hotmtlnovel Chapter 701 Lin Tian Buys the Wrong Thing, and Gets a Villa by the Sea!
Chapter 701 Lin Tian Buys the Wrong Thing, and Gets a Villa by the Sea!
After making another round of predictions, Lin Tianmei happily chose to go to sleep.
As for how his prediction of the match will ultimately turn out...
He doesn't care at all!
For Lin Tian, it doesn't matter who he plays in the regional finals or the finals; he has absolute confidence in who he plays against!
The only difference is, who will die!
As for predictions, they're just for fun.
Then, when Lin Tian woke up, he felt a little embarrassed.
"I have to apologize to Wade again!"
The Cavaliers lost.
After Lin Tian believed that the Cavaliers could drag the game into a Game 7, the Celtics were like they were on steroids, and the whole team exploded!
替补登场的吉诺比利爆砍全队最高的23分，帕克16分11次助攻拿下两双，约什·霍华德拿下15分5篮板，邓肯稳扎稳打，贡献22分13篮板3盖帽。
Dwight Howard recorded a double-double with 11 points, 17 rebounds, and 4 blocks!
Meanwhile, the Cavaliers, who were already relying solely on the injured Wade, were further hampered by the Celtics' increased intensity and double-teaming in this game, making it extremely difficult for him to play.
Throughout the game, Wade devoted most of his energy to getting rid of defenders and double teams. He focused on getting the ball and then attacking, only to be surrounded by the Celtics' double teams in an instant.
Under these circumstances, it would be a miracle if Wade could play well!
Tonight, he was a far cry from his dominant performance in the previous game, making only 5 of 22 shots and scoring just 19 points.
With just 19 points, he was already the highest scorer on the team!
With all of the team's key players performing exceptionally well and effectively containing the opponent's only star player, Wade, from a poor showing, the Celtics naturally advanced to the conference finals with ease!
Their opponent is the Knicks, who had already advanced to the Eastern Conference Finals a few days earlier!
This is the second time Duncan has faced Lin Tian in the playoffs since joining the Celtics!
Our second meeting in three years!
The last time the two teams met was in the divisional semifinals.
The Celtics roster at that time also included Stephon Marbury, Paul Pierce, Ricky Davis, and others.
In that series, the Celtics held a significant advantage!
They had a 3-1 advantage!
But then, with Lin Tian's explosive performance and his game-winning shot in Game 7, the Celtics suffered a dramatic reversal and were eliminated by the Knicks!
It was during that series that Lin Tian forced Marbury to leave the team without permission and disappear from the NBA's sight. It was also during that series that the Celtics decided to continue rebuilding and, in the end, traded away Pierce, the team's core player for the past few years.
This is the second time the two sides have met, and this time, both sides want to win!
Lin Tian wanted to prove that he deserved every MVP vote. He wanted to show those who voted for Duncan that he was an idiot and a fool who voted randomly in a head-on confrontation!
Duncan has clearly reached a point where he needs to produce results and win championships!
He reached his peak right from the start, leading his team to the NBA Finals in his second year. But since then, Duncan has never made it to the Finals again! He always loses and falls down.
His team has never been able to achieve a breakthrough.
This time, Duncan knew his chance had come!
He was certain that the team he was on now was the strongest team he had ever played for in his life!
He is confident, and he must, make a breakthrough this year and win the championship!
There won't be a better opportunity than this year!
The Celtics and Knicks are finally going head-to-head, while the Lakers and Spurs on the other side are really going to a Game 7!
Kobe's performance in this game was actually quite average. He only took 14 shots, made 9, and scored 24 points and 8 assists!
Throughout the game, Kobe acted as bait, setting up his teammates, creating space for them, and giving them scoring opportunities!
With Kobe's selflessness and Tomjanovich's tactics, Bynum scored a career-high 25 points and 11 rebounds tonight! This is a career high for him in both the regular season and playoffs, and also his first 20+10 game!
More importantly, he completely dominated O'Neal, not only making O'Neal, who only scored 15 points and grabbed 7 rebounds, look old and worn out, but also proving to everyone that trading O'Neal for him was absolutely the right decision!
