area51novel Chapter 202
Chapter 202
Nets players, there is no time to celebrate,
The Spurs need to make a tentative steal for the ball, if the steal fails, they will decisively implement the foul tactic,
Popovich stood on the sidelines with a blank expression, but his pacing revealed his nervousness at the moment,
The home court must be defended, this is the Spurs' bottom line,
The Spurs players on the court dispersed according to the tactics set in advance,
Since it was not a serve after a timeout, the Spurs still served the bottom line ball,
The Nets defended their own players,
Bowen was standing at the bottom line to serve, and he had to face Roy who had just made a three-pointer,
The Nets' biggest goal at this time was to steal the ball, and the best result was to defend against The serve was illegal.
In order to put the greatest pressure on the opponent, Roy stood in front of Bowen to interfere with his pass.
At this time, Roy stood opposite Bowen like a huge spider monster, with long arms and legs that seemed to block Bowen's pass route tightly.
Bowen seemed to be covered by Roy's arms, and there was a possibility of interference in every direction.
"Beep"
The referee whistled, and the Spurs began the serve countdown.
The Spurs players ran, and the Nets players chased closely.
The two teams each took out their own means.
Carter followed Ginobili closely, McGinnis followed Horry, and Lagabel's speed just replaced Kidd's lack of physical strength to chase Parker, and Duncan was handed over to Kidd.
The Spurs are indeed a strong team with a long history. They are good at cross-screening and have created opportunities several times.
But Bowen was hesitant to pass the ball because Roy's reaction speed and arm span were too wide.
He didn't have the confidence to pass the ball safely in front of Roy.
Time passed by, and the last serve was the biggest drain on both teams.
This was under the basket, and the Spurs dared not make a mistake. If they made a mistake and were intercepted by the Nets, then everything would be over.
At the last moment, the basketball had to be passed.
Bowen seized the opportunity and passed it to Duncan.
In fact, he didn't want to pass it to Duncan, because everyone knows how to shoot free throws.
But he had no choice now. If he didn't pass it, he would have to serve illegally.
He was desperate and tried all kinds of methods. This happened to be the premeditated calculation of the Nets.
Duncan was undoubtedly the best foul target for the Nets.
Sending Kidd to defend Duncan seemed to give a flaw, but in fact it was to force the Spurs to pass the ball to him.
The basketball flew from Roy's waist to Duncan.
Kidd ran from Duncan's side to intercept the direction of the basketball.
Fortunately, Duncan was alert and stuck Kidd behind him at the critical moment.
He reached out and received the pass.
Popovich was worried about the thrilling scene. If Kidd had succeeded in stealing the ball, he didn't know what would happen today.
But when Duncan received the basketball, Kidd hugged him.
When Kidd fouled after the steal failed, he was very decisive, fearing that Duncan would pass the ball to others.
"Beep"
Duncan walked to the free throw line.
This made the old coach Popovich even more nervous.
He knew Duncan's free throws very well.
For Duncan who was close to perfection, free throws were his only weakness.
This season's free throw rate was only 62.5%.
Deng stood on the free throw line and looked at the basket, looking stupid.
Although he had a nearly perfect inside attack ability, he was afraid of free throws. He knocked the ball.
He held the ball in his hand and could see his inner struggle every time he took a free throw.
First free throw,
"Ding"
The crisp sound of the basketball hitting the basket, the whole court was silent, the team's backbone's first free throw actually bounced out of the frame,
The fans at the Spurs' home court covered their heads and dared not watch the next free throw,
Second free throw,
"Ding"
Popovich felt the nerves on his temples throbbing, grinning and determined to force Duncan to practice free throws for the whole summer,
He really didn't want to experience this kind of torture on the free throw line for a second!
Fortunately, the basketball bounced once, and then bounced and fell into the basket, otherwise the Spurs might not even have a guarantee of 2 points tonight.
121 to 119
Frank, the head coach of the Nets, clenched his fists, he knew that the Nets' chance had come,
The difference of two points, they have two key ball players, Carter and Roy,
Especially Roy, who had just shown his key ball ability to the Spurs!
Popovich called a timeout helplessly. He had to arrange the next round of defense.
The main players of the Spurs sat on the benches in the rest area.Wiping sweat with a towel,
The Nets' physical strength has reached its limit, and so has the Spurs.
The Spurs, who are older than the opponent, feel weak even more, and this is when Popovich tries his best to arrange the rotation of the players.
"Tim, you have to keep a close eye on that Chinese guy. I don't want to see his three-pointer again, not even once!"
"Bruce, keep a close eye on Vince Carter like you did in the last round, and confront him!"
"Manu, Jason Kidd is yours, don't let him pass the ball easily!"
...
"Everyone must delay their attack time, don't foul! Don't make mistakes, we will win if we run out of time!"
Compared to the Spurs' defensive arrangement, Coach Frank's serve arrangement this time is more complicated,
In order not to let the opponent guess his offensive intention,
8 seconds is enough for one play, a complete tactical arrangement,
"Beep"
The referee blew the assembly whistle again,
The two teams returned to the court under the repeated instructions of the team coach,
The Nets' baseline ball, they must dribble across half court and complete the shot under the pursuit and interception of the Spurs,
The Nets arranged Roy to serve at the baseline, and they could not directly attack the basket at this position. In this case, Roy's tall stature makes serving more advantageous.
The Spurs tried their best to avoid fouls at this time, and could only choose between stealing and blocking.
"Beep"
The final battle between the two teams began with the referee's whistle.
The Spurs followed closely behind the Nets. Duncan, standing in front of Roy, tried to interfere with Roy's pass.
Fortunately, Coach Frank arranged the tactics in advance.
Carter of the Nets finally received Roy's pass near the baseline after a double screen after a reverse run.
The countdown on the court At the beginning, Bowen, who was the main defender of Carter, came over the moment Carter received the ball.
It was a sticky defense. Carter had to carry him forward every time he dribbled.
This was a waste of time, and the Nets needed time the most.
Carter passed the ball to Kidd nearby helplessly.
As soon as Kidd received the ball, he was double-teamed by the Spurs' pre-prepared tactics.
Parker and Ginobili surrounded him.
There were less than 4 seconds left.
The basketball had not even crossed the half court!
Kidd used all his strength to squeeze out a path from the double team.
The basketball was almost intercepted and passed to Lagabel.
There were only 3 seconds left in the game.
Coach Frank was jumping anxiously on the sideline.
Lagabel crossed the half court and looked around.
Roy next to him reached out to him just after crossing the half court.
He didn't dare to hesitate. After 1.5 seconds, the basketball was passed.
Roy caught the ball near the midline.
The basketball was shot from a long distance and the red light came on, almost at the same time!
The basketball flew towards the basket!