The longest river

Chapter 240: The Most Privileged Episode

The day after the draft lottery, Game 4 between the Spurs and the Trail Blazers continued in San Antonio.

During the pre-match warm-up, the cameras frequently focused on Yang Shuai, and the fans in the stadium kept glancing at the big screen with expressions of both anxiety and worry.

The feeling was like waiting to be judged.

Yang Shuai's performance directly determined the outcome of their entire season.

Barkley and Kenny Smith, who were also in the commentary booth, were also talking animatedly.

However, instead of discussing the game's progress, they continued their previous topic by making player analogies.

Yang Shuai is the Jordan of this era, Kobe is Drexler, and Duncan is more like Olajuwon.

Both players possess dominant offensive and defensive capabilities and are considered strong contenders for the title of best player in their respective positions throughout history.

However, Duncan seems to be more unlucky than Olajuwon, because the year he entered the league was the same year that Yang Shuai came to the Trail Blazers. Since they were in the same conference, Duncan, who had already played six seasons in the league, had never tasted the NBA Finals.

"Perhaps it will be two years before Thiem has a chance to win a championship."

One of the most popular topics among veteran fans is whether Hakeem Olajuwon could have won a championship if Michael Jordan hadn't retired in 1993.

Their conversation hadn't ended when the match started.

The starting lineups for both teams remained largely unchanged from the previous two matches.

Trail Blazers: Billups, Reed, Young, Wallace, Sabonis

Spurs: Parker, Bowen, Stephen Jackson, Duncan, David Robinson

Carlisle's strategy was the same as in the last game: to get the ball into Yang Shuai's hands.

Yang Shuai quickly delivered his "judgment," hitting shots consecutively from the start and demonstrating exceptional consistency.

The player guarding Yang Shuai was Bowen. Bowen was recruited by Popovich to the Spurs because of his strong defense (he had a lot of dirty tricks) and was given important responsibilities. That was also the key to the Spurs' improved defensive strength.

However, Bowen's defensive abilities were completely useless against Yang Shuai.

After all, the prerequisite for defending against small fouls is being able to keep up. For example, if you want to pull on the opponent's jersey, you don't even have a chance to pull it.

At halftime, Yang Shuai had already scored 30 points as easily as drinking water.

Thanks to his performance, the Trail Blazers led the Spurs by 14 points at halftime, 58-44.

The Spurs' defense collapsed even more than in the previous game, allowing the Trail Blazers to score nearly 60 points in the first half.

In fact, from the details of the Spurs' body language in the first half, it can be seen that as the game continued, their confidence in defending Yang Shuai was almost destroyed.

Kobe experienced confusion, but the Spurs experienced more despair.

"Do the San Antonio people have any other options tonight? They've run out of options."

Barkley also delivered his verdict on the Spurs.

The Spurs may have a chance to challenge the Trail Blazers in the future, but not now.

After halftime, Duncan did not bounce out after the pick-and-roll, but instead rolled to the basket to receive the ball and drive to the rim. His choice when facing Sabonis' help defense was also surprising. He went straight up over Sabonis and slammed the ball into the basket!
Although Sabonis has slowed down considerably due to his age, Duncan has also rarely made such explosive dunks over opponents since his major injury.

It was clear that the usually taciturn Duncan was hoping to boost the team's morale with this.

Against the Trail Blazers and against Yang Shuai, the conventional approach to the game is no longer enough to secure a victory.

Duncan's approach was indeed effective, not only igniting the emotions of the fans in the arena but also boosting the morale of the Spurs.

The game is not over yet, they still have a chance!
"Shh!"

However, in the next possession, Yang Shuai hit a three-pointer over Bowen.

This was a huge blow to Spurs fans and players.

Fortunately, Duncan immediately reignited the fans' enthusiasm with a pick-and-roll layup.

In the most critical moment, Duncan carried the team on his shoulders.

The game entered the high-scoring phase between Yang Shuai and Duncan.

Fans seem to be seeing a scene reminiscent of the peak Jordan and Olajuwon facing off.

However, as the game progressed, the point difference on the field not only did not narrow, but continued to widen.

