With the full support from the Pacers side,
Zach Randolph went wild, scoring 34 points and 13 rebounds, successfully exploding Aldridge, who made only 5 out of 17 shots, made all three free throws, and ended up with just 13 points. Moreover, he only grabbed 5 rebounds, which was below his average level.
After the ga, Randolph had a "satisfied yet sinister smile."
The Portland crowd seed to finally rember who he was, barraging him with waves of boos.
Randolph was pleased.
This feeling of being rembered was really great.
"So, buddy, coming to the NBA is not only about making US dollars, but also about leaving a mark, don’t you think?" Su Wan said to Randolph, who was exhilarated from tonight’s ga, with an implied aning.
Randolph nodded; he had to admit that Su’s words struck a chord with him.
Before the ga, when he first entered the stadium, feeling unnoticed had really left him feeling empty. At that ti, he thought, even if you boo , at least acknowledge ! I spent six years in Portland after all!
He longed to be rembered by the fans.
No matter how!
In the past...
He hadn’t fully realized that.
After that day, Rick Carlisle quickly noticed a change in Zach Randolph. On the training ground, he was more proactive, sotis even voluntarily staying for extra practice, although this didn’t happen very often—perhaps once a week.
But this was a significant change from before when Su had to push him to increase his enthusiasm.
Indeed, whether proactive or passive, the difference was clearly felt.
During this period, the Pacers still maintained the sixth rank in the Eastern Conference.
It’s not that their strength was only that.
With Randolph willing to cooperate, the Pacers’ strength began to rise again.
But at this point, there were only a few regular season gas left, and it was ti to pick playoff opponents.
The current top four in the Eastern Conference were the Celtics, Pistons, Cavaliers, and Heat Team.
From Su’s perspective, it was clear who the Pacers should pick.
Of course, it wasn’t all about shearing LeBron’s wool.
More importantly, if they climbed to the fourth or fifth position, the Pacers would face the Celtics in the second round, the currently strongest team in the Eastern Conference. Su would rather et them on the platform of the Eastern Conference Finals than in the second round.
The current Pacers team needed to sh.
In the second round, it was clearly better to play against the four-strong Pistons than the Celtics.
anwhile, the Cavaliers side seed to have noticed Su’s "scope," recently suffering a sudden "three consecutive losses."
They "lost three in a row," and the Pacers scored "three consecutive victories."
As the two teams were about to et in the fourth and fifth rankings, the Cavaliers could only hurry to solidify their third place in the Eastern Conference and strive to win every remaining ga.
They started winning gas, and the Pacers started losing...
Eventually, on April 15th, all the teams in the league had completed their last regular season ga.
The top eight in the Eastern Conference were officially determined, and with that, the outco of the first round of the four groups was also decided:
The Eastern Conference’s first-ranked Celtics against the eighth-ranked Atlanta Hawks;
The second-ranked Pistons against the seventh-ranked New Jersey Nets;
The third-ranked Cavaliers against the sixth-ranked Pacers;
When all the dia across the United States noticed that these matchups were finalized, they couldn’t help but reveal a schadenfreude mindset.
Most journalists noticed the strange montum of the two teams at the end of the season.
A simple analysis shows that one team did not want to face the other, while the other team clearly wanted to et this team.
The final result was:
One fled, the other chased, the forr unable to escape!
The Cavaliers and the Pacers t in the playoffs for the third consecutive season.
This ti the Cavaliers were the top team, while the Pacers had their worst ranking in the Su Wan era, sixth in the Eastern Conference.
Yet the outside world overwhelmingly favored Su Wan and the Pacers.
anwhile, Indiana dia, noticing that the team ranked only sixth in the Eastern Conference, weren’t worried at all.
Not only were they not worried, but they were also sowhat amused...
Barkley said, "Su Wan is really finding new ways to humiliate the Cavaliers!"
As the top team, they were insulted enough.
Now this bunch of guys have started playing "conquer from below!"
The New York Tis said, "This must be the least suspenseful upset in history, right?"
Cleveland dia, seeing that they were ranked third in the Eastern Conference and yet not a single dia source favored them—instead favoring the sixth-ranked Pacers—felt the need to imdiately grab oxygen tubes for resuscitation.
Isn’t there any justice left?
Can’t you give so respect to the third-ranked team in the Eastern Conference? We won ten more gas than them after all!
Clearly, the Cleveland dia had forgotten last year’s "Black Eight Miracle."
Sotis, the difference in wins can indeed reflect the real gap in strength between two teams.
But at other tis, this difference in wins is as illusory as a crown on soone’s head.
The Cleveland dia were furious; all they could do was one article after another, emboldening the Cavaliers, blast it, telling the Cavaliers:
This ti we are the team with the better record!
Don’t think about how many tis we’ve been swept by them before!
Nor think about how we just lost to them in the regular season.
None of that matters...
What matters is!
We have the better record!
Cleveland fans, already uneasy, beca even more unsettled after reading this article. frёewebnoѵel.ƈo๓
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