Heat coach Pat Riley has taken advantage of this time. Following the Wizards coach Carlisle's strategy against the Pacers, he takes O'Neal and Malone's double towers as the core, and focuses on the double towers of Jermaine O'Neal and Ratliff.

Jermaine O'Neal won fifth place in the forward position of the All-Defensive lineup, ahead of Garnett, Duncan, Zhang Hao and Artest.

Ratliff's second defense center.

According to common sense, other teams will choose to avoid the two main attack points.

During the regular season, the Supersonics played against the Pacers, and Zhang Hao also reduced his strong attacks in the inside. When the Heat played against the Pacers in the regular season, even if the inside was not at a loss, they would not think about starting from this point.

Other teams with strong inside lines, the 76ers, Kings, Mavericks, etc., also made the same choice.

But in the first round of the playoffs, Wizards coach Carlisle did the opposite, using Yao Ming's main attack on the inside and forcing the Pacers' inside, and really gained an absolute advantage at this point!

Jermaine O'Neal's 'soft' was fully exposed in the first round of the Pacers and Wizards' series.

Ratliff was not tall enough and was congenitally restrained by Yao Ming.

Although Jermaine O'Neal's weight of 120 kilograms is still much lighter than Yao Ming, he has at least the power to fight.

But Jermaine O'Neal seemed particularly soft when defending Yao Ming, not defensive actions, skills, etc., but that kind of energy.

To put it simply, when Ratliff defends Yao Ming, he will try his best to try his best to create a chance for his teammates. Jermaine O'Neal, after being beaten by Yao Ming for two games, defending Yao Ming became just "doing his best". He did not seem to continue to hold on to the expectation of "being able to defend".

Of course, most teams with top inside players may not be able to replicate the style of playing like the Wizards. Even the teams where Duncan, Garnett, Nowitzki and others are located may not be able to deal with the Pacers like the Wizards.

Yao Ming is a very special center in the entire NBA history.

But! The Heat can do it! They have more special center O'Neal!

There are excellent feedings from Kidd or Wade, there are pitchers like Eddie Jones with superb shooting skills, and O'Neal is surrounded by Malone, a power forward partner who can catch shots, cut into the ball, and get through the ball...

With a slight decline in overall strength, the Heat chased from a big score of 1-2 to a draw from 2-2. On May 17, they played the away game of Tianwangshan, relying on O'Neal's 32 points and 16 rebounds, Malone's 17 points, 12 rebounds and 3 assists, Kidd's 5 points, 7 rebounds and 6 assists, Wade's 11 points and 7 assists, and Eddie Jones' 26 points... The Heat defeated the Pacers away 111-105 and won the Battle of Tianwangshan!

...

The Pan 95 Generation Alliance formed by Iverson, Raheem, Duncan and Van Horn just defeated another Pan 95 Generation Alliance Bulls, and welcomed another Pan 95 Generation Power Pistons in the second round!

G1, Iverson gave Nash a surprise, with 33 points, 7 rebounds, 7 assists and 5 steals in a single game, and beat the Pistons on the offensive end. Nash made Nash the highest single-game mistake in his career playoffs, defending Nash only had 12 points and 9 assists, but had 6 mistakes!

104 to 92, in the second round, the fifth-ranked 76ers in the East came up and defeated the top Pistons in the league.

At G2, the 76ers still led the Pistons 32-28 in the first quarter and 10 points in the second quarter. After halftime, the 76ers led the Pistons 65-51 in the first quarter.

Just when everyone thought the Pistons were about to finish and the 65-win team might be swept directly in the second round, in the third quarter, the Pistons responded to the 76ers' score of 35-25 in a single quarter, narrowing the gap to 4 points, and dragging the game into overtime with a single quarter score of 28-24 in the last quarter!

In overtime, Nash scored 6 points and Rashid Wallace scored 4 points. The two teamed up to score 10-5.

In the end, the Pistons relied on Nash's 30 points and 15 assists, Stoudemire's 25 points and 10 rebounds, Rashid Wallace's 16 points and 6 rebounds and 3 assists, Damon Jones's 14 points, Bosh and Prince both scored 11 points... and narrowly defeated the 76ers to defend their second home court 124-119.

Immediately afterwards, the Pistons, who were visiting Philadelphia, first defeated the 76ers 107-95 and regained the home advantage, and then narrowly defeated the 76ers 97-93, and tied the score 3-1!

