"This is the craziest month in the NBA. The dusty history is constantly being refreshed, and their creators are all from the same person, Satan, the basketball artist, he is Xu Yong, he is madly expanding the influence of the NBA, this is a real huge improvement in the influence of the NBA after the Jordan era!"

ESPN's A. Smith blushed and shouted loudly during his show that night.

On the other hand, Barkley was even more exaggerated. In the latest episode of TNT, when the screen listed Xu Yong's crazy performance in the past month, he directly kissed the screen and worshiped him.

Even Larry Bird, a proud star and NBA executive, expressed his feelings in front of reporters: "We should be grateful for Xu's emergence. Now the NBA has unparalleled global influence. It is hard to imagine what the league would be like without him."

When Jordan was still playing, there was no shortage of his admirers in the league, and Xu Yong is no exception now.

Although the data cannot represent absolute strength, Xu Yong has been producing crazy data continuously in the past month, which has made everyone compare him with peak Jordan.

Even in this world where there is never a shortage of haters, some people attribute this series of phenomena to the "small ball era."

But in any case, the NBA's influence and popularity have indeed reached new heights this month.

The outside hype continues, and the Eastern Conference Finals between the Bulls and the Cavaliers continues.

However, before the start of Game 4 of the series between the two sides, the familiar plot reappeared, or the expected thing happened again.

James will miss Game 4 due to a hamstring injury.

Before this, James had three major injuries that plagued his career: groin, big toe, and hamstring.

One of them will always explode at some point, preventing James from playing, which makes James fans feel extremely regretful and gives rise to many "what ifs" (what if James can play).

Then the Cavaliers came back in Game 4 with a 106-101 victory.

Irving scored 41 points and hit several difficult shots, earning him the title of "Irving God" in one battle.

Of course, what is more important is that Xu Yong performed poorly in this game, scoring only 28 points.

It wasn't because he was poisoned by the magic formula and his playing felt bad, but he was indeed a little tired.

Starting from the third game against the Raptors, he started a crazy scoring mode. Although he will not be injured, the fatigue will not go away.

Especially in the last game, he scored crazy points in the final quarter despite being tired. If he still doesn't get tired, he would be like Superman.

But in this way, fans found that James was embarrassed again, because what happened in Miami happened again in Cleveland.

It’s not embarrassing to win, but it’s embarrassing if someone is missing!

Now fans don’t know whether to lament that James is not smart enough or too smart.

But unlike when he was in Miami, James did not choose to return in G5. His hamstring injury still bothers him. According to Rich Paul, James will most likely need hamstring surgery in the summer in order to completely cure this problem.

However, although he couldn't play, he still went to Chicago with an injury to support his teammates.

In G5, both sides fought fiercely.

Xu Yong has almost recovered from fatigue, but the Cavaliers showed extraordinary willpower in desperate situations. Not only Irving, but also Love and Davis stood up one after another.

This is the first time in the past two seasons that fans have felt the outstanding combat power displayed by the Big Four of the Cavaliers... well, to be more precise, the Big Three.

The two sides fought until the final decisive moment, and Butler became the Bulls' key to victory. When the Cavaliers frantically double-teamed Xu Yong, he scored the Bulls' last 8 points, helping the Bulls beat the Cavaliers 116-112 and advance to the finals with a big score of 4-1.

Last season, Butler scored 13 points in the final moments of the finals. This season, he has had highlights in three consecutive series.

Even if Xu Yong is the real sun that radiates scorching light, he cannot cover up the diamond-like brilliance emanating from Butler.

Xu Yong and Butler are the most successful draft cases of the Bulls in the past 25 years.

The Bulls' opponent in the finals had already been determined. Before Game 5 between them and the Cavaliers, the Western Conference Finals had already ended. After losing Leonard, the Mavericks were unable to fight against the Warriors and were swept out by the Warriors 0-4.

The game would be played in two days, and because the Warriors had a better record, the Bulls had to play away, so they flew to Oakland the next morning.

