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Chapter 535 Meeting of Fate

This year is also Karl Malone's contract year.

After the Lakers lost the third game, rumors about the disintegration of the OKK combination became rampant.

It is not surprising that there are such rumors that the expected effect is not achieved and the contract is renewed.

Malone renewed his contract in 02, and in the summer of 03, O'Neal could become a free agent.

In the summer of 96, O'Neal signed a 7-year contract with the Lakers for $1.2 million. By next year, the 7-year contract will be fully fulfilled.

Of course, O'Neal can also renew his contract in advance this summer.

The summer of 2003, that is, next summer, will definitely be a turbulent summer.

By that time, many superstars in the league can become free agents.

For example, Qin Fei.

At that time, O'Neal was 31 years old, and he could seize the end of his career and sign a lucrative contract.

The tide of the entire free market is surging, and in the last season, it will inevitably become more and more turbulent.

Whether from south to north, or from east to west.

The flow of superstars will inevitably bring deeper changes to the league structure.

The entire league was in an uproar.

The 24-year-old Qin Fei played a superb season.

This year, Qin Fei scored a high score in the playoffs for the second time.

Two consecutive three-pointers were tied, and double overtime led the team to victory.

In an extremely difficult game, the balance of luck fell to the Warriors. Under the comprehensive factors, the Lakers fell in front of the finish line.

The Warriors actually won by one or two goals.

However, competitive competitions are so cruel. After fighting for a season and shedding countless sweats, in the end, because of one or two goals, they lost all games.

Today, the Lakers are 0 to 3 behind the Warriors, and there is no hope of a comeback.

Lakers fans are all aware of this, so they are all ready for another no-win season.

No one was interviewed, and both teams were surprisingly low-key after the game.

People began to look to the east.

Contrary to the Western Conference Finals, the Eastern Conference Finals were inextricably fought.

The 76ers and Bulls tied 2-2.

After four games, the two sides stood on the same starting line.

The first four games are equal to no play.

Now we have to face a 3-game 2-win system.

The Bulls' ability to reach this point has surprised many experts.

In fact, according to their initial judgment, it is not bad to be able to enter the second round. They did not expect to reach the Eastern Conference finals now, and even have a chance to beat the 76ers and advance to the finals.

Can you win?
It's hard to say, after all, the Warriors are 3-0 to the Lakers, and no one knows what will happen next.

After the 2-2 tie, Iverson was interviewed by the media and expressed his belief in winning the fifth game.

"We have to win this game, this is the life and death of the 76ers."

"There is only one kind of true heroism in this world, that is, when we see the difficulty of the road, we are still willing to overcome obstacles and move forward bravely. Nothing can stop us."

Two days later, Staples Center.

The fans at Staples Center were dressed in white, like snow in May.

The warm summer wind was blowing outside the arena, blowing away everyone's enthusiasm.

Although it was still a full house, the fans seemed very preoccupied.

Before the start of the game, the game status of the two teams was also very different.

And some Warriors fans who came from afar raised the slogan "Sweeping the Big Three".

Sweeping the Big Three of the Lakers?
It's a horrifying achievement to think about.

Although O'Neal's career is not short of sweeps, but in the era of giants, if he encounters such a blow, it will definitely cause some unpredictable deviations and changes in the entire history.

Definitely not to be swept away!
This is the starting point and basic principle of the Lakers players in this game.

"Last year, the Warriors lost to the Lakers. At that time, Qin Fei didn't say a word, but during the offseason, he practiced a lot of things for himself. Not only the progress of the Warriors, but also his growth and progress are obvious."

"This year's playoffs, the Warriors are making great strides, all of which are inseparable from their efforts."

"No one thought that the Warriors' revenge would be so fierce."

Before the opening, the guest commentators talked about last year's game.

Many things seem to be vividly remembered.

But he said that Qin Fei practiced more during the offseason, which is obviously a bit of nonsense.

During the offseason, Qin Fei was obviously playing around and adjusting his mentality.

The guest commentators are not optimistic about the Lakers anymore, not only this round of the series, but also the upcoming fourth game.

Players from both sides stepped onto the court on time.

The Lakers fought back and launched a fierce attack at the beginning of the game.

Kobe and O'Neal scored in turn, and Malone also contributed a mid-range jumper. The Lakers led the Warriors by 29 points 22-7 in the first quarter.

