The longest river

Chapter 157 See you in Indiana

If Di Francesco saw this, he would definitely instinctively clench his legs together.

Because that was the project they practiced extra that night.

Although he was wearing protective gear at the time, he still felt a chill between his thighs.

Even the toughest man has his vulnerable moments.

Just a second ago, Ma Long had a fierce expression on his face, as if he wouldn't stop until he had sent Yang Shuai to the hospital.

But the next second, as if struck by lightning, his entire body tensed up, and he fell straight to the ground with a pained expression.

Everything happened in the blink of an eye. Before the fans could even react, they saw Yang Shuai and Ma Long both fall to the ground.

Even some fans in the front row only saw Malone elbow out. They were originally expecting another victim to Malone's elbow, but then they saw Malone freeze.

The referees took a while to react, and after stopping the game, they immediately stepped forward to separate the players facing off on both sides.

Then, when they saw the two men on the ground, one covering his face and the other covering his groin, they were equally bewildered.

It couldn't be that Yang Shuai fouled Ma Long by hitting his groin with his face, could it?

They could only have the team doctors from both sides come over and take everyone back to their respective benches, and then they went to watch the video replay.

After returning to the bench, Yang Shuai acted as if nothing had happened.

He utterly despised Draymond Green's dirty tactics; nobody likes a player who plays dirty, whether as an opponent or a teammate.

Especially after seeing his dirty tricks like kicking the groin, gouging eyes, and stomping, as a normal fan you'd just want this guy to die.

But he really has to thank Green now.

Because when dealing with a villain like Malone, your usual retaliation, or even something like the one he did in the regular season where he beat the back of the opponent's head until it was cracked open, might not make him wary.

Only Green's dirty tricks, his attempts to fight evil with evil, might be effective.

At the other end of the court, Malone was still clutching his groin with both hands, his face showing not only pain but also fear.

That's what he uses to appease his many girlfriends; if it's ruined, how will he play with them in the future?

Yang Shuai's kick really hit the source of his fear.

The referees at the technical table, who were repeatedly watching the video, were also frowning, unsure of how to make a ruling.

Their first thought after watching the replay was that Malone should be given a technical foul...

Yang Shuai was heading towards the rebound when Ma Long elbowed him, causing Yang Shuai to fall. Then, Yang Shuai accidentally kicked Ma Long in the groin with his right foot.

Ma Long's current situation is entirely his own doing.

Even the referee couldn't help but wipe his sweat.

Just like I felt at the beginning, Salt Lake City is such a special place. If he were to exaggerate like that, he might really have to worry about whether he could even leave the city.

After a brief discussion, the referees gave Malone a regular defensive foul.

Then, both coaches angrily rushed to the scorer's table.

Bird: Malone elbowed him, but it was only called a regular foul?!

Sloan: Malone was beaten like this and you still called a foul on him?!
The referees were caught in the middle and looked helpless, but they could only endure it.

When Malone saw that he had been called for a foul, his blood pressure spiked, and the pain there intensified.

No, he quickly called the team doctor; he needed to go to the locker room for a check-up first.

When Malone followed his teammates into the player tunnel with a pained expression, the crowd erupted in uproar.

Especially when the game continued and the camera focused on Yang Shuai, who hadn't done anything and was taking free throws, they felt the same way as Ma Long in the player tunnel—a chill ran down their spines.

Twice!
Yang Shuai has already knocked Ma Long off the court twice!!
Furthermore, Yang Shuai received no punishment whatsoever.

This isn't just ruthless, this is true ruthlessness, even more so than ruthless people!
Some fans who had hoped Stockton would use his signature move to avenge Malone have now completely given up on that idea.

Compared to this, Stockton's little tricks are child's play.

The Jazz's strength this season stemmed from Malone's outstanding performance. Now that Malone is gone, the Jazz's offensive performance has plummeted.

And just like the effect of making an example of Malone in that regular season game, after Malone left the court, the other Jazz players suddenly dared not use dirty moves.

Without a defined defensive style, the Jazz were less effective at limiting the Pacers.

At halftime, the score was 56-38, and it was about to reach 20 points.

This is the Jazz's home court. The Jazz haven't been beaten this badly this season.

"Hansen, let's go to a yacht party in Hawaii and have some fun after the finals!"

When Yang Shuai returned to the locker room for halftime, he received a text message from Barkley.

That guy must be ecstatic.

After halftime, Malone returned.

Yang Shuai was somewhat surprised.

Is Ma Long that tough?

But then I thought about it again, and it was still his problem. After all, he's not like Green, who's good at dirty play. Plus, even when he trained with DiFrancisco, the other guy was wearing protective gear, so he definitely couldn't control his strength.

