Jordan: I thought he was there to help me!

Chapter 304 The King of Alliance Interviews and Number One Thick-Skinned Person! Vicious

Chapter 304 The King of League Interviews and the Most Shameless! The Vicious Lin Tian Dismantles at Least One Team in One Round!

"Larry, Rick, what are you talking about?" Lin Tian walked over to the bench and interrupted the three of them. He wasn't a gossipy person, but Lin Tian was genuinely curious at this moment.

Lin Tian recognized the guy standing in front of Bird and the others immediately because he looked so familiar with him.

It has a round, chubby face that looks like a pig's head; the entire head, from the shape of the face to the facial features, is round.

This guy has many nicknames: "River Document", "Pig Head", "King of Comebacks", "The Last Glory of Black Coaches", "King of 'Chicken Blood'", "MLM Coach"...

This year also marks his first time as the head coach of an NBA team. He led the Orlando Magic, a team predicted by mainstream media and actuaries in the US to be ranked outside the top 25 in the league and likely to be vying for the number one draft pick, into the playoffs and ranked second in the Coach of the Year voting.

Doug Rivers!

From a coaching perspective, he had a perfect start, made a name for himself in his first year of his professional career, and has been a head coach in the NBA for over 20 years. No matter how good his record is, no matter how many times he is reversed, crushed, or upset in the playoffs, he can always find a job.

Lin Tian felt that, regardless of this guy's coaching ability, his interviewing skills were definitely top-tier in the NBA! Or even world-class!

After all, when a coach has worked on the front lines for more than 20 years, and has led championship favorites for most of his career, but only wins one championship in the end, and almost every time he loses in his playoff run, he is reversed by the opponent.

3次3：1领先被逆转，2次2：0领先被逆转，另外还有4次球队3：2拿到赛点，却被对手连干两场惨遭淘汰的逆转！

As for other things like being reversed from 2-1 or 1-0, or losing after leading by 7 points in the last 50 seconds, there are too many to count. It's as if he has a buff, and all sorts of bizarre, incomprehensible, and devastating comebacks can happen to him.

In the NBA's 21st-century comeback series, Doc Rivers single-handedly dominated eight of them! He's the absolute king of comebacks!

But this coach always has work, and every time he works, it's with a top-tier team!

The Celtics with their Big Three, the Clippers of Lob City, and the 76ers who were touted as having championship potential but were actually terrible...

Rivers almost always led these teams to failure, and even in 08, the only year he led a team to a championship, the Celtics' path to the finals was extremely perilous.

Forced into a Game 7 by the 37-win Hawks, and by a young LeBron James who couldn't shoot, it wasn't until the Eastern Conference Finals and the NBA Finals that they finally found their rhythm and avoided being forced into a Game 7 by the Pistons and Lakers. However, the series against the Pistons was extremely dangerous, with Game 5 and Game 6 being narrow victories, showing no dominance whatsoever.

Throughout the playoffs, the Celtics only managed to defeat the Lakers, which salvaged some of their pride.

With that Celtics roster from 08, if they had another top-tier coach, they wouldn't have swept through the league, but they would have easily crushed ordinary teams like the Hawks and Cavaliers who couldn't even make the Western Conference playoffs.

But Rivers somehow managed to push the series to a Game 7.

Despite such playoff results, he always manages to land one job after another, each one better than the last. If other coaches were to suffer such a comeback, the management of those teams would have crumpled up their resumes and thrown them in the trash long ago.

Bad luck!

But Rivers just can do it!

Hmm, after saying all that, why did Lin Tian come over here?

Because Mr. Lin can be quite superstitious at times!

He was genuinely worried that if he talked to Rivers too much, the reversed buff would be contagious! If Bird and Carlisle also picked up something dirty, it would be difficult to clean it up.

Lin Tian even worried that Rivers, true to his reputation as the king of interviews, might snatch the Pacers' next head coach position from Carlisle... That would be disgusting.

