Chapter 225: Free Throws Determine Victory
With the Magic attacking, and the non-stop passing from the perimeter, both sides scored less in this game because of the fewer rounds. The Magic strive for positional warfare and don't want to fall into the rhythm of the warriors. Their current pace is unbearable for manager Van Gundy to be an impatient, and I don't know how he endured it.
The Warriors' three outside knives showed their power in this round, keeping in front of the Magic players, and Turkoglu saw that the time was up, and singled Li Zhi's pull-up jumper to continue to hit the iron.
Jordan Jr. didn't have much effort to get the rebound, and Howard didn't fight for a second offensive opportunity and went straight back to defense.
The Magic are afraid of the Warriors' fast break, but now they have to follow the rhythm of the Warriors, and they will definitely die if they don't return quickly. Turkoglou and Lewis worked hard to defend back, but they still fell behind Lee, if the effort is useful, what do you have the talent to do?
Thinking like this, Li Zhi caught the ball and hit a layup, 62:65, a personal low of 19 points in a single game.
The Magic offense, the ball was still transmitted on the perimeter, and their three-point shot opened at the beginning of the second quarter, and this time they continued to play on the outside.
Howard puts all his energy on the defensive end, and on the offensive end, he doesn't catch the ball, just grabs rebounds and blocks and picks, which is indeed more powerful than his singles with the ball. However, fans can also see from this game that Howard is not a dominant center on the offensive end.
Just as the fans were thinking this, the Magic made a fatal mistake when Petrus passed to Turkoglou after the pick-and-roll, which was cut off by Rich. Picking up the basketball, Li Zhi immediately hit the frontcourt, three points directly outside the three-point line, tied at 65, and scored his 22nd point, and the Oracle Arena shook the sky and cheered.
Domestic fans laughed and laughed, and Zhang Reasonable said: "The Warriors played a signature offense as soon as they came up in the third quarter, and the scores of the two sides were tied, so it looks good!" β
Yu Jia said: "Li Zhi has 22 points, 3 rebounds and 4 assists. Look at the defense below, if you can prevent it, maybe you will overtake. β
Magic possession, Howard to the middle to block and dismantle, and then to the inside to cut. However, he didn't help the Magic attract the rest of the pack, and Jordan Jr. single-handedly.
Lewis ran to the left and Milicic immediately went out to defend him, leaving the interior completely empty. Turkoglu passes the ball to Howard, and Jordan Jr. immediately fouls him.
This foul was very well grasped, and the critical moment of chasing the score came to test Howard's free throws.
Howard walked to the free throw line, and the fans behind the basket let out a huge boo, and Howard shook his hand and missed the first free throw.
The second penalty went in, 65:66.
Li Zhi dribbled the ball to the frontcourt, and the Warriors players immediately ran into position. Magic is still a joint defense, Li Zhi and Milicic blocked and dismantled in the middle and then blocked and dismantled with Jordan Jr. twice, dribbling to the bottom corner, Howard did not save, Magic accelerated the rotation of defense, Li Zhi passed the ball to Milicic.
Milicic received the ball and saw Liji pointing two fingers at his eyes, and then at Milicic, meaning to let him play alone. The Warriors' tactics were seen through by the Magic, and the double-cover tactics would have failed if they failed to attract the pack.
If a set of tactics is used repeatedly, the opponent will quickly adapt to it, and even a super scorer like Jordan cannot score consecutive points without tactics. They need to create opportunities for Jordan to play alone, otherwise Jordan will face a hellish level of defense.
Richie can play alone, but Milicic is clearly better than his chances, and defending him is Rashad Lewis, a guy who has been called a defensive black hole by the fans.
Milicic calmed down, thinking in his head that he had said before the game.
"I'll blow up Lewis and show you!"
Tell me? To the fans, to himself, to the Pistons, to the Grizzlies, to the Magic!
Milicic leaned on Lewis to turn to the right, his right foot was the axis, his left foot stepped and retracted, and he took another step in the opposite direction, jump shot, the ball went in! 67οΌ66.
Rashad Lewis is shaken up!
Warriors fans were boiling, and Van Gundy watched the tense situation from the sidelines, not that the Magic were not good enough, but that the Warriors were too good. Whether it's teamwork or individual ability, they can score.
Milicic didn't bask in the cheers of the fans, and the Warriors immediately chose to go back to defense. Beneath the exterior of Milicic's sissy lies a maturing heart.
