Chapter Seventy-Six: Swallow Your Last Breath
"Bang dang!"
With a crisp sound, the ball hit the front of the basket and went up.
Li Mojie missed a three-point shot from the outside.
The ball went up and down, this time hitting the rebound, but Gobert grabbed the rebound.
"Rudy." Middleton, who was outside the three-point line, yelled.
Gobert didn't have time to think and immediately passed the ball to Middleton, who was on the wing.
Three-point hit!
"Yay!"
Seeing the ball in the pocket, Middleton shouted, reached out and shook his fist vigorously in front of his chest.
Li Mojie saw Middleton hit a three-point shot, and he was relieved, having a good teammate is different, this ball is not just as simple as scoring a few points, the second quarter of the time Pelicans under the leadership of Davis are in full swing, chasing points very tightly, it can be said that this three points are very critical, at this time the third quarter of the game has just started, after this three-point shot was thrown, the Suns led by 5 points at home 59:54.
Li Mojie looked at Middleton, who was returning to the defense, and praised in his heart: The team has indeed made a good deal! This season, Middleton of the original world has evolved from a 6.1-point role player in his rookie season to a qualified starter with an average of 12.1 points per game, and a three-point shooting rate of 41.4%, and he will evolve into the league's top five 3D quarterback players in the future, and with the presence of Middleton, when Li Mojie is in good shape, he does not dare to easily step forward to wrap up, so that Li Mojie can give full play to his singles talent.
The Pelicans' offense, Tyrek Evans, who had just been on the court, obviously didn't have the confidence of his rookie days, and he didn't get rid of Bledsoe with a cross-step dribble, and passed the ball to Eric Gordon, who was doing well in this game.
Eric Gordon dribbled the ball a few more times on the spot and pulled it straight away, but Middleton interfered in time and the ball bounced out of the frame.
Pelicans head coach Monty Williams looked at the Suns' current starting five: Bledsoe, Middleton, Lee Mojab, Markieff, Gobert, his eyes were full of envy, this lineup is quite reasonable, with meat shields, playmakers, defense, and three-point ...... Also on the bench are Frye, Marcus, Ramon Sessions, PJ Tucker and other powerful players.
Monty Williams smiled bitterly: "If you lose this time, the Pelicans will have one win and three losses, and they will have to compete for the rhythm of the champion show again, but the lineup on the opposite side is really good, although all of them are not famous except for Li Mojie, but when combined, it is no wonder that people can overturn the Thunder team in the last game!" ”
"Rebounding! Take care to protect the basket! Don't let that damn guy get a second attack easily! Monty Williams roared loudly
But Monty Williams' roar failed to stop the Suns from rushing for such a ferocious rebound, because the Pelicans' lineup this year is extremely unreasonable, with only 2 starters on the inside, Davis and Jason Smith, and only one non-draft player on the bench, Greg Stiensma, is the inside, but this guy enters the league in 11 years and will be cut in 15 years, so you can imagine his strength.
So when Davis tried his best to chase the score in the first two quarters, he found that his team's interior line was completely blown out after the third quarter break.
"Ball." Gobert grabbed the rebound and passed to Li Mojie, who glanced at Anthony Morrow, who was defending his 198CM, and was a dry pull.
"Huh!" The ball goes into the pocket without a hitch.
"The Pelicans really have a really bad roster this year, hoarding a whole bunch of guards: Gordon, Holiday and Morrow, Evans...... The team doesn't even have a qualified small forward or interior player. Eddie Johnson said, glancing at the Pelicans' roster.
"After all, it's a team that was only established this year (the Hornets changed their name to the Pelicans in '13)." Ann Meyers also teased.
Looking back, Evans finally found his form again, bravely smashing to the basket and making a successful layup.
Then the Suns attacked, Li Mojie received the ball and stuck to Morrow to complete an assist, and did not pass to the inside, he aimed at a small opening, and threw the basketball from behind to Marcus, who had just finished covering for himself, and Marcus took the ball and detonated the atmosphere of the audience.
"Well done, Maurice!" Li Mojie came over and punched Marcus and said excitedly.
