Chapter 472 Unstoppable

What is unstoppable?

The Great Western Forum, as Su Feng's meteor dunk reverberated throughout the arena, without any warning...

The Raptors swept through Los Angeles with a single wave.

In the second half of the second quarter, in a total of 5 minutes and 45 seconds, the substitute Curry Sr., Carter, and Su Feng combined to hit 8 three-pointers.

TNT, Smith said with emotion: "The Raptors can make any shot they take right now."

Leading by a large score of 3-0, the Raptors players, without any pressure, played with extreme relaxation.

Plus, tonight everyone got the order from Davis to help Jordan pad his assists, so everyone felt even less pressure when shooting.

In contrast, although the Lakers initially carved out a sliver of hope for winning through O'Neal, as the game progressed, the Lakers players, wanting to win but afraid of losing, became more and more tense.

Thus, at the end of the first half, the visiting Raptors led 67-47, entering the second half with a 20-point advantage.

Jordan had a comprehensive stat line of 12 points, 10 rebounds, and 8 assists in the first half.

Su Feng also had 19 points, 3 rebounds, 2 steals, and 1 block.

During halftime, commentators on major American television stations were hotly debating who would become this year's Finals MVP between Jordan and Su Feng.

Some believed that as the Raptors' spiritual pillar, Jordan should receive the Finals MVP and retire gloriously.

Others believed that based on overall performance, Su Feng was more deserving of the Finals MVP.

As a result, such controversy quickly came to an end with the arrival of the third quarter.

Leading the Lakers by 20 points, "appetite whetted" Jordan decided to wield his "knife and fork" and cut off the biggest piece of cake first.

In Su Feng's previous life, without an extreme desire for team and individual honors, Jordan would never have won six championships.

Therefore, unlike when he could still remain rational while chatting with Su Feng last night, where did the current "Old Rogue" still care about his "love" for Su Feng?

However, as it turned out, this Lakers team was not as vulnerable as Jordan had imagined.

In the third quarter, the frenzied O'Neal not only repeatedly made his free throws but also helped Kobe find his touch through pick-and-rolls.

To win, O'Neal even dragged his massive body around to help defend the Lakers' perimeter players.

O'Neal, giving it his all, refused to let Jackson substitute him, even as he constantly gasped for air.

Usually, as the most optimistic presence on the Lakers, the clowning O'Neal didn't seem like someone who nitpicked on the surface.

But unlike a certain joyful beast in the future who was also good at clowning...

O'Neal rarely faltered in such crucial games.

Tonight, unwilling to end his second Finals journey like this, O'Neal would never type "gg" in advance.

On the court, under the desperate resistance of the OK duo, the biggest drawback of the Raptors' "Sewer Ball" tactic was highlighted.

That is, if the player wearing the "Sewer Turtle Shell" is only focused on padding stats, then this rational, scientific stat-padding tactic can easily affect the performance of other players.

In the third quarter, after padding his triple-double, Jordan, who shifted his focus to scoring, repeatedly chose to meet challenges head-on, even when facing double-teams.

If it had been the old Jordan, he would have taken those shots and that would have been it.

But for the current Jordan, who had long returned his "God Mode" switch to God, taking such unreasonable strong shots too many times made him seem very ball-hogging.

In front of the television, those originally feeling that Jordan could fight for another ten years in the first half were completely unprepared to see a "Iron-Eating Beast" frequently clanging shots in the third quarter.

In the second half of the third quarter, after the Lakers narrowed the point difference back to single digits, Davis decisively called a timeout on the Raptors' bench.

To save face for Jordan, even though Jordan had been playing recklessly in the first half of the third quarter, Davis wouldn't say much.

But now, Davis knew very well that it was time to adjust the Raptors' approach.

"We will continue to use Michael as our offensive core."

Originally thinking that his Sewer Ball career would end there, Jordan, upon hearing Davis's first sentence...

In a daze, the "Old Rogue" felt tears welling up in his eyes.

Because in fact, Jordan himself knew very well how badly he had played in the past few minutes in order to grab the cake.

But out of pride, you couldn't possibly ask a big brother like Jordan to apologize and admit his mistakes, right?

So, upon hearing Davis still choosing to trust him, Jordan immediately broke free from that possessed Sewer Ball state.

