Bishop of the Devil

After the Trail Blazers swept the SuperSonics to advance, the Lakers also swept the Kings and advanced to the Western Conference semifinals with the Trail Blazers.

The Jazz and Spurs are also fast. These two teams currently have a big score of 2:1, and promotion is in sight.

As for the Eastern Conference, the Pacers, 76ers and Green Kai teams all scored a big score of 2:1.

Judging from the current situation, I am afraid that this year's Western Conference Finals will be a preview of the finals.

Several teams in the Western Conference are not weak, but compared to the Trail Blazers or Lakers, they are completely inferior.

Not to mention the Trail Blazers or Lakers, even the Spurs can probably defeat the strongest team in the Eastern Conference.

The situation in which the west is strong and the east is weak has been completely formed...

A few days later, the Western Conference semifinals between the Trail Blazers and Jazz officially began.

The Jazz were lucky. Their opponent, the Timberwolves, may have had their shooting percentage shrink in this playoff round because their players were too young, allowing the Jazz to be eliminated with a big score of 3:1.

But the Jazz's luck has finally run out, because their next opponent is the Trail Blazers!

This has been countless times, the Jazz have encountered the Trail Blazers in the playoffs...

…

Since Richard entered the league, the Jazz should be said to be the biggest sufferers under Richard. They have been cheated by Richard and have no place to reason...

…

The Jazz are not a team at the level of the SuperSonics, so Richard does not dare to take it lightly. Both Ben and O'Neill played in this series, averaging more than 38 minutes per game.

With these two at their base, the Jazz's performance on the field was quite torturous.

Coupled with Nowitzki's explosion in this series, the Jazz were easily swept 4-0 by the Trail Blazers.

Nowitzki can be said to have completely unleashed his power in this series, mainly because the Jazz could not restrain his small forward.

Let Nowitzki enter the state of shooting training...

After four games, he averaged 27 points, 6 rebounds and 3 assists per game. His two-point shooting percentage reached a terrifying 60%, and his three-point shooting percentage also exceeded 40%.

If McGrady hadn't consumed a lot of the ball, Nowitzki might even have averaged 30 points per game in this series.

A veteran driver is a veteran driver after all, and this offensive strength can be said to be completely inexplicable!

Nowitzki is known as one of the three power forwards in history. Unlike Duncan and Garnett, he relied entirely on his own offensive firepower.

As for Duncan and Garnett, including Chris Webber, they are both all-around power forwards with excellent offense and defense!

And Nowitzki's defense, to be honest, even in his peak period was just that, not much better than Harrington...

…

As for McGrady's performance in this round of the Western Conference semifinals, although the offensive efficiency was not particularly good, the defensive end was quite strong. He only averaged 11 points per game against Stockton.

Stockton only averaged 11 points per game, and Hornacek, under Artest's defense, only averaged 9.5 points per game, and didn't even score in double figures!

If Russell, their small forward, had not performed very well against Nowitzki, the Jazz would have been miserable in this series!

Losing to the Trail Blazers by an average of 30 points per game is quite possible.

…

In the first round of the playoffs, the Trail Blazers' Harrington and Tracy McGrady broke out.

In the second round of the playoffs, the Western Conference semifinals, Nowitzki exploded again.

The next step is to watch the Western Conference Finals, which is a preview of the finals. I don’t know who can break out in the Trail Blazers this time.

…

The Lakers and Spurs were in full swing.

Popovich tried his best to use the shark-cutting tactic, but because their lineup depth is really not as good as the Lakers, even if the shark-cutting tactic worked, they were still at a disadvantage.

The reason why the Spurs were able to defeat the Lakers with a big score of 4:1 last season was because the Lakers did not have a killer like Kobe Bryant in the backcourt at that time.

But now the Spurs cannot limit O'Neal, Kobe Bryant and Glen Rice.

Even if O'Neal plays less time, the Spurs are still a little overwhelmed...

In the end, the Lakers defeated the Spurs with a big score of 4:2, which was considered revenge.

The Lakers and Trail Blazers will meet in the Western Conference Finals, and in the East, the Philadelphia 76ers and Pacers will meet in the Eastern Conference Finals.

Most fans had predicted this matchup.

However, the Eastern Conference semifinals matchup between the 76ers and Green Kai was quite unexpected.

These two teams met in the Eastern Conference semifinals. Both teams had the Purdue Twins. Perhaps because the Philadelphia Twins had more experience, they finally defeated the Green Kai with a score of 4:3.

No one expected that Lu Kai’s strength would rise to such a terrifying level.

You know, the 76ers were the finals team last season!