After arriving in Auckland, Xu Yong went to a private room in a local restaurant after training. Ayers treated him to a meal and played the role of host.

After leaving James, he finally had the opportunity to reach the finals, and he is now a member of the Warriors rotation.

"Congratulations, Jeff." Xu Yong congratulated Ayers.

"Xu, stop making fun of me." Ayers smiled bitterly and shook his head.

"Sarcasm?" Xu Yong looked puzzled. He really didn't mean that.

"You don't know what the outside world is saying about us now. They say that even if we can win the championship, it will be the championship with the lowest gold content in history. Zaza's kick destroyed all of our efforts." Ayers couldn't help but sigh.

Xu Yong smiled bitterly.

He remembered that Leonard was tripped in the 2016-2017 season. That season, the Warriors had many factors such as defection to the enemy and tripping on others. Although they won the championship, it also caused a lot of controversy. If it weren't for the popularity accumulated from the 2015 championship and the presence of Curry, the reputation of the Warriors at that time would not be much better than that of the Bucks later.

Now history has changed. Pachulia arrived at the Warriors earlier, and the stepping on him was also earlier. If the Warriors did not win 73 games this season, there would be no risk of being the runner-up with 73 wins. However, under the current circumstances, and the fact that they did not win the championship before, it will be difficult for Curry alone to restore their reputation.

In a sense, Pachulia's kick did put the Warriors in an unwinnable position this season.

"In fact, if we play normally, we have a greater chance of winning against Dallas," Ayers continued with emotion.

Xu Yong picked up the drink in the cup, clinked it with Ayers's, and then drank it all in one gulp, expressing his agreement with what he said.

The outcome of a game cannot indicate the strength of the Warriors and the Mavericks. If the series is played normally, Xu Yong feels that the Warriors still have a greater chance of winning. This is due to factors of overall strength and the [vertical jump rule].

Chandler played an indispensable role in the Mavericks' victory over the Pacers to win the championship, but now this rule has greatly restricted him, not to mention that Chandler himself is getting older and heavier and his strength is declining.

The Mavericks' inside advantage is not that great, and their outside line is much worse than that of the Warriors.

It must be said that this [vertical jump rule] really ruins basketball.

Suddenly, Xu Yong seemed to have grasped something, and the plan to force Xiao Hua to step down seemed to be taking shape.

After meeting with Ayers, Xu Yong did his usual extra practice in the evening, and Anderson, Adams and Jokic followed him.

"Boss, why do I feel that the Warriors are easier to play against than the Cavaliers?" Anderson couldn't help but ask during a break in the middle of practice.

"Where do you get this feeling from?" Xu Yong felt that Anderson thought a lot every day.

"Look, they didn't make it to the finals last year, but they made it this year in that way," Anderson complained.

When he complained, Jokic and Adams beside him smiled at the same time.

It seems that what Ayers said is right, the Warriors are indeed being looked down upon now.

"Kyle, everyone can look down on them, but we can't." Xu Yong looked at Anderson seriously and said.

His reaction made Jokic and Adams subconsciously put away their smiles.

Yes, other people's contempt for the Warriors is just an attitude at most, but if they underestimate their opponents and lose, all their previous efforts will be in vain.

"Do you play video games?" Xu Yong asked.

"I can play some 2K and shooting games." Although he didn't know why Xu Yong asked this, Anderson still answered truthfully.

“I like Fortnite,” Adams echoed.

This surprised Xu Yong. Adams had started growing a beard this season and had become a real "Aquaman". Looking at this big and strong man, he didn't expect that he would like to play this kind of thing.

"Boss, you know me. I like horse racing and drinking tea." Jokic finally said with a look of enjoyment.

Xu Yong then turned his gaze towards Anderson and Adams: "Then you should understand the principle of [a new version has a new god], they are the strongest team under this version of basketball rules."

