Chapter 393 Starlight Three-point Match (1/2)
The NBA All-Star Game is divided into three days, including the Celebrity Game, Rookie Game, Skill Challenge Game, Three-Point Competition, Slam Dunk Competition, and the main match. The first day was the Celebrity Game and Rookie Game.
To put it bluntly, the first day was warm-up and entertainment.
The league invited Tang Hao to participate in the rookie challenge, but was rejected by Tang Hao. So on this day, Tang Hao basically acted as a spectator on the sidelines and played with old fritters such as Kobe, Curry, and Paul on the sidelines haha.
But even so, as long as he appears, the spotlight will always flash. Such treatment is even higher than Anthony who plays at home. I am afraid that only the "God of Basketball" Michael Jordan can be compared.
However, Tang Hao is just a rookie.
Tang Hao sat on the sidelines for a day, but there were no news reports about him.
A sharp-eyed reporter captured Swift and Scarlett appearing at the competition site. The two of them did not sit together, but were captured looking at the seat where Tang Hao was sitting from time to time. Including previous news, Tang Hao's emotional issues once again aroused heated discussions in the media.
Tang Hao is destined to be unable to keep a low profile this All-Star weekend.
After the first day of the Celebrity and Rookie Tournament, Tang Hao finally ushered in his debut in the NBA All-Ming Championship.
The first skill challenge to be held the next day.
Compared with other events, the attention of the Skills Challenge is not high, but Beverly's unexpected victory in the championship made the fans' interest suddenly increase.
The Tech Challenge follows the three-point competition.
Tang Hao's three-point shooting percentage has reached 55% of the history so far this season, and the league naturally also sent him an invitation to participate. His double-gun showdown with the Warriors is also the most eye-catching focus today's game besides the dunk contest.
In fact, Tang Hao is also one of the few players in history who have participated in three-point competitions and slam dunk competitions in a row. After all, to a certain extent, this is simply the work done by two different players.
In this three-point competition, except for Tang Hao, the most popular winners to win the championship are undoubtedly the Warriors' double-gun in the backcourt. The hottest Stephen Curry in the league and Clay Thompson who also killed the game with three-pointers are all historically strong.
In addition, three-pointer strikers Kevin Kovo, ** Redick, and Mark Belinelli are all expected to win the championship. The addition of star players Kyrie Irving and James Harden has made this three-pointer competition star-studded.
It is not an exaggeration to say that this is the most intense three-point competition in the NBA in the past decade.
The competition is about to begin, and the players are introduced one by one.
Top superstars like Curry and Harden were introduced to the field, and the Barclays Center was ignited instantly, but when Tang Hao came out the finale, the entire arena suddenly detonated.
Fans are not the media and they will not care about who has achieved more historical achievements. They only cheer for their favorite players.
This decibel shows that Tang Hao is now the most popular player in the league, even in the United States.
Tang Hao waved his hand to respond to the enthusiasm of the fans and walked to the sidelines in training suits to sit down.
Other players have begun to warm up for the game, and the basketball keeps shooting from three-pointers into the basket. Among the players participating, all of them are the top three-pointers in the league.
Curry and Thompson are also popular, but Tang Hao is the only one who sits down and chats with Kobe next to him, as if he is not worried about his touch.
Of course, such performance did not surprise the on-site commentator. After all, Tang Hao has made the media realize in the past that he must not try to look down on Tang Hao, otherwise the lower he watches, the more he will be beaten in the face.
The contestants completed the final warm-up before the game, and the three-point competition is about to begin.
In the three-point competition, the rules are around five three-pointers in the half-time, two bottom corners, two forty-five degrees and top arc, five points, and five balls at each point. The final champion is determined based on the scores of the players' hits.
Balls are divided into ordinary balls and flower balls. Ordinary balls score one point and flower balls score 2 points. After the reform last year, the number of flower balls increased to 9, which also means that the players will get more points in the game than before.
The competition is divided into preliminaries and finals. Only by ranking in the top three in the preliminaries can you advance to the finals.
The first to play was Cavaliers All-Star guard Kyrie Irving.
Irving won the three-point competition championship in 2013. This is his second time participating and is considered half of the defending champion.
Irving's three-pointer is not particularly outstanding, but his victory is in the big heart and his performance is stable at critical moments. It is very suitable for a stage like the three-point competition.
After choosing the ball spot, with the referee's whistle, Irving's game officially began.
