"The longest winning streak of the season is finally over!" On April 1, 2003, when countless Pacers fans were still expecting the Pacers to continue to win and break the Bucks' 20-game winning streak, the Pacers fought hard at home for two overtimes and finally lost to the Kings 123-118, ending the Pacers' 18-game winning streak.

In all games in March, the Pacers won all 15 games, and Meng Xu was also elected Player of the Month in March with an average of 36.7 points, 8.5 rebounds, and 8 assists per game, which is the second time Meng Xu has been elected Player of the Month this season, and the fifth best player of the month in Meng Xu's career, but the fly in the ointment is that on the day Meng Xu won the award, the Pacers lost to the Kings at home.

Although the winning streak was ended by the Kings, the Pacers still ranked first in the league with a 56-15 record, 4 wins ahead of the Mavericks, who were first in the West, and the Nets, who were second in the East, were 7 wins away from the Pacers, so although the winning streak was ended, the Pacers still have enough time to adjust to the best game before the playoffs arrive.

On April 6, the Pacers rushed to the road to play the Knicks in their final game of the season, and before this game, the Pacers, who had ended their winning streak, lost back-to-back to the Celtics and Hawks, ushering in a two-game losing streak.

This season's Knicks, or Madison Square Garden is really very sad, when Meng Xu scored 82 points here, Madison Square Garden has become a holy place and litmus test for those super scorers, since then almost every ambitious player has to try it when visiting Madison, Maddy 51 points, Iverson 53 points, Kobe 47 points, Carter 47 points, Jordan 45 points, if these people's status, in Madison cut a high score, Knicks fans can still hold their noses and endure it. So when those rookies and juniors who are new to the league also want to score points here, it makes Knicks fans a little unbearable, so when the Suns' Stoudemire scored a season-high 36 points in Madison, he was greeted not by the cheers of the fans, but by the invective that resounded through Madison Square Garden. As for the Warriors' Arenas, it was even more tragic, when Arenas scored 44 points in Maddison, several extreme Knicks fans chased him and scolded him all the way to the parking lot.

Because after that 82-point feast, the Knicks have become the target of many teams in the league, and the Knicks, who lost 11 of the 15 games in March, have been determined to miss the playoffs, and the Knicks' owner Dowland Jr. has also said that he will clean up some players this summer, so the current Knicks have long lost their fighting spirit, except for Alan Houston and a few other players, most of the Knicks players are already looking forward to the end of the season as soon as possible, and then go on vacation, look for the next home to find the next house. Therefore, in today's game, the Knicks have no fighting spirit. And the head coach of the Knicks, Don Cheney, his request is also very simple, as long as Meng Xu does not score more than 40 points, this game will end safely, don't do it like the last game. As for Dowlan Jr. and Spike Lee, they were out of sight and didn't come to watch the Knicks play at all today.

Due to the large gap in strength between the two sides, the Knicks are now distracted, so the game between the Pacers and the Knicks has also become a game in which the Pacers took advantage of the situation to end their losing streak.

"What are the goals for today's game? Will you challenge your own scoring record here? Of course not, our goal is only to win, nothing else is important, as long as the team can win, it doesn't make a difference between 80 points and 18 points. ”

"Fighting Tracy for the top of the scoring charts? There are still nine games to play this season and the gap between us is now only 0.2 points, so it is a normal thing that either of us ends up winning the scoring title. ”

"What are your thoughts on the upcoming playoffs? The playoffs are still almost a month away, so it's a bit early to think about the playoffs, and our playoff opponents haven't been decided yet, so our goal at this stage is still to play well in the regular season. ”

Although Meng Xu was already very low-key at the pre-game press conference, the reporters on the scene still kept asking Meng Xu if he was a guest at Madison Square Garden today and wanted to try to break the single-game scoring record of 82 points he created here. As for the New York media in the audience, it is also unusually low-key today, and the reporters of the New York Times have even omitted the question session, and after experiencing that 82 points, the New York media are also afraid that they will anger Meng Xu today and make a tragedy in Madison again.