Although they were shaved off by the Trail Blazers in the finals, if they can reach the finals, they are the strongest team in the Eastern Conference...

Now Green Kai can actually fight seven games with the strongest team in the Eastern Conference, which is enough to show the strength of this team!

Maybe they can become the dominant player in the Eastern Conference next season.

…

During the second round of the playoffs, the honors of the regular season are coming out again.

The ownership of the regular season MVP was finally won by O'Neal, but Kobe ranked second in the number of votes, with only a slight gap compared to O'Neal.

O'Neal deserves this honor. He, the most dominant big man in history, really doesn't have any decent honors at the moment...

Now that I have won a regular season MVP, I can finally feel proud.

During the match against the Spurs, O'Neal was so bad that he vomited blood. If it weren't for one of the games where his free throw skills were extraordinary, he might have died of suffocation...

Now that he has received a valuable honor, O'Neal has cleared away the gloom and is in a much better mood.

In fact, under normal circumstances, O'Neal won the regular season MVP this season, and it was the only regular season MVP he won in his career.

…

The honor of the best head coach was won by Green Kai head coach Pitino. This is well deserved. After all, Green Kai's performance this season is too amazing.

If Pitino can't win this award, it's really unreasonable.

…

The honor of Rookie of the Year naturally fell into the hands of Brand. With average rookie statistics of 23+10 per game, no one could compete with him.

There is not even anyone qualified to compete with him...

Although there were a lot of stars in the 1999 draft, especially the top six players from Purdue who entered the NBA, in terms of data, only Francis and Odom were able to keep up with Brand.

Francis averaged 18+5+6 per game with the Rockets, which is gorgeous, but he is not qualified to compete with Brand for Rookie of the Year.

As for Odom, he had all-around statistics of 17+8+4+1.2+1.3 in the Clippers. He simply got what he asked for...

It is no exaggeration to say that among this rookie class, in terms of all-around, Odom may be ranked first.

Even Richard looked at it with enthusiasm. Odom was really a player who was delayed by himself.

Or was it delayed by the Kardashian family?

Anyway, if this guy plays seriously, it is actually possible to play at the level of Chris Webber.

As a rookie, Odom really had everything he wanted. He had outstanding scoring ability, outstanding defensive ability, outstanding organizational ability, and his rebounding was above the standard.

Maybe my brain was damaged due to drug addiction, and my body was emptied by Kardashian, so I didn't perform as well as I should have.

Now that Richard is here, he definitely can't sit back and watch Odom being delayed. Once there is news that this guy is involved with the Kardashian family, he will immediately intervene in the matter.

…

The Best Sixth Man honor was won by Ginobili. Ginobili is really awesome this year, and basically no one is qualified to compete with Ginobili for this honor.

The honor of the Most Improved Player was won by Tracy McGrady!

The best defensive player missed out this year and was won by the Heat's Mourning.

This actually made Richard quite dissatisfied!

In Richard's view, the most valuable honor during the regular season is naturally the MVP, while the second-ranked honor is the best defensive player.

In fact, Big Ben is also eligible for this honor, but it may be that Big Ben got it last season. In addition, Mourning's statistics this season are really luxurious, so the voting was biased in favor of Mourning.

Big Ben was quite tolerant of not getting the DPOY and was not too dissatisfied.

…

In terms of the best rookie team, the Trail Blazers have a total of three first-year rookies this year, and all of them were selected.

Ginobili was selected to the Rookie First Team, while Artest and Kirilenko were selected to the Rookie Second Team.

This makes Richard quite satisfied...

In fact, Artest and Kirilenko have no advantage in data. If you look at the data purely, these two may not be able to enter the second team of the rookies.

But perhaps taking into account the defensive strength of these two people, the two finally entered the second team.

…

In terms of the best defensive team, this team is the base camp for the Blazers to harvest honors.

Last season the Trail Blazers had four players selected to the All-Defensive Team...

This season, with the departure of Rasheed and Kobe, the number of people selected this time is much smaller.

The five defensive players are Mutombo, Duncan, Ben, Kobe and Payton.

The five defensive players in the second team are O'Neal, Bowen, Kidd and PJ Brown.

Only two people were selected to the best defensive team, which still makes Richard quite uncomfortable...

If other teams knew that Richard was upset about this matter, they would probably shout that it was unreasonable!

There are only 10 seats in total, and you Blazers occupy two seats, and you still feel uncomfortable? !

Do you want to go to heaven? !

…

Richard was quite satisfied with the final best team of the season, mainly because Ben was selected into the best team this time, which made Richard feel happy!

The best team, this is also an incredible honor, which is equivalent to the five strongest players in the same position in the league!

