Basketball miracles

Chapter 110 [Too Slow! Bird, You're Too Slow!]

The Lakers took an early lead, displaying a fluid offense with multiple players contributing, and maintained their lead throughout the game.

首节比分34比23，魔术师约翰逊的表现最好，得到12分2篮板5助攻。

In the latter part of the first quarter, Johnson scored four mid-range jumpers just inside the three-point line, all of which were easy shots after Xiao Tu's screens.

Larry Bird's defensive focus was entirely on Xiao Tu, and he didn't defend the pick-and-roll at all. Even so, Bird still couldn't stop Xiao Tu, appearing to be a defensive black hole.

Pat Riley played Xiao Tu for the entire quarter, instead of resting him for a while in the second quarter as usual, with the aim of defending Bird.

Riley, like the audience, was curious to know just how well Xiao Tu could perform against Bird.

结果让所有人大跌眼镜，肖途首节4投3中，罚球2中2，得到8分5篮板2助攻。

伯德6投1中，仅得到2分2篮板2助攻。

Riley didn't implement any double-teaming tactics, and no one provided help defense. Xiao Tu easily shut down Bird one-on-one, turning him into a bricklayer. Bird struggled to create scoring opportunities, taking six shots, all of which landed outside the paint.

Xiao Tu kept Bird in close contact, forcing him to shoot from far away from the basket. He felt Bird was pitifully slow, not only in movement but also in release. He refrained from trash talk to give Bird face.

If this were a martial arts movie about swordsmen, Xiao Tu would have Bird chasing him down with one hand while spewing trash talk.

"Too slow! Too slow! Bird, you're too slow!"

"Browd, how do you make a living if your knife is so slow?"

It's not that Xiao Tu is criticizing Bird; he really was slow. Bird's shooting form involved raising the ball above his head and then flicking his wrist to shoot. With that form, no one could be fast.

If Bird passes the ball, Xiao Tu can't stop him; he won't gamble on a steal. He doesn't think Bird's one-on-one plays are anything special.

During team practice, Xiao Tu defended Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, getting used to his low-post footwork and high-release hook shot. Bird didn't have a height advantage, and his release point wasn't that high, so he could block it.

To avoid being blocked, Bird was forced to raise his shooting arc, which was not his usual offensive rhythm. This slight change in rhythm caused his shooting to become inaccurate.

Bird missed his shots, and his teammates couldn't grab offensive rebounds, so the Celtics remained behind. On the Lakers' side, even when Bird pulled Xiao Tu out of the paint, they had three big men protecting the defensive rebounds.

The strengths and weaknesses of a star-centric style of play are equally apparent; it requires the star player to perform exceptionally well and lead the entire team. When Bird doesn't play well, the Celtics players frequently find themselves in isolation situations, unable to coordinate effectively.

Xiao Tu's physical style of play is undoubtedly more difficult to defend; he doesn't hold the ball, he just shoots as soon as he receives it.

He completed a powerful dunk on the fast break and scored with a high-post jump shot in a half-court set. He also grabbed two offensive rebounds and drew a foul from Bird on a strong drive to the basket, making both free throws.

Coach KC Jones plays Larry Bird for about 40 minutes per game, with little rest, unless the team has a large lead and the game is over.

This shows that the Celtics are not as strong as people imagine, often keeping their matches close until the very end. They win by virtue of their rich experience and slightly better offensive efficiency, with the point difference being small.

The Lakers are different; they have won by more than 30 points on multiple occasions this season.

In the second quarter, the Lakers' Big Three rested, and the Celtics, led by McHale, began to close the gap.

McHale scored 4 points in a row with his excellent footwork and back-to-the-basket moves in the low post, and Kurt Rambis was the one who got beaten up again.

Rambis joined the Lakers in 1981 and won a championship with the team in his rookie season. In his second season, he became the starting power forward. At the time, the media commented that his impact could not be reflected in the statistics, and many fans truly believed it.

Lakers fans now believe that Rambis is 100% overrated, as he has neither impact nor any significant stats.

You call Rambis a defensive stalwart? He can't stop any player with even a little bit of fame. The reason the role players he guards score few points is because the opponents themselves lack scoring ability.

To say Rambis did the dirty work for the Lakers? Fans have never seen him commit any vicious fouls against any star player. He was a victim of the "clothesline foul" and never even thought of getting revenge on McHale.

He has no tactical role on offense, only scoring on easy baskets, and is not worth mentioning. Rambis is more like a lucky, ordinary role player who got important roles when the Lakers were most lacking in power forwards thanks to his decent rebounding efficiency. If someone with even a little bit of ability competes with him for a starting position, he has to take a backseat.

