Chapter 741

Link had disappointed opposing fans before. Whenever people thought the Grizzlies would run into trouble, whenever they thought Link would face difficulties, reality often turned out to be vastly different from what they imagined.

But none of the fans in Indianapolis had expected things to become this disappointing.

In their expectations, the Pacers should have been closer to victory than the Trail Blazers had been two days ago. In their expectations, Paul George and Link should have engaged in a spectacular scoring duel. In their expectations, this should have been an intense preview of the Finals!

Yet the reality was that the Pacers trailed by 14 points with four minutes left in the final quarter. While Link had casually poured in 28 points, Paul George had yet to even reach 20.

More than half the seats at Conseco Fieldhouse were already empty. Many Pacers fans had left early, unable to endure such humiliation.

Larry Bird sat in a luxury suite with a vacant look in his eyes. Just twenty-four hours earlier, he had confidently told reporters, "We are the best team."

But now, even he found those words absurdly laughable.

Bird had never failed while showing off during his playing days, but now... that was also why he had not liked to show off in recent years. After all, his fate was no longer in his own hands.

But what upset Bird most was not his failed boast—it was the enormous gap between the Pacers and the Grizzlies.

The Grizzlies were undoubtedly one of this season's strongest championship contenders. If the Pacers wanted to win the title, they had to be ready to fight the Grizzlies to the death.

But judging from today's result, the Pacers still lacked the ability to trouble the Grizzlies. If this had been a best-of-seven