ALL NOVEL Chapter 405 The G7 finals begin!
The grand entrance, the cheers of the whole audience, and the enthusiasm across the United States.
The ratings have exceeded experts' previous predictions from the very beginning, 51 million... According to current and timely data, there are actually 51 million viewers in the United States watching this NBA Finals!
This is a previously unimaginable achievement for the American basketball community.
51 million, 16% of the ratings in the United States, which is already comparable to some ordinary games such as the Super Bowl, the most popular game in the United States.
But what you have to understand is that the Super Bowl NFL is the largest event in the United States, and since Michael Jackson created the Super Bowl halftime show in 1993, there has been no other event or activity that can match it.
NBA? The NBA is nothing compared to the Super Bowl, but now it has reached half of the peak attendance of the Super Bowl finals with just one opening, and the data is still growing.
It is foreseeable that the NBA will be able to offer astronomical prices next year when it negotiates broadcast broadcasts with various media outlets across the United States and cooperation with various advertisers.
However, these things related to economic interests are only pleasing to the league's top brass, and are not at all in the minds of the ten players on the court.
Washington Wizards starting lineup: Point guard No. 10 Tyronn Lue, shooting guard No. 23 Jordan, small forward No. 21 Ron Artest, power forward No. 42 Al Harrington, center No. 5 Yao Ming!
Seattle SuperSonics starting lineup: No. 20 point guard Gary Payton, No. 31 shooting guard Brent Barry, No. 23 small forward Lin Dong, No. 9 forward Iguodala, and No. 10 center Hanamichi Sakuragi.
At this point in the series, the two sides no longer have any secrets, and the Sonics' starting lineup has already been thoroughly studied.
There are several adjustments to their starting five, all of which are at the forward position. If Desmond or Pedrague are added, the focus will be on defense at the beginning, while if Iguodala is added, the focus will be on defense. Go to grab the outside line in the opening game and use the run-and-gun tactics that the Sonics are famous for.
In fact, this is a quite extreme style of play. After all, Yao Ming was full of physical strength at the beginning, and there was not much Hanamichi Sakuragi could do. Going outside without a certain guarantee of rebounds was just a gamble.
At this time, both sides have stood in their respective positions, waiting for the referee to blow the whistle to start the game.
"Are you planning to leave winning or losing to luck?" Jordan looked with interest at the first-year rookie in front of him who had fought fiercely with him until the seventh game. He was also the only player in his career who could compete with him. Archenemy, he felt that his condition had never been as good as it was today.
There is no need for Artest to guard Lin Dong. Since the G4 Supersonics change, everyone has actually understood that it is better to let Artest block Lin Dong than to let him block Payton.
And an unreserved contest between the true cores of the two teams will be the main theme of this G7 from beginning to end!
The game hasn't started yet, but the psychological battle between each other has never stopped as early as G1.
Jordan smiled, chewed gum, and continued in a leisurely tone: "What a pity, God created Saturday, and in the seventh game of the Finals on Saturday, as God, I will get my first Seven championship rings, you’re not going to have any luck.”
"Oh? Are you talking about that God?"
Jordan laughed and responded: "Could he still be your Jade Emperor?"
So Lin Dong also laughed, and he looked at Jordan jokingly: "But as far as I know, your God completed the creation of the world six days ago, so he designated Saturday as the Sabbath Holy Day. In other words, By the way...it seems like your God doesn't work on Saturday?"
Jordan was startled.
beep!
The referee's whistle suddenly blew and the basketball was thrown high into the air.
The jumpers were Sakuragi Hanamichi and Yao Ming.
Perhaps because of the huge pressure and expectations for this game on both sides, Sakuragi Hanamichi jumped to his feet almost as soon as the whistle blew.
The ball jumped too early, so early that Yao Ming, who was also a little nervous, didn't even have time to think about it carefully, but just jumped along instinctively.
If there is anyone in this world who can influence Yao Ming's mentality, it is probably Sakuragi Hanamichi in front of him.
Facing top centers recognized by the world like O'Neal and Duncan, Yao Ming is calm enough and faces everything with the fearless mentality of a challenger.
Anyway, if you lose, it's natural. If you draw, the audience will cheer. If you win, the world will be shocked.
But when faced with Sakuragi Hanamichi, who was inferior to him in terms of height, weight, and even skills, mentality, experience, etc., when he was in the position of being challenged, this mentality changed.
Winning is a matter of course, drawing is the question of the whole world. If you lose, you will be spurned and cursed by everyone.
After all, Dayao still has too much to bear, and their mental states have a certain impact on each other's performance. Coupled with the opponent's rogue tactics, which makes Sakuragi naturally become Dayao's most troublesome opponent.
At this time, the subconscious reaction of taking off, as soon as the center of gravity was raised, he knew that something was wrong. He saw that Sakuragi Hanamichi's take-off height was not sufficient at this time, but he quickly fell and immediately took off again.
Neither of them reached the highest point of the ball. Even after landing, Yao Ming used his height and wingspan to touch the basketball first.
But Sakuragi Hanamichi's second takeoff came too fast. The moment Yao Ming felt his fingertips touch the basketball, the figure of No. 10 had already passed his eyes, and then he raised his big hand.