We must stop it!

As soon as Rivers saw Lin Tian approaching, he immediately flashed a bright smile, his face becoming even rounder as he smiled: "I was asking Coach Larry some questions, and he taught me a lot with great enthusiasm! I'm really grateful."

"I spent the entire second round series with Mr. Pat, sitting behind the Heat's bench the whole time. I learned so much from him! He's a really great guy, and he never hesitated to ask me any questions!"

"He taught me a lot. I came with them today because I want to learn more. After all, I'm a new head coach, and there's so much for me to learn. I also want to learn from Coach Larry and see if I have the opportunity to become his disciple."

Chatterbox! Social butterfly! Outgoing! Shameless! Can talk nonsense! Lies without batting an eye!

With just this one sentence, Lin Tian had given a preliminary profile of Rivers' personality.

After all, Lin Tian knew Riley all too well. How could that old bastard have the time to answer your questions and patiently guide juniors to help newcomers grow quickly?

This is even more outrageous than Ultraman actually existing on Earth!

Riley is the kind of guy who could fire Van Gundy when the team was about to win the championship and then become the head coach himself to reap the rewards. In the 05 incident, Van Gundy was so angry that he almost stole all the hair gel and hair wax from Riley's house!

There is only one Spoelstra, and Lin Tian is absolutely certain that if Riley were 10 years younger in 2011, Spoelstra would have to be kicked out.

This is the style of the "Master Calculator".

Extremely selfish, calm and rational, cold-blooded and ruthless!

So this old bastard must be driving Rivers crazy; he absolutely wants Rivers to get out of here as soon as possible.

Thinking of this, Lin Tian raised his head and looked towards the Heat.

Sure enough, he saw Riley looking over with a gloating smile. When he met Lin Tian's gaze, Riley even winked, looking smug as if to say, "I'm leaving all the trouble for you guys."

How vicious!

That old bastard actually managed to get Rivers assigned to their team!

Judging from Rivers's behavior, he most likely wants to watch a few more games with the Pacers' bench and learn from Bird.

And then...

He will definitely stick with whichever team advances.

I've never seen such a shameless guy, so blatantly following in the footsteps of a top coach and stealing his ideas.

Bird was clearly getting impatient with the questions, but he was just trying to maintain his image because there were too many cameras and fans around. He couldn't just punch Rivers or walk away, so he patiently chatted with him. Now that he saw Lin Tian arrive, Bird immediately looked like he had seen a savior!

"Lin, Doug has always said he likes you a lot and hopes you can share some of your experience with him. How did you go from the end of the second round to become an NBA superstar? How did you make a comeback to become a true MVP? He really wants to hear your story so he can go back and tell it to his players."

"I have something to do. You talk to Doug first, I'm going to get back to work." Bird turned to run away after saying that, but Rivers quickly grabbed his arm and said, "Larry, one last thing, let's take a picture together. Lin, you come too! Rick, could you please…"

Rivers, seemingly oblivious to politeness, pulled a camera from his pocket and looked at Carlisle with an earnest expression.

What could Carlisle do? He could only suppress his laughter, take the camera, and snap a picture!

Then, Bird didn't dare to linger for a moment and ran away.

Lin Tian, ​​left behind, listened to Rivers muttering to himself, "Next season, I'll show those kids a photo of me with Riley and Bird and tell them: I'm chatting and laughing with top NBA coaches! They all say I have potential, they all say I can become a top coach and lead a team to a championship!"

"Yeah, that's it! When we get to the Finals, I'll go after Phil Jackson again! Hehe, next season those little brats will be worshipping me like Jesus!"

That's awesome!

Lin Tian, ​​who was listening to Rivers talking to himself, couldn't help but want to give him a thumbs up.

Lin Tian always thought he was shameless and had no bottom line, but after seeing Rivers today...

Awesome! What does it mean to say there are always mountains beyond mountains and people beyond people?

