Champion Rules

Chapter 419-415: Romance Representing Death (Seeking Monthly Tickets!)

Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals was undoubtedly a spectacular match, with both sides showcasing an extremely high level of competition.

Both the Pacers and the Knicks have proven themselves to be the most deserving teams to stand on the highest stage in the East.

Unfortunately, there can never be two best teams in the world of basketball.

Despite their commendable performance, the Pacers ultimately fell short in the fierce competition.

Their failure was entirely due to Lynch.

Lynch scored 35 points, grabbed 16 rebounds, and dished out 11 assists, completely dominating the game in the final moments.

In Bill Simmons' words, "Lynch showed KD in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals why he couldn't even get a ticket."

This was quite embarrassing for Kevin Durant, especially since he had claimed when Lynch won the unanimous MVP award, "Chris is not a background character; you have no idea how good the Pacers are this season."

This statement serves as evidence that Lynch is fully entitled to take all the MVP votes – if the Pacers are really that good, then Lynch, who completely dominates them in crucial moments, is truly outstanding.

Kevin Durant abandoned all illusions; he knew that no other team could handle Lynch.

Ultimately, only he himself can bring Lynch's perfect retirement tour to a close.

He would be happy to play the Terminator.

The day after the Knicks took a 1-0 lead, Kevin Durant led the Thunder to victory over the San Antonio Spurs in Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals.

The Spurs this season are not as strong as they were last season, largely due to Gerald Wallace's aging.

Despite Gregg Popovich's radical changes to the team's style, the Spurs remain a team that relies heavily on quality wing players.

As Gerald Wallace's brilliance faded, the Spurs' defensive performance declined significantly.

They are still one of the best teams in the West, but at the moment, the Spurs don't seem to have any way to stop the Thunder.

With their defense struggling to match the Thunder's, the Spurs can't rely on Tim Duncan's windmill dunks every possession, can they?
After Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals, people realized that it would be very difficult for the Spurs to beat the Thunder.

Kevin Durant and Lynch are unlikely to follow in LeBron James' footsteps.

These two teams, who have been rivals for a whole year, are finally going to have a showdown!
But this will still take time; the Thunder and Knicks will have to deal with their opponents one game at a time.

Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Finals continued at Madison Square Garden. Spike Lee, in an interview with ESPN, suggested, "We should release all the balloons after this game and celebrate the victory. What if the series doesn't go back to New York? Chris Paul won't be able to see any of this."

The Knicks didn't do that. Lynch insisted on releasing the balloons only when the series was over and the victory was secured, because that would have a sense of ceremony.

Why do women like rituals? Because rituals can amplify emotions.

The pleasure she gets from giving her a rose, taking her out for a nice meal, and then exercising with her is completely different from the pleasure she gets from exercising directly with her. The former choice is obviously more likely to touch her heartstrings.

Lynch was determined to add fuel to the fire at the height of Chris Paul's humiliation.

Just like the first match, the gap between the two sides was not large in the second match, and neither team could easily defeat the other.

Tonight, PJ Tucker was on fire, going 4-for-5 from three-point range. He not only fulfilled his defensive duties but also provided extra help to the Pacers on offense.

Unfortunately, the Pacers faced DeMar DeRozan, perhaps the best player they've faced in the playoffs so far, tonight.

He managed to score 33 points over Paul George with a series of brilliant one-on-one plays from mid-range.

Paul George edged out LeBron James to make the All-Defensive First Team this season.

But they still couldn't withstand a DeMar DeRozan who was on fire and had a wide range of skills.

With a 2-0 lead, the Knicks did not lose their home court advantage and headed to Indianapolis with a huge lead.

In Game 3, Paul George immediately redeemed himself, scoring 37 points, grabbing 8 rebounds, and dishing out 6 assists, while holding DeMar DeRozan to below 40% shooting percentage.

This was the Pacers' closest chance to win since the start of the series. With 33 seconds left in the game, the Pacers were still leading by one point and had possession of the ball.

But they were tripped up by a global problem: David West's pass to Paul George was intercepted by Lynch who suddenly appeared!

Before the steal occurred, not only did David West not notice Lynch, but even fans watching the game from a god-like perspective didn't see him.

The moment the basketball was passed, a blue figure suddenly flashed to Paul George's side.

After making the steal, Lynch made a long pass to Kyrie Irving. It's a mystery why they were so in sync; Kyrie Irving started running forward as soon as he saw Lynch moving towards Paul George, as if he was certain Lynch would get the ball.