Done!
Sakuragi Hanamichi's eyes flashed with unparalleled excitement. He thought he could never win this jump ball, but the improvised 'cheating' tactic actually succeeded.
He suddenly flicked the basketball behind him.
The scene was instantly in an uproar.
Dayao actually lost the jump ball, and he lost to an opponent who was 22 centimeters shorter than him. This is simply incredible.
Snapped!
The ball is in Payton's hands.
The long-awaited G7, the long-awaited revenge battle!
Payton was both excited and nervous.
Will there be any problem with my knee after two consecutive injections? The bandage won't come loose, right? It seems to be okay, but you must not let yourself go in this game!
At this moment, many thoughts could not be suppressed in his heart, and a big hand suddenly cut towards his left side holding the ball.
Artest, the so-called Wizards defense is second only to Jordan.
Payton subconsciously pulled the ball to the right, but...
Snapped!
An unprepared big hand seemed to have already judged his reaction, stretched out from the right side, slapped the basketball hard, and knocked the ball to the ground.
Steal!
Payton was startled, and then he suddenly realized that he shouldn't be distracted.
No. 23!
He subconsciously turned his body, reached out, and briefly intercepted the figure No. 23 who was about to rush past him to pick up the ball. At the same time, the other No. 23 had also passed by the figure he blocked. He rushed forward and picked up the basketball on the ground.
Dark green No. 23, Lin Dong!
"Fake!" Jordan cursed secretly. Payton's subconscious interception just now was too fast, slightly blocking his forward figure.
And it was this obstacle that made the dark green figure rush forward like a horse.
The two steps of bending down and picking up the ball did not slow down Lin Dong's forward speed at all. On the contrary, he lowered his center of gravity and became faster at the same time.
Sakuragi immediately entangled Yao Ming who wanted to return to defense. As Lin Dong drove to the basket, Harrington and Tyronn Lue inserted themselves diagonally toward the basket to intercept.
One against two!
At this time, Iguodala and Brent had already rushed to the three-point line on both sides of the frontcourt.
Pass the ball?
This is not only the thought of the players and all the fans present, but even the live commentators have instinctively come up with this word.
Two absolute 3-point gaps are a good opportunity to open up the touch of his outside players, and Yao Ming is not under the basket at this time. Lin Dong even has the possibility to protect the rebound.
For the two defenders who are about to stand on the defensive position, if the ball is strong, the Wizards can even create Lin Dong to hit someone with the ball.
Therefore, no matter from which angle, this ball can be used to get a 3-pointer first.
Of course, fans and commentators can think of it, and Jordan can also think of it. Knowing that he could no longer catch up with Lin Dong, he chose to rush towards Iguodala who was closest to him, while Yao was being entangled by Sakuragi Hanamichi on the other side. Naya 'drags' Sakuragi Hanamichi towards Brent who is closest to him.
Pass the ball? If you want to pass it on, give it a try!
However, the Asian with an expressive face seemed to have no intention of passing the ball at all.
In the blink of an eye, he directly connected the ball at the free throw line, followed by ignoring the two defenders under the basket, accelerating his sprint!
The terrifying speed and expressionless face seemed to show his determination to move forward, making Harrington and Tyronn Lue swallow their saliva when they just rushed to the top of the paint area.
Pass the ball? Stronger?
The two people's minds were involuntarily captured by the opponent's momentum, and they could not judge his choice based on common sense. They only felt that the impact of the ball must be very strong!
The intimidating momentum even made the two of them subconsciously take a step back.
But this step back meant something bad was going to happen. His feet moved and he couldn't draw a foul.
At this time, Lin Dong took a big step and jumped high towards the basket.
He wants to fight hard!
Pull rod? Change hands?
Harrington and Tyronn Lue could only bite the bullet and jump to block it. The next second...
A flash of light flashed from Lin Dong's eyes. He raised the basketball with both hands high and looked directly at the two people jumping in front of him as if nothing existed.
If you don't have the confidence to break everything, how can you dare to talk about killing gods!
boom!
There was a violent body collision, and the three people hit each other hard.
Physical confrontation?
The 104-kilogram Harrington and Tyronn Lue were indeed better than Lin Dong, but the added momentum and impact made the confrontation between them one-sided.
Harrington and Tyronn Lue were knocked out unexpectedly. They were knocked backwards before even jumping to the highest point. They staggered backwards and almost hit reporters on the sidelines.
Lin Dong, on the other hand, put his hands on the basket, and his whole body was bent and hanging, hanging on the basket.
Rumble…
Bang bang bang...
It was the trembling of the rim and the sound of the basketball bouncing off the ground.
But there was no referee's whistle.
In an instant, the whole place was silent. The MCI Center, which was buzzing and noisy just now, was immediately silenced by the man's fierce dunk.
Boom!
Lin Dong adjusted his balance, let go and jumped off the basket.
He looked around the quiet arena with a smile, raised a finger to represent victory, and also ignited the SuperSonics bench and family and friends group.
"Lin! Lin! Lin! Lin!"
The scene of more than 20,000 people was actually overwhelmed by the voices of dozens of people...
Scored a dunk.
The SuperSonics got off to a good start with a 0:2 win!