What does it mean to have one mountain higher than another?

Thinking of this, Lin Tian suddenly remembered something extremely malicious.

Then he put his arm around Rivers' shoulder, acting like they were best buddies, and started chatting with Rivers.

"Doug, I admire you! I love people who come back from the brink of defeat and succeed! That's me. I played at a school that never made it to the Third Madness, and I was drafted in the very last round of the second round. Everyone thought I'd only last two years in the NBA before being eliminated, but what happened?"

"You've proven everyone wrong! You've become the MVP! You're also the scoring champion and assist champion! You're one of the best stars in this league!" Rivers said, then suddenly leaned closer and whispered, "For me, I can remove the 'one of'! You are the best, but there are too many people here, I can't say it, I don't want to start a war of words."

Looking at Rivers's cautious and humble demeanor, Lin Tian couldn't help but admire his acting skills. He truly deserves to be called the pinnacle of motivational head coaches and the king of interviews in the league!

"It's alright, it's alright, that's not important." Lin Tian indicated that he wasn't there to listen to flattery, and quickly steered the conversation to the main point: "If I remember correctly, the Magic will be able to completely clear their salary cap this summer and offer three max-contract deals?"

"Hmm? Yes... that's true, but... well, I don't have the authority to appoint or dismiss people. It's not up to me to decide who gets signed or not. But if any of your friends or brothers need a job and you'd like them to join the Magic, don't worry, I'll definitely give them a strong recommendation!"

When Rivers heard Lin Tian's words, he thought Lin Tian was trying to send someone to him! So his previous friendliness, flattery and magnanimity immediately disappeared, revealing his stingy, cautious and cunning side.

Lin Tian didn't need to guess to know that if he really recommended someone to him, it would be fine if they were truly capable, but if they were just someone with nepotism or a fringe player, this guy wouldn't say a word in Lin Tian's defense, absolutely not!

Of course, Rivers made this choice because Lin Tian's contract still has a full four years left! So Rivers doesn't need to be too nice to Lin Tian, ​​but what if Lin Tian's contract is in its final year this year or next?

Hehe, that's a different story! Everything is negotiable!

But Lin Tian had seen through Rivers; he was hypocritical and stingy, always smiling but actually very calculating!

No wonder Duncan didn't choose you guys this summer! You have absolutely no class!

However, Lin Tian and Rivers were currently on good terms, so he wouldn't directly express his dislike for Rivers. Instead, he continued, "I don't do things like using connections. I just wanted to say that there might be some players who like a tiny bit of privilege!"

"Let me give you an example. Imagine a top free agent is about to come to the Magic, but just as he's about to sign a contract, he suddenly asks you: 'Coach, my family sometimes travels with me to away games. Can they travel on the same flight as me?' What would you say?"

"No way! Of course not!" Rivers declared righteously. "Rules are rules. How can we do something like this? Besides, with over 50 away games in the playoffs every year, how much extra money would the team have to spend? What would the other players think?"

"Foolish! Foolish, Doug!" Lin Tian patted Rivers on the shoulder with a disappointed look. To be honest, if old-school coaches like Larry Brown or Chuck Daly said that, Lin Tian would 100% believe that these old men really thought that way.

But what do you, Rivers, say?

Do you think Austin Rivers would agree to what you're saying?

In another 10 years or so, who will be the one who takes advantage of being both a coach and a general manager to give their son a high salary and a lot of playing time to their mediocre son?

Yes, Austin Rivers eventually proved himself, becoming a competent, even excellent, rotation player.

But if it weren't for Doc Rivers being his father, and treating his own son like a top player, Austin Rivers would have been eliminated from the league long ago!

Or to put it more bluntly: Austin Rivers earned a total of about $5000 million throughout his career, of which $3600 million was a contract offered to him by Doc Rivers.

