The longest river

Chapter 239 Let him be strong

Amidst the cheers of the fans, Kobe and Yang continued their scoring duel until the final quarter.

In the final quarter, a clear divide emerged in efficiency between the two teams.

This time it wasn't because Yang Shuai switched to guard Kobe, but because Kobe's stamina was starting to decline.

Although Kobe knew Prince's defensive habits and could better counter them, it still took him a lot of physical effort to get rid of Prince.

Moreover, due to his limited talent, he expends more energy than Yang Shuai for each point.

Yang Shuai continues to deliver high-energy performances, but Kobe has entered a four-legged, three-iron mode.

With one minute remaining in the game, Yang Shuai shook off Artest and hit a pull-up jumper, extending the Trail Blazers' lead to 7 points.

This shot essentially sealed the victory for the Trail Blazers.

With Kobe and Fisher missing consecutive three-point attempts, the final score was 105-98.

The Lakers did everything they could, but ultimately fell short.

Kobe scored 40 points in the game, including 20 points in the second half.

Yang Shuai scored 50 points in the game, including 35 points in the second half.

Barkley's statement is undoubtedly correct; Kobe's ability was clearly superior to Drexler's.

Statistically, Drexler never had a season averaging 30+ points per game like Kobe; in terms of accolades, Drexler also never led a team to a championship like Kobe.

But the comparisons made by the media between Kobe and Drexler are not just about ability, but also about their outcomes.

Without Jordan, Drexler could have at least won a championship.

Without Yang Shuai, Kobe could have won more championships.

Unfortunately, there are no "what ifs," and Kobe ultimately failed to lead the Lakers to a title defense.

After the final buzzer sounded, Kobe stood on the court for a long time, his eyes filled with not only resentment but also confusion.

Yang Shuai and the Trail Blazers seem poised to begin a new dynasty, while he and his Lakers are about to embark on a familiar cycle.

The feeling of being lost isn't because of the loss, but because there's no hope in sight.

He fully understands how the superstars of Jordan's era felt.

You can't even wait until the other person retires, because you're all about the same age.

Just before the Trail Blazers defeated the Lakers, the outcome of another Western Conference semifinal, the Mavericks vs. Spurs series, had already been decided.

Despite the Dallas trio's impressive performance, their defensive weaknesses were glaringly exposed in the playoffs.

Not only did Duncan dominate the paint, but even second-year guard Parker transformed into a top-tier point guard in the league, entering the Dallas team's paint as if it were his own backyard.

While the Nash and Nowitzki duo was a formidable offensive force, their defense was truly that of the "Dallas Twins" – soft and unreliable.

Teams without defense struggle to go far in this era, and the Spurs ultimately swept them 4-1 to secure the other spot in the Western Conference Finals.

This is the second consecutive season that the Trail Blazers and Spurs have faced off. Last season, the Trail Blazers easily defeated their opponents in the conference semifinals, but now that the Spurs have assembled their Big Three (Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, and Manu Ginobili), they will obviously be a tougher opponent than last season.

Before the conference finals began, the league announced the winner of the season's most important award, the MVP.

Yang Shuai was elected MVP of the season with more than 50% of the votes, marking his return to this honor after two years.

The result was not in any suspense and was almost entirely unquestionable.

In other words, the Trail Blazers' decision to rest players in the second half of the season to ensure their health prevented the team from falling behind so much in the standings. Otherwise, the focus of the media and fans would not have been on whether Yang Shuai won the MVP award, but rather whether he should have been elected unanimously.

The day after the MVP results were announced, Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals between the Trail Blazers and the Spurs took place at the Rose Garden Arena in Portland.

Before the match started, Stern came to the venue to present Yang Shuai with the MVP award.

As Stern congratulated Yang Shuai, his eyes revealed undisguised affection.

This season, due to being placed under trusteeship and having player trade requests suppressed, the Cavaliers have been forced to stagnate, resulting in the worst record in the league. This situation has made the already low-value Cavaliers even less desirable.

But now everything is moving in a positive direction.

James announced his candidacy. Although he is not from Cleveland, Akron is not far from Cleveland, and he is very popular in Ohio.

It is foreseeable that the Cavaliers' situation will improve once the results of the draft lottery are released a week later.

