Anthony the Reborn

Chapter 287 The first round of the first round, the fight begins!
Speaking of which, Karl probably also realized the situation Anthony was facing, so he replaced Anthony not long after the start of the second quarter. At this time, Anthony knew that if he didn't say anything else, maybe this game would be better. He was usually still tired, so he had already made a decision in his heart.

At the end of the second quarter, Anthony scored 10 points. Counting the points in the first quarter, he had already scored 25 points at halftime. Facing the Rockets' bench group, he was simply abusing food, and Ivor On Sen's side, it is also time for the halftime break. His game in the second quarter was not as good as in the first quarter, but he still feels very good. He scored 12 points and scored 31 points in the half. All of a sudden, he and Anthony stood on the same starting line.

In the locker room, the leading Nuggets did not discuss the game at all, and the focus of their discussion was naturally the matter of Anthony and Iverson competing for the scoring title. Something to relish.

Anthony did not appear in the locker room at this time, but appeared in Karl's coach's office. Here, he did not express his inner thoughts, but he lied a little, saying that his muscles were sore , the next game, I hope not to play for such a long time.

Muscle soreness usually occurs after players have played back-to-back intensive games. Before this game, the Nuggets had rested for two full days, and there were no back-to-back games before. Theoretically speaking The probability of muscle soreness is very small, but the player's injury itself is full of uncertainties, so Carl didn't have much doubt when Anthony said this.

The next step of muscle soreness is likely to lead to muscle injury. In this kind of insignificant game, naturally there is no need to play more. Carl didn't force it. He also heard the regret from Anthony's tone. The player has no intention of being the scoring champion, which makes his opinion of his lover much higher than before.

Back in the second half, players from both sides appeared on the field, but Anthony was replaced after only playing for more than two minutes, and he did not play again in the subsequent game. His score was finally fixed at 25 points, and before the end of the game, In another key card battle, Iverson led his 76ers team to a difficult overtime victory over the Cavaliers at home, turning the Cavaliers into the ninth place in the Eastern Conference and kicking them out of the playoffs. At the same time, he also locked the seventh position in the Eastern Conference and successfully avoided the Heat. In this game, Iverson made 35 of 13 shots and scored 48 points, surpassing Anthony in one fell swoop and becoming the scoring leader at the last moment.

Such a result, for Iverson, for the 76ers and their fans, is undoubtedly the best at this stage, and while some people are happy, others are naturally worried. This is the second season since James entered the NBA. The performance is also very comprehensive, averaging 26 plus 7 plus 7 per game, just like the data of a first-class star, but in this life-and-death card battle with the 76ers, although they dragged the game into overtime, they still In the end, they were defeated, and because of a one-game difference, they missed the playoffs this season. The "Little Emperor" had to wait another season for his trip to the playoffs.

But no matter what, the regular season finally came to an end in this game full of ups and downs and suspense, and the more exciting and intense playoffs are about to be staged again.

In the Eastern Conference, the quarterfinals have finally been produced. The leader is naturally the Heat, which acquired O'Neal in a season trade. Their record is 2 more games than the No.5 Heat. It can be said to be thriving. In addition to the teams that are far ahead, the remaining six playoff teams in the East failed to win 6 wins. The veteran Celtics rose strongly this season under the leadership of Pierce, but in the end they only achieved 50 wins. With 45 wins, relying on the divisional rankings, they finally ranked third in the East, followed by the Bulls, Wizards, Pacers, 76ers and Nets, becoming the remaining five playoff teams in the East.

Compared with the weakness of the Eastern Conference, the Western Conference is much stronger. Relying on their strong performance in the second half, the Nuggets finally scored 62 wins, ranking first in the league, and the Spurs followed closely. With 59 wins, the "dark horse" Supersonics, which has risen strongly this season, won 52 wins under the leadership of Seattle's dual-core team. Under the leadership of Nelson, the Bulls scored 58 wins, followed by the Rockets and the Kings who also won 50 plus games. The entire Western Conference playoff team, except for the seventh Timberwolves and the eighth Grizzlies, All records are above 50 wins. Compared with the East, the strength gap between the East and the West is particularly obvious.

