Chapter 874: The Next City
Arenas is now also dribbling desperately to the Grizzlies' half, but the more the Grizzlies and Pelicans play, the more cautious they become, shrinking very quickly, and after halftime, they are also very active in defense.
They have Marc Gasol, they have Tony Allen, they have Prince, but there are still holes, and Arenas is simply capable of scoring points after breaking through.
But at this time, the Pelicans' goal of compressing the Grizzlies position has been achieved, so Arenas quickly passed the ball out, giving Li Feng a small mid-range shot that intended to let Li Feng come up at 45 degrees.
But seeing the basketball flying over, Li Feng hesitated, he jumped up and did not catch the ball but slapped it on the basketball with one hand, as if playing volleyball, and slapped the basketball that flew from the inside to 45 degrees directly to the bottom corner.
Li Feng's shot, the speed is very, in the next moment, when Oladipo is preparing to score three points in the bottom corner, no one here in the Grizzlies can run in front of Oladipo, but if Li Feng catches the pass, there will be no such absolutely good shooting opportunity.
Oladipo squatted like this, shooting with an easy body, Oladipo played well in front today, and there was a little problem with hitting in the middle, but in the last quarter of the game, Oladipo was more confident.
Basketball is in his own hands, he controls the rhythm, he shoots easily, although it is an extremely important playoff game, but once he gets deep into the game, he has more ideas in his head, and now Oladipo has only one thought in his mind, and that is to score.
Oladipo's three-point shot was very soft, his wrist movements were unusually agile, and the basketball was thrown out like a scimitar, and he pierced all the Grizzlies' defenses with a brush pull to get a three-pointer.
There was 1:41 left before the end of the game, but the Pelicans led the Grizzlies by one point.
The Grizzlies were really in a hurry, and Marc Gasol savagely pushed Millsap on the inside. A lot of action was on the verge of fouling, but at this time, the referee at FedEx Arena had no intention of blowing the penalty at all, allowing Marc Gasol to brutally abuse the Pelicans' interior line.
When James Johnson passed the basketball to Marc Gasol, Marc Gasol was already stuck in a deep position, and at such a deep position, it was difficult for Millsap to stop Marc Gasol's shot, just watch Marc Gasol jump up and get two points with a direct hook.
At this point, Barkley said:
"Li Feng's passing speed just now directly led to Oladipo's three-pointer, but Grizzly Marc Gasol used the easiest way to shoot back."
"You mean, it's a contest of wisdom and brute strength?"
Kenny asked quips.
"But Li Feng is also a brute force guy."
Hardaway said, shaking his head.
No matter how much the commentator cares about the game, he is also outside the game. Only in the game can you feel that kind of nervousness, and now Robert Pera is extremely nervous and yelling at his teammates, which is very similar to what Van Gundy did at the beginning of today's game.
When the Pelicans began to attack the Grizzlies' half, they really felt the crazy Grizzlies and began to defend desperately, and every member of the Grizzlies grabbed the Pelicans' players like crazy people and didn't let the Pelicans make any moves.
The Grizzlies' crazy defense is desperate to make a mistake in the Pelicans' outside Xing'an defense. Then they took the opportunity to fight back.
But the Pelicans' two outside linemen, Arenas and the scheming Li Feng, are not only experienced, but also cooperate a lot. The passing that comes, there is almost the possibility of any mistake, that is, passing the ball inward, Li Feng has the body as the capital. Oladipo is cautious by nature, and the Pelicans are almost monolithic here.
Although the Pelicans tried to organize and attack several times, they played offensive tactics without success. But the Grizzlies didn't take advantage either, and the Pelicans attacked 24, with only 6 seconds left, and Millsap received the basketball.
Time was running out to attack at this point, and after Millsap received the basketball, he had to attack.
Millsap suddenly looked at Marc Gasol, who was very close to him, in the face of this back inside master, Millsap did have a headache, the opponent's defensive strength was very strong, he had excellent upper body strength, excellent footwork and colored bounce This qiē added up to make Marc Gasol an insurmountable wall.
Millsap even knew that if he came directly to the outside line that he was good at, he would definitely be blocked by Marc Gasol, which would be a very certain thing How to deal with Marc Gasol, this is a very difficult choice.
