NBA's King of Talking

Chapter 215 Leading the Team to Advance to the Second Round

On April 30th, Game 5 of the Hawks vs. Bulls series.

The series has returned to Chicago, back to the United Center.

This game will be the match point; if the Bulls lose again, their season will be over.

Many Bulls fans cannot accept this result, considering that their record was better than the Hawks' during the regular season.

However, the playoffs are not the same as the regular season. The Hawks suffered injuries to key players during the regular season, which was a major reason why they were unable to maintain their top-three record in the Eastern Conference until the end of the season.

The Bulls haven't changed their lineup, and for Thibodeau, changing it seems like it would be fatal. Jia Fei has seen coaches like this before; Brooks, the Thunder's coach, was similar. Some coaches, while not changing their lineup, at least adjust their rotations, but Thibodeau has used the same eight-man rotation from Game 1 to Game 4. Basically, he only considers adjustments if any of these eight players get injured and unable to play; otherwise, even if they're eliminated, he'll stick with these eight players to the very end.

Such a stubborn and unchanging coach does feel like something's missing. Revealing your hand has its advantages; when you're strong enough to overwhelm your opponents, it's fine. But if you're weaker, without some clever tactics like "Tian Ji's horse racing strategy," losing is highly probable. Overusing your starters and maximizing their playing time isn't a particularly brilliant tactic; in fact, any coach could do it because it's so simple.

Of course, Thibodeau might not be good at coaching offense, but he's incredibly good at coaching defense. When the Celtics won the championship in 08, they relied primarily on their defense; their offense mainly depended on their Big Three, which weren't actually among the top in the league. And Thibodeau was the team's defensive coach at the time.

The Hawks did not change their starting lineup, and Art Mayok continued to be rotated out, marking the third consecutive game that the veteran captain was DNP (Did Not Play).

At the start of the game, the Bulls clearly changed their defensive strategy, no longer double-teaming Jia Fei excessively, and sticking to one-on-one defense. When Jia Fei called on him, they would delay, and if delaying didn't work, they would switch on defense. Once he drove into the paint, players on the weak side would come to cover, determined not to let him pass the ball to an open teammate.

In other words, they started targeting other players in this match, giving Jia Fei a one-on-one opportunity.

On offense, the Bulls relentlessly attacked the Hawks' interior, rarely taking shots from the outside, denying them long rebounds and giving the opponent easy opportunities for fast breaks.

The Bulls went on a high-intensity defensive offensive, which resulted in numerous fouls, but also significantly impacted the Hawks' offense.

This was a defensive battle with low scores from both sides, and the game was broken up into numerous one-on-one situations. There were a lot of fouls on both sides, making it feel like a game from the 90s.

In the one-on-one matchups, Jia Fei's abilities finally came to the fore. Whether he was going one-on-one against Jimmy or mismatching against other players, he was much more efficient. No one could contain him one-on-one; his talent allowed him to gain an advantage in matchups against Jimmy.

In the final stages of the fourth quarter, Jia Fei scored consecutive one-on-one goals, securing the victory.

Ultimately, the Hawks narrowly defeated the Bulls 90-86 on the road, eliminating their opponents with a 4-1 series victory and advancing to the next round.

贾飞本场比赛出战了42分21秒，再次创造自己在NBA季后赛的单场出场时间记录。他全场贡献31分10个篮板3次助攻3个抢断2个盖帽，再次统治了比赛。

As the final buzzer sounded, Bulls fans were heartbroken. The season was finally over… At this moment, they endlessly missed Rose, the youngest MVP in NBA history. If Rose were still here, perhaps the outcome would have been different. At least they wouldn't have let their opponents celebrate their victory on their home court, at least they wouldn't have let Jia Fei do whatever he wanted…

Unfortunately, there are no "what ifs." This night didn't belong to the Bulls; it belonged to the Eagles...

The game is over, and the Hawks have advanced to the second round!

Art Mayork excitedly hugged Jia Fei as if they had won the championship.

Jia Fei was also very excited, even more so than when he reached the Finals with the Thunder. With the Thunder, he was just an employee, a benchwarmer; with the Hawks, he was an entrepreneur, the team's core player.

Years later, if someone talks about him, no one will remember that he once played in the Finals with the team. But someone will definitely remember that he once led the team to the second round of the playoffs.

It's worth noting that Tracy McGrady is often ridiculed for being a "first-round playoff player," but in reality, he played in the NBA Finals with the Spurs later in his career. However, nobody believes he actually reached the Finals, because everyone knows that the Spurs' Finals run had nothing to do with him.

In the visiting team's locker room after the game, the Hawks players were cheering. Before this series, only a minority of people expected them to advance, even though they were very confident in themselves.

Coach Buden found Jia Fei and gave his favorite subordinate a big hug.

"Thank you, Ja. Without you, we wouldn't have won the series!" Coach Buden praised him generously.

"Coach, thank you for your trust in me!" Jia Fei didn't think the coach's praise was an exaggeration; indeed, without him, the Hawks wouldn't have advanced. But he also knew that without the coach's trust, he often couldn't do certain things on the court. Basketball is a team sport; he couldn't win alone.

In contrast, the home team's locker room was quiet, and the players' faces were filled with frustration.

Noah clapped to encourage his teammates, but most of the Bulls players still couldn't accept the reality. They had been upset by an underdog, defeated by Jia Fei, the Asian second-round pick waived by the Thunder!

They would feel much better if the Heat's Big Three had defeated them...

Sometimes that's true. Like if you get dumped or rejected, if it's a goddess like Liu Yifei (a famous Chinese actress), you'll be sad, but you can comfort yourself. But if it's a monster (a person considered unattractive or unattractive), you might feel like dying.