Don’t think that just because the Warriors were always runner-up in the 15-16 season, they are weaker than the Warriors in the 14-15 season. In fact, it’s just the opposite. The 15-16 season was the strongest Warriors without Durant.

The Warriors' championship in the 2014-2015 season was largely due to luck. At that time, Durant of the Thunder was injured, and their opponent in the Western Conference Finals was the Rockets with Harden and Howard, which was already the strongest opponent they had ever encountered. As for the finals, the Cavaliers were the Knights of the Jedi Seven, which was not worthy of the name.

If the 73-win Warriors hadn't been overworked in the regular season, Curry was injured in the playoffs, and Green was suspended in the finals, resulting in a 3-1 reversal, Curry would have been crowned the god of the championship.

Of course, as Xu Yong said, the Warriors are a team that is very dependent on rules and standards. If they were put back in the 1990s, they would definitely not be able to perform like this.

But that kind of impossible is impossible to come true, because now they have to face this version of the Warriors.

Xu Yong could guess that the penalty standards in the finals would be tightened and the game pace of both sides would be very fast, because only in this way could the Warriors exert their full strength.

The Cavaliers-Warriors matchup he watched in his previous life was a classic. It was not uncommon for both teams to serve the ball from the backcourt, fast break through the frontcourt, dunk, and then attack each other.

That kind of offensive battle that looked very exciting at first glance, but for him, who grew up watching Jordan play, it always seemed to lack some soul.

But under the existing rules, after seeing Foster's performance in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Finals, such a game is inevitable.

The three followers nodded one after another, realizing that this was an opponent they could not underestimate.

Before the finals officially started, the league's publicity reached a peak.

The showdown between the old and new eras of basketball is full of gimmicks.

Like previous years, ESPN also conducted an investigation into the situation of both teams in the finals.

The survey results show that more than 80% of fans think the Bulls can win the championship.

This ratio is a bit exaggerated. In addition to Xu Yong's dominance and the Bulls' strength in the Eastern Conference Finals, it also further illustrates how unpopular the Warriors are now.

The day before the Finals, the Warriors' practice at Oracle Arena was open to the media.

After the training, the Warriors players quickly returned to the locker room, leaving head coach Kerr on the sidelines to answer media interviews.

"Maybe a lot of people forget that we are the team with the best record in the league and we are well prepared."

When asked about ESPN's investigation and outside voices, he said he didn't care and was full of confidence in the upcoming finals.

By the time the first game of the finals started, the Warriors' home court, Oracle Arena, was already packed.

The emotions of Bay Area fans are unprecedentedly enthusiastic, and the emotions that come from across the air can be felt as long as you are in the stadium.

41 years, it has been exactly 41 years since the Warriors last made it to the finals. Do you know how Warriors fans have been spending these past 41 years!

They were also a powerful team that won three championships and had superstars such as Chamberlain and Rick Barry!

But today's Warriors fans only know about it through oral accounts from their fathers or even grandfathers.

However, the passion for inheritance is still as hot as a flame.

Of course, this is also closely related to the Warriors' current style of play. At the beginning of the small ball era, its unique style of play that transcended the times was deeply loved by fans.

With an hour left in the game, Curry took his usual three-pointer from the tunnel, which has become one of the most popular parts of the pre-game routine for Warriors fans.

He made the shot on his second attempt, which ignited the fans at the scene, and Curry ran back to the locker room amid the cheers of the fans.

It was not until half an hour before the start of the game that the players from both teams officially entered the field to warm up.

The photographer on the scene also took shots of Xu Yong and Curry as soon as possible.

If we go back to the 2009 draft, no one would have thought that the finals would see a peak showdown between them.

Because the most popular player in that class was Griffin, followed by Thabeet and Harden, Xu Yong was an unexpected second pick, and Curry even dropped to seventh.

During the warm-up, Xu Yong and Curry were still in front of the camera, chatting about the past in the center circle of the court.

