am i proud?

Chapter 280 The punishment is so light?
When Wang Dalin lay on the ground and saw Artest's punch hit O'Neal's face, he knew it was really troublesome.

Leaving aside how maliciously O'Neal fouled him, with Artest's punch alone, he will be expelled tonight, and he will probably be suspended for an additional game.

In the finals, when every game is a must, if Artest, the "second master", is suspended, the Clippers will face a very severe situation.

You must know that the reason why the Clippers are strong is mainly because of the strong dual-core strength of Wang Dalin and Artest. If only Wang Dalin is there, it is estimated that they will not have a big problem reaching the playoffs, but it is unlikely to go further.

One can only imagine the difficulty of defeating this Pacers team with Wang Dalin's single-core leadership alone...well, it can even be said to be almost impossible!
If this situation really happens, Wang Dalin is likely to face the situation of LeBron James in 2007... Although the "little emperor" is extremely brave, but none of his teammates averages more than 15 points per game, how can he win against the Spurs team with the peak "GDP" combination?
Wang Dalin endured the severe pain and wanted to stand up. At this time, Artest continued to shake his fist at O'Neal. The referee next to him hurriedly hugged him from behind, trying to drag him back, but Artest was full of strength. How could this referee who was only about 180 cm tall be able to drag him?

By this time, the other players of the two teams had already reacted. Reggie Miller rushed into the crowd first, trying to take advantage of the opportunity of Artest being controlled by the referee to punch Artest twice in the face, but Richardson on the side reacted quickly, hugged him, and dragged him directly behind.

The Pacers also had Harrington, Jones, and Tinsley on the field. The three of them also wanted to attack Artest, but the Clippers also had Korver and House...they blocked the opponent's three players.

Wang Dalin finally stood up, dragged Artest behind him, then raised his hand to block O'Neal's counterattack punch, and then sternly shouted: "Stop it all!"

This shout was like Huang Zhong Dalu, and everyone on the field couldn't help stopping their movements. Even O'Neill, who had suffered the most just now, was captured by his momentum and immediately stopped attacking.

Several other referees finally squeezed into the crowd. They used extremely violent actions to separate the players from the two teams, and then immediately gave Artest a T and expelled him directly.

Seeing that the Pacers players were about to move again, Wang Dalin yelled loudly: "Do you still want to fight? If you want to fight, we will fight to the end! At worst, both of our teams will be expelled from the game, and then both will be suspended. Let's finish the game together!"

The old Miller squinted his eyes and thought for a while, then asked, "Is Ron beating Jermaine for nothing?"

Wang Dalin said angrily: "Why did he beat Jermaine? Don't you have any idea? What is white beating? Hasn't he already been sent off? He will probably be suspended in the future! I just want to ask you, do you want to beat us like this?"

Old Miller said with an unnatural expression on his face, "How could we think so? This is just an unexpected incident that no one expected!"

Wang Dalin sneered and said, "Okay, even if it's an emergency, I'll tell you...you are doomed to lose this year, even if Ron is suspended, you are also doomed!"

Old Miller, Jr. O'Neill and the others couldn't help but tremble, as if a coolness came from their vests.

……

When the conflict broke out, the benches of both sides were in a mess... Most of the substitute players wanted to rush into the field to participate in the brawl.

Alonzo Mourning, Matt Barnes, Bobby Simmons, and Kerry Swillcox are the "violent elements" who want to rush into the court on the Clippers side.

And Wang Zhizhi, Pedrag Drobiak, Kenyon Durin, Marko Jarich and Melvin Eli were also relatively calm, they have been blocking this group of "violent elements".

If it weren't for them to hold on to those guys, it is estimated that the situation would have expanded a long time ago, and it may even turn into a super big fight between the players of both sides!

The situation on the Pacers bench is similar to them. One group of players pulls another group of players. Even the head coach Carlisle is pulling people while yelling at his players.

As the head coach, he knows the rules of the league very well, so he knows that players must not be allowed to rush into the field, because once they violate this prohibition, they will be severely punished by the league.

……

After the referee sent Artest off the field, he also fined O'Neal with a first-degree flagrant foul.

After all, he was pulling people from behind. Even calling him a second-level malicious foul would not be an exaggeration for such a dangerous action, but a first-level malicious foul is already considered a face for the home team.

The conflict lasted for nearly 10 minutes and finally came to an end, and the game naturally continued.

O'Neal's face was already swollen, but he just used an ice pack for a few minutes before returning to the court again.

If he doesn't come back, it won't work...Because during the time he was off the court, Wang Dalin scored 11 points in a row like cutting melons and vegetables, and now the Clippers have led by as much as 9 points.

