pertwk Chapter 249 Barkley's God-like Prediction! A Brand New Triple-Double
Chapter 249 Barkley's God-like Prediction! A Brand New Triple-Double
Chapter 249 Barkley's God-like Prediction! A New Triple-Double Record is Born!
At the end of the Knicks' game against the Pacers, Barkley said something.
"This injury of Reggie might be an opportunity for Lin! An opportunity to create countless terrifying records! I won't miss a single one of his remaining games this month! I will definitely watch them all! Missing one game could mean missing a historic moment!"
Barkley's statement was undeniably accurate! He successfully predicted, or rather, summarized, Lin Tian's performance in the last 20 days of the season!
First, after defeating the Knicks, the Pacers' record this season has reached 29 wins and 12 losses!
They have nine games left to play!
But the remaining schedule is much easier, as these nine games will be completed in about 20 days, which is another strategy set by the league.
At the beginning of the season, there were crazy back-to-back games, with some teams even playing four games in five days. Towards the end of the season, the schedule became relatively easier, and most teams didn't have back-to-back games to play.
As for the reason, the league believes: if you players are going to get injured, then do it at the beginning or end of the season, play safely and comfortably, and then play your best in the playoffs. Don't bring those bad conditions into the playoffs.
In short: The league is doing everything it can to ensure a thrilling playoff run!
It's hard to say how other teams fared, but for Lin Tian and the Pacers, even without Miller, they certainly put on their most exciting game of the season in the last 20 days!
The day after defeating the Knicks, the Pacers returned to Indiana, where they faced three Western Conference teams: the Warriors, the Rockets, and the Suns.
The Pacers have won all three games again!
Moreover, it wasn't just a perfect record; Lin Tian played flawlessly in every single one of these three matches!
对阵勇士，3节比赛轰下29分12篮板11助攻3抢断！
Against the Rockets, although Lin Tian only scored 16 points, he only played 28 minutes and also contributed 11 rebounds and 11 assists! Lin Tian's triple-double journey continues!
Next up was the Suns, in which the Suns played exceptionally well. Their leading scorer, Gugliotta, was on fire, dismantling the Pacers' entire interior defense and racking up a massive double-double of 39 points and 15 rebounds.
The team's star point guard, Jason Kidd, showcased his all-around abilities, achieving a remarkable triple-double: 12 points, 15 rebounds, and 16 assists! The forward duo of Clifford Robinson and Rex Chapman also combined for a total of 38 points, hitting nine three-pointers!
In the fourth quarter, the Suns hit seven consecutive shots and held an eight-point lead with four minutes left in the game!
But as it turns out, the Knicks' 7-point lead with one minute left was not secure, let alone when you still had 4 minutes left.
The final four minutes became Lin Tian's personal stage. He drove inside and shot outside, scoring 16 points in four minutes. He not only completely overwhelmed Kidd, who was known as the "successor to the Glove" and considered one of the top three defensive point guards in the league, but also achieved a triple-double of 45 points, 16 rebounds and 10 assists!
After this game, many people realized something: if the game against the Pacers is close until the end, it might not be a good thing, because Lin Tian's ability to play in the crucial moments is too strong and terrifying. He will use a wonderful performance that people will talk about for a month to lead the team to complete a comeback!
Perhaps that's why the Pacers' next two opponents, the Raptors and the Grizzlies, both Canadian teams, didn't put up much resistance on the court.
The Pacers have finished their last two games in three quarters, continuing their winning streak.
In these two games, Lin Tian unsurprisingly achieved two consecutive triple-doubles!
The Pacers' winning streak reached 6 games, and Lin Tian's consecutive triple-doubles also reached 6 games!
This number ranks fourth in NBA history!
Keep in mind, this was the 90s!
Westbrook hadn't yet burst onto the scene, and triple-doubles weren't exactly common stats!
On the contrary, in this era, a triple-double is an incredibly rare statistic that best reflects a player's all-around ability! In many cases, even in the first decade of the 21st century, a player's all-around ability is not described using a triple-double.
No need!