If Yang Shuai successfully leads the team to the championship and goes to Cleveland this season, then the combination of Yang Shuai and James will be the new Jordan and Pippen, and the Cavaliers will immediately go from being disliked by everyone to being sought after.

Moreover, Yang Shuai's return to Cleveland has another advantage: it ends the Trail Blazers' dominance.

The Bulls' feat of winning six championships in eight years was indeed great, but it essentially constituted a team monopoly, which was detrimental to both the investment enthusiasm of other team owners and the healthy development of the league.

Therefore, this is definitely his favorite season for Yang Shuai, and he is also the one who most hopes that Yang Shuai can win the championship for the Trail Blazers this season.

After receiving the MVP trophy from Stern, Yang Shuai seemed to receive a buff.

He's a Spurs killer, and he miraculously made all 18 of his shots in the first three quarters.

This sent the fans and commentators, including Barkley, into a frenzy, while simultaneously leaving the Spurs completely demoralized.

The usually taciturn Duncan gave a helpless, bitter smile on the bench, his inner monologue being, "To hell with the future."

However, his behavior drew criticism from referee "Bald" Crawford, who believed he was questioning the ruling and issued him a technical foul.

Duncan's inner monologue was directly translated into "I'm so bitter inside."

Besides Duncan, Parker, who had gained confidence in the first round, was also bewildered. He felt that Yang Shuai and the others were not playing the same kind of basketball.

Among the three players in the GDP trio, the relatively calm one is rookie Ginobili. Besides his fearlessness as a newborn calf, he seems to have a passive quality of being able to maintain composure even in dire situations.

Of course, no matter their reaction, they couldn't prevent the Spurs from being crushed in the third quarter.

"It looks like the Trail Blazers will finish the game in four games."

After the game, Barkley popped a bottle of champagne in the commentary booth.

Although the Spurs had indeed assembled the "Big Three" (Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, and Manu Ginobili) and were the champions that year, Parker was in his second year, Ginobili was in his first, and David Robinson was in his final season. They were still a bit inexperienced against the Trail Blazers.

Following Game 1, Los Angeles media outlets immediately published articles agreeing with Barkley's viewpoint.

The Spurs' ability to advance further in the playoffs than the Lakers wasn't due to superior talent, but simply because they faced the Trail Blazers later than the Lakers. However, despite widespread pessimism, the Spurs unexpectedly won Game 2 106-99, leveling the series.

The Spurs have the fewest points allowed per game in the league this season, but in addition to their still excellent defense, their victory in this game also came from changes on the offensive end.

In this game, the Spurs changed their previous low-post isolation play and relied more on pick-and-roll plays between Parker and Duncan.

This also brought about unexpected results.

Theoretically speaking, this pick-and-roll combination won't be very effective due to the lack of outside shooting range.

But in reality, Parker's mid-range ability was underestimated; he capitalized on several pick-and-roll mid-range shots.

More importantly, Parker is incredibly fast. The way he uses a screen to change direction and break through looks like Allen Iverson is ten centimeters taller.

In addition, Duncan's solid pick-and-roll ability and consistent mid-range shooting made this pick-and-roll combination difficult for the Trail Blazers to handle for a while.

Yang Shuai can effectively limit a wing scorer like Kobe Bryant, but his defensive effectiveness is not as good against speedy guards.

Even after the game ended, the outside world discovered that GDP's mental fortitude was unexpectedly strong.

Putting Ginobili aside, after all, he was unusually calm in the last game.

Take Parker and Duncan, for example. After being beaten to the point of questioning their existence, they were able to quickly adjust their mentality and become the team's main offensive force and perform well just two days later. This is something that not ordinary players can do.

Barkley admitted he'd been proven wrong after the game.

"The Spurs may not be a threat to the Trail Blazers right now, but in two or three years, they will be a more troublesome opponent for the Trail Blazers than the Lakers."

After the first two games, both sides moved to San Antonio for the next match.

Despite losing Game 2, the Trail Blazers are still considered the favorites, just as Kobe said, "That's the team Yang Shuai plays for."

You can underestimate the Trail Blazers, but you should never underestimate Yang Shuai.

And the final result was just as they had expected.