After wandering for a while, Millsap finally made his own decision, although he was not good at it, but this was the best way for him now, Millsap surprised everyone by not making a direct jump shot, nor a direct jump shot after dribbling a step, and even attacking with his back, but a sudden face frame cut.
Millsap now has a face-frame cut in front of Marc Gasol, which really made everyone unexpected, Millsap chose to do this with reason After seeing people enter, he suddenly jumped to Ed Davis's side, and used Grizzly Bears player Ed Davis to jam Marc Gasol behind.
This series of moves is a ruse, so that no matter how good Makgasol is, he can only watch Millsap face Ed Davis's forced layup.
Although Millsap's footsteps are not very fast, it is still just right to deal with Ed Davis, and he goes to the basket against Ed Davis, and Ed Davis sees that Millsap is using himself and he hurriedly goes up to defend.
In such a stagger, Ed Davis hit Millsap's hand, but he didn't knock down the basketball in Millsap's hand
gave Millsap a chance, only to see Millsap calmly layup to score points, at this time the referee's whistle sounded, and Rice hit the Grizzlies a 2+1.
Now the Pelicans are 4 points ahead of the Grizzlies, and if this is another 2+1, the Grizzlies will really suffer a big loss.
So as soon as Robert Pera heard such a penalty, he immediately jumped up from his stool, and was very dissatisfied with the pressure on the referee to demonstrate, this is not an ordinary 2+1, this is the referee gave the Grizzlies a fatal knife when the game was 1 minute 08 seconds away.
But the referee has already awarded the penalty. And Ed Davis' hand did touch Millsap's forearm, and he could only send Millsap to the free throw line, where Millsap calmly threw in the lethal free throw.
The Grizzlies called another timeout, and now the Grizzlies have reached a very critical juncture, with a little more than a minute left in the game, and if they want to win, they can only rely on three points, and they have to move quickly.
At this time, Robert Pera also didn't care about the balance of offense and defense, and now only three points can solve the problem, so he replaced Ed Davis. Replaced by Mike Miller, the Pelicans just played a small lineup, and now the Grizzlies are even smaller than the Pelicans, and the intention of grabbing points is simply known to passers-by.
Barkley said loudly:
"Now that Robert Pera has gone completely crazy, he's sent all his three-point shooters on the court, and now the Grizzlies' chances of winning are only gambling."
The Grizzlies came back with a small lineup, and sure enough, it was a continuous transmission on the outside, but the Pelicans just stepped on the three-point line to defend, and it was clear that anything could be given to you. It's just that you don't give three points.
The Grizzlies became more and more anxious about the passing on the outside, and at this time, the flaws of the Grizzlies without the core of the outside line were reflected, and no one dared to shoot when no one had a chance to shoot.
Li Feng stared at the Grizzly Bear's basketball. Prince didn't force a shot this time, and the entire Grizzlies at the most critical moment, they remembered Prince, and James Johnson obviously passed the basketball to Prince. But Li Feng has long been on the precaution.
As soon as the basketball came out of James Johnson's hand, Li Feng kicked his feet and suddenly grabbed in front of Prince. Li Feng's first step was also fierce, and his arms were long, and the ball passed by James Johnson was intercepted by Li Feng at once.
After Li Feng intercepted this, he ran backwards, and when he saw Li Feng cut off the ball, Robert Pera only felt as if his heart had been torn apart, this was the last fight of the Grizzlies, but Li Feng didn't even give them the chance of the Grizzlies' last fight.
It was strangled at the beginning, the last fight of the grizzly bear, Robert Pera was in a heart-rending pain, and Hardaway's voice was full of loneliness and said:
"Li Feng steals and goes, the Grizzlies' last chance."
Li Feng turned around and dribbled wildly, but the truth was far from being as easy as Robert Pera's elephant, at this time Li Feng was also very tired, and he had a little strength in his legs, he was just mustering up enough strength to run forward desperately.
The Grizzly Bear's Tony Allen was still chasing Li Feng at this time, his steps were very fast, and when he was close to Li Feng's body, Tony Allen felt that Li Feng was far from having the stamina before, so Tony Allen guessed that Li Feng was tired, so he stepped up his defense, stretched out his hand in front of Li Feng, and ran with Li Feng.
