The Godfather of Basketball

Two days later, without surprise, the Magic beat the Bucks 96-67, eliminated their opponents 4-2, and advanced to the Eastern Conference semifinals.

The Cavaliers and Magic meet in the Eastern Conference semifinals for the second consecutive year.

After the first round, many people have a new understanding of the strength of the Cavaliers, and basically hold a 50-50 attitude towards this round of the series.

The Magic's inside strength is far better than that of the Cavaliers, but the Cavaliers' shooters this year have completed a major upgrade.

In this round of the series, compared to strength, some off-court factors are more attractive.

What to watch, even more attention-grabbing than the first round.

The Cavaliers were eliminated by the Magic 2-4 last year, and for James and Cleveland fans, it was a year of revenge.

Howard was swept 4-0 by the Rockets coached by Tang Tian last year. When he met Tang Tian's team again, the big boy also wanted revenge.

As for the head coach of the Magic, Stan Van Gundy, he was evaluated as useless after last year's finals, and against Tang Tian, ​​he also needs to prove himself.

Because the record in the regular season was lower than that of their opponents, Tang Tian and the Cavaliers also boarded a plane to Orlando the day before the start of the series.

"Shaq, they say you're old." On the plane, Rasheed Wallace and O'Neill chatted.

"You old guy, I'm only 37 years old, and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is still playing at 42 years old." O'Neal said with a disapproving smile.

"That guy Dwight doesn't know what to think, maybe he wants to show you some color!" Wallace said with a big laugh.

"Hmph! Little hairy boy!" O'Neill laughed.

The two old ball ruffians chatted unscrupulously, and the atmosphere of the team looked very good.

"Dwight has improved a lot this season. In the regular season, Kwame can play the role of a surprise player. It's hard to say in the playoffs." Casey also turned to Tang Tian at this time.

"Look at the performance of our big man." Tang Tian said and glanced at O'Neill, "No matter what, don't double-team."

Casey nodded. Tang Tian played a round of finals against the Magic last year, and he knows how to play.

After getting off the plane, the team boarded the bus directly to the hotel.

At this moment, Tang Tian's cell phone rang.

He picked it up and looked at it. It was a short message, sent by Woj.

"Yao Ming was elected the regular season MVP of the 2009~2010 season."

The information is short and the content is large.

The Rockets ranked first in the league in the regular season. Yao Ming averaged 29.2 points, 12.6 rebounds, 5.2 assists and 2.6 blocks in 38.9 minutes per game.

This should be the most suspenseful year for MVP after Tang Tian entered the NBA.

Three consecutive MVPs, Yao Ming has become the fourth player after Russell, Chamberlain, and Bird.

After arriving at the hotel and arranging the players' rooms, Tang Tian called Yao Ming.

"I'd rather not have this MVP trophy."

What he didn't expect was that Yao Ming's mood was much lower than the previous two years.

After chatting for a while, I realized that he is doing leg acupuncture right now.

The last time the two met, Yao Ming went back and raised this issue with Thibodeau. After the All-Star Game, his playing time was indeed reduced a lot, but in the playoffs, he averaged nearly 40 minutes per game in the first round. His own life.

"Protect yourself well."

Tang Tian could only say such things.

Because of him, Yao Ming's career has changed, but he may return someday.

"Coach, I wish you were still on the Rockets."

Yao Ming was also full of helplessness in the end.

"I'm still waiting for you in the finals." Tang Tian avoided this topic and said with a smile.

The Rockets this season don't have Artest, although they have more Salmons, but it's not easy to get past the Lakers.

The two chatted for a while, and when they hung up the phone, Tang Tian also temporarily put Yao Ming's matter aside and asked Casey to take the team to the training hall for training.

The regular season record of the two teams is a 2-2 tie.

Just like Casey said, in the first game of the regular season, Big Ben restricted Howard to a certain extent, followed by Kwame Brown, but in the last two games, Howard's low-post offensive skills improved significantly, and this restriction was relatively limited. up.

This round will be much more difficult than the first round.

Orlando, like Cleveland, is a small city, but one difference is that it has the world's largest Disneyland and the largest Sea World in the United States, with more than 26 million tourists every year, making it a well-known tourist city in the United States.

Therefore, in addition to locals, there are also a large number of tourists who come to watch the game.

The Eastern Conference semifinals, some fans and tourists will not miss this kind of occasion.

Because of this, Tang Tian saw many Chinese fans at the scene.

Orlando does not have Yao Ming, Yi Jianlian, or even Sun Yue. These people must be here for him.

Sure enough, when the Cavaliers entered the arena, they waved and shouted at Tang Tian.

Tang Tian also reached out to respond to them.

In the away game, these Chinese fans can also be regarded as Cavaliers fans.

After the opening ceremony, the starters of the two teams appeared one after another.

The Cavaliers still have a regular lineup, with O'Neal Galashid Wallace on the inside, Beverly Matthews on the outside, and small forward James.

The same goes for the Magic, with Howard plus Lewis on the inside, Nelson plus Pietrus on the outside, and Carter at small forward.

However, what is different from the past is that the person who jumped the ball for the Cavaliers was not Wallace, but O'Neal.

There was a commotion at the scene.

After O'Neal left the Heat, he became an old O'Neal. He hasn't jumped the ball for many years.

Did he just give up knowing that Wallace couldn't beat Howard in the jump?

Although there are four quarters in the game, the jump ball does not affect the number of offensive rounds of both sides, but in NBA games, the side that wins the jump means that the momentum will be significantly higher than the opponent in the opening game.

The live camera cut to Tang Tian.

Tang Tian's expression was relatively flat.

In fact, this is not his arrangement, but O'Neill's own request.

The referee lifted the ball, and the fans waited to cheer.

The referee blows the whistle and the ball is thrown.

But just before the whistle blew, O'Neal jumped up first and slapped the ball back to the Cavaliers' half.

There was a moment of astonishment at the scene, and the referee blew his whistle, indicating that O'Neal violated the jump ball.

O'Neill didn't seem to care, smiling and talking to the referee.

The referee ignored it and continued to throw the ball for the second time.

O'Neill still jumped first, and Howard froze in place this time.

There was a lot of boos at the scene, but the referee did not blow his whistle to signal the start of the game.

Tang Tian laughed outright when he saw this.

Hey, old football ruffian!

After all, NBA games are commercial games, and it is impossible to waste too much time on the jump ball.

And even if O'Neal keeps jumping like this, the referee can't do anything about it. After all, the result of a jump ball violation is nothing more than a re-jump. The NBA has no regulations in this regard, and it is impossible for him to really send O'Neal out...