Was there corruption involved? Was there any shady dealings? Did Doc Rivers get the contract by sending his own mother to Doc Rivers' bed? Investigate! We must get to the bottom of this!

Well... maybe they won't find anything. Looking at the results, Rivers' contract wasn't that high. It's not a heinous crime for a father to scheme a little for his son, pull some strings, and give him a little push.

But can you say that Rivers is a fair, honest, and impartial person who does not allow players to have special privileges and sets a good example?

You're definitely talking nonsense!

Lin Tian was certain that Firth was 100% trying to establish a persona here! He wanted everyone in the league to think of him as a fair, honest, and strict person!

However, acting is fine, but if you go too far... then you really go too far, and you'll miss out on some things that you'll regret later!

"Doug, let me give you another example," Lin Tian said earnestly. "Just a couple of years ago, when the Lakers were recruiting Shaq, do you know how they recruited him?"

"Magic Johnson said he has several of the best, most prominent, and easiest parking spots at Staples Center, and they'll all be his whenever Shaq comes. Jerry Buss said that whenever Shaq comes, no matter how many of his friends want to come to Staples Center, how many front-row tickets they want, or which Hollywood star they want to sit with, it's all possible—just say the word!"

"West? After O'Neal had already agreed to sign that super contract, West voluntarily traded away two players, freeing up about $1 million a year in cap space. He then increased O'Neal's annual salary by about $1 million and told O'Neal: 'You are very important. We are giving you so much not because you are worth that much, but because this is all we can give you!'"

"I don't need to tell you what happened next, right? Shaq moved to Los Angeles, and the Lakers completed their rebuild overnight, acquiring a behemoth and core player for the next decade!"

"So, Doug, do you get what I mean? Now you understand what these superstars want, right? I'll ask you one more time: if a free agent asked you, 'His family member wants to fly with him on the team's plane to an away game, what would you do?'"

Rivers was a smart man after all, and he immediately understood after hearing Lin Tian's words!

What star players want is not a fair and impartial head coach, nor a team atmosphere that leads by example and is strictly disciplined.

What they want is respect! They want the team to value them!

Even if the tiny bit of privilege the team gives them is worthless and insignificant in their world, they still want it!

For Magic Johnson, a few parking spaces are nothing! For Buss, Staples Center tickets are nothing! For West, a million dollars a year is a must-spend, and whether it's spent on O'Neal or other players, what difference does it make?

For O'Neal, these are all things he can easily obtain, trivial gadgets that are not worth mentioning at all. But is it the same feeling when someone gives them to him voluntarily as when he buys them himself?

Rivers nodded thoughtfully, then said, "Absolutely no problem! If needed, I can even provide him with a private cabin so he can do something enjoyable!"

Then Rivers clapped his hands excitedly, looking like he understood everything, and said happily, "I'm in Orlando, so I'll have to take advantage of Orlando! Unlimited Disney VIP tickets all year round! He can go with as many people as he wants, and take pictures with whichever princess he wants!"

"Including Universal Studios, the Space Center! He can go wherever he wants in Orlando!"

"By the way! Warner Universal is preparing to build a brand new, world's first 'Harry Potter' theme park! I can send them there for some groundbreaking ceremonies! We can tie them to the park early on! Give them super passes 10 years in advance, so they can play there forever!"

"That's right!" Seeing Rivers so eager to learn and already applying what he'd learned, as if he'd opened a new door to life, Lin Tian patted him on the shoulder with satisfaction and said, "Now, let's see how you guys operate during the offseason. I have high hopes for you! I look forward to meeting you in the Eastern Conference Finals next year!"

Rivers replied enthusiastically, "No problem! I'll go back and ask the team for all those things I mentioned, and they'll get you a set first! Lin, you'll always be a friend of Orlando! Orlando will always welcome you!"

"So do you know what you should be doing now?" Lin Tian asked Rivers again.

"I'll call the team right now! Tell them to prepare a small gift and send it to you!" Rivers still seemed very helpful.

