Chapter 340: Promotion!
Generally speaking, in the seventh game of the series, both sides will play very cautiously, and there will be nothing that people can't understand, because they have played six games before, and both sides have used all the tricks they can use, and they know each other well.
But today's tie-break is a surprise to too many people, O'Neal has played in the playoffs for so many years, and has experienced several tie-break moments, but he has never encountered such a situation, Sun Zhuo acted as if he was playing an inconsequential regular season, and his shots were too casual.
"You're finally talking to me." Sun Zhuo glanced at O'Neal, except that Sun Zhuo scrapped Gary Payton before, O'Neill had to open up with Sun Zhuo once, and throughout the series, O'Neill treated Sun Zhuo as a stranger.
"I know today is the last game for both of our teams and I know I'm taking a risk right now." Sun Zhuo said slowly.
"Then why are you still doing this? You're not a person who doesn't value results. O'Neill knew Sun Zhuo, who, like O'Neill, had a fanatical quest for status and honor.
Sun Zhuo said: "I made a bet with myself. β
"Bet on what?" O'Neill looked curious.
"Bet you won't be able to catch up!" Sun Zhuo's expression was serious, he was obviously not playing, and he didn't pay attention to this game, but he had already made a plan for this game, and his bet on this game was that once the Magic was lucky enough to open the score through a three-point shot, the Heat would not be able to catch up!
O'Neal also got serious, although the Heat is the defending champion, but the three-point shot is indeed a weakness, if you want to chase points quickly, you can only rely on Wade's inside breakthrough to cause 2+1, two points can be guaranteed, but the extra point, whether the referee gives it, is not sure.
However, even if the Heat does not have the ability to chase the score quickly, it is only the first quarter now, and the time is long, and the Heat can slowly catch up with the score.
O'Neill sneered and said secretly: "Adventurer, you are stud, the bet is that the next card dealt to you will be bigger than me, but once that card is not enough to win me, you will have no chips, and the seventh game of the playoffs is not like this, little brother." β
O'Neill felt that Sun Zhuo was still too young, and he didn't know that Sun Zhuo actually had a way out, so he took this risk.
At the moment, the Heat don't feel the crisis, and even feel that this is an opportunity, and it is possible that the Magic will ruin their season on their own.
No one on the Heat team is good at three-point shooting, and they are not in a hurry to catch up with the score through three-point shooting, unless there is a complete vacancy, they will choose to shoot three-pointers, still chasing points through two-point shooting, but the Magic are still scoring, and the difference has been controlled by the Magic between 7 and 10 points.
Two quarters later, the Heat still trailed by seven points.
During halftime, the players in the Heat locker room began to feel a little nervous, after all, now that the game is getting closer and closer, it is not a good thing to be behind the score all the time.
Pat Riley saw the nervousness of the players and said to everyone: "Let's not be impatient, the Magic want to keep the lead, they work harder and more nervous than us, the longer their lead is maintained, the faster they will collapse when we catch up in the second half, remember, in the second half, when we draw and overtake, it will be the turning point of the game, at that time, we have to win in one go!" β
"Yes, Coach!" The Heat players echoed in unison.
However, at this time, O'Neill lowered his head and remembered Sun Zhuo's words: I bet that you can't catch up!
"If we can tie or overtake, of course we have a better chance of winning, but will we really not be able to catch up with the whole game?" O'Neal knew that Sun Zhuo would definitely not let the Heat launch a counterattack, and at the critical moment, they could use the "shark cutting tactic" to stall the Heat's offense, and O'Neal couldn't help much.
In the magic locker room, Sun Zhuo also rarely yelled loudly in the locker room.
"We have to hold on in the second half! This is the most crucial half of the season! We must not let the Heat catch up, we can't even give them a chance to tie, we must always maintain this lead, as long as we hold on until the fourth quarter, they can't catch up without three-pointers! "Sun Zhuo stands in front of a group of magic players, he has a very leader temperament, and his words also carry a lot of weight in the hearts of magic players.
This time, the half-time break was extraordinarily short, and the two sides did not have enough rest before they played again.
"Sun barely rested in the first half, and in the second half, in order to maintain the lead, it is estimated that he will play two full quarters." Popovich also saw that Sun Zhuo had to give up all his physical strength for this victory.
