The Whip of the God of Basketball

On May 15th, in the Boston District Court, the civil case regarding Fox Leon's injury to Frank finally came to a conclusion. After a unanimous jury vote, Fox-Leon was found not guilty and no civil damages were required against Frank.

Due to the arrest of James Bulger, Frank will face multiple charges of murder, drug trafficking, and kidnapping, including the murder of Leon's father Matthews.

Leon was finally freed from this incident, not only getting rid of the huge compensation, but also sending his father's murderer to prison. At the same time, his probation period has expired and he no longer needs to go to the police station to register. He has regained his freedom and can fly around the United States as before.

"How does it feel to become a free citizen again?" Danny Ainge, who greeted Leon at the door of the court, asked Leon as he walked out.

"I really hope the holiday can come soon!" Leon said with a sigh of relief. He, Angie and the lawyer got into the car and were about to leave for a drink at a nearby bar.

The Celtics got nearly a week off before the Eastern Conference finals, as the Indiana Pacers and Detroit Pistons locked in a brutal semifinal battle.

On May 14, the two sides had a decisive battle at Tianwang Mountain in Indiana. The Pistons relied on Prince's key block in the away game to fend off Miller's possible score-tying layup, thus helping the Pistons defeat their opponent 81:77 in the away game. The score is 3:2, one step away from the Eastern Conference finals.

"Pistons or Pacers, which opponent do you want to fight more?" In the bar, the three of them did not choose a private room, but found a secluded corner to drink and chat slowly. Lawyer Eze asked a very unhelpful question.

Anji felt that this must be another good opportunity for Leon to show off. Nine times out of ten, this guy would say that it would be the same no matter what. Anyway, it was 4:0.

Unexpectedly, Leon shook his glass and thought for a long time before saying: "I still want to play against the Detroit people. Although it is boring to play the same opponent for three consecutive years, I will have a better chance of winning against the Pistons."

"It's a rare sight in a century, Fox and Leon will also pick their opponents." Angie said with a bit of irony. In recent years, Leon has often created a arrogant image of himself and the Celtics in the media. He is cautious like this. Still rare.

Leon glanced sideways at Anji. This guy was becoming more and more fond of quarreling with him.

"The talent of the Pacers' lineup is better, especially they have Jackson. I didn't expect them to get this guy in the summer. It really shocked me. But O'Brien doesn't know how to use this guy, otherwise he will be Bigger trouble. However, O'Brien still has a way to deal with us. After all, he has been here for more than two years, and Vogel is here. And if you look at it one-on-one, every position of the Pacers is not counted. If you suffer too much, it will be a tough nut to crack. As for the Pistons, I tell you Danny, Larry Brown's team can't beat me." After speaking, Leon drank up the gin in the glass, feeling a burning sensation. The feeling went straight down the throat to the stomach, and warmth filled the whole body.

Angie didn't say anything more and changed the topic to some life issues. For basketball, at this stage, he chose to trust Fox Leon unconditionally. In the first two rounds, countless guys who wanted to see jokes about Leon and the Celtics have shut their mouths. Of course, this still cannot convince everyone. After all, due to the strength of the opponents, sweeping the first two rounds is not a great achievement in the NBA. The conference finals are a great test.

………………

One day later, the Detroit Pistons and Indiana Pacers played at the Palace Arena in Auburn Hills. In Game 6 of the series, the Pistons were one step away from the conference finals.

The confrontation with the Pacers allowed Rasheed Wallace to completely integrate into the team system, and the Pistons' overall condition reached its best. The pain of being slaughtered in the last game of the regular season has long been forgotten, and now they only think about getting into the conference finals to avenge their shame.

But the Pacers were not deterred by 2:3 and the disadvantage of away games. This year was undoubtedly the year of the Pacers' rise. The everlasting Miller, the explosive Jermaine O'Neal, and the addition of FireWire Stephen Jackson, the increasingly mature Ron Artest, and the Celtics' old ministers O'Brien and Vogel, the entire Pacers have strong combat effectiveness and willpower.

