Basketball Legend: When Pride Still Matters

Once certain boundaries are broken, things can escalate to a level of madness that not even the parties involved may have anticipated.

114 to 89

In the first game of the Eastern Conference Finals, the Bucks scored a substantial home victory over the Detroit Pistons, seizing the opening victory of the divisional championship round.

For the Bucks, scoring 110 points in a single game is hardly noteworthy.

But for the Pistons, that's terrifying.

"This is the second time this season that the Pistons have allowed more than 110 points in a game,"

The Dallas Mavericks were the last to accomplish this feat.

Besides the Mavericks, including last season—when Carlisle was still the Pistons' head coach—the Pistons had not allowed more than 110 points in a game again.

But tonight against the Bucks, it happened right in the first game.

Was this a fluke, or the result of the Pistons' defensive system crumbling?

"Tonight they took 22 three-point shots," Larry Brown said, "That's a terrifying number, and what's more terrifying is their high shooting percentage. We need to address this. They can't shoot threes like tonight anymore!"

As the team leader, Ben Wallace described the first game as "exploratory", "Man, you know, the series doesn't really start until we win a game on the road. Tonight was just a test, and the Bucks did well."

On another note, the argument between Yu Fei and Hamilton also became a focal point of interest among sports writers.

Everyone knows that they were once teammates in D.C., calling themselves the "New Jacks." What happened later that made them now view each other with animosity?

Yu Fei doesn't like to bring out those messed-up stories from D.C.

"You can go ask Rip about that. I'm just doing what I should be doing. The person who really needs to explain is Rip,"

Understandably, Hamilton would not disclose such sensitive secrets.

Facing the reporters' questions, Hamilton simply brushed them off with "next question."

Despite just completing a big win, the Bucks did not treat the Pistons as a team they could easily handle.

The first game had many elements of chance; the Pistons used the methods that worked against other teams, while the Bucks used their experience in playing the Pistons. As a result, the Pistons were disadvantaged, and the Bucks' strategies were effective.

This proved that the Bucks had a very mature method of countering the Iron Bucket Formation.

However, the Pistons were not without room for adjustment, and so the series was still up for grabs.
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The Western Conference Finals didn't have the same narrative appeal as the Eastern Conference Finals; the Lakers were still the Lakers, and competing for the Western summit against them were the Minnesota Timberwolves.

But affected by the butterfly effect, the overall strength of this Timberwolves team was slightly weaker than the '04 Timberwolves of the past. Although they still made it to the Western Conference Finals, they were no match for the Lakers.

Kevin Garnett, the presumptive MVP, was practically absent the entire game, and the Timberwolves were soundly defeated by the Lakers.

"When the voting for this year's MVP starts, I will remember KG's performance tonight."

Although Garnett was tarnishing his reputation, the MVP voting has a fundamental rule, which is to only consider regular season performance.

Given the regular season, combined with Garnett's years of struggle carrying the Timberwolves on his back and the significant breakthrough in performance this year, his MVP award was within his grasp.

Before game two of the Eastern Conference Finals began, the NBA officially announced the MVP for the season.

Yu Fei had learned from Reebok sources the day before the results were released that he would be the runner-up, so when he heard from reporters that he was second in the MVP voting, he merely smiled and replied, "Congratulations to KG."

"Will missing out on a back-to-back MVP by a slim margin motivate you to become better?"

"It will, but I think KG deserves it," Yu Fei said. "I hope we can meet at the peak."

Though he spoke kindly, there was a cursing power behind his words.

That night, the game between the Bucks and the Pistons turned into a struggle.

The Bucks' field goal percentage for the entire game was only 43%.

Faced with screen-and-roll offense, the Pistons' answer was to double-team and to play tight defense on Ray Allen while maintaining their standard defense on the others.

This was essentially betting on players like Sprewell's outside shooting touch.

But before giving them open shots, the Pistons engaged in intense physical combat on the off-ball side.

The result proved the effectiveness of the Pistons' tactics.

The Bucks, who had scored 100 points in every playoff game so far, were held to just 81 points by the Pistons tonight.

The Pistons themselves didn't score much, only 85 points, but it was enough to win the game.

85 to 81

At the Bradley Center, the Bucks swallowed a difficult defeat, losing the home-court advantage of the playoffs.

As Big Ben said, the series doesn't truly start until you win on the road.

The hero for the Pistons tonight was Rasheed Wallace; as the most versatile big man on the floor, Rasheed brought everything the Pistons needed.

"They're human, not machines," Rasheed Wallace solemnly answered when asked about the pre-game preparation. "Like us, they bleed, and if they bleed, it means they have flesh and blood, and if they have flesh and blood, they have weaknesses."

The Bucks had no excuses.

All they had to do was win on the road.

Big Ben was right, only by winning on the road would the series truly begin.

Now, the Pistons' series had kicked off, and the Bucks needed to begin their series by winning on the road.