On May 18, the 76ers relied on Iverson's 22 points and 15 assists, Raheem's 32 points and Duncan's 32 points, and the three scored 86 points together, defeating the Pistons 104-99, chasing the big score into 2-3, avoiding being eliminated 4-1.

...

Garnett and Nowitzki faced two shooting power forwards. In this round of the series, the Mavericks defeated the Spurs and advanced, media have been saying that the Kings are going to win on their own.

Garnett is Zen Nowitzki. Since the 1998-99 season, the two have played 22 times in the regular season. Both are very healthy. They have played 22 times in 6 seasons and have not fallen once.

Garnett is very stable, averaging 22 points, 13 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 steals and 2 blocks per game; Nowitzki averaged 19 points, 8 rebounds per game, with a shooting percentage of 46%.

The Mavericks' lineup has been much better in the past two years. However, the Timberwolves' lineup was so bad last season. The Mavericks are a strong team in the Western Conference Finals. It is still difficult for the Mavericks to play against the Timberwolves because the number one scorer was restrained.

Nowitzki was bullied again this time. G1 Garnett scored 13 points, 18 rebounds, 10 assists, 5 steals and 2 blocks, leading the Kings to defeat the Mavericks 106-92, easily leading 1-0.

G2 Kings won it was not difficult, Garnett scored 23 points, 13 rebounds and 7 assists, Wang Zhizhi scored 27 points, 9 rebounds and 2 assists, and the Kings beat the Mavericks 102-91.

The G3 Mavericks went crazy and beat the Kings at 107-90 on both ends of the offense and defense, chasing the big score to 1-2.

But a day later, the Kings responded with a ruthless match of 95-82, and the score was 3-1!

By May 19, the Mavericks performed well in the game of life and death. Nowitzki still couldn't grab the rebound, but the score was OK tonight, with 26 points on 9 of 19 shots, plus Finley's 29 points, Jason Williams' 13 assists, Anthony Walker's 24 points, and Brad Miller's 11 points and 6 assists... The Mavericks defeated the Kings 111-103 and chased the big score to 2-3.

...

The Pistons, Pacers, Heat, 76ers, Kings, and Mavericks, are all working hard to get a seat in the Eastern Conference Finals.

There are situations where the harder you work harder, but only by working hard can you have hope.

The Mavericks have no 1-4 chance of turning around with their efforts.

The Pistons were beaten like that by the rampage of Iverson in the second round, but they were not discouraged. They continued to work hard in the second game and won! Although the difference in winning points in the subsequent games was not big, they won three games in a row. Although they could not win four games in a row to advance to the Eastern Conference Finals, the Pistons, who were not discouraged, were not defeated by the outbreak of Iverson, which led to a back-forward turnaround.

The 76ers started with a big score but lost three games in a row, but still did not give up. They chased the big score to 2-3, and there was still hope.

The Heat were 1-2 behind at the beginning, Pat Riley's command, Malone's dream of champions, O'Neal's strength, Wade and Kidd's struggle... The spirit of unwillingness to give up allowed them to score the big score 3-2, and from behind, and advancement is in sight.

But when they finished their first five games and the situation gradually became clear, when they looked back, the Supersonics entered the Western Conference Finals!

All the superstars are confused about the Lakers so unreasonable?

No! No. 1 pick James is quite powerful and has the privilege of making multiple layups.

Pierce is the strongest small forward in singles, Ray Allen, and a super pitcher who is as famous as Zhang Hao.

The role players are not very strong, but they are experienced and have good functionality.

Byron Scott, coaching in the playoffs was also good. He was so good at defending that he was able to fly, and he was able to reach the Finals last year.

But the Lakers were beaten 4-1 by the Supersonics?

Although, the other six teams who entered the second round were confident that they could beat the Lakers in the series.

But there will be no supersonic team as easy as this!

Except for the big difference between the G1 points between the Supersonics and the Lakers, the stars of other teams heard that the Supersonics and the Lakers played very anxiously... The result was a big score of 4-1!

How could this be anxious?

...

...

'Comrade Tyrants are very good, think about it, they reached the finals in the 2000 playoffs, averaging 21 points and 8 assists per game. However, they didn't expect that they could actually suppress the 76ers in the anxious game. The Pistons' style, the unparalleled running and shooting runner-up, and the bad boy's ruffianism, are really good.'

