basketball never sleeps

Chapter 327 Believe in Science

On the court, LeBron James rested his hands on his knees, his eyes gleaming fiercely, trying to burn Pierce at the free-throw line with his gaze.

Pierce simply remained expressionless and showed no intention of responding, taking a deep breath before calmly sinking the penalty.

The scoreboard showed the Celtics leading the Cavaliers 98-88, and the timer officially entered its one-minute countdown.

Many Cavaliers fans were still chanting encouragement for their team from the sidelines, hoping for a miracle, but many more fans were already on their way out.

Miracle?

The reality was that the Cavaliers were completely dominated by the Celtics throughout the game, almost never taking the lead, and the Celtics controlled the entire tempo.

Unlike the original, the current Celtics Big Three still have significant disagreements on the distribution of offensive ball possession, but their defense has already begun to show its power.

With his inherent tenacity, Harden is a perfect fit for the Celtics' tough-guy tradition, and under his leadership, the Celtics' defense has made a remarkable improvement.

Carter and Pierce's defense is far less commendable than their offense, but their talent is undeniable. If they focused on defense, they wouldn't be much worse than those players known for their defense.

The Big Three's containment of the frontcourt was suffocating. LeBron James, who is used to finding mismatches through pick-and-rolls, frequently ran into obstacles today. Apart from a few fast breaks, he couldn't comfortably penetrate the paint and play his own game. He was exhausted and his shooting percentage was surprisingly low.

Reed's shooting was off today. Although the Celtics didn't leave him open, he didn't provide much spacing either. Fortunately, Bibby had an exceptional game, making 4 of 7 three-pointers, which allowed the Cavaliers to stay close a few times.

LeBron James gritted his teeth, making a final desperate attempt, and passed the ball to Bibby, who was wide open in the corner. The moment the ball hit the brick, everyone present became a prophet.

Rondo ran out of time with the ball and passed the blame to Harden, who made a weak jump shot that missed. The never-say-die LeBron James seized the opportunity, grabbed the rebound, launched a fast break, and made a coast-to-coast layup, scoring the final two points and running out of time.

The home commentator's lips parted slightly, and he could only reluctantly utter the platitudes congratulating the Celtics on their victory.

After the game, LeBron James looked grim. He knew the Celtics' Big Three would be tough to deal with, but after actually playing against them, he found that the problems he faced were far greater than he had imagined.

Excluding the last shot, he only made 7 of 19 shots today. Statistically, he was a complete bust, but anyone who watched the game knows he was truly out of options.

He regretted once again that the team traded Gooden for Bibby. If they had Gooden, who could consistently achieve double-doubles, Garnett certainly wouldn't have dared to roam freely inside the three-point line like he did today.

Which heartless bastard made that deal that took away his beloved family, friends, and brothers!

Despite the Cavaliers' loss, they remain the top team in the Eastern Conference, which is a relatively optimistic record. However, LeBron James seems quite burdened by the situation.

As the Celtics' Big Three gradually developed their chemistry, their record improved steadily. After winning this game, they were only one game behind the Cavaliers in net wins. The feeling of having something pressing against their backside made LeBron James both anxious and secretly hopeful.

Yes, I'm looking forward to it.

If the Celtics surpass the Cavaliers in the standings, then that damn Jim Paxson can no longer use the excuse that the Cavaliers' best record makes it unsuitable to change their lineup to delay recruitment.

After going through the motions at the press conference, Randy Mims, who was gradually getting used to the job of a butler, took the initiative to approach her and quietly asked if she needed any fun to relieve her stress.

A-Zhan was somewhat tempted, since there was no game tomorrow anyway, but then he thought of something and shook his head, a smile appearing on his face—he had his own unique way of relieving stress.

He took out his phone, found Melon's number, and dialed it.

He remembered that Melo had a match against Mo Wen today. Although the result was always the same, it would be nice to hear Melo suffer bad luck and rant about Mo Wen for more than ten minutes.

"Hey, Bu Rou, how was the game today? Are you alright?" A Zhan's sincere tone also carried a hint of pre-planned comfort.

The faint sounds of a nightclub could be heard from the other end of the phone, followed by Melo's slightly flirtatious and tipsy voice.

"Not bad, we didn't lose."

“It’s okay to lose, after all… what, wait, you didn’t lose?!” A-Zhan’s eyes widened immediately.

How could you not lose? That shouldn't be! How dare you... No, you deserve to die!

His and Melo's continued losing streak against Mo Wen had been a hot topic of discussion in the media. Now that he was told that Melo had made it back to shore, he felt no joy at all, only that the sky had fallen.

