Chapter 94 Are you ready? The battle between cattle and horses is coming soon
"What is scoring explosiveness? This is scoring explosiveness!

In the first two minutes, Zheng Yang made 4 of 4 shots, 3 of 3 three-pointers, and scored 11 points.

Especially the three-point shot with the logo just now, it really shows the skill and courage of a man who is so talented!

The game was stopped immediately!"

In the CCTV studio, Teacher Yu Jia was also very excited and said a series of things.

This guy Zheng Yang really doesn't do any preparation, he just goes straight to the climax.

If you have a weak heart, you really wouldn't dare to watch him play.

"Hey, this scoring ability is really amazing! Three three-pointers, one farther than the other!

He was able to score even at midcourt. Isn't that scary? I've never seen anyone play basketball like that!
But this ball was played very reasonably! Good touch, shoot boldly when there is a chance! If you scare the opponent, you will win half the game. "

Coach Zhang explained in his BJ accent, his eyes full of surprise, but he kept saying "reasonable" one after another.

No matter where Zheng Yang shoots, as long as he shoots, it is a good shot and a reasonable one!
Teacher Yu Jia was probably used to Coach Zhang's "favoritism" towards Zheng Yang, so he didn't say much.

Back at the game scene, old Nelson looked at Zheng Yang and finally sighed helplessly.

"Zheng, can you shoot closer next time? I know you have a good touch, but that's too far. You can ask Eric to set a pick-and-roll for you at the three-point line, even if it's just one step away from the three-point line.

But stop shooting three-pointers from the logo!"

In the last game, Nelson was dissatisfied with Zheng Yang's shooting from one step away from the three-point line. Now, after seeing his logo three-pointer, he wishes Zheng Yang could shoot every shot from one step outside the three-point line.

What does this mean?
A person's bottom line can be lowered step by step.

When Zheng Yang shoots in his own backcourt one day, I guess old Nelson will be able to accept Zheng Yang's logo three-pointer.

Of course, there is a greater possibility of being pulled directly to the bench and "praised".

As for the Suns' bench, several starting players still looked confused. Before the game started, they were full of enthusiasm and wanted to try their best to win back a game.

Who would have thought that just two minutes into the game, Zheng Yang had already made them stupid!
A four-out-of-four start is acceptable!
Three out of three is acceptable!

11 points in two minutes is acceptable!

But the logo is three points... This is really unacceptable!

With the way this guy is playing today, can they still win?

"Sean, maybe you should put a little more effort into the defensive end later!
After you finish your attack, you must appear next to Zheng immediately, no matter where he is or what he is doing!
Keep your eyes on him."

D'Antoni said helplessly that as a head coach who worships offense, he had never imagined that one day he would need to spend so much time and effort defending a player.

But with Zheng Yang's touch today, if he hadn't followed him closely when he served the ball in the backcourt, he might have really ruined the game for a whole quarter.

Shawn Marion nodded dully and said nothing!
After returning to the game, Zheng Yang did not take any more shots for a while. Instead, he focused on stretching the Suns' defensive lineup and helping his teammates score.

After all, he can’t win the game by himself, if he wants to win, he needs to do more.

The Suns did not have a good touch in this game. From the eighth minute to the fourth minute of the first quarter, they did not score for four minutes.

Therefore, even though Zheng Yang did not score much during this period, the gap between the two teams was not narrowed.

The home fans fell silent at some point, and the momentum at the beginning was completely gone.

No one expected that the game would turn out like this. At first they thought that maybe they could win three games in a row and win the series.

Of course, they still have hope. They are currently 12 points behind the Mavericks, and the first quarter has not even finished, so they still have a chance.

But in the last two minutes of the first quarter, Zheng Yang began to work his magic again, making Phoenix's hope even slimmer.

In these two minutes, Zheng Yang first scored a turnaround shot against Shawn Marion, and then used his breakthrough ability to attack the inside, and scored a 2+1 despite the defense of Stoudemire.

