Chapter 103: The Stone Buddha's Final Blow (7/10)
The quickest way for a player to become known is to lead the team out of a game that seems to be a huge disparity. Pen % fun % Pavilion www.biquge.info
Yao Ming at that time proved himself against the invincible Lakers. In the seven games before that, Yao Ming only scored 10 points at the highest, and the identity of the champion was questioned by all walks of life. It is for this reason that Barkley's famous bet was born.
Just when Barkley just said that Yao Ming could not score 19 points, facing the Los Angeles Lakers, who were not as strong as O'Neal, Yao Ming scored 20 points on 9-of-9 shooting and led the Rockets to defeat the Purple and Gold.
is also a live broadcast for the whole United States, the same is the absence of the main team of the opponent team, and it is also a showdown with a huge disparity in strength. The difference is that the audience knows not one, but three people today!
"Oberto can't keep up with Anjie at all! He let Anjie pick up the basket again! Who else!?What other interior players do the Spurs have to play with!Matt Bonner, Drew Gooden, Kurt Thomas and Fabricio Oberto, none of them can stop the attack of the Chinese center, only Duncan can compete with it!"
"Also as a rookie in the '08 class, that's the difference between the fourth pick and the 26th pick! Westbrook broke through George Hill's defense again! forced a layup! Two plus one, well done!"
"Bruce Bowen can't accept his old age, and it's not easy for Durant to score so many points on Bowen as a sophomore rookie!"
In the fourth quarter, as Popovich thought, the Spurs' slightly understaffed second team this season was completely unable to compete with the smooth Thunder three. Even if the Thunder only have two such people, Popovich is confident of winning, but unfortunately, the Thunder team has exactly three, and they are guards, forwards and centers.
Over time, the eleven-point margin also gradually decreased. With the Thunder having a two-minute break midway through the fourth quarter, Duncan and Ginobili have built up little advantage in the third quarter.
"In another five years, the inside line of the NBA league will be ruled by the Chinese!" Charles Barkley finally showed interest in the game after three quarters of silence, and also fiercely and indirectly praised An Jie's performance.
"It seems that Yao Ming has really taught you a lot of good behavior. Whenever Kenny Smith mentions this, he is very proud.
"No, no, even if there was no precedent for Yao Ming, I would say so. Five years later, Yao Ming, Yi Jianlian and An Jie, oh my God, I can't imagine what they will be like, and I can't imagine if there will be other Chinese big men coming to the NBA to develop. "Barkley's commentary has always been open to the mouth, completely ignoring the consequences. If Howard had heard what he had said, he would have been half furious.
Anyway, it's a fact that Anjie played well in this game. With 20 points, 9 rebounds and 6 assists, Anjie has already played his worth in the face of the San Antonio Spurs.
Popovich still stabilized the situation and never took Duncan and Ginobili too early. With just four minutes left in the game, the Spurs still held a one-point lead. In the first three quarters, the Spurs scored more points in a single quarter than the Thunder, but so far in the fourth quarter, the Thunder finally scored more points in a single quarter.
Seeing that the time was almost ticking, Jeff Van Gundy called a timeout after Westbrook pushed the ball into the Spurs half. In four minutes, it was time for An Jie to take a short rest, and then send all the starting five tigers.
"Tim, Manu, you know what to do! I don't accept anything but victory!" Popovich yelled at his two cores after arranging all his tactics. Even Duncan, known as the "Stone Buddha", was infected by the old man's encouragement.
"Oh, Duncan and Ginobili are on the field! Audience friends, the showdown has begun!"
Before going on the court, An Jie unconsciously glanced at Duncan in the opposite half, but Duncan also looked at him. However, unlike Duncan, who deliberately smiled before the game, the face of the No. 21 player now shows more ruthlessness!
The duel between these two elders will undoubtedly be the focus of the entire game.
Anjie's sweat also flowed down his cheeks to the tip of his chin, and Popovich just played all his hands to take turns with Anjie, in order to relieve the pressure on Duncan and him.
This trick really worked, the NBA's schedule was already intensive, and the consumption of this game was still so large, and An Jie's footsteps were indeed not as good as in the first three quarters.
But now Duncan, but he has been resting for a long time, and his physical strength will not be a stumbling block for him at all!
Then turn around and raise your hand. An Jie thought that Duncan was going to repeat his old tricks, so he hurriedly pounced on him to interfere.