Others like Vujacic, Luke Walton, and Cook also contributed their strength and energy, helping the team stay close in the score!
When the game reached its most crucial moment, Kobe, who had restrained his offensive desire throughout the game, finally revealed his fangs!
With 12 seconds left in the game, the Lakers were down by 5 points!
Just when they were about to be eliminated, Vujacic hit a crucial three-pointer from the wing that saved the day!
Then Francis's dribble was stolen by Devin George, who then passed the ball to Kobe. Kobe quickly drove to the frontcourt, and with one second left, James came into position to help defend. After the two made contact, Kobe made a very difficult floater and scored!
90: 90!
The game went into overtime!
In overtime, Kobe scored all of the team's points! In the first 4 minutes and 40 seconds of the game, Kobe scored 5 points.
But the Spurs had too many scorers, and they still had a 3-point lead with 15 seconds left in the game!
Then Kobe made another jump shot, narrowing the gap to 1 point!
At this moment, a hero once again stepped up for the Lakers!
The player who made the steal from Francis this time was Vujacic!
He stole the ball from Francis and immediately passed it to Kobe.
Kobe dribbled while observing the surroundings, driving all the way to the vicinity of the Spurs' free throw line.
With the game time running out, Kobe once again decisively stepped up, facing a double-team defense from James and Finley, and calmly launched his signature mid-range jump shot!
"Whoosh!"
"Buzz!"
The two consecutive sounds turned the entire Staples Center into a sea of joy once again!
We won! We took it!
The team won!
The entire Staples Center instantly transformed into a sea of joy, with everyone from Kobe, who had hit two game-winning shots, to the rest of the team celebrating and cheering wildly.
Then, a rather strange cheer suddenly rang out from the Staples Center stadium.
"Lin, thank you!"
"Lin, MVP!"
……
That's why people in Los Angeles are so particular.
Even after receiving your mysterious power, they still know how to express their gratitude!
Of course, the people of Los Angeles have more to say than just thank Lin Tian.
They hoped Lin Tian could help them out again!
Please, support the Spurs just one more time!
Just once!
We're counting on you for Game 7!
Come on, Lin, let's do it again!
In the past few days, whenever Lin Tian opened social media or visited various basketball forums, he could see the Lakers fans' requests and their incredibly humble waiting.
Lin Tian even saw a Lakers fan's "GG" on a huge "GG" sign at the entrance of Madison Square Garden.
"Please support the Spurs to win the championship." — Love you, Los Angeles people forever.
This guy's got an addiction to using mystical powers! He's completely obsessed!
You're not even talking about the Basic Law anymore!
You don't want to put in any effort anymore, huh?
It's worth mentioning that some Spurs fans also came out to ask Lin Tian for help.
Unfortunately, the population base is too small, and the number of fans is negligible compared to the Lakers.
So he was simply swallowed up by the Lakers' massive fan base.
Lin Tian even felt that the sincerity Magic Johnson and Jerry West showed when they recruited him and hoped he would join the Lakers was not this crazy!
If they had gotten a few GG badges in Chicago back then...
Yeah, I won't go to the Lakers either.
But this time, the Lakers fans showed Lin Tian their determination.
In response to the Lakers fans' request, Lin Tian quickly uploaded another video!
Lakers fans immediately opened the video with great interest, hoping to hear Lin Tian's "blessing"!
Then, they heard something that deeply disappointed them.
"We must believe in science! We must not engage in feudal superstition!"
"I'm not making predictions for the seventh game!"
"Don't ask me why, just tell me I won't!"
Yes, the video and the reasons are quite capricious, mainly emphasizing a complete lack of responsibility.
In any case, Lin Tian decided not to make any predictions this time, as he did not want to interfere with the fair competition principle of the entire alliance.
Unless absolutely necessary, Lin Tian has decided that he will never use himself as a nuclear weapon again.
No more predictions!
Give everyone a fair chance!
Then, Los Angeles fell!
After all, how could a lone Kobe Bryant possibly beat the Spurs' five-man roster?