However, even if Meng Xu doesn't want to answer this question, the media reporters in the audience are still turning around and leading Meng Xu to this question, although Meng Xu is also very unhappy with the Knicks, but it is also unhappy with the Knicks' big-mouthed boss Dolan Jr. and the media in New York, and the players of the Knicks are all unjust, especially Alan Houston, Meng Xu and his private relationship is still good, and since that 82 points, Dowlan Jr. and the media in New York are much more honest, Although Meng Xu also knows that with the urine nature of these people, when this limelight passes, he will definitely continue to hack himself, but Meng Xu has no grievances against the Knicks now, and 82 points in a single game is enough to offset all the previous grievances.

On the evening of April 6th, Madison Square Garden, although the game has not yet started, it seems that there is no suspense, but today's Madison Square Garden is still full, of course, most of these fans today are coming to see Meng Xu, and the spectators wearing Meng Xu's No. 5 jersey occupy more than half of the stands in Madison Square Garden. Except for a very small number of extreme Knicks fans, when Meng Xu came out, they welcomed Meng Xu with non-stop abuse and various words starting with F, most of the remaining spectators gave Meng Xu warm cheers and applause when Meng Xu appeared, so today's game is actually no different from the home court of the Pacers.

Although Meng Xu said before the game that he would not try to create a new record in Madison, but when Meng Xu shot 8 of 13 in the first quarter and scored 21 points in a single quarter, the enthusiasm of Madison Square Garden was immediately detonated, in the first quarter of the game, every time Meng Xu scored a goal, the audience would collectively stand up and cheer and applaud Meng Xu. After Meng Xu hit the shot, he would even shout loudly on the sidelines, "Beautiful, one more shot!" ”

Just when the audience thought that Meng Xu would continue to kill in the second quarter, Meng Xu didn't play for a minute in the second quarter, and Larry Bird sent a full bench lineup to play with the Knicks throughout the second quarter, although the Pacers began to adjust before the playoffs after being ended by the Kings, trying a variety of tactics and changes in the game, and in the game with the Hawks, there was even a very strange lineup per quarter, and a tactic for each lineup. But it stands to reason that the Pacers should return to their normal style of play after two consecutive defeats to prevent the team from losing three in a row, but in this game, Larry Bird still did not change his mind, and only let the team's main force play for one quarter, and then began to try again, and this time, Larry Bird played bigger, not only did not have a main force to press the lineup, but even James Posey and Reggie Miller did not play, and sent a pure rookie and marginal lineup.

"For Meng Xu! For Meng Xu! For Meng Xu! Finally at the end of the first half, the fans at the scene finally couldn't stand it, many spectators in Madison Square Garden were shouting in unison to ask Larry Bird to replace Meng Xu on the court, today's Madison Square Garden ticket price is so expensive, the fans are not here to see how the Pacers use the bench lineup to defeat the Knicks, and the current situation on the court is too ugly, the Pacers' side, several bench players sent to the court are not in good shape, and there is a lack of a person who can hold the position, Therefore, there is some chaos on the court now, and the Knicks on the opposite side have no fighting spirit at all, so now the court is full of clanging iron. The audience at the scene, who really couldn't stand it, is now also using their own way to force Larry Bird to replace Meng Xu, and most of the audience who came to Madison today came to watch Meng Xu play.

"Madison is going crazy again, and it looks like Larry still hears the cries of the fans around him!" After halftime, Larry Bird changed the team's main lineup again, and the moment Meng Xu came on the court, Madison Square Garden fell into a carnival.

The audience was excited, but the Knicks players on the court and Knicks head coach Don Cheney couldn't be happy now. As Meng Xu squeezed away the defenders again and again, all kinds of layups, all kinds of turnaround jumpers, and kept hitting, he scored 19 points in a single quarter again before the third quarter ended, and increased his personal total score to 40 points, the Knicks players on the court didn't do it, you cut 82 points in the last game, after all, that game has passed, if you still want to play like this in this game, it's a bit too much, right? Although looking at this situation, 82 points is obviously unlikely, but the possibility of 50 points, or even 60 points, is not small, if you really want Meng Xu to take a 50+ or 60+ on their heads, how can you see people.