When the regular season came to an end and the record was finally fixed, the rankings of each list were finally released. Garnett won the rebounding champion, Okafor won the blocked shots champion, etc., but for Anthony and his Nuggets For the team, these are not important. The important thing is that after three days of truce, they will start their journey to the playoffs at home. success or failure.

On April 2004, 4, after a three-day break, the playoffs of the Eastern and Western Divisions officially started. The Nuggets are about to play their first opponent in the playoffs at home, Memphis led by Pau Gasol Grizzlies.

The Grizzlies did not win a game in the playoffs last season, and this series will face the No. [-] seed Nuggets directly. It is bound to compete in every game and strive to win their own victory in the playoffs, especially for their core player Paul Gasol, the talented Spanish basketball genius, obviously does not want his postseason The victory of the game career is a duck egg.

On this day, Anthony, as usual, wearing headphones and listening to exciting music, walked from the underground parking lot to the locker room. After adjusting his excitement to the highest level, he walked with his teammates. Arriving at the arena channel, waiting for the DJ outside to call out his name.

"Denver's basketball icon, won the All-Star Game and the regular season double MVP in his rookie season, this season led us to make a comeback, our Melon, Carmelo...Anthony!!"

When the DJ finally called Anthony's name, the lights of the audience flickered, and the fans fell into a state of madness, even madness. Anthony, in this familiar but somewhat unfamiliar scene, directly from the player channel rushed out.

Although it was only the first round, and the opponent seemed to be the weakest Grizzlies in the playoffs, the enthusiasm of the fans has not diminished at all. The entire Pepsi Center is filled with fans, and even the aisles are standing crazily The fans, from the big picture of Anthony held high in their hands, know that the root cause of all this is the player rushing to the field at this moment.

After entering the arena, the players went through simple shooting training, and then began the final preparations before the game.

Because of Anthony, this game of the Nuggets was listed as the first live broadcast in the United States. Naturally, the attention will not be small, and the commentary lineup excluded by TNT is also expected. The dual team of Barkley and "Magic" Johnson The combination is enough to show that they attach great importance to this game, and therefore, the two staff members, Su Xi and Lara Vasquez, are also busy at the moment and can't stop for a moment.

After the players on both sides listened to the coach's final arrangement of tactics, they walked onto the field one after another. The lineups of the two sides did not change much from the regular season. On the Grizzlies side, Gasol and Lorenzen Wright were on the inside. On the front line are defensive champion Sean Battier and three-point shooter Mike Miller. On the point guard is Andre Miller, who was traded to the Grizzlies last season.

For the Nuggets, they followed the starting lineup from the second half of the season, with Nash and Ariza at the back line, Anthony and Brand's double All-Star combination on the front line, and the center lineup was played this season. Iron-blooded center Tyson Chandler traded from the Bulls.

Under the guidance of the referee, the starting players of both sides walked to the middle circle, while Chandler and Gasol stood at the forefront and began to prepare for the jump ball.

"beep!"

With the whistle of the referee, the ball flew into the air, and the first game of the playoffs in the 2004-2005 season officially started.

Gasol is a technical insider. The reason why he is asked to jump the ball is mainly because he is tall and tall, and has a long arm. However, facing Chandler, who also has a super high wingspan, plus Chandler Excellent bounce, he didn't have the slightest advantage in this jump ball, the ball was shot back by Chandler, and then flew into Ariza's hands.

Ariza held the ball, looked for Nash, passed the ball, and then started running forward. Nash also dribbled the ball steadily across the middle circle, and started the Nuggets' first attack.

The double-serve players landed, followed immediately by a violent physical confrontation without the ball. In the league at the beginning of the 21st century, referees were not as harsh as they were later. To put it bluntly, they encouraged physical confrontation to enhance viewing. Therefore, small confrontations and confrontations that consume physical energy are everywhere, especially in the playoffs, where every field must be contested, it is even more obvious.

In the first round of the Nuggets, the players tried to find the offensive space and create shooting opportunities for teammates in the pick-and-roll, but a few pick-and-rolls were destroyed by tough physical confrontation, and the entire offensive formation was dismembered. , In the end, after running for a long time, I didn't get a chance to make a phone call.

At this time, Nash decisively found Anthony, who was one step inside the right three-point line, made a few quick changes of direction, passed Andre Miller, and then threw the ball over.

(End of this chapter)