This is a foul action, but who let this be the FedEx Arena, the referee didn't blow the ball at all, watching Tony Allen use foul means to violate Li Feng, if Li Feng's body is full at this time, Tony Allen must have been taken by Li Feng, but at this time, Li Feng's key is that he has no body, he ran two bench periods and almost never went down in the fourth quarter, which is also a bit over-standard.
Under the foul of Tony Allen, his footsteps staggered up and staggered forward two steps, at this time Robert Pera got up and signaled to the referee that Li Feng was walking, but the referee did not blow Tony Allen's foul in front of him had given the Grizzly bear face, and this time he did not trouble Li Feng, watching Li Feng dribble towards the Grizzly Bear and continue to run wildly.
Tony Allen didn't pin his hand in front of Li Feng again and again, this time Li Feng was a little angry, you are bullying me, Li Feng deliberately fell forward while running, and threw the basketball to the rebound at the same time.
Li Feng's fall immediately rolled Tony Allen inside, and your Tony Allen's arm was wrapped in Li Feng's body, twisting it all at once, and at this time the referee kept silent last time, and there was no punishment on either side.
But at this time, the basketball flew to the rebound in Li Feng's hands, which was obviously a ball that could not be scored, the basketball smashed the rebound and immediately bounced back, at this time the Pelicans' Oladipo and Rose, Grizzlies' Prince and James Johnson four of them killed under the basket together. The former is about scoring, the latter is about grabbing rebounds and then turning back to attack.
Between rebounding and rebounding, it is obviously easier for the latter, four people jump at the same time, several hands on it, but one hand is dexterous to occupy the best position, although he is not the highest, nor the fiercest pick, but his position is indeed the best, a little finger light. Inside the Grizzlies' basket, this man is Rose.
Today, Rose's table was not good, the front was blown up by Conley, and the back was also average, but with the last shot, all the qiē in front of Rose were zeroed, and Rose used one of his own baskets to complete the Pelicans' final blow to the Grizzlies.
With 31 seconds left in the game, the Pelicans had a nine-point lead over the Grizzlies. At this time, only Maddie can save the Grizzlies at all times, but no one in the Grizzlies is Maddie at this time.
As Rose moved, Van Gundy let out a long sigh of relief, and at this point all the Pelicans players breathed a sigh of relief. The game is finally over, and the grizzly bear is like Marc Gasol, a beast, even if you hold it down. It still bouncs its head and flicks its tail in an attempt to shake the person who is pressing on him over, and now the Grizzly Bear's fate is only saved by Maddie.
So we saw the Grizzlies start executing foul play. But at this time, the Pelicans were originally small men, and Li Feng was also replaced to rest, and was replaced by DJ Augustin and other pitchers.
So the Grizzlies could only watch the Pelicans players, hit free throws one after another, and then won the game.
When the game ended, Li Feng turned around and hugged his teammates one by one, Natalie also ran over at this time and hugged Li Feng heavily, but this shot was captured by reporters, so after the game, they had one more kind of conversation.
The Pelicans defeated the Memphis Grizzlies in Game 1 in Memphis to make it 2-1 and regain the initiative in this series.
Li Feng stood in the midfield of the FedEx Arena, looking at the ceiling tiredly, the Pelicans' third game was not easy, but the fans in the FedEx Arena were very tired and dispersed quickly, and those fans with grief and indignation left the FedEx Arena in disbelief.
Li Feng strode through the tunnel to leave the stadium of the game, this was a hearty victory, in the tunnel of the players, Oladipo kept muttering in Li Feng's ear:
"Li Feng, what do you think of my cousin today, we should be able to eliminate the grizzly bear."
"The Grizzlies guys don't look that vicious, and I think we've got what it takes to deal with the big guys."
Oladipo spoke in high spirits.
Li Feng said:
"Victor, we're still in the FedEx Arena."
At this time, the atmosphere in the Pelicans locker room was very warm, Van Gundy came in and asked Millsap and Rose to go to the reception with him, Millsap was the backbone of today's game, and Rose's final basket was really exciting.
After Van Gundy left with Millsap and Rose, Li Feng hid everywhere there were reporters.