The Warriors are the weak side, Qin Fei called on his teammates to remain calm.

The most important thing now is not to quickly overtake the score, but to cling to the score.

The Warriors have an advantage in mind. As long as the score is not stretched and there is a tendency to gradually catch up, then the mentality of the Lakers in the second half of the game may burst, and the Warriors are very likely to gain an advantage in mentality and win.

In the second quarter of the game, the Lakers' substitutes were suppressed for several games, and this game is no exception.

It is still a substitute lineup that can't beat the Warriors.

For the Warriors, both Clifford Robinson and Ginobili scored. Among them, Clifford Robinson's score rose rapidly. He was the first to score in the second quarter and was the first to chase the score to only 2 points.

The Lakers called a timeout and rearranged their tactics.

Phil Jackson looked particularly calm.

It is probably also a manifestation of grief greater than heart death.

He arranged lineups one after another, and even replaced two Lakers players who were not usually in the rotation, hoping to change the bad situation.

Qin Fei came on the field early, forcing the Lakers to replace Kobe.

Today's Qin Fei didn't have the explosive output of the third battle, and played relatively mildly.

The style of play is also mainly to assist teammates in offense.

The Lakers didn't expect that the Warriors, a team that seemed to be full of rough guys, were unambiguous in scoring. Qin Fei could match up with Manu Ginobili or Clifford Robinson.

Both of them also received assists from Qin Fei.

At the end of halftime, the Warriors quietly chased the score to only 1 point.

The Lakers lead the Warriors 54 to 53.

This kind of score is the fourth game, and the Lakers players are under a lot of psychological pressure.

Fortunately, the Lakers are an alliance of giants. In the third quarter, the giants are all online. The psychological quality of the giants is better, so that they will not be directly out of balance.
Halfway through the third quarter, Qin Fei made his first three-pointer of the game.

But this three-pointer is very critical. After the hit, the Warriors just tied the score 70-70.

That is to say, starting from this three-pointer, the Lakers obviously flustered.

O'Neal was called for an offensive foul while attacking the rim.

The Warriors have an advantage in all aspects.

At the end of the third quarter, Kobe broke out and scored 8 points in a row to help the Lakers stabilize the situation.

In the final quarter of the game, the two teams went all out, and they were red-eyed.

Qin Fei went to the free throw line to score consecutively, helping the Warriors overtake the score.

The two teams took the lead alternately, but with more than 5 minutes to more than 4 minutes left, the Warriors played a wave of smooth offense.

Not only Qin Fei scored, Billups and O'Neal all hit shots.

The Warriors' lead extended to 8 points, and the Lakers requested a timeout.

The mentality of the players exploded a bit.

Qin Fei warned his teammates to avoid criminals and never get hurt.

He has already predicted that the next game may encounter some head-scratching moves.

Sure enough, after two rounds, Jermaine O'Neal encountered Malone's elbow on the neck in the interior attack. Fortunately, he avoided the sweep in time, but lost his accuracy for the layup.

Malone turned around to grab a rebound, but a figure flew in.

Gently tapped the ball and sent it back to the basket.

Ma Long didn't even have time to foul, and watched Qin Fei leave.

The fans in the audience couldn't stop shouting, they covered their mouths with tears in their eyes.

The tired Lakers seemed to take their last breath at this moment, and the game situation was developing towards the place they least wanted to see.

After two more rounds, Qin Fei made a jumper from the three-point line.

The three-point shooter went up and down, opening the score gap to 10 points.

The Lakers collapsed.

Afterwards, although the two teams pushed and shoved a little, Qin Fei had already spoken beforehand, and everyone restrained.

In the last minute, the game entered garbage time.

The Warriors finally defeated the Lakers 107 to 98 in the away game and won the fourth game of the series.

The Lakers with the "Big Three" at their core were swept away.
The fans in the audience were dumbfounded. This result was never expected.

One might expect the Warriors to win this series, but absolutely no idea that the Lakers would leave the stage in such dishonorable form.

At the end of the game, the two teams greeted each other politely.

Then the Lakers left the arena to the Warriors players who wanted to celebrate.

This year is the year of the Warriors, the strongest year for the Warriors.

Much better than last year, the Lakers have yet another fruitless season.

This year, O'Neill was 30 years old.

As a mature man, he finally understands what is expected but not sought after. He has spent a long time on something that he thought was close at hand, but there is still no result.

