Chapter 57: No suspense, he is the best rookie
After G4, Zheng Yang also began to pay attention to the playoff situation of other teams.

The Timberwolves have already finished Game 4 with the Nuggets. Although the Timberwolves' Latrell Sprewell's two missed free throws at the last minute of Game scared the Timberwolves' fans, the Nuggets' subsequent two missed shots ruined their last chance of survival.

The Timberwolves currently lead 3-1 and are one game away from advancing to the Western Conference semifinals.

In this series, this season's MVP favorite Garnett once again put in an MVP-level performance.

Averaging 25.8 points, 14.8 rebounds, 7 assists and 2 blocks per game taught the young Melo a lesson in the playoffs.

The MVP award has not been announced yet, but based on Garnett's performance this season, it is likely to be him.

The game between the Spurs and the Grizzlies ended as early as the 25th. Except for the third game where the two teams played until the last minute, the Spurs established a score advantage early in the other three games.

They are currently waiting for the winner between the Lakers and the Rockets to become their opponent in the Western Conference semifinals.

Of course, to be more precise, they are waiting for the Lakers to win another game. After all, their score has reached 3-1, and the outcome is obviously decided. In the original history, the Lakers will completely end their opponent in the next game.

Although the Lakers F4 has never developed a good chemistry, after all, the four positions in the team basically have positional advantages, so it is relatively easy to beat the Rockets.

But the next round against the Spurs probably won’t be that easy!

As for the Eastern Conference...little-known fact: it turns out there is a playoff in the Eastern Conference too!

Almost no one is paying attention to the playoffs in the Eastern Conference, and except for the life-and-death battle between the Heat and the Hornets, the other three series are already leading by a large margin.

Wade of the Heat had a mediocre performance in his first playoff trip, but there were some good performances, such as 21 points in the first game and 8 points and 5 assists on 14 of 6 shots in the second game.

也有表现得不好的，像第三场8投1中只拿到2分，第四场12投4中，拿下11分。

But overall, he has a promising future. After all, you can't expect a rookie who makes his first playoff appearance to have as strong an influence on the game as Zheng Yang, Magic Johnson, and Jordan.

As for James... Sorry, I forgot, the Cavaliers didn't make the playoffs!
Now guess where to fish!

After Game 4 between the Timberwolves and the Nuggets, Anthony had a one-hour phone call with Zheng Yang.

He is still complaining about the fact that Milicic took away his second pick in last year's draft.

According to Anthony, if he had gone to the Pistons, he could have already started preparing for the Eastern Conference Finals.

They were eliminated in the first round of the Western Conference.

Later, he told Zheng Yang about the Timberwolves' playing style. He knew that the Mavericks' next opponent would be the Timberwolves, so he revealed more so that Zheng Yang would be mentally prepared.

Among them, Melon praised Garnett highly, and he was somewhat convinced. After all, Garnett can be said to be a super hexagonal warrior now.

Melon will definitely not be able to gain any advantage against him.

At the end of the call, Anthony also congratulated Zheng Yang on winning the Best Rookie. Although the award will not be revealed until tomorrow morning, the whole world knows that this year's Best Rookie winner is the least suspenseful.

It can be said that if the league really dares to give the best rookie award to someone else, then this award will lose its value from then on.

"Zheng, play well! When the offseason starts, we can train together again. I can't wait to be with you."

Before hanging up the phone, Anthony said with a smile, Zheng Yang said of course there was no problem, but he secretly complained in his heart.

Let’s just train, why are we talking so ambiguously!
I don’t do that!
On the morning of April 4, the league announced the winner of this year's Rookie of the Year. Without a doubt, it was Zheng.

这个赛季他的个人数据为21.2分2.5助攻9.3篮板1.9盖帽还有1.9抢断。

The team is ranked fifth in the Western Conference with 52 wins and 30 losses.

You could say the Mavericks rank high because they have other stars on the team, and it has little to do with Zheng Yang.

But the fact that the latter can achieve such beautiful personal statistics in a team with so many stars also proves its high value.