On the side, watching Davis, who didn't need his prompting anymore and could suppress Jordan through emotional intelligence, Su Feng had a feeling that the cub of yesteryear...

Had grown into a towering tree.

In the NBA, an excellent coach not only knows how to adapt to circumstances but also has the methods to communicate with players.

For example, dealing with an old basketball rogue like Jordan, if Davis had announced right away that we're not playing like this anymore, then even if Jordan could accept such a change, in the following games, he would likely continue to lose himself due to face-saving issues.

But, after Davis first said that we're continuing to use Michael as our offensive core, even if the tactics and approach Davis talked about next had nothing to do with Jordan, Jordan would willingly accept such a change.

The same tactics, different wording, can sometimes bring drastically different results.

On the court, after the timeout, many fans who thought the Raptors would substitute Jordan were once again surprised.

Because the Raptors had no intention of making personnel adjustments at all.

The Great Western Forum, the game continued, Raptors on offense.

Noticing that the Raptors were still having Jordan distribute the ball, Jackson, who knew Jordan inside and out, had an ominous premonition on the Lakers' bench.

On the court, facing Kobe's aggressive defense, Jordan no longer obsessed over how to break through Kobe and pad his score, but instead began to seriously organize the team's offense.

Actually, Jordan's decline in touch in the third quarter, besides being related to his diminished strength, was also related to his decreased stamina and Kobe's pesky defense.

Don't underestimate Kobe just because he hasn't developed his iron elbows yet, in the first three games, even Su Feng had to be cautious when taking on Kobe one-on-one.

However, after Jordan gradually calmed down, his rich experience quickly rendered Kobe helpless.

This play, after a feint and a light tap, Jordan suddenly made a no-look pass to Su Feng, who was cutting in quickly, using a teammate's screen to break into the paint.

The latter easily scored two points for the Raptors with a layup.

Immediately afterward, the home fans found that on the Raptors' side, the player responsible for defending Kobe had also been switched from Jordan to Su Feng.

And then...

Where did so many and thens come from?

Tonight, after first tangling with McGrady, and then wrestling with his idol for nearly 20 minutes, the current Kobe was at his stamina limit.

As everyone knows, in a basketball game, the moment a player passes their stamina limit, it is the time when the player is most likely to experience technical deformation and mistakes.

Kobe, with his world-class waist strength, still needed two to three minutes to get through this hurdle, no matter how good his stamina was.

Therefore, looking at Su Feng, who was full of stamina, appearing in front of him, Kobe felt like Su Feng was treating him like a peach to be plucked.

Pa!

On the court, just as Kobe was about to break into the paint with O'Neal's screen, Su Feng, who had bypassed O'Neal's pick-and-roll, suddenly robbed the basketball from his hands.

Because of his decreased stamina, O'Neal's screen was not as solid as before.

As a result, this time Su Feng anticipated in advance, dodging O'Neal's massive body like a loach.

After stealing the ball, Su Feng made a fast break and scored with a dunk, helping the Raptors expand their lead back to double digits.

84 to 73...

Watching the points he had worked so hard to lead the Lakers to regain being widened again in an instant, even O'Neal, who refused to admit defeat, felt in his heart that it was easier to shake Jordan than to shake Su Feng.

And O'Neal's feeling was what people often call impression flow.

TNT, Smith said, "The Raptors just made a change and launched a 4-0 run. I have to say, Su has indeed demonstrated the demeanor he should have as the regular season MVP in this Finals."

Derek on the side echoed, "Although Michael is the spiritual pillar of this Raptors team, just like Su said last year, this Raptors team is his team."

In front of the television, since even O'Neal and the commentators had the "impression flow," let alone the fans.

If previously there were still many Jordan fans fantasizing that Jordan could win the Finals MVP and retire gloriously...

Now, even that group of fifty-year Jordan fans believed that in terms of performance, Su Feng was the absolute core of this Raptors team.

As for Su Feng, who had unexpectedly pulled off the "peach-picking style" of play, how could he have imagined that his sensible, aware of the big picture, low-key when he should be, and high-profile when he should be, personality would be established under such accidental circumstances...

In this way, relying on the continuous counterattack in the second half of the third quarter, the Raptors entered the fourth quarter with a 19-point lead.

In the final quarter, Su Feng, leading Nash, Carter, and others to continue their charge, became more and more courageous.