The moment Lynch made the steal and assisted Irving to score and put the team ahead, Larry Bird swore that the noise level was several times louder than when Reggie Miller hit the game-winning shot against Michael Jordan in 1998. It was definitely the noisiest moment in the history of Bankers Life Arena.

You can imagine how the Pacers fans felt. They were about to upset the best player in the world, but the basketball that represented victory was snatched away by Lynch.

ESPN national commentator Mike Brin bluntly stated, "This is like the theft of the century that Larry Bird created in 1987!"

In fact, this shot wasn't as lethal as Bird's "thief of the century".

In the pivotal Game 1 of the 1987 Eastern Conference Finals, Larry Bird made a steal from the inbounds ball with one second remaining, assisting his teammate to win the game.

In terms of the remaining time in the game, Larry Bird's steal of the century was even more extreme.

But both steals had the same result: although the Pacers still had time, their subsequent offensive lapses caused them to lose control of the game, leaving them with no choice but to rely on tactical fouls to gamble on Lynch's free throw shooting touch.

Lynch never disappoints at the free-throw line.

With a 3-0 lead, the New York Knicks have pushed the arrogant Chris Paul to the brink of elimination.

Larry Bird was in agony, gripped by a sense of karmic retribution, feeling as if he were paying the price for his youthful recklessness.

In his youth, he was always able to crush his opponents' hopes in the playoffs.

Now, Lynch is doing the same thing to the Pacers.

In his youth, his trash talk drove his opponents crazy.

Now, Lynch is doing the same thing to the Pacers players.

Even that damned theft of the century was almost perfectly replicated by Lin Qi.

However, just like the previous round of matches.

Despite being considered doomed, the Pacers managed to win a game at home.

In Game 4 of the series, Kawhi Leonard and Jerry West, two players who are usually not very prominent on offense, unexpectedly combined for 43 points.

With Paul George hitting two crucial three-pointers, the Pacers narrowed the series deficit to 1-3.

But the situation remains unfavorable, and no one believes the Pacers can pull off a miracle over the Pacers.

On the other hand, the Oklahoma City Thunder did not introduce any unexpected twists or surprises into the series.

They swept the reigning Western Conference champions, the San Antonio Spurs, 4-0 with two clean wins at the ATT Center! The Oklahoma City Thunder remain undefeated since the start of the playoffs!

For Kevin Durant, this is strong evidence that the Thunder are more dominant than the Knicks this season!
He told reporters the same thing after the match:

"I'm not saying the New York Knicks aren't a strong team. But it's clear our dominance is more unshakeable; we never give our opponents a chance. In fact, we proved that during the regular season; we had the best regular season record this year."

So why was Lynch the unanimous MVP? I don't know either.

Kevin Durant still harbors resentment over Lynch's unanimous MVP award and remains dissatisfied with the result.

But Lynch, just like before, responded to KD with only one sentence:

"My views remain unchanged. I don't want to say too much, because when we meet, everything will be answered."
-
In Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Finals, the Indiana Pacers once again visited Madison Square Garden.

Some conspiracy theories suggest that the Knicks deliberately lost Game 4 so that Chris Paul could be personally escorted back to New York and made to witness firsthand the falling of balloons symbolizing victory and humiliation.

Chris Paul scoffed at this claim.

Even Lynch himself refuted this claim: "Listen, we fight for every game and give it our all. If we deliberately lose a game, that's disrespectful to the fans and to the sport."

But regardless, Chris Paul may indeed witness that humiliating moment tonight, becoming the most glaring backdrop to that meticulously planned victory celebration.

The most embarrassing thing in the world is opening champagne at halftime and then losing the game.

The most humiliating thing in the world is letting your opponent pop the champagne at halftime and actually winning.

Beneath the Madison Dome, those silent orange and blue balloons await a historic public execution.

The Pacers have not completely lost hope. Although they are down 1-3, the past four games have been very close, and the outcome is often decided by those few crucial possessions.

If you make the most of those rounds, anything is possible.

But as soon as Game 5 of the series started, the Pacers players realized that tonight's script was completely different from what they had expected.

In the first four possessions tonight, the orange basketball repeatedly pierced the net, with the Knicks hitting every three-pointer, going 4 for 4!
Even DeMar DeRozan, who isn't particularly good at shooting three-pointers, made one.

On the Pacers' side, the Knicks' high-intensity defense from the start made it difficult for them to find their rhythm.

