The year-end war is the most important game day of the NBA regular season, and it can achieve the highest ratings of the regular season. Because of the importance, for the year-end war team selection is quite exquisite, one of the key points is the story, team and team, player and player, player and team between the grudge, can make the game before the game is hot, let the fans full of expectations, and is expected to achieve the classic battle.
In the 1961 year-end war, the Philadelphia Warriors played against the Knicks on the road, and the two teams fought double overtime, Andox chamberlain played 58 minutes and slashed 59 points and 36 rebounds, 59 points was the second highest single-game score in the history of the year-end war, and 36 rebounds was the single-game rebounding record of the year-end war. However, the Warriors failed to win the game, losing 135-136.
Chamberlain's 59+36 loss was very faceless, and the "Big Dipper" found this face in a "100%" way that season. On March 2, 1962, Chamberlain scored a record 100 points in NBA history, grabbed 25 rebounds at the same time, and led the Warriors to victory, defeating the Knicks.
Chamberlain's 59 points is the second highest score in the year-end war, so how much is the first?
In 1984, the year-end war staged the New York derby. When the Nets were founded in 1967 (when they were still an ABA team), they began to compete with the Knicks for the New York market, and were violently ostracized by the Knicks. In 1976, the ABA merged with the NBA and the Nets entered the NBA, further deepening the hatred with the Knicks. The Knicks were hostile to the Nets, and the slogan "Net is nothing" became the Knicks' unofficial slogan, which was widely circulated at the time.
Off-field disputes need to be resolved on the court, and the year-end war provides such a "ring". In this game in 1984, Knicks small forward Bernard King shot 19 of 30 and 22 of 26 free throws, scoring 60 points, setting a year-end single-game scoring record, but the Knicks lost to the Nets 114-120. The Knicks won the individual highlight and the Nets won the game.
This ball has a milestone significance, so such a smoke-filled derby perfectly meets the expectations of the year-end war, which triggered a ratings boom at the time, making the NBA's year-end war truly become the "feast" of sports fans on this day, and also making the league pay more attention to the old enemies when choosing teams.
Fast forward to the nineties, when Jordan and his bull "pulled a grudge" and were fully reflected in the year-end war. In the year-end battle in 1990, the Bulls played at home against the Pistons, and the Pistons eliminated the Bulls in the playoffs for three consecutive seasons before that, including the 1990 East Conference Finals seven wins, which made Jordan cry in the team bus, and also triggered rumors that Jordan might leave the Bulls at the time, Jordan publicly clarified: "I will definitely lead the team over the mountain of Detroit, I will not go." ”
When the year-end battle came in 1990, the Bulls had been under the tutelage of Phil Jackson, from quantitative change to qualitative change, Jordan integrated into the triangle offense, the team's defensive system was established, and in this battle with the Pistons, Jordan handed over 37 points, 8 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 steals and 2 blocks, leading the Bulls to a 98-86 victory. In that season's Eastern Conference Finals, the Bulls swept the Pistons to complete their playoff revenge.
After the Pistons, the Knicks became the Bulls' number one rival in the East, and Jordan and Ewing went from college to the NBA. In 1986, Jordan Ewing met for the first time in a year-end battle, and in the final moments of the game, Ewing hit a whistle to make a basket, and the Knicks won 86-85, and Jordan scored 30 points in vain.
During the Bulls' first triple-title streak, they eliminated the Knicks in the playoffs every year, including the 1992 Eastern Conference Semifinals to grab seven. The league put the Bulls and Knicks battle as the highlight of the year-end battle in 1992, in which Jordan scored 42 points to lead the team to an 89-77 victory over the Knicks.
Jordan retired in 1993 after completing his first triple crown, and the Rockets seized a valuable opportunity to win the championship for two consecutive years, making it the choice for the year-end battle. In the 1995 year-end war, the Magic played against the Rockets at home, and the reason for this arrangement was because in the 1994-95 Finals, the Rockets swept the Magic, which was the first time in NBA history that the two teams that had played against each other in the previous season's Finals would meet in the following season.
In this game, Olajuwon killed 30 points, 12 rebounds and 6 assists, O'Neal 22 points, 18 rebounds and 5 assists, but the decision to win or lose was "Penny" Hardaway, who contributed 22 points, 7 rebounds and 10 assists to the Magic, and the three seconds before the final game made a quick stop jump shot, and the Magic won 92-90.
As the most entertaining and dominant player in the NBA at the same time, O'Neal began to take the stage of the year-end war from the 90s and wrote classics in the 00s.
In the year-end war in 2004, the Heat came to staples center, which was the first time O'Neal encountered his old club after being traded by the Lakers, and it was also the first time that the "OK combination" who had joined forces to win three consecutive championships in the past met as opponents, and the contradiction between the two was rendered as the flame of battle, the atmosphere was explosive, and the smell of gunpowder was pervasive.
"No layups, no dunks." O'Neal said before the game.
The reporter asked: "Is it that everyone can't do it?" ”
O'Neill replied, "Basically everybody, especially him (Kobe). ”
Bryant scored 15 points in the first quarter, 42 points in the game, and O'Neal had 24 points, 11 rebounds and 3 blocks, fighting until 6 fouls left the game. Wade, who was not the protagonist in the original "plot" design, became the one who killed the game, "The Flash" took 29 points and 10 assists, and hit two consecutive goals in a key moment in overtime, Kobe Bryant pressed the whistle three-point deflection, and the Heat won 104-102.
"It was a good opportunity, but I didn't control the balance." Bryant said of the deadly misstep.
