Chapter 1566 1565. The Most Anticipated Duel
Russell Westbrook and Derrick Rose, two point guards who are not currently receiving much attention, began to receive invitations to participate in trial training invitations for the fifth to tenth picks in the 2008 draft.
To their surprise, the Pacers, the owner of the No. 1 pick, also sent them a trial invitation.
Generally speaking, the owners of the top three picks will only invite the most popular players for the first few workouts.
They never imagined that someone was already targeting them...
Schwartz, relying on his relationship with Yi Jianlian, had already been in contact with Kevin Love and Westbrook, but Westbrook did not sign in. Westbrook and the well-known agent Sadie Si Faucher is an old friend. After announcing his early participation in the draft, he signed with the Weiseman Agency.
Things went very smoothly for Kevin Love, who was signed by Schwartz.
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The draft is starting to gain some momentum, but now people are paying more attention to the playoffs.
The fans in Atlanta are already excited. Rahim will finally return to this arena to play in the playoffs, but they are already opponents, but Rahim's team can reach the Eastern Conference Finals, and the Eagles fans are also happy.
Early on the morning of May 18, Magic players arrived in Atlanta from Orlando.
While at the airport, Raheem, Carter, and Howard were surrounded by reporters.
"I've been working hard to be able to stand on the same stage as Ace, and finally, I have this opportunity now. I have a lot of great teammates. It's a lot of fun for me to beat the Eagles. "Rahim made no secret of his desire.
Both Carter and Howard also expressed that playing against the Hawks in the Eastern Conference Finals is a completely different thing.
On Liu Mang's side, he spent the whole morning paralyzed at home and went to the arena for training in the afternoon. He learned about Rahim's fighting spirit from reporters.
"I've been looking forward to this day too..." Liu Mang seldom spoke.
The reporters felt strange when they saw Liu Mang leave after answering this sentence.
Atypical gangster!
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"You give me the ball in a moment, and I will attract the defense to shoot for you..."
"Don't worry, I will be behind you in the fight, no one can bully you..."
"I'll be the first to go out today, right? Of course you're the last, you're the MVP..."
"I want to try my abilities..."
Liu Mang was rarely in a daze during training, and some scenes with Rahim from the three years when he was still his younger brother gradually became clearer.
The first game, the fight with the Pistons, the first time he officially became the team boss before the finals, the words Rahim said when he was about to leave...
Finally, he was going to stand on the stage of the Eastern Conference Finals with Rahim again, and Liu Mang thought of many things at once.
Stockton, who was leading the players for technical training, saw Liu Mang hit on the head by the ball that bounced off the edge of the basket. He quickly came up and asked: "Ace, are you okay? Are you feeling unwell? The team doctor …”
"It's okay, I'm just thinking about something." Liu Mang responded quickly.
"Don't train if you have something to think about. You have already trained enough." Stockton is still very concerned about this precious apprentice.
Three consecutive MVPs, four consecutive Finals MVPs! Malone didn't want to leave until Liu Mang's honors were cut off, let alone Stockton. Although Jordan also claimed to be Liu Mang's teacher, the two brothers were the ones who trained with Liu Mang every day.
"It's okay. I've already thought about it. Let's continue training and start counting my shots again..."
Liu Mang concentrated on shooting and began to prepare for the Eastern Conference Finals in the near future.
Memories are a killing knife. Memories are beautiful but also cruel. Since they are memories, they can never go back.
Now that Rahim has brought his Magic Legion to Atlanta, Liu Mang knows what he wants to do next after recalling the wonderful past.
With the strongest strength and best condition, give Raheem and his Magic team the fiercest blow!
Only in this way is the greatest respect for Rahim!
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The Suns, Hawks, and Magic are almost impatient to wait...
The Suns and Hawks entered the conference finals early, and the Magic began preparing for the conference finals on the 18th.
But the game couldn't start for a long time!
The Lakers are so good!
"Tie-break? How much do the Lakers want to sell tickets for one more game?" Liu Mang complained helplessly.