A score of 20+5+5 is considered an all-around star. Jordan, Pippen, and Drexler all meet this standard and are considered top-tier all-around stars!
If there were a 20+7+7, like Grant Hill, that would be an unparalleled super genius, a born all-around monster!
A triple-double is an extremely difficult statistic to achieve in this era. Many star players never manage to get one in their entire career. There are even some players who would shoot at their own basket and grab the rebound just to get a triple-double.
Or to give another example, Oscar Robertson, nicknamed "The Big O," who only had one MVP and one non-Finals MVP championship in his career during the 90s, is firmly ranked in the top ten of all time! Some media outlets even rank him in the top five or Mount Rushmore!
Why?
Because of his versatility, because of his 181 triple-doubles in his career and his average triple-double per game in a single season!
His record of averaging a triple-double and recording 181 triple-doubles is widely regarded in the NBA as one of the most difficult records to break in history. Along with Wilt Chamberlain's record of averaging 50 points per game and Archibald's record of winning both the scoring title and the assist title in the same year, it is considered the ceiling of NBA records, and is believed to be something that no one can do or surpass!
A triple-double is one of the most luxurious and coveted statistics of this era!
In this era without players like Westbrook, James, and Harden, the entire league might only see one triple-double a month!
In the all-time rankings, apart from Oscar Robertson with 181 triple-doubles and Magic Johnson with 138, no other person has surpassed 100 triple-doubles.
Wilt Chamberlain, ranked third in history, has only 78 triple-doubles. Next in line is Larry Bird, ranked fourth with 59 triple-doubles.
On the list of consecutive triple-doubles, the first place is held by Wilt Chamberlain in the 1967-68 season, who recorded nine consecutive triple-doubles, the first in NBA history!
Next up are Oscar Robertson and Michael Jordan, who both hold the record for seven triple-doubles, tying for second all-time.
Next, we have Lin Tian now!
He only needs one more triple-double to tie Jordan and Robertson for second place in history; two will put him in second place; and four consecutive triple-doubles will set a new record!
At this moment, Barkley's earlier statement seems even more accurate!
Lin Tian's next games, especially the games before his streak of triple-doubles ended, will all be new records!
Lin Tian did not disappoint his fans; his triple-double streak showed no signs of stopping and continued relentlessly!
On April 28, Lin Tian returned to City Square Arena and faced the invading Trail Blazers. He once again unleashed his all-around mode, scoring 24 points, 10 assists, 13 rebounds and 5 steals, achieving his seventh triple-double and tying Michael Jordan and Oscar Robertson for second place in NBA history!
But being tied is clearly not Lin Tian's end goal!
On April 30th, the last day of April, the Pacers once again headed to the West to face another opponent, the Los Angeles Clippers!
This bottom-ranked team in the league has long been eyeing Elton Brand from Duke University. They have no ambition for this season and have absolutely no interest in winning games to stop Lin Tian from getting a triple-double.
Anything is fine as long as they don't get Brand!
Anything is acceptable?
After realizing that the Clippers had no desire to play, Lin Tian also decided not to play against these lousy players. In the first half, he played 21 minutes, scoring 18 points, grabbing 11 rebounds, and dishing out 10 assists! He achieved his eighth consecutive triple-double in just half a game!
With Lin Tian in such explosive form, how could the Clippers possibly hold on to the game?
They were already down by 24 points at the end of the first half, and less than 3 minutes into the second half, the Clippers had cleanly cut the deficit to 30 points!
It was as if the more they lost, the greater their chances of getting the number one pick and signing Brand. The Clippers played with absolutely no resistance!
Then, Bird believed that such a bad game would affect the players' physical and mental health and give them nightmares after the game. So Bird cleanly and decisively substituted Lin Tian and others off the court after only 3 minutes of play in the third quarter.
Bird didn't even dare to let key substitutes like Carter and Mullin play, because he was genuinely afraid it would affect the team's preparations for the next game.
The Pacers are going to face a tough opponent in their next game!
To the fans' surprise, even though there were still more than 20 minutes left in the game, they didn't recognize almost any of the players on the field!