Unlike James, with Harden as the middleman, and as they are rookies in the same class, the relationship between them is very good.

Although maybe because Xu Yong became famous earlier, it makes them look like they are a generation apart.

After the warm-up, the scene entered the opening ceremony, and the stadium was boiling when Curry came on the stage.

Although the Warriors have yet to regain the championship, Curry's popularity in the Bay Area is unparalleled.

After the opening ceremony, the starting lineups of both teams were announced: the Bulls, Dellavedova, Butler, Xu Yong, West, Adams;

Warriors: Curry, Thompson, Barnes, Green, Pachulia.

Amid the cheers of Bay Area fans, Adams passed the ball back to the Bulls' half, and the curtain of the finals officially opened.

The Bulls came up with their first attack, with Butler holding the ball and Xu Yong running down to catch the ball.

Adams' solid body blocked Barnes. After receiving the ball, Xu Yong went straight into the Warriors' restricted area and flew into the air facing Pachulia who raised his hand...

“Bang!”

He contributed a brutal slam dunk at the start of the game.

Pachulia was pushed directly out of the baseline and felt a dull pain in his chest.

[Vertical jump rule] applies to all centers, naturally including traditional centers like Pachulia who have a slightly slow reaction.

Otherwise, why would this guy play dirty? Especially in the past two years, before he stepped on Leonard, he also elbowed Westbrook and stepped on Harden, because when he could not protect the basket, he could only rely on that to maintain his threat on the defensive end and survive in the league.

There is a lot of unrest now. Xu Yong's opening show of force was quite harsh.

When the offense and defense switched, the Bulls' defense put a lot of pressure.

Although this is the first time these two teams are playing in the finals, it is not the first time they have faced each other. Thibodeau knows how to best play against this Warriors team.

But at this moment, the referee's whistle sounded.

De LaVendova was called for a defensive foul.

This was not an obvious confrontation, he just dived forward when he was going around the screen, not to mention that Pachulia's screen was suspected of being a foul.

But the referee still blew the whistle for him.

Xu Yong’s previous judgment was correct. The strictness of the penalties in the finals and the Eastern Conference Finals were in completely opposite directions.

To use an analogy, if the Eastern Conference Finals is a woman, then the Finals is an innocent girl.

The Warriors sent the ball out from the sideline, Curry made a beautiful cut in and then cut back, with the help of Green's screen, he received the ball out of bounds and turned around to shoot a three-pointer.

In this ball, Curry showed his shooting speed to the extreme. As a master of one-step shooting, his maximum push shot can be as fast as 0.3 seconds. To say that it can be shot in seconds would be too slow.

Of course, what’s more important is that he can still maintain a very high hit rate even with such a fast shooting rate.

“Swish!”

There was a crisp sound, and Curry made a three-pointer with great speed, which also made the Oracle Arena boil.

Even though the Warriors didn't win the championship, Curry still has such high popularity, all because of his three-pointers one after another.

In the Bulls' offense, Xu Yong continued to run to receive the ball and attacked the basket again.

But this time, three Warriors players retreated, Xu Yong passed the ball outside, and Delavindova, who received the ball, encountered the Warriors' defensive rotation and his shot went wide.

Kerr was already standing on the sidelines at this time. The Warriors had obviously adjusted their defensive strategy, or maybe he had arranged it this way from the beginning, but Xu Yong's opening attack confirmed their thinking.

Both the Raptors and the Cavaliers benefited from their crazy double-teaming of Xu Yong, and there was no reason for him not to follow suit.

Butler took the opportunity to break into the inside and put the ball into the basket despite Green's help defense.

Green's defensive position is actually quite good, but he doesn't dare to act rashly at this moment.

The tightening of penalty standards will inevitably mean that both sides will be more cautious on the defensive end, which means that offense will become easier.

This was the case with the Warriors' first attack at the start, and it was also the case with Butler's attack just now.