They completely dominated the Lakers from the inside to the outside and even their bench!
If it weren't for Lin Tian's mysterious intervention, which allowed the Lakers to win two incredible games, the Spurs would have advanced to the conference finals with a 4-1 record!
Now, they have played two more games and entered the division finals four days later. At least in terms of physical strength, they are definitely at a disadvantage.
But good things come to those who wait. After the decisive Game 7, the Spurs became the last team to advance to the conference finals!
The battle between them and the Suns for the title of King of the West is about to begin!
As for Lin Tian himself?
At this point, of course he should apologize!
The Lakers were eliminated because of me, so of course I, Lin, have to give back to the fans and let them have a happy offseason!
So Lin Tian released another video, this time shorter and with less content.
Just one sentence.
"The Lakers won't get a top-three pick tomorrow morning! My former team, the Pacers, will probably only get fourth!"
The moment Lin Tian uttered those words, the entire city of Los Angeles erupted in chaos!
It's here! The forest we've been dreaming of has arrived!
They started supporting and helping us!
I knew it! Lin is on our side!
Schwarzenegger step down! We want Lim to be the new governor of California!
Indiana fans were in tears!
We knew it! We knew Lin hadn't given up on us, we knew Lin still had Indiana in his heart!
We knew then that Lin would never betray this land that had always supported him, trusted him, and loved him!
Bonds cannot be severed!
Oden, here we come!
The draft lottery is something that hardly anyone watches. At most, people will spend about 5 minutes looking at the results after the lottery.
As for major sports channels, they won't spend any special effort to create any programs or live broadcasts for this.
It's not good-looking, it's boring, the ratings are low, and it doesn't generate any revenue.
But this year is different!
TNT chose to broadcast the draw live, and many fans turned on their TVs, ready to watch a completely uninteresting event, just a few old men and the leaders of a bad team sitting there doing nothing.
Then Stern came out and read out the final draft rankings one by one.
This process was really utterly meaningless.
But this year everyone wants to see: what exactly are your skills, Lin Tian!
Will the Pacers and Lakers get what they want?
And with the fans' anticipation, the draft lottery officially began!
Stern started reading out the team names.
Golden State Warriors, 14th.
New Orleans Hornets, No. 13.
Philadelphia 76ers, 12.
Orlando Magic, 11.
……
As the names were read out one by one, the fans became more and more excited!
When the sixth pick was announced, the entire city of Los Angeles erupted in cheers!
The Portland Trail Blazers should have been here, but the Toronto Raptors are here instead!
That means the Trail Blazers have made it into the top three! Of course, at this point, Portland was in despair.
Because they gave up that draft pick years ago!
Now, after several changes of ownership, it has come into the hands of the Lakers.
They are about to give the Lakers a draft pick that is at least in the top three!
Then, when the fourth pick, the Bucks, were announced, Indiana went crazy!
coming! coming! coming!
We've made it into the top three!
Even though the Pacers, who were ranked last, were the top favorites for the number one draft pick, and it was the most likely thing for them to make it into the top three, now everyone thinks: it's all thanks to Lin Tian!
The king of jinxes!
Then comes the most exciting three moments to go!
What a wonderful moment! What a perfect moment!
Everyone watching this live stream is now immersed in the tense atmosphere, holding their breath and waiting for the final result.
At this moment, it actually felt a bit like the last 20 seconds of Game 7 of the Finals!
No one dared to speak!
It was as if they were afraid that if they spoke, their draft position would be moved down one place.
At this moment, fans of the remaining three teams all hoped that their team's name would not be read out!
Absolutely not!
"Third pick, Charlotte Bobcats!"
The Charlotte players let out a wail. Although their record had finally improved in the second half of the season thanks to increasingly cohesive teamwork and more decent defense, preventing them from being at the bottom of the league and making it into the top three would have been a huge win, they were still quite disappointed to have failed to finish in the top two.
After all, everyone knows that 07 was considered a big year for talent shows.
But the two hottest rookies are Oden and Durant!
Some people even call these two the new generation of Jordan and Olajuwon!