This statement may be a bit biased, mainly because the selection of this lineup is not based on positions one to five, but based on the three positions of center, forward and defender like the All-Stars.

Therefore, there may be situations where the strongest point guard is ranked in the best second team because his performance is not as good as the second shooting guard.

But generally speaking, as long as they are selected for the best team, they are the top group of people in the league.

All-NBA First Team: O'Neal, Duncan, Ben, Kobe, Iverson!

Among them, the appearance of Big Ben in this lineup is really a bit inconsistent...

The main reason is that Big Ben's scoring is really embarrassing. He averages less than five points per game, which is not as good as a fraction of others.

That is to say, Duncan scored less, averaging 23.2 points per game. Kobe, O'Neal and Iverson all averaged more than 27 points per game!

Big Ben directly created a great "honor". In the entire NBA history, he was selected as the player with the fewest points in the All-NBA First Team.

I'm afraid no one will be able to break Daben's record in the future...

And this year is also the only season in the entire NBA history that three people have achieved the achievement of double teams!

Ben, Duncan and Kobe were all selected for the double team!

…

Averaged about 5 points, 16.5 rebounds, 3 assists, 3.5 blocks and 1 steal per game. Is he qualified to be selected for the All-NBA First Team? !

That definitely qualifies!

Everyone knows that Ben is the core of the Trail Blazers' frontcourt. With Ben on the court and without Ben on the court, the Blazers are completely different things.

In such a powerful Trail Blazers team, playing such an important role, no matter how you look at it, Ben can be ranked among the first team.

All players in the entire league have no objections to Ben being selected for the best team.

Even if I have an opinion, I can only endure it...

Garnett, for example, has quite some opinions. He feels that he is more qualified to be selected for the first team than Ben.

But he certainly wouldn't dare to say this publicly. Is he more qualified than Da Ben? ! Please let the team pass the first round of the playoffs first before we talk about this...

As for the best second team, the five players are Ou, Grant Hill, Garnett, Kidd and Glove Payton!

Xiao Ou entered the best second team, and he was selected at the center position!

What does this mean? It shows that in everyone's eyes, Xiao Ou is the second center in the league!

Well-deserved second center in the league!

Xiao Ou, who was born in October 1978, is now in May 2000. Under the age of 22, he has directly become the second center in the league? !

Fans and experts from all walks of life, on the one hand, secretly lamented the horror of this young man Xiao Ou, on the other hand, they secretly lamented the decline of the center.

In an era when the four major centers are all at their peak, how can a center like O'O be qualified to be selected for the All-NBA Team?

…

As for the best third team, no one from the Trail Blazers was selected.

Although Richard also knew very well that it was quite a feat for a team to have two players selected for the best team, he still found it difficult to accept it.

The main reason is that my vision is now higher. Last season was so brilliant, but this season the honors I got are much less than last season!

Of course, if you say it's much less, it's not really that much. The most important thing is that you didn't get the two most valuable honors.

You must know that last season, whether it was MVP or DPOY, they were all in the Blazers' bag!

This season, I have won some scattered small prizes, but Richard must have looked down upon these small prizes.

…

If the Blazers dominated last season, then this season the Blazers and the Lakers share the world.

The Lakers won the honor of regular season MVP this year, and two of them were selected to the All-NBA Team, and their players were also included in the All-Defensive Team.

However, the Trail Blazers are not to be outdone. They even win more awards than the Lakers, but the quality is slightly inferior.

…

The current alliance has formed a situation where the Lakers and Trail Blazers are competing for hegemony!

Last season, the Blazers were the dominant team. Even the Spurs, the only team that could compete with the Blazers, were swept by the Blazers 4-0 in the end.

And if the Trail Blazers can sweep the Lakers this season, no one, not even Richard himself, will believe it.

During the regular season, the two teams met four times, and the Lakers won one of them, and they won because of O'Neal's poor free throw shooting.

Therefore, in the next Western Conference Finals, the Lakers will definitely not let the Trail Blazers pass easily like the Spurs did last season.

But if the Lakers are sure to defeat the Trail Blazers and advance to the Finals, not many fans believe it...

After all, O'Neal's free throws are a big problem. If the rules restricting shark cutting are introduced, then it is estimated that half of the fans will believe that the Lakers can beat the Trail Blazers.

But the rules restricting shark cutting have not yet been introduced, and the Lakers are still at a disadvantage!

…

May 20, Staples Center, the home arena of the Lakers.

The Western Conference Finals have officially begun.

During the warm-up phase of the court, Kobe ran to Richard's side with a pleased expression on his face.

