Chapter 68: Defeat in Toronto
With a minute and a half remaining, McMillan pulled down his main lineup and sent on a second team.
The Raptors also adjusted appropriately, but still put Bosh on top and led the second team.
In fact, Raptors coach Sam. Mitchell was also betting that McMillan would let Oden go down to rest, and it turned out that Mitchell was right!
Under Oden's pincer, although Bosh can continue to score, the process is much more difficult, and the shooting percentage is not guaranteed.
When Auden went down, even Aldridge went down, which made Bosh completely liberated, and he had the feeling that the sea was wide and the sky was high and the birds were flying.
Under the leadership of Bosh, the Raptors set off a wave of attacks and directly overtook the score, and at the end of the first quarter, the Raptors led the Trail Blazers by four points at 33:29.
At the beginning of the second quarter, McMillan began to make substitutions one after another, and Oden was replaced as soon as possible!
The Raptors took the lead in attacking, continuing the momentum of the Raptors in the second half of the first quarter, maintaining their touch, and with Jack's assist, Baryani hit a long shot from outside the three-point line.
The bigger the ball, the smoother, the player is more confident, dare to shoot any ball, and can score.
At the end of the third quarter, 65:78, the Raptors extended their lead to double digits through two quarters of hard work!
"Hey...... Guys, I guess we should be doing something! McMillan clapped his hands as the players walked off the field.
"Defend, or defend! I know you didn't feel good tonight and missed a lot of shots! None of that matters, though! We can't score, it doesn't matter, it's the point to let the other side not score! ”
"I believe we have the strength to prevent them from dying! Do you have faith? ”
"There is ......"
"Be louder, you can't hear it at all, are you a bunch of?"
"Yes!" Auden led the roar.
"Good!" Seeing that the morale was rising, McMillan smiled and nodded.
Time passed quickly, and before anything could be said, the fourth quarter of the game quietly began, and Oden took the lead to stand up and prepare to enter the court.
"Let's fuck those bitches in Toronto!" Auden stretched out his arm and shouted loudly.
"yes, kick them in the ass!" Soon, Aldridge reacted and responded in a timely manner.
“Beat it!” All the Trail Blazers players gathered around and put their hands together.
"Portland!"
“go!”
"Portland!"
“go,go,go!”
Oden straightened his jersey, tucked the hem into his pants, and strode into the field. And Aldridge came to the baseline and was ready to serve.
The referee took the ball in one hand, went to the bottom touchline, waited for everyone to be in place, and threw the ball to Aldridge.
The ball bounced off the ground and bounced exactly into Aldridge's hand. After receiving the ball, Aldridge gave it to Blake.
Blake unceremoniously pushed quickly to the frontcourt, Calderon reached for the ball, but Blake dribbled under the crotch to dodge it.
What Calderon didn't expect was that Blake, who always chose to dodge and hand over the ball before, actually squeezed himself to hold the ball and break through.
Gambling defense is like this, if you don't succeed, you will become a beneficiary, and if you don't succeed in breaking the ball, then you have to bear the consequences of being sudden.
Ignoring the inside requirements, Blake, who had passed Calderon, took a step outside the free throw line with the ball and decisively threw the ball before the defense arrived.
Oden looked at Blake, who made a decisive shot, although this was something that had not happened before, but Oden still chose to trust his teammates, but his eyes were still on the basket, and if he missed a shot, Oden was ready to burst out at any time and fight with Bosh for the rebound.
"......Boom" The ball went into the net, and after seeing the ball go in, Blake nodded indifferently, turned and ran back.
"Well done!" Auden said as he passed by Blake's side and gave him a thumbs up.
"You can rest assured and boldly vote, I have me on the inside line!" Oden said loudly to his teammates around him.
Aldridge looked at Auden with resentment, he is also an insider!
As if sensing Aldridge's eyes, Auden added: "Of course, the main thing is still Lamarcus!" ”
Is it really your family who opened the inside line? The Raptors quickly organized an offense, and Bosh, who came back first, glanced at it with disdain after hearing Oden's words.
