Chapter 899 Second Battle

The ball hit the backboard and was caught by Li Ba, who just rushed into the paint area. He turned around and went down quickly, and the Suns switched from defense to offense.

Behind, Nene and Camby were right at the top of the arc, trying to close the door to block Li Ba and prevent him from rushing forward, but Li Ba casually smashed the ball to the floor two meters in front, then accelerated around the two of them to complete the game. A breakthrough.

As soon as there was no obstacle in front of him, Li Ba ran to the center line, caught up with the basketball, and grabbed it back with one hand.

At this time Iverson caught up from behind.

"Allen is so fast! But can he prevent the hammer's charge?" Zhang Lili said in surprise and confusion.

Li Ba grabbed the ball back with his right hand, ran two steps, and dribbled again.

He heard someone chasing him from behind, on the back right side, so this time he dribbled the ball directly to the left and changed hands.

At this time, Iverson used his absolute speed to eat Li Ba alive, passed him from the right, and chased the basketball.

But as soon as Iverson passed Li Ba, he realized something was wrong. The ball went to the left. He had to run over to catch up with the ball. How could this be possible? He would be directly hit by Li Ba behind him.

Li Ba ran two steps to catch up with the ball, grabbed it with his left hand, and by then he had entered the paint area. After another step, he jumped into the air, flew with one arm, and smashed the ball into the basket with a bang.

"Allen, don't try to steal me."

After landing, Li Ba smiled and said to Iverson.

"Hammer, you've broken me many times." Iverson said unwillingly.

"My hands are at least ten times more accurate than yours. Every time I try to steal, I am more than 50% sure, so I can break you, but it's not that easy for you to break me?" Li Ba said bluntly.

"Fly-catching training?" Iverson said.

Li Ba nodded, said no more, and returned to defense.

He felt that Iverson was just asking, this guy has such great offensive talent, how can he practice defense? He didn't even pay much attention to his usual training.

In this game, 119:81, the Suns finally won by a big score and defeated the Nuggets.

Li Ba played only 30 minutes and scored 26 points, 21 rebounds, 6 assists, 10 steals, 6 blocks, 1 turnover and 1 foul. He had double-twenty + triple-double + 5*5 data, showing an extremely versatile and efficient performance.

After playing against the Nuggets, the Suns rushed to Portland overnight and will challenge the Trail Blazers back-to-back tomorrow.

Even tomorrow's game, there are four games left in total, and we have entered the All-Star Weekend.

This year it also happened that the Lunar New Year happened to be on the All-Star Weekend, New Year’s Eve on the 17th, the first day of the Lunar New Year on the 18th, and the All-Star Game was also on the 18th.

From last year's All-Star to now, Li Ba has defended the championship and the Finals Most Valuable Player, and won the MVP again. The most popular thing is that he played two peerless five-doubles. In this year's All-Star voting, Li Ba won the vote by a long way. Leading other stars, so far, it has exceeded 10 million, reaching 12 million, exceeding the previous level by nearly 10 million.

Of course, one-third of this comes from domestic, but apart from these, there are also nearly 8 million domestic votes cast in the United States.

On February 14, the Suns won their last game before the All-Star Game and achieved a record of 42 wins and 10 losses, temporarily ranking first in the Pacific, first in the Western Conference, and first in the league.

As the schedule enters the second half, the Grizzlies, Mavericks, and Lakers have also entered the main rotation, and the battle line has declined slightly.

The Lakers' substitutes are not strong and they rely entirely on the support of the main force, so they take frequent breaks and their record cannot be sustained. They are now fourth in the Western Conference, still behind the Mavericks.

Suns, Grizzlies, Mavericks, Lakers, these are the top four in the Western Conference.

In the Western Conference, the Heat still stand out, with the Pistons and Cavaliers chasing after them.

The next day, Li Ba flew to New York, where this year's All-Star Game was held at Madison Square Garden.

Dayao, Daba, and Dazhi also arrived in New York. Li Ba found a Chinese restaurant and the four of them got together.

Da Zhi said to Da Yao: "You have taken ten games off this season, right? What about after the All-Star Game?"

With a grimace on his face, Dayao sighed: "We won't take any more breaks. If we can't keep fourth or fifth place, we may face the Mavericks or Grizzlies in the first round."

Li Ba said angrily: "Stop pretending! You are only one game behind the Mavericks and Grizzlies, one and a half games behind us, and five games behind the Nuggets. Who are you trying to fool?"

Daba laughed and said, "Dayao just wants to fool you, who else can he fool?"

Dayao smiled and said: "Isn't this a psychological war? If we can't get ahead of you and only rank fourth in the playoffs, we will have to touch you in that round. It will be difficult to win."

Li Ba said sincerely: "Dayao, either you rank fourth or fifth and meet us in the second round, then you will be destined for the second round this year. Or you can go sixth or seventh and meet the Grizzlies or Mavericks in the first round. Eliminate one of them, eliminate the other one in the second round, and then play us in the Western Conference Finals.

It’s simply impossible for you to regain the number one spot in the Pacific and the Western Conference. We won’t let it go. Besides, if we lose again, we will still be in fourth, not in the bottom half. In this way, if you eliminate eighth in the first round, you will still hit us in the second round. So, go to sixth or seventh, that has the best chance of entering the Western Conference Finals. "

Dayao shook his head helplessly.

This is also a question the Lakers have been considering. Should they avoid the Suns in the second round?

He said somewhat depressedly: "I don't understand. There aren't many people in your team. Why are you so strong?"

Li Ba laughed and said: "I can support half the team by myself, don't you know that?"

Looking at the pretending face in front of him, Dayao had the idea of ​​taking action.

DaZhi said at this time: "Iron Hammer, have you considered the Olympic Games in 2008?"

"What's the problem?" Li Ba asked doubtfully.

Da Zhi said: "You are holding a training camp here, saying that the results will be seen in one to two years. Doesn't this coincide with the Beijing Olympics? Isn't it more difficult for us to defend our title?"

"Snapped!"

Dayao slapped Li Ba hard on the thigh and cursed angrily: "What a good thing you did!"

Li Ba opened Yao's hand and said: "Even if we can't defend the title, it's just that we are not strong enough, not that our opponent is too strong. If we really can't defend the title, I will bear the responsibility alone."

"What nonsense is this? Don't we have shoulders?" Dayao said dissatisfied.

"We take the honor together, and of course we all shoulder the responsibility together."

Daba smiled and said: "I can't fight for a few minutes anyway. You really have to shoulder this responsibility. I can't shoulder it even if I want to."

Li Ba said to Daba: "By the time A Lian takes over your position, you might not be able to make the squad."

"Pfft!"

Dayao and Dayao burst into laughter.

Daba was a little embarrassed, but there was nothing he could do. He estimated that there was a real possibility that he would not be able to enter the national team.

The chat ended at one o'clock in the afternoon, and Li Ba returned to the hotel. Gao Yuanyuan and Bill Duffy came over with a group of people.

It was none other than Arum and Mrs. Liz.

He originally won the world title from Dak, but the contract stipulated that if Dak lost, he would have to fight a second time. This time he came to discuss this matter.