But looking back, Curry's [figure 8 running] tied down the defense, and Thompson received a pass from Green on the weak side and made a three-pointer.

And after Butler attacked the basket and assisted West to hit a 17-foot jumper, Curry turned around and showed his excellent touch in the player tunnel, hitting a three-pointer against Dellavedova's defense with one step outside the three-point line.

The Warriors made all three three-point attempts from the outside at the beginning of the game. Their three-point shooting from the outside tonight was as hot as the bikini girls on the summer beach in Miami.

At the end of the first half, the Warriors led the Bulls 65-54.

Xu Yong was double-teamed in the first half and scored 14 points with 5 of 7 shots. Butler got a lot of opportunities and scored a game-high 26 points with 10 of 16 shots.

Curry made four three-pointers in the first half, contributing a Warriors-high 24 points, while Thompson made three three-pointers and scored 16 points.

Under their leadership, the Warriors made 10 of 18 three-pointers in the first half and scored 30 points from three-pointers alone.

The Warriors used their half-time performance to prove the famous basketball saying: three points are always one more point than two points.

At the end of the first half, Kerr was the happiest. He even accepted an interview with the reporters at the venue.

"I said we were prepared, the Bulls were a strong team, but we came with determination."

Kerr's words also made the Bay Area fans excited. If they can win Game 1, the Warriors' confidence in the entire finals will be completely established.

During the half-time break, Thibodeau summarized the first-half game and arranged the play for the second half in the locker room. The atmosphere in the locker room was somewhat depressing.

Thibodeau is not good at adjusting the atmosphere, but fortunately Malone is.

After Thibodeau finished his summary, Malone said with humor: "I think Xu has rested enough. He needs to score 48 points in the second half."

Why 48 points? Because that would add up to 62 points, and the highest score in a single game in the Finals is Elgin Baylor's 61 points.

After hearing this, the others all laughed subconsciously and felt much more relaxed.

Because for Xu Yong, who has broken many records in succession, this may be a goal.

After the half-time break, both sides continued the competition in the second half.

The Warriors attacked first, and they used a classic elevator door tactic. Curry cut in from the wing, then cut out from the middle, used the double screen of Green and Pachulia to block the defender, and then received a pass from Thompson and made a three-pointer.

The basketball went through the net as if it was equipped with a positioning device, and the Oracle Arena was boiling again.

This is not just about a goal, but the Warriors made a three-pointer right at the start of the second half, which means they continued their good form in the first half. This is the best news for the Warriors.

Curry was also very excited after scoring the goal, and he performed his signature shoulder-shaking and head-shaking celebration gesture towards the camera.

68 to 54, the Warriors widened the gap to 14 points, which was also the biggest difference between the two sides tonight.

The third quarter is the Warriors' best quarter, and they have the opportunity to completely widen the score in this quarter.

During the Bulls' offense, Xu Yong suddenly fell to the low post.

Scoring 48 points in the second half was just to adjust the atmosphere. It would be difficult for him to do that under the Warriors' defensive strategy.

The Bulls' strategic adjustment in the first half was to let Xu Yong initiate the offense in the low post, which was also what Xu Yong took the initiative to find Thibodeau before the halftime break.

This sounds a bit counterintuitive, because the Warriors did not give up on double-teaming him, and going to the low post made him more vulnerable to double-teaming.

But the final result of this round proved its correctness.

Because after Xu Yong attracted a double-team by holding the ball in the low post, he immediately passed the ball to Butler at the top of the arc. After receiving the ball, Butler quickly shot a three-pointer.

Butler also continued his good touch from the first half.

And the key is that this is a reverse use of the Warriors' double-team strategy to create opportunities for outside teammates through Xu Yong.

As long as the Bulls can make three-pointers from the outside, this tactic is a good way to break the Warriors' defensive strategy.

When they retreated to the defensive end, Thibodeau also signaled on the sidelines, and the Bulls also adjusted their defensive strategy and began to expand their defense.

