The NBA's Absolute Dominance

Chapter 122 Tang Bei: Ewing's mid-range shot needs improvement

In the final quarter, both sides fielded their strongest lineups.

While the Knicks' individual perimeter defense may not reach the top level of players like Jordan and Pippen, their overall perimeter defense, supported by the Knicks' defensive system, is close to first-rate, with them going all out on defense from the start.

Glen Rice and Steve Smith's offense was suppressed again, their shooting touch was not as good as in the third quarter, and the ball handlers were also in the same boat, making it much more difficult for them to pass the ball to Tang Bei.

With their outside shots missing, the Knicks' perimeter players began to double-team Tang Bei again.

After the intense exertion of the first three quarters, Tang Bei's stamina was no longer sufficient, and he was unable to frequently penetrate to the basket, missing two close-range shots in a row.

Fortunately, Tang Bei maintained his intensity on the defensive end, blocking the paint and limiting Ewing's offense and inside attack, delivering two more blocks and a steal in the first half of the quarter.

They also intensified their efforts in rebounding, grabbing 3 rebounds in just half a quarter. In terms of shot attempts, the Heat actually had one more than the Knicks.

In addition, the Knicks' defense was more intense than the Heat's, their energy was also greater, and their offense was terrible, resulting in both teams scoring very little.

Soon, half a quarter had passed, and the Heat led 91-84, a 7-point advantage, prompting the Knicks to call a timeout.

Pat Riley's usual smile was gone.

The Knicks' defense was very successful, including their defense against Tang. They only allowed Tang to score 2 points in half a quarter and prevented him from making 1 of 3 shots, limiting the Heat to only 7 points in half a quarter.

However, the Knicks themselves only scored 10 points, and now there is only half a quarter left. Given their offensive performance just now, how can they catch up?
He did not expect that at the crucial moment, Ewing's offense would be so poor under Tang Bei's one-on-one defense, with a shooting percentage of just over 30% and only 17 points, including only 2 points in the first half of the quarter.

This is a home game, and if we lose Game 1, it will be a lot of trouble. The fans are already booing us.

Next, he said to Ewing, "In crucial moments, as the Knicks' core player and a superstar, Patrick, you have to step up, just like Don."

Ewing's face was filled with sorrow and bitterness, and he nodded silently.

However, in the final few minutes, apart from a second attack, Tang Bei almost gave up on offense and continued to play high-quality defense.

He blocked Ewing's shot again and slapped Charles Smith once more, extinguishing the Knicks' hopes of a comeback.

The Knicks' inside offense was ineffective, leaving them with no choice but to shoot from the outside, but their outside shooting touch was off, and they failed to score.

In the end, the Heat had the last laugh, winning 99-94 by five points.

"We were up 15-20 in the final quarter, that was really close," Xu Jicheng laughed.

Sun Zhenping laughed and said, "Tang Bei was once again subjected to a crazy double-team in the final quarter, and only made 2 of 5 shots. He focused his main energy on the defensive end, and the effect was very good. He held Ewing to 2 of 6 shots in the final quarter."

Xu Jicheng took the statistics sheet handed to him by his assistant and read aloud: "Tang Bei played for 44 minutes and did not rest in the second half."

26投17中，命中率65.4%，12罚8中，命中率66.7%，轰下42分3助攻20篮板2抢断7盖帽4失误5犯规，40+20的超豪华数据。”

Sun Zhenping laughed and said, "Tang Bei did a really good job rebounding in the final quarter, grabbing 7 rebounds, including 3 offensive rebounds. Both of his baskets in the final quarter were second-chance opportunities."

徐计成笑道：“尤因24投仅8中，命中率只有33.3%，7罚5中，21分10篮板4助攻2盖帽3失误3犯规，唐北防得真好。”

Sun Zhenping said, "Judging from Ewing and Tang Bei's performance, we can see how important physical strength is in low-post offense. Ewing really has a hard time getting close to the basket to shoot, while Tang Bei's offense is mostly close to the basket."

He paused for a moment, then continued, "And his mobility is also a factor. He's faster than Ewing in terms of footwork, and combined with his physical strength, it's really difficult for Ewing to get close to the basket."

"Correct."