The Pistons' successful lockdown on the Bucks in the second game made Yu Fei realize that when necessary, he had to fully trust in his own strength.

On the evening of the third game of the Eastern Conference Finals, Yu Fei saw Dick Bavitta's name on the referees' list and wondered if this meant the League might give them some help with the degree of penalty calls?

Yu Fei was certain the League preferred the Bucks to advance.

A Bucks vs. Lakers final would bring unmatched traffic and popularity to the League.

Since they wanted the Bucks to advance, there was definitely some bias in certain game calls.

Yu Fei soon took the court to test the penalty scale for the evening.

In the previous two games, the referees were inclined toward hardcore, and some borderline fouls were definitely not called.

That night, Big Ben started off with a help defense on Yu Fei that flirted with the edge of fouling.

But the referee blew the whistle.

Big Ben was called for a defensive foul, giving Yu Fei two free throw opportunities.

Although the Bucks also received strict attention on defense, this kind of even-handed tight officiating was beneficial for them.

The Pistons wanted to turn the game into a meat grinder battle, but with this scale of officiating, there would be no meat grinder.

At such intensity, not only could Yu Fei not be stopped, even the Bucks' perimeter had to bloom in full.

By the end of the game, the Bucks had scored over a hundred points again. The Pistons fared a bit better than in the first game, but only slightly. Due to the Bucks also being restricted in defensive moves, and with Big Ben fouling out midway through the fourth quarter, the imbalance in offense and defense allowed the Bucks to take the game with a surge.

2-1

The Bucks regained the home-court advantage in the series.

Two days later, at the fourth Eastern Conference Finals game, the head referee was switched to Joe Crawford, and the Pistons received a genuine home-court advantage, with their suffocating defense making a troubling return.

Moreover, the Bucks' defensive moves were a bit constrained.

The same actions, the Pistons could make, but they were fouls when the Bucks did them.

Even if Yu Fei and Ray Allen opened up the play, they still inevitably found themselves pressed hard throughout the game.

By this point, Yu Fei had figured out the League's intent.

It didn't matter who won or lost, they wanted the Bucks and the Pistons, two hot topics, to play at least six games in the series.

To manufacture so-called buzz and suspense, the first four games were drawn to a 2-2 tie, so they could then rev up the marketing machine for the upcoming King of the Hill battle.

Seeing the script, Yu Fei still played his hardest in the fourth game, scoring 30 points, 7 rebounds, and 5 assists. Good stats, but unable to stave off defeat, the series score ultimately reached a tense 2-2, as the League had envisioned.

If he could, Yu Fei really wanted to call the League office and give them a piece of his mind.

Four games into the series, only the first and second had value.

The Bucks and the Pistons each won one by their own merit, and then the NBA's staged drama began.

Now, Yu Fei needed to go all out to win the upcoming King of the Hill battle, which probably wouldn't involve additional League drama.

As a rising star promoted by the League, Yu Fei had experience proving himself on such a big stage. If he unfortunately lost to the Pistons the day after tomorrow, the Bucks would get an epic boost in the sixth game. Regardless, the League would ensure the Bucks played a full seven games.

He didn't need to look at scripts from the small ball era to know how this would play out.

While there were scripts in the Eastern, the West was more tragic.

The Timberwolves, as nouveau riche in the eyes of the League, were not worth the effort to prop up.

The only problem was, with the Lakers dominating the Western for many years, if the Timberwolves had the capacity to topple them, perhaps the League would lend a hand for the sake of novelty. But now, after four games, the Timberwolves were behind 1-3 and facing a dire situation.

Since they lacked the strength, the League didn't want to interfere; clearly, the two teams from the East were more worth their attention.

The day before the King of the Hill battle, the League announced the referees for the fifth game.

As expected, there was no Dick Bavitta, who had dual roles as a director and a part-time referee, nor Joe Crawford, the Pistons' go-to referee for this round of series. The chief referee would be Joe DeRosa, a ref often booed by home fans for being too fair.

Yu Fei's judgment of the League was completely correct.

And it was precisely because his judgment was correct that the game tomorrow night was a must-win. If they lost, given the League's nature, they'd surely bring about a biased refereeing that would embarrass both him and the Bucks, ensuring a Game 7 showdown with the Pistons.

Yu Fei did not want to be pointed out years later for such a biased call in his favor, so since there was an opportunity to win by merit now, he had to seize it and defeat the Pistons in one fell swoop.

With this determination, Yu Fei practiced 400 three-point shots beyond the arc the night before the game.

Everyone didn't understand, since Yu Fei's standard-distance three-pointers weren't very reliable. Why would he practice super long threes?

But Yu Fei found it difficult to explain, so he just continued his own practice.

After finishing the three-point practice, Yu Fei still wasn't satisfied and went to the gym to lift weights for an hour, wrapping up his preparations for tomorrow's game.