Chapter 604 Staples Center.

In the latter half of the first quarter, relying on the referee's imaginative calls, the Hawks finally managed to narrow the score to 21-37 after being battered for most of the quarter.

During the break between quarters...

On the sidelines, feeling that the Lakers' lead after the first quarter was too "weak," and to prevent the situation from developing unfavorably for the Lakers, Su Feng, ever "devoted to the team," suggested to Coach Lue that he continue to play him hard.

Hearing this, Coach Lue, who also felt that the Lakers' lead was "insignificant," agreed to Su Feng's request to play without a second thought.

Uh...

Don't be surprised.

The Lakers weren't really being pretentious this night.

It was just that after the Western Conference Finals against the Warriors, the entire Lakers team had developed "lead inadequacy phobia."

After all, a 16-point lead, for the Warriors who could turn it around in just two or three minutes in the Western Conference Finals...

Could that even be called a lead?

On the court, in the first half of the second quarter, the Lakers' lineup was DeAndre Jordan, Su Feng, Bogdan Bogdanovic, Curry, and Livingston.

DeAndre Jordan, who had also been stifled in the Western Conference Finals, immediately stunned the Hawks players with a series of blocks on defense.

Admittedly, DeAndre Jordan's contribution on the offensive end was almost negligible.

But on the defensive end, DeAndre Jordan, full of energy, was clearly the nemesis of these Hawks players who relied on talent to charge into the paint.

In the first 6 minutes of the second quarter alone, DeAndre Jordan, coming off the bench, completed 4 blocks.

And if two of those good blocks hadn't been called fouls by the referee...

In reality, DeAndre Jordan was swatting away the basketball dreams of the Hawks' attackers once per minute on average.

In front of the TV, in the second half of the second quarter, when DeAndre Jordan was replaced by Whiteside, Hawks fans who were still watching Game 1 of the Finals breathed a sigh of relief.

Because if DeAndre Jordan had played a few more minutes...

Hawks fans wouldn't need to order midnight snacks tonight!

All those blocks would be enough to make them sick!

However...

Hawks fans might not believe it.

If it was just a matter of comparing blocks...

Then Whiteside, who replaced DeAndre Jordan, was the real heavyweight.

In Su Feng's previous life, before his rebirth, Whiteside had completed 10+ blocks in a single game five times.

Because his wingspan reached an astonishing 231 centimeters...

So, as long as "Big Whiteside" spread his long arms under the basket...

For players who excelled at attacking, they were either on the way to getting blocked, or had already been blocked.

Before, against the Warriors, Whiteside's weaker mobility made him an easy target for the Warriors' outside attack.

So Whiteside had been sitting on the sidelines learning towel-waving techniques from Sacre.

But after the opponent became the Hawks...

At this moment, he was the nightmare of the Hawks' attackers on the court!

Staples Center.

In the second half of the second quarter, to quote Zhang’s words...

The Hawks were practically lining up to give Whiteside blocks tonight.

On the court, Wade was stunned.

If he was in his prime...

Wade would definitely not be so "friendly" in helping Whiteside gain fame.

But the question was...

If Wade was in his prime...

Then how could the Hawks have played so hard in this game?

As the point of the Hawks' offensive trident, on the court, Wade was blocked 4 times by "Big Whiteside" in the last 6 minutes of the second quarter alone.

CCTV, seeing this scene, Zhang commented with slight exaggeration: "When has Wade ever suffered such humiliation?

He's probably been blocked more times tonight than in an entire season!"

Staples Center, at the end of the first half, the score between the two teams was 38 to 77.

On the court.

The referees had tried their best in this quarter.

But the Hawks' collapse speed tonight was comparable to that of the French in World War II.

Even if you want the Allies to protect your right not to speak German, you can't surrender so quickly!

During halftime, on TNT, Smith couldn't help but complain: "The Hawks have completely collapsed tonight.

In addition to not being able to score, in the first half, their total number of rebounds was only 3 more than Su’s..."

Good heavens!

Anyone who hadn't watched the game would definitely have mistakenly thought that Su Feng was possessed by the souls of Chamberlain and O'Neal tonight, single-handedly dominating the Hawks in the paint.

