When Youth Crashed into a Miracle: An NBA Finals Unexpected

At two in the morning, the Thunder's training hall is still on. Alexander mechanically repeated the shooting movements, and the echo of the basketball hitting the floor was particularly harsh in the empty arena. Just a few hours ago, they just lost the third game of the finals and fell behind 1-2. The new MVP suddenly stopped and stared at his trembling hands - the scratches left by the G3 when he was stolen at the last moment.

Meanwhile, at a 24-hour restaurant in Indiana, the Pacers are eating the celebration burger voraciously. Halliburton squeezed the tomato sauce onto the napkin and drew a big "2-1". "Guys, remember what the media said about us at the beginning of the season? " He grinned, revealing braces stained with mustard sauce, "They said we couldn't even make the playoffs! "

This is probably the most unexpected Finals showdown in NBA history. One is the Thunder with an average age of only 24 years old and nicknamed the "body hair whistle", and the other is the Pacer who was still hovering in the lottery last year and the core player was anonymously named "the most overrated". There are no superstars and no grudges from wealthy families, but it has set the highest ratings record in the past five years.

"It's like watching a youth inspirational film," O'Neal on the TNT commentary table took a sip of drink," but the protagonist is not the chosen son, but two young men. "

G3's turning point occurred in the last 37 seconds of the third quarter. Pacers substitute point guard McConnell - the white defender who is only 1.85 meters tall - grabbed the ball from Alexander twice in a row like a mad dog. After the second steal, he lay directly on the floor and passed the ball to his teammate who was about to go down, but he slipped out of the sideline due to inertia and knocked over the computer of the technical station.

"I wanted to lie there and couldn't get up," McConnell said after the game, rubbing his bruised knees, "until I heard the audience call my name. "

And on the Thunder, problems broke out like dominoes. In order to match the Pacers' speed, they hid Hatenstein at 2.16 meters, and the Pacers scored 58 points in the inside. To make matters worse, when the referee stopped giving those subtle body whistles, Alexander's proud foul technique suddenly failed. In the fourth quarter of G3, the scoring champion, who averaged 30 points per game, only scored 3 points with free throws.

"He now knows how Harden felt back then," Durant, who was watching the game on the sidelines, said to his friends beside him expressionlessly, but forgot to wear a microphone. This sentence was broadcast live nationwide.

Interestingly, this seemingly one-sided game made neutral fans turn against each other. When the final G3 whistle sounded, the broadcast footage captured a detail: the Mavericks boss Cuban, who was sitting on the sidelines, was secretly applauding the Pacers. Later when asked by reporters, he smiled and said: "We were also underestimated by the world in 2011. "

On social media, the topic of #Cheer for the Pacers# has become a hot search. Some netizens dug out a report from last year's offseason. An anonymous manager said: "Halliburton? He will never become the champion point guard. "This tweet has been retweeted 100,000 times now, and the latest comment is: "Are you watching the finals now?"

In the locker room passage, Thunder coach Dagenot stopped the dejected Alexander. "Do you know why people hate us?" He pointed to the other person's chest with an MVP trophy tattoo, "because they are afraid of the rise of young people. "

At the moment in the Indiana bar, Pacers fans have begun to celebrate in advance. The bartender turned the TV up, and Barkley's latest comment was playing: "Listen, if the Pacers finally win the championship, I'll eat the episode of the 2011 that said the Mavericks couldn't win the championship! "

And outside the training hall in Oklahoma City, more than a dozen loyal fans were still waiting in the cold wind. As Alexander walked out with his tired body, they shouted in unison: "We believe you!" The young superstar suddenly turned red with his eyes, took off his training suit and threw it to the crowd.

This unpopular youth showdown is writing the most moving new chapter in the NBA. Just like Halliburton wrote on the whiteboard in the locker room: "Who says there can't be a championship in a fairy tale?"