Li Feng dodged reporters like this, it was not his own style at all, Henson, who had always been very low-key, said to Li Feng:
"Li Feng, do you want to be a silent person like me?"
Li Feng smiled and said:
"It's annoying today, but I can't vent my feelings on the reporter."
Hearing Li Feng's words, Henson didn't say anything, he just continued to smile slightly and said:
"Yes, players are also people, but in a special way, they are public figures, and it is also a matter of avoiding those reporters."
Li Feng had been in the locker room, and when it was time to return to the hotel, Li Feng rushed out, returned to the hotel with the team, and held a temporary, short summary meeting on the bus Van Gundy.
"We played a great game today, we Pelicans played our own style, and the rhythm completely contained the Grizzlies, the team that restrained us the most, and we did this task in Memphis, and I am very proud of that, and it was a very beautiful battle to beat the enemy who restrained us the most on the opponent's home court."
When Van Gundy said this, the Pelicans players applauded themselves.
Van Gundy waved his hand to stop the guys, and then continued:
"Today we controlled the rhythm, but there were some places where we didn't do well, like Al Jefferson. At the beginning of the game, you were timid, you didn't restrain your opponent. ”
"Although your opponent is Makgasol, I believe you can do better, and then Li Feng, you have been so forbearant that you have to threaten the other party at all times."
Van Gundy counted the mistakes and omissions of his team's players one by one, and then summed them up.
After Van Gundy summed it up, Arenas suddenly said:
"Jeff, if this goes on. Is it possible that we will walk away from Memphis with two straight wins and then return home to qualify once? ”
It's a very good hope, but at this point Van Gundy says:
"That's the best result, but the difference between us and the Grizzlies isn't particularly huge, especially their strength is our weakness, and it's going to be very difficult for us to play the day after tomorrow, and the Memphis aren't going to let us win two in a row on their home court."
"Could it be that in the next game, they will play a trick to break our tactics."
At this time, DJ Augustin also asked Van Gundy in surprise.
Van Gundy smiled slightly, smiling without saying a word.
But at this time on the Grizzlies, Robert Pera was still yelling in the locker room. The most important point of today's game is that the rhythm is no longer controlled by the Grizzlies, but the movement of the entire game is controlled by the Pelicans, making the Grizzlies very passive all the time.
The second point is that the Grizzlies' outside swings were intermittent and played well in the third quarter, but in the second quarter. And the most first section when the two sides really started to fight, but they didn't swing well, which is one of the reasons why the Grizzlies lost.
You think, no matter how ferocious Marc Gasol played under the Pelicans' basket, there was no outside support. Randolph didn't play this time, and he couldn't last long, only when the inside and outside lines were combined. Grizzlies can maximize their power, but today's Grizzlies' outside offense is indeed intermittent, it will be good, it will be bad, and the more critical the moment, the more ineffective.
The Grizzlies are in the locker room here, these Grizzlies players are silent, and now the happiest person in the locker room is Conley, don't you all need me, now it's okay, you're all finished, and then you have to be finished, Conley doesn't care to sit there with his eyelids down.
His expression made Marc Gasol angry when he saw it, but he couldn't blame Conley in person right now, he could only after Robert Pera roared for a while, when the players left the locker room, Marc Gasol called Robert Pera at his home and told Robert Pera what happened in the locker room today.
Robert Pera listened to what Marc Gasol said, and then thought back to what happened in the game, when Robert Pera was extremely angry, I said how could I lose so ugly today, how can the players I am talking about seem to be very unstable and one by one.
It turned out that there was infighting in the locker room, and this time Robert Pera was angry, and on the phone, he didn't care whether it was Marc Gasol or who was opposite him, and he accused him and said:
"Why didn't you tell me earlier, why didn't you stop this conflict, now is our first stop back at home, and you will have infighting in the first game, so that we still have the ability to move forward, can we still go down."
Robert Pera was almost yelling, and after that he hung up the phone himself.
Marc Gasol was stunned for a moment with the phone, but Robert Pera called Prince again at this time, and scolded the veteran Prince, and then he called Conley again.
Conley didn't expect that it was Robert Pera who came to call him, he thought that Robert Pera was talking to him, but he didn't expect that Robert Pera was asking him what happened in the locker room today. (To be continued......)