Mountain Peak System: a Path to NBA-Chapter 727 - 258: When the Heroic Youth of New York Has Walked All the Detours in Life

On the night of June 3, the Pacers, who were a step behind, were ultimately stopped by the Knicks at the gate to the finals.

In the Game 7 of the Eastern Conference finals at Madison Square Garden, Durant, who did not believe in the coming of a long night, tightly grasped the torch in his hand.

This was an extremely important game for both Durant personally and the Knicks.

Although since last year's NBA Finals, James, through excellent off-court operations, temporarily stole the position of the Knicks' team leader and regained his past glory of being second to none.

But in the NBA, where anything is possible...

When Durant, who was no match for James off the court, put back on the crown named "Qin Yue's Successor."

The other side of Durant's character made the entire Big Apple City realize overnight who the player that could save the Knicks was.

Unlike Durant, who wanted to escape when encountering problems.

When Durant chose to confront difficulties, even he might not have known how strong he truly was.

If in the previous six games, win or lose, the Knicks were always the team that received the referees' favor on the court.

Then in this game, where the Pacers rarely had the upper hand in free throws, the Pacers indeed lost to the relentless Death God KD.

Throughout the game, hitting 18 of 31 shots, including 6 of 10 three-pointers, and making all 8 of his free throws, the unstoppable Durant not only scored a personal playoff career-high of 50 points. 𝐟𝚛𝕖𝚎𝕨𝗲𝐛𝚗𝐨𝐯𝐞𝕝.𝐜𝗼𝗺

Moreover, in the decisive moments, a more resolute Durant than usual that night staged a spectacular performance scoring 14 points single-handedly for the Knicks.

ESPN commented after the Game 7 battle: "Welcome back the King of New York, 'KD'!"

Meanwhile, on TNT TV Station, Barkley remarked: "Compared to the 'Crash-Out-King,' I think 'KD' has proven with his actions who the undisputed absolute leader of this Knicks team is."①

"This is my team."

In the press conference, during an interview, Durant said with a tone that allowed no wordplay from James: "It was before, it is now, and it will be in the future."

Since being usurped by James through off-court schemes for the team leader's position, this was absolutely the most assertive stance Durant had taken in public.

Durant's confidence came both from the pride given to him by the title of "Qin Yue's Successor."

And from the long talk Harden had with him through the night before Game 7 of the Eastern Conference finals.

"'KD', as long as you want to attack on the court, I will pass the ball to you first."

Before the game against the Pacers, Harden, unwilling to see the team exit, said to Durant: "In a game like this, I don't trust anyone else, I only trust you."

Harden's unconditional trust, and the indignities Durant suffered off the court over the past six months, finally made this former hero of the Knicks realize that in this fiercely competitive world, some things he was fated not to back down from if he wanted to reach the pinnacle.

One could say that in this life, Durant is lucky.

Because compared to Durant at the same point historically, he, with James' help, has traversed all the detours in his life in just the past six months.

New York's young hero has returned.

As for the shortly after Qin Yue's crossing, that hero teenager who led the Dallas Mavericks to the finals with a single core last year?

Of course, all we can do is wish Luka Doncic, already labeled as "CBA teammate" and "NBA's most overrated player," good luck.

After all, playing alongside some people, if you don't take the fall for them, do you really expect them to take the fall for you?

In short, on the night the Knicks advanced to the finals for the second consecutive year, some people reclaimed the crown, while others felt as upset as if they had eaten chocolate with a feces flavor.

Truly, life is indeed quite magical.

Because before this year's Eastern Conference finals began, James, once again crowned off the court, had already started fantasizing about the Knicks defeating the Warriors in the finals.

When constantly striving and climbing upwards in the struggle against fate, finally reaching the mountain peak—James believed there hasn't been a more inspirational individual or story in recent sports history.

In James' eyes, as long as the Knicks could succeed under his leadership just once, no matter how many times he had lost to Qin Yue and the Warriors in the past, he would be eternally remembered for this victory.

However, James' disastrous performance in this year's Eastern Conference finals not only gave Durant the chance to make a comeback, but also, compared to Durant who had roots in New York, James could not use the famous "Green's formula" like Green did in later times to sideline Durant.

In the upcoming NBA Finals, when James must challenge the Warriors again with the identity of "Durant's assistant" for the Knicks...

Undoubtedly, this is definitely the episode James is most unwilling to accept.

According to the schedule, the first game of the NBA Finals between the Knicks and the Warriors will begin on June 7.

As the team finished the Game 7 battle and prepared to head to Oakland, James noticed that at this moment, even Howard, whom he had spent over half a year recruiting, couldn't help turning his allegiance to Durant.

Why did Howard turn to Durant?

Because in the complex Knicks' locker room, Howard, who has a negative IQ but isn't dense enough to not know who the real backbone of this team is, while welcoming his first NBA Finals journey in his career, is also very eager to use a championship to slap the face of the Magic's management, who unhesitatingly put him on the trade block last year.