Therefore, the sixth game was extremely intense. The two sides entered into a strangled battle from the first quarter, and the two defensive teams fell into the quagmire and engaged in hand-to-hand combat. In the first 3 minutes of the game, both sides failed to score a point.

It wasn't until three minutes and 18 seconds into the game that Billups broke through and caused a foul on O'Neal, and he went to the free throw line and hit the first free throw, and the two sides officially opened fire.

In the first quarter, the score between the two sides was 17:15, with the Pistons leading by 2 points.

In the second quarter, the two sides tied at 35:35. The two teams combined for a total of 70 points in the first half.

The intensity of the game reached a fever pitch in the third quarter, and the actions of both sides became more and more intense. During an attack, Artest grabbed an offensive rebound, and his layup was blocked by Ben Wallace. There was a physical conflict, and Ben pushed Artest away. The referee immediately stopped the game, and Artest almost rushed to grapple with Wallace, but was held back by his teammates.

Ben Wallace received a technical foul because of this. His actions were not sent off because the referee took care of him.

Then the referee called several fouls in succession before the players on both sides gradually calmed down and returned their energy to the game. In this quarter, the Pistons scored 11 points and the Pacers scored 12 points. Due to the fierce physical confrontation, both sides' free throws were inaccurate, with a large number of two-and-one free throws or even two missed free throws appearing.

At the beginning of the fourth quarter, the main players on both sides suffered multiple fouls. Both sides became more cautious and scoring became more difficult. The scores of both sides were always staggered, taking the lead alternately.

With 59 seconds left before the end of the game, the Pistons relied on Hamilton's mid-range jumper to make the score 61:56, leading the Pacers by 5 points. This was the largest point difference between the two sides in the game.

The Pacers called a timeout, a crucial timeout.

After coming back, he felt bad throughout the game. Reggie Miller, who was made uncomfortable by the Pistons' tough defense, ran around the corner to catch the ball and hit a three-pointer, rewriting the score to 61:59.

Then Billups retaliated in the attack. He crushed Tinsley with his back, then turned and stepped back and hit a mid-range shot, and the point difference widened again.

But just 7 seconds later, Miller ran around again, caught the ball at his favorite position at 45 degrees on the left side, and shot another three-pointer. He hit, 63:62, and the point difference was narrowed to 1 point!

With 26 seconds left before the end of the game, the Pistons called a timeout.

After a long timeout, it was Billups again. This time he very cleverly used the breakthrough to shake O'Neal, and then leaned in to cause O'Neal to foul. Not only did O'Neal get sent off for six fouls, but he also stood on the free throw line.

Billups made one of two free throws, and everyone at the Palace of Auburn Hills was worried, because the 2-point lead was not safe at all.

The Pacers called a timeout to set up their tactics, but before the ball was released at the end of the timeout, O'Brien called another timeout. This was their last timeout in regular time.

Larry Bird, who was sitting behind the bench, stood up, yelled something at the players, and then sat down again, looking very calm.

There were only 3 seconds left on the clock, and Billups wasted his time very accurately.

At the end of the timeout, Tinsley served the ball from the sideline. Reggie Miller was the focus of care, but the Pacers set up a high three-man screen, with Foster, Artest and Jackson blocking Miller. . The blocking and movement of the three people finally squeezed a small gap for Miller, and Tinsley passed the ball to Miller's hands.

With the knife in hand, Reggie Miller hit a three-pointer at 45 degrees on the right side, in the same position as before!

As the three-pointer was hit, the buzzer sounded at the end of the game. The Pacers relied on Miller's magical three-pointers at the last moment to come back to life at the Palace Arena of Auburn Hills and tied the score at 3:3!

Two days later, at Indiana's Conseco Arena, the Pacers relied on Stephen Jackson's 30-point performance to win the decisive tiebreaker at home 89:81, even after falling behind 2:3. They defeated two games to reach the Eastern Conference Finals. It has only been 4 years since they last entered the Eastern Conference Finals.