Xu Jicheng nodded and said, "In today's game, Tang Bei didn't go deep into the paint to establish position at the beginning. Only after he couldn't score from the outside did he start to go deep into the paint to establish position."

"I'm too exhausted; I can't even stand up now."

Looking at Tang Bei on the screen, who was still standing there with his hands on his knees two minutes after the game ended, Sun Zhenping said, "Except for the third quarter, the Heat didn't really help him much."

Xu Jicheng flipped through the statistics table again and said, "Glen made 7 of 17 shots today, scoring 18 points with a 41.2% shooting percentage."

Compared to his playoff stats, his performance today was already quite good, mainly due to his 4-for-6 shooting in the third quarter; otherwise, his shooting percentage would have been terrible.

On the sidelines, Tang Bei, after catching his breath, gave a live post-game interview to ESPN.

"Tang, how would you rate the quality of their defense after beating the Knicks on the road?" a reporter asked.

"Oh, except for the third quarter, the other three quarters were quite good, otherwise I wouldn't have had such a hard time," Tang Bei said honestly.

"What does winning the first away game mean for this series?" the reporter asked.

"Does this mean we're now leading 1-0?" Tang Bei asked.

"Haha..." the reporter laughed.

Tang Bei laughed again: "The significance is that we have taken the initiative in the series, and at least we can return to our home court with a score of 1-1. Our victory has deprived the Knicks of their home-court advantage."

Back in the locker room, the atmosphere at the Knicks was terrible.

Ewing remained silent, as still as a stone, though the team doctor occasionally gasped as he applied the medicine to his wound.

"Damn it, there's no home-field advantage at all. His elbows kept poking me around. The referees are all blind, damn it..."

Oakley grumbled and cursed to distract himself from the pain.

"Damn Chinese..."

He pulled down his basketball shorts and saw two bruises on his lower abdomen that were already swollen. His angry shouts immediately rose.

The two players had more bruises and injuries than at halftime.

"boom!"

Pat Riley came in and closed the door behind him.

He glanced at Oakley, and Charles Oakley's cursing immediately ceased; only the sound of breathing remained in the locker room.

"Our defensive quality dropped in the third quarter, which was one of the main reasons for our loss."

"Patrick's poor performance on offense was the second major reason for our loss."

It was time for the game's debriefing, and Pat Riley's cold voice rang out in the locker room, making the temperature drop several degrees.

But then he fell silent.

He couldn't help but feel upset when he thought about Tang Bei's stats tonight: despite the Knicks' concentrated efforts to double-team him, he still managed to score 42 points, grab 20 rebounds, make 2 steals, and block 7 shots.

Although Ewing put up 21 points and 10 rebounds, it wasn't a one-sided outmatch; he was completely crushed.

After a full three minutes of silence, he continued, "Our defensive strategy is correct: cut off Tang's and the ball handler's passing lanes, and keep a close eye on the other Heat players. We must stick to this defensive strategy in Game 2."

"But for Game 2, I need you to play at your best defensive level every second, from the starters to the substitutes, no one can afford to slack off, understand?"

"clear."

“Grant, move two more centimeters to the right…”

In the away team's locker room, Tang Bei is instructing the team doctor's assistant, Grillant, on a medicated oil massage.

This game felt about as physically demanding as the two games against the Celtics; I'm extremely tired, and now I don't even want to move my fingers.

He has so many things to do on the field; besides organizing, supporting, and covering, everything else depends on him.

Suddenly remembering something, he said, "Glenn, you played well today."

Glen Rice's offensive efficiency was still average, but against the Knicks, this performance was already quite good, better than in the first round series.

Without the performances of Glen Rice and Steve Smith, we absolutely wouldn't have won tonight.

Glen Rice nodded and said, "Don't worry, Tang, I'll help you. We're going to make it to the Eastern Conference Finals."

"Correct."

Tang Bei said emphatically, "I have no interest in playing the Knicks. We want to make it to the Eastern Conference Finals to play the Bulls and Michael Jordan."

With a murderous glint in his eyes, he said, "That guy has been working against me all along. He wants a three-peat? No way. Even if we lose, we'll cripple the Bulls."

Game 2 between the Heat and the Knicks is on the 12th. There are no games tomorrow or the day after, which is relatively advantageous for him, allowing him to recover his energy more.