The Spurs' pick-and-roll tactics in Game 3 still left the Trail Blazers somewhat unable to cope, but conversely, they were also unable to contain Yang Shuai's explosive performance.

Carlisle devised a variety of tactics in Game 3, all with the sole purpose of getting Yang Shuai to receive the ball and shoot.

During the regular season, due to the Spurs' improved defense, Popovich said they could limit opponents' offensive leaders to under 40 points.

They did indeed largely achieve that; most players struggled to score over 40 points against the Spurs.

However, Popovich was hit hard tonight because, with Carlisle's full support tactics, Yang Shuai scored 61 points instead of 40 or 50!
And this is at the Spurs' home court!

Let him be strong, I, Hansen Yang, will not back down.

Facing the team with the highest average points allowed per game in the league, and arguably the best defense this season, Yang Shuai effectively sealed off his "Spurs killer" status.

After the game, Popovich often remained silent when faced with questions from reporters.

One game saw him make all 18 shots in three quarters, another scored 61 points. Is this a moral decline or a distortion of human nature? He has begun to question the meaning of life.

But in either case, the situation is already very unfavorable for the Spurs.

If they continue to lose their second home game, their fate will be even worse than the Lakers'.

Having learned their lesson from the Lakers, the Trail Blazers will certainly not lose easily at home.

Right after Game 3 ended, the NBA held its annual draft lottery.

The draft lottery has become highly anticipated due to LeBron James's participation and the addition of another superstar rookie, Carmelo Anthony (who averaged 20+10 per game as a freshman and led a team that was not a championship favorite to the third season and win the title).

Each team used all sorts of tricks to get a good draw, with lucky items being a common practice, and some even hiring wizards to bring holy water.

Of course, for a small number of people, they knew that the outcome was already predetermined.

Even Yang Shuai knew the draft picks for what was hailed as the "Platinum Generation".

As expected, the Cavaliers won the number one draft pick.

Cavaliers general manager Fratello, who was present at the draft lottery, even displayed LeBron James's No. 16 Cavaliers jersey after the lottery.

The result was not unexpected by outsiders.

On the one hand, the Cavaliers' record is indeed terrible; on the other hand, for the Cavaliers now under trusteeship to get out of their current situation, acquiring LeBron James is a clear solution.

However, with the Cavaliers acquiring the number one draft pick, a logical bug appears here.

Since the draft lottery is held before the Finals, what if the Trail Blazers don't win the championship this season, or they win it next season?
Stern: That's easy, keep giving!
Although it was unprecedented for the NBA to have consecutive No. 1 draft picks, Stern didn't mind breaking a record for it.

What if the Trail Blazers still fail to win the championship next season?

At that point, whether Yang Shuai returned to the Cavaliers or not was no longer important. After all, if they didn't win a championship for three consecutive seasons, Yang Shuai's influence in the NBA would have plummeted.

The Pistons won the second overall pick in the draft.

This draft pick is significant because the Pistons acquired it from the Grizzlies in a trade that also has historical context.

In 1997, the Pistons traded Otis Thorpe to the Grizzlies in exchange for a first-round draft pick from the Grizzlies, either between 1998 and 2003.

As a result, the Grizzlies did not give the Pistons the draft pick until 2002, so the Grizzlies had to give their draft pick to the Pistons in the final year.

And then, miraculously, this draw turned out to be the runner-up draw in a super-lucky year.

With the Pistons missing the playoffs last season and having a lottery pick, they're in for a blast.

Yang Shuai was also watching the draft lottery, but when he saw that the Pistons' final pick was the 13th, he couldn't help but become curious.

Because of the butterfly effect, the Pistons did not become a strong team, and they did not have Prince on their roster. So, would they still select Milicic if they got this pick?
Things will get quite interesting if they end up choosing Anthony.

The third overall pick went to the Nuggets, the fourth pick to the Raptors, but surprisingly the fifth pick went to the Rockets instead of the Heat (from a trade by the Knicks last year).

These continuous changes have made Yang Shuai particularly looking forward to this year's draft.

-Dividing line-

①: In 2013 and 2014, the Cavaliers won the first overall pick in two consecutive years and selected Anthony Bennett and Andrew Wiggins (who was traded to the Timberwolves in exchange for Kevin Love).

(End of this chapter)