He seemed to be looking for a feeling at the first point. He only hit 1 of 5 balls, and the last flower ball jumped out of the basket. However, at the second point, his performance stabilized, 5 balls hit 3 balls, and then he gradually got better. He topped his flower ball points and scored 3 balls with 5 balls, which performed very well.
In the end, his score was frozen at 24 points, a very outstanding score.
In fact, this result was enough to win the championship last year (Berry Berry, the champion of the 2014 NBA three-point competition, scored 24 points).
After the shot, Irving turned around excitedly and slapped James with a high-five. It can be seen that he was quite satisfied with the shot.
The second sharpshooter Kovo Alon, who appeared in the game, is regarded as one of the biggest favorites to win the championship as Ray Allen's most accurate pure shooter after retirement.
As soon as Kovo Er came on the court, he made consecutive shots. The five balls at the first point were shot, except for the last flower ball that bounced out of the frame, and the other four balls were all hit, making them feel hot.
Such a performance also aroused excitement from the audience.
Although there is no direct confrontation in the three-point competition, this anxious situation is also extremely exciting.
Kovo Al performed very well in the first three points, but his luck in spending the ball was a bit bad. Only 1 of 5 goals was close. In the end, his score was frozen at 22 points. Although it was a little worse than Irving, it was also a very good result.
Kovo Er sat back in the teammate group when he left the court. Four players from the Hawks were selected as All-Star Game in this All-Star Game, and he had no shortage of partners at this time.
The third appearance was ** Redick of the Clippers. He is also known for his projection and is also very competitive.
But perhaps Irving and Kovo Al's performance in the front were too outstanding, which put a lot of pressure on the players behind him. Redick's performance was not satisfactory. His final score was only 17 points, and he was basically eliminated early.
When the situation ended, Redick shook his head helplessly.
Redick was followed by last defending champion Berry Berry and "Big Bearded" Harden.
The two of them performed very mediocrely, Berry's 18-point score still retains a glimmer of hope for promotion. As for Harden, he was not stable enough to increase the entertainment of the game. His final score was only 15 points, ranking last for all players, becoming the second player to be eliminated.
However, the "Big Bearded Man" obviously didn't care about it, and she laughed with Kobe after the incident.
When Harden's game ended, the fans' emotions quickly became motivated. The three players who were going to play were the real favorites to win the championship, which could be called a confrontation between Mars and Earth.
The third last player to play is Curry. This is the fifth time Curry has participated in the three-point competition in his career. He can be regarded as a regular visitor in the three-point competition.
Everyone knows that as the best three-pointer pitcher in the league and also a league superstar, Curry's purpose in participating in the three-point competition is actually to win a championship.
He scored only 16 points in the first round of the last game and was eliminated. He will definitely make some adjustments this year.
He gave God a blowing kiss before he came on the court, then gritted his braces and walked to the first shot point.
The audience quickly calmed down. Except for Tang Hao, Curry could be said to be the contestant they were looking forward to.
In fact, they even said from the bottom of their heart that they still hope that Curry will win this championship, because Curry is also an American no matter how much he said it.
"beep!"
As the referee whistle sounded, Curry grabbed the first ball and went out.
"Swish!"
The first ball hit steadily, which seemed to show Curry's outstanding touch today.
The second ball and the third ball hit one after another.
Curry hit 3 of 5 balls at the first point, which felt quite good.
At the second point, 5 balls also hit 3 balls, including the last flower ball.
Keep up the third point and hit 4 goals.
The audience could no longer help but become restless. Curry finally showed his strength in this most competitive three-point competition.
In the end, Curry performed brilliantly and performed well in the last two points, including the last bottom corner, and his score was frozen at an astonishing 26 points, locking a promotion place in advance.
At this time, Irving off the court kept laughing.
Thompson and Tang Hao are not even able to compete. If these two perform normally, he may become the first player in recent years to score 24 points but be eliminated in the first round.
If that were the case, this three-point competition would really become a classic.
After Curry, Clay Thompson was followed. He took a deep breath when he came on the court. It can be seen that he was under great psychological pressure.
There is Curry in front and Tang Hao behind. This front and back attack is not counted. There is also Irving's 24 points there. As long as he performs a little, he will be eliminated in the first round.
When Thompson came on the court, the air gradually felt nervous.
The referee blew the whistle to start the game, and Thompson reached out to grab the ball and started shooting directly.
"Bang!"
The first ball pops out.
"Bang!"
The second ball still failed to hit.
There was a turbulence on the scene. It seemed that under heavy pressure, even Thompson could not withstand the pressure and performed abnormally.
Chapter completed!