Buckner, Hoiberg, Ellington, Lewis, Pope!
These five Pacers players will most likely play almost the entire second half!
These guys, who had been holding back for a long time and barely played in the first three quarters, were like tigers unleashed when they came on the court, tearing at the Clippers' kittens!
In this game, Pope scored a career-high 8 points and 7 rebounds, Lewis scored a career-high 11 points, Ellington also scored 10 points, tying his career high, and Buckner dished out 6 assists, also a career high!
Four Pacers players set career records and played their best games of the season.
Well, the only one who didn't break the record was Hoiberg, but last season Hoiberg played in the conference finals and the NBA finals as a rotation player! He even scored in double figures in a game and made a key shot in that kind of situation. He really couldn't be bothered to break this kind of minor record!
With the Pacers' third unit playing so well, the Clippers naturally continued to offer no resistance and were unable to mount a counterattack.
120: 63!
The Clippers suffered a crushing 57-point defeat, their worst loss of the season.
Of course, they didn't take it too seriously. Losing by 20, 30, or 50 points doesn't make much difference! They'll lose anyway, and they'll still get paid.
If the Clippers manage to get the number one draft pick at the end of the season, the team's management might even give the players some bonuses!
The boss would definitely say with a smile, "Well done! Excellent play! A very exciting defeat!"
The Pacers did not return to Indiana afterward, because they had another game to play in Los Angeles!
They're going to challenge both Los Angeles teams in succession!
On one field, they faced two completely different teams!
The Clippers are focused on acquiring Brand and rebuilding, while the Lakers' only goal is the championship!
This game between the Pacers and the Lakers, Lin Tian versus the Lakers' Big Three, was naturally broadcast live across the United States!
Everyone wants to see if Lin Tian can achieve a triple-double in his ninth consecutive game!
They want to see Lin Tian break the record!
Of course, most importantly, all the fans want to see this epic showdown!
Although the Lakers are only ranked fourth in the Western Conference this season due to factors such as the integration after the big trade and the readjustment after the change of head coach, as long as they are the Lakers and as long as they are still playing, the Lakers will definitely be the focus of the entire league and one of the most watched teams!
There's nothing we can do about it; this is Los Angeles, after all.
However, just as many NBA fans were looking forward to a fierce battle, wanting to see if the two sides could determine a winner and create some sparks, to give the regular season a good ending and let the fans have one last good time, as a warm-up for the playoffs, Stern slammed his fist on the table in his office!
"Who the hell is the Lakers' head coach? Get the mafia to kill him! Kill him! Resting players? At this time of year, in a game broadcast nationally, he's giving Shaq and Kobe a rest? Who does he think he is? Phil Jackson? Even if Phil Jackson were resting in a game like this, I'd still kill him!"
Yes, just two hours before the game started, news came from the Lakers that Kobe and Shaq, the inside-outside duo, would miss the remainder of the regular season due to groin and wrist injuries. They would focus on recovering and preparing for the playoffs!
Stern wouldn't get this angry at other times, but it just so happens this year, and it just so happens to be a Lakers vs. Pacers game.
Everyone knows that the league has seen a significant drop in attendance and viewership this year, and it needs some exciting games to win back viewers and improve its reputation.
But in such a difficult and crucial time, the Lakers' head coach is giving me a rest day?
Stern was absolutely furious!
This behavior is completely going against him; it's deliberately trying to mess with him!
FUXX!
Are you testing my limits?
Do you really think that just because you're part of the Lakers, I can't do anything about you?
As Stern was pondering how to retaliate against the Lakers and their current relatively unknown head coach, his assistant, who had been silent until now and seemed flustered by the enraged president, suddenly asked, "Mr. President, should we still contact the Mafia?"
"Contact me my ass! Contact me my ass! Get out! Get out of here! No, you stay here. You have connections to the Mafia, right? Let them give you a bullet, let them kill you, then fill you with cement and dump you at the bottom of the Mississippi River! Get out!"
Stern was absolutely furious!