Unexpectedly, Duncan's shot was fake, and as soon as he bowed down, he rushed past An Jie, whose center of gravity had moved forward.
"Duncan's feint!"
After shaking off An Jie, facing the unguarded basket, Duncan just gently put the basketball in. That would only increase his risk of getting blocked and waste his energy.
At the critical moment of the goal, Duncan still did not make any celebratory movements, and the expressionless poker face was still there.
Westbrook controlled the ball and advanced, but before he could get a foothold, Ginobili rushed towards Westbrook with a gambling steal.
However, Ginobili's adventure was worth it, Westbrook was still watching Anjie's movement at the time, and somewhat ignored the Argentine who was crossing in front of him. By the time he reacted, Ginobili had already stolen the basketball from Westbrook's hand.
However, due to the speed, Ginobili did not control the basketball. The basketball was taken away and bounced on the floor, and it was about to go out of bounds.
Unexpectedly, at this time, Ginobili fell directly to the ground and held the basketball in his arms.
"Ginobili's fall to the ground! The two sides fought very hard!" Reggie Miller watched, his blood boiling.
Westbrook didn't think about it, and immediately threw himself on the floor and fought with Ginobili.
But before the referee could award the scrum, Ginobili actually passed the ball, and Michael Finley received the basketball and pushed full throttle.
Everyone thought Finley would complete a fast break, and only he knew how intimidating Durant, who was chasing back behind. If he goes straight to the basket, there is a good chance that he will be covered by Durant, who is tall and has long arms and excellent jumping.
So halfway through the break, Finley distributed the ball to the perimeter. In the bottom left corner, the anti-aircraft gun Bonner was already in place.
That weird "shoulder" shot appeared, and Matt Bonner was still using his shoulder as the point of action. Despite his ugly posture, Matt Bonner's three-point shooting percentage is the highest in the Spurs.
"Beautiful three-pointer in the net!
Popovich swung his fist hard, everyone he put on the court had a purpose, and now Bonner was undoubtedly doing his job well!
Duncan and Ginobili came on the court with just two offenses to help the Spurs pull the deficit back to five points! That's why Duncan and Ginobili can be called great!
Jeff Van Gundy didn't expect that now the burden of physical fitness was on the shoulders of the Thunder. Looking at Duncan and Ginobili who are alive and well on the court, Van Gundy also has to admire Popovich's exquisite employment strategy.
However, young people are always full of energy, even if they feel that their physical strength is very exertional, but the Thunder three young people still chase the Spurs and beat hard, and once narrowed the score to two points!
Duncan and Ginobili accounted for almost all of the Spurs' next shots, and each time through patient passing, the basketball would fall into the hands of these two.
Duncan's defense in the face of Anjie is also getting smoother and smoother, just like Bonner complained during training, there are almost no big men in this league who can defend Duncan!
An Jie immediately put his hand on it, in order to feel the changes in Duncan's body, so as to change his center of gravity in advance.
"Back singles!" Kenny Smith exclaimed excitedly, this was the first time Duncan had used a back play against Angel in the whole match!
Duncan doesn't have to play with his back in front of him, it doesn't mean that he can't do it, it's just that in the previous game, he didn't want to play in such a physically demanding way. And now, it's a good time to burn your stamina!
Yao Ming, O'Neal, Big Ben, these centers with perverted physical fitness and weight, Duncan can compete with them with his back, let alone face this thin An Jie.
"Damn old man!" An Jie gritted his teeth and insisted, Duncan, who seemed to be a little emaciated, but his strength was very terrifying. Coupled with Anjie's poor physical strength, he failed to exert his full strength, which allowed Duncan to successfully enter the three-second zone after taking three steps.
Duncan raised the ball in his right hand and prepared to score a layup with a spin on the board. But when he just jumped, An Jie suddenly rose to the ground, slapped the basketball in Duncan's hand to the rebound, and then bounced out again.
"Terrifying defensive height!" The bounce speed is not fast, but the advantage of height and reach, combined with good timing of the jump block, allows Anjie to keep Duncan's offense at bay.
Duncan looked a little stunned, and his expressionless face seemed to twitch for a moment. Blocking his shot in a back-to-back singles has been something that no one has done on Duncan's head for a long time.