That's a pity. It seems we'll have to step up our efforts next time.

However, even after Ma Long returned, he became unusually well-behaved on the court.

There was even a time when he subconsciously swung his elbow, but he immediately pulled it back, afraid of hitting someone.

This obedient demeanor was quite unusual not only for the Pacers players but also for the Jazz players.

Or rather, he's making it impossible for the Jazz to mount a comeback.

After all, this isn't the era before Yang Shuai traveled back in time, where if you can't beat someone, you can band together and defeat them by forming a team.

In this day and age, if you chicken out, it's practically impossible to win.

Ultimately, the Pacers defeated the Jazz 106-90 on the road, winning Game 1 of the Finals and regaining home-court advantage from their opponents.

In terms of statistics, five Pacers players scored in double figures. Yang Shuai contributed a game-high 26 points, Schmitz had 21 points and 9 rebounds, and Miller, despite being plagued by injury, still managed to score 16 points.

For the Jazz, Stockton contributed a team-high 25 points and 13 assists, while Malone had 18 points and 11 rebounds.

At the post-game press conference, the Pacers, from the coaching staff to the teammates, once again began to condemn Malone's elbow.

On the other hand, the Jazz, especially Malone, remained completely silent about the conflict that occurred during the game.

They were truly stunned this time.

Losing their home court advantage instantly made the situation dire for the Jazz.

Because the Finals format at that time was still 2-3-2, meaning that after the first two games were played in Salt Lake City, the next three games would be played in Indianapolis.

If they lose the second game, it won't be a question of whether they can win the championship; they might even be swept by the Pacers.

The same applies to the Pacers; if they can win Game 2, their championship is practically guaranteed.

The day after G1 ended, the media reported on G1.

Surprisingly, the media almost unanimously condemned Ma Long's behavior, and they even considered his injury and departure midway through the match as his own fault.

This wasn't because Vaccaro was pulling the strings behind the scenes; no matter how powerful Vaccaro is, he couldn't possibly get the media to speak with one voice.

Even though the Pacers eliminated the Bulls, they should have been disliked by the media.

The Jazz had already drawn criticism from fans during the Western Conference Finals, and Malone tried to repeat the same tactic in the Finals, which really made him look like the villain.

Moreover, from another perspective, if the Pacers, who defeated the Bulls, were to win the championship, then the Pacers would be lauded afterward, and the Bulls' defeat would seem more acceptable to the fans.

There were two days between the two games of the Finals, and Bird kept the players training during those two days, not letting them go out and wander around.

In Salt Lake City, he certainly didn't want his players to be unable to play in Game 2 due to off-field incidents.

The day before Game 2, the Pacers players returned to their hotel to rest after finishing extra practice.

Back at the hotel, they chatted and laughed, full of confidence in G2.

After all, they had defeated the Bulls before, and they were already dominating the Jazz before the conflict between Malone and Yang in Game 1.

However, when they finished showering and were getting ready for bed, they noticed that a large number of Jazz fans had gathered in the hotel's backyard and were making a lot of noise.

The team members were originally ready to rest after training, but this incident made them extremely irritable.

While having Carlisle calm the team members down, Bird personally went to the hotel front desk.

The disturbance continued until midnight, when local police in Salt Lake City had to be called in to disperse the crazed fans.

Just when the team members thought things were settled and they could finally go to sleep, at 1 a.m., as they were about to fall asleep, the hotel's fire alarm system suddenly went off again.

They rushed out of the room barefoot and ran downstairs, only to find it was a false alarm.

This commotion completely dispelled the team members' sleepiness, and many of them didn't fall asleep until almost morning.

As a result, construction started again early in the morning in the hotel's backyard.

This series of events forced Bird to cancel his morning practice.

This ultimately affected the players' performance on the court, and the Pacers' shooting collectively went off the rails.

As we know from previous games, the Pacers' style of play relies heavily on shooting touch. If you can't make your outside shots, the opponent will collapse their defense on you, making it very passive to create defensive opportunities.

The Jazz's defensive capabilities are no weaker than the Bulls'.

The Pacers ultimately lost to the Jazz 78-83, tying the series 1-1.

Bird appeared furious at the post-game press conference regarding the Jazz's unfair victory.

Although he was actually very familiar with these things, after all, these were things that Auerbach had already done before.

They were always the ones manipulating others; he never imagined he would one day be the one being manipulated.

Yang Shuai also seemed very unhappy, but his reply was only one sentence:

See you in Indiana.

(End of this chapter)