Then they took advantage of the Suns' two failed attacks and launched fast breaks to counterattack, both of which resulted in successful points.

After making 4 of 4 shots, plus 4 of 4 shots at the beginning, and 0 of two shots in the middle, Zheng Yang's score had reached 20 points by the end of the first quarter.

The current total score of the two teams is 38:19, which means that Zheng Yang scored more points in the first quarter than the entire Suns team scored.

All the fans watching this game were dumbfounded. Is this still the Suns team that ranked first in the league in offensive ability during the regular season?
In such a crucial game, their score was not even as high as Zheng Yang's alone.

Everyone knows that Zheng Yang is very strong, but no one expected that Zheng Yang is this strong.

He is only 19 years old and is just a sophomore rookie.

Even Michael Jordan wasn't as good as him when he was 19, right?
A few pessimistic fans at the scene have already stood up and left the stadium.

The tickets for this game are certainly valuable, but it is a torture to watch your home team being unable to fight back against the enemy's attack.

They can't accept this kind of torture, they would rather leave early, just like the Suns are about to be eliminated early this season.

……

The huge score difference of 19 points in the first quarter made the Suns players fall into a depressed mood, including D'Antoni.

But in his heart, what he was thinking about more was: Why doesn't Zheng Yang play for the Suns?
As long as he is there, not only will the Suns' defense level be able to reach a higher level, but their offensive level and ability to deal with tough situations at critical moments will also be stronger.

At that time, the Suns were undoubtedly the strongest team in the league.

D'Antoni even has the confidence to create another dynasty after the Lakers dynasty - the Suns dynasty!
Of course, this is just something we can think about. With Zheng Yang's current ability, the Mavericks will definitely not let him go easily.

At the beginning of the second quarter, the offense of both teams returned to normal levels, and the Suns' fast breaks were still swift and fierce, making it difficult to defend against.

But the Mavericks also performed very well. Nowitzki, Jason Terry, and Big Chou all made contributions in the second quarter. Therefore, after the second quarter, the score between the two teams was not only not narrowed, but reached 22 points.

During the halftime break, Coach Zhang in the CCTV studio shook his head.

“Although the game is still halfway through, judging from the momentum of both teams and the current score difference, the Suns can be said to have one foot on the edge of the cliff.

As long as the Mavericks don't make mistakes, the Suns' journey this season will be over."

No one is optimistic about the current Suns team. After all, it is too difficult to turn the tables on the Mavericks.

This is a team that truly has the potential to win the championship. Since the playoffs against the Rockets, the Mavericks have never slacked off, no matter what the state of their opponents is. Their main players are still very young, but both Zheng Yang and Nowitzki are quite mature and calm players.

They know exactly what their goals are this season.

So no matter how their opponents perform, they dare not relax at all. Only when they actually hold up the championship trophy will they truly relax and then smile with relief.

……

Is there anything else to say about this game?
In fact, no, since the score difference was widened to more than 20 points in the second quarter, the Suns have never been able to pull the score back.

The difference between the two teams reached 30 points at its highest and 20 points at its lowest.

The 20-point difference seemed like a huge chasm separating the Suns from victory.

When there were only 6 minutes left in the fourth quarter, the Suns called off the game and chose to give up.

The Mavericks also withdrew their main players and replaced them with water dispenser managers who rarely played on the court.

The final score was 118:98. The Mavericks defeated the Suns and changed the score to 4-1 while winning the game, which means that the Mavericks successfully advanced to the Western Conference Finals.

At this moment, the Supersonics and the Spurs have not yet decided the winner, so the Mavericks can take this opportunity to rest for a few days and recover their strength.

At the same time, we will conduct some targeted training for the Spurs.

After all, the winner of this round is likely to be the Spurs.

In the post-match interview, Zheng Yang still showed his humble side.

