Chapter 66: Stankey's Ambition
In the final minutes, the Pistons were led by Stankey, and when the third quarter ended, the Pistons trailed by eight points from Iverson to only two points so far, which was a really surprising performance.
"It's incredible, eighty-seventy-eight, the Pistons managed to catch up with the score, and they did it without Iverson, could the Pistons be better without Iverson?" Barkley said in shock.
"Alas, this situation has undoubtedly made many people turn their attention to Iverson, and they can't help but be suspicious of him, but can Iverson get through this?" Kenny Smith paused and continued, "Iverson didn't want to be alone when he was seventy-six, but he had to be alone, because there was no one else who could help him but him, so he was alone in the eyes of others, but now, alas"
"Now what? You're done talking, why don't you say it halfway? Barkley spoke with a slight dissatisfaction.
However, Kenny Smith, who was sitting next to him, didn't care, but said with a smile, "The current Iverson is no longer the omnipotent answer, maybe there can be many such performances, but it will definitely not last the whole season." You see the guy who came off the bench and called Stankey, he's going to be a big threat to Iverson right now, at least this time is his proof battle, which has taken the Pistons from eight points behind to only two points now, so in comparison, alas. ”
Although Kenny Smith didn't say all the words in his heart, Barkley understood, but Barkley didn't say anything, and could only sigh helplessly in his heart.
Huang Jun looked at the lonely figure on the other party's bench, and couldn't help but sigh in his heart, he didn't know why he sighed, maybe it was like this, maybe it was like that, as for what it was, he didn't know what it was.
And the fourth quarter is the most critical quarter of this game, that is, the decisive battle, who loses and who wins, it all depends on the performance of the fourth quarter, the lead in the first three quarters is floating clouds, and only the lead at the last moment of the last quarter is king.
In the fourth quarter, neither side changed the lineup on the court or anything, and the meaning was already very clear, that is, it was hoped that the semi-substitute and semi-starting lineup on the court could withstand the opponent's attack in the next few minutes, and then wait for the team's real ace to come on the court to play the final decisive moment of the game.
So neither the Pistons nor the head coach of the Cavaliers replaced their ace superstar players on the court in advance.
As soon as Stankey came up, he used the pick-and-roll cover with the ball to kill directly to the inside of the Cavaliers, and Asik moved a step up directly from the inside, ready to make up for Stanki, who was breaking through to the inside.
Stanki saw a head-on breakthrough, looking at Asik in front of him face to face, there was no trace of fear on his face, although Asik was very tall, but in his eyes he was just tall, and he was not a super center like Big Shark O'Neal, so it was obviously impossible for Asik to bring him a sense of fear.
When there was still a step away from Asik, Stankey jumped directly with the ball and prepared to go to the basket, and Asik naturally couldn't watch him go to the basket without any movement or anything. This is obviously impossible.
When Stanki moved, Asik also moved, but Asik's movement speed under his feet was too different from Stanki's, and there was no comparison.
Stankey chose a three-step slow layup at this time, so Asik can make up for it in time, but will Stankey's layup be so simple?
The time of three steps is very fast, so when Stankey was about to make a layup, Asik also jumped high, seeing Asik jumping up, the corners of Stanki's mouth hooked an arc, but Asik didn't notice it, and fanned Stanki's hand that was about to shoot without any hesitation.
Stankey dodged directly in the air, raised the hand that shot up, and Asik also slapped this hand in the next moment, seeing this, Stankey directly threw the ball out of Asik's armpit, hit the board, and the referee's whistle also sounded, so it was a two-plus-one, at the beginning of the fourth quarter, Stankey created the opponent a two-plus-one, as long as the penalty hit, then the score was successfully overtaken.
Standing on the free throw line, Stankey threw the ball in his hand very steadily, and the ball hit without any accidents.
The Pistons finally managed to overtake the score, and it was in the time of role players, which can be said to be very difficult.
The Cavaliers weren't depressed or anything because of this offense, and for them the game had just begun, the real game.
Gibson quickly advanced the half court with the ball and passed directly to Szzebiak, who had been standing on the outside, and he did not choose to shoot the ball, but instead passed it to West, who was also on the outside.