Although Artest of the Clippers is likely to be suspended later, and it is even very likely that he will not be able to return to this year's finals, Carlisle still hopes to win this G1 game. After all, Artest is not on the court now, and the Clippers are obviously seriously damaged.

If he can't take advantage of this opportunity to win the game, Carlisle will never be reconciled, and neither will the Pacers players.

But he really knows Wang Dalin too well, he knows how terrifying the angry Wang Dalin is... So even if the Clippers lose Artest in this game, as long as Wang Dalin is still on the court, the Clippers' strength is still unfathomable.

In many cases, the victory or defeat of the two teams is not only based on the strength of the lineup, but also depends on how well the superstars perform. Just like Wang Dalin in the Clippers, his personal strength is definitely enough to crush the entire field.

As long as the Pacers dare to double-team him frequently, they will see... how Wang Dalin averaged 10.1 assists per game during the regular season!

Of course, there is another possibility...the outside shooters of the Clippers collectively missed the mark, and then Wang Dalin could only be forced to fight alone, and finally ended up a tragic hero.

It is not impossible. You must know that in the Eastern Conference semifinals of the 2020-2021 season, after the Nets lost Kyrie Irving and James Harden, their outside shooters lost their accuracy, especially Joe Harris, who led the league in open three-pointers in the regular season.

This guy made more than 50% of his open three-pointers in the regular season, but he didn't even hit 5% of his three-pointers in the next 30 games in the headquarters semifinals!
This also caused Kevin Durant to be double-teamed frequently by the opponent, and then... it is not surprising that he loses!

I have to say that this season's "Du Xiaoshuai" is really good, but no matter how good he is, he needs the support of his teammates. If his teammates are not strong, what can he do?
……

Seeing that the score has fallen behind to nearly double digits, the Pacers adjusted their tactics in time, and their offensive and defensive strategies have changed.

First of all, they began to double-team Wang Dalin frequently, then Tinsley, a leading perimeter defender, was responsible for sweeping the perimeter, and Harrington was responsible for assisting defense at any time.

On the offensive end, they played more patiently, and had to pass the ball to a position where Wang Dalin could not help defend in time before making a shot.

These changes in tactics obviously had some effect, but the effect was not complete... because they still couldn't really restrain Wang Dalin!
First of all, when Wang Dalin was double-teamed and passed the ball to Korver or Richardson, the shooting percentage of the two was not low... Their three-pointers feel almost the same as in the first half, which is very scary!

Secondly, even in the face of double-teaming, Wang Dalin is likely to make a forced shot through a back-up movement. The shooting percentage of this kind of shot will never be low... After all, his several back-up offensive abilities are very high, and the "Golden Rooster Independence" move is a big killer!
In the second half of the fourth quarter of the game, the Pacers were still about 9 points behind and could not catch up with the score. The mentality of the players was obviously not right.

If Artest was still there, they wouldn't be so frustrated even if they couldn't win, but now that Artest is not there, they still can't take advantage, which makes it hard for them to accept.

As the Pacers players gradually collapsed, the Clippers became more and more courageous, completely dominating the last few minutes of the fourth quarter.

In the end, the Clippers defeated the Pacers 109:101 and won the G1 game of this year's finals.

After the game, Wang Dalin washed up and came to the press conference. As he expected, the reporters would definitely ask him questions about the conflict on the court.

"Darling-Wang, what is your evaluation of Ron Artest in this conflict?"

"What can I say? You have all seen the cause of this incident... Jermaine fouled me first, and Ron shot him to help me vent my anger. From my point of view, I should of course thank Ron. He is my brother, from the moment he joined the Clippers!"

"So...if Ron is suspended, do you think you have any hope of winning the next game?"

"Hehe, didn't we win after Ron left the field tonight? Since we can do it tonight, why can't we do it in the following games?"

"Hehe, it can be seen that you have great confidence in the Clippers, but the lack of Ron will definitely bring great difficulties to your tactical deployment. What adjustments will you make?"

"Sorry, this kind of thing is relatively confidential, please forgive me for not commenting!"

……

In the early morning of June 6th, Mark Tatum and Adam Joker were already sitting on the sofa in David Stern's president's office in the NBA headquarters building.

Stern frowned, knocked on the desk and said softly: "Talk to both of you, what should we do about this matter?"

Tatum coughed twice and preempted: "I think Ron Artest should be fined and suspended!"

"Hmm!" Stern was noncommittal, and then asked, "Then how many games do you think should be suspended for him?"

Tatum obviously had a draft, so he said without hesitation: "I think at least 5 games should be suspended!"

Stern pondered for a moment, then turned to look at Adam. Joke: "Adam, what do you think?"