92 to 99, 103 to 110, the Jazz won three consecutive games, and unexpectedly fell behind 0 to 3 to catch up to a 3 to 3 tie.
The Lakers are going to Game 7 again!
Not only Liu Mang, but probably the whole world was speechless about the performance of the Lakers. The only one watching the game with Liu Mang was the little girl. The other two girls were completely uninterested. Watching the Lakers game was very exciting!
If, like the first three games, the Lakers keep the point difference tight during regular time and prevent the Jazz from widening the point difference too much, relying on Kobe to restrain the Jazz in the fourth quarter, it won't be a big deal to win one of three games. question.
However, the Lakers are so stubborn. They trailed by nearly 20 points in the first three quarters of three consecutive games. Even Kobe Bryant's crazy performance of 14 points per game in the fourth quarter of this series could not come back!
On the night of the 20th, the Lakers were tied by the Jazz with a big score, and they will have a tiebreaker on the night of the 22nd.
Seeing this situation, Liu Mang accepted it, and at least the date for the start of the regional finals was determined.
After the sixth game between the Lakers and Jazz, in addition to the tiebreaker between the Lakers and Jazz being scheduled for the 22nd, the schedule for the Eastern Conference Finals between the Hawks and the Magic has finally been released, starting on the 23rd and ending on the 25th and 28th. , the 30th is the established schedule.
In the West, after the winner between the Lakers and Jazz is decided on the 22nd, they will play the Western Conference Finals with the Suns on the 24th. The other three game days are the 26th, 29th, and 31st.
Both the Eastern and Western finals will complete the first four games before the end of May.
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After the schedule came out, the Eagles, who still had six days of rest, began to increase their training intensity. On the 21st, the Eagles were divided into two teams, Rondo, Liu Mang, Tracy McGrady, Marion, and O'Neal Jr.; Wade and Jason -Team Terry, Grant Hill, Scola, and Kwame Brown will play intra-squad games like official games.
In addition to the starting 10 players, the remaining substitutes can be replaced by the two teams at will. Except that the first and second halves only have 10 minutes, the other players compete and compete for the victory like a formal game.
No one could have imagined that the Lakers would reach the tiebreaker with a 3-0 lead. It was like hell.
Fortunately, during this break, the Eagles players did not slack off and were doing the technical training they should do every day. After the opponent was determined to be the Magic, tactical training was also carried out. It was not very intense, but luckily they maintained their condition. .
In the training match, the main team defeated the rotation team 56 to 51. Both sides were in good condition and were not dragged down by the six-day rest period. This is inseparable from the enthusiasm brought by losing the championship last year.
The Eagles are preparing intensively, and the visiting team's training ground has been busy preparing for the game. In recent days, there have been many fans outside Phillips Arena. The Eastern Conference Finals between the Eagles and the Magic is the first in the past ten years. The most watched Eastern Conference finals attracted more attention than the time when the Hawks took revenge on the Nets in the 2003-04 season.
Liu Mang and Raheem... Marion and Raheem... Kwame Brown and Howard... McGrady and Carter... Rondo and Turkoglu...
There is so much for fans to discuss.
Finally, on the night of May 22, the Lakers and Jazz decided the winner.
With Kobe's 34 points, 7 rebounds and 12 assists, Yao Ming's 25 points and 9 rebounds, Gasol's 16 points, 7 rebounds and 4 assists, Wang Zhizhi and Barnes each scored 12 points. The key was Kobe's mid-range shot in the last 49 seconds. When the hit tied the game and earned an extra penalty, Barnes grabbed the offensive rebound that Kobe missed and passed it to Kobe. Kobe hit a three-pointer. After that, the two teams did not score again. The Lakers narrowly defeated the Jazz.
Kobe Bryant scored 17 points in the final quarter to help the Lakers defeat the Jazz 118-115 at home and win the tiebreaker!
However, after the Eastern Conference Finals schedule came out, the Hawks didn't pay much attention to the Western Conference. Regardless of whether the Lakers, Suns or Jazz make it to the finals, it will all happen later. The most important thing for the Hawks now is The thing is to beat the Magic!