"What would I need that thing for?" Lin Tian grinned mischievously, spun Rivers around, and faced the Heat's bench and Riley. "What you need to do now is continue to improve yourself! Improve your professional skills as a head coach, and truly become a top-tier head coach!"

"Otherwise, even if those superstars come to your team, if you can't manage them and end up getting fired, what's the point of all your efforts? Aren't you just paving the way for your successors?"

"Go for it! Pat is the best and most complete head coach in the league! He can build a team with a point guard and create the most dazzling offense in the league, and he can also build the most formidable defensive system with a center as the core! He can create all kinds of systems and tactical styles! He is my number one in the league!"

"Go and learn from him. That way, no matter who your team gets this summer, you'll be able to quickly build a system that suits them!"

"You're right, Lin! What I need to do now is indeed to strengthen myself! Thank you! But I'd rather learn from Larry, because I think Larry is the best..."

"What the hell! What can that old bastard Larry do?" Lin Tian interrupted Rivers impatiently. "Without me, he's nothing! Think about it, everything he has now is given to him by me. If I weren't in Indiana, would Larry even be in the Eastern Conference Finals?"

"Making it to the playoffs is already a miracle! He's got absolutely nothing to offer, just a fame-seeking old man! You won't learn a thing from him!"

At this point, Lin Tian put his arm around Rivers and took two more steps toward the Heat, glancing left and right.

"I'm telling you this because we click and I feel like we can talk. Don't tell anyone else, and don't go around telling everyone, okay? If you talk nonsense..."

"Got it! Don't worry, Lin, I'll keep my mouth shut!" Rivers nodded excitedly, and then he saw Riley beckoning the players closer, obviously about to start setting up tactics. He immediately became eager to go over.

"Go on! Boosting morale before the game is a very important lesson for head coaches! Go and learn from Pat!" Lin Tian patted Rivers, finally getting rid of the guy.

Then, as soon as Lin Tian turned his head, he saw Bird looking at him with an unfriendly expression, which made even the usually invulnerable Lin Tian get goosebumps.

"Larry, are you alright? I finally got rid of that guy. Did you hear what we were talking about?" Lin Tian quickly shook his head and then walked over to Bird with a grin.

"No, I didn't hear anything about me being a useless old bastard or anything like that." Bird snorted as soon as he saw Lin Tian coming over. "I didn't hear anything about that either, like how everything I have now is thanks to you, or that I have absolutely no knowledge."

That old geezer is still acting all high and mighty with me!

Lin Tian rolled his eyes, looked at Bird who was clearly unhappy and deeply engrossed in his role, and decided not to indulge him anymore!

So he turned around and shouted, "Doug! Come here, Larry said he wants to teach you something real..."

"Stop! Stop! FUXX! Aren't you done yet!" Bird quickly grabbed Lin Tian. He had just gotten rid of this plague god, and now you, Lin, are calling him back?

Let him torment Riley, don't come and torment me!

"I'm just an old bastard, I'm utterly useless, okay!" Bird glanced at Riley, who looked constipated and groaned as if he'd eaten shit the moment he saw Rivers, and instantly felt better: "Hey, call everyone back! Let's get ready for the game!"

A few minutes later, Riley, looking constipated, sat in his seat, behind him Rivers, who was full of curiosity, holding a pen and paper and asking questions every now and then.

Riley wanted to slap him, but he wanted to slap himself even more!

Why didn't I get rid of this annoying guy sooner?

Bird, meanwhile, was refreshed and relaxed, sitting casually in his seat, waiting for the game to begin.

Bird couldn't help but glance at Riley again, and seeing his old rival's constipated expression, he immediately stretched comfortably.

I'm even happier!

Today is a good day!

On the court, all ten starting players from both sides have taken to the court. Neither side has changed their starting lineup, and both have used the same starting lineup that they used throughout the regular season and playoffs!