The reason why Thibodeau did not do so in the first half is that although the Warriors are good at three-pointers, they are not only good at three-pointers. Their three-point tactics are also accompanied by empty cuts under the basket. If they expand outward, there will be a risk of losing the inside. But now the Warriors have been shooting from the outside, so this risk must be taken.

The Warriors reacted quickly as well. Curry made a beautiful turn to get rid of Dellavedova, then received a pass from Green and shot a long-range shot towards Adams to score.

In history, Dellavedova once limited Curry very well in the 2015 Finals, but he is unable to do that now, because the Curry he is facing now is obviously not the same version as the one in 2015, and the current one is much stronger.

But the good news is that Xu Yong continued to contain the defense in the low post and passed the ball to Dellavedova at the top of the arc, who also made a three-pointer from the top of the arc.

Although he failed to limit Curry as he did in history, he seized the opportunity.

This ball also made Kerr stand up from the bench.

The Bulls can make three-pointers from the outside, but the defense expands outward to not give them three-point opportunities. Three-pointers are indeed one point more than two points, but now the situation is reversed, and it is the Bulls who are shooting the three-pointer!

Moreover, Thompson's layup in the next round was interfered by Adams and the rebound was also grabbed by Adams.

If they continue playing at this pace, the Bulls will be able to catch up quickly.

After hesitating for a while, he shouted a new tactical gesture to the retreating Warriors players.

Xu Yong received the ball in the low post again, and he soon found that the degree of double-teaming had become lighter.

Obviously, Butler and Dellavedova's three-pointers shocked Kerr, and this is exactly what he really wanted.

When he was playing against the Cavaliers, he had already been doing intensive low-post confrontation training with Anderson, in order to use it when playing against the Warriors.

Because the Warriors' current inside line is actually very weak without Bogut, Barnes' low-post defensive ability is not enough to defend him.

After the ball came in, Xu Yong immediately launched an attack. He gave Barnes a hard confrontation, then turned and went to the basket, facing Green who was assisting in defense and scored with a one-handed layup.

62 to 70, the Bulls narrowed the gap to single digits.

There was a commotion at this point, and the fans also felt the change in the situation on the field.

The Bulls' momentum began to pick up. Their movements on the defensive end didn't get bigger, but their footsteps were clearly getting faster.

Curry's jump shot was blocked by Xu Yong and missed the basket. The rebound was protected by Adams.

After advancing to the frontcourt, Xu Yong continued to play in the low post. This time Green retreated faster, but Xu Yong made a back-to-back shot and then turned around to shoot towards the baseline. Then he took a step up and down to receive the ball and jumped up along the baseline to score a layup.

Since Barnes was unable to give Xu Yong enough defensive pressure in the first place, it was very easy for Xu Yong to score in the low post facing this level of double-teaming.

Cole reached up and touched his head, which was now larger than the other two.

Theoretically, with a tighter penalty scale, the Warriors can easily open up on offense and the game tempo will be very fast, just like in the first half.

But now, the entire game rhythm was suppressed by Xu Yong's low-post singles.

And the key is that the Bulls have a good touch from the outside. If he continues to shrink, the Bulls will only catch up faster.

The Warriors wanted to play fast on the court, so Green passed the ball directly to Curry in the frontcourt from the backcourt, and Curry forced the pace.

However, the Warriors made a mistake in a hurry. Curry's pass after being double-teamed was directly intercepted by Xu Yong. The Bulls made a fast break. Xu Yong first passed the ball to Butler, then followed up and received the pass from Butler and performed a gliding dunk.

66 to 70.

The Bulls went on a 12-2 run to narrow the gap to 4 points.

Kerr reached out and called a timeout.

The players on the Bulls' bench were all excited, and they all looked at Xu Yong with great excitement.

In this wave of **, Xu Yong contributed 6 points and 2 assists, and exactly 12 points were all directly or indirectly obtained by him.