Larry Bird was just as furious as he was that night!
Because that night, the Pacers played their worst game of the season!
Perhaps the team was too relaxed after winning by 57 points in the previous game, or perhaps the fact that they knew before the game that the Lakers' two leaders would not be playing made everyone on the Pacers take the Lakers seriously, thinking that this was just a formality and that they could easily defeat the Lakers.
However, the Pacers were at a disadvantage from the very beginning of the game! Although Kobe and Shaq of the Lakers wore suits and sat on the sidelines during this game, Glen Rice played his best game since joining the Lakers!
He hit three three-pointers in the first quarter, scoring 17 points, and then hit three more three-pointers in the second quarter, scoring another 14 points!
Throughout the first half, Rice was on fire, racking up an incredible 31 points, 4 rebounds, and 3 assists! Under his leadership, the Lakers led the Pacers by a whopping 19 points at halftime!
On the Pacers' side, only Lin Tian's performance could be described as normal, but that was all. He made 7 of 17 shots, scoring 19 points, 7 rebounds, and 6 assists. However, Lin Tian was clearly not in his best form today, as he committed 4 turnovers in the first half!
During halftime, Bird unleashed his biggest outburst in two years, spending a full 20 minutes verbally attacking his players, blaming them for not working hard enough, being too complacent, and taking themselves too seriously.
Despite their eloquent but ultimately unsuccessful rhetoric, the Pacers failed to regain their form. Perhaps they simply didn't want to win tonight, or perhaps they were just unable to find any rhythm. And sometimes, form and intensity are rather strange things.
When it's not there, it's not there. No matter how hard you try or how desperately you work, it just won't come!
Conversely, when you're in your prime, every shot goes in and everything goes smoothly! He can perform beyond his usual level!
In this game, the Lakers and the Pacers represented two extremes.
The Lakers are in great form, while the Pacers are playing terribly!
Although Lin Tian still managed to get a triple-double in the end, this was his ninth consecutive triple-double, which tied Wilt Chamberlain's record for consecutive triple-doubles, making them the all-time leader in the sport!
But this historical record is clearly not something to celebrate. At least at the press conference after the game, neither Lin Tian nor Bird showed any interest in the topic.
Bird said this was the worst game the team had played in his two years as coach. He said it's not that he doesn't allow the team to lose, nor does he say he doesn't allow the team to be upset by the opponent, but what matters is the way they lose. They can't lose in such a bad state and in such a bad way!
The team, from top to bottom, was too complacent and relaxed, which led to them being upset by the Lakers without the OK duo!
Lin Tian also said that he doesn't care about his stats at all. He doesn't care how many points he scored, how many rebounds he grabbed, or how many assists he made. If the game is lost, none of that is worth bragging about, celebrating, or recording!
Victory is far more important than statistics!
In short, Lin Tian and Bird were particularly disrespectful to the media tonight!
They were both in the same bad mood!
This attitude also prevented the media from boasting and reporting on Lin Tian's historic triple-double record; they could only report things like "Lin declares that statistics are worthless in the face of victory."
This gimmick is far less interesting than a historical record of this magnitude!
Similarly, it was precisely because of Lin Tian and Bird's dissatisfaction and lack of cooperation that the Pacers completely disregarded the two awards announced by the league the day before the game.
Player of the Month for April and Rookie of the Month for April!
Lin Tian, with his triple-double performance in eight consecutive games and his determination to overcome adversity, led his team to an eight-game winning streak, successfully defeating Jordan and winning the Player of the Month award for the second consecutive month!
虽然这个月乔丹场均能够拿下34.1分5.3篮板6.2助攻，带队成绩也比步行者更好，达到了13胜2负，而步行者队只有10胜4负。
However, both of the Knicks' losses came against Lin Tian and the Pacers, and Lin Tian has been averaging top-tier numbers this month: 33.2 points, 7.5 rebounds, and 11.1 assists! He also had eight consecutive triple-double performances.
Therefore, Lin Tian's victory over Jordan to win the Player of the Month award is absolutely well-deserved!