There is no way, if you want to prevent the opponent from catching up, a star player like Sun Zhuo must be present, because if Sun Zhuo is present, even if the opponent scores, Sun Zhuo can quickly return it, if Sun Zhuo is not there, I am afraid that in a minute, the situation that has been maintained will change.
Artest, as a bystander, also became nervous, "Seeing if they dare to shoot three-pointers, I don't believe that these boys' three-point shots will always be so accurate." β
In Artest's view, once the Magic doesn't shoot three-pointers, or the three-point shooting rate drops, the Heat will slowly tie or overtake the score, and at that time, the Magic will also lose to the Heat.
As many people expected, the Magic's three-point shooting rate has indeed declined.
Monta Ellis shoots a three-pointer and pops out of the box!
"Chance!" Seeing this, Wade was ready for the fast break, but no one passed the ball to him, because this rebound was taken by Dwight Howard of the Magic!
I saw Howard jump up and grab the rebound before O'Neal.
Then, it was passed to Monta Ellis, who shot again and bounced out again!
"Chance!" Wade felt that this time he should definitely be able to attack quickly, and he had already taken steps, but in the end, no one passed it to him!
The rebounding ball was won by Sun Zhuo of the Magic team again!
Sun Zhuo is a bit of a bug, although he can't get the rebound at the first time, but he can point out the rebound as soon as possible, not letting the other party get it, and then with his super bounce and bounce speed, he gets the rebound firmly in his hand.
When Sun Zhuo got the rebound in his hand, there were already two people around him, and Sun Zhuo quickly distributed it to Turkoglou, who hit a three-pointer again.
"That's cool! Turkoglu hit five three-pointers today! β
"Can you really win with a three-point shot? I still can't believe it! β
The fans at the scene also cheered, and the score difference was opened again!
Pat Riley's face was also full of worry: "Oops, although Dwight Howard is young and not much of a threat on the offensive end, but his rebounding is better than Shaq, he can run and jump better than Shaq, he can grab a lot of balls that Shaq can't get, Sun can also grab Haslem and Anthony Walker, if the rebounds can't be saved, they will give them more shooting opportunities, so that even if they can't shoot the three-point shot, they can still beat us with three points." β
Riley then sent Mourning on the court, but still couldn't keep the rebound, Howard and Sun Zhuo's rebounding combination was too fierce, and it was with the protection of the rebound in the second half that they got more shooting opportunities and maintained the lead.
The game quickly went to the fourth quarter......
"We're going to win, we're going to win! The Heat fell behind for three consecutive quarters and haven't caught up yet! β
"I am worried about these three sections, for fear that the Heat will catch up, time is becoming more and more favorable to the magic, I must hold on! Only one last session left! β
The crowd looked more nervous than the players.
"We have to chase the score! If you don't catch up, you won't have a chance! O'Neal began to yell, Sun Zhuo said that he bet that the Heat couldn't catch up, at least so far, Sun Zhuo hasn't lost the bet!
"I'm an FMVP, I can't just fall here, I want to defend my title! Like Michael Jordan! Wade also clenched his fists, he had been pressed like this, he was so unwilling!
As the time approached, as the Magic suppressed the Heat for three quarters, the Heat, as the defending champion, also began to break out a strong rebound, which no matter which team could not suppress it.
First of all, O'Neal scored a strong dunk, and then amazingly cut off Howard's ball and completed the steal!
βD-ADEοΌβ O'Neill passes the ball quickly to Wade.
Wade is extremely fast, and no one can keep up with him except Sun Zhuo.
And Wade didn't seem to be worried about Sun Zhuo coming over at all, and even, when he was close to the basket, he deliberately slowed down and waited for Sun Zhuo to come over and block!
"This is ......" Sun Zhuo also faintly saw that Wade seemed to have slowed down.
With a bang, Wade rose into the air, and Sun Zhuo also followed from behind, stretching out his right hand to Wade, but Sun Zhuo hesitated in the air, and still did not choose to really block, but let Wade buckle in.
Bang!
Wade dunked the ball into the basket, and after landing on the ground, he turned to look at Sun Zhuo, and there was some unwillingness in his eyes.
"Obviously I scored and still had a look, Wade really wanted to lure me into fouling." Sun Zhuo was just speculating whether Wade wanted to play 2+1, after all, the Heat is currently behind by double digits, and it is too slow to chase points only with two-point shots.