The game had barely begun when the Pacers were hit with a 16-0 run!

This is a very Western-style opening, with no build-up or buffer, the climax comes right from the start!

"The Knicks are on fire, they're like they're going to tear their opponents apart!" Mike Breen exclaimed. "They won't allow a home loss to happen in the playoffs!"

Kevin Durant's "dominance" comments angered the Knicks players, so tonight, nobody wanted to give the Pacers another chance.

Yes, in essence, the Knicks are competing with the Thunder ahead of time, but it's like the competition between Jia Duo Bao and Wang Lao Ji, where Jia Duo Bao ultimately lost out to Wang Lao Ji.

The weakest party is always the one who suffers the most.

The Pacers had no chance tonight. Chris Paul wanted to rouse the team with his own offense, but Jimmy Butler's defense shattered his hopes.

As the game progressed into the third quarter, Chris Paul's personal score was still below double digits.

After another fierce defensive play, Jimmy Butler slammed his chest against the staggering Paul, spitting almost in his face, and roared:
"When you hypocritically wished Chandler Parsons a speedy recovery last year, did you fucking think for even a second about how this would end?"

Paul's lips moved, but in the end he only let out a heavy breath.

He didn't answer, and as the series progressed, especially with this crushing defeat, he became increasingly silent.

Because any rebuttal or explanation seems so pale and ridiculous in the face of the cold score difference and his own dismal statistics.

After three quarters, the Knicks were leading by 22 points.

But in the fourth quarter, the King of New York did not show any mercy.

On the contrary, he ruthlessly demonstrated his ruthlessness on his own turf.

Lynch went all out in the fourth quarter; he wasn't trying to rack up points, he just wanted to make sure the victory was firmly in his pocket.

And it made Chris Paul, that scumbag, feel even more ashamed tonight.

Every ruthless pull-up jumper, every aggressive drive, every precise free throw was like a resounding slap in the face to Chris Paul, the guy who cursed Lynch to only suffer defeat on his retirement tour.

The point difference widened like a snowball, from 25 to 30 points.
Chris Paul had no idea how he got through the fourth quarter. Amidst the cheers of the New York fans and his repeated failed offensive plays, he completely lost his way.

When the final whistle blew, the scoreboard was frozen at 127 to 90—a 37-point massacre!

At that very moment, the hum of machinery could be heard emanating from the dome of Madison Square Garden.

The orange-blue cloud that had hung high for an entire series, symbolizing both ultimate victory and utter humiliation, has finally broken free of its binding net!

Thousands upon thousands of balloons, like a bursting dam or a cascading orange-blue avalanche, filled the entire stadium with a deafening roar!

They filled every inch of the stadium with lightness and elegance.

For the roaring New York fans, this was the grandest celebration, with the orange and blue confetti flying everywhere like the most dazzling jewels in Lynch's crown.

But for Chris Paul, each of these balloons that Lynch had prepared before the series was like a red-hot iron, burning his retina and his very bones.

The humiliation Jerry West suffered after failing to open the champagne at halftime in 1969 was now being replicated and burned within him with a hundredfold intensity!
He stood stiffly in the orange-blue "snow," head tilted back, his empty eyes unfocused as he followed the slowly descending symbols of shame.

When the first balloon finally touched his shoulder—

"Ugh! Damn it!" Paul's body shuddered violently as if struck by a strong electric current.

That wasn't a gentle touch; every balloon that came into contact with him was tearing at his last shred of dignity!

Mike Breen's shouts even reached Paul's ears: "Lynch promised long ago that he would beat Chris Paul, and he did it! Chris is no threat to him! The best point guard in the league is as insignificant as dust in front of Lynch's dazzling retirement tour!"

Chris Paul's dignity was completely stripped bare and trampled in this final trial directed by Lynch and called "Balloon Funeral".

This is the price of challenging the throne; this is the ultimate fate of the arrogant.

At this moment, Lynch, like the embodiment of victory, like a king returning over the bones of the defeated, walked straight to Paul through the balloons floating in the sky.

He smiled, chin held high, and pointed his index finger unceremoniously at number 3:
"Hey, did you like this romantic gift I gave you, Chris, the loser, Paul?"

There was no roaring, no explanation.

Paul turned and left dejectedly.

Lynch was not lying to him. This scene was more painful, deeper, and more unforgettable than the 62-point game he had played years ago, and it was etched into the deepest part of his soul.

(End of this chapter)