For the Heat, the lineup includes center Alonzo Mourning, power forward Karl Malone, small forward Jamal Mashburn, shooting guard Ruben Patterson, and point guard Gary Payton!

This incredibly fierce, muscular five-man lineup, which has caused headaches for almost every team in the league this season, has finally met its matchup against the Pacers!

"The Heat's lineup is really intimidating! Just by looking at their faces, none of these five are good people. If you ask me, if I didn't know them and ran into them on the street, my first reaction would definitely be to run away!"

Kenny couldn't help but comment, "Of these five, Mourning actually looks the most approachable! He gives me the feeling that he's just a robber, but won't do anything else bad!"

"Hahaha! You're right, Kenny!" Barkley laughed. "Karl Malone is a heinous arms dealer, Gary Payton is a drug dealer who'll pull out a gun at any moment, Patterson seems like the kind of pervert who would molest a minor, and Mashburn, the mere sight of his face is a crime!"

"These five guys are really scary-looking! Compared to them, I suddenly feel like the Trail Blazers guys are just innocent, clueless high school students!"

"On the other hand, for the Pacers, Lin is a Hollywood-level handsome guy, Vince has a gentle and sunny smile, Doug looks like an easy-to-bully little guy, and Chris, although a bit of a rascal, is also a handsome guy overall! As for Ben... well, okay, Ben should be on the Heat's side! His appearance doesn't quite fit the Pacers' style."

Barkley and Kenny jokingly teased the Heat's menacing appearance, with Ben Wallace, who was said to be the most intimidating player on the court, sporting an afro that could make him appear 210 centimeters tall, standing on the center court with Mourning.

"Kid, are you ready to get destroyed?" Mourning lowered his center of gravity, concentrating on the jump ball, while his trash talk had already begun.

"Shorty, are you prepared to average less than 10 rebounds per game in this series?" Ben Wallace flashed his big white teeth, not backing down an inch. "You're so much shorter than me, who gave you the guts to beat me, Madonna?"

"Fuck you!" Mourning cursed, "You dare shave your head if you dare!"

"Then why don't you grow your hair back, you bald bastard!"

"I have hair!"

"You have illegitimate children too! Oh, sorry, Carl, I'm not talking about you. I know you don't have any illegitimate children, not a single one. Everyone knows you're a gentleman who never has affairs and never lays a finger on any woman other than your wife!"

"When did Ben's trash talk improve so much?" Webber muttered, then naturally looked at Lin Tian, ​​who was standing there with a smug and proud expression!

"Chris was my first apprentice," Lin Tian said, appreciating Ben's trash talk as if it were a work of art. "He not only watched my trash talk tutorial on Indiana TV three times, but also repeatedly asked me to teach him how to trash talk!"

"Looking back now, I could have graduated! I'm very pleased!"

"A bunch of scoundrels!" Peyton couldn't help but blurt out the phrase that others had said to him most often.

"First, sew up your gloves properly. I've practically turned them into wristbands from all the beatings. They're full of huge holes. I think your gloves are looser than a gay man's anus; I could pass a basketball through them again and again!"

"Lin is ruthless! He's a teacher after all!" Webber stopped looking at Lin Tian and turned to Carter, saying, "Vince, don't follow his example! Our team needs at least one kind person!"

"Beep beep!"

While the players were still bickering, the referee blew his whistle and threw the basketball into the air. Ben Wallace and Alonzo Mourning jumped almost simultaneously to fight for the first possession of the series!

"Snapped!"

The two short centers are almost evenly matched in terms of jumping height. In addition to their similar height, they also have equally terrifying strength!

When the two of them touched the basketball at the same time, in an instant, the basketball was under pressure on both sides and almost turned into the shape of a rugby ball!

In the end, Mourning, with his greater experience, suddenly exerted his strength and slapped the basketball to Payton!

