The Way of the Center

At the end of the game, Wu Hua immediately raised his camera and shot wildly at the stadium. But today, the main subject he photographed was not An Jie, but Anthony standing on the court holding a basketball.

The look in his declining eyes, his closed lips, and the traces of sweat or tears on his face were not let go by Wu Hua.

An Jie’s opponent is also part of An Jie’s career. And Anthony is now the most sad one.

Even Van Gundy has to admit that if George Carr is in and leads the same lineup, it's hard to say whether the Thunder will be popular.

But the facts cannot be reversed. Anthony and his Nuggets are coming towards the Lakers, coming towards the Finals, coming towards the championship! But they fell in the first round by a huge gap!

"This is my responsibility, I...I didn't restrict the opponent's defender's performance, but they tied his hands and feet." At the press conference after the game, Chauncey Billups lost The responsibility rests on oneself. But Dantley and Anthony were silent. Dantley knew that his coaching career would end here, and Anthony had the idea of ​​changing places...

He is eager for a championship, eager for honor. Maybe going to the east like James does, the pressure will be much less, right?

Look at the Cavaliers' opponents in the first round. They are also young people leading the team, but the Eastern Bulls can't hurt the Cavaliers a single hair. Take a look at the Thunder in the West. Today, they beat themselves again 104-112. Anthony felt that he had changed, that he seemed to be...more utilitarian than before.

Having played in the NBA for seven years, it's time to consider the championship.

Unlike the sad atmosphere on the Nuggets' side, the Thunder won at home and the boys were happy. On the court, they celebrated for ten minutes. Now back in the locker room, these guys couldn't restrain their joy.

Perhaps for some teams, just qualifying for the second round of the playoffs is nothing to be happy about. But for everyone in the Thunder, every step they take is to set a record and surpass themselves.

This has been true from the victory in the first playoffs to the first time to advance to the second round.

An Jie took off his jersey, wearing only a baggy shorts, casually sat in the locker room. Seeing the teammates celebrating wanton, An Jie also grinned silly. But he didn't want to move at all, he just wanted to seize every second of his time to rest. Maybe the second round will be more grueling than the first round.

"The third Thunder picks the Denver Nuggets! How high is the upper limit of young dark horses!?"

"4 to 2 perfectly defeated the enemy, the Western Conference finals team was eliminated by the Thunder."

"Carmelo Anthony: I underestimated the opponent."

For a time, in addition to the Spurs' Black Seven victory over the Mavericks, the news that the Thunder eliminated the Nuggets became the hottest selling topic.

Of course, in addition, the end of the first round of the playoffs also indicates that the winners of the regular season awards have begun to be announced one by one.

At the end of April, the NBA first announced the best sixth man, best coach and best defensive player awards.

The best sixth man is of course nothing to do with the Thunder, after all, there is no particularly strong scorer in their second team. Ibaka may be the most dazzling performance on the bench, but defense alone is not enough for him to compete for this award.

The best defensive player was once again won by "Warcraft" Howard, which is the second consecutive year that Warcraft has won this award. And Anjie, only ranked second after World of Warcraft. Unfortunately, there is only one award, and winning a second place does not make much sense.

But what is surprising is that the best coach award was actually won by the Thunder. The dramatic changes that Jeff Van Gundy led the Thunder have finally been discovered.

As a scoring team, the Thunder's defensive efficiency ranks among the top five in the league. As a team that was at the bottom of the previous year, the Thunder not only made the playoffs as fifth in the Western Conference, but also just entered the second round.

At first, people were surprised to see Jeff Van Gundy win this award. But when they discovered the progress of Van Gundy and the Thunder, they all felt that Van Gundy was well-deserved for the award.

"I am very happy to be recognized by everyone. Of course, I don't think this award belongs to me personally. It belongs to my coaching staff, to my players, to the management, and to the entire Thunder team!" Van Gundy did not cover up during the interview. His euphoria, but he did not forget those comrades who supported him. Without the support of Presti, the joint efforts of the coaching staff, and the hard work of the players. How could this best coach award fall into his hands?

As the head coach for 15 years, he has watched the rise and fall of superstars from generation to generation. When he was ready to give up his coaching career and switch to commentary, who could have imagined that this man with increasingly thin hair would be honored at this time.

Facts have proved that Van Gundy was the right choice to take over the seemingly hopeless Thunder at the beginning.

The team is promoted, Van Gundy won the prize, and the Thunder have been happy recently. But with the end of the first round, Van Gundy and the players had to face tougher enemies after a brief rejoicing.

After the first round was all played, the Thunder beat the Nuggets 4-2, which was the result of people's surprise. The Suns eliminated the Jazz 4 to 2, which is expected. The Spurs completed the Black Seven and beat the Mavericks 4-2, which is not surprising.

The Mavericks are a well-known regular season team, and the playoffs have not been the stage for the Texas Cowboys. The Spurs can complete the counterattack in seventh place, and it seems that the fans predicted the result before the game. Don't look at the Spurs' regular season record this season is the worst year since the 21st century, but in the playoffs, the gdp is unambiguous.

It can also be seen that these teams are all promoted by winning 4 to 2. But only the Los Angeles Lakers defeated the Blazers by sweeping and advanced to the second round. The strongest Lakers in the first round is the next opponent of the Thunder!

"I knew that the ranking was lower. We could still play the Suns." Van Gundy looked at the result of the match reluctantly. It's not that the Suns have no strength. It's just that the Phoenix team is obviously dangerous compared to the defending champion Los Angeles Lakers. It's a lot smaller.

Angel and Morris are not afraid of the outstanding performance of Stoudemire, but against the Lakers, the Thunder are not sure that they can limit Kobe.

During the regular season of this season, the Thunder have played against the Lakers, but only in the game when An Jie was dragged into overtime at the beginning of the season, the Thunder won. In the remaining few games, the defending champions cleanly defeated the three minors.

Judging from the paper lineup, the Thunder can't compare with the Lakers at all. Just one Kobe Bryant is enough for Thunder to drink a pot. Plus that Paul Gasol, Andrew Bynum, Artest...

Of course, the Thunder also defeated the Nuggets to advance without a paper lineup. But the Lakers coach "Zen Master" Jackson is not sick. Although Van Gundy is the best coach this year, he does not think that he is now more shrewd than "Zen Master".

After all, the championship ring that Phil Jackson won as the head coach can be worn with both hands. The controversial triangle tactics of the "Zen Master" were born for the playoffs and for the championship.

This time, the Thunder really met a championship team. Not because they have the potential to win championships, but because they are synonymous with championships!

The best dark horses faced the best giants, and the battle between the Thunder and the Lakers even became the focus of the entire second round of the series.

"I'm going to meet Ann again. Last summer I was hanging out with you in the training camp. Unexpectedly, you became one of my biggest opponents this year." Kobe looked very relaxed on the phone, which also shows his victory over the Thunder. Is full of confidence!

"I'm not at all happy to meet you again~www.NovelMTL.com~ I just broke away from Denver, and now I am going to Los Angeles, my God." And Anjie did not demean Kobe because they are rivals. And the strength of the Lakers.

Anjie knows and admits that the Lakers are strong, very, very strong. If you want to defeat this kind of team, you must do everything you can and use all means. Flops, dark elbows, small movements, trash talk, An Jie is already well prepared. Don't look at him and Kobe now talking on the phone happily, three days later at Staples, Black Mamba and Butcher, they will certainly not show mercy to each other.

Hanging up, Kobe picked up the basketball and continued to shoot. In the face of the Thunder, the rest of the Lakers believed that they had encountered a suitable opponent. Compared with the Suns and Spurs, they believed that the Thunder team was weaker. However, Kobe knew that the No. 16 center had the same desire for victory as himself.

The first round easily swept the Trail Blazers, and even in the second round against the Thunder, who participated in the playoffs for the first time, Kobe knew that they would not be easy.

When the Blue and White Lightning and the Purple Gold Legion meet again, the scene will not be as harmonious as before. In the playoffs, it's not you who die, even if I live!

In the Western Conference semifinals, Los Angeles Lakers vs. Oklahoma City Thunder, on May 2nd, the game started on time! (To be continued.)