Chapter 121: Because The Lord Will Forget
The next day, under Dr. Ross’s guidance, Xu Ling underwent a series of unprecedented recovery training. There was no intense running or jumping, only precise and restrained movements, even somewhat tedious ones, as if reprogramming every muscle in his body. The process was so quiet it felt uncomfortable, but afterward, the stability from his ankle made Xu Ling realize that this method was truly effective.
After the entire set of physical therapy was completed, Dr. Darko Ross stated that after training ended, another recovery therapy was needed, and moreover, Xu Ling needed to hire a reliable training team after the season to help him master how to use core strength to assist lower limb movements, and also learn to use his hips to generate power like all evergreen outside players.
“Doctor, I really want to know, what exactly does this ‘using hips to generate power’ feel like?”
Xu Ling looked at the doctor with a face full of curiosity.
Dr. Ross adjusted his glasses and said seriously: “Simply put, it’s teaching you to think with your ass.”
Xu Ling: “?”
“Literal meaning.” The doctor pointed to his own hips. “When your brain stops over-intervening in the shooting motion and lets the trained hip muscles take the lead in generating power, you’ll find the whole world becomes quiet. After all… compared to your overactive brain, your ass might know better how to get the ball into the basket.”
Xu Ling: “This sounds both scientific and insulting.”
“No way around it, science is like that.”
Then, another day passed.
Houston was the first to report news: Yao Ming had successfully undergone surgery, but whether he could make it to this year’s Olympic Games remained unknown, as there were less than half a year left until the Olympic Games began.
Afterward, the Grizzlies challenged the Bulls in an away game.
This was a team ruined by Kobe.
At the start of the season, the Kobe trade saga dragged on, and the Bulls seemed the most likely destination for Kobe.
They had enough chips, a young army with considerable potential, and a huge market; only after Jordan retired had the United Center lacked a worthy owner, and if Kobe came, it would be the perfect ending.
But while the Bulls only needed to consider acquiring Kobe in a trade, Kobe had much more to consider.
First, he had to go there, you had to trade him over, maintain lineup stability, have a future, and contend for championships; if it was even a little off, he wouldn’t go. The Bulls were strung along for months, ultimately collapsing the whole team’s mentality. A once competitive team was now prematurely considering lottery draft matters.
Coincidentally, there really was a genius from Chicago worth drafting this year, so did Kobe ultimately do a good deed?
The Grizzlies battled the Bulls over four quarters and ultimately defeated their opponent with low winning desire without much danger.
Tonight’s Grizzlies were the picture that academy experts wanted to see.
Kidd notched an efficient triple-double, Josh Howard scored a team-high 25 points, Xu Ling’s 20 points close behind, then Milicic also put up 10 points and 8 rebounds; four players in double figures, with balanced offensive firepower—that’s what a strong team looks like.
Bulls head coach Jim Boylan’s view on the game was: “I really think the competitiveness between the Eastern Conference and Western Conference is imbalanced. In the East, we have Boston, Detroit, Cleveland, and then what? The rest are all similar, while in the West, from Western Conference first to Western Conference tenth, every team is highly competitive. What I’m saying is, a team like the Grizzlies facing the problem of missing the playoffs—this has a huge impact on my worldview.”
Boylan’s words sparked widespread criticism in the Eastern Conference.
For example, Celtics head coach Doug Rivers, the league’s number one.
“I think the East’s competition is equally fierce,” Rivers said. “In some ways, the competition here is fiercer than the West because Eastern Conference teams have more intense physical confrontation—this is a contact-dominant sport, you know. A team like Houston that keeps winning streak after streak couldn’t appear in the East; under game after game of attrition, it’s impossible to achieve such a long winning streak. I think this evaluation is unfair to other teams—yes, it’s undoubtedly blasphemous.”
After Rivers, coaches or players from other Eastern Conference teams also voiced their viewpoints. Their core idea was: yes, the West looks competitive, but isn’t it possible that’s because they don’t have a transcendent powerhouse like the Celtics?
Kobe and Nowitzki’s Mavericks certainly had super team potential, but lately Nowitzki was dealing with injury and needed to rest for at least two weeks; Kobe was somewhat back to a single-core situation. The Mavericks needed more time to build chemistry; they couldn’t yet be called a super team.
Meanwhile, the East remained overshadowed by the Celtics.
If the Celtics were placed in the West, they would similarly dominate as one superpower among many strong teams.
Shortly after, as if to prove this point.
When the Houston Rockets defeated the Lakers and Hornets in succession again, their winning streak reached a surreal 22 games.