"Don't rush, calm down! Let's take it one step at a time!" After receiving the ball, Payton immediately turned around and blocked Lin Tian with his back, while gesturing to everyone not to rush!

He turned his back, dribbled the basketball steadily across half-court, and then passed the ball to Patterson, who bounced it off the ground and passed it to Mourning, who was huddled together with Ben Wallace in the paint!

After receiving the ball, Mourning slammed it down hard on Ben Wallace!

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

After three consecutive pure and direct collisions and muffled thuds between muscles, Ben Wallace completely withstood Mourning's impact, not retreating an inch, perfectly maintaining his defensive position.

"Alonzo, give it your all! Your strength is barely enough to fill a tooth gap!"

Faced with another barrage of trash talk from Ben Wallace, Mourning quickly turned and slid towards the baseline, then collided with Ben Wallace, who had quickly moved into position to defend, with a loud 'bang'!

Then Mourning turned around again towards the top lane, wanting to continue the attack from the middle, but as soon as he turned around, he found Christie coming!

"Snapped!"

With a swift, precise, and ruthless strike, Christie hit the basketball that Mourning was trying to collect. But Mourning's reaction was incredibly fast. He lunged sideways, not only knocking Christie away but also grabbing the basketball in his arms. However, he didn't have time to handle the ball because Ben Wallace also rushed over!

The two were fighting on the ground...

No, they were fighting over it. The veins on their four arms, which were as thick as an average person's thigh, were bulging and their muscles were completely bulging. The two of them were each holding half a basketball and desperately trying to pull it into their arms.

"Wow! Brilliant! They're already on the ground! It's a full-on brawl right from the start! This is the kind of game a real man should watch!" Barkley exclaimed excitedly, watching both players lying on the floor. "Go Ben! Give him a punch! Don't be afraid, aim for his head!"

"Cough cough!" Kenny couldn't help but cough again, and he had to remind his partner to be careful.

The Philadelphia 76ers haven't even settled their complaint about the Eastern Conference semifinals, and now they've offended the Miami Heat?

Could it be that my buddy really doesn't want to work anymore?

"Stop! Stop! Let go immediately! Fight for the ball! Fight for the ball!" The referee blew his whistle loudly, ordering the two players to release the ball, fearing that the very first round would turn into a brawl on the field.

Then their bonuses are in danger again!

Fortunately, neither Ben nor Mourning intended to fight. After hearing the whistle, they both let go of each other, but still glared fiercely at each other with expressions of malice as if they wanted to kill each other.

"That's intense!" Kenny gave his first impression of the game: "This series will definitely reveal who the real tough guys are and who the fake ones are!"

Both Ben Wallace and Alonzo Mourning looked fierce, standing on either side of the free-throw line, ready for a second consecutive jump ball.

"beep!"

With a whistle, the basketball flew into the air again. This time, Ben Wallace and Alonzo Mourning were still neck and neck, and the two touched the basketball almost at the same time. But this time, Ben Wallace had the advantage and slapped the basketball to Christie.

After receiving the ball, Christie quickly raised both elbows to shoo away Mashburn, who was lurking nearby, and then passed the ball to Lin Tian.

Lin Tian didn't rush to advance, because the moment Christie got the ball, apart from Mashburn who was nearby to interfere, the rest of the Heat players quickly returned to their own half of the court to defend!

Their defensive formation was formed almost instantly. Even if Lin Tian was fast, he couldn't catch the Heat off guard. If he rushed out, the more likely outcome would not be a brilliant offensive play, but rather being surrounded by four Heat players and falling into their encirclement.

"No rush, stay calm, we'll take them down one by one!"

Lin Tian raised his hand and dribbled the ball across half-court unhurriedly. As he approached the three-point line, Payton rushed up immediately, inserting one leg directly between Lin Tian's legs to prevent Lin Tian from accelerating. At the same time, one hand almost wrapped around Lin Tian's waist, and the other hand was placed directly on Lin Tian's arm.