"The Phoenix Suns are a very special team, and their offense always gives us headaches. I respect this team very much and I enjoy our matchup this time, and I hope this can help us make greater progress.

As for now? I just want to go back to Dallas and have a good rest for a few days. You know, we are really tired during this period. We need to replenish our physical strength and then meet the challenge of the next team.

Although our opponent has not yet been determined, no matter which team it is, we will go all out.”

……

At dawn the next day, all the Mavericks players walked out of the airport tiredly. Of course, part of the tiredness was not due to yesterday's game.

Instead, these guys played cards all night long.

After all, everyone was very excited after defeating the Suns, and it was impossible to carry out other celebration activities on the plane, so playing cards became the best form of entertainment.

Of course, old Nelson knew all these things, but he was the head coach of the team, not the father of these guys, so he ignored them.

Anyway, there are no games these two days, so they can play however they want.

When Zheng Yang walked out of the court, he saw the fat fan who shouted at him after Game 2, "Kings, don't let them take away a victory in Dallas, okay?"

He kept his promise and was still standing outside the airport waiting for Zheng Yang today.

"Hey man, see I did what I said! Haha! Please continue to support us!"

Zheng Yang took the pen from his hand, signed his name on his clothes casually, and said with a smile.

The fat fan shouted excitedly.

"King, take us to win the damn championship! Let the championship parade appear in this city again!"

"This is my second promise, I will do it!"

Zheng Yang nodded seriously, and after signing autographs for the fans, the Mavericks players got on the bus and left the airport.

……

At this moment, the Spurs, who are preparing for an away game in Seattle, have made up their minds to end this series today.

They can't drag it on any longer. The longer they drag it on, the more physical energy they will consume, and the more unfavorable the situation will be in the Western Conference Finals.

They must defeat the Supersonics immediately to give themselves more rest time.

With this determination, the Spurs were quite active on the court today, trying their best both in defense and in rebounding.

But the Supersonics, who were able to hold out against the Spurs to this point, were no pushovers. They were united as one and kept the suspense of the game until the last minute.

In the last 14 seconds of the game, the Spurs led their opponents by one point, 96:95, but in the next round Daniels successfully got fouled and went to the free throw line.

It’s a pity that he only made one of two free throws and failed to help the team overtake the score.

In the next round, Ginobili successfully assisted Duncan to score two points, and Ray Allen missed a three-pointer in the last five seconds. Not only did they lose the game, they also lost the series.

Ray Allen seemed quite upset after missing the buzzer-beater, but he didn't know at the moment that this year would be the last highlight moment for the Supersonics.

They never made the playoffs again in the next few years, until the team finally left Seattle and moved to Oklahoma City.

……

The two rounds of semifinals in the Western Conference have since ended, and the upcoming Western Conference Finals will be a battle between the Bulls and the Horses.

The two teams have been discussed together since the regular season, and now that they meet in the Western Conference Finals, the heat has skyrocketed.

Whether it is the head-to-head confrontation between two young power forwards, Duncan and Nowitzki, or the feud between Zheng Yang and Bowen, who is left with only one egg, this game is full of highlights.

David Stern also took advantage of the situation and continued to hype up these hot topics. For a time, the popularity of this series was no less than that of the finals in previous years.

Even from a certain perspective, this game is similar to the finals. After all, according to the league structure of the West being strong and the East being weak, if you can win the Western Conference Finals, the championship is basically in your hands.

The first game of this year's Western Conference Finals is scheduled for May 5, with the Mavericks playing away against the Spurs.

ESPN's pre-match prediction was that the Mavericks had a 48% chance of winning this game, while the Spurs had a 52% chance of winning.

In fact, the public's opinion of the two teams is fifty-fifty. As for why the Spurs have a higher winning rate, it is because of their home advantage.

After all, in a game where the teams are so close in strength, any interference from off-field factors may become a key factor affecting the direction of the game.

As for who will win the game, it ultimately depends on the players' on-the-spot performance.

(End of this chapter)