West, who received the ball, dribbled directly and made a mid-range jumper with a quick stop, but it may be that West was too anxious or the shooting touch was not so good, and the ball did not hit.
However, Asik under the basket has long been stuck in position, and he pressed McDyce to directly grab this offensive rebound, and then a false shake successfully deceived McDyce who failed to grab the rebound just now, and Asik scored directly on an easy basket without any pressure.
The flickering just now undoubtedly proves that Asik has made great progress during this time, if it was before, it would definitely be rare, or it would not have been possible to see Asik's smart style of play.
Stankey came back with the ball and directly came to a mid-range pull-up jumper, but like West just now, he didn't hit the ball, but unlike just now, this rebound did not become an offensive rebound for the Pistons, but was grabbed by Asik, who grabbed the rebound, and threw the ball directly towards the halfcourt.
At this time, the closest to the pass in the air was Gibson, who watched the trajectory of the ball in the air and accelerated to the front, and the ball passed very well, without any strong pass out of bounds.
Near the free throw line, Gibson successfully received this pass, and directly followed the trend with a three-step layup, and successfully scored the ball, the Cavaliers led the Pistons by three points, scored two goals in a row, regained the lead, and suppressed the morale of the Pistons a little, which was not as sufficient as the morale of the previous overtake.
The Pistons finally succeeded in overtaking the score, and before they could hold it for twenty seconds, they were overtaken by you, and then you hit a counterattack to further widen the difference, and anyone will have some emotional changes.
"It's a pity, the Pistons couldn't hold it, and they were overtaken by the Cavaliers again, just now I was wondering if the Pistons would finish off the Cavaliers' face, I just gave me hope and shattered," Kenny Smith on the side said with a little disappointment.
"Hehe, Smith. Now are you optimistic about who is still the Pistons? Now that the Cavaliers are three points ahead, there is no advantage at all. Barkley said.
"As long as Iverson is on the floor, I'm rooting for the Pistons, and if the Pistons head coach puts Iverson on the bench in the final quarter because of Stanki's performance, then I'm rooting for the Cavaliers," Kenny Smith said as he looked at Iverson on the bench.
The meaning is clear, that is, he supports Iverson, and Smith is a fan of Iverson?
Barkley looked at Smith in confusion, but did not speak, and turned his gaze to the playing field.
There was no disappointment on Stanki's face, and it was clear that what had just happened had not shattered his confidence, not even the slightest.
Looking at Gibson, who was defending himself, Stankey said in his heart, "I can be ahead of you once, and naturally I may be ahead next, Iverson's time for you has passed, and now I just need to prove that I am better than you now." ”
Sure enough, there is a certain amount of dissatisfaction with Iverson.
Stanki, who came back to his senses, directly rushed to the inside line, Gibson was not his opponent at all in terms of strength, so he dared to rush to the inside line so directly, if Huang Jun defended him, eighty percent would not dare to break through Huang Jun like this. It was in front of Gibson that he dared to do this.
Sure enough, Gibson failed to withstand Stankey's strong burst, and directly dodged a step, and the center of gravity separated from the center of defense. Seeing this, Stanki accelerated the direct strong burst again, when will it not accelerate at this time?
Sure enough, the result was as Stankey imagined, without any accidents past Gibson's defense, and then directly into the heart, facing Landry's defense, there was no surprise on his face, as if all this was in his imagination, everything was carried out in his plan.
Jumping high, Landry naturally can't stand on the ground and not jump up to block or something, that's not his style, if he really does this, he will end up in the next moment.
So Landry also jumped high, his bounce power is not low, he jumped up taller than Stankey in the air, height plus outstanding bounce power, whether Landry can defend this ball, and prove himself at the same time. The arrival of Asik and Davis this season has given him a sense of crisis.
He's always wanted to keep his current starting role, and he's been watching Asik's performances lately, and Brandon Davis, who has been doing very well in Summer League, has been doing well lately, so Landry needs a chance to prove himself. Otherwise, this starter will be dangerous, an already unstable starter.