Chapter 639: A Tragic Playoffs
The audience also became nervous, and they all looked nervously at the field. Pen @ fun @ pavilion wWw. ļ½ļ½ļ½Uļ½Eć ļ½ļ½ļ½ļ½
If the second free throw doesn't go in, it's definitely giving the Lakers a chance.
Contrary to the audience's thoughts, the Lakers players were expecting Rubio to miss the second free throw, and Noel and Gasol under the basket were desperately against their respective defenders, ready to rush for the rebound.
Rubio took a deep breath and took aim for his second free throw.
"Huh!"
With a crisp sound, the second free throw was steadily hit, and the Timberwolves led by 4 points!
Rubio shot 82 percent from the free-throw line and missed a free throw, but the probability of missing two consecutive free throws is unrealistic.
There was a burst of cheers from the crowd as there were 18 seconds left before the end of the race, and a four-point lead was enough to guarantee victory in the final race.
The Lakers called a timeout immediately, and with little game time left, they had no way back, and the next shot had to be a three-pointer, and it had to be made.
"There's still time, let's settle down and play another ball, this ball Tang you can catch the ball directly......" Billups said in a calm tone, and began to carefully explain the tactics of the next round.
He looked calm, but Xiao on the side couldn't help but reach out and wipe the sweat from his forehead.
After the timeout, the Lakers served the sideline ball, and it was still Gasol who served.
The Timberwolves' defense has all expanded to the perimeter, and it is clear that they will not give a three-point shot.
"Toot!"
The referee blew the whistle for the game to continue.
Gasol held the ball high, and Downs in front of him kept reaching out and jumping to interfere with his pass.
After the whistle blew, the Lakers players followed suit.
Tang Shuai was the first to go outside the three-point line, and this time Billups arranged for Noll, Batum and Deng to give him a triple block, which finally delayed the Timberwolves' defense, and he successfully ran to the outside line and took Gasol's pass.
Aldridge quickly came to the rescue, and he had completely abandoned his defence against Knoll.
Tang Shuai held the ball and did not immediately shoot three points, but suddenly lowered the center of gravity, and then broke through the penalty area towards the inside.
This breakthrough came very suddenly, and Thibodeau was taken aback.
With little time left, Tang Shuai actually chose to break through and score 2 points?!
What the heck? Could it be that Billups wants another quick 2 points? But time is clearly running out.
"Chauncey is still inexperienced, this is the ...... choice at this time" Webb couldn't help but sigh, even if this goal is scored, the next thing is to look at the free throws of the Timberwolves, this kind of shooting in the hands of the opponent is really not wise.
Tang Shuai was indeed breaking through, and he accelerated to the inside to kill in Aldridge's bag.
Rubio chased after the defense, but the others just looked back at Tang Shuai, and did not shrink, and they could see that the 2-point ball was released.
Tang Shuai hit the free throw line in a blink of an eye, and it only took more than 4 seconds and less than 5 seconds from the time he came out of the serve to now.
He's already started.
Rubio also gave up on the pursuit.
But just when everyone thought that Tang Shuai was going to get up and make a layup, after he pulled the ball in front of him, he suddenly threw it to the left.
This one came down too suddenly, and it can even be said to be abrupt.
But just then, Deng appeared at the end of the passing route.
A trap!
Billups set a trap, using Tang Shuai's containment and last tactical misdirection to attract everyone's attention, including the other four players on the court, after all, with the Lakers' lineup, Tang Shuai must have played at the last moment, and even if he didn't shoot three points, it would be easy to score 2 points on this ball.
But instead, I chose to pass.
The speed of the ball was super fast, but Deng grabbed the ball as soon as he could, which was obviously a tactic, and when Tang Shuai broke through to attract the attention of others, Deng and Batum had already gone outside the three-point line on both sides.
After Deng received the ball, he made a three-point shot before the defender came.
Deng is not a consistent three-point shooter with a career three-point shooting rate of only 33%, but he does have this range, and more importantly, as a veteran, except for the fluctuations in the opening game, his mental quality is quite stable, which is why Billups dared to hand him this crucial shot.
After the basketball flew out of Deng's hand, it flew straight towards the basket.
More than 20,000 pairs of eyes at the scene all looked at the spinning basketball.
The spotlight also flashed around, and the goal was scored or not, which determined the suspense of the last moment.
"Huh!"
With a crisp sound, Deng's three-point shot, hit!
The scene was in an uproar, and the score difference was instantaneously only 1 point left.
The Timberwolves called a timeout.
Thibodeau unconsciously scratched his hairless head with his hand, and it could be seen that he didn't expect the Lakers to come out like that.
The mood of the fans also became extremely nervous with the pause, and in an instant, the home team stood on the edge of the cliff.
"Chauncey is a genius, I apologize for the previous words, he is really very smart and bold." Webb said from the bottom of his heart at this time.