But in reality...

This night, Su Feng was just more attentive to the great cause of picking up rebounds than usual.

On the court, after the halftime break, the second half continued.

In the third quarter, Wade had already become a source of joy for Leonard, Anthony, James, Paul, Curry, and others in front of the TV.

And online, after making gif animations of Wade's wonderful blocked shots on this night...

Fans had even started a large-scale discussion online called "Which of Wade's blocked shots is the coolest?"

As a result, after a fierce debate, fans unanimously agreed that the layup at the end of the second quarter, where Whiteside blocked the ball onto Wade's face and then onto his foot, causing it to bounce out of bounds, was the coolest block Wade had suffered in this game.

Without a doubt.

This was a block worth 9 points (out of 10)!

Because in the process of being blocked, Wade also contributed a whole set of emoticons for the fans...

So this block, in the eyes of many fans, had basically locked in the best block suffered in NBA Finals history!

However.

No matter how earth-shattering Wade's block was...

It was just a microcosm of his night.

On the court, after three quarters, the Hawks officially gave up resisting.

In the end, after the two teams sent out garbage players to fight each other for 12 minutes in the final quarter, in this year's Finals opener, the Lakers also ushered in a good start in the Finals with a 58-point victory.

In the whole game, the final score between the two teams was 80 to 138.

On the Lakers side, in addition to frantically grabbing (picking up) 23 rebounds, Su Feng also had 48 points, 7 assists, plus 4 steals and 1 block.

And on the Hawks side...

Wade, who was ridiculed by fans online as the "Mayor of Jingdezhen," relied on free throws to get 18 points, 6 rebounds, and 4 assists on 4 of 25 shooting.

After the game, people commented on this Finals Game 1:

In the NBA, no one remembers the runner-up.

Unless you can win the runner-up for three consecutive years.

Online, after Game 1, Hawks fans had already entered self-isolation mode.

Because the huge gap between the Lakers and Hawks in the Finals Game 1...

Had even directly cut off the Hawks fans' belief that the team could turn the series around in the following Finals.

In just one game.

The morale of the entire Hawks team was beaten to the bottom by the Lakers.

On the 13th, the Lakers and Hawks' Finals continued at Staples Center.

In order to prevent the tragedy of the Finals Game 1 from happening again...

Before the referees went out to officiate, Stern had to send someone to poke out their eyes. (Note 1)

Come on, Wesang!

In Los Angeles, at Staples... you are not alone!

It's just...

Even though in the second game between the two teams, the referees collectively wore Hawks jerseys without even bothering to act...

But after the first quarter, looking at the scoreboard at 25 to 35.

At this moment, besides lamenting their lack of skill... what else could you ask the referees to do?

Everything that should and shouldn't have been called had been called by the referees tonight.

But...

The Hawks, whose morale had already plummeted, were not only physically exhausted, but also psychologically no longer had the confidence to challenge this Lakers team.

In the second quarter, because the referees were blinder than Blind Monks tonight, DeAndre Jordan, who had completed 5 good blocks, was subbed out after getting 3 fouls in less than 4 minutes.

But...

Just as DeAndre Jordan walked back to the bench with a look of grievance...

The next second, Whiteside rushed onto the court with an excited look on his face.

Then, after Whiteside was also forced to leave due to too many fouls...

On the Lakers' bench, Rondo, Livingston... and even Seth Curry took the initiative to volunteer, saying, "Now, it's time to tell the world that we are actually the Lakers' true center!"

Look!

The competition within the Lakers team was so intense just to play a few more minutes in the Finals!

No!

Seth...

Are you sure your small body can really play center?

"I can, why can't I? My rim protection is very strong!" On the sidelines, Seth Curry said to Coach Lue without blushing or skipping a beat.

There was no other way.

Because the Lakers had not been able to widen the score in this game.

So, at Su Feng's suggestion, Coach Lue had no choice but to arrange Su Feng at the center position with tears in his eyes.

In the second game, the Hawks players were in better physical condition than in Game 1.

But their slump in morale made them play even worse than in Game 1.