The two peerless heroes!
But the fact that the two peerless talents not only prove that these two are very strong, it also often means that the other rookies in this year's class are far inferior to them.
Therefore, getting third place is inevitably disappointing, because it is no different from getting fourth, fifth or even sixth place.
Meanwhile, Indiana and Los Angeles were completely engulfed in cheers!
It's the last one standing!
The difference between first and second place is minimal! Durant and Oden are both universally recognized super talents!
But of course, getting the top score is always the best.
Based on the current situation, Oden is better and more consistent than Durant!
Oden could become the next O'Neal, or even if he doesn't develop well, he's guaranteed to be a Mourning! And Durant? He could become an even bigger McGrady or a faster Nowitzki.
But if things don't go well, he might end up as a larger Novak or an enhanced Kukoc.
Unstable.
At the draft lottery, Bird was incredibly confident, a slight smile playing on his lips. He knew why he was there, and he knew what the final result of this draft would be.
He felt a little regretful, a bit disappointed.
What a pity! The Lakers' draft pick belonged to the Trail Blazers, so they weren't eligible to come here. The Trail Blazers just randomly sent someone to accept this inevitably painful outcome.
If either Magic Johnson or West, those two old bastards, were sitting next to Bird, he would definitely be in a better mood right now.
Fortunately, although none of the old bastards' team from Los Angeles were there, the others were!
"Michael, not bad, third place. You guys are definitely going to rise to prominence this year." Bird looked at Jordan with a forced smile, his face full of smugness.
He looked exactly like a top student who easily scored 100 points without much studying, comforting an ordinary student who worked hard from dawn till dusk but only got 70 points.
He deserves a beating! Jordan definitely wanted to beat him up.
Unfortunately, Jordan couldn't make a move there, so he could only suppress his anger and say, "Then I wish you all the best in getting the second overall pick!"
"The second pick belongs to... the Los Angeles Lakers!"
Then, Jordan's blessing fell through.
And then?
The guy quickly pulled his hand away from Bird's, disdainfully pulled out a small towel, wiped his hands a few times, and then threw it into the trash can.
His face was full of disgust and displeasure.
Jordan was unhappy, but Bird was overjoyed. He didn't even look at Jordan's expression or care about his thoughts; all he could think about was happiness!
The dust settles!
After Stern uttered those words, the entire Indiana region descended into a state of utter chaos.
We've finally got a number one draft pick! And it's from a super draft year!
The team has gone through many ups and downs over the years. Since Lin Tian left, they have not made the playoffs for three years!
As the team made trades and changes one by one, the Pacers team that won 6 championships in 7 years had long since fallen apart.
Now, only Christie remains in the team and was involved in their championship win.
Christie has made it clear that he has played the last game of his professional career, he will not renew his contract, and he is just one official statement away from retiring.
And now that the previous generation of players who brought glory to the team have all left, fans believe that the person who will bring us glory in the next decade is coming!
I was incredibly excited!
Stern was quite happy at that moment.
He was certainly not happy about the results of the draft. Although he didn't say it explicitly, everyone knew how it would turn out in the end.
What made him happy was the high viewership of the lottery event!
According to the latest report, a total of more than 600 million people watched the lottery!
There was absolutely no promotion involved. The league had no intention of making money from this. TNT only decided to add the live stream because of Lin Tian's video.
And yet, so many people are watching!
This is absolutely fantastic news for the NBA!
Let's keep it up next year!
Let's get this going! Next year, we need more segments, more suspense, and figure out a way to make this piece of junk work!
No, let's make our NBA's newest, most important, and most valued project a joyful annual moment for everyone!
Yes, that's it! That's exactly how it is.
Let Lin predict next year too!
If he doesn't make predictions, he'll find eight or ten people to do it.
If you don't have enough people, find a dog, a cat, an octopus or something.
Anyway, Stern is determined not to give back the popularity and traffic he finally gained this year!
Stern was filled with excitement and inspiration.
After the lottery concluded and he settled into his car, Bird thought for a moment, then picked up the phone; he needed to share his joy. (End of Chapter)