Basketball Legend: When Pride Still Matters-Chapter 1076 - 606 The 9th Ascent_3

Chapter 1076: Chapter 606: The 9th Ascent_3 Chapter 1076: Chapter 606: The 9th Ascent_3 And once the Heat try to double-team Yu Fei, their perimeter defense will falter.

This is a classic showdown of the small ball era.

Neither side has a traditional big man.

They rely on extremely small lineups to single-handedly outmaneuver the defense in nearly stringent spaces with skill.

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Watching this scene from the sidelines, Yao Ming really feels that the era is moving further and further away from him.

He has a feeling that this is the true face of the Space Basketball era.

Even traditional big men, despite adapting to the needs of the era and developing various skills, still require very strict personnel matching.

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The Clippers’ supporting cast has problems; that’s why they were aggressively attacked by the Heat in the first two games. Now, by substituting Antetokounmpo out and letting Yu Fei play center, the game’s momentum has completely shifted to the Clippers.

Like the Clippers, the Heat begin to suffer the agony of their interior being dominated.

With players like Love playing at the power forward spot and already looking weak on defense, asking him to play center becomes even more unlikely. If their opponents’ interior has enough versatility, along with significant mobility and scoring ability, interior defense becomes out of the question.

Tonight, Yao Ming only played during the connecting phases for a total of 21 minutes, eventually scoring 16 points and grabbing 5 rebounds.

At first glance, his numbers don’t seem much different from when he starts, but with fewer minutes on the court, and since the opponents aren’t their full-strength lineup, Yao Ming actually got the chance to play staggered minutes, which also put more pressure on the Heat’s reserves.

These minor changes within the dramatic shifts pushed the Heat further into a dead end.

Until the game ended, they couldn’t figure out how to create a breakthrough.

Curry remains the miracle child who holds the key to the era, but he is called miraculous precisely because of the praise for how far he has grown despite not being outstandingly talented physically.

The main issue with lacking talent is, when his shooting touch deserts him, he can’t do much more.

Wade can still play, but he has slipped a lot compared to his peak days; Butler has just started his rise and hasn’t reached his best form yet.

This game exposed a critical issue for the Heat: they need a superstar small forward to take on some of the offensive load.

But right now, they can’t magic up such a player out of thin air.

Since they do not have one, they can only lose.

114 to 98

The Clippers win the pivotal King of the Hill battle, just one step away from their first championship trophy in franchise history.

“How long must a miserable team wait before it can taste a sweet ending?”

Mike Breen said at the end of the game.

His words touched Jerry West in the audience.

After losing so many finals by the thinnest of margins, he finally won the championship in 1972. But was that championship sweet? He himself didn’t know how to describe that feeling.

So, what about the Clippers?

Is this sweet?

West saw the excitement on the players’ faces, the Greek cheering jubilantly, Yao Ming smiling as he took interviews, and Yu Fei, like a true leader saying, “It’s not time to celebrate yet!”

This isn’t sweet, they’re not the generation that went through the hardships.

The Clippers’ struggles began in the ’80s; a generation has passed, and the tormented fans have already lived through a third of their lives.

But this has nothing to do with the players.

In the NBA, where the average career spans only five years, this is just a normal year.

But the media will dress this year up in a narrative of greatness.

Two days later

The Clippers head to Miami.

They had suffered back-to-back defats here before, but this time, before the final, Yu Fei says he has never played a Game 7 in the finals before and doesn’t plan to this time either.

From the start, both sides are fighting with small lineups.

But the Clippers’ small lineup is a fake.

They have the 210cm Antetokounmpo and the 206cm Yu Fei; besides them, the other three starters are all over two meters tall.

The Heat are the true practitioners of small ball.

Curry finds his shooting touch at home, but he cannot attack the Clippers as furiously as he did in the previous two home games.

Because they can’t keep their hands on the rebounds.

This is the fatal flaw of a small lineup.

When they pick up speed, no one can stop them, no team can keep up.

But conversely, if they can’t secure rebounds, they can’t generate enough fast-break opportunities, let alone talk about picking up the pace.

In the Clippers’ small lineup tonight, the bigs grabbed a despairing number of rebounds for the Heat.

By the end of the first half, the Clippers were leading by 10 points, and this suffocating pressure lingered over the heads of Miamians until midway through the fourth quarter, when Yu Fei’s three-pointer stretched the lead to 19 points.

The Miamians who couldn’t hold on started leaving the stadium.

These are the legendary Miami Heat fans; they won’t give the home team a chance to give up on the game because they’ll choose to quit first before that moment arrives.

The fans leaving no doubt shattered the Heat’s will to resist.

In the last few minutes, the game became a one-sided harvest for the Clippers.

Rivers subbed in Yao Ming, who had made significant compromises during the series; he deserved to enjoy this moment.

When Yu Fei and Yao Ming exchanged places, Yao Ming realized that half the audience had already left, causing his sense of revenge to plummet sharply. Suddenly, he realized that leaving these fans might be a good thing.

But honestly, he likes Miami, even more so Miami’s taxes… Regardless, he won, though he didn’t play a pivotal role, but this is a world where choice matters more than effort.

Soon, the final buzzer sounded.

The score for the season froze on the electronic display at American Airlines Arena.

111 to 95

For the Clippers, this was the moment of genesis.

Since Donald Sterling moved the team from San Diego to Los Angeles in the ’80s, they have experienced innumerable heartbreaks, failures, humiliations, and ridicule.

Yu Fei stands on the sidelines, watching his teammates revel in joy, but he feels little stirrings in his heart, uncertain how to savor this moment.

Having gone through this eight times already, what reason is there to go wild for the ninth time?

Fei stands on the side, witnessing his teammates’ tidal wave-like revelry, but inside, he is unperturbed. He does not know how to savor this moment; the shadows of eight failures still haunt him.

“Frye, cheer up, we won!” Rivers’ voice booms like a battle drum, “Baby, we’re the f*cking world champions!”

“Since 1980, this is the most unlikely achievement in the history of professional basketball!” he continues excitedly, “You did it!”

Yu Fei smiles.

As he should.

This is not only the unfulfilled dream of Bill Walton, but also the glory that Ron Harper and Danny Manning yearned for, and the peak that Elton Brand could never reach.

After a full 35 years, they have finally arrived here, with the glow of victory piercing through the thick fog of history. What could be greater, more moving than this moment?