An hour later, the post-match press conference began.

"Coach Riley, the Knicks lost Game 1, and the home fans were booing. Did you expect that?" ESPN's first question was an embarrassing one that immediately infuriated Pat Riley.

But he still smiled and said, "Losing Game 1 at home is really unacceptable. Our defense wasn't good enough, and we failed to contain the Heat's outside offense in the crucial third quarter, which is a major reason for our loss."

"Patrick, how would you rate your and Don's performance?" The second question came from a reporter from The New York Times, a pointed question that could have made Ewing lose his temper.

Ewing fell silent. Fortunately, the reporter knew him well and was very patient. After about ten seconds, he finally spoke in a dry voice:

"It's a pity, but I won't shed a single tear. I have a lot of feelings for New York and the Knicks, and I'm willing to do my best for this place."

"Clap clap clap..."

A few rounds of applause rang out in the press room; they were all local journalists, moved by Ewing's words.

Pat Riley nodded slightly. Although Ewing wasn't good at dealing with the media, he still knew how to change the subject.

Meanwhile, at the Heat's press conference, all the questions were directed at Tang Bei, while Glen Rice and head coach Lengley were ignored.

An ESPN reporter asked, "Tang, you didn't have your most dominant low-post offense in the first quarter. Was that because you wanted to conserve your energy?"

Tang Bei nodded and said, "Today's game was extremely tiring. The physical exertion far exceeded that of the regular season and even the first-round series. Their defense was very strong and very targeted. If I exerted myself in the first quarter, I might not have been able to maintain my stamina until the end."

A Washington Post reporter asked, "Don, what's your assessment of Ewing's performance?"

Tang Bei said, "Everyone says that Ewing's skills are the most comprehensive among the three super centers, but I think he lacks a more accurate mid-range shot."

The reporter was stunned for a moment, then quickly asked, "Tang, please tell me in detail."

Tang Bei said, "If he had a more accurate mid-range shot, he could score more efficiently, that's what I mean."

The reporter then understood Tang Bei's meaning and said, "Tang, you mean: Hey, Ewing, the paint is mine, you go outside and improve your mid-range shot. Is that what you mean?"

Tang Bei laughed and nodded, saying, "That's exactly what I meant. Your comprehension is excellent and deserves praise."

"It's crazy!"

"This guy doesn't give King Kong any face at all, it's really too much!"

"Why didn't Oakley take him down just now?"

"Come on, Oakley is lucky he wasn't knocked out. He's no match for Don."

A group of local reporters were very indignant and discussed the matter extensively.

Late at night, after returning to the hotel, Tang Bei thoroughly cleaned the bathtub, used disinfectant, and then took a hot bath.

According to the NBA's physical therapy philosophy, after a game, you not only can't take a hot bath, but you also have to soak in an ice tub.

Its core logic is to use low temperature to inhibit acute injury response, which can reduce inflammation and swelling, reduce muscle soreness, and so on.

However, his habit of applying medicated oil before and after martial arts practice, and taking a hot bath afterward, has been a routine he has maintained for many years. He feels great about it and doesn't want to change.

Lying in the bathtub, bored out of his mind, he picked up his newly released Nokia GSM phone and began composing a text message.

This year, some GSM operators in the United States launched SMS functionality on a small scale, relying on the GSM global mobile communication system.

His newly purchased GSM phone has a text messaging function, although it is not yet widespread, but it can send text messages to Jiabao's phone.

"Garbo, are you asleep?"

He carefully poked around with his thick right index finger for a long time before finally sending a text message.

Unfortunately, there was no reply after waiting for a while; that little girl must have been asleep long ago.

On the 10th, major media outlets focused their sports sections and channels on reporting the only NBA playoff game of the night.

ESPN reports: "According to statistics, last night's Game 1 between the Knicks and the Heat had a household rating of 15.5% and 2222 million viewers."

A household rating of 1 represents 93.1 households, and 15.5% means that 15.5% of American households watched the game, which is 1443 million households.

The number of viewers is a comprehensive calculation based on multiple platforms (television and radio), and it is only a rough estimate, not as accurate as household viewership ratings.

But regardless of the data, it all demonstrates how exciting last night's game was.

