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Chapter 476 - 211. You’re doing this out of spite! (Wishing you a healthy Dragon Boat Festival)_2

Chapter 476: 211. You’re doing this out of spite! (Wishing you a healthy Dragon Boat Festival)_2

Hinrich scored 17 points and dished out 13 assists, Ben Gordon added 28 points, Luol Deng contributed 20 points, Nocioni had 15 points, and Duhon contributed 10 points... Standing on the brink, the Chicago Bulls exploded into action, defeating the Pistons 108-92 and narrowing the series to 2-3.

Although the Bulls won, and it was a big victory, Zhang Yang still felt that the Bulls had no hope.

The Pistons played well tonight, keeping the tempo slow and focusing on defense, but the Bulls simply shot well; the Pistons’ rhythm wasn’t disrupted.

The tide-turning battle between the Spurs and the Phoenix Suns continued.

With the Suns’ two big men, Stoudemire and Diaw, suspended, they still held a significant lead for the first three quarters, displaying extremely fierce defense and pressuring the Spurs, holding them to just 56 points.

But without Diaw and Stoudemire, the Suns were left with only their defense, and their six-man rotation didn’t have the stamina to keep up the pace. The Suns only scored 67 points in three quarters, with their point totals steadily declining: 24 in the first, 23 in the second, and 20 in the third...

In the final quarter, while the Suns’ offense continued to deteriorate, their defense also broke down. Six players rotating could only hold up for three quarters.

Ginobili, who had scored only 7 points in the first three quarters, unsheathed his magic again, shooting 4 of 5 from the field, including 3 of 3 from three-point range, plus 6 free throws out of 6 to total 17 points, leading the Spurs to a 32-18 quarter.

The Spurs completed the comeback with an 88-85 win, taking the pivotal game and leading the series 3-2.

Ginobili slayed the Suns, and for 20 minutes Jordan’s legendary name resounded through the basketball world once again!

Two days later, on May 22nd, the Pistons defeated the Bulls away 85-75, taking the series 4-2 to meet the Bobcats in the Eastern Conference Finals!

After a big loss, the Pistons didn’t make any hasty adjustments but continued with the effective style they had used previously. This was because the Bulls didn’t win Game 5 by adjusting their tactics; it was purely an explosion of three-point shooting that got them the win.

In Game 6, however, the Bulls seemed in a rush, and the three-pointers they made in Game 5 were often from tactical plays, normal executions of strategies, and passes out of restricted shooting opportunities that the supporting shooters made. Tonight, the Bulls’ tactics became three-point focused... which, under the current NBA rules, is too easy to defend. The Pistons held the Bulls to 5 of 20 from beyond the arc, and by the end, the Bulls were playing chaotically, even worse than in the previous three losses.

The Suns returned home to face the Spurs in Game 6 of the series.

After starting slow in the previous two games, Ginobili took off right from the start this time, playing 13 minutes in the first half, shooting 5 of 8, including 1 of 2 from three, and making 2 of 2 free throws for 13 points and 3 assists. In the second half, he played 15 minutes, shot 6 of 9, including 3 of 5 from three, and made 5 of 6 free throws for 20 points and another 3 assists.

With Stoudemire and Diaw back in the lineup, the Suns played well tonight, excelling on offense and performing well on defense, managing to make Parker hit 16 bricks. Apart from Ginobili, the rest of the Spurs were 3 of 15 from three...

But led by Ginobili who scored 33 points and had 6 assists in just 28 minutes, the Spurs maintained their lead throughout the game, and ended up defeating the Suns decisively with a score of 114-106, taking the series 4-2 and heading to the Western Conference Finals to face the Jazz!

...

The next day, May 23rd, Zhang Yang continued preparing with the team for the Eastern Conference Finals.

Today the team’s training entered a new phase – targeted training.

The past few days were spent on high-intensity intra-squad scrimmages since they were the first to start their second round and finished quickly, having rested since the 17th. Without scrimmaging, they really might have rested themselves out of shape.

They played a lot of different tempos in the intra-squad games. Felton was berated by Jordan after a hangover because he was flamboyantly dominated by Rondo and Derek Anderson in a hardcore version of the scrimmage.

The Pistons faced the Wizards in the first round with a mix of regular offense and defense and high scoring. In the second round against the Bulls, it was a tough defensive battle. The Bobcats gathered plenty of prep material from those games, and on the last two days of preparation, it was time to train specifically against the Pistons’ offensive and defensive tactics.

Today, in addition to training, there was another task - back-to-back interviews.

In accordance with the rules, teams that reach the division finals must open up a Media Day before the division finals begin.

Bickerstaff didn’t hide his strategy, preparing as usual. At this point, the regular offensive and defensive tactics were already laid out. In the actual game, the test of coaching tactics mainly lay in the ability to adapt on the spot.

Of course, if the team’s strength is as formidable as the ’03 Spurs, ’04 Pistons, ’05 Spurs... it doesn’t matter whether the opposing team has figured out your style of play or whether you can adapt on the spot.

However, before the start of the division finals, the direction of public opinion was rather strange...

After the afternoon’s training, Felton and Zhang Yang huddled over a computer browsing forums while receiving treatment.

Felton looked at the official forum’s popular voting post with a complex expression and asked, "Jack, am I seeing things?"

Zhang Yang: "Although I’m not sure what you saw, boss, I think you’re not."

Felton: "No, seriously, why is that chubby guy the number one in the FMVP support rate, and why is the Jazz Team number one in the champion support rate? These fans don’t take us seriously, I get that, but the Spurs won the championship in ’03 and ’05! The Pistons took the championship in ’04!"

Zhang Yang: "No one wants to see the Spurs win the championship, everyone hopes the Jazz Team can pull off an upset. "

Felton: "...Right, I also hope the Jazz Team can beat the Spurs. The Spurs should be expelled from the NBA. Kidd was right not to go to the Spurs, otherwise, I definitely wouldn’t like him anymore. What about the Pistons though? Didn’t the Pistons crush the Jazz Team in the regular season both times they played?"