The longest river

Chapter 158 "Beat the shit out of them!"

After Game 2 of the Finals, the league issued a warning to Jazz fans, making its stance clear.

But that was all; they didn't punish the Jazz because it was just the fans' behavior, and fans are not subject to the league's jurisdiction.

On Game 3, the Pacers held an open practice at their home arena.

The team members seemed very enthusiastic during training.

The previous defeat did not discourage them; on the contrary, it boosted their morale.

When they returned to the locker room to rest after practice, they ran into the Jazz team who were there for practice.

The Jazz's performance is surprising.

They yawned repeatedly, and upon closer inspection, one could also notice that many of them had dark circles under their eyes and looked quite listless.

"What happened to them?"

Back in the locker room, Yang Shuai couldn't help but ask Scott.

If anyone knows what happened to the Jazz, it can only be Scott.

"I heard the hotel they stayed at last night was haunted."

"(⊙o⊙)..."

Yang Shuai was somewhat taken aback.

He seemed to have heard about the hotel being haunted in his past life.

But as a young man of the new era who firmly believes in socialist values, he does not believe in ghosts or gods.

"This was most likely done by the fans," Scott said, still full of experience.

"Then they're in luck." Yang Shuai couldn't help but laugh, as the next three games were all in Indianapolis.

Besides, Indianapolis isn't a big place, so even if the Jazz change hotels, fans should be able to find them again quickly.

All I can say is that when you do bad things, you have to be prepared for others to retaliate in the same way.

They had just finished showering and were about to go back to rest.

Just then, Bird came into the locker room.

He's here to announce the team's starting lineup for tonight's game, and Jermaine O'Neal will continue to start.

Then, he also mentioned another trivial matter.

"There's a problem with the air conditioning. The temperature will be a bit low this afternoon, so please don't come to the stadium unless you have to."

As he spoke, he looked at Yang Shuai and Miller, two of whom were frequent participants in extra training sessions.

Yang Shuai burst out laughing when he heard that.

Think back to when Bird used his bench to take on the Heat's starters in a game against them. Bird, like Bird, is someone who never suffers a loss.

Just as the league can't control the fans, it can't control things within the rules either.

It can only be said that the Jazz really messed with the wrong team this time.

That evening, Game 3 of the finals kicked off at City Square Garden.

The stadium was packed, and the fans were in high spirits.

There were also a lot of KT boards mocking the Jazz team at the scene.

"The thief of victory," "Karl Malone is a coward," "The Utah duo never won a championship," and so on, came up one after another.

Some fans even dropped the pretense and held up signs that read, "The ghosts of Indiana will take their revenge on you."

Salt Lake City is dangerous because it's a Mormon stronghold, but Indiana, this cornfield, is also a KKK stronghold, and they're just as fearless.

What surprised Yang Shuai even more was that Barkley was also present.

Theoretically, Barkley should stop paying attention to the NBA for a while after losing the conference finals, since watching it every time would only cause him more heartache.

But you can tell from the text message he sent to Yang Shuai before that he was obviously angry and came to watch the game to vent his anger.

Yang Shuai went up and greeted him.

The two exchanged contact information after their initial tryouts, and the more they talked, the more interesting Yang Shuai found Barkley to be—one of the rare black men who could be a friend.

"Don't forget the yacht party."

Barkley even reminded Yang Shuai.

He initially said that Yang Shuai would attend a yacht party after winning the championship, but this was just a pre-emptive champagne party.

Fortunately, Barkley is still a player and not a commentator, otherwise Yang Shuai would definitely have to find a way to shut him up.

After the opening ceremony, the starting lineups for both sides were announced.

Just like in G1, Sloan didn't use the "one big man and four small men" starting lineup like Riley did.

Ostertag flicked the ball back to the Jazz's half of the court, officially kicking off Game 3 of the Finals.

The Jazz started by using Malone's low-post offense, with Malone receiving the ball and hitting a turnaround mid-range shot.

"when!"

The basketball was clearly too short and bounced off the rim.

Schmitz secured the defensive rebound.

Mark Jackson dribbled the ball up the court quickly, and Yang Shuai cut to the basket using Schmitz's screen.

It was at this point that the Jazz's defense clearly encountered communication problems.

When Malone was helping Yang Shuai on defense, Hornacek completely left Miller open for help. By the time Mark Jackson passed the ball to Miller, Hornacek had already been blocked by Jermaine O'Neal when he tried to go back to help.

"Shh!"

Miller's three-pointer gave the Pacers the lead.

The Pacers' poor shooting performance in the last game was clearly due to lack of rest, but their shooting touch returned after returning to Indianapolis.

Stockton dribbled the ball up the court and ran a pick-and-roll with Malone. Malone cut to the basket after the screen, but Stockton's pass turned out to be a mistake, hitting Malone's heel directly. The ball bounced up and was caught by Mark Jackson.

Stockton chose to foul Jackson on the spot.

There was a commotion in the place.

Yang Shuai had already rushed out of the center line.

