Basketball Legend: When Pride Still Matters-Chapter 1013 - 585 Another Curse_3
Chapter 1013: Chapter 585 Another Curse_3 Chapter 1013: Chapter 585 Another Curse_3 An eternal lesson: never engage in a “win or go home” duel with the strongest player in the world.
The Spurs’ strategy revolved around conserving Duncan’s energy. Popovich even started Brazilian center Splitter, attempting to play a “lower-hand” against the Clippers’ “upper-hand” at the opening of the game.
In Rivers’ mind, he thought, “You think I’d be scared? Our GOAT playing a full 48 minutes is no issue.”
As the two sides were fiercely battling it out and matching wits, one of the Clippers’ tightly stretched strings suddenly snapped.
Griffin, receiving an alley-oop pass from inside by Yu Fei, twisted his thigh upon landing after a dunk.
The cost of over-reliance on star players eventually came back to haunt the Clippers.
Despite underwhelming performances in the Western Conference Finals, Rivers still had Griffin averaging 40 minutes per game.
...
Because often, the performance of core players is most important, but even if they don’t play well, keeping them on the court to “exist” is still making full use of them.
In front of the Spurs, the Clippers were the lower-hand, not entitled to “play a new hand with each deal;” the players they had must be utilized to death, until problems arose.
At the moment Griffin was injured, a sinful thought flashed across Rivers’ mind: thankfully, it wasn’t Frye…
But back in reality, he was well aware of what Griffin’s injury meant.
Yu Fei could contend with Duncan, could contend with Pau Gasol, but he couldn’t possibly contend with both at once. Losing Griffin meant losing the key force to counterbalance Gasol. Whether the Clippers switched in Pachulia or Brown, they couldn’t stop the imbalance in the paint.
The situation began to deteriorate, and whenever the Clippers couldn’t catch their breath, Fei would have amazing moments of dominance.
He’d score a 2+1 in the paint, grab a crucial offensive rebound to assist a teammate in hitting a three-pointer, then post up Duncan or Big Jah, even sweep from high post like a center to block Paul George at the basket.
Isn’t that the performance of the league’s top forward?
However, the Clippers’ luck had run out.
The Spurs rested Duncan for a significant time, allowing him enough stamina to play one-on-one in the second half, and without Griffin to check him, Big Jah exerted sufficient pressure on the other side.
Pierce couldn’t replicate his heroics from Game 5, and Antetokounmpo, when deprived of transition opportunities, was left with only two skills: standstill three-pointers and catching alley-oops.
But a Clippers team riddled with gaps couldn’t provide him with the chances to cut in, so he was forced to shoot from outside.
When a 19-year-old suddenly bears the burden of unlocking the team’s space, even if he normally shoots 36% from three, the pressure crushes his technique, touch, and muscle memory.
The Clippers collapsed in the final five minutes of the fourth quarter.
With 58 seconds left in the game, Yu Fei, who had not taken a second of rest from the start, was finally substituted out by Rivers.
Coming off the court, Fei thought to himself, if he had known it would end like this, why bother fighting so hard?
But this negative thought lasted only a moment.
“!#￥#@!￥%”
“Ladies and gentlemen, give a round of applause to our GOAT!!!”
The reborn Clippers would suffer defeat tonight, but fundamentally, this failure was no different from their past losses.
They had bad luck, with Griffin going down with an injury at a critical moment.
Visit freewёbnoνel.com for the best novel reading experience.
But was that the only reason?
Far from it.
They had become the most entertaining team in the League during the regular season and made playoff history for their franchise, but against this “Greatest Team in Spurs History,” they had run out of ammunition.
Next year, the GOAT will still be here.
Antetokounmpo will continue to grow.
The Clippers will get better.
They had become a top-level basketball team that was both loved and respected.
“Frye, you played one of the greatest games I’ve ever seen tonight!”
Rivers said, his voice hoarse.
I played the greatest game and still lost, huh?
“Quite a consolation, Doug,” Yu Fei said with self-deprecation.
“We’ll be back, just like you said,” Rivers said, “We’ll be back for the conference finals.”
What else could be done at this point?
Yu Fei exhaled softly, “Next year it won’t be the same outcome.”
The final minute was just garbage time.
The giant screens at the venue displayed Yu Fei’s game stats: 47 minutes and 2 seconds on the court, scoring 39 points, 21 rebounds, 8 assists, 4 blocks, 2 steals, and an inevitable 5 turnovers.
This series truly showcased Yu Fei’s endless versatility as a player in various positions.
He could play as a ball-handling nucleus at the point guard position, act as a space shooter, or take on the role of the ace small forward. When those roles proved ineffective, he could still play in the paint, handling both power forward and center positions without a problem, even managing to overcome Duncan.
In this era, if he could overcome Duncan, he could defeat any other big man.
Perhaps only Howard and Yao Ming had absolute strength and size that were beyond his reach, but both had their own flaws and weaknesses, not the kind which required Yu Fei to actively suppress them in the paint.
Although the Clippers lost, the limitless potential displayed by Yu Fei instilled fear in his opponents.
They could not imagine how high the ceiling would be for the Clippers if a few suitable teammates were arranged for him.
After all, even for a Clippers team this unbalanced, if Griffin hadn’t been injured, the outcome of tonight’s game would still be unpredictable. Once the series dragged to a seventh game, anything was possible.
Now, the world’s most powerful basketball player stopped at the conference finals, which was undoubtedly good news for other competitors.
At least for 2014, the world championship was out of reach for Frye Yu.
The game ended.
The Spurs eliminated the Clippers with a 4-2 series win.
They learned their lesson from last year, remembering the Greatest of All Time curse—do not celebrate. If you use all your tears to celebrate your victory over the Greatest of All Time at this moment, what will you have left to celebrate in the finals?
Therefore, the Spurs quietly processed the feat of eliminating Yu Fei for two consecutive years, rejoicing only inwardly, then turning their attention to the finals.
Duncan hugged Yu Fei after the game ended.
“Will you win this year?” Yu Fei asked.
“We won’t screw it up this time.”
“Well, good luck,” Yu Fei smiled, “but those who beat me in the playoffs usually don’t get lucky.”
These words were no trash talk.
Just look at the Brooklyn Nets in 2002, the Pacers in 2005, and the Spurs last year.
After beating the Greatest of All Time, they all made it to the finals, then they all fell without achieving victory.
Defeating the Chosen One might be a sin.
Yu Fei sincerely reminded Duncan.
And Duncan had indeed thought of those histories, which gave number 21 a chill down his spine.
Is this another curse of the Greatest of All Time?
