Chapter 1195: Chapter 488: The First Round Is Lively This Year (Part 2)

Zhang Yang flipped through it and, as he expected, their round two hypothetical opponent is the Hawks team.

As for the other seven series, he didn’t pay much attention, but he did have some understanding.

Currently, the Hawks team is leading the Celtics 3 to 1, entering the set point. There is a strength gap between a 50-win team and a 40-win team, but the Hawks team isn’t having an easy time. If it weren’t for Pierce hitting four three-pointers in a single quarter in the final part of Game 2, scoring 22 points, the Celtics would have taken the home court advantage… Note: Even though the Celtics are fourth in the East, they have a worse record than the Hawks team. The Hawks are fifth but have home court advantage.

With Al Jefferson and Gooden forming a difficult-to-match dual-tower defense, Tony Allen on the perimeter defense at an elite level, and Josh Smith connecting the defense at a second level… the playoffs are a real grind.

The Bobcats team is the only team this year to sweep through the first round. The Bulls and Cavaliers both have significant advantages, but both lost Game 4 the night before last, failing to complete the sweep. They are currently leading 3 to 1.

In the West, the Trail Blazers and Grizzlies are battling it out fiercely, tied at 2 to 2, and there hasn’t been a game with a double-digit point difference yet.

The Lakers and Mavericks are playing with great passion, also tied at 2 to 2, but the two teams play quite differently.

In the opening game, the Lakers won by 19 points, 120 to 101; but in Game 2, the Mavericks countered with a 118 to 110, hitting 14 three-pointers in a single game and took the home court advantage; then in Game 3, the home court advantage grabbed by the Mavericks hadn’t even warmed up before being seized back by the Lakers, although the point difference was small this time, with the Lakers narrowly beating the Mavericks at 106 to 100, and Kobe fiercely hit several mid-range shots in the critical moments, practically shooting the Mavericks down; in Game 4, the Mavericks erupted with long-range shots, hitting 15 three-pointers as a team, maintaining their second home court at 120 to 111 and leveling the score.

After looking at the reports of the first four games between the Lakers and Mavericks, Zhang Yang felt the Mavericks didn’t play very well, as Billups’ game control was completely shut down by Kidd, it’s a natural counter.

The two games they won were due to an explosion of three-pointers, meaning Billups and Terry started hitting shots. When these two couldn’t get going, the Mavericks struggled to barely break 100 points.

And Although Nowitzki’s skill level improved this season, it’s only been a season, and he still couldn’t compete with Kobe in critical moments, strongly limited by the three towers of Garnett, Kwame Brown, and Gasol.

The Lakers, on the other hand, had a well-balanced attack overall, scoring both inside and outside, with each game’s points exceeding 105, showing stronger overall performance than the Mavericks, mainly reflected in Kobe, who averaged 34 points with a 48.5% shooting rate, a beast that the Mavericks had no match for.

The other two Western series are both at 3 to 1.

The Nuggets team leads the Hornets 3 to 1; Paul experienced the feeling of meeting another big star in the East after struggling to drag his team into the playoffs…

The Spurs are down 1 to 3 facing the Jazz Team!

Their style has changed, but one of the Spurs’ main characteristics hasn’t—stability.

They remain a ‘slow push’ team, playing the ‘King’s Way’ style. If they can’t win, it truly shows… The only win in Game 2 was Ginobili scoring 16 points in the last quarter and 31 points in total, teaming up with Duncan, who hit 8 mid-range shots and scored 27 points, to shoot down the Jazz Team.

The media and fans’ focus, through the first four games of each series, gradually shifted from the ‘Four Big Stars’ and ‘Super Center Showdown’ to the Spurs and Jazz Team…

In the evening, Zhang Yang returned to his parents’ house with eight tickets for the first game of the second round, for his parents, his younger brother, Xiao Biao Biao, Da Luo Er Ha, and the Tatum brothers. The latter four seats are in the front row, while his parents, younger brother, and Xiao Biao Biao’s seats are in the second row behind them.

Thinking about when Qiao Tu almost bent his pen when signing the tickets, Zhang San couldn’t help but laugh.

You can’t blame him; he initially wanted to buy the tickets, but Boss Qiao insisted on giving however many were needed…

After Round 1 Game 2, the four brothers each went home. They didn’t follow Zhang Yang to Miami for the last two games, mainly because Game 2 left no suspense in the series. They planned to come back when the second round began.