In fact, what Weber said was not wrong, in the first round of this tactic, the tactics arranged by Billups could not be passed to Tang Shuai's hands in the end, which shows that he still underestimated Thibodeau's defensive formation, but his strength lies in the fact that he made adjustments so quickly, which is also the main reason for his convincing.
After the timeout, the Timberwolves sent a sideline ball, and it was still Rubio who received the ball, who ran on the court for more than a second before being chased by Tang Shuai for a foul.
Rubio goes to the free-throw line again.
Tang Shuai looked up at the game time on the field at this time, and there were just 11 seconds left.
The scene soon fell completely silent with two crucial free throws by Rubio.
He took a deep breath, and the pace of his free throws was noticeably slower than the last time.
"Huh!"
The first penalty is.
"Huh!"
There is also a second penalty.
It's really hard for a player who is consistent on the free throw line to expect him to not score.
There was a cheer from the scene, and he was 3 points ahead, at least he had guaranteed that he would not lose.
Billups called the Lakers one last timeout.
Almost everyone in the audience had already stood up, and many people couldn't help but look up at the score on the field.
"Toot!"
When the timeout came, Billups pulled the players for a while before letting them play.
The Lakers made adjustments to the lineup, replacing Deng and Batum with Stephenson and Mike Dermott, and it looks like the posture is really ready to fight for the last shot.
"The last 11 seconds, the last chance, is this going to be the first overtime of this year's playoffs?" Webb said and looked at the field.
It was still Gasol who served, and it was Stephenson who received the ball, and after he received the ball, Mike Dermott and Don Shuai ran from the two bottom corners to the 45-degree angle by blocking and picking.
"Keep up! Come on! Thibodeau shouted loudly from the sidelines.
The Timberwolves showed super defensive ability at this time, chasing their defenders to the death, and they didn't give a chance.
There was not much time left in the game, and by the time Tang Shuai and Mike Dermott ran to a 45-degree angle, the original 11-second world had less than the last 9 seconds left.
Billups' tactical set-up for the last ball, failed!
Stephenson had no choice, and he threw the ball at Tang Shuai as if in a desperate position.
If a miracle happens, then the person who creates the miracle can only be Tang Shuai.
Tang Shuai saw Stephenson passing the ball, measured his body and leaned against Rubio, reached out with his right hand to grab the ball, did not stop for a second, and directly turned around and made a dry pull-out jumper.
Rubio's defense wasn't completely shaken off, and he was already on the back jumper.
Tang Shuai had no choice, but his eyes were firm, and all he had in his eyes was the basket with a diameter of 45cm.
He didn't know which basketball bag he had activated, whether it was Truth turning and leaning back, Novak three-packing, or Maddie's dry pulling, which he aimed at the basket after jumping and threw the ball out mechanically.
Rubio's interference was a little slower.
The basketball arced through the air and flew straight towards the basket.
Tang Shuai's eyes looked straight at the basketball, and when he fell, he still maintained the posture when he shot.
"Huh!"
A crisp sound, incomparably clear, echoed throughout the arena.
The audience was stunned.
At the last moment, Tang Shuai stood up to Rubio's defense and made a three-point appearance. Shoot hit!
Score, 106 draws!
Lakers, tied the score!
There are less than 2 seconds left in the game!
The Lakers, with their efforts to win themselves a chance to go over!
Thibodeau reached out and called a timeout.
"This has to be one of the best games of the playoffs this season, and the Lakers have shown their resilience!" Webb said excitedly in the commentary booth that from trailing by 15 points at halftime to tying the score, the Lakers' efforts are definitely worthy of recognition.
"Good job." This time, Billups finally said in the affirmative when the player came off the field.
However, the game is not over yet, with 2 seconds left, and the Timberwolves still have one last chance to attack.
Billups immediately set up the final defensive round, and in the case of a tie, unless there is a super shooter like Curry on the team, this ball is likely to be a two-point shot, and it is a jumper, so the defensive center of this ball is one step inside the three-point line.
"Toot!"
After a while, the whistle on the sidelines remembered the last 2 seconds of the first game of the playoffs between the two sides.
The Timberwolves made a change, and they brought on Mohammed and Aldridge.
The Lakers, for their part, also made corresponding adjustments, replacing Stephenson and Aldridge with Deng and Batum.
The arrangement of this final attack of both sides is definitely the rhythm of needle-to-point.
"Toot!"
When Rubio was ready to serve on the sidelines, the referee blew the whistle for the game to continue.
After the whistle blew, Towns made a big block at the three-point line at the top of the arc, Wiggins and Mohammed crossed left and right, and after the run, Wiggins went inside, and Mohammed went to the left three-point line, forming two direct opportunities.
However, the Lakers' defense was really dead enough at this time, Batum and Tang Shuai crossed the defense, but they didn't give a chance, and Noll also blocked the three-second zone under the basket.
All of the Timberwolves' offensive lines were guarded to death. (To be continued.) )