Game 5 of the 1991 NBA Finals, between the Bulls and the Lakers, the game in which Jordan won his first championship, had a household viewership rating of 19.7%, ranking first in NBA viewership.

The winner takes all, and Tang Bei's performance in the game, which crushed the super center Ewing, earned praise from almost all the media.

Ewing, on the other hand, faced criticism from the media, including accusations from New York media.

In addition, the Knicks announced that backup center Stanley Roberts has torn his ACL and will undergo surgery, missing the remainder of the season.

That evening, Game 1 between the Rockets and the SuperSonics began.

Both teams had 55 wins in the regular season, and the SuperSonics had a 3-1 head-to-head record against the Rockets, but the Rockets were ranked second in the Western Conference, while the SuperSonics were ranked third.

The reason is that the Rockets are the champions of the Central Division, while the SuperSonics are in the Pacific Division, which is championed by the Suns. Therefore, the SuperSonics ranked third in the regular season standings.

(Currently, both the Eastern and Western Conferences only have two divisions.)

However, according to the playoff rules, head-to-head records take precedence over regular season rankings. Therefore, the SuperSonics, who have the better head-to-head record, have home-court advantage when they face the Rockets in the second round. Game 1 of this series will be played at the SuperSonics' home court.

With home advantage, the SuperSonics won Game 1 90-99, a difference of 9 points.

火箭领袖奥拉朱旺发挥比尤因强不了多少，22投仅8中，命中率仅36.4%，好在还有11罚10，拿到了26分16篮板5盖帽6失误的数据。

After the match, Hakeem Olajuwon faced unanimous criticism from the media.

The New York Times reported: "Ewing's poor performance was understandable given that he was facing Don. However, Olajuwon's performance against Sam Perkins, a short, blue-collar center who is only 208 centimeters tall, hardly qualifies him as a superstar center."

"Shet!"

Upon seeing the New York Times report, Da Meng was so angry that she cursed.

He had a rough three seasons, constantly overshadowed by David Robinson, and his All-Star votes were lower than the Admiral's for three consecutive years.

His record wasn't good either; he didn't even make the playoffs in the 91/92 season. This season, he finally won the division championship, so he was full of ambition and hoped to make it to the Western Conference Finals.

After his mentor Ralph Sampson left, he became the leader of the Rockets, but he has yet to lead the team to the Western Conference Finals. Such a record is simply not befitting of a superstar center.

"We must take down the supersonic speedster."

On May 11th, the Bulls will face the Cavaliers in the East, and the Suns will play the Spurs in the West.

As a result, the Suns defeated the Spurs at home, and the Bulls suffered a crushing defeat to the Cavaliers at home; there were no upsets.

On the 12th, the Heat will face the Knicks in the East, and the Rockets will play the SuperSonics in the West.

As a result, the Rockets suffered consecutive losses on the road, while the SuperSonics took full advantage of their home court, getting 36 free throw opportunities and making 28 of them.

The Heat also lost, tying the series 1-1 with the Knicks.

With the home-court advantage, the Knicks' offense and defense were both very aggressive. Tang Bei's shot attempts decreased significantly, and his shooting touch was not as good as in the previous game, resulting in few free throw opportunities.

全场42分钟，18投10中，命中率只有55.6%，8罚5中，得到25分14篮板2盖帽3失误5犯规。

Defensively, he was not as good as in the previous game, only managing 2 blocks and 1 steal, and almost got ejected.

Another major problem was that he was called for two fouls in the first quarter, which greatly reduced his defensive intensity and allowed Ewing to score 28 points with a field goal percentage of 48%.

With the home-court advantage, the Knicks had 35 free throw attempts and only 9 turnovers, while the Heat only had 21 free throw attempts but 15 turnovers, which was a major reason for their loss.

On the 13th, both the Heat and the Knicks moved to Miami.

Eric Fleischer is going out for dinner; his brother Mark Fleischer just returned from China yesterday.

The three sat down at a Western restaurant, and Mark Fleischer, seemingly excited, said:
"This time I visited the national men's basketball team, as well as all the club teams, and even the youth and junior teams under the clubs, and discovered some promising talents."

Tang Bei listened attentively, as he was completely unfamiliar with the domestic basketball scene.

Eric Fleischer glanced at Tang Bei and said enviously, "Mark, tell me about it."

(End of this chapter)