In any case, there wasn't much in the league who thought Jordan deserved the award more than Lin Tian.
Having lost two consecutive head-to-head matches, how can they possibly accept an award?
After winning both direct confrontations, winning Player of the Month for two consecutive months, and putting up such historic statistics, Lin Tian has basically secured the MVP award for this season!
He has a very good chance of winning his first MVP award in his fourth year in the NBA! If he does, Lin Tian will complete a grand slam: MVP, Rising Stars MVP, All-Star MVP, and Finals MVP!
Although it wasn't accomplished in a single season, in the history of the NBA, there are extremely few people who can achieve this. Every single one of them is one of the greatest stars in history!
After winning this MVP award, Lin Tian will officially enter the ranks of the top players in history!
Similarly, the Rookie of the Month award was given to Vince Carter for the second consecutive month! This month, due to Miller's absence, Carter's performance has been getting better and better. He is averaging 17 points, 3 rebounds and 2 assists per game, and has become the team's second-leading scorer and number one offensive weapon after Lin Tian!
Winning Rookie of the Month for two consecutive months has essentially secured Carter's Rookie of the Year award for the season! He came from behind to surpass Jason Williams, whose playing style is flashy and elegant, and Paul Pierce, whose playing style is practical and steady.
Carter is not only highly likely to win Rookie of the Year this season, but he is also very likely to become the second rookie player after Lin Tian to win Sixth Man of the Year!
However, after this unexpected loss to the Lakers, neither Lin Tian nor Carter celebrated or showed excessive excitement. They were both in low spirits.
Besides the shock loss to the Lakers, the gap between them and the Knicks has widened to two games after this defeat!
With only one game left in the regular season, the Pacers can no longer overtake the Knicks; at best, they will only be second in the Eastern Conference.
To make matters worse, the Heat, who were third in the East, and the Magic, who were fourth, also caught up with the Pacers in terms of record after this game!
The good news is that the Pacers led both the Heat and the Magic 2-0 in the regular season, so even if the three teams are tied, the Pacers will still be second! Therefore, the initiative is still in the Pacers' own hands!
However, if the Pacers lose their final game of the season while the Heat and Magic win, the Pacers' ranking will continue to drop, falling two places to fourth in the Eastern Conference!
This news is undoubtedly terrible for the entire Pacers team!
After all, being fourth in the East means a more dangerous first-round matchup and an early showdown with the Knicks in the Eastern Conference semifinals!
This is definitely something the Pacers didn't want to see!
Although Miller is in decent condition, the team doctor has given a return timetable of early June!
At that time, the Eastern Conference Finals were at least halfway through.
No matter how confident the Pacers are, and no matter how many times they have beaten the Knicks without Miller, they absolutely do not want to face the Knicks in the Eastern Conference semifinals without Miller!
This has nothing to do with confidence; it's simply unnecessary!
Why make yourself unhappy?
Wouldn't it be better to be more cautious?
Therefore, this situation means that the Pacers will not be able to take it easy or rest players in their final regular season game! They must go all out and play well in this last regular season game to solidify their second-place ranking in the Eastern Conference!
This is not good news for the Pacers, but it's fantastic news for the fans!
The reason is simple: Lin Tian will definitely make an appearance tonight!
Lin Tian now holds the NBA record for nine consecutive triple-doubles! He has tied Wilt Chamberlain's record, and he has the opportunity to surpass Chamberlain and claim the all-time record!
It's worth noting that this record of nine consecutive triple-doubles is widely recognized as one of the most difficult NBA records to break. Many people even rank it ahead of Wilt Chamberlain's seven consecutive 50+ point games, believing that this record is even more difficult than the seven consecutive 50+ point games!
After all, seven consecutive 50+ point games only require the player to be in good form, but nine triple-double games require help from both teammates and opponents!
The opponent needs to miss a few shots to get rebounds, and teammates need to make a few more shots when they receive Lin Tian's passes, otherwise there will be no assists.
As I said before, triple-doubles were a rare thing in the 90s. There were many stars who could score more than 45 points, but very few could get a triple-double!