In addition, James and Anthony, the two previous favorites for the Best Rookie, were completely suppressed by Zheng Yang in the Mavericks game, so there is no problem in awarding the Best Rookie to Zheng Yang.

No one dared to stand up and speak up for James.

On the evening of the 29th, it was Game 5 of the Mavericks vs. the Kings. Soon after getting off the bus, Zheng Yang was surrounded by reporters.

When asked by a reporter how he felt about winning the award, Zheng Yang smiled and said.

“It is a very happy thing to receive this award. As for how I feel?
In fact, I’m not even thinking about it right now.

I'm going to play an important game soon, so I don't want to be distracted by other things now. I just want to win this game first.

Congratulations to us, we're going to close out this series."

After saying that, he walked towards the stadium. In order to avoid any further complications, they must win the game tonight.

When Zheng Yang entered the locker room, he immediately smelled a strange odor. It turned out that the Kings were using the same tactics as the Mavericks.

There was nothing Nelson could do about it but let the players bear with it.

Out to mix, sooner or later have to repay!
It is worth mentioning that last night before the players went to bed, old Nelson took them to another hotel to rest. Sure enough, fireworks sounded near the original hotel at midnight.

I heard that the fireworks went on until dawn, which shows how much resentment the Kings had.

After a simple warm-up, this crucial game is about to begin.

Judging from the mental state of the Kings players before the game, they have lost the spirit they had in the last game!

The 20-point comeback in the last game, coupled with a 3-1 deficit, made the Kings players lose confidence.

Even though Rick Adelman continued to give them inspirational speeches before the game, it was still useless.

It's not always useful to give inspirational speeches. You have to let the players see that there is hope of winning.

It’s just like the boss of a company painting a rosy picture for the employees. It’s okay once or twice, but if it happens too many times, the employees get nothing. No matter how many inspirational stories you tell, it’s useless.

Seeing this, Zheng Yang felt more at ease. As long as the Mavericks were not as stubborn in this game as they were in the second game, there shouldn't be any big problems.

But after the game started, the young Zheng Yang finally understood what "black whistle" meant in this game.

When it comes to the most classic refereeing fouls in NBA history, different fans may have different opinions.

But there is one game that is definitely within the scope of discussion, and it can even be ranked in the top three.

That was Game 02 of the 6 Western Conference Finals, with the Kings playing against the Lakers at home.

The referee of that match was the notorious Dojim, who was found by the FBI to have fixed the match and was sentenced to prison in 2008. How shady was that match?

In the fourth quarter of the game, the Lakers got 27 free throw opportunities in a single quarter, while the Kings only got 9 free throws. The total number of free throws by the entire team was less than that of O'Neal alone.

The referee made a prompt decision regarding the Kings' body hair call, but turned a blind eye to the Lakers' offensive foul.

The most typical example was in the last 12 seconds of the game, when Mike Bibby was defending Kobe's serve outside the court, he was hit in the face by Kobe's elbow, breaking his nose and causing nose bleeding.

The referee on the side said that it was a good elbow, how could it be an "offensive foul"?

It was good enough that we didn’t give the Lakers two extra points, but you still want the ball?

He ignored the king at all!
The referee not only helped the Lakers get to the free throw line, but also called several "offensive fouls" on the Kings to disrupt their offensive rhythm, while also taking "more care" of the Kings' inside players.

Finally, with three minutes left in the game, both Kings centers were called for 6 fouls and Webber also received 5 fouls, forcing him to sit on the bench for most of the fourth quarter.

In the end, the Lakers won the game and it went into a seventh game.

Then why would the league rather be accused of unfair whistle calls than protect the Lakers?

In fact, the reason is very simple. This is a business alliance.

At that time, the Lakers were on the road to pursuing their third championship. Once successful, the influence and commercial value of the Lakers dynasty would be incomparable to that of a small Kings team.

Therefore, in order to create a myth, the alliance must do this.

From the perspective of competitive sports, they are extremely disgusting, but from the perspective of interests, it seems so reasonable.

The "black whistle" that Zheng Yang faced was certainly not so outrageous. After all, between the Mavericks and the Kings, it doesn't matter to the league who advances.

