Chapter 131: Start to Pass the Buck

It doesn’t feel good to lose a game, especially to Zheng Yang.

Therefore, after the game, James followed his good habit and left the stadium directly. The media took pictures of his back, and it was obvious that they had already prepared the headlines for tomorrow's newspapers.

After greeting his teammates, Zheng Yang also accepted interviews from the media.

"Hey Zheng, first of all, congratulations on winning the first game of this series. Can you tell me what winning this game means to you?"

"Obviously it means a lot that we won the game, we played as aggressively as we did before.

We are one step closer to the finals! This is exciting. I said a long time ago that our goal this season is to win the championship. "

Zheng Yang talked some useless nonsense.

"So after winning this game, how many games do you think it will take you to win this series?"

"It's hard to predict. We never know what will happen in the next game. The only thing we can do is to play our game well and make ourselves better."

Zheng Yang didn't want to make any boasts before the results came out. He preferred to play the game beautifully and let others brag about him.

What's the point of bragging about yourself? It's only interesting when others brag about you!
He then casually dealt with the reporters and left the scene.

On the other side, James also attended the press conference after the game, but his face turned red when facing the questions raised by reporters.

"LeBron, what do you think is the reason for your loss in this game? Do you think you have some problems on defense or offense?"

Something's wrong with me?

What the fuck is wrong with me?
Defense... I am a bit lazy when it comes to defense and I don't like to go back on defense, but that's not to save energy for the team's offense!

How can you blame me for this?

James didn't like to take the blame, so he picked up the microphone and retorted.

"I don't think there's anything wrong with me, I've done everything I can to help my team, and losing is not what I wanted to see, but it happened.

If possible, I would like to have more people around me to stand up and score, or limit our opponents’ scoring…”

As soon as James said this, the media's eyes lit up!
Are you starting to pass on the blame?

So the reporters below started to seize this opportunity and kept asking questions.

"Do you think your teammates didn't perform well enough?"

"Do you think Zheng has more helpers around him than you do?"

"What do you think of the team management's performance in recruiting players?"

"If you were in the Knicks, do you think you could lead this team to a championship?"

James' words were like stirring up a hornet's nest, and reporters' questions came one after another.

James, who spoke without thinking, also realized that something was wrong with the question. He knew he could no longer answer the reporter's question, so he kept repeating himself.

"Next question! Next question!"

In the end, the media failed to get more responses from James, but the first sentence alone was enough for the media to make a big fuss.

So the media wrote in the newspapers the next day, "LeBron hopes to have more helpers around him", "Locker room conflict? LeBron James publicly expressed his dissatisfaction with his teammates' performance in front of the media"...

In fact, it is understandable that the team boss wants to have more helpers around him. This is also human nature!

But the point is that this is not the offseason, this is not the regular season, this is the Eastern Conference Finals, and it’s only the first game!
Even if your chances are slim, you still have to play three more games with your opponent. Aren't you making your teammates feel upset by saying this at this time?

I am not a robot, nor am I an NPC in the game. Who can bear to hear these words?

James also understood this truth, so he didn't dare to continue talking. But some things have to be said and the knot in his heart has already been left.

On May 5, the NBA announced the best lineup of this season, and there was no doubt that Zheng Yang was on the list.

In addition to Zheng Yang, there are Nash, Kobe, Stoudemire, and Nowitzki!
Judging from the performance in the playoffs alone, Nowitzki's performance is definitely not as good as Duncan's, but this best lineup is mainly based on the regular season. It is reasonable for Nowitzki, who can lead the team to the top of the league in the regular season, to be included in the best lineup.

As for the best defensive team, Zheng Yang was also selected!

Others include Raja Bell, Kobe Bryant, Marcus Camby and Duncan.

Among them, Marcus Camby was the best defensive player and blocked shot leader of the year!
Being able to win the Defensive Player of the Year, the Block King and be selected to the All-Defensive First Team all at once is enough to show this guy's dominance on the defensive end this season.

