Chapter 567

Chapter 567: Advancing to the Western Conference Finals!

Ginobili leaving affected the Spurs game plan.

Although he was 38 years old, his defense was unmatched.

There was Tony Parker, who was great for a few years, and was only 32 this year but he regressed by half and lost his greatness.

Usually, Duncan and Ginobili’s individual defense was already great.

However, they were against Chen Huan and had to work together to prevent Chen Huan from scoring like crazy.

But Ginobili failed to implement the new tactics and had an incident while he was out so someone must take his place.

There was no other choice but to have Patty Mills fill his place.

But Mills could at most help a bit and the main responsibilities would fall on Duncan.

He was very tired.

There was no other way no matter how tired he was since nobody could defend Chen Huan one on one except him.

Luckily, the Lakers also lost Iverson and losing a player that could create his shot, their offensive power decreased.

No matter how good Kobe was, he could only play 6 minutes per quarter.

But what made the Spurs depressed was Duncan could also only play 6 minute per quarter when he was fully focused on defending Chen Huan.

Otherwise, Duncan’s physical condition would deteriorate and he would be unable to perform optically.

But look at Chen Huan.

He ran everywhere on the court, dribbling past people, dunking, blocking shots, showing the vitality of youth.

The made people exclaimed that the young were indeed better!

It was not!

It wasn’t him being too skilled but Chen Huan physical prowess was probably even better than Lebron at his peak!

And it was no problem for him to play 48 minutes when he was young.

But every minute was intensive in the playoff so being able to play that long was a talent itself.

A player like could be counted as two even if it was just a role player.

Especially in defense where the player could chase the other team’s superstar like a mad dog, which ensured that the superstar wouldn’t be able to perform.

Not to mention Chen Huan who was great in both offense and defense.

Many commentators were already describing Chen Huan as a superstar.

What he lacked was some experience in the league and personal accolades.

There was a grand chance for Chen Huan to win the FMVP if he reached the finals and continued to play like that even if he didn’t end up winning it.

He may easily get the regular season MVP if he plays one or two years in the league.

The morale of the Spurs didn’t collapse.

The reason was Chen Huan didn’t really hit anyone and only the chair was broken.

After witnessing how Chen Huan dealt with Davis and now with Ginobili who was unfortunately sent to the hospital, the Spurs players played normally so Chen Huan was more gentle and polite now so there was no big deal.

The most important reason was the Spurs had Duncan.

The Spurs wouldn’t have a mental collapse as long as Duncan was there even if he was 40 years old or even on the bench.

However, the difference in strength couldn’t be made up by morale and team unity.

Iverson went down and Kobe didn’t increase his playing time but Chen Huan increased another gear on his offense.

Chen Huan actually overwhelmed Duncan twice in the space of three minute by dribbling from the three points line to the basket before dunking on him!

Duncan couldn’t stop Chen Huan a step even if he used all of his strength but was instead pushed away like he was a paper toy.

The players and viewers were completely stunned by that.

The Blazers received the same treatment but they just thought that it was because the Blazers were too weak.

It was Duncan and even if he was 40 years old, he was still a superstar!

Pushing someone down or away was the most stamina action in the offense.

Duncan got done twice so he was exhausted and panting hence needed to be substituted but Chen Huan was still lively as he defended Leonard’s shot and stole the ball before assisting Kobe.

A player like that…

A game like that…

It was impossible to play!

So on the third game, the Spurs still lost 88 to 108.

Chen Huan had 43 points, 10 assists, 17 rebounds, 20 steals and 14 blocks.

This was a quintuple double for four consecutive games!

Actually, if Chen Huan wasn’t sent off two minute into his second game, he wouldn’t have any game that wasn’t a quintuple double.

They could say it was easy to start pads against the Blazers but could they say the same when it was against the Spurs?

With so many points, blocks and rebounds against Duncan, could any player do that?

The Spurs was also a hot-blooded team and a fight may have broken out if it was against other players.

But they didn’t dare to do so against Chen Huan.

Someone like Chen Huan could easily lift someone like he was a chicken and break a chair like folding a piece of paper, nobody wanted to get into a fight against him.

Life was beautiful and there was no need to get this excited.

The Spurs’ chances to get into the Western Conference finals were very slim now that they were down 0:3.

They knew they weren’t good enough but they still wanted to give Duncan a farewell gift with a Western Conference Finals appearance.

But their ambition seemed to be too naïve and they didn’t expect someone a great player like Chen Huan to show up.

There was no way for them even if Popovich tried his best.

Ginobili, who tried to implement his new plan, was now sent to the hospital and the other players weren’t the match of the experienced players in the Lakers.

The only one that could match them was Duncan but he was being exhausted by Chen Huan and couldn’t be used.

Duncan could use some dirty tricks too when guarding Chen Huan, he had to learn some since he became to superstars as Kobe or even MJ all knew to do those moves.

On May 8th, the fourth game of round two in San Antonio, the Spurs thoroughly lost with a score of 97:133.

Chen Huan continued his incredible performance with 52 points, 14 assists, 15 rebounds, 21 steals and 16 blocks. Easily keeping his winning streak and invincibility.

At the end of the game, even the Spurs couldn’t help to express their admiration toward Chen Huan’s great skill by giving him a standing ovation.

They weren’t convinced by the Lakers since they believed that the Spurs were better as a whole and the Lakers would be no match for them in their regular season team.

The fans believed they lost to Chen Huan so were convinced of their defeat by Chen Huan’s ability.

Anyways, the Lakers once again swept their opposition 4:0 in the Western Semifinals after also doing so on the first round against the Blazers.

The Lakers convincingly went into the Western Conference finals as the first team.

Now, the Warriors were still battling the Los Angeles Clippers.

But the Warriors had a 3:0 lead and were pretty much assured of making it into the next round.

When the most in form team met against the super team of the past two years, the battle would be an exciting one!