No.1 in basketball scoring
Chapter 461 - 206. We are already considering the next round of opponents_4

Chapter 461: 206. We are already considering the next round of opponents_4

In the evening, Zhang Yang went back to his parents’ house, taking Little Wukong with him to watch Game 6 of the playoff series between the Mavericks and the Warriors.

During the entrance ceremony, Zhang Yang pointed at the last Mavericks player to enter the game, then pointed at the photo he had specially printed, saying, "Wukong, take a look, doesn’t it look like the Silver Horned King playing in the NBA?"

Yang Jing moved next to Zhang Chen and whispered, "Honey, do you think our youngest won’t be led astray by our eldest?"

Zhang Chen: "...He probably won’t."

After saying that, Zhang Chen watched Little Wukong quickly moving his little head, his gaze shifting back and forth between the television and the photo, feeling uncertain inside.

The little one might actually believe the tall tales spun by his big brother!

Zhang Chen said that’s why lately the eldest son comes home every day without bringing his brother to watch Naruto but instead has him watching Journey to the West, watching the Mount Pingding episode several times!

Hesitating for a moment, Zhang Chen quietly said to Yang Jing, "How about we have another one?"

Yang Jing slapped Zhang Chen and said angrily, "The kids are right beside us, what nonsense are you talking about..."

Zhang Chen: What did I say that’s so shameful?

...

There were no surprises in Game 6 between the Mavericks and the Warriors.

The Warriors truly thrashed the Mavericks throughout the game, ultimately slaughtering them 111 to 86, advancing to the second round 4-2, and completing the "We Believe" miracle.

Nowitzki scored only 8 points on 2 of 14 shooting in this game, getting nailed to the pillar of shame.

While watching the live broadcast, before the third quarter was even over, the commentator had started calling Nowitzki ’Soft’, not even using his name.

After the game, the results of this playoff series became exceptionally hot, touted as the most discussed first-round series in history, with the Mavericks setting the record for the highest win total for a first-round elimination, previously held by the SuperSonics at 64 wins.

Actually, from the time the Warriors led the series 3-1 against the Mavericks, in the United States, the attention given to other first-round series combined didn’t match that given to this one.

While enjoying the process of the upset, Zhang Yang had a good time munching on seeds, but after the Warriors completed the upset miracle, he had no desire to follow the news.

It was foreseeable that all the criticism would land on Nowitzki alone, with no one caring about Terry, Dampier also being part of the upset, or many paying attention to upset coach Avery Johnson... after all, Nowitzki was the MVP.

The next day, Zhang Yang threw himself entirely into training hard and doing individual drills.

At noon, the league announced Nowitzki had won the MVP for the regular season, pushing the already blazing upset topic to its peak.

Zhang Yang, during a break in training, heard his teammates discussing this topic as well, everyone mocking Nowitzki... He didn’t join in, not out of any particular fondness for the Silver Horned King, but because he knew the Silver Horned King would rise again, delivering a terrifying playoff performance...

If he had the chance, he wanted to stand on the opposing side of Nowitzki when he descended like a god.

In the evening, Yao and McGrady’s decisive Game 7 ended in defeat. Yao Ming averaged 25.3 points and 10.3 rebounds over seven games, McGrady averaged 25 points, 5 rebounds, and 7.3 assists, losing the series to the Jazz Team 3-4, bowing out in the first round.

Zhang Yang checked domestic websites and saw that the Warriors’ upset was quite the hot topic back home, but still not as hot as here with Yao Ming.

With Yao Ming’s first-round exit, domestic fans lamented continuously. There was incessant criticism of the Rockets for being stingy and unwilling to spend money on reinforcements. With an offensive average of 25 points and having guarded Okur to a mere 35% shooting efficiency, Yao could not have done better defensively.

Big Yao was out in the first round again; Zhang Yang felt somewhat disheartened, but seeing such public opinion made him feel a lot better.

He saw on well-known forums that some fans were calling on others to curse out the Rockets’ domestic sponsors, urging the sponsors to push Alexander to spend money on reinforcements... This fan’s got something!

Just as Zhang Yang was about to shut down the computer and head to his room for a shower and sleep, he casually pressed F5, refreshing the forum page, and there was a new post with news.

Zhang Yang clicked it and was surprised!

After the devastating Game 7 loss, Yao Ming said in a locker room interview, "I hope the owner will keep his promise to bring in strong reinforcements this summer. If he breaks his word, I will request a trade at the end of the off-season!"

Yao Ming actually issued a trade threat!

After his initial shock, Zhang Yang thought it over and it didn’t seem that unreasonable.

The current domestic sentiment about Yao Ming playing for the Rockets was half about urging the team to recruit reinforcements and the other half about suggesting Yao Ming change teams.

Zhang Yang here breezed into the second round while Yao Ming barely scraped by with an average of 25 points a game, yet they lost in Game 7. Aside from Yao and McGrady, only Alston averaged double-digit points at 10.7 per game, and his shooting percentage was only 33.8%. He took an average of 10.6 shots to make just 3.6 baskets...

With room for complaint and comparison, if Yao Ming could still put up with Alexander, Zhang Yang would do a split on the spot and thumbs up with his foot to commend Yao with a ’true man’s’ salute.

...

The first round of the 8 series ended, and on May 7th, the Pistons and the Chicago Bulls kicked off the second round.

The buzz over the Warriors’ miraculous eighth seed upset was gradually fading. Although this upset would be fondly remembered by fans for years to come and had a profound impact on Nowitzki, the games had ended and there were only so many topics that could be hyped up... The media and fans turned their attention to the second round matchups.

The Pistons vs. the Chicago Bulls series truly lacked excitement. Ben Wallace’s battle against his former team? Most fans were not interested in that.

Fans were more interested in the other three series, and the media was hyping up topics from those series as well.

How far could the Warriors go? Would they be like the Nuggets, dazzling brightly but leaving the playoffs quickly, or like the Knicks, going dark to the very end and straight into the finals?

The Jazz Team was the most surprising team in the West this season, securing 51 wins in their second year after drafting Deron. However, the topics about the Jazz Team vs. the Warriors series were almost all related to the Warriors.

After all, if the Warriors could take down the Mavericks, no one could predict what kind of performance they would put up next.

The top favorite for the championship was shockingly knocked out in the first round, leaving the two other western championship favorites—the Suns and the Spurs—as the biggest winners.

The media predicted that this year’s finals would be played in the second round, and whoever won between the Suns and the Spurs would be the champions.

With Pistons vs. Chicago Bulls, Jazz Team vs. Warriors, and Suns vs. Spurs, all three series were full of suspense, but the hottest topic was another series that most people didn’t think much of—Bobcats vs. Knight.

On May 8th, it was the Bobcats’ first game day of the second round.

The media gathered in Charlotte, and the Bobcats opened their training for press interviews on the game day.

When Zhang Yang was interviewed, a reporter asked him to predict the outcome of the second round.

He glanced at the reporter’s microphone—The Free News Report? He remembered now, media from Detroit...

Zhang Yang laughed and said, "We’re already considering our opponents for the next round."