"You can't limit Xu all night long. No one can do it!" Barkley shouted excitedly with a flushed face in the commentary booth.

After the timeout, Kerr made his adjustment, which was to let Curry launch the attack from a farther position.

After an off-ball screen, Curry received the ball one meter outside the three-point line, faked a dribble, and then took a step back three-pointer.

This step made him retreat directly to the position of the logo.

The Bulls' defense expanded further and they were caught off guard by this.

Curry took a three-point shot with the logo and hit it in one shot.

The Oracle Arena, which had been silent for a long time, was once again in a frenzy.

Curry's logo shot, with a unique shooting range in history, is the blockbuster of Oracle Arena.

Xu Yong continued to move down low and continued to ask for the ball.

After seeing the Warriors use Green to switch defense on him, he turned around and made a steady shot after a back-to-back shot.

The cheers at the scene suddenly stopped.

Xu Yong was so steady, so steady that it seemed like he was not affected at all by Curry's three-pointer.

But why?

Xu Yong certainly knew that Curry could shoot the logo three-pointer, but how many three-pointers like that could Curry shoot in a whole night?

There is nothing wrong with Kerr's choice, but he is a little too dependent on three-pointers.

Sure enough, Curry continued to try a three-point shot one meter outside the three-point line in the next round, but failed to hit it.

West grabbed the long rebound and Xu Yong continued to attack in the low post. This time Barnes directly chose to foul and sent Xu Yong to the free throw line. He really didn't have much to do with Xu Yong.

Kerr finally turned around and called Iguodala to the court early. Iguodala came on the court to replace Pachulia, and the Warriors used the [Death Five].

Seeing Kerr's adjustment, Xu Yong's expression became more relaxed when he walked to the free throw line.

Can Green protect the restricted area that Pachulia can't protect?

Facts have proved that the five-small lineup really cannot do anything to Xu Yong on the defensive end, because Xu Yong does not have the ability to play one-on-one in the low post, but the ability to play one-on-two. Even as shown in the Christmas game, it will make the Warriors' protection of the interior worse.

But the five-small lineup is not without effect. It helps the Warriors a lot on the offensive end.

Before, when Pachulia was on the court, Adams could hide inside the free throw line, which allowed him to defend the Warriors' open cuts. But during this period, Green was able to open up space. When he played center, Adams had to expand beyond the free throw line as a player, which made it difficult for him to effectively protect the restricted area.

As a result, neither side could defend against the other, and the offensive battle came as expected.

In the end, the Bulls had the last laugh.

Because Thibodeau insisted on defending outside, the Warriors were unable to shoot three-pointers from the outside for a long time. When it came to the last three minutes, Thibodeau suddenly gave up on defending outside, giving the Warriors some outside chances. Then the Splash Brothers, who had not shot for a long time, got cold hands from the outside.

On the other hand, on the Bulls side, Xu Yong continued to cause damage in the low post.

The Warriors' restricted area became his dessert spot, and he could eat as much as he wanted.

Three-pointers do score one more point than two-pointers, but in the last three minutes the Bulls proved another basketball truth: the closer you are to the basket, the higher your hit rate.

In the end, the Bulls relied on a last-minute wave to beat the Warriors 123-116 and won their first victory in the finals.

In terms of statistics, Xu Yong scored 30 points in the second half and 43 points in the whole game, plus 8 rebounds and 8 assists. Butler scored 14 points in the second half and 40 points in the whole game.

Xu Yong did not break Baylor's single-game scoring record in the Finals as Malone said, but he and Butler set a new NBA record together. They became the first pair in the NBA to score 40+ points at the same time in the Finals.

On the Warriors side, Curry scored 37 points and Thompson also scored 21 points, but in the last three minutes they made a total of 1 of 5 three-pointers, which ultimately led to their loss of the game.

This battle lived up to the fans' pre-match expectations.

The Bulls were the winners, but the Warriors proved they weren't without a chance.