The bald man smiled slightly and said, "I think both Jermaine O'Neal and Ron Artest should be fined heavily, but Ron Artest should not be suspended for too many games, one or two games at most is enough!"

Tatum looked angry and said: "Adam, why can't you suspend too many games? Do you know that you are conniving players to fight on the court?"

The bald man smiled and said: "If Ron Artest is suspended for 5 games, the Clippers will probably be swept by the Pacers gentleman. At that time, Ron Artest will not even have the chance to return to the court! Mark, do you want to see this year's finals become a unilateral crush?"

He paused for a moment, and then said: "You don't need to answer me, because I know that the fans absolutely don't want to see a matchup with disparity in strength, let alone the finals now! For the sake of ratings and for the joy of the fans, I don't think Ron Artest should be punished!"

Stern closed his eyes and meditated for a few seconds, then opened his eyes and said, "Okay, I get it! Mark, you can make arrangements later. Jermaine will be fined $15000, Ron will be fined $25000, and he will be suspended for 3 games!"

Both Tatum and Joker wanted to speak to persuade him again, but Stern waved his hand and said, "It's useless for you two to say more, so it's decided!"

The joke still plucked up the courage to ask: "But Mr. President, if Ron is suspended for 3 games, it is very likely that the Clippers will be 1:3 behind when he comes back. How can they hope to come back?"

Indeed, in the history of the NBA playoffs, no team has ever been able to reverse a 0:3 deficit, and it is extremely rare for a 1:3 deficit to achieve a comeback.

If the Clippers really fall behind 1:3, even if Artest returns, it will be difficult for them to guarantee a three-game winning streak to stage a comeback.

Stern smiled slightly: "How do you know they will be 1:3 behind? Don't underestimate Darling-Wang... Didn't they win last night?"

"Besides..." he continued, "If they are really led 3:1 by the Pacers, they deserve their bad luck. Who let that kid Ron hit someone on the court?"

Then he raised his hand and pressed the button to stop Tatum's question: "Mark, I know you think this punishment is too light! But what Adam said is also reasonable. After all, we still need ratings... If Ron is suspended for 5 games, this year's finals will be over!"

After waving the two of them to leave his office, Stern stood in front of the floor-to-ceiling windows and looked into the distance. He murmured, "They thought you would be 1:3 behind, and they thought you would definitely not be able to win if you were 1:3 behind. Darling, are you as useless as they say? Hehe... I hope you can live up to it!"

……

6月7日下午两点钟左右，联盟的处罚通告终于公布……小奥尼尔因恶意犯规被追加15000美元罚款，阿泰斯特则被追加了25000美元罚款和禁赛3场的处罚。

When Wang Dalin saw the punishment notice, the expression on his face was amazing.

Artest was also taken aback. He didn't expect the league's punishment to be so light, just suspended for 3 games... Originally, he thought he would be suspended for at least [-] or [-] games!

Wang Dalin finally recovered from his astonishment, then patted Artest on the shoulder and said with a smile: "Okay, so you can return to the court of the finals no matter what, and if we really lose three games in a row and they score 1:3, do you think we still have a chance to win the championship?"

Artest grinned and said: "I was suspended because of you. If I fall behind 1:3 when I come back, you can just give me a knock!"

Wang Dalin said with a smile: "You just pull it down... I'm obviously fine, why are you going to beat Jermaine, did you have a relationship with him when you were in the Pacers?"

Artest laughed loudly and said, "How? I had a good relationship with him before, even better than I have with you now!"

Wang Dalin laughed and scolded: "Then why are you shooting so hard? Jermaine's face is swollen from your beating! Hey... If your kid is on another team in the future, will you also hit me like this?"

Artest laughed and said: "Don't bury me! I don't dare to fight with you kid... With your strength, wouldn't it be self-inflicted to fight with you?"

Wang Dalin couldn't help laughing out loud, and said seriously after laughing: "Ron, anyway, I have to thank you this time, you are a hero with love and righteousness, you are my good brother!"

Artest laughed and said, "Don't be so sensational, okay, I'm going to cry if you say that again!"

Wang Dalin said with a smile: "Well, here I promise you, when you come back, we may end up 2:2 with them, or we may lead, but it is absolutely impossible to fall behind 1:3...that's what I said!"

Artest stared into his eyes for a few seconds, then hammered his chest, stretched out his fist and said, "Okay, I know you can do it... When I come back, let's win the championship together!"

Wang Dalin stretched out his fist and touched him: "Win the championship together!"

……

　Thanks to "Brother Yang Lei" for rewarding 100 starting coins!
　　
　
(End of this chapter)