Chapter 467: Upset (Part 8!) )
The results of the Best Sixth Man selection were hyped, but the fans' eyes were quickly drawn to another thing.
The Cavaliers eliminated the Knicks 4-0 and averaged a net win of 20+ per game, no matter how cheeky they are, they don't have the face to say that the Knicks have any chance in such a series.
In TNT's latest episode, Smith and O'Neal were not going to let Barkley run away again, and the show kept mentioning the original bet.
"Alright! All right! Prince Charles does what he says! Barkley slapped the table one last time, ready to fulfill his original bet.
Smith took the initiative to stand up and leave, and O'Neill was already covering his mouth and laughing.
Barkley stood up, turned his back to the camera, and then took off his pants directly, revealing his panties and his big ass.
Smith was already laughing on the sidelines.
"Hey, man, you've got to show your face!" O'Neill reminded from the side.
"I didn't say which one to show up." Barkley said as he put on his pants.
Not surprisingly, Barkley once again completed the bet with the same 20% discount as the original donkey's butt.
……
The Cavaliers' first-round game ended with a 2-2 draw between potential rivals the Pacers and Celtics, and the team had a rare break.
Let Casey lead the team in Cleveland for daily training, and Tang Tian and Cassel get on the plane to Indiana.
There, the Pacers and Celtics will battle for the Kings Mountain, and the winner will go straight to the match point.
On the plane, Tang Tian also held a battle table, which was sorted out by Kassel, with the big scores of the current playoffs of each team.
In addition to keeping an eye on the opponents in the next round, it is also important to focus on potential opponents.
East: The Bulls lead the Magic 3-1, and according to this momentum, they can basically advance in the next game; The Cavaliers have swept the Knicks 4-0; The Pacers were forced to 2-2 by the Celtics, and the two teams are likely to play a tiebreaker; The most surprising thing is the Heat and the Hawks, the Heat have also led the Hawks 3-1, and it seems that even without James, their strength is not weak.
West: The Spurs also swept the Jazz 4-0 after being blacked out last year, and Popovich and his team were clearly playing with anger; The Thunder also swept the Mavericks 4-0, and without Chandler, the Mavericks were beaten into a sieve inside.
When he saw this, Tang Tian was thoughtful.
Carter's ability to break through with the ball is excellent, not to mention Paul, coupled with Yao Ming's dominance on the inside, if you really want to catch the opponent's inside line, you may not lose your position as a way to win.
The remaining two groups are against each other.
With Odom leaving, Gasol trading turmoil, and the Lakers finally starting to show signs of decline, they are now tied 2-2 with the Nuggets without superstars, and it looks like they won't go far in the playoffs this year.
However, compared to the Lakers, the game between the Suns and the Lakers is the most surprising.
The Suns' players did not heal Maddy's back injury, he only played the first game and then was out due to injury, and the Suns were also mired in the Grizzlies' iron wall, falling behind 1-3 so far, and being eliminated is basically a matter of one or two games.
However, this result is not too surprising, Maddie is injured, and it is no problem to play other teams, but when encountering a hand-to-hand team like the Grizzlies, it is really easy to get injured, and Nash and James are actually not so compatible, both of them need to hold the ball to play their own systems, and half a season is obviously not enough to run in.
After reading these, the plane was almost to Indiana.
Tang Tian and Cassel had a brief dinner outside, and then went to the arena.
Indiana hasn't made a difference in the playoffs for a while since Miller retired, and the market has also seen a lot of decline, but the explosive performance of rookie Paul George and the resurgence of the team's record have brought back the city's love for basketball.
The Banker's Life Arena was packed that night, and the yellow T-shirts also made the whole arena look imposing.
The game started with the Pacers playing with great momentum to the cheers of the home fans, and Paul George's newborn calf was not afraid of tigers, scoring 10 points in the first quarter to help the Pacers build an eight-point lead.
In the second quarter, big brother Danny Granger and new signing David West stepped up and teamed up for 20 points, and at halftime, the score was 60-45, and the Indians built a full 15-point lead.
Throughout the first half, the Pacers shot over 60 percent from the field, and the Celtics' defensive system completely collapsed under the Indiana's indiscriminate bombardment.
"It looks like we're going to be going to be tested defensively in the next round." Cassel turned his head to Tang Tian and said with a smile.
Tang Tian nodded, but he didn't speak.
The Celtics do look old, but the Pacers also struggle to maintain this high shooting percentage.
Coming back in the second half, the Celtics' defensive intensity suddenly increased, and the Pacers looked a little lost on the offensive end, and Rondo's successive steals in defense led the Celtics to play a strong counterattack.
The score was 30-18 in the third quarter, and the Celtics recovered 12 points in the first quarter.
The 3-point difference also made the emotions of the fans nervous.
In the fourth quarter, the Celtics began to show their tenacity and experience, and the Pacers were unable to cope with the Pacers, who played inside and outside the offensive end, with Garnett and Pierce playing inside and outside the offensive end.
In the last three minutes, the Pacers fell into a scoring drought, and the Celtics also achieved a final comeback, narrowly defeating the Pacers 99-93 and winning the most crucial battle of Tianwang Mountain.
The Pacers scored 60 points in the first half, but only scored a total of 33 points in the entire second half, and heaven and hell were literally separated by a half.
After winning Tianwang Mountain, the next game will be played in Boston, and the Celtics are in a good situation to advance.
After watching the game, Cassel stopped laughing.
Compared to the younger Pacers, the Celtics are clearly the tougher team.
If you really play the Celtics in the end, it will really have to peel off the skin.
The Bulls and Thunder are still eyeing each other, which is not good for the Cavaliers at all.
Tang Tian is relatively calm, although this result is also a bit unexpected, but who is not fighting, and the Celtics are also old opponents, so if you know the bottom line, you don't need to prepare too much.
The day back in Cleveland, the playoffs continued in the East and West.
It was also at this time that the fifth game between the Suns and the Thunder came to an end.
James scored 41 points in the game, but the Suns lost to the Grizzlies 91-93 and were eliminated in the first round 1-4.
It was also the first time James had been eliminated in the first round of the playoffs since joining the NBA in 2003.