NBA: The Basketball Miracle

On the night of April 26, 1998, Game 2 between the Nets and the Knicks turned into a crushing victory.

After G1, head coach Calipari was still praying that the main point guard could return to the series.

But when the team doctor confirmed that Cassell had a strained calf muscle, the coaching staff felt disappointed.

The absence of this championship point guard had a huge impact on the Nets.

Cassell can not only organize the offense, but his mid-range jump shots in back-to-back situations on the offensive end can also help the Nets score response goals.

"Defense! Defense! Defense!"

As the game entered the third quarter, the defensive shouts at Madison Square Garden became louder and louder.

Because the Nets were trailing by 18 points at 36:54 at halftime, the Knicks relaxed a bit in the third quarter and allowed the opponent to score consecutively.

Small guard Sherman Douglas got the chance to start tonight and performed averagely during his time on the court.

With a height of just 183cm, he was unable to match his strength in some rounds when facing Lee.

This time when he crossed half court, Sherman Douglas tried to rely on his low center of gravity and explosive power to get rid of the defense, but after two quick stops and starts, Lee was still by his side.

The 30-year-old "veteran" really felt old at this moment, but Lee was not polite.

While covering the opponent, he quickly cut the ball.

Unable to break free from the defense, Douglas could only protect the ball with his back to the goalkeeper on the left wing.

He did not dare to pass the ball sideways easily, as he had been intercepted twice.

Lee's successful defense made the fans at the scene cheer again.

As the defensive intensity continued to increase, the Nets became a little silent again.

Jayson Williams, who started tonight, hurried forward to set a screen, and Knicks veteran Buck Williams immediately followed up to defend.

The quality of the pick-and-roll on the left wing was average, and Lee squeezed through with his waist support, and with the blocking of Buck Williams, Douglas was surrounded by two people before he could even pass the ball.

Jayson Williams, who was following closely, failed to receive the pass.

Surrounded by the crowd, Douglas could only throw the ball to Kettles who was outside the three-point line.

Most of the offensive time had passed, and the Nets were forced to reorganize. Van Horn hurriedly raised the screen.

At the top of the arc, Kettles got rid of Alan Houston's defense and faced Oakley who chose to retreat.

He quickly made a long two-point jump shot!

"Bang!"

The basketball hit the rim and bounced straight into Oakley's hands near the free throw line.

The old man turned around and immediately passed the ball to Lee on the right wing.

The Knicks team began to accelerate and rushed quickly to the opponent's half, while Lee quickly rushed across the center line despite Douglas' defense.

The Nets completed the defensive matchup in time and there was no chance for a fast break.

Oakley immediately came to the left wing three-point line and gave Lee a high screen.

There was no need for a very high-quality screen.

While the old man was standing still, Lee, holding the ball in his right hand, first lowered his center of gravity, pretended to break through, and then quickly changed direction in front of his body.

"oh!"

Douglas made a wrong defensive prediction and was shaken to the left, losing his defensive position in an instant.

Van Horn hurriedly came up and saw Lee suddenly dribble the ball forward with his left hand, and subconsciously jumped up to defend.

In the blink of an eye, Van Horn saw Lee pull the ball with his right hand.

It was too late for him to adjust his body center of gravity. He watched Lee change direction and go straight into the paint area.

In the semi-transition offense, after Lee passed two players, veteran Buck Williams was still fighting for position with Jayson Williams in the paint area.

Before the Nets' inside defense could react, Lee, holding the ball in his right hand, easily broke through to the basket.

Avoiding the two people blocking the right side of the basket, Lee rushed forward with three steps, twisted his body and came to the left side of the basket, grabbed the ball with his right hand, and made a reverse layup!

The New York fans at the scene cheered loudly, and the commentator Mike Breen also raised his voice:

"Claygod!"

"Lee's signature move, this attack is really amazing!"

52:70, with 3 minutes and 50 seconds left in the third quarter, the score difference returned to 18 points.

The Nets' momentum was suddenly lost.

They narrowed the gap to 12 points, but lost again within a few minutes.

After all this trouble, a feeling of frustration began to fill my heart.

Lee remained calm. The huge score difference meant that he only needed to respond to the ball and avoid making mistakes.

Missing shots in individual rounds will not change the Knicks' offensive strategy.

Speeding up the offensive tempo again, Douglas dribbled across half court and without waiting to reach the top of the arc, he immediately passed the ball to Kendall Gill who bounced out to the left wing.

The latter received the ball, put the ball in his right hand and broke through with a cross step, and passed the ball behind his back while moving.