'Big Fat is really strong. The Heat's four major stars are leading Wade, and they still perform well.'

'Silver Corner is still not good. Without back-attack, I can't deal with Garnett at the peak. My teammates are basically of equal strength, but I was beaten up. It's better not to give him Miller and let Arenas draw the Wolf King... Forget it, it doesn't matter, anyone can do it."

It has been one day since the second round with the Lakers. Today, the Supersonics team rested, and the coaching staff did not stipulate that they would work in the arena. The work content was to collect intelligence on the opponents in the next round.

I originally thought the Kings would advance 4-1 directly, but the Mavericks are still trying to resist. The result is hard to say. If Finley and Anthony Walker have two more games, the Mavericks may really turn the tables.

This makes the preparations for the Supersonics coaching staff more arduous, and the possibility of the Mavericks' big reversal cannot be ignored.

After all, all 1-3 major reversals seem impossible at first.

...

It was May 20th. In the evening, Zhang Hao and April, who was far away in Los Angeles, talked about the phone, and then watched the G6 of the Western Conference Finals. If nothing unexpected happened, the Kings did not give the Mavericks another chance to explode, and the defensive intensity was enough. Peja, Garnett, and Wang Zhizhi scored well, scoring 25 points, 20 points, and 17 points respectively. Payton's 11 points, 3 rebounds, 7 assists and 2 steals were also OK. The Kings defeated the Mavericks 96-90 and advanced to the Western Conference Finals 4-2!

‘For us, the Mavericks or the Kings are similar. They can’t beat them later in the regular season. The better thing about playing the Kings is that no one says we’re feeding the Mavericks and suffering from it.’

In this Western Conference Final, Zhang Hao was under unprecedented pressure!

In the Western Conference Finals in the 200-01 season, we met the Lakers led by O'Neal, who was at the peak at that time. Payton was also at the peak at that time, and Pierce made rapid progress... But at that time, the overall strength of the Supersonics was also extremely strong. What Zhang Hao felt at that time was more excited, and pressure was the second.

It's different now. The Kings' point guard position has the old and stronger Peyton in charge; Doug Christie also has the strength of two defenses, and his performance of 9 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists and 1.8 steals cannot be underestimated; Peja, who is in the small forward position, can be called the first pitcher of the small forward position; Garnett, the second strong forward contender of the league; Wang Zhizhi, who is in the center position, is also at the All-Star level.

In terms of substitute lineup, the Kings are also quite good, Bobby Jackson, Anthony Pierre, Dalius Sangela, Tony Massenberg, Rodney Buford... so much so that the Kings don't even have free time to train Gerald Wallace.

The Supersonics currently have a bright future and the future is in great shape. Next, they only need to streamline the core lineup, supplement players around the newly created core lineup, and add some veteran spots... After a year of slowing down, they can become the favorite to win the championship again... But now they are not the favorite to win the championship in people's minds.

But... now at this time.

The moment he ended with the Lakers G5, Zhang Hao received a system prompt.

The 60-day life span is obtained, and the task of "Giant Killer" silver upgrade card fragments is triggered, and the "King of Western Finals (Silver)" is activated!

Zhang Hao didn't feel that he could rest assured that he could just rely on a medal.

But even under unprecedented pressure, he still felt full of confidence.

Zhang Hao really wants to appear at this moment at the scene where the Mavericks and the Kings just finished the game and shout, "You guys go together, I, Xiao... Why are I, Zhang, afraid!

...

...

On May 22, 2004, the 76ers won three consecutive games from 1-3 to reverse the Pistons and advanced to the Eastern Conference Final 4-3. All the games in the second round of this season officially came to an end.

The Pistons were first hit by the 76ers, and then the Pistons defeated the decline and won three consecutive games. When the 76ers chased the big score to 2-3, everyone felt that the 76ers were just a comeback.

Then, the 76ers won two more games 102-96 and 95-90, winning 4-3!

In the first round, Raheem made an indelible contribution to the 76ers being able to defeat the Bulls. In the second round, Iverson, who averaged 33.7 points and 6 assists per game in 7 games, is undoubtedly the biggest contributor.

The Pistons and the Sixers played in this round of the series, including the league's official media, fans... are all very happy.

The competition is popular, box office and ratings are high, which is the official happy thing.

The media is much more happy, mainly because of its high topic.

The fans were happy to watch such a fierce and exciting series.
To be continued...