"I knew I couldn't get that goal." O'Neill said.
This game that will be full of grudges and resentment, the suspense of the game to the last moment, the year-end war to the historical peak, the league then in 2005 and 2006 also arranged the Lakers and the Heat year-end showdown, it is from this beginning, the league increased the story of the year-end war to shape the strength, highlight the grievances between the stars, and in the setting of the schedule and the announcement, to the year-end war priority, from the beginning of the season to brew heat.
When it comes to the topic of storytelling, Bryant and James undoubtedly have a lot of say, although the expected finals Zhanko showdown plot did not happen, but every time the two stars meet, they will become a ratings flashpoint, and naturally become the protagonist of the year-end war.
In 2009 and 2010, Bryant James met in the year-end war twice in a row, and James won both times, including the year-end game in 2010, James played 27 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists, leading the Heat to beat the Lakers 96-80, james became the fourth player in NBA history to win a triple-double in the year-end war.
As the time stepped into the 10s, the first protagonist of the year-end war was Already James, and the league set up a year-end war theme battle around James where the enemies met. In the 2011 year-end battle, James suffered a defeat by his Nowitzki and Lone Rangers in the 2010-11 Finals. The year-end battle in 2012 was the 2012 championship and runner-up heat and thunder battle. In 2013, James visited staples center again in the year-end battle, and it was a little regrettable that Kobe Bryant was absent due to injury. In the year-end battle of 2014, James, who returned to the Cavaliers, played for the Heat for four seasons before playing against him in Miami.
James's year-end battle is full of grudges, and the peak is four consecutive years of fighting between him and the Warriors.
In the 2015 Finals, the Cavaliers lost to the Warriors, which was the beginning of James's confrontation with the Warriors. The following 2015-16 season year-end war, the Cavaliers challenged the Warriors on the road, after the 2015 Finals, James said that the two teams of the showdown is not fair, because the Cavaliers injured Love and Irving, this year-end war, the Cavaliers big three joined forces, but Love and Irving's offensive state is not in a total of 11 shots 0, James scored 25 points and failed to save, the Cavaliers lost 83-89.
The loss made cavaliers players question coach Blatter's coaching ability even more, and eventually pushed Blatter to step down, and Tyrone Lue took charge of the Cavaliers coaching whip, leading the team to a 1-3 reversal in the finals that season.
The Warriors, who lost the championship, introduced Durant in the 2016 offseason to form the "Cosmic Warrior", which made the year-end battle expectations of the 2016-17 season full. The game was truly spectacular, with James scoring 31 points and 13 rebounds, Durant scoring 36 points and 15 rebounds, and the Warriors leading by 14 points in the fourth quarter.
Irving showed off his undifferentiated hard pro-prince, scoring 14 points in the fourth quarter. 38 seconds before the finale, the Cavaliers trailed by 3 points, Irving took out the courage of the 2016 Finals to grab seven games to see the bloody throat, completed the key ball two combos, first broke through the lever to score a layup, and then with Klay Thompson one-on-one, breaking through the emergency stop and back jump shot hit, the Cavaliers turned the set 109-108.
After the game, Warriors head coach Kerr admitted that Thompson's defense did not have any problems and could not be better defended, but Irving still shot in, which is a different scoring master.
In the 2017 Finals, the Warriors avenged the Cavaliers with an aggregate score of 4-1, and the "hate value" between the two teams continued to increase, and there was no suspense to become the main feature of the year-end battle in the 2017-18 season.
In this game, Curry was absent due to an ankle injury, the Cavaliers' side of Irving has transferred, Wade came to James's side, the game was very intense, James scored a basket 1 minute and 59 seconds before the final game to make the Cavaliers equalize, Klay Thompson returned with a three-pointer, and the Warriors regained the lead.
The game entered the offensive and defensive battle between James and Durant, Durant showed his defensive power, first one-on-one to make James dribble out of bounds, and then blocked James's layup, Thompson used free throws to seal the victory for the Warriors, 99-92, which was the last time James fought against the Warriors as a Cavaliers player in the year-end battle.
In the 2018-19 season year-end battle, James, who is already a Lakers player, met the Warriors in the year-end battle for the fourth consecutive year. James played only 22 minutes of the game, and in the third quarter due to a groin injury, James had 17 points, 13 rebounds and 5 assists when he retired from injury, and the Lakers led by 14 points. The Lakers, who lost James, played a multi-point blossoming offensive effect in the fourth quarter, bombarding 36 points in the single quarter to hold the lead with 36 points from the field and finally win 127-101.
Although the Lakers won the year-end war, James stopped 17 consecutive games due to a groin injury, resulting in the Lakers ultimately missing the playoffs. Durant, who had 21 points, seven rebounds and seven assists in that year-end game, helped the Warriors reach the Finals, but suffered a serious Achilles tendon injury and passed the triple crown.
The year-end battle of 2018 is the most recent meeting between James and Durant in an official game in the NBA, and Jandu has not seen each other in three years. In the year-end battle of 2021, the Lakers will play against the Nets at home, which was originally an opportunity for Jandu to reunite, but Durant can catch up with the game because of the trigger health and safety agreement isolation, and once Adu is absent, Jandu's meeting will be postponed until 2022 (January 26, 2022, the Lakers away to the Nets).
From years of fighting to three years of not seeing each other, the year-end war witnessed the tit-for-tat confrontation between Jandu, and also witnessed their heroes cherishing heroes, which may be the best interpretation of the enmity and resentment, love and hatred of the year-end war.