Yang Shuai had a good three-point shooting touch in this quarter, and he took more shots from the outside!

It turns out that Yang Shuai is even harder to defend than Jordan in his prime, because his three-pointers are far more threatening than Jordan's.

With 6 and a half minutes remaining in the third quarter, the Trail Blazers had extended their lead to nearly 20 points, forcing Popovich to call a timeout.

Now the fans are in despair.

Yang Shuai's performance this season is beyond phenomenal; they really don't know how else they can win.

After the timeout, the Spurs substituted Ginobili for Jackson.

This 25-year-old veteran immediately hit a three-pointer from the outside, demonstrating his stability in desperate situations.

However, no matter how the Spurs adjusted, the Trail Blazers' playing style remained the same. Wallace and Sabonis repeatedly set screens for Young, and then Billups passed the ball to Young.

Bowen did a good job on defense this time, repeatedly going around screens to chase down Yang Shuai.

However, Yang Shuai's shooting speed is too fast. By the time Bo Wen caught up with Yang Shuai, Yang Shuai had already jumped and completed the shot.

This was no different from the previous defensive play, until Yang Shuai landed.

During the NBA Finals against the Jazz, Yang Shuai was pushed by Russell and then tripped by him, an injury that kept him bedridden for more than half a year.

As the saying goes, "once bitten, twice shy," Yang Shuai has paid close attention to the positioning of defenders, especially their lower body movements, ever since then.

Especially when playing against the Spurs.

Bowen was so famous that he paid even more attention to this.

So after making the shot, he immediately caught Bowen's foot position with his peripheral vision. He immediately pulled his legs back to change the landing point and leaned back to prevent his weight from being concentrated on his feet.

This self-protective action is textbook perfect.

Moreover, after getting up, Yang Shuai immediately turned to look at the referee on the sidelines and said directly, "He tripped me."

When Yang Shuai fell backward, the referee on the sidelines was already sweating bullets.

Before the start of this year's playoffs, the referee committee had already emphasized the issue of protecting Yang Shuai, and in a very serious manner.

Yang Shuai is too strong this season. There's no guarantee that someone won't have bad intentions. After all, compared to figuring out how to defend against Yang Shuai, taking him out of his position is a more brutal and effective method.

So when Yang Shuai uttered those words, the referee immediately stopped the game and signaled a technical timeout. This caused a stir among the fans in the stadium.

Foot-planting is very common in NBA games, and there is no clear rule to define it, making it difficult to impose specific penalties. As a result, it is quite common in games, and fans have become accustomed to it.

However, the technical timeout was initiated because of a failed misstep, without the head coach's protest. This is like Jordan telling the referee that the defender had committed a foul, and the referee immediately called a foul without reviewing the replay. It's an act of "privilege".

However, when the game actually paused, slow motion showed that Bowen did indeed make a clear tiptoeing move, even though he tried his best to pull his body back when he stretched his leg forward.

It's just that the video playback function wasn't that powerful in this era, otherwise Bowen's furtive glance could have been captured in such detail.

The Spurs fans at the scene fell silent after watching it.

However, when the referees immediately issued a flagrant foul 2, ejecting Bowen, a chorus of boos erupted from the crowd.

It was just a foot-planting incident; historically, such foot-planting wouldn't even be called a malicious foul, but now it's resulting in immediate ejection.

Popovich also protested fiercely with the referee, and even his assistant coach couldn't stop him.

The referee didn't tolerate him and ejected him as well.

Amidst the deafening boos from the crowd, this series of rulings essentially revealed the referee's stance.

I really won't tolerate it.

Once this wave passed, the Spurs finally calmed down completely.

The referee's attitude couldn't be clearer: if they're targeting Yang Shuai, you won't get away with it, even if it's a home game.

The Spurs were already at a significant disadvantage, and this further demoralized them, effectively ending the game by the end of the third quarter.

Furthermore, because the referees determined that Bowen had fouled the Spurs, the Trail Blazers' substitutes didn't hold back in the final quarter and crushed the Spurs 120-78 on the road.

After winning two consecutive away games, the Trail Blazers took a 3-1 lead in the series and secured match point.

However, the match sparked huge controversy afterward.