Pity.

However, Bird couldn't help but reach out and applaud.

Stockton committed a foul so early in the game, which was more meaningful than Yang Shuai's fast break dunk.

In the Pacers' half-court offense, Yang Shuai cut in, received a pass from Mark Jackson, and delivered a tomahawk dunk.

After a communication breakdown on defense in the previous possession, the Jazz hesitated again on defense on this play, which Young capitalized on.

The crowd erupted in cheers. Although they missed Yang Shuai's fast break dunk earlier, his current drive and dunk was just as spectacular.

During the Jazz's offense, Hornacek received the ball on the weak side and attempted a three-pointer, but Yang Shuai flew around to help defend and directly touched the ball.

After the ball was blocked, a scramble for the loose ball ensued, and Miller eventually drew a foul from Russell.

The Jazz's offense failed once again.

After watching the first few rounds, it's clear that the two teams are in vastly different form.

The Jazz were clearly lost on both offense and defense, while the Pacers were not only proactive but also in high spirits.

Go Pacers!

The fans at the stadium were in high spirits after feeling the home team's enthusiasm, and they began to cheer and shout in unison.

Feeling the cheers of the fans, Yang Shuai was instantly filled with excitement.

When he cut into the box and saw Malone coming towards him to help defend, he didn't choose to pass the ball. Instead, he accelerated and jumped into the air, pulling the ball high with his right hand.

Ma Long clearly misjudged the ball; he didn't expect Yang Shuai to dare to attempt a dunk over him.

By the time he realized it, it was too late to stop it.

If this had happened before, he would have definitely knocked the opponent down with an elbow; anyone who dared to try to dunk on him would absolutely pay the price.

But now, he squeezed his legs together tightly, and his hands instinctively protected his chest, fearing that he might suffer some inexplicable "accident" again.

"Oh!"

Amidst the roaring cheers of the fans in the stadium, Yang Shuai dunked over Ma Long!

Barkley's big butt instantly launched him forward, and he stood up to celebrate Yang Shuai's move with a fist pump.

He turned down Jordan's invitation to go to the Las Vegas casino and came all the way to Indianapolis to watch the game. And it turns out he was absolutely right to come!
Yang Shuai was also slightly excited after completing the dunk.

He celebrated by throwing a punch right at the sidelines.

That was awesome, fucking awesome! It was even more awesome than dunking on Shaq!
Shaquille O'Neal was just a cowardly coward who relied on others' power, but Karl Malone was a real dirty guy.

It just goes to show that to deal with a bad person, you have to be even worse than them!
7 is better than 0!

After Yang Shuai completed that dunk, the Pacers immediately got off to a perfect start.

"Defend! Defend!"

The fans at the stadium were getting increasingly excited.

Bird also showed a strong desire to direct the team tonight, getting up and making new tactical gestures to the team.

Stockton had just dribbled past half-court when Yang Shuai and Mark Jackson double-teamed him.

The two players completely blocked Stockton's passing vision. Stockton spotted Ostertag at the far end and, while retreating, delivered a long, sweeping pass.

However, Ostertag didn't react in time to receive the ball, and it went directly out of bounds!
The City Square stadium erupted in cheers.

Given the Jazz's performance tonight, the Pacers' question isn't whether they can win, but by how many points!
The cheers from the fans in the stadium continued, but perhaps due to excessive excitement, Yang Shuai made a mistake when passing the ball.

The Jazz quickly launched a fast break, and Russell received a pass from Stockton and flew over Miller for a layup.

But Miller was standing still under the basket when Russell collided with him, the referee blew the whistle, and the Jazz committed an offensive foul!
After being pulled up from the ground by his teammates, Miller couldn't help but clench his fist and roar with excitement.

Because of his ankle injury, he couldn't provide the team with much help, but he made up for it with his aggressiveness on the defensive end.

Turning back, Yang Shuai made a beautiful back cut. He first pretended to use Schmitz's screen to cut to the basket, and then back cut to the outside.

Jackson's pass arrived just in time.

Yang Shuai received the ball and made his first three-pointer of the night.

Ostertag then lunged forward, trying to stop Yang Shuai from making a move.

After Yang Shuai threw the ball, he tackled Yang Shuai to the ground.

The referee's whistle sounded.

"Shh!"

The basketball then swished through the net.

That was a 3+1!

10-0, and they need to add another penalty!
Some fans at the scene couldn't help but reach up and cover their heads, as if their brains were itching.

This isn't just a perfect start, it's almost like a dream!
This is the fucking finals!

Yang Shuai made the free throw, and Sloan called a timeout.

When the Pacers players left the court, the cheers from the crowd were deafening, as if they were about to lift the entire roof off.

Bird didn't even pick up the clipboard during this timeout; he looked at his players and said only one sentence:

"Beat their shit out!"

Judging from his pre-game announcement about the air conditioning being turned down and his frequent on-the-spot instructions, Bird was genuinely angry this time.

(End of this chapter)