Magic attack, Turkoglu catches the ball at the top of the arc. With him, Alston can't attack with the ball, and can only choose to run and wait for the ball to shoot a three-pointer. Turkoglou as a playmaker has never had any fond memories of working with a point guard, who is a pitcher as long as he's there.
In the first two games of the finals, the Turk's weakness was undoubtedly revealed, he was a big man pitcher, relying on his height advantage to organize at the top of the arc and then seek passing opportunities. He is familiar with the Magic's tactics and works well with his teammates to deliver assists. But the Warriors' three swingmen were very strong in defense after they were misplaced, and his assists were reduced, and he couldn't pass the level of Li Zhi, and he couldn't pass Milicic after covering.
The Warriors are not the Celtics and the Cavaliers, and the people who switch the defense and pick-and-roll on those two teams are "Big Baby" Davis and "Brazilian Actor" Vallejo, which are much slower.
In the face of Li Zhi, Tekoglu could not even easily dribble the ball to face the basket, Li Zhi's lateral speed was too fast, and Tekoglu's center of gravity was high, once facing Li Zhi, there was a danger of being cut off. Li Zhi has an unusually sensitive to steals, no matter what Tekoglu does, Li Zhi will not eat.
There was no way, and after a few dribbles, Tekoglu passed the ball to Petrus on the perimeter. Petrus didn't play well today.
The person in charge of defending him was Jackson, who was Jackson's backup in the Warriors back then, and was reused because of his good defense. Jackson knows him very well, and when he defends, he is all about his shortcomings. His main scoring point was the outside jumper, and Jackson followed closely, making it difficult for him to shoot.
Barkley sighed: "The Magic really met the nemesis this time, if it wasn't the Warriors in the Finals, they might still have a chance, but now, it's difficult......"
The sixth man, Petrus, met the boss of the year, Jackson, the Magic core organization forward against the Warriors' strongest defense, O'Neal and Jordan Jr. can resist the so-called "No. 1 center in the league", big forwards Milicic and Lewis are half-hearted, and the only weakness of the Warriors - point guard is precisely the weakness of the Magic.
The Magic players were originally majestic and high-spirited in the second quarter, and there was a great sense of tragedy on the guillotine, but from leading to falling behind, the Magic players became less and less confident in the whole process, and subconsciously accepted their fate.
The Magic players kept making several turnovers, and the Warriors took the opportunity to pull the score away.
In the fourth quarter, the Magic players resisted stubbornly, but the Warriors were very unsympathetic, and fouled Howard several times at critical moments to force Howard to go to the free throw line. Stan Van Gundy squeezed and jumped on the sidelines, it was so shameless, leading by more than ten points and using the "shark cutting tactic", I have never seen such shameless!
"No, I really want to forget something......" Stan Van Gundy looked at O'Neal and suddenly realized, and said to the Magic players with a big victory: "Cut him!" β
As a result, there was such a scene on the court, and in the finals, the two teams decided the winner by free throws. Nelson is strategizing, and since the Magic are doing this, it means that they have given up resisting, and the "shark hacking tactic" can only be said to be a manifestation of Stan Van Gundy's anger.
By doing so, the Magic has actually cut off the hope of victory, because no matter what they do, time is running out.
O'Neal walked to the free throw line, exhaled deeply, raised his hand, and missed the first free throw.
Howard applauded, smiled brightly at O'Neal, and said unscrupulously: "And say that I have bad free throws, and you can't get any better!" β
Howard's psychology is distorted now, I'm rotten, but there are people worse than me, I'm not the worst!
O'Neal ignored him, but picked up the basketball with a cold snort and made a free throw pose that had not been seen in the NBA for a long time - the urine plate.
βhatοΌβ Howard watched as O'Neal threw the basketball into the air at random with that ugly free throw posture, and the basketball happily fell into the basket.
The fans laughed, and O'Neal didn't care, in the finals, who cares about the posture at the critical moment. The Warriors players laughed unbridledly, not laughing at O'Neal, but mocking Howard.
"Who said that labor and capital can't be invested, just now I was afraid of hurting your self-esteem, and you are still young~" O'Neal looked at Howard and sighed, quite a feeling that there was no opponent in the free throw world.
In front of the TV, the old Barry took the remote control and said to his son Little Barry: "What do I say, this fat man learns early, and there are 6 champions!" The tone contained all kinds of emotions of pride, pride, and pride, and the sons nodded yes again and again.