Besides that, there is another very noteworthy point in the Pacers' final game!
Because the Knicks and Suns both finished their seasons a day earlier than the Pacers, their final games were played on May 4th.
In other words, Michael Jordan, who currently leads the league in scoring with an average of 28.9 points per game, and Jason Kidd, who leads the league in assists this season with an average of 10.8 assists per game, have both completed all their regular season games, and their stats are now finalized!
And what are Lin Tian's average stats now?
28.7 points, 10.7 assists!
He was only 0.2 points behind Jordan and 0.1 assists behind Kidd!
Jordan and Kidd both played all 50 games, scoring 1447 points and 542 assists respectively!
And Lin Tian? He has played 49 games so far, scoring a total of 1408 points and 526 assists!
In other words, if Lin Tian scores at least 40 points and 17 assists in the last game of the season, he will become the second man in NBA history to win both the scoring title and the assist title in the same season!
The last person to achieve this was Nate Archibald, nicknamed "The Elf," in the 1972-1973 season!
It has been more than 25 years since then!
If Lin Tian can win this honor, he will be even more certain to win the MVP this year, and may even become the first unanimous MVP in NBA history!
Therefore, this seemingly ordinary game, which can only determine the final ranking of the Eastern Conference, is actually very likely to produce a historic moment!
Moreover, it was a truly pivotal historical moment!
Just imagine, if Lin Tian scores a triple-double in this game and gets at least 40 points and 17 assists, he will simultaneously win the scoring title and assist title this season, and set a new record by scoring a triple-double in 10 consecutive games!
These numbers alone are enough to drive all fans wild! Nobody wants to miss such a classic moment that is likely to exist only in legends or be mentioned countless times in the years to come!
So, on May 4th, the entire City Square Arena was once again packed inside and out. Countless people gathered in the square outside the arena, and many held up signs, wanting to buy tickets for the game at high prices.
Many beautiful girls also held up signs, willing to do some unspeakable things in exchange for a ticket to the competition. Two girls even took off their tops to show their support for on-site inspection!
Many men even held up signs saying they were willing to do unspeakable things in exchange for a ticket. Unfortunately, no man actually took off his pants and exposed his buttocks for people to inspect on the spot.
Many people who own tickets ignore the demand for high-priced purchases and equivalent exchanges. Compared to a few minutes of enjoyment and a return of thousands of dollars, they would rather witness this historic moment in person!
So they hurried into the stadium, afraid that if they lingered outside any longer, their tickets would be stolen, or they would succumb to temptation and sell them, missing out on a game they would remember for the rest of their lives.
In short, this otherwise unremarkable match has garnered an incredible amount of attention due to various reasons!
For example, both TNT and NBC chose to temporarily change their broadcast plans and simultaneously chose to broadcast this game live!
It's important to know that since the NBA implemented a new broadcasting agreement this season, granting broadcasting rights to both TNT and NBC, these two broadcasters have essentially avoided broadcasting the same game, as negotiations were completed before the season even began.
Those exciting matchups were almost split between each team; if you broadcast the Lakers, I'd show the Knicks; if you broadcast the Pacers, I'd show the Jazz vs. Spurs interior battles.
Of course, in a super matchup like the Knicks vs. Pacers, where neither side is willing to back down, it's simply a matter of both teams broadcasting it together.
However, throughout the entire season, there were only three instances where the two organizations broadcast the same match together!
These include two matchups between the Pacers and New York, and a key game where the Knicks play the Bulls on the road, marking Jordan's return to the United Center.
All in all, there were only three games in the entire season!
Even the Lakers didn't get the opportunity to be broadcast by two media outlets simultaneously, which shows how highly the broadcasters valued this game!
Besides the Pacers playing at home, the other team destined to play a supporting role in this game is Lin Tian's former team. This season, due to the departure of the "iron triangle" and Jackson, they have sunk to the bottom, ranking last in the Eastern Conference, and their goal is Brand's Chicago Bulls!