Kendall Gill switched to his left hand and dribbled past Larry Johnson, trying to complete the breakthrough with the help of defense.

Although he lost his defensive position for a moment, Larry Johnson once again gave a physical confrontation after coming to the basket in the aerial confrontation.

The layup that was close to the basket hit the rim and went out.

Kendall Gill clapped his hands in frustration after landing, and the Knicks charged again.

After getting the rebound, the "grandmama" accelerated with the ball and rushed across half court in the first possible moment.

Head coach Calipari on the sidelines shouted loudly, reminding his players to retreat.

Showing their defensive tenacity once again, the Nets shut down the Knicks' transition offense.

There was no chance, Larry Johnson immediately passed the ball to Lee on the left wing.

Noticing the tactical gesture, the "grandmama" immediately quickened his pace and cut in diagonally.

As soon as Larry Johnson ran to the left blocking area, Lee made a half-high pass.

With some lead time, Larry Johnson, who pretended to ask for the ball with his back to the basket, turned around and trapped Kendall Gill, who was retreating, behind him.

After receiving the ball, Larry Johnson jumped and broke through the defense.

He came to the lower left side of the basket and easily made a layup!

Coach Calipari on the sidelines saw the Knicks score so easily, and his face was ugly and he asked for a timeout again.

"We were in complete control of the game tonight! Cassell's injury really had a huge impact on the Nets."

In the commentary booth, Walt Frazier was blowing the ball hard again, automatically ignoring the Knicks' moment of relaxation in the third quarter.

As they were about to get the match point, commentator Mike Breen was also in a good mood and began to imagine the future:

"The Hornets won Game 1, which is also good news for us."

"Of course the series isn't over yet. With the Knicks' current form, they are not afraid of any opponent!"

On the Knicks bench, the atmosphere group was eagerly waiting for the other team to make a substitution.

With a 20-point difference, the game was no longer suspenseful and everyone wanted to play early.

Jeff Van Gundy, who had been AFK, was in a very good mood.

Even when the Nets were chasing points, he did not request a timeout.

The bet turned out to be right again.

Led by Lee, the whole team strengthened their defense, and the game returned to its familiar rhythm.

"Don't relax, don't give the other team any chances! We have to get the match point tonight."

"Continue to guard the basket, we have to control the rebounds."

Jeff Van Gundy sat in front of everyone, holding the tactical board and said a few simple words.

The bald coach also knew that the opponent would speed up, so there was no need to say too much at this time, and everyone knew what to do.

Lee simply replenished his water and nodded secretly when he heard the words of the young bald young coach.

He had completely adapted to the AFK mode and did not mention the attack at all.

In the final minutes of the third quarter, the Nets were forced to speed up again and also strengthen their defense.

But the Knicks shot the ball randomly, and the two teams rushed forward, and the third quarter was over quickly.

60:82, the Knicks seemed to be relaxed, but they scored 28 points in a single quarter.

Head coach Calipari on the sidelines knew that the game was completely hopeless.

Once they followed the opponent, the Knicks would score points quickly.

In the fourth quarter, the Nets did not make any substitutions early.

In the last game, they brought in the atmosphere group too early, which caused an uproar in the New Jersey media.

The main lineup will have to continue playing tonight.

In the first round of the fourth quarter, Alan Houston moved actively, got rid of the defense, and hit a three-pointer from the right wing.

Jayson Williams of the Nets missed the shot under the basket and in the semi-conversion offense, Lee simply signaled to his teammates to move away.

Alan Houston received the ball and played a back-to-back single in the left blocking zone, which caused Kettles to commit a foul.

On the bench, Ewing had mixed feelings, because he was the one who called to recruit Alan Houston himself!

The little brother who assisted him ran away with others.

The gorilla had already noticed the changes in the Knicks.

He was no longer the tactical core.

After 5 minutes and 46 seconds in the fourth quarter, the score difference did not change.

The Nets no longer insisted and took the initiative to request a timeout and brought in the atmosphere group.

Afterwards, Jeff Van Gundy took advantage of Lee's free throws to start rotating the lineup, and the game officially entered garbage time.

Seeing Lee walking towards the bench, the New York fans cheered again.

Commentator Mike Breen took a look at the technical statistics and said happily:

"23 points, 4 rebounds, 10 assists, 3 steals, 2 turnovers. The Nets' targeted defense did not have much impact on Lee."

"In the next game, the Knicks will challenge the Nets away. The boys have two days of rest. I hope we won't give the opponent too many opportunities!"