After having a meal cooked by his dad, the family sat in front of the TV to watch Game 5 between the Spurs and Jazz Team.

2 hours and 18 minutes later, the game ended.

Duncan scored 19 points and 10 rebounds, Ginobili 16 points, 2 rebounds, and 3 assists, Guy 14 points, Conley 10 points and 6 assists, Finley 10 points, Diaw 11 points, 6 rebounds, and 3 assists… Six Spurs players scored in double figures, but none of them really heated up, and Duncan, Ginobili, and Guy’s points were below their average of the first four games.

On the other side, Boozer scored 31 points with 21 shots, adding 11 rebounds and 3 assists, Deron had 26 points and 13 assists, Kirilenko had 14 points, 6 rebounds, 6 assists, 3 steals, and 3 blocks, Raja Bell had 16 points; although only four players scored in double figures, their scores topped the six from the Spurs!

107 to 96, the Jazz Team defeated the Spurs on the road, advancing to the second round with a 4 to 1 final score!

…

Just a year after the Mavericks were taken out by the eighth seed, another team did it, and it’s against the NBA’s most consistent team over the past 11 seasons—the Spurs. The topic heat after the Spurs and Jazz Team series ended is even higher than the eighth seed upset in 2007!

Silver Horned King: Hahaha, the Stone Buddha got beaten too!

Seeing so many people shocked by the Spurs being taken out by the eighth seed, Zhang Yang was quite puzzled. Wasn’t it clear after Game 1 that the Jazz Team was heading for an eighth seed upset? Yet, the topic only gained traction after Game 3.

Instead, on their side, after losing Game 1, the Miami Heat sparked discussions of an eighth seed upset…

While saying the attention to the Spurs and Jazz Team game was low might make sense, the Spurs were already becoming one of the highest-rated teams since February, and the discussion level of Popovich VS Sloan before the playoffs was very high… Wait, did someone just compare the playoff duel of ‘Iron Blood’ Popovich and ‘Iron Blood’ Sloan? Wow!

When he thought of the two being nicknamed ‘Iron Blood,’ he naturally felt disinterested in watching their games, yet also wanted to analyze which team’s defense was the best during their peak… Maybe that’s why the game had topic heat but didn’t draw in many viewers, with low ratings during the first few games?

This time, Zhang Yang didn’t feel the need to study very much, compared to the time the Crazy Scientist knocked out his former team, this strategy was not very meaningful to analyze.

The Jazz Team’s defense restrains wing passing and top-of-the-arc playmaking and has strong rim protection. Kirilenko’s defensive connection ability is also among the league’s best… The system initially wasn’t perfect; the defense could only be described as not collapsing entirely. Conley and Guy are still growing, and the mid-range powerhouse Duncan’s Spurs team was countered severely.

With such a disadvantage, Popovich didn’t make effective adjustments, and the Jazz Team made no targeted adjustments throughout the series either, leading to the upset being astonishingly smooth.

The Cavaliers and the Bulls also advanced tonight, but with a more lively event like Duncan being upset heavily, not even the top center in the league being knocked off in the first round can steal the ‘spotlight’.

On the next day, the 4th, the Bobcats team began their preparations for the second round.

In the evening, just as Zhang Yang arrived home, he received a message from the assistant coach: Their hypothetical opponent couldn’t win the series in one go. Game 5 was overturned at home, as the Celtics defeated the Hawks 92 to 88 away, dragging the series into the sixth game.

That wasn’t surprising either, Tony’s team was notoriously resilient.

The Celtics had Big Al, which even Okafor couldn’t handle, let alone the second-year Horford.

After dinner, Zhang Yang went to the home theater and had to choose between the Lakers and Mavericks’ crucial Game 5 and the Nuggets and Hornets’ set point game, choosing the latter.

With limited free time, of course, he chose to watch the decisive games.

After watching half a game, Zhang Yang went to take a bath and soak, there was no suspense left; the Nuggets were 28 points ahead at halftime, with Paul scoring 6 points, 2 rebounds, 3 assists, and 5 turnovers on 2 out of 7 shooting, being defensively overwhelmed by The Answer.

More than an hour later, he returned to the home theater in pajamas, just in time to see the scoreboard on the big screen…

Zhang San: Oh my! The Third Superstar is never alone, following the 55 Wade and now 58 shells are also here!