In the first half, after a total of 28 free throws...

During the halftime break, the Hawks were still trailing the Lakers by as many as 27 points.

And in the third quarter, after Su Feng and Kobe scored 17 and 14 points respectively for the Lakers in order to get more data before the end of the game...

This Game 2 was completely without suspense.

Staples Center, the final score of Game 2 between the two teams was 91 to 134.

In the whole game, Su Feng and Kobe got 45 points, 15 rebounds, 5 assists, 3 steals, 1 block and 33 points, 11 rebounds, 6 assists, 2 steals respectively.

And on the Hawks side...

Wade, who was jokingly called the "Mayor of Jingdezhen" by fans online, scored 29 points, 6 rebounds, and 5 assists for the Hawks with 24 free throws.

Without a doubt.

This was definitely the most uncomfortable series Wade had ever played in his life.

Limited everywhere in the game, he not only couldn't feel the presence of his teammates on the court.

And the feeling of powerlessness when attacking the basket...

Also made him particularly anxious on and off the court.

After all, in this league where one general succeeds at the cost of ten thousand bones...

After Wade was criticized by public opinion...

The biggest beneficiary of this year's Finals...

Wasn't it Kobe, who was always ranked after Wade in the ESPN's shooting guard rankings?

In the first two games of the Finals, Wade only made 10 of 48 shots, excluding free throws...

So even if he was unwilling...

Before this series started, he was still held in the palm of people's hands, but now he had been labeled as a "traffic star," "product of star-making," "inefficient," and "can't even beat Kobe."

On the 15th.

The Lakers and Hawks' Finals moved to Atlanta.

Before the game, in an interview, Wade still said strongly, "We will do everything we can, this series is far from over."

But the Hawks' performance on the court made the Hawks fans unable to hold on for even one quarter.

In the first quarter, as in the second game, the referees were doing everything they could to find a balance for the Hawks.

But...

Faced with the Lakers' string of successful three-pointers.

You can't ask the referees to black out all the Lakers' successful three-pointers, can you?

Damn it...

People just pull up and shoot, how can you black it out?

On the court, because the Lakers made 11 three-pointers in the first quarter alone.

So for the Hawks' supporters...

The rest of this game was simply torture.

In addition, in the second quarter, the Hawks suffered successive blows in terms of personnel.

On the court, because Ibaka and Smith, who had played with painkillers, could no longer continue...

So after a deep look at Wade...

On the sidelines, Budenholzer said helplessly, "This game, we have no chance, Dwyane."

In the end, in the third game between the two teams, the Lakers laughed to the end with a score of 131 to 101.

And it is worth mentioning that...

The 30-point difference...

Was actually the smallest difference between the Lakers and Hawks in this series so far.

After the game, commentators from all over the world sent congratulatory messages to Los Angeles in advance.

And on the 18th, before the start of the fourth game between the two teams, the suspense of this Finals also changed from whether the Hawks could continue this series, to whether the Hawks could control the difference between them and the Lakers within 30 points in this series.

But unexpectedly...

On the premise that Ibaka and Smith were both absent from the fourth game of the Finals between the two teams, the Hawks played their best game in this series.

In the first quarter, the Hawks players, who were completely relaxed, finally played the level they should have had.

In fact, after this series returned to Atlanta, the physical condition of the Hawks players was no longer as bad as in the first two games.

It's just that...

In the case of consecutive big losses, the Hawks players' mentality collapsed by themselves.

However...

Even if the Hawks had a good performance in the opening stage on this night.

As the game deepened...

They still failed to stop the Lakers' momentum to win the championship.

In the second half of the game, Su Feng, Kobe, Bogdanovic, and Curry successively launched attacks from the outside.

And with the wave that the team played in the third quarter, the Lakers also successfully won the fourth game between the two teams with a score of 119 to 104!

Now, the score is 4 to 0.

It's time to shout out that famous slogan!

"Congratulations to the Lakers!

They have successfully won the 12/13 season NBA Finals!"

……

ps: Short! Short! Short!

Note 1: A joke referencing Stern's control over referees, not a literal event.