Chapter 74 The No. 1 point guard? (10,000-word chapter)

As the 1996-97 season drew to a close, the league was extremely polarized.

The top team can win 60+ games, and the Celtics, who are so bad, are about to make history!

After the time has entered April, the Knicks can make adjustments calmly by relying on their own winning advantage.

There is no hope for first place, but if second place is guaranteed, timely adjustments can be made based on the Heat's record.

At this time, the job of the coaching staff is to ensure that everyone is healthy and enters the playoffs.

Jeff Van Gundy was in high spirits this season. At the end of the season, he not only changed into several crisp suits, but also wore specific shirts and ties for every game.

The only thing that makes this young marshal a little regretful is that his hair is really disappointing, and he is still bald after all.

The bald best coach in the league has a bit of an impact on his image.

The Knicks may be the best team in the league in enforcing the dress code. Before the start of every game, everyone from the coaching staff to the players are dressed in formal attire and look extremely gentlemanly.

But when it comes to the court, the style of play goes against the league's rules, and they take action when they can't beat them. After Li You joined the team, this situation didn't change much, and it even got worse.

On April 19, all the Chicago fans at the United Center stood up and shouted.

103:101, with 13 seconds left in the game, the Knicks still led by 2 points.

Jeff Van Gundy clenched his fists nervously on the sidelines. After scoring 33 points in the third quarter, as Alan Houston left the game with six fouls, the team's physical fitness declined, and the offense completely stretched in the fourth quarter.

.

Entering the positional offense, the Bulls began to score consecutive points again, and Pippen also scored.

In the last round, Li You waited until 24 seconds before missing a throw at the basket.

At the last moment, neither side could score, but the Bulls still had a chance to kill the game.

In the last timeout, Phil Jackson replaced Steve Kerr and replaced Ron Harper, who had a poor touch. You don't have to think about it. The Knicks still have many people to defend Jordan. At this time, they have to get

Up shooter.

"oh!!"

The noise in the United Center became louder and louder. Pippen of the Bulls took a sideline pass. Starks lowered his center of gravity and defended in front of Jordan who was receiving the ball.

On the left wing outside the three-point line, Michael Jordan did not rush to attack. He slowly approached the three-point line. Then he suddenly changed direction and accelerated his breakthrough with the ball in his left hand.

Li You at the top of the arc immediately let go of his opponent Steve Kerr and pursued him. At the same time, Larry Johnson also let go of Pippen who was circling around, quickened his pace and pursued Jordan.

Michael Jordan was forced to slow down in the left block, and was then surrounded by three people. With his arms all around him, Jordan just threw the ball steadily to Steve Kerr at the top of the key.

Li You reacted quickly, slid quickly, and feinted when Steve Kerr lifted the ball. He just accelerated his feet, straightened his left arm, and got close to the defense.

Steve Kerr released the ball with his right hand and broke through the defense again. When the attack time was about to run out, he passed the ball to Pippen on the right wing.

Sufficient time to take action allowed Pippen to take a look outside the three-point line before making a steady jump shot!

The basketball drew a beautiful arc in the air, and the Chicago fans at the scene had already started cheering, but finally it hit the back edge of the basket.

Li You, who was near the free throw line, had quick eyes and quick hands. He rushed in front of Steve Kerr and grabbed a long rebound.

Steve Kerr tried to foul again, but the final buzzer sounded.

"Wow!!"

On the Knicks bench, the atmosphere team cheered and rushed to the court. Ewing roared under the basket, and Oakley hugged Li You and pumped his fist in celebration.

Jeff Van Gundy on the sidelines even raised his arms and kept shouting to vent his excitement.

"Shhh!!"

At the United Center, the Chicago fans present began to vomit, and the boos came one after another.

"Unfortunately, the Bulls failed to win their last home game. They failed to equal the 40-1 home record created by the Celtics in the 1985-86 season."

"But 39 wins and 2 losses is also an amazing home record."

"Congratulations also to the Knicks. They broke the 60-win record in the 1969-70 season, with 64 wins and 18 losses. A new team history record was born!"

In the TNT commentary box, Hubie Brown also smiled. He had also coached in New York. Seeing the Knicks achieve such results, he was filled with emotion for a while.

In this game that was broadcast live across the United States, Bulls fans were looking forward to welcoming a new record at their home court, but they were disappointed.

After missing the last shot, Pippen could only put his hands on his hips and look up at the sky.

He scored 12 points, 6 rebounds, 12 assists, 3 steals and 2 turnovers on 4-of-10 three-pointers. Pippen, the Knicks' best sixth man, performed pretty well except for 0-of-5 three-pointers.