Bosh once again did not enter the penalty area, knowing that Oden, who could not compete for the inside line, and forced to play alone in the penalty area, such a stupid thing, Bosh dared to swear that he would never be able to do it.
Calderon couldn't help but laugh secretly when he saw that Oden was still two steps away from Bosh as before. Sure enough, it's a rookie, Chris has made consecutive mid-range shots, but he doesn't know how to defend it, and he is still hiding in the penalty area, what do you want to do?
Calderon decided to continue to give the ball to Oden, helping him brush up four or five assists in the third quarter, Calderon still knew how to repay, not to mention that the position was really good.
Bosh took the ball and threw it, and just as Calderon was still thinking about another assist, Oden suddenly saved.
Oden pounced, much to Bosh's surprise. The ball was not fully shot, Bosh hurriedly increased his strength and adjusted the lower angle, and when he had already jumped, he threw the ball in a little panic.
Sure enough, the ball didn't hit and popped up!
"This is mine!" Oden suddenly yelled, picked the rebound, threw it to Blake, and launched a quick attack.
After landing, Oden began to run at full speed, and soon most of the Raptors were left behind by Oden.
Blake gave the ball to Oden after attracting the attention of Moon, the only one who had a timely retreat. Oden received the ball with a slight slowness, took a big stride sideways past Moon, and hooked the ball with his back to the basket.
After the team's efforts to get close to the first quarter, the Trail Blazers narrowed the score to two points in the final 10 seconds and maintained the deficit, 97-99.
With the ball still in the hands of the Trail Blazers, McMillan called a timeout to prepare for the final attack.
At this time, Roy's injury and retirement made it more difficult for McMillan to choose, if Roy was there, everything would be easy, directly hand the ball to Roy and solve the problem with three points.
Looking around, McMillan finally decided to let Aldridge, who was still on the line, make the final shot.
Keeping in mind the coach's advice that they can score two points and never three, the Trail Blazers players began to take to the court.
Oden, under the arrangement of the coach, came to the sideline to serve. Jack and Blake crossed positions on the field, but at the same time covered Aldridge.
Seeing that it was Oden who went out to serve, Raptors head coach Sam. Mitchell breathed a sigh of relief, it seems that McMillan chose him in the end! Mitchell stared at Aldridge, who was wearing the number 12 jersey.
"It didn't disappoint me!" Mitchell muttered.
According to McMillan's arrangement, Aldridge finally got an open space under the cover and backrun of his teammates, and Oden, who had a fast serve time, passed the ball to Aldridge in time.
Suddenly, behind Aldridge, a figure suddenly appeared, and without Aldridge noticing, he stretched out his hand to the basketball that Aldridge had just reached and had not yet grasped.
"Snap ......" Aldridge The ball in his hand was poked down.
"It's Chris, Chris. Bosh! The announcer shouted excitedly, originally worried, but now he should be able to catch his breath.
“8!”
“7!”
……
“3!”
The fans at the home of the Raptors, looking at the basketball that was still rolling, couldn't help but start counting the seconds, and their voices were loud and neat.
At this moment, Oden, who was serving from the outside, arrived and quickly picked up the ball.
“1!”
Oden, who was too late, rushed to shoot the ball from outside the three-point line, and as soon as the ball left his hand, the red light came on.
Everyone held their breath and looked at the basketball flying in the air, almost feeling their hearts explode because of the violent beating.
"One lap, two laps! Oh my god, I swear I need a quick fix! ”
No one listened to what the announcer was saying, just stared at the basketball in circles inside the basket.
It wasn't until the fourth lap that the basketball in the basket spun out, and the game was over, and finally Oden failed! The moment the ball landed, the originally quiet stadium suddenly exploded, and the excited shouts were endless.
The Raptors defeated the Trail Blazers by two points at 97-99 and defended the dignity of their home court.
Bosh, who scored 21 points, 8 rebounds and 3 assists, became the hero of the team's victory.