Some people feel that the league has applied double standards in its handling of Bowen's calls.

Because if the sentencing for Bowen is like that, then the sentencing for others should also be like that, instead of increasing the punishment just because the person involved is Yang Shuai.

Some people believe that the Spurs' defensive success this season is no different from that of the Jazz back then, both relying on dirty tricks and dirty play, and this punishment is a very good warning.

Barkley and Kenny Smith also discussed the game in the latest episode of TNT.

Barkley appeared very emotional on the show.

"You can't try to destroy your opponent just because you can't beat them; that's a blatant disgrace to the sport of basketball!"

Barkley himself enjoys physical contact and doesn't see anything wrong with his small tricks, but such career-ruining actions should be severely punished.

Especially since the object of his affections is Yang Shuai!

Just as everyone knew what Jordan meant to the NBA in the past, Yang Shuai's significance to the league is now even greater.

If Yang Shuai were to be crippled now, it would cost countless people their livelihoods.

The fact is, before Barkley's show even finished airing, the league's latest punishment results had already been released.

Bowen was suspended for five games for his foul!
Prior to this, no NBA player had ever been suspended for tripping someone's foot, but this time it was a five-game suspension.

Moreover, strictly speaking, this can only be considered an unsuccessful attempt to trip someone up.

However, just one day after this penalty decision sparked heated debate again, the league took further action.

The NBA issued a new rule overnight, regulating the act of undercutting: if a defender is too close to a shooter and does not leave enough space for the shooter to land, the referee can call a technical foul or a flagrant foul depending on the severity of the offense.

This essentially provides a rule basis for the previous ruling after the fact.

If you have a high enough status, it's not impossible to get on the train first and buy the ticket later.

This is known to outsiders as the "Yang Shuai rule".

This is similar to the Bird Rule, where the league supplemented the rule because of the player's influence.

Without Barkley even needing to say it outright, the entire league knows that Yang Shuai is someone you absolutely cannot mess with these days.

Seeing the league's series of reactions, Yang Shuai was naturally delighted.

He has been targeted a lot since he entered the league, and even after becoming a star player in the league, he always felt that something was missing.

Now it's time for him to enjoy the treatment that a true representative of the league should receive!

So now, he's even more motivated to help the Trail Blazers win the championship.

Because of his agreement with Stern, he would continue to receive the same treatment after arriving in Cleveland.

Two days later, Game 5 between the Trail Blazers and the Spurs resumed in Portland.

Although Bowen was suspended, Portland fans didn't care about that. After all, if Yang Shuai were really injured, Bowen wouldn't be the only one to benefit; from Popovich to Duncan, everyone would benefit.

So after the game started, no matter who the Spurs player was on screen, the fans booed them vehemently.

This kind of playing environment also puts immense pressure on the Spurs players.

As a result, even someone as consistent as Duncan had an off night.

He made 7 of 17 shots throughout the game, a rare occurrence for him to score less than 20 points in the playoffs.

The final result was no surprise; the Trail Blazers easily defeated the Spurs 103-84 at home, completing a gentleman's sweep of the Spurs 4-1.

During the handshake after the game, Duncan looked quite dejected, because this was the future that Yang Shuai had mentioned!

Although he is young, Yang Shuai is even younger than him!
The confusion that Kobe experienced also appeared in Duncan.

Although they haven't been beaten to the point of questioning their existence yet, they're not far from developing psychological trauma.

The day after the Trail Blazers defeated the Spurs, the "conflict game" between the Pacers and the Nets also came to an end.

The Nets fought back from a 1-3 deficit to win Game 6 on the road, but the Pacers dominated both inside and outside, completely dismantling the Nets' defense and winning 4-2 to advance to the NBA Finals for the second consecutive year.

Last year, their opponent was the Lakers, and this year, it's the Trail Blazers, whom O'Neal had previously faced.

Yang Shuai also had the opportunity to face his former team for the second time in his career.

Although Miller is older than he was three years ago, this team is undoubtedly stronger than before.

For Yang Shuai, if he can ultimately defeat the Pacers and O'Neal to win the championship, it will be a perfect ending to his Trail Blazers career.

(End of this chapter)