In the last game of the regular season, Michael Jordan was originally in a good mood. He had just won a game at Madison Square Garden a few days ago. He never expected that he would be blocked when he returned to his home court.

It would be a lie to say that he doesn't care about records. Tonight, McQueen listened to the coaching staff's instructions and shared the ball more. He played very efficiently, but if he lost the game, the data would be meaningless.

14 of 22, including 1 of 1 three-pointers, 4 of 8 free throws, 33 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals and 4 turnovers.

After scoring so many points with a shooting percentage of 60%, the fans at the scene could not ask Michael Jordan to do better.

Oakley was in a good mood when he saw the McDuck game was over and he immediately stepped forward and joked:

"I didn't win 70 games. I'm willing to admit defeat. You'll pay for it at the next party!"

This season's record was finally fixed at 69 wins and 13 losses. Michael Jordan was not satisfied with this. He shook his head and whispered:

"Good luck guys, you still have a chance in the playoffs. You must know the consequences of irritating me!"

Oakley didn't care about McQuack's bad face, but instead smiled and spun around to tease his friends.

In the commentary box, Dick Stockton looked at Li You who was hugging his teammates in turn, and added to his partner:

"After the All-Star Game, Lee came to the starting lineup and changed the Knicks' offensive model. In my opinion, he played a perfect season."

"He deserves to be selected as an All-Star. Don't forget that he is only 19 years old. I am already looking forward to Lee's performance in the playoffs!"

Last season, he was Pat Riley's little follower. This season, Jeff Van Gundy has surpassed him. With such a record, there is no pressure to win the best coach.

After returning to the locker room, an excited Jeff Van Gundy said loudly:

"We did it, the best record in team history. It was a perfect season. Now, the regular season is over, and we have to face new challenges."

"Forget the past, our goal is only the championship!"

Ewing stood up and applauded. The Knicks ended the regular season and successfully won the Atlantic Division championship. The gorilla also seemed very happy:

"We fulfilled our promise!"

Li You is also very happy. The division champion also has a flag. When the regular season officially ends, he will be able to obtain [Talent] again!

"Be happy, Larry! We will always have home court advantage until the Eastern Conference Finals. This is so important!"

Although Larry Johnson was also laughing, his mood was not high. Li You knew that the main reason was the shrinkage of data. The same was true for Alan Houston.

Different players have different demands. After observing the situation in the locker room, Li You felt the "cake" theory firsthand at this moment.

The Knicks will not have a game tomorrow, so everyone will fly back to New York overnight. After four days of rest, they will have their first playoff game of the season.

On April 20, there were a total of 8 games that day. The Bullets and Cavaliers were competing for the last playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. The Jazz could not lose the last game for Karl Malone's MVP.

In the end, the Cavaliers, playing at home, pulled ahead and were defeated by the Washington Bullets at 85:81.

The Bullets successfully obtained a spot. This will also be the last playoffs in their team's history. Next season, they will be renamed the Washington Wizards, and a new team history will begin at that time.

The cautious Jazz did not give the Gorillas any chance. After winning against the Kings, their record also reached 64 wins and 18 losses.

The two teams have the same record, and the MVP points have once again become an Excel competition.

After all the games ended in the evening, Li You finally saw the drawing disc appear on his simple panel.

Looking at the rapidly rotating disk, Li You had already received the prompt before he had to call for a stop:

[Allen Iverson’s excellent physical fitness]

Seeing that the new talent was already bronze, Li You was stunned for a while, and then he realized that it would take a long time and a painful process to fully realize this talent:

"Physical reserve? Physical upper limit?"

On April 21st, the 1996-97 season, the regular season ended, and the playoff matchups were officially released:

Eastern Conference record ranking:

69-win Bulls, 64-win Knicks, 61-win Heat, 56-win Hawks;

54-win Pistons, 54-win Hornets; 45-win Magic, 44-win Bullets.

Western Conference record ranking:

64-win Jazz, 57-win Rockets, 57-win SuperSonics, 56-win Lakers;

The Trail Blazers had 49 wins, the Timberwolves had 40 wins, the Suns had 40 wins, and the Clippers had 36 wins.

The pattern of the strong in the east and the weak in the west has not changed, and the bad team has also set several records:

For the first time in the history of the NBA, two teams have a winning percentage below 20%;

The Celtics set the worst winning percentage and lowest winning record in team history, and became the only NBA team to win only once against other teams in the division.

The Celtics, with 15 wins, are second to last in the league, and the Vancouver Grizzlies, with 14 wins, are first from last.

What’s outrageous is that after the regular season ended and they lost the last game, Boston fans even cheered for the team’s loss:
To be continued...