Basketball Legend: When Pride Still Matters-Chapter 1061 - 601 Dont End It Like MJ_3

Chapter 1061: Chapter 601: Don’t End It Like MJ_3 Chapter 1061: Chapter 601: Don’t End It Like MJ_3 Aldridge said incisively, “Maybe we shouldn’t have played Frye’s tribute video before the game started. I’m not saying we shouldn’t do it, just that it might have been better to wait until after the game.”

This game officially kicked off Yu Fei’s “Mad March.”

The next day, the Clippers faced the Timberwolves back-to-back. Fei continued his hot streak, scoring a terrifyingly efficient 44 points, 7 rebounds, leading his team to an easy victory over their opponents.

Rivers finally realized that ever since Fei attended Mason’s memorial, he had changed. The composed demeanor of a middle-aged man seeing through everything had vanished, replaced by a mad desire to advance.

When Fei scored over 50 points for the second time in ten days, even Yao Ming couldn’t help but joke, “I stepped on a few ants today; I hope to attend their memorial service so I can regain the spirit of an 18-year-old!”

Unfortunately, he couldn’t.

According to Fei, Yao’s current mental state is like this: “No matter if you say 1 + 1 equals 100 in front of him, or that chocolate-filled dumplings taste good, he would nod in agreement.”

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That’s the demeanor of a 35-year-old man, about to enter middle age—not heartless, but just not caring as much anymore.

Fei’s performance in March was not only all-round but also astonishingly efficient.

In games where he scored 40 points, only once did he take more than 20 shots; in the games where he scored 50 points (4 games), he never took more than 25 shots.

If his offense was on fire, that’s one thing, because the big trend in Space Basketball is that it facilitates offense.

But Fei’s defense also seemed to have a trend of returning to its peak, with an average of 2 blocks and 2 steals per game in March, making it seem like he was contending for DPOY.

At the end of March, Fei scored 40 points in 29 minutes, leading his team to a crushing victory over the Jazz.

Scoring 40 points in 29 minutes, Fei set the record for the shortest duration to score 40 points since 1983.

Regarding this outcome, Jazz coach Snyder said, “Our defense didn’t have a problem; it’s just unlucky to encounter Frye in GOAT form.”

By the end of March, the Clippers achieved a complete victory record. Fei averaged 41 points, 11 rebounds, 6 assists, 2.4 blocks, and 2 steals in March, terrifying in both basic and advanced statistics.

Coming into April, the Clippers had only seven games left in their schedule. Two of those games were against the city’s Lakers. If they remained undefeated, they could enter the playoffs with a historical second-best record of 72 wins and 10 losses.

But this wasn’t important, as they had essentially secured the League’s first-place record. Even if they won all games, they could not challenge the best historical record, so Rivers wished for Fei, who had been too hot in March, to get some proper rest in April.

Thus, in games against the Denver Nuggets and the Trail Blazers, Rivers arranged for Fei to take a rotation rest.

As it turned out, it was during the game against the Nuggets, renowned for their track-and-field team reputation, that they defeated the Clippers in a chaotic battle.

This was a negative situation caused by Clippers after Fei’s overly hot performance in March.

Because Fei was in such good form in March, the whole team was playing around him. Suddenly giving him a rest rotation, plus facing an unpredictable team like the Nuggets, the team didn’t adapt in time, and Rivers’ on-the-spot adjustments were not good, leading to an unwarranted upset.

Then came the back-to-back game against the Lakers.

Although both games were played at Staples Center, one indeed counted as a home game, the other as an away game.

Every time Fei saw Kobe, he would ask about his scoring record.

Kobe would answer truthfully.

This season, although Kobe was older, with Big Jah and Anthony on the team, the Lakers were actually quite competitive.

However, Anthony’s arrival objectively affected Kobe’s chase for the scoring record.

This season, Kobe averaged 24 points, surpassing Jordan at the beginning of the season, currently ranked third on the all-time scoring list, nearly 3000 points away from Karl Malone, and conservatively estimated to surpass Karl Malone by next next season.

Today, the Lakers did not hold back just because the regular season was about to end.

They wanted to give their all against the Clippers.

Unfortunately, they encountered the Clippers at their full strength.

Fei played only half the game before realizing he didn’t need to go full throttle like in March, so he began passing the ball for assists, and as the game went on, he unexpectedly racked up a triple-double with 14 points, 11 rebounds, and 20 assists.

The Lakers fought with all their might but still lost the game by a 12-point margin.

The narrative was the same in the subsequent second game.

The Lakers had the strength to contend with the Clippers, but because of Kobe’s age and the lack of bench depth, they often ran into endurance issues in the fourth quarter. Once they failed to score for several rounds, Antetokounmpo seized the chance to counterattack, and that was the beginning of the collapse.

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After being defeated consecutively by the Clippers, the Lakers fully woke up.

The city’s Clippers might be the strongest team in the entire League. Luckily, they are currently ranked fifth in the Western, so they won’t face them in the first round.

Unfortunately, if they make it to the second round, they will have to face the Clippers.

But this is not something to consider at the moment.

After the back-to-back city derbies, both teams entered the final sprint stage of the season.

After back-to-back victories over the Lakers, the overall state of the Clippers kept improving, and the remaining games were mostly won consecutively without any problems.

On April 9th, the Clippers concluded the 2014-15 regular season at home with a record of 71 wins and 11 losses.