On the Lakers' side, Jackson also made a desperate gamble, starting to try to chase points through quick shooting tactics.

However, under Jackson's arrangement, Su Feng's brilliance was magnified in an invisible way.

Because constantly filling in for his teammates on the perimeter, he was simply the God of War in the eyes of Raptors fans.

In the fourth quarter, after resting for three minutes...

When Jordan, returning to the court, passed his last assist of his career to Su Feng, even Jordan couldn't help but sigh as he retreated on defense:

"The future is yours, kid."

It is worth mentioning that at the moment Jordan praised Su Feng, a system prompt popped up in Su Feng's mind.

Although Su Feng didn't have time to check the prompt due to the ongoing game, there was no doubt that after this night, Su Feng's gains would be more than just an O'Brien Trophy.

In the second half of the fourth quarter, after giving up hope of chasing points, the Lakers gave up resistance.

In one fast break, Su Feng returned the favor, helping Jordan complete the last dunk of his career.

Of course, that was assuming Jordan wouldn't return in the future.

In front of the television, even though the Raptors had locked in the victory in the final moments of the fourth quarter, no fans chose to change the channel.

Because this game, whether it was the passing of the torch between Jordan and Su Feng, or the battle between the new generation of perimeter stars in the league, made the fans thoroughly enjoy it.

Twenty years from now, when looking back at this series, countless fans born later felt like they had missed out big time.

Because in this series, there were Jordan, Su Feng, Kobe, Carter, McGrady all at the same time...

The Great Western Forum, with 3 minutes and 11 seconds left in the game, the Lakers and Raptors successively withdrew their starters.

When replaced by Curry Sr., Su Feng, who had won his first championship of his career, at that moment...

"Su, don't keep a straight face! Enjoy this hard-won victory!"

On the Raptors' bench, looking at Su Feng's "calm" face, Carter, who was already preparing to open champagne, patted his shoulder and said.

Su Feng: "..."

Well...

Facial paralysis is indeed a disease.

Because where did Su Feng want to keep a straight face?

You know, for him, who was once just a fan, at this moment, his excitement could not be described in words.

And along the way, who knew how much Su Feng had planned behind the scenes for this championship?

In the past five years, the day-to-day hard training, wasn't it all for today?

However, when excitement and various other emotions surged into his heart, Su Feng found that his facial muscles had actually stiffened...

On Great Celestial Dynasty Television, when the camera gave a close-up of Su Feng's face, Su Junyang couldn't help but exclaim:

"Not pleased by external gains, not saddened by personal losses, being able to remain calm and composed even in the moment of success, if people like Su Feng don't succeed, then what kind of people can succeed?"

"Let us congratulate the Raptors on their four-game sweep!"

On the court, as the fourth-quarter timer ticked down to zero, the 1998/1999 NBA season also came to a complete end.

The dejected Kobe covered his head with a towel.

No one knew what Kobe's expression was under that towel at this moment.

But the "sweat" constantly sliding down the towel had already told the world the answer.

The exhausted O'Neal silently lay on the floor.

At this moment, whether it was because the lights were too dazzling, or because he didn't want to look at the flags fluttering on the ceiling, O'Neal kept covering his face with his hands.

In stark contrast to the depressed Lakers' bench was the Raptors' bench, which was already immersed in joy.

Jordan, receiving champagne from his teammates, was as happy as a child.

14 years of his career, 6 NBA championships.

Michael Jordan left countless honors in his NBA career, and now it was time to put everything down and enjoy the victory to the fullest.

As for Carter, who had lifted the championship trophy in his rookie season, he felt like he had reached the pinnacle of his life.

He was so excited that he hugged McGrady tightly.

As for Nash, who didn't get many opportunities to perform in the Finals, he, along with Curry Sr. and Big Ben, poured a large bucket of champagne on the head of Su Feng, who had always been "unsmiling."

In a corner of the bench...

"95 lottery pick" Joe Smith was silently wiping the tears from the corners of his eyes.

Now, the various experiences they had encountered last season and last offseason could all go to hell!

TNT, Smith smiled and said, "Let us congratulate the Raptors, they have successfully won the 98/99 season championship!"

…

ps: Thank you to Boss Shuai Niu for rewarding and becoming the Archduke of this book! Thank you again to Boss Shuai Niu for your generous reward!