Chapter 567: All or Nothing
Losing the battle of Tianwang Mountain made everyone feel bad, but what made them even more speechless was that the league scheduled the sixth game on the third day after the end of the fifth game, which means that they only have one day of rest when they are full.
Early the next morning, the whole Bobcat team boarded the flight to Boston with sleepy eyes, and the first action after everyone got on the plane was to find a comfortable position and half-lie down and start sleeping. Of course, you may not be able to sleep much in the narrow seats of the plane, but it is good for everyone to sleep for a minute and save some energy for the next one.
After arriving in Boston, the Bobcats didn't stop too much at the airport, leaving the team's staff to wait for their luggage while they took the bus to the hotel to catch up on their sleep. For this reason, Jackson canceled the recovery training scheduled for the evening and moved it to 8:30 a.m. the next day, and the time was half an hour shorter than planned.
Resting well is now the most important task for the Bobcats, who must recover as much as possible before the start of Game 6, including the physical fatigue caused by the battle of Mt. Tianwang and the long flight. Chang Wei was willing to take out the magic drink to share with the players, but unfortunately the system forbade him to use the props before the game started.
However, Chang Wei was pleased that in the training session the next morning, everyone performed very well and did not seem to be affected at all, which was good for the evening game. Of course, this is also thanks to Chang Wei's physical training from the beginning, in his opinion, the improvement of physical fitness can not only increase the speed and explosiveness of the players, but also reduce their recovery time, so now the Bobcats can recover from fatigue more quickly and devote themselves to the game.
It's a game they can't lose, and now in the series, there are no more cards left between the two sides, and whoever can do what they're good at and fill in the holes as much as possible will win the game.
Jackson did the opposite this time, having previously emphasized opening the gap from the inside, but this time he asked the Bobcats players to try their hand on the outside. The three-point shot is what they are very good at offensively, and the two big men on the inside can help the team have a certain advantage, and the missed three-point shot has a good chance to come back.
The change in the main offensive style caught the Celtics off guard, and the Bobcats players were also in good shape in this game, with Roy and Jack each hitting a three-pointer from a 45-degree angle on the wing to open the scoring for the team. When Ariza hit another corner three-pointer, Jackson jumped up from his seat and clapped hard into the court, a good start for the Bobcats, and if they could maintain that percentage for the rest of the game, they would have no problem winning.
Rivers had to get Rondo and Ray Allen to interfere as much as possible from beyond the three-point line, forcing the Bobcats players to play more of a ball-and-shoot strategy than catch-and-shoot, and then engage in physical confrontation as they prepared to shoot. But this time the Bobcats' perimeter players were not afraid, their shooting percentage with the ball was not low, and everyone shot decisively, not afraid of hitting the iron at all.
A resolute offense helped the Bobcats take a 32-27 lead in the first quarter, and while the margin wasn't huge, it wasn't like the Celtics who were pressed to the ground and rubbed against it like in the first two games. Especially their performance from beyond the three-point line, the Bobcats' starters and bench shots in this quarter hit a total of eight three-pointers, shooting more than 35%, which gave Jackson a long breath.
He didn't know if his strategy of playing the outside first was correct, but now it seems that the results are still good. So during the break, he praised the players and hoped that they would continue to improve in the second quarter.
But for most teams and players, it's unrealistic to maintain a high three-point shooting percentage throughout the game, unless they already dominate the court and have a myriad of gaps to exploit. Obviously, it was difficult for the Bobcats to get such an opportunity in this game, and the accurate three-pointers in the first quarter were just because they suddenly exploded into the small universe.
After the game restarted, the Bobcats missed three consecutive three-point shots, and the interior combination of Lee and Mark Hill was still on the short side, they only grabbed one frontcourt rebound, and the remaining two rebounds were snatched by the Celtics inside and played into a transition offense. At this time, Jackson quickly changed to the starter and asked them to change their thinking and move from the outside to the inside.
However, the Celtics are heavily guarded on the inside, and Pierce also goes to the low post from time to time to help defend, Milicic and Gasol Jr. struggle to score deep into the basket, and they have to be careful of being cut off by opponents. Their tendency to take advantage of the disadvantages keeps them moving out to shoot some big, cost-effective two-pointers, while the off-ball ones are ready to grab rebounds under the basket.
Unfortunately, their shooting percentage was really low, and soon the Celtics equalized. Jackson didn't have the same excitement on the sidelines, he walked around irritably, shouting a few words into the arena from time to time to keep his players focused.
It has to be said that the Celtics are really experienced, they took advantage of the Bobcat's hole for the first time, and then began to fight back aggressively. It's also the benefit of having three stars at the same time, anyone can be the one who delivers the fatal shot, whether it's Pierce's mid-range shot, Ray Allen's three-pointer or Garnett's basket foot, all of which are important weapons for the Celtics.
The Celtics regained the lead at the end of the first half, and with a late 6-0 run, they managed to stretch the margin to double digits, which was a huge demoralization blow to the Bobcats. Their shooting didn't return to normal in the second half, and even Roy, who has always been consistent, had an embarrassing situation of hitting all five shots in a row, let alone the others. Celtic, on the other hand, grew stronger and stronger to the cheers of their home fans, and remained firmly in control of the situation.
However, Jackson did not replace the main force in the fourth quarter, even though the probability of the Bobcats coming back to win at this time has approached zero infinitely. It's undoubtedly their last game of the season, so there's no need to keep their stamina and each of them is willing to fight on the pitch until the very end, even if it ends in a loss, and one more minute is a minute.
As the clock ticked by, the number on the timer finally zeroed out, and the score was fixed at 103-91, and the Bobcats unfortunately lost the game, being eliminated by the Celtics 2-4 on aggregate, and could only watch their opponents advance to the finals. But in Chang Wei's view, for such a young team, it is already something to be proud of to have come to this point.