"Brother, it's almost over." Sun Zhuo reminded Wade.
"I know you won't be ahead for long." Wade replied coldly.
After Wade's goal, the difference was reduced to six points.
At this time, the audience became a little nervous, but fortunately, it was the turn of the Magic to attack at this time, as long as the Magic scored the ball......
Bang!
Sun Zhuo shot the iron, and the rebound was directly grabbed by Dwyane Wade!
"Oh no!" There were already fans at the scene who began to cover their eyes, they didn't want to see the score that they had worked so hard to lead the whole game, and they were overtaken by the opponent in the end, which was so sad!
But in today's situation, the Heat is launching the final counterattack, and as long as Wade scores this goal, he can chase the difference to only 4 points, or even, chase a gap of only one goal!
"Stop Wade!" Sun Zhuo pointed in the direction of Wade and shouted loudly, Sun Zhuo was also nervous, this ball must be prevented, if you can't prevent it, the magic may collapse!
"We were lucky enough to shoot so many three-pointers today, and if we still lose in the end, it would be unacceptable!"
Nelson followed Wade for the first time, not letting Wade directly start the fast break, seeing that Wade had the posture of dribbling to the left side to break through, he directly lowered his hands and moved sideways to block Wade's way, because the two were standing close to the sideline, Nelson's lateral move can be said to block Wade's left breakthrough route, unless Wade changes the direction of the breakthrough, otherwise, there is no place for him to drill over.
"Blocked!" Nelson thought to himself, and secretly breathed a sigh of relief, as long as Wade couldn't get past half of the court for the first time, then their fast break would not be able to play.
"That's not right!" Sun Zhuo saw Nelson's defensive move, but he was not relieved at all, but became even more panicked!
In his previous life, Alexander of the Cavaliers also defended Wade in this way, but he was given a clever ball by Wade...... Not good, O'Neill! β
Sun Zhuo remembered the classic Wade in his previous life who shared the ball on the sideline, and then passed it to O'Neal with the cooperation, he originally planned to defend Wade as well, but now he aimed his attention at O'Neal's position for the first time, and sure enough, he had rushed to the frontcourt!
"O'Neill ran so fast this time!"
As Sun Zhuo expected, Wade really used a trick to pass the ball, using his left hand to pass the ball over Nelson first, and then follow up, passing Nelson in such a small space!
"Oh my God, he beat Nelson!" The audience became even more nervous.
Artest stood up excitedly: "Rush, score this goal again, you can win!" β
Even if the Magic are still ahead of the score, for today's Magic, being equalized is equivalent to losing, and this goal is crucial.
"Shaq!" Wade spotted O'Neal and, as in his previous life, threw the ball at O'Neal with both hands.
"Oh no, that's an air relay! Shaq to the basket! "Magic fans have fallen into despair.
O'Neal was already on both feet, and as long as he got the ball, no one could stop him from dunking.
But at this time.
Syllable!
I saw Sun Zhuo rushing over like lightning and intercepting Wade's pass in the air!
"What? When did he pass? Wade was completely stunned, and when he looked at O'Neill, he didn't notice the presence of Sun Zhuo by O'Neal's side.
"It's a million-dollar steal!" Popovich couldn't help but applaud Sun Zhuo, he knew that once he was successfully picked up by O'Neal, the difference would be chased to 4 points, and with the experience of the Heat and the current momentum, he would definitely turn defeat into victory.
After Sun Zhuo broke the ball, a long pass was passed to Tekoglu, who once again scored the sixth three-pointer!
"Ahh Sixth! Another 9-point lead! β
The mood of the fans is like going from hell to heaven all at once.
"There's no time, shoot a three-pointer!" Pat Riley originally didn't plan to let the players risk shooting three-pointers, but now there is not much time left, and the Heat are still nearly 10 points behind.
"Three-point ......" Wade, Anthony Walker, O'Neal, Haslem, Williams, everyone is terrified, three-point shots, no one is good at it!
Bang!
Bang!
The sound of striking iron was constantly heard on the basket.
"The series is over, and the Heat don't have a consistent three-point shooter, and the margin can't be recovered." Popovich smiled, happy for Sun Zhuo.
The Heat were still desperately chasing, and in the end, they finally chased down only two points left, but at this time, the game was also in the last second.
Magic has advanced!