Mo Luo glanced at Li Mojie helplessly, just got the ball, he thought that Li Mojie was going to rely on his strength to eat him, but he didn't expect people to withdraw his strength halfway and play him blindfolded.
Coach Williams reluctantly called a timeout, replaced Davis, asked Aminu and Jason Smith to hurry up and rest for a few minutes, and told Terek Evans to bring up the speed: "Tyreck, you are also an old man in the league, do you remember you as a rookie?" The champion on the opposite side is not better than you, bring up the speed, there is a big center on the opposite side, and the speed is definitely not as flexible as us, do you know? ”
Evans nodded, "Got the coach." ”
Looking back, the Pelicans really started, Bryan Roberts, Evans, Gordon, Morrow, Davis four people started, except for Davis, the other four were less than 2 meters, and their athleticism was indeed outstanding.
"Oh? Is this a small lineup for the Pelicans? One big with four small? Eddie Johnson looked at the court and wondered.
"There's no way, there are so many people on the Pelicans bench, if you want to chase points, a small lineup is the best way." Ann Meyers replied.
"How do I feel more like the Suns on the other side!" Eddie Johnson complained.
"Bang" Roberts three-pointer.
"Mine." Davis jumped up to pick up the rebound and passed it to the outside.
Then Gordon hit a three-pointer to take his game's scoring to 15.
Then the Pelicans relied on this small lineup to gradually close the score.
"Don't say it, the Pelicans have a really good lineup." Eddie Johnson said in surprise.
"Oh? How so? Ann Mayers asked.
"You see, the Pelicans' shooting percentages on the outside are okay, Evans and Gordon's breakthroughs are obviously a little hot, and the offensive end has made plenty of interior space for Davis, so that Davis can give full play to his excellent athleticism, and on the defensive end, this Davis is also quite like Garnett, doing a decent job." Eddie Johnson analyzed.
"Oh? So, is there any hope for the Pelicans? Meyers asked.
"Then it's up to the Suns who stands up to extinguish the Pelicans' last breath."
At this time, Li Mojie did not stop after receiving the ball, and dribbled the ball twice with his left and right hands, and saw Morrow's center of gravity move, and suddenly turned around with a cross step to turn right to pass him clean, and stepped on three steps towards the basket.
Davis, who was guarding the basket, saw that Li Mojie had already hit the basket, and raised his hands and rushed over.
Li Mojie chuckled, his hand shook, and the ball passed under Davis's armpit and directly into Gobert's hand, who pulled it up and directly slammed it violently, perhaps in order to show his excellent athleticism to become a starter, and shook the basket with great force.
"Marc Marc! Wonderful assist, Gobert scored a direct slam dunk! Davis suffers a little when he defends on the inside alone. The host of Charlotte Sports also sighed.
In the Pelicans' offensive round, Morrow missed.
"Markieff resists Davis, don't let him grab it, Mojie goes in and grabs, don't be afraid of them counterattacking!" Hornacek shouted from the sidelines.
At this time, there were 3 or 4 muscular men under the basket, and Davis couldn't guarantee that he would grab every ball even if Chamberlain was alive, "Damn." Pelicans head coach Williams looked at Hornacek on the sidelines and cursed.
Markieff carried out the coach's instructions very well, he and Davis were almost in exchange, and the rebound was picked up by Li Mojie, who pressed the rhythm before passing to Bledsoe. , then Bledsoe shook Gordon a few times before slamming into the basket.
"Stop him." Davis had to come up to help, and Bledsoe threw the ball inside.
"Bang!"
"Oh my God, it's Rudy's big dunk again, how many baskets did we have inside in this game?" Eddie Johnson presumably presumably pretended to be taken aback.
"I didn't do the math, there should be seven or eight, but the Pelicans should be able to take their last breath." Meyers laughed.
"I think so." Eddie Johnson laughed too.
Sure enough, the unreasonable lineup of the Pelicans still couldn't be saved, and the third quarter ended, with the Suns leading by 11 points at 79:68, and the Pelicans switched to the bench after struggling a few times in the first five minutes of the fourth quarter and announced their surrender.