However, fortunately, the agile Ginobili received a basketball that was fanned out outside the three-point line, and Westbrook hurriedly raised his hands to block, but Ginobili deliberately leaned towards Westbrook and shot when the two sides had physical contact.
"What!" But to Ginobili's surprise, the referee didn't blow for a defensive foul!
"Is this a missed call!?this ball should be fouled!" Kenny Smith exclaimed, it was a crucial goal, and the referee's decision could have changed the course of the game!
Seeing the flight trajectory of the basketball and predicting the landing point of the basketball, he jumped violently, pressed Duncan, who was stuck behind him, and grabbed the rebound ball into his hand.
"The Thunder counterattacked!Anjie threw a long throw directly in the backcourt!Westbrook was fast!Ginobili couldn't reach it!" The TN.T trio became more and more excited, they didn't expect this seemingly disparity of strength to be played to such a point.
Westbrook received a long pass tailored for him by Anjie, but Ginobili and Bowen were very jealous of him.
"Westbrook leans on Ginobili for a layup!"
Westbrook jumped after taking two big strides, and just when everyone thought he was going to attack the frame himself, the basketball suddenly flew out of the box under the sandwich of Ginobili and Bowen!
It's true that Westbrook has a strong desire to shoot, but that doesn't mean he's just going to be brute, and after seeing Durant's position, Westbrook split the ball while attracting everyone's attention.
Durant received a slightly crooked pass from Westbrook, and at this moment Bowen had been tricked into the three-second zone, and there were no Spurs players within two meters of Durant. Some are still chasing back, some are shrinking to the box, the three-point line, which is never a position that people will pay attention to when they are on a fast break.
It's a rare opportunity, and Durant doesn't want to be a rookie of the year and not be able to lead the team to victory. He calmly aimed at the basket and adjusted his tempo, by which point Bowen and George Hill had pounced, but he knew it was going to no avail.
Raising his long arms and shooting shots, Duncan could do nothing about it, he could only pray that the rookie would fall under high pressure. But......
"Oh, Kevin Durant, that's what the best rookie is for! A cold-blooded three-pointer! The aging Spurs were hit by Durant's goal!" Even Charles Barkley won't say it's boring anymore.
With just 25 seconds left, the Spurs trailed by one point in the final moments. Popovich used up his last timeout, and the Spurs have endured countless life-and-death moments, and this difficulty is not enough to make them fall apart.
"Focus, don't foul, defend one last time, let me take away a win from San Antonio!"
The ATT Center was cheering incessantly, and the audience was shouting loudly, hoping that Duncan or Ginobili would turn the tide.
The sideline ball was released, and what everyone didn't expect was that the person in possession of the ball was actually first-year rookie George Hill.
Of course, it was just a smoke bomb, Ginobili was already running off the ball, Duncan made a no-ball block for him on the right path, and as soon as he was in place, Hill passed the ball.
Westbrook forced his acceleration and completed the interference before Ginobili could make a move.
"Ginobili's shot missed, but the basketball bounced so far that neither Duncan nor Angel could control the rebound! Bowen! Bowen got the ball from beyond the three-point line, what would he do?"
The tactics didn't work, and the timeout ran out. Bowen looked at the situation and saw Duncan leaning on the Thunder's center and raising his hand for the ball.
Without even thinking about it, Bowen hoisted the ball into the penalty area, and the winner will be decided in the penalty area!
There was not much time left, but Duncan was not in a hurry, and he made An Jie think that there was a minute of offensive time.
It's still a back fight, but this time he won't let An Jie easily cover himself again.
After the back hit into the penalty area, Duncan forced to turn around and break through, and when An Jie's footsteps began to move, he suddenly turned back, ready to dodge An Jie and solve the problem with a hook hand.
"Impossible!" But what Duncan didn't expect was that An Jie didn't shake at all, he still stood in a perfect defensive position, and slapped the basketball in Duncan's hand.
Duncan had no choice, and now it was impossible to pass the ball again, so he could only shoot hard.
An Jie seemed to have dialed the basketball, but it didn't change the trajectory of the basketball. Duncan stared at the ball after making a shot, and Duncan, who was usually expressionless, also opened his mouth wide at the moment.
"Beep!" The red light on the rebound lit up, and the screeching sound filled the entire ATT center, and the basketball bounced off the hoop and finally landed on the wooden floor. (To be continued.) )