Chapter 124: The Struggle of GDP
Zhang Xiaotian was mistreated badly when he faced James for the first time, and before the finals began, he thought about getting it back, but he just thought about it.
In terms of player characteristics, Leonard is undoubtedly better suited to play against James.
At the last moment of the game, when James switched to Zhang Xiaotian, he didn't see it.
Zhang Xiaotian thought about what to do when he called for cover, and now he only has the basket in his eyes.
Shot without hesitation, with a standard shooting posture, without even the slightest trembling.
After a season of training and several outbursts at critical moments, Zhang Xiaotian's confidence in the final period of the game was bursting, and he was the best key man.
James jumped up as best he could, as if he had rubbed a little, but as if he hadn't been hit.
But this has been able to interfere with the defense of many players, but James did not see any fluctuations in Zhang Xiaotian's eyes, and he suddenly had a bad premonition in his heart.
Turning around, the basketball just fell into the basket.
Three-pointer shot, 91-86, Spurs lead by five points.
“game over!” The moment Zhang Xiaotian landed and saw James, he couldn't help but spit out two words elegantly.
James was furious, this nobody, dared to speak wildly.
Well, James is actually used to trash talk, and what he can't stand is falling behind in the last moments.
Even if he has won the championship, the Spurs are still a knot in his heart, and he doesn't want to lose.
In the next attack, James rushed in like an angry bull, and Leonard was directly knocked away, his face was full of incredulity.
However, when the Spurs broke through James, the defense has always been in a state of recycling, otherwise he would not have so many assists, but this time he wanted to be tough.
Leonard was a little unaccustomed and didn't react when knocked out.
But the experienced big guy is different, Ginobili rushed over to be ruthless, the foul in the name of cutting the ball is ruthless, and the three words of fast and accurate ruthlessness must be at least ruthless, otherwise it is to send 2 + 1, and the hidden explanation is that the free throw will not be so accurate.
James stabilized his emotions and hit both free throws, with just over 30 seconds left.
The Spurs' three-point lead must be time-pressing, but the Heat's plan is to defend one more.
This can't be helped, the Spurs' free throws are not bad if they foul.
Parker held the ball, and there was nothing to do with Zhang Xiaotian at this time.
It was almost 7 seconds before Leonard came up to cover, Parker accelerated and killed it, James had long expected Parker's movements, and directly bypassed Leonard to stop him.
But there is someone who is more familiar with Parker than James, and that is Duncan.
Duncan took a step forward and made a block at a 45-degree angle on the edge of the box, just in time to delay James, and Parker took the opportunity to shoot and the ball went in.
The defense failed, with less than 10 seconds left on the clock, and the Heat were already in a desperate situation.
The point of the pause is to serve in the midfield, and unless there is a miracle, they are too late.
James had no chance to get the ball and had to hand it to Wade, who didn't have a chance to be forced to make a two-point shot.
missed, Bosh desperately grabbed the rebound, and there was not enough time to pass out, James barely shot, and the whistle blew at the end of the game.
93:87, the first game of the summit matchup, the victory belongs to the Spurs.
Zhang Xiaotian scored 13 points in 20 minutes, and his efficiency was very good.
After winning the first game, Spurs were full of confidence and pretended to be sure.
"We're enjoying the game." "We enjoyed every moment and didn't take anything for granted because it's been six years [since the last Finals] and we're all very excited after the Grizzlies game," Parker said. ”
Heat forward Sean Battier didn't buy it, "Don't trust them. "They're a very competitive team, you can't let up for a second, they're all killers, they're going to step on you if you have to." So do we. ”
Zhang Xiaotian stood up and pulled hatred, saying that the championship could only be Spurs'.
However, his move was considered a conspiracy, and experts analyzed that the Spurs wanted to attract the attention of the Heat to Zhang Xiaotian, so that a few bigwigs could play more easily, and Popovich was innocent.
The second game starts on June 9, the Heat must fight, and the next three games are played at the home of the Spurs, if they fall behind 0:2, it is almost equivalent to a death sentence.
At the beginning of the game, both sides defended the jealous players very hard, and both teams also had this strength.
Duncan and Parker on the Spurs' side, and James and Wade on the Heat's side, didn't get any good opportunities.
The role players took the opportunity to step up, with the Heat's Mario Chammos on a three-pointer and a breakaway, and the Spurs with Danny Green shooting from beyond the three-point line.
Danny Green is Popovich's favorite role player when he's on three-point accuracy, but when he's not on point, Popovich can't help but put him on the bench.
The two teams were still evenly matched, and in the first half, the Spurs still gave a few more players a chance.
Popovich's usual routine, if someone feels hot and stands out, they may continue to play in the second half, otherwise only Ginobili and Zhang Xiaotian can get a chance.
At this time, a player like Gary Neal who shoots decisively is easy to score, and it's hard for others to say, as long as you hesitate, the Heat's defense will stick up, unless you have good single ability, and you have to score handsomely, otherwise Popovich will curse.
Rotation time, but the Heat is more dominant, especially on the inside, Spurs like Dior, Matt Bonner and other types of players can still come up in the previous games, but they have no effect on the Heat's style of play, but the opponent Chris Anderson, the type who can jump and jump, can get opportunities.
In the first half, the Spurs fell behind by 5 points, and what impressed them was that the Heat strengthened their interior defense, in addition to Bosh, James actually capped Duncan on the inside defense, standing on the side of the Spurs, it is very embarrassing, in the past, Duncan could not be hated like this head-on.
In fact, the strategies of both sides were successful, the Spurs defense made James very uncomfortable on the offensive end, and James made many Spurs uncomfortable on the offensive end.
After all, the threat of Spurs Parker and Ginobili came out after the break, and James actually did the same thing as Leonard, but James was more imposing.
By the third quarter, Duncan hadn't made a move, and the Spurs understood the danger of today's game.
Leonard began to increase the number of offenses, but on the offensive end, the gap between him and James was a little bigger, and James gave him a cap.
Popovich looked serious, played for three minutes and asked Parker to come down to adjust, and found that it still didn't work, and then replaced him with Ginobili, and then replaced Zhang Xiaotian.
GDP rarely hit all the iron, Zhang Xiaotian stubbornly held the ball and singled, and the team fell behind by 10 points after three quarters.