Of course, the media's current attention is still mainly focused on Zheng Yang. After all, although Marcus Camby has won many awards, they are nothing compared to Zheng Yang.

They were named to the All-Star team, the scoring champion, the MVP, the All-Star vote winner, the All-Star MVP...

If he really makes it to the finals and wins the championship, he will have to win an extra FMVP award!

The media all believe that this year has been a fruitful year for Zheng Yang.

Zheng Yang was naturally excited to be selected for the double first team. Although he estimated that it was a foregone conclusion that he would be selected for the double first team this year, it was just an estimate before and now it has finally become a fact.

However, the top priority now is to play well in the Eastern Conference Finals. Other honors are important, but the championship is the most important thing.

This was his first season after leaving the Mavericks, and the Mavericks became the third team in NBA history to be eliminated in the knockout round. If he could win the championship, then everything would be fine.

Zheng Yang has never been a generous person. He just wants to make those people regret it!

……

When the Eastern Conference Finals began, the Western Conference Finals were also in full swing.

The Warriors, who had just finished a dark horse game, met the Jazz led by Boozer and Kirilenko, and were swept 4:1.

The Warriors were able to defeat the Mavericks by a big margin thanks to the right time, right place and right people, but they were not so lucky when they met the Jazz.

After the Suns swept the Lakers 4-1, they met the Spurs again.

Although the Suns had two first-team All-NBA players, they still lost to the Spurs 4-2.

However, this defeat was not only due to the poor defense in the past, but also due to some unexpected factors. In the fourth game of the Western Conference semifinals, when the Spurs were leading 2-1, the Suns were in very good shape in this game and eventually won the game.

However, an accident occurred during the competition.

In the fourth quarter, when the Suns had already secured the victory, the Spurs' Horry committed a flagrant foul in a defense, causing Nash to crash into a billboard on the sidelines. In order to give Nash a shot, Stoudemire and Dio on the bench left the bench to argue with Horry.

As a result, they were suspended for one game each and missed the decisive battle.

It was precisely because of the absence of these two people that the team had to let Marion play center in the decisive battle, but the effect was not good and they eventually lost this crucial game.

Even though the two players returned in Game 6, the Spurs still won the game easily.

They once again eliminated the Suns and advanced to the Western Conference Finals.

The Suns' defeat made countless people feel sorry for Nash. If Stoudemire and Dio had not been suspended, and if the Suns had advanced to the Western Conference Finals, they would most likely have won the championship this year.

After all, the opponent in the Western Conference Finals is the Jazz, and in the original history, the opponent in the Eastern Conference Finals is the fledgling Cavaliers. Judging from the strength on paper, the Suns are undoubtedly the strongest of the three teams.

Of course, there is no medicine for regret in the world. The reason why some stories and some people are remembered by people may be because of the regrets in them!
At this point, the two opponents in the Western Conference Finals have been determined.

In the first game against the Jazz, Duncan scored 27 points, 10 rebounds, 5 assists, and 2 blocks. Together with Ginobili's 23 points and 10 assists on the bench, the team won the first game of the Western Conference Finals with an 8-point advantage.

In the second game, Boozer and Deron Williams scored 33 points and 15 rebounds and 26 points and 10 rebounds respectively.

It can be said that I have tried my best.

But the strength gap between the two teams was too big. Duncan easily scored 26 points, 14 rebounds and 5 blocks, with a true shooting percentage of 70.2%.

Parker scored 17 points and 14 assists, with a true shooting percentage of 62.5%.

Ginobili scored 17 points, 4 rebounds and 3 assists, with a true shooting percentage of 66%.

To be honest, with the performance of the GDP trio and their offensive efficiency, it is really difficult to beat them.

Standing by and watching at ease, Popovich even wanted to write a book to describe how he should lose!
Hahahaha!