Perhaps this is the temper and test for him. Before the next contract renewal, he is no longer thinking about pension issues.

It is a question of how to realize one's own value.

Karl Malone is the most embarrassing person. He came to the Lakers from the Jazz and made up the controversial "Big Three", but he got nothing.

Malone will turn 40 next year.

His contract is up.

He thought, maybe, it's time to leave the Lakers.

Kobe is still very young. At the age of 24, although he has not yet won the championship, he knows where his pursuit is.

He is more eager for the championship that he has not won, and he will cherish the championship even more.

The Warriors' victory is also Qin Fei's victory.

Qin Fei has finally become a "gift and sweep" expert on the shark's career path.

After this game, his personal ability score has broken through to 99.

99 is the ceiling of combat power.

Whether in active service or in history, there are only a handful of players who can climb to the peak of player ability.

It took Qin Fei seven years to truly reach the top.

This is also about the time when a player is just about to hit the peak of his body.

Of course, a score of 99 does not mean that Qin Fei will not be unable to enter in the future.

He can still grow in some details, but his overall score will not change, and will always stay at 99.

This level is also the level that Jordan has reached.

After the score reaches 95, it basically belongs to the super giant level and can form its own system.

Reaching 99, there is not much change in essence, but in actual combat, it can clearly overwhelm players of the same level, including in this round of the series, Qin Fei can still suppress Kobe on both offense and defense.

Although Kobe also averaged 25.4 points per game, he also had some bright performances.

But in the confrontation with Qin Fei, he was at a disadvantage.

Kobe has never been upset or underestimated himself. Losing to Qin Fei or the Warriors will only inspire a more paranoid and hardworking him.

This is also his excellent personal character, which can push him forward.

The Warriors once again reached the finals.

It is also Qin Fei's third trip to the finals in his career.

In the previous two times, Qin Fei won the championship.

One was winning the championship with the Supersonics in 98, and the other was a group of young people who led the Warriors in 00, who were undrafted and counterattacked all the way to win the championship.

In even-numbered years, Qin Fei accomplished the feat of winning the championship.

In his 6-year career, he reached the finals 3 times.

These are his personal honors and super god records.

Many top stars have never won any championships in their lives, and reaching the finals is already considered their highest personal achievement.

In comparison, Qin Fei has embarked on a broader road.

The entire bay area is like a holiday, they can't wait for Qin Fei to bring the championship back here again, so that everyone here can taste the joy of the championship again.

A few days later, people are still talking about it.

This season's Warriors team is astonishingly powerful. Since the beginning of the regular season, they have pushed all the way.

The superb performance in the Western Conference Finals is even more unbelievable.

At this point, the Eastern Conference game is drawing to a close.

In Game 76 of the Eastern Conference Finals, the [-]ers played at home.

Iverson scored 41 points in this game, with almost no solution on the offensive end. He broke through all the Bulls' perimeter defenses alone and led the 76ers to victory.

The 76ers, who won Game [-], gained a clear advantage in the series.

They got the match point first and have a psychological advantage to win the whole series.

After all, the Bulls are still a little younger, and they have already been an unexpected dark horse in the Western Conference Finals. When they want to create miracles, they are still a little bit lacking.

People think of Qin Fei two years ago.

Qin Fei, who was only 22 years old two years ago, had a very similar experience to McGrady.

In the playoffs, a group of rookies who led the team faced a giant team composed of superstar players.

Comparing horizontally, I feel that McGrady may still be a little lacking.

In Game 88, the Bulls lost to the 93ers 76 to [-], ending the season.

Of course, people are still full of expectations for this young team.

When they finished the whole season, everyone sent only thunderous applause and blessings.

After the game, Iverson and McGrady hugged affectionately, and Duncan and Yao Ming also exchanged greetings.

Both of them recognize each other's strength and performance very much.

"I finally met Qin Fei in the playoffs, and I want to help us win the Eastern Conference!"

McGrady sent blessings to Iverson, hoping that Iverson can complete consecutive championships.

But when he said this, it actually revealed that in his heart, the Warriors and Qin Fei should be the stronger side.

Iverson accepted McGrady's kindness, and his big eyes were full of fighting spirit.

"I've been preparing for this day, just for this day."

He looked up at the camera hanging from the crane in the sky.

Iverson knew that Qin Fei must also be watching this game.

he must be ready
(End of this chapter)