In the playoffs, physical strength is often the key, so the less energy you consume, the better.

Walt Frazier, who was in a good mood, also added:

"As we get into the playoffs, the importance of Lee's 40+10 win over the Bulls in the last game of the regular season becomes more apparent."

"The playoff advantage is accumulated from the regular season. The easy schedule allows us to calmly prepare for the subsequent games!"

Playing for 33 minutes, he made 8 of 17 shots, 3 of 7 from beyond the three point line, and 4 of 4 free throws.

Most of the points were concentrated in the first half.

Lee scored a "mediocre" double-double tonight.

Jeff Van Gundy on the sidelines patted Lee on the shoulder with a smile, and the New York fans at the scene also began to celebrate the victory of the series.

After getting the match point, everyone couldn't wait to see the semi-finals.

"As much as I like going to Miami, it would be great if we could meet the Hornets in the semifinals."

On the bench, after changing into training clothes, Larry Johnson began to brag about beating up his old team.

Lee has been busy practicing these past two days and has no time to watch the game.

In addition, the teams haven't made many changes during the offseason.

In this year's playoffs, he only focuses on the opponents:

"It's the same for every team. The Heat also have injuries."

Mourning missed 26 games, but the kidney fighter has been in great form since his return.

Lee's words were a psychological comfort to everyone.

Compared with the Hornets, the Heat was indeed more difficult to deal with!

The game time was over quickly, and the final score was 86:106.

The Knicks easily got the match point and the series score came to 2:0.

After the loss, everyone on the Nets was a little depressed.

Even though there were two home games left, the fact that they lost two games in a row by a large margin already showed the strength gap between the two sides.

After the game, coach Calipari and Jeff Van Gundy simply shook hands in front of the technical table:

"The Knicks are indeed the better team."

Hearing the compliment, the bald young commander felt more and more proud, but on the surface he smiled and comforted the other party.

After getting the match point, the coaching staff also has to consider the next round of opponents!

The inflated New York media automatically eliminated the Nets after the game, opening a new round of loan links.

G3 will start on the 29th, and the Knicks will have two more days of rest.

On the morning of the 27th, Lee looked at the newspaper in his hand and noticed that the Hawks had lost again.

Alan Henderson just won the Most Improved Player award, but like Mutombo, he lost the game on the day he won the award.

Wilkens, the coach with thousands of wins, was at a disadvantage when he met rookie coach Larry Bird, which led many media to follow suit and praise "Big Bird".

Seeing these columnists constantly promoting Larry Bird, Lee curled his lips.

NBA coaches are important, but players are more important.

Building a suitable system around star players is the secret to winning.

Mark Bartelstein sent Lee a lot of resumes early in the morning:

"This is what I screened. It's not easy to gain muscle. It may require some medication."

"However, that is used to break the physical bottleneck. You should not need it at the moment."

Lee was not in a hurry to look at the resume.

After learning that the labor-management agreement was consistent with his memory, he began to prepare for the long offseason:

"I'm not interested in relying on medication right now. That's something old guys should consider."

Lee said no to drugs.

He was not clear about the current level of development of sports science.

He just wanted to deeply explore his talent.

Mark Bartelstein nodded with satisfaction.

In his opinion, maintaining 20+10 was enough. With this data, he could ask for a big contract from the Knicks!

After the regular season ended, Lee noticed that the [Ray Allen's excellent explosive power] on the talent panel had disappeared.

This is the same as when he was a child, indicating that his body has completely digested his talent.

Although it was a bit of a pity that this talent was ultimately only adapted to the silver stage, overall, Lee was still very satisfied, at least his explosive power had indeed been improved.

On April 29, after two days of simple rest, Game 3 between the Knicks and the Nets officially started that night.

This game has little attention, and most fans will choose to watch the game between the Jazz and the Rockets.

Compared to the Knicks' easy schedule, the Jazz encountered difficulties in the first round.

Jeff Van Gundy didn't pay attention to these things either.

After the opening, he loudly reminded the players to stay focused.

As the game progressed, the bald young coach finally walked back to the bench slowly with a smile.

At the end of the first quarter, the score was 35:23, and the Knicks took a double-digit lead.

Before the substitutes came on the court in the second quarter, Starks said confidently:

"This is the easiest first round game I've ever played. We'll advance to the Eastern Conference semifinals tonight!"

Starks was indeed trustworthy in the favorable game.

The atmosphere team was ready to wave the towel.

Lee, who was sitting on the bench, smiled and bumped fists with his opponent:

"Come on, Bro! Try to end the suspense in the first half of the game!"

...

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