"Coach, I have good news for you..."

Richard frowned and looked at Kobe, "What's the good news? Isn't it because you O'Neal has found a way to improve free throws?"

"No..." When Kobe heard this, his face suddenly turned bitter.

If we want to talk about the Lakers team, who wants to improve O'Neal's free throws the most, it may not be O'Neal and Jackson, it may be Kobe.

…

"I'm in love and I've met the one I love!" Kobe's face was filled with happiness.

Richard was startled, his true destiny? !

Good guy, it can’t be...

"Vanessa?!" Richard looked at Kobe in disbelief with his eyes wide open.

Kobe was also dumbfounded, "Huh?! Coach, you already know this?!"

For a moment, Kobe felt that Richard might really be the reincarnation of God, and he even knew the name of his destined daughter!

You must know that the two of them have not made their relationship public yet, and they are very cautious when meeting each other on weekdays. No one knows about their relationship at the moment.

But Richard actually knew it. Not only did he know it, he even knew his name clearly!

Kobe doesn’t want to make their relationship public right now, not that he’s still thinking about the colorful world outside, but mainly because Vanessa’s current age is a bit awkward…

I just turned 17 a few days ago...

"How do I know? How long do you really think you can hide this? I'm telling you, the Oregon tabloids have already broken the news!" Richard said with a wink.

He spoke quickly just now and directly said Vanessa's name...

"Okay, coach, after tonight's game is over, I will take you to meet him..." Kobe looked at Richard expectantly.

Richard is a little weird, you have found a woman, let me see your balls, is this just showing off? !

"Don't be surprised, coach, I believe in your judgment of people. I want you to help me look at her. I want to marry her!"

"Go away, if I say something bad about her, you kid won't marry anyone?!"

"You make up your own mind about this matter, I won't care about it. What do you think I am, Richard? Come to me for such nonsense!"

Richard said quite speechlessly...

He actually doesn't really want Kobe and Vanessa to get married. The main reason is that everyone around Kobe is opposed to their marriage, which makes Kobe a bit alienated.

But Richard also knows very well that Vanessa is a rich woman. If Vanessa wasn't there, Kobe would be messing around...

…

So this kind of thing can only be left to chance, and Richard is not prepared to get involved in this kind of thing.

…

Richard actually didn't expect that Kobe's life trajectory had been changed, but under such circumstances, he could still meet Vanessa.

And not only did they meet, the key point is that these two people also saw eye to eye!

To put it in that bloody phrase, it’s really…

Fate, wonderful beyond words.

…

"You kid, get out of here, you are nagging me about this kind of thing, be careful if I let someone mess with you at the meeting!"

"When you are really ready to get married, send me an invitation!"

Richard said with a smile.

If Kobe really marries Vanessa, then Kobe will probably still be embarrassed during the wedding.

No parents, relatives or friends were present, and even because of Jackson Jackson’s objections, no Lakers teammates were present!

Richard didn't want Kobe to be so miserable. If he really married Vanessa, he would definitely support him.

Kobe smiled and ran to his own half to warm up.

…

After the game started, what made Richard very depressed was that O'Neal didn't know what medicine he had taken wrong, and his free throw level exploded quite dramatically!

In the first quarter, Richard tried to chop O'Neal, but O'Neal made 6 of 7!

Such a terrible free throw must not be cut off...

O'Neal made 5 of 7 in the second quarter and 4 of 6 in the third quarter!

Richard was simply dumbfounded. Is this fucking O'Neal? !

Is it any wonder that what he said to Kobe before the game made O'Neal explode? !

…

"Beep!" The referee blew the whistle to end the game.

How dare the Blazers lose...

Although we only lost by four points, if we lose, we lose. Even if we lose by one point, we still lose!

Even the fans at Staples Arena were so shocked that they forgot to cheer...

Just beat the Trail Blazers? !

Why does it feel so unrealistic? Aren't the Trail Blazers insurmountable? !

The Trail Blazers' two-year unbeaten streak was directly broken, at the Lakers' home court!

Even Richard didn't expect that the Lakers would give the Trail Blazers a blow from the beginning!

In tonight's game, O'Neal and Kobe are simply incredible!

OK combination, or KO combination? Tonight, we worked together to score 73 points, 23 rebounds, 12 assists, 3 steals and 3 blocks, which made people smile from ear to ear!

Among them, O'Neal scored 41 points, 14 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 blocks!

And Kobe had 32 points, 9 rebounds, 8 assists and 3 steals, a super luxurious quasi-triple-double...

These two are indeed the strongest internal and external combination in the league today, and they directly produced unprecedented super statistics in an explosive burst!