Two days later, the G2 match between the two sides continued at the Oracle Arena.

It was still the same penalty standards, and a more thorough offensive battle than G1.

The difference is that this game was obviously more intense than G1.

Because the penalty standards only make it easier for you to commit fouls, not that you can't commit fouls.

As the stalemate became more intense, the confrontation and action on the field became more intense.

During an attack in the second half of the second quarter, Butler received a pass from Xu Yong and rushed into the inside to try to dunk, but was fouled fiercely by Green, which almost caused a conflict between the two sides on the court.

After being pulled apart by the referee, the two sides began to engage in a trash talk battle.

"This is not the place for you to be arrogant, this is the Bay Area!" Green shouted at Butler.

"I should give you a flying knee too." Butler was blunt. His trash talk level has reached a very high level over the years he has been following Xu Yong.

"Who the hell do you think you are!" Green's eyebrows twitched, and he pointed at Butler and cursed. It was obvious that he felt hurt.

Butler didn't say anything. He smiled and made the gesture to Green that Xu Yong had made to James, 1, 2, 3... three fingers.

The only difference between him and Xu Yong is that his trash talk is more explicit: You ask who I am? I have three or four championships.

But what was unexpected was that Green, who was extremely angry, suddenly calmed down. With a sneer on his face, he said to Butler: "To win a real ring."

Butler's expression changed visibly.

Seeing this, Xu Yong went over and pulled Butler over.

It's obvious that even Butler is no match for Green when it comes to trash talk.

Haslem's formula is actually a replica of Green's formula, except that one is for James and the other is for Durant.

"Ignore that guy." Xu Yong reminded Butler.

Butler nodded, but his expression was still grim.

When he got to the free throw line, he rarely missed both free throws.

This also became a watershed moment in Butler's performance, and he was completely lost in the second half.

The Warriors seized the opportunity and eventually defeated the Bulls 116-106 to tie the score.

Xu Yong still contributed 45 points steadily, but tonight he was unable to lead the game alone.

Xu Yong attended the post-match press conference with Thibodeau.

"He's fine. Everyone has times when they're not in good form. He will be back in the next game." Xu Yong seemed very calm when talking about Butler.

Butler's issue will require some discussion later, but obviously not now.

At an appropriate time, he expressed to reporters what he really wanted to say: "I respect our opponents and am more satisfied with the performance of my teammates, but what I want to say is that this should not be the intensity of the finals."

Although what Xu Yong said to Jokic and others before the finals showed that he was well prepared, after playing two games, he grew up watching Jordan play and had a natural obsession with the style of basketball, but he finally found that he still could not accept such a game.

Celebrate the numbers he achieved under such intensity? Sorry, he can't do that.

"I don't think there is anything wrong with the referees' calls. They are very dedicated and respectable, but I want to say that they need to relax the standards. Fans want to see exciting basketball games, not shooting competitions."

Xu Yong's subsequent additions were very direct, making the reporters in the audience restless.

Before this, when players talked about the scale of penalties, most of them said how targeted the referees were, so much so that the league had issued relevant rules not allowing players to talk about the referee's penalties. However, Xu Yong was the first person to question the scale of penalties, or to be more precise, the first person in the league.

As expected, on social media that night, fans and even the media, who should have been discussing the victory or defeat, focused on talking about these words.

This is Xu Yong’s unprecedented influence today, and it has become a real force.

New York, Office of the League President.

When Silver learned the news and the media reports, his monkey-like pointed face twisted.

The league's ratings had clearly hit new highs in the past two games, but Xu Yong said this after the game!

"Mr. Xiao Hua, what should we do then?" Xiao Hua's assistant couldn't help but ask. He was in charge of the work of the referee committee, which was also a job Xiao Hua had done before.

Silver was so angry that his teeth itched. He picked up the media reports and took a look. If nothing was done to control it, it would have a huge negative impact on the league.

So what else can I do? Of course... I choose to obey Xu Yong!