But you can't tell the winner so early.

The NBA's ratings have been declining in the past two years, and the strength of the other three games in the Western Conference in the first round of the playoffs was very different, so the audience had no desire to watch it at all.

It's so hard to get two teams of equal strength like you and with flashy and eye-catching playing styles to meet, and you want to end it after just five innings?

How could this be!

So the league began to make "fine-tuning". In fact, there was no need to do too many small tricks, as long as Zheng Yang was put in foul danger early.

Therefore, less than two minutes into the first quarter of the game, he was called for two fouls. In order to avoid being ejected for the next six fouls, Nelson had to replace Zheng Yang.

Without Zheng Yang's offensive firepower, and the fact that the Kings also realized that they had the "home whistle" in this game, they regained their desire to win.

The two teams began to fight back and forth, continuing their offensive battle.

Peja, who lost Zheng Yang's defense, was like a sealed man. He made three of three three-pointers in the first quarter and scored 15 points, leading the Kings to a 36-point lead of 30:6.

After Zheng Yang played for six minutes in the second quarter, the referee called a foul that could be called or not.

The referee's meaning is very clear. The time is up and you can go down and rest.

Zheng Yang had no choice but to stay down and continue watching the fight.

In fact, the referee's overall judgment was reasonable, but he was a bit biased towards Zheng Yang and was not willing to let him play on the court for too long.

Without Zheng Yang, the Mavericks and the Kings are indeed evenly matched in strength, and who plays better depends entirely on their own touch.

For example, the Kings had a good touch in the first quarter, so they led by 6 points at the end of the first quarter. When the Mavericks got their touch in the second quarter, they not only tied the score but also overtook by 4 points two minutes into the second quarter.

The two teams' smooth and gorgeous offense also made the fans excited, and they wished they could continue playing like this.

But two minutes into the second quarter, during a Mavericks defensive round, an accident occurred.

Doug Christie hit Nowitzki's knee while making an open cut, and the latter fell to the ground in pain and was unable to get up for a long time.

Nelson and Zheng Yang rushed over to check the situation. Nowitzki covered his knee with pain on his face. After he recovered his strength, he spoke to Nelson.

"My knee hurt so much that I couldn't exert any strength at all."

"I know kid, let them take you to the locker room and rest for a while!"

Old Nelson touched his head to comfort him, and then two players from the bench came over to help carry Nowitzki off the court.

Looking at Nowitzki's back, old Nelson turned his head and said.

"Antoine, you play the five position next. Zheng, go up and play!"

Letting Fat Toutuo play the five position was a helpless move. During the regular season lineup adjustment stage, old Nelson had tried to let Fat Toutuo play the five position in a small lineup, but the effect was not good.

But there is no better way at the moment. He has to wait until halftime to see what is going on with Nowitzki before he can make the next plan.

Nowitzki's sudden injury and departure surprised everyone on the court. While the Kings players felt sorry, another idea popped up in their minds.

The Mavericks without Nowitzki don’t seem so scary anymore!

Judging from his condition when he left the field, he seemed to be seriously injured!

What if... what if Nowitzki has to miss the next few games, then wouldn't they have a chance?

The Kings team members were cheered up when they thought of this!
Rick Adelman made a prompt decision and asked his players to play more inside in the next game.

The Mavericks' inside line is weak to begin with, and after losing Nowitzki, it's like a no-man's land, where they can score easily!

"Nowitzki's sudden departure changed the situation 180 degrees.

Originally, the Mavericks and the Kings were fighting fiercely, but after losing their core player Nowitzki, they may not be able to match the Kings in offense.

Coupled with their weak interior defense, the Mavericks were suddenly in a very unfavorable position.

They need to think carefully about what to do next!"

Yu Jia analyzed the situation on the field, and the suspended game continued at this moment.

Due to Walker's insufficient interior defense and the fact that all the Mavericks players were focused on Nowitzki at the moment, they were in poor form and were beaten 8:2 by the Kings in the last two minutes of the second quarter.

The Kings once again took the lead and took the lead by 2 points!
The suspense of this round of series arises again!
(End of this chapter)