They are getting closer and closer to returning to the finals.

……

The second game of the Eastern Conference finals will officially start on May 5, and the venue will still be Madison Square Garden.

People often say that Madison Square Garden is the place where superstars prove themselves. You have to convince the fans here and win their respect to prove your strength.

Or if you can be like "Mayor of New York" Trae Young, who can easily arouse people's "cheers", that's fine too.

After all, Madison Square Garden never criticizes unknown people!
In addition, the opponent he faced was Zheng Yang, so in James' mind, he had already regarded this series as his own battle of proof.

He was just waiting to prove himself by defeating Zheng Yang!

Maybe he won various honors earlier than me, but that was just luck. In terms of strength, he is far inferior to me.

Starting from this series, he will have to prove himself again.

In James' imagination, this series may be difficult to play, but he will eventually be like a god descending from heaven and fighting against the entire Knicks on his own.

Become a god now!

However, after playing the game, James finally understood what it meant that imagination is beautiful but reality is cruel.

The first game was okay. Even though they lost, the Cavaliers still seemed very competitive. If they lost this game, they might win the next one.

It was not until the second game started that James realized that the back-and-forth in the first game was already the peak of this Cavaliers team.

In the second game, the Knicks' Eddy Curry and Crawford both exploded. The former scored 25 points and 13 rebounds, directly turning Big Z into Little Z.

The latter scored 28 points, including an explosion in the third quarter, scoring 15 points alone, directly leading the Knicks to extend the score to 15 points.

As for Zheng Yang, his teammates were in good shape in this game while his opponents were in average shape, so Zheng Yang did not take many shots and only scored 22 points.

However, on the defensive end, he put a lot of energy into this game. Seeing that Crawford and Eddy Curry played so well, Zheng Yang suddenly decided to ask Larry Brown to let him defend James.

In fact, Larry Brown had this idea a long time ago. After all, there was only one James on the opposite side. As long as he was killed, the Cavaliers would have no chance of winning.

The reason why Zheng Yang was not arranged to defend James before was mainly because we didn't want Zheng Yang to be too tired. After all, this is only the Eastern Conference Finals, and greater challenges are waiting for them in the Finals.

He needs Zheng Yang to be in 100% condition to face the Spurs. Although the Spurs have not yet completely won, any discerning person can see that the Jazz are already on the decline.

But now that Zheng Yang is willing, let him defend!

So in this game, James started to have a hard time!
This was not the first time that he was defended by Zheng Yang, and he also knew the value of the opponent's Best Defensive First Team selection, so he always sought cover during the offense, hoping to face other defenders.

But it’s okay to hide once or twice, but how can you hide for a lifetime!

Once he couldn't avoid it, James fell into a nightmare.

Zheng Yang's defense is not the type that likes to confront you and constantly seek physical collisions. His is the type of dog-skin plaster.

He will use his footwork and arm span advantages to make it difficult for you to move.

If you want to break through his defense by confrontation, then this is not a good option.

Zheng Yang is not bad in physical confrontation, which can be seen from his muscular body. Normal confrontation will not be able to defeat him at all.

If the movement is too big, it is easy to be called for an offensive foul. For example, in this game, James was defended a little too much and lowered his shoulders during the confrontation, so he was called for an offensive foul both times.

This is the Knicks' home court, and Zheng Yang is still a big shot in David Stern's eyes. It's already quite good not to give him special treatment. How could he turn a blind eye to James' foul?

Under Zheng Yang's tight defense, James finally made 24 of 6 shots, scored only 17 points, and also had 5 turnovers.

You can also see from here how obvious the guy's performance was when he scored 11 points in the 8 Finals. He was able to score 17 points even under Zheng Yang's defense. How could he only score 8 points against the Mavericks team?
If you tell this to others, someone has to believe it!

In the end, the Knicks defeated their opponents 88:102 in the second game and took a 2-0 lead!

(End of this chapter)