How bad is the Bulls this season? They have only won 13 games so far, ranking last in the Eastern Conference. If it weren't for the Grizzlies and Clippers in the West failing to win even 10 games, the Bulls' ranking would have dropped even further.
At the same time, all the key figures from the team's previous two championship runs—Phil Jackson, Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, Dennis Rodman, Luc Longley, Steve Kerr, and others—have left!
Familiar faces from the previous Bulls team who are still with the team this year include Toni Kukoc, who has become the team leader, and Ron Harper, who has been heavily criticized for averaging 19 points, 7 rebounds and 5 assists per game, but whose team is at the bottom of the standings.
Well, there's also Bill Wennington, but unfortunately this peace-loving big man suffered a serious injury this season, playing only a little over 20 games in total, and couldn't provide any significant help to the team.
The rest of the team were either hastily recruited by Krause from the free agent market or were fringe players who had never even gotten playing time before.
In short, Krause paid the price for his stinginess and pettiness. The team went from a dynasty to the bottom of the league overnight.
Of course, Klaus remains ambitious!
He believes that if he were given a chance to select a few new super talents in the draft in the next few years, the team would be able to immediately regain its former glory!
That's a bit of a tangent.
Returning to this game, it also held extraordinary significance for the Bulls.
This season, the Bulls, now in disarray, had only secured two nationally televised games before this match.
One game is a home game against the Knicks, and the other is an away game against the Knicks.
Originally, everyone wanted to see Jordan face off against his former team, but unfortunately, the Bulls are just too weak right now. They really can't pose any threat to the Knicks, and both games ended in crushing defeats for the Bulls.
The Bulls were utterly thrashed on both of their only nationally televised broadcasts this season. In the eyes of American fans, the Bulls are nothing but a joke and a complete bottom-feeder!
But today, they not only had a live broadcast across the entire United States, but it was also a simultaneous broadcast on two channels!
Even around the world, such as in China, Japan, the Philippines, Serbia, and France, people have chosen to broadcast this game, which may not be exciting, but is sure to get extremely high viewership, on the last day of the regular season!
This match, which was originally unremarkable and not worth mentioning, was changed by the fact that Lin Tian was about to break the historical record. Two American TV stations changed their broadcast plans at the same time, abandoning the match they were originally going to broadcast and choosing to broadcast this one instead!
Of course, there are also broadcasts from dozens of television stations around the world!
After all, if Lin Tian can break the record in this match, it will be a moment when a whole new history is born!
Fans around the world don't want to miss this moment!
Before the match, seeing the rapid increase in expected viewership on both television stations and the frequent reports of good news from television stations around the world, Stern finally smiled again.
The anger that Stern felt a few days ago due to the Lakers' lack of cooperation and disregard for the rules of the game has finally been balanced by the high level of attention this game has garnered.
Stern was even deceiving himself!
What if O'Neal and Kobe both played in that game, and Lin didn't get a triple-double, causing the triple-double record to be broken?
Then we won't be able to witness the global celebration of this match!
After trying to think about it in this direction, Stern felt much more at ease!
Now, it all depends on whether Lin Tian will give them face!
No, we'll have to see if the Bulls will disappoint!
In Stern's mind, he was a crazy supporter of the Bulls!
I'm not talking about how exciting or entertaining the game was, or how we fought until the very end and pulled off some kind of game-winning shot!
At the very least, we should stick to three holidays, right?
Lin Tian needs to achieve at least one of the following: a triple-double or 40 points and 16 assists.
It's not like the Bulls can just surrender and get completely crushed after Lin Tian scores ten or twenty points in one quarter!
At worst, if Lin Tian finishes with 39 points, 16 assists, and 9 rebounds, that would be fine too!
Imperfect beauty, almost achieving something historic but ultimately failing to do so, it's not that it's incapable!
I, David Stern, just want attention!
No matter what you do, you should at least put on a fight worthy of the attention! No matter what you do, you should at least make it a more exciting fight!
After thinking about this, Stern hesitated for a long time, glanced at his watch, closed the office door, and picked up the phone to call Bird.
(End of this chapter)