NBA: Miracle Workers

Chapter 379 Mamba Mentality (5800 words chapter)
On the night of April 4, Nets fans witnessed a wonderful game at the Continental Airlines Arena.

Nets boss Jason Kidd did not rebound strongly, and continued his sluggish performance in the first two games after the start.

Richard Jefferson, who started the game, ignored his wrist injury and was extremely active on the offensive end.

Vince Carter, the slam dunk king who just joined the team this season, showed a different mental outlook and started taking crazy shots.

The two people in the commentary box did not expect Carter to perform like this. Kevin Harlan noticed that the Nets' attack time was often less than 8 seconds, and couldn't help but sigh again:

"This is Vince Carter. After returning home, he started scoring mode!"

"I think the fans at the scene must have felt Carter's desire to win."

Doug Collins did not take over the conversation, because although Carter took crazy shots, the effect was average, and the dunk king was suppressed by Li You.

The NBA is sometimes a big show, and Doug Collins knows that Carter, whose reputation is getting worse and worse this season, is actually maintaining his own performance.

For Nets fans, many were ready to lose, but seeing Carter's performance, the sound of cheering for the Nets overshadowed the noise made by the Knicks fans at the scene.

When attacking at the top of the arc, the Knicks shrink their defense and test the Nets' shooting, which naturally won't achieve very good results.

For the core defender who likes to manipulate the game, Kidd is obviously lying down. He is cooperating with the performance of his teammates, no longer deliberately controlling the rhythm, and the number of risky passes is also increasing.

Coupled with the referee's care, this made Raja Bell particularly unhappy. Obviously, the dunk king wanted him to be used as a background board.

At the end of the first quarter, the game was still going on. For the Nets, Kidd no longer controlled the rhythm of the game like he did in the first two games.

The fans only got a glimpse of the lightning-fast offense and defense, and the basketball hit the basket again.

After the game started, Li You was a little surprised at first, and then gradually showed a malicious smile.

In order to cooperate with Carter's performance, Li You took the initiative to switch defenses. Currently, Laga Bell is responsible for guarding Kidd.

Before Li You changed defense, Carter scored points on Laga Bell.

Carter, who exerted force laterally and was protecting the ball sideways, suddenly turned his back and continued to hit near the free throw line.

Taking advantage of Li You's body leaning back slightly, Carter, who was holding the ball in his right hand, suddenly pulled the ball back sharply, and then twisted his body forward using his left foot as an axis.

Carter, whose dribbling rhythm was ruined, unknowingly reached the top of the arc again.

Laga Bell and Jefferson were already pulling each other before they even got close to each other.

There were 2 minutes and 21 seconds left in the first quarter. As Gasol succeeded in eating the cake under the basket, he quickly sent a baseline ball, and Kidd chased his butt across the half court again.

After landing, Carter was obviously anxious. He hit Li You with his head and shouted angrily:
"What the hell, are you trying to poke my eyes out!?"

Carter did not stop his performance. In other words, he must show his desire to win. The game can be lost, but it cannot be lost meaninglessly.

After achieving his goal, Li You didn't stumble at all. He slid in time and pulled covertly. The two bodies collided, and Carter was forced to slow down.

Black people who are rich are the real "black people". Those who are poor and have no ambition to make progress and just want to take advantage are "nicos".
Ewing has always looked down on those compatriots in the lower city who just like to wait for relief. Carter, because of his family, does not discriminate openly.

Not only Carter broke the defense, but Jefferson, who started despite an injury, was also filled with anger.

Compared with Carter, Kidd is still the same. He passes the ball when his teammates take action and launches fast breaks when he finds opportunities.

Gasol grabbed the rebound, and everyone on the Knicks team immediately gathered around when they saw the conflict between Carter and Li You.

After achieving the goal, Li You suddenly moved sideways and defended in front of the opponent. Carter took this opportunity to immediately cross-step and pull back.

After adjusting his center of gravity, Li You raised his arms and hit the opponent hard. The muscles of the two collided. The fans behind the basket could even see sweat flying.
After two consecutive fights, Carter failed to take advantage and couldn't completely squeeze into the paint area.

But after so many years in the league, Carter's way of doing things has also changed.

The big man Kostic took the initiative to cover on the right wing, but was pushed past by Li You.

"Man, you can go and react to the referee!"

Switching to his right hand, Carter first pretended to hit the ball at the three-point line, and then lowered his shoulders again to accelerate.

If there was an element of performance at the beginning of the game, by this time, Carter was getting more and more angry and his actions were getting louder and louder.

The whole person's mood was stable, and Kidd didn't show any desire for victory.

Carter's headband that hit him was crooked. He didn't expect his opponent to break through the defense so quickly. Li You turned to look at the linesman, raised his arms and said lightly:

Pulling the ball and shaking, Carter's movements were completed in one go. Finally, he exerted force on his feet, leaned back from the free throw line, and forced a jumper!
In the air, Carter found that he could no longer see the basket. Li You stretched out his left arm and used a "mush face" to block the shot.

The referee did not call for Li You's little move. Since the two frequently faced off, all three referees tonight entered the show-watching mode.

The two of them had dirty words. After being separated by the referee, Laga Bell was still shouting:
"Fake Squid, no one cares about your performance!"

Moving laterally to the top of the key, Carter didn't realize that there was a problem with his offensive choices. Li You refused to let go, sticking to the opponent's side like candy. With the connivance of the referee, he continued to interfere.

Although it was not the "Nine Yin White Bone Claw" and was still a short distance away from Carter's eyes, this fadeaway jumper was still interfered with.

However, the other party wanted to add more drama to himself and create the image of a lone hero, but Li You