After a short rest, the Lakers' Big Three returned to the court and immediately took the initiative.

The Lakers' offensive strategy remained unchanged: Magic Johnson would first hold the ball and look for opportunities to drive and shoot. He would draw the defense and pass the ball to Xiao Tu for a jump shot in the middle or a cut to the basket, or he could pass the ball to a teammate on the side to receive the pass, or lob the ball to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar for a low-post isolation play on either side.

Without Riley adjusting his tactics, the Celtics players couldn't stop him. Bird wasn't defending well, and Jones assigned McHale to guard Xiao Tu, but it still didn't work.

McHale is 208cm tall and weighs only 95kg. He is tall and thin, and he gets a headache when Xiao Tu cuts to receive the ball.

Xiao Tu was already much stronger, and he also used some dirty tricks. With the added advantage of celebrity officiating and home-court advantage, the referee wouldn't call it unless it was too outrageous. Under these circumstances, he was unstoppable.

Who cares about playing skill with you? I can catch the ball with a push, and break through with a shoulder throw.

You weakling, you're only fit to follow me around and eat my dust!

McHale quickly committed two fouls to defend Xiao Tu, one of which disrupted a dunk. Xiao Tu lacks physical strength and jumping ability, so he can only rely on his height and wingspan for defense.

McHale failed to take down Xiao Tu, and the home fans gave him the loudest boos of the game, blaming him for affecting the performance.

After Xiao Tu made the free throw, the fans gave him a warm round of applause.

The future of Chinese street literature says that McHale's arm span is 244cm, like a goat, and he may have eaten a Devil Fruit.

Many casual fans therefore firmly believe that McHale's wingspan is the longest in NBA history. Despite the numerous photos of McHale and Bird circulating online, these fans resolutely refuse to look at them. If they did, they would probably start praising Bird's short arms, deeming the 209cm figure inaccurate, suggesting it was at least 229cm.

McHale's barefoot height is only 205cm. If his wingspan is truly 244cm, exceeding his height by 39cm, his hands would reach past his knees. An unprecedented level of skill? Is he even human?

In reality, McHale's wingspan is only slightly longer than Xiao Tu's, and he doesn't have much muscle definition. His wingspan is estimated to be around 225cm, which is insufficient to compensate for the more than 50cm difference in their jumping ability.

In order to limit Xiao Tu, Parish had to retreat to the basket at any time to help his teammates defend.

With Magic Johnson's passing awareness, Xiao Tu can draw double teams and find open teammates, playing more flexibly than before. The Lakers' offense combines inside and outside play, and in addition to the Big Three, Worthy and Byron Scott can also score, making it difficult for the Celtics players to defend them when they are clustered near the paint.

When his teammates took shots, Xiao Tu was very aggressive in grabbing offensive rebounds, and McHale couldn't handle him one-on-one. McHale's rebounding ability was not as good as Bird's, and in this parallel world, he never averaged double-digit rebounds in a single season throughout his entire career.

McHale played 13 seasons in an era with many rebounds, but in his final season of 1992-93, he only averaged 5 rebounds per game. To describe his rebounding ability in one word, he was "bad"!
肖途半场6投5中，罚球6中5，砍下15分10篮板3助攻1盖帽。他出手不多效率超高，还抢了5个前场篮板球。

Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar both had a shooting percentage of over 70%, scoring 18 and 16 points respectively.

The Lakers led 69-54 at halftime.

The Celtics were down by 15 points, making the outcome seem uncertain, but they managed to stay close thanks to the outstanding performances of their role players, while their two star interior players were completely outplayed in the first half.

伯德上半场13投3中，三分球1中0，得到6分4篮板4助攻1抢断1盖帽，连罚球都没有。

Bird seemed helpless against Xiao Tu, getting blocked on a layup and having his jump shot severely interfered with.

Parish went 2-for-5 from the field and 1-for-4 from the free-throw line, scoring 5 points, grabbing 3 rebounds, and blocking 1 shot – a rather bland performance. He's supposedly the best mid-range shooter among big men in the league, but today he couldn't even hit the free-throw line.

The players returned to the locker room to rest, while Lakers fans booed the Celtics players again in the tunnel. Bird, the "King of Trash Talk," seemed to have flared up his social anxiety again, his face darkening, head down, and he remained silent.

Bird had run out of ideas on how to get past Xiao Tu's defense. He had tried all sorts of techniques, and even flopped once, but the referee didn't award him any free throws.

Xiao Tu also benefited from star refereeing and was promoted to a higher draft position. Bird's attempt to reduce physical contact with Xiao Tu by drawing fouls was doomed to fail.

(End of this chapter)