This was the second-longest winning streak in NBA history.
This absolutely electrified Rockets fans worldwide; those familiar with NBA history began listing the final records of teams with similar streaks—they mentioned the 72 Lakers, who were champions, the 71 Bucks, also champions; even the worst of those with similar records reached the division finals.
This was something the Rockets dared not hope for after Yao Ming went down.
Undoubtedly, this was a miracle.
But miracles always end; on March 18, the Rockets faced their 23rd opponent in nearly two months of winning streak—the Celtics.
The Rockets challenged the Celtics in an away game; the first half was evenly matched at 40-40, but in the second half, Garnett’s defense, Pierce’s isolation plays, and the explosion from bench spark Leon Powe caused the Rockets to collapse like a landslide, stomped dead like a cockroach.
Battling alone, McGrady seemed to snap a string, performing abysmally against the green team, scoring only 8 points for the game.
“I’m really fed up with the West strong East weak narrative.” Paul Pierce joined the public opinion war after the game. “Put those so-called strong Western Conference teams in the East, or us in the West—I guarantee you, the Celtics would still be the Celtics, while the other teams wouldn’t be the same.”
Originally, this was just a public opinion war to clarify “our East isn’t weak, and even if the East is weak, you still have to respect us Celtics”; suddenly, the Celtics crushed the hottest Western Conference team at the time, a total blowout, and Pierce’s post-game embellished remarks turned the whole thing into East vs. West opposition.
Kobe, the superstar of the Western Conference first-place Mavericks, led the response: “I think talking more is pointless; strength is proven on the court, and Western Conference teams have a higher winning percentage against Eastern Conference teams.”
Though Kobe never attended college, he proposed a scientific way to settle the debate: look at winning percentage.
At that, everyone perked up, because it favored the West; season-to-date, Western Conference teams’ winning percentage against Eastern Conference teams was 53%, a big advantage from the large sample of conference matchups.
But the Eastern Conference tough guys said they didn’t understand data—what if your winning percentage is higher? It just means your usual confrontation level is lower, so you can conserve energy to face Eastern Conference teams, unlike us Eastern Conference teams playing like it’s kill-or-be-killed, wearing each other down to near death, naturally letting you pick up cheap wins. If you’ve got the guts, face off against our Celtics?
Suddenly, the Celtics became the banner of the entire East, bearing all the conference’s hopes and glory.
The East’s dignity, the East’s strength, the East’s questioned intensity—all of this now defended by this green legion. After crushing the Rockets decisively, they easily took another Western Conference powerhouse, the Hornets.
Facing the Celtics’ ironclad defense, Chris Paul was completely lost; this victory gave Eastern Conference supporters unprecedented satisfaction.
As March drew to a close, the Celtics were at home, fully prepared, awaiting the next Western Conference challenger’s arrival.
Young point guard Rajon Rondo boldly declared: “At this moment, we fight for the East. The entire East’s strength converges here.”
So, which Western Conference team were they about to face?
It was the source that ignited all this—Memphis Grizzlies.
Bill Simmons specially wrote a preview for this marquee matchup. On this season’s Grizzlies, he wrote: “If you fell asleep in 1998 drunk on Jordan’s ‘last shot’ and woke up a decade later today, you’d be shocked to find the NBA’s hottest team includes the Grizzlies. Grizzlies? Seriously? Think back—most headlines this season have been about this team. This war sweeping the East and West started as a few flattering words from the Bulls’ interim coach to save his job. But suddenly, it became basketball’s top story. And the Grizzlies who ignited it all are still struggling to hold onto a playoff ticket.”
“I still believe the Celtics will win the next game, and that the Grizzlies will make headlines tomorrow for some reason. You might not believe my prediction, but you must believe in Eli Xu—Mr. Headlines never disappoints.”
The last time the Grizzlies faced the Celtics was during Xu Ling’s ankle sprain; naturally, they had no answer against the unstoppable green team.
But this time, they were in a critical playoff push period; defeating the league-first Celtics could build fierce momentum straight into the playoffs, while conversely, getting stomped like the Rockets would heavily damage the team atmosphere for their playoff chase.
When the plane landed and Xu Ling walked out of the airport, the media swarmed, questions coming one after another.
Xu Ling only caught the sharpest one: “Last time you faced the Celtics at home, you lost by 32 points—will that haunt you?”
“I don’t remember that game.”
Because many days had passed since that game, and masters forget certain things after the sun rises.
Escorted by bodyguards through the reporters, Xu Ling’s figure gradually receded into the distance.