The defensive intensity of this match was evident from the very first leg!

Ben Wallace relentlessly clung to Mourning, while the Heat had Payton apply high-pressure, large-scale defense to Lin Tian from the very beginning!

At this point, it really comes down to the referee's choice!

If this were a joke from over a decade later, Payton would have already received his first foul.

But now, it's 2000, and the referee didn't even put the whistle in his mouth. It's a minor incident, nothing to be nervous about!

Lin Tian was getting a little annoyed by Payton's harassment. He turned to the side to block Payton and observed the situation on the court. He didn't call for a screen. In the first possession of the game, Lin Tian wanted to score a basket himself!

It's not about being stubborn or being argumentative; it's simply something every team leader in this era has to do!

In a match of this caliber tonight, the first goal is crucial; you can't play tricks or take shortcuts. You have to take down your opponent head-on, one-on-one!

If Mo Ning did it, Lin Tian will definitely do it too!

But Mourning failed, and what about Lin Tian?

After blocking Payton from the side, Lin Tian suddenly did a half-turn so that he was facing the basket directly, and at the same time, he took an extra step to the left to slightly increase the distance.

Although Payton was over thirty, he was still very agile. With quick lateral movements and delicate, small steps, he swiftly blocked Lin Tian's path.

But Lin Tian immediately followed up with an incredibly fast behind-the-back dribble, while simultaneously moving his entire body to the right. Just as Payton shifted his center of gravity again, trying to block Lin Tian, ​​Lin Tian pulled the basketball back to the left with another crossover!

This time, no matter how much Payton was hailed as the best perimeter defender of the 90s, he couldn't keep up with Lin Tian! Lin Tian faked out a body length of him, and he could only desperately chase after Lin Tian, ​​not giving Lin Tian any sufficient opportunities to handle the ball.

Although Lin Tian skillfully bypassed Payton, he had barely stepped into the three-point line when Mashburn and Patterson simultaneously abandoned Christie and Carter and double-teamed him!

"They started with a triple-team! The Heat are really going all out from the start, trying to shut Lin down like crazy! Pat Riley's pre-game preparation is always so thorough!"

Lin Tian, ​​surrounded by three players, hesitated for only a moment between passing the ball to Carter or Christie before he was unable to pass it! The three players rushed up quickly, surrounding Lin Tian and giving him no space to dribble or handle the ball.

Payton, standing behind him, simply poked Lin Tian's hand, not caring whether he hit the ball or Lin Tian's hand. In any case, the basketball was out of Lin Tian's control and flew away.

Then Mashburn quickly lunged to grab the basketball, but Lin Tian reacted just as fast. He also threw his weight out and lunged forward, managing to tap the basketball in front of Mashburn, sending it flying towards Christie.

Lin Tian and Mashben fell to the ground at the same time, rolling around like tumbleweeds!

At the same time, Lin Tian also knocked down Payton, who was trying to give chase! The three of them fell into a heap!

The basketball, which had been launched, failed to reach Christie's hands. He and Patterson grappled with each other in the blink of an eye, neither willing to give way, and both fell to the ground.

Finally, Carter, who had swooped in from the far end, caught the ball and charged towards the paint.

"You little brat, you're asking for it!" Mourning saw the direction and timing of Carter's charge and the humiliation of being dunked on by Carter before surged into his heart. He unleashed his Giant Palm, blocking Carter's dunk and sending it flying to the vicinity of the free throw line!

Just as Lin Tian got up and was about to jump to catch the basketball, Mashburn and Payton got tangled up with him again. All three of them lost control of the basketball and fell to the ground. The basketball rolled all the way back to the backcourt.

Although Christie finally got the basketball, it was too late, and he could only helplessly throw a buzzer-beating long ball from near midcourt.

As a result, the basketball failed to touch the backboard and rolled directly out of bounds.

24-second violation!

(End of this chapter)