unfinished glory

Chapter 253 Meeting the Finals

Chapter 253 Meeting the Finals

This is the third Western Conference final between the Grizzlies and the Lakers, and also the fourth duel between Li Chongxiao and Kobe.

The fans are a little tired of this kind of drama, and the motivation to support them to continue to pay attention is to know whether Li Chongxiao can eliminate the Lakers, completely end the Kobe era, and establish his own dynasty.

The road for the Lakers this season is a bit difficult. Kobe has a lot of injuries and only played 63 regular season games intermittently.Before the start of the playoffs, he missed the last four regular season games due to knee problems, giving up a possible second place in the Western Conference.

Despite this, in the playoffs, Kobe played tenaciously with injuries and helped the team reach the Western Conference Finals.

They eliminated the Trail Blazers 4:2 in the first round, and won the old enemy Spurs 4:3 in the second round.

However, in the Western Conference finals, the Lakers felt a bit at the end of their strength. In the first game, they were very weak on the offensive end. Before the Grizzlies raised their defensive level to the highest level, they made various strikes and mistakes.

After halftime, they fell behind by as many as 21 points, and the game can basically be declared over before the three quarters are finished.Yao Ming only scored 25 points in this game, and Kobe only scored 17 points.

This made the long-prepared Grizzlies very confused. For the first time, the biggest opponent in the past two seasons appeared so vulnerable in front of him.

Li Chongxiao didn't even encounter too much difficulty in this game. He didn't play at all in the fourth quarter and finally scored 37 points.

Even with the downturn of the Lakers in the first game, the Grizzlies did not dare to take it lightly. They were ready at the beginning of the second game, trying to resist the opponent's counterattack.

But the expected offensive did not come at all, and the Lakers did not slow down in the second game.Their core lineup is another year older, and there is no new blood flowing in.

On the back line, Fisher has been reduced to a false starter, and he can only get less than 10 minutes of game time per game.Not to mention that there is no contribution on the offensive end, but the defensive end is a big colander.

Artest's experience and movement speed are not bad against other players, but he has never been able to defend against Li Chongxiao.

Limited by salary space, the Lakers' power forward lineup is relatively weak, and they have not been able to sign good players.The insiders on the bench are also the watchmen of the drinking fountains, so they can't play at all.

Kobe's injury problems caused his performance to be very unstable, and the Lakers had to rely on Yao Ming for independent support.But he was also hard to beat with two fists and four hands, and was defeated by the Grizzlies inside with a wheel battle.

The Lakers scored a new low in the playoffs in the second game, only scoring 76 points.Bryant has scored 20 or fewer points in two straight games.

Li Chongxiao also scored no more than 40 points in the following two games, and he didn't need to play too much time.

Returning to Los Angeles with a score of 2:0, in the minds of the fans, the Lakers, who were forced to go on a blind date, will definitely explode, otherwise there will be no chance at all.

In fact, after returning to the home court, they really broke out. Kobe and Yao Ming both scored more than 30 points.But apart from the two of them, none of the other players scored in double figures.

This kind of performance is not enough to beat the Grizzlies. Li Chongxiao scored 55 points alone, and the remaining Gasol brothers and Conley both scored in double figures. The Grizzlies once again developed harmoniously individually and as a whole.

The 3:0 score shredded the Lakers' final line of defense, leaving them with only a decent chance to pursue.

In the fourth game, the Lakers played with a tragic mood. They killed wave after wave of offense towards the Grizzlies' defense.But the effect of this attack is not obvious, because their two offensive knives have been rusted and have lost the sharpness of the past.

The Grizzlies also realized that the Lakers were no longer the formidable enemy they imagined, and began to beat the underdogs unceremoniously.

Their offense was more active than the Lakers. Li Chongxiao scored 27 points in the first quarter, and then collected other statistics while collecting points. He scored a triple-double of 51 points, 12 rebounds and 11 assists in the whole game.

Under his leadership, the Grizzlies easily won the fourth game.

After sweeping the Lakers, the Grizzlies began to feel a little lost.It was like preparing for a long mountain climbing trip. The first time I came down halfway up the mountain, and the second time I was exhausted before I barely climbed to the top of the mountain.I didn't dare to start again until I was fully armed for the third time, and found that I had reached the top of the mountain before I had finished breathing.

……

In the first three rounds including the Western Conference Finals, the Grizzlies won very easily, and the entire Western Conference did not interfere with them at all.

This situation made the two teams in the Eastern Conference finals beating their hearts. The Heat and the Celtics are still entangled, while the Grizzlies have begun to sit on the mountain and watch the tiger fight.

In the fifth game of the Eastern Conference Finals, the Heat and the Celtics tied 2:2 in the first four games.

The road to promotion for both teams is quite difficult.The Heat beat the 76ers in the first round, and the inside line was blown to pieces.

Although the old captain Brand's athletic ability has declined after a serious injury, his first-hand offensive ability still exists, and it is still more than enough to beat Bosh.

Coupled with the explosion of the sixth man Louis Williams on the bench, Wade was a little embarrassed.

Fortunately, the Heat have James, who is at least one grade higher than the opponent's players to be able to gain the advantage.

And the boss of the 76ers, Iguodala, is a player who doesn't like to attack, and his shots are getting fewer and fewer every year.If he had the same desire to shoot as his fellow player Li Chongxiao, it might be the Heat who got 4:2.

The Heat's opponent in the second round was the Magic, and the two teams played seven games.The shooting team, the Magic, almost killed the Heat. Bosh couldn't score in the paint at all, and Wade was also overwhelmed by Howard's big cap.

This time it was still James who stepped forward. Only he could carry Howard to complete the layup, averaging 32.3 points, 8.7 rebounds and 7.4 assists per game.

The opponent Celtics also experienced ups and downs. After a coaching change, under the leadership of the new coach Lionel Hollins, they still achieved the fourth place in the Eastern Conference.

The first round is a duel between the old and new Big Three.The green jerseys spent a lot of effort to suppress the Knicks, McGrady still missed the first round of the playoffs.

In the second round, they faced the Bulls, the number one team in the Eastern Conference. When everyone was not optimistic about them, these old guys exploded with great energy.In the defensive battle, they have more experience, so they have the last laugh.

……

Game [-] of the Western Conference Finals was played at the Heat's home court, but it was the Celtics who won.

The Heat's inside disadvantage is too great. After Bosh pulled out, he lost his touch and rebounds.

The loss of this game has completely inspired James. He has lost to the Celtics for three consecutive seasons. If he still runs to the Heat, he cannot accept this ending.

The sixth game was held at the North Shore Garden Arena. James scored 47 points in the away game to even out the big score.

Then he hit it off again in Game 45, scoring another [-] points to end the series.

After four years, James finally broke through the blockade of the Celtics and entered the finals again.

(End of this chapter)