Therefore, when the third quarter of the game is played to the end, no matter where Meng Xu runs, no matter whether Meng Xu has a basketball in his hand or not, he is followed by more than two Knicks players anytime and anywhere, and the Knicks' defense of Meng Xu has been so frustrated that they don't care about the other players of the Pacers, as long as they find a way to choke Meng Xu.

"It seems that only Jordan's rule can stop Meng Xu, but this obviously can't bring a victory to the Knicks!" Looking at the Knicks players on the court, Meng Xu's all-encompassing defensive methods, and even the 3-person bag came, at this time, the commentators on the sidelines and the audience on the scene were already dumbfounded, and soon, there was a burst of boos in Madison Square Garden, which was obviously given to the Knicks, to the Knicks' ugly defensive behavior.

Jordan's rule, it is not the first time in Meng Xu's career that he has received such defensive treatment, but unlike Jordan's experience, Meng Xu now has better teammates than Jordan back then, and the current Knicks are far from being comparable to the Pistons, so even if the Knicks use the Jordan rule against Meng Xu, they can only prevent Meng Xu from scoring, but not the Pacers' victory. Under the crazy defense of the Knicks, Meng Xu basically gave up his personal offense and began to create opportunities for his teammates instead. Due to the investment of a lot of manpower and energy in the defense of Meng Xu, Hamilton and Jermaine O'Neal were completely empty, although Meng Xu's scoring momentum was contained by the Knicks, but the difference between the two teams was widened.

"I really don't want to have any face at all!" Watching the Knicks players on the court frantically encircle Meng Xu, while the head coach of the Knicks, Don Cheney, shouted loudly on the sidelines to stick a little closer, after sticking a little closer, Walter Frazier, who is a famous legend of the Knicks, felt that his old face couldn't hang up, and it was only a few years before the Knicks fell to this point.

As for Bill Bradley next to Walter Frazier, he feels that his heart is dripping blood at this moment, and when James Dolan bought the Knicks, he also stood up to support him and lobbied the minority shareholders of the Knicks for him, if he had known that the Knicks would have fallen to this point in his hands, even if he killed Bill Bradley, he would not have helped James Dowland.

"Bill, you and that hateful James are going to hell!" When the game was over, Walter Fraser cursed at Bill Bradley next to him, then flicked his sleeves and left.

Walter Fraser and Bill Bradley played side by side in the Knicks for 10 seasons, the two used to be the closest comrades-in-arms, but after retiring, the two took different paths, Walter Fraser became a basketball commentator on New York TV after retiring, while Bill Bradley chose to enter politics and run for the Senate, that is, from that time Bill Bradley and the Doran family hooked up, and when the Doran family bought the Knicks, they made a great effortIn return, Bill Bradley received a large political donation from the Doran family, and with the support of the Doran family, Bill Bradley successfully became a senator from New York, and even a federal senator. Therefore, Walter Fraser is somewhat contemptuous of Bill Bradley's approach, and now that he is under the control of the Dolan family, the Knicks have fallen into the bottomless abyss step by step, so Walter Fraser naturally has no good face for Bill Bradley, who aided in the abuse.

"I can't be blamed for that!" Looking at Walter Fraser in the distance, Bill Bradley spread his hands helplessly, who knew that James Doran was so uncompetitive.

113-89, and finally after full-time, the Pacers beat the Knicks by 24 points on the road, ending their two-game losing streak. Meng Xu played 28 minutes, 14 of 25 shots, 4 of 9 3-pointers, 11 of 14 free throws, 43 points, 7 rebounds and 6 assists, and the gap with Maddie on the scoring list narrowed by a little bit.