Chapter Twenty-Five: Life and Death (Part II)

The atmosphere in the locker room was more solemn than ever. Pen & Fun & Pavilion www.biquge.info Even Sprewell, who is usually the most active, is sitting alone at the moment, silent. It's as if someone told the Knicks that in fifteen minutes it would be the end of the world.

Van Gundy pushed the door and walked in, and when he saw the solemn atmosphere in the dressing room, he knew that the toughest hurdle for this team had arrived. Without the usual harsh accusations and no loud aim, Van Gundy was like a big brother, although there were still people older than him, and he said in a soft tone: "Gentlemen, what are you thinking, where are you going to fish after the game?" Don't dream, you're going to play the Hawks after that, and while their game isn't over, I don't think the Pistons can beat the Hawks, they're fantastic. Van Gundy continued, "I don't know what you guys think, but in my opinion, we're also great, think about this season, more than 100 days, 52 games, a lot of you are injured, sick, but in the end, you are still the candidates for the championship. Look at what you've all done this week, wow, the Heat, the No. 1 in the East, have been forced by you to fight us for a tiebreaker in front of your hometown fathers. Aren't we the most resilient team? And, if you're really serious about playing, you'll find that Miamians don't know how to win, and the ball is like a hot potato in their hands, and they can't wait to pass it to themselves. What about you? You are the Knicks, and countless Knicks legends have proven the way for you before you, think of Reed and Monroe, they are waiting for you right in front of you. ”

Gradually, the atmosphere in the locker room began to warm up, as if a stream of heat was constantly wandering in this simple locker room, and everyone's eyes were no longer empty, but became as if there was a fire burning, as if the heat had been consumed by the flames on their bodies.

At this time, Houston, as the captain of the team, stood up and said, "All right, gentlemen, stop bowing your head and pretending to be a thinker, your heads can't think of anything, it's better to try it." We've overcome so many odds, are you willing to fall here and be a backdrop for Miamins! Stand up, stand up, Ewing, you're the leader. ”

The Silent Beast of New York stands in the center of the locker room, like a lighthouse, attracting everyone's attention. Ewing has never been good at words, but at this moment, he just said what was deep in his heart: "Let's go, kill Miami." The tone was so flat, so natural, as if it should have been.

There was no more tactical set-up, and the Knicks just needed to win.

The team followed behind the tall black lighthouse and walked towards the noisy, glittering, war-filled field outside.

"At the start of the second half, the lineup was no different from the previous four games, on the Knicks' side, Charlie Ward, Alan Houston, Sprewell, Larry Johnson, Patrick Ewing. The commentators on the sidelines were greeted with boos every time they announced their names, and when Johnson and Ewing arrived, the ceiling was about to be lifted.

"And then our Heat guys are back on the court, Tim Hardaway, Dan Marley, Jamal Mashburn, PJ Brown and Mourning, oh my God, what a lineup." There was no rehearsal, just a split second, and the boos quickly turned into cheers.

The situation of the game can almost be discerned from the cries of the fans. Shouting hoarsely, this must be the Knicks making free throws; The cry of excitement, which must have been given to Morin or whoever singled; neatly shouted, this is shouting "defend"; Sharp whistles, it was the Heat's successful defense and counter-attacking score......

It's just that these calls are getting a little anxious, and in the third quarter, the Knicks are completely focused on Ewing and Alan Houston. One inside and one outside, they are all excellent mid-range shooters, and for a while, the Heat's position was beaten to the top, and soon, the 4-point lead in the first half was gone.

It is difficult for the main players of both sides to open up the gap, and this game is more about fighting the substitute lineup.

This time, Van Gundy did not use the extreme defensive + rebounding lineup before, and put out a standard lineup in a decent manner. Moxi, Camby, Johnson, Alan Houston, Chris Charles, both offensive and defensive.

After the bench lineups of both sides came on the court, the court was faintly inclined to the Knicks, because the Heat's scoring ability was too weak, and there was a scene of the Knicks' crazy attack on the court, but the Heat's defense was too strong and it was difficult to score.

Houston's jumper had to open up space and the interior had to be open.

Charles handed the ball to Mo Xi and he did the singles.

The Heat lack an interior line, and Mourning is not off the court at this time, and it is he who is the one who is sorry for the defense.

It's hard for Mo Xi to go to a deep position, in a position that doesn't go up or down. Mo Ning pressed too hard, Mo Xi didn't dare to turn around the frame, tried to turn his back, and wanted to turn around, but the route was killed by Mo Ningka. As a last resort, Mo Xi pushed back, learned from Ewing's tricks, and turned over and jumped.

Mo Ning has been fighting Ewing all year round, and Mo Xi is obviously not skilled enough to practice this move, although he is not tall enough to cover it, but he successfully interferes with Mo Xi, and the ball almost flies off Mo Ning's fingertips. The ball smashed a few times on the basket and fell out.

Mo Xi waved his hand hatefully, compared to Ewing's weightlifting, he was too far behind.

Fortunately, the Heat's offense was not open at all in the third quarter, and Mourning's shooting percentage was very low, and he had to constantly impact the basket to find physical contact to foul, but at this time, he ignored another person.

Camby swooped out, threw the ball down, and then went straight to the frontcourt, where Charles picked up the ball and ran to the front court as fast as he could, then threw the ball high into the air.

Camby took off on the other side and dunked the ball with both hands, making it self-contained at both ends of the pitch.

For a time, the Knicks were in full swing.

On the home court of the Heat, Mourning did not allow anyone to be so presumptuous and launched a more fierce attack.

The two people on the Knicks court, whether it is Mo Xi or Camby, both of them are still too immature, and their bodies are not as good as Mo Ning, under the impact of the angry Mo Ning, the two of them were forced to make a layup, and at the same time caused a foul.

In the third quarter of the game, the two sides staged an offensive and defensive battle, no one had the upper hand, and the coaches on both sides did not rush to change the main force, and continued to call the substitutes to play on it, and seemed to have made up their minds to decide the winner in the fourth quarter.

Since both sides are strong defensive teams, the most effective means of scoring has become the inside, the pressure on the Knicks' young interior is very huge, Mourning and PJ Brown take turns on the court, Mo Xi and Camby attack and defend, left and right, fortunately did not make any big mistakes, but such a meat grinder-like battle made both of them start to be a little powerless.

On the last offense in the third quarter, Mashburn came on the court, and he had to rest for a long time off the court because of too many fouls, and he is also the one with the highest shooting percentage of the Heat at present.

Facing the league's best offensive kaleidoscope, Sprewell, who replaced Houston, led the defense in the half.

Mashburn's ball-handling offense is excellent, and the Heat are not happy just because the Heat don't have a corresponding tactic, and no one dares to underestimate this Mashburn who can throw the ball from any position on the court.

Sprewell clings to Marsh himself, not giving the other a single gap.

Mashburn hit Sprewell with his back, he made a difficult change of hands, pulled the ball out of one side, and then shook his kick, made a turn feint to deceive Sprewell, and went straight to the basket, just when Sprewell tirelessly turned back to make up for the defense, Mashburn had an emergency stop to let Sprewell, and there was an open space in front of him, Mashburn made a quick stop jump shot, and the ball went into the net.

With this goal, the two sides are back on the same running line again.

At the end of the third quarter, everyone in the arena had a serious face, no matter what, after ten minutes, they would have an end, and everyone was silent in the hope that time would go faster.