shooting guard era

Chapter 211 241. O'Neill's Death

The Bobcats recognized that the Heat's speed could not be raised, so they held on to the small ball, and the Heat's defensive strategy of the inside twin towers was cracked.Conversely, the Bobcats ignored the Heat's bleak three-pointer outside and shrank the inside at any time, not giving Wade and Eddie Jones a chance to break through to the inside and make trouble.

But you have Zhang Liangji, and I have O'Neill.In the second half of the second quarter, O'Neal, who had been silent for a long time before, broke out and played all kinds of strong alleys in the paint, forcing the Bobcats to resort to the helpless move of two people around the front. Start to flow.Relying on O'Neal's absolute dominance, the Heat snapped back their disadvantages.

On the Heat's side, Wade hit a layup after Zhanyi Shiba made a sudden fall, and Ye Han on the Bobcats' side immediately responded with a three-pointer.

After Wade made a breakthrough and missed a shot, O'Neal pressed Okafor and scored the ball. Turning around, Ye Han rushed inside and pretended to dunk O'Neal. Fu, the latter returned an alley-oop dunk to O'Neal.

The scores of the two sides have been rising alternately until the third minute of the fourth quarter, when an accident happened.

Without warning, without friction, without even physical contact, O'Neal picked up the ball after Hill's beautiful crossover layup, gave it to Wade, and ran onto the court, just like that, slippery on the sweaty floor. fall down!
I thought it was just an ordinary slip, but when O'Neill hugged his knees and slapped the floor and howled, people realized that something really happened!
After some commotion, O'Neal was carried out by four or five security personnel. It is certain that he will not come back for this game.

O'Neal's accidental injury was undoubtedly a bolt from the blue for the Heat, especially for Mourning who ran back to the Heat to hug his thigh, it felt like the sky was falling. What was the purpose of running back so hard?Isn't it just to hug O'Neill's thigh to win a championship!

Ye Han felt very sad about what happened to the Heat, but a game is a game after all, and he would not sympathize with his opponent because of an accident.It can even be said that the current performance of the Bobcats is to beat the dog in the water.

On the Heat's side, morale is low.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, the Bobcats deployed the team's strongest offensive lineup of Ye Han, Kapono, Hill, Milicic, and Okafor. With the support of Hill and Milicic, they beat the opponent 22-6. In one fell swoop, the point difference was widened to more than 15 points.

In the end, the Bobcats unexpectedly reaped an anticlimactic victory.

After the game, Ye Han approached Wade and asked if O'Neal was okay. Don't look at these two guys as rivals. In fact, when Ye Han was injured, O'Neal was one of the friends in the NBA who called him very early. O'Neill is a real fat guy.Comparing his heart to his heart, Ye Han and O'Neill were also very worried about this fat man while they were playing around.

"Shaq has already returned to Miami, and he will go for an MRI tomorrow. The team doctor said that it was probably due to physical fatigue that caused the slip and fracture. You don't have to feel guilty, it has nothing to do with you." Wade smiled wryly. I feel that O’Neal’s lack of training is a waste of talent, but this year O’Neal practiced in the regular season, and his state quickly entered the playoffs mode, but because of too much practice, he was physically fatigued, and his knee might be broken if he fell. This is really a contradiction. matter.

"I'm going back to Miami tonight to discuss things with Riley. I won't be able to play with you and Emeka tonight." Wade canceled the previously planned post-match trip. During the game, he and O'Neal didn't ask Ye Han and Okafor to go out to play. They planned to go after the game, but now they had to cancel it. O'Neal's possible fracture and injury disrupted the Heat's plans for this year.

"I wish you all good luck." That's all Ye Han could say.

That night, news of O'Neal's injury spread throughout the basketball circle.

The Heat were able to attract Eddie Jones and Alonzo Mourning to join, and became the most popular team in the championship from last year's marginal team in the playoffs, thanks to O'Neal.

Now that O'Neal is injured, the situation in the Eastern Conference has undergone a huge reversal.

Originally, the Bobcats won 50 wins in the first season, which should be the focus of people's attention, but O'Neal's injury made this matter seem less worthy of concern.

Not to mention anything else, in the first round, the East has undergone tremendous changes, and the eighth 76ers in the East have suddenly become the focus of attention.

No one can ignore the team with Iverson. People have begun to predict whether there may be a black eight miracle that is rare in history this year?

Bobcats road to the playoffs also suddenly became very clear. Now there is no top team in the East except the Pistons. From the record point of view, it can be regarded as first-class. Except for the Pistons, there is only the Bobcats with a 50-win team. As for the Heat After losing O'Neal, Mourning and Eddie Jones, two old and alone guys, are likely to be less effective than Odom and Butler last year.

The teams in the West that have a chance to compete for the championship have already regarded the Pistons as their imaginary opponents in the Finals, but at the same time, they have also disrupted the arrangements of many top teams in the West after they may reach the Finals, such as the Spurs. The opponent is the Heat, and now it has become the Pistons. There is a big difference that needs to be considered by Po Povic.

The sudden decline in the Heat's strength is a great joy for other teams in the league, but for the NBA league officials, it is simply a disaster.

Stern was so worried that his hair fell out a lot this night. Judging by the rhythm, he wants the Spurs to beat the Pistons in the finals!That would be a nightmare for his most important ratings!

Eventually Stern picked up the phone and dialed the president of the Referees Association.

"Muse, we're going to have a good talk today..." Stern cut directly to the topic...

……

The Heat lost to the Bobcats in the final game of the regular season, but still won the regular season division championship of the Eastern Conference with an absolute advantage, and at the same time won the regular season division championship.After many years in the west, the Suns won the division championship and the Pacific Division championship for the first time since Barkley left.

At the same time, the Spurs, Supersonics, Pistons, Celtics,

In the early morning of the second day after the game between the Bobcats and the Heat, the NBA officially announced the playoff schedule for this season.

The opening game on April 4th began with the Heat and the 19ers starting the playoffs. On the first day, there were a total of 76 games, namely the first and third in the Eastern Conference, the second and fourth in the Western Conference, and the bottom four in their respective divisions. team's game.

The Bobcats on Ye Han's side can take an extra day off. On April 4th, the first playoff game in team history will be played against the Chicago Bulls at home.

(End of this chapter)