Su and Jordan, the Raptors smoothly passed the test in New Jersey with a score of 104 to 95.

After the game, in an interview, Pierce felt the pressure from the entire Raptors team.

"Rookie of the Year?

I don't know how the NBA will select this year's Rookie of the Year, but if tonight's game is all that Paul Pierce is capable of...

Then I think we shouldn't put Vince and him in the same discussion," Jordan said with a smile in the post-match interview.

"Huh? Paul's offensive skills are comprehensive?

Anyway, I didn't feel it, because I felt like he couldn't play basketball without me even trying.

Maybe it's because he's not in good shape?" After being asked how he defended Pierce to 3 of 19 shooting, Su Feng "exonerated" Pierce.

"I feel like it might be because there was something wrong with the hoop tonight?

Or maybe the floor was too soft, so Paul's performance was so bad." On the side, McGrady chimed in to help Su Feng.

"Compared to Rookie of the Year, my more important task now is to learn and improve.

Michael and Su are both my goals, and the championship is our only pursuit." After the game, looking at the lines that Su Feng wrote for him, Carter read them out.

Well...

As soon as Carter made these low-key and modest remarks, coupled with some unknown players revealing the disrespectful remarks that Pierce made to Su Feng, Jordan, and others in the game, to be honest, if there was social media now, then Pierce...

He would probably be roasted to hell...

……

ps: The July book review area event has been opened, welcome everyone to actively participate.