However, once he calmed down, he realized something was wrong.

Given Melo's personality, if he really won, I should be able to receive a boastful phone call from him in the locker room.

"You won?"

"I lost, but I was injured and couldn't play! So you're saying I lost? Of course I didn't." Melon grinned on the other end of the phone, his tone showing no sign of dejection at losing the game.

A-Zhan's face twitched. "If you don't play, you don't lose. How could you even think of that?"

However, this is indeed Carmelo Anthony's personality. Later, in an interview, Chauncey Billups, the "Madman of Fabregas," revealed that Anthony is the kind of person who is happy even if he scores 30 points and then loses.

Thinking about it again, this is a last resort. Although escaping is shameful, it is indeed effective.

If they're not playing, they can talk about "what ifs," "hypotheses," or "possibilities," but if they are playing, all they can talk about is "the next game," which has already become a running joke among fans.

Azar's eyes flickered. Melo and Mo Wen are in the same division and face each other at least four times a year, so it's impossible for him to avoid it every time. But he only faced Mo Wen twice in the regular season, so it's reasonable that he was physically unwell at the time...

Shaking his head vigorously, A-Zhan dismissed this line of thinking; he wasn't that pathetic.

After losing Milicic, the SuperSonics' interior defense is now on par with the Cavaliers. With a Tyson who isn't as heavy as him and a second-year rookie, I'd rather avoid his sharp edge.

Thinking about hanging up the phone with Melon, A-Zhan found the general manager's number in his phone's contacts.

He should strengthen his interior defense as soon as possible. He can't wait to have a "fair match" with Mo Wen and win back everything he has.

……

The first round of All-Star voting has ended, and Mo Wen unsurprisingly topped the list once again. This year, the league has once again reduced the weight of domestic online voting. Yi Jianlian, who joined the league a year earlier, qualified for All-Star voting, but his votes were quite normal. He wasn't at the bottom, but he's almost certainly out of the running for a starting spot.

Yao Ming was more affected. Despite making it to the Western Conference Finals, his votes were almost halved compared to last year. However, he was still firmly in first place in the West. Unlike in history, Shaq did not move west to the Suns. He was a gap in the West.

Stern has always regarded expanding into international markets as a political achievement, but he is even more aware that the NBA's core market is still in the United States.

In this timeline, there is no known existence. The NBA's influence in China has reached the limit allowed by the domestic authorities, so Stern now wants to take care of the feelings of local fans.

However, Mo Wen's popularity has long been no longer limited to China. His outstanding appearance, the four consecutive championships that even Dan Zi failed to achieve, his elegant playing style, his part-time singer identity, and the marketing of Magic Shoes in the summer have all contributed to making Mo Wen's popularity surpass the ceiling of NBA players.

In short, it has broken out of its niche.

The reaction from various American media outlets was rather lukewarm. Mo Wen's stats were only slightly different from last season, and his record hardly declined. They couldn't find anything reasonable to criticize him for. In addition, with Nike's public relations efforts behind him, they could only smile and call him "great" three times before turning the topic to other people.

After all, "greatness" needs no further explanation.

Kobe's popularity remains high, and his position as the second-best shooting guard in the league is as solid as a rock. Although with the growth of Paul and the arrival of O'Neal, his ball possession has inevitably been reduced, the Mamba Mentality still supports him to occasionally score 30+ or ​​40+ points. His increasingly obvious conflict with Paul has also made the media focus more on Los Angeles.

Paul, who lost the opportunity to lead the team alone, received just as many votes as in the original timeline. After the first round of voting, his votes were twice that of Nash and three times that of his teammate O'Neal. He enjoyed the feeling of being recognized, but he was not satisfied. If James Harden hadn't habitually dribbled two steps after receiving the ball and then missed, he even felt that his votes might have surpassed Harden's.

O'Neal didn't get many votes, but he was assigned the center position. Considering the barren center environment in the West, it wouldn't be difficult for him to be selected as an All-Star reserve. However, he came to the West with a super team, only wanting to win a championship while he was still healthy. He was no longer eager to get noticed. He even felt a bit sorry for Paul standing next to him. In the East, with this number of votes, he would have a good chance of being an All-Star starter, but in the West, with Morey and Wenger holding him back, Paul might never be able to make it to the All-Star starting lineup in his lifetime.

Los Angeles media outlets celebrated the All-Star first-round voting results like it was New Year's Day. After so many years, the Lakers have finally risen again!

Historically, the Lakers, or any team in the league, have had a very high probability of winning the championship when they have three All-Stars in a given season.

The Celtics' Big Three are just hyped up, but their original leader, Pierce, is unlikely to make the All-Star team this year. 3 > 2, win!

As for the 1998 Lakers, who had four All-Stars that season but were swept by the Jazz in the playoffs... a great season, I don't remember.

Unbeknownst to many, the Lakers have become the hope of the entire village. They all want to see Kobe defeat Mortensen in the Christmas Day game so that the media can regain their temporary right to smear him, instead of having to sing praises to Mortensen's dominance all day long, just like the Chinese media they despise.

On December 21, the SuperSonics played against the Mavericks on the road.

The Mavericks have returned to the public eye and are considered strong contenders for this season's championship by breaking the SuperSonics' record-breaking home unbeaten streak.

But the Mavericks players were not proud but ashamed. They were already the runner-up team, so why should they have to beat the SuperSonics to gain recognition?

Before the game, Nowitzki confidently stated that they had found a way to deal with the SuperSonics, and unless Morey could score another 50 points, they were sure to win today!

Derek Harper, who was providing commentary on the match, shook his head after hearing the German team's comments.

"Dirk shouldn't have said those things. If I may be so bold, he really didn't respect Mo. He shouldn't have set a goal for Mo, especially since Mo had already achieved that goal twice against the Mavericks."

"For players of Mo and Mike's caliber, before a game you should praise them for being great team players, for being a great team, and for having a great coach, rather than treating them as just another ordinary opponent like the Lakers."

His partner, Frowell, however, did not quite agree with his view.

"You're making a bit too mythical, Derrick. The last time he was able to score 50 points was because he had an All-Star center like Milicic to draw attention. There are a lot of people in this league who can score 50 points. Arenas even said he would score 50 points against us, but what happened? He didn't even get 30 points in that game."

Clearly, there are still many people in this world who believe in science.

As they entered the arena, the Texas rednecks were as boisterous as ever. The team's away victory gave them great confidence. If they could win on the road, winning at home would be a piece of cake.

Mo Wen simply smiled as he listened to those barely audible audio clips.

To be honest, he really liked the American Airlines Center; it had a kind of beauty that could be carelessly ruined without any pity.

Tyson won the jump ball. Mo Wen calmly dribbled the ball across half-court. Outside the three-point line, facing Devin Harris who was actively defending, he made a crossover dribble. Harris defended him well with small, quick steps. Mo Wen then made contact and dribbled behind his back with a violin-like motion. He waited for the right moment to make another drive. When he saw Harris step back, he decisively went in the opposite direction and took a step back to shoot.

The extremely fast shooting speed and height difference were completely negligible at this moment, because the space between each taking a step back was enough for Mo Wen to easily complete the shot.

Swah——

The noise on the sidelines subsided by 5 decibels without anyone noticing, and the Supersonics substitutes who had just sat down jumped up and cheered for their leader.

They certainly have reason to be happy; with Mo in such good form, they can get on the court early again today.

Nowitzki felt a little uneasy. He took a breath and quickly got into the game. He set a screen with Harris at the high post. Harris was blocked by Mo Wen and couldn't break through. He passed the ball out and was forced to shoot a fadeaway jumper over Millsap at the free throw line, but it missed. Tyson grabbed the rebound and the SuperSonics launched an instant counterattack.

Mo Wen, with the ball in hand, picked up speed. He glanced at Danpi and saw that he was still behind him. He decisively chose A-Zhan's style of play. While dribbling at high speed, he faced Harris who was chasing him. He slightly turned his body and bumped through the defense like a football player. He took a big step and drove straight into the inside. With a light jump, he casually dunked.

5:0

Mo Wen did not celebrate after successfully dunking; he even shook his head.

Finley, back with the Mavericks, capitalized on Gay's help defense on Nowitzki, cutting inside to score and give the team their first points. However, in the next two minutes, the Mavericks missed several shots.

It's actually quite common for regular season players to go two or three minutes without scoring, especially when they tend to rely on shooting to solve problems. But today, the Mavericks fans on the sidelines felt like the team hadn't scored for half a quarter.

Because of the scoreboard on the sidelines—SuperSonics 15:2 Mavericks.

Mo Wen fired two more three-pointers in a row, assisted Tyson on an alley-oop, and drew another foul from Danpi.

The basketballs seemed not to be thrown into the hoop, but rather smashed against the glass of the court, bringing the December light from outside into the warm court.

“You’re right, Derek,” Frowell said somberly from the sidelines.

"But it's too late." Derek Harper showed no joy whatsoever at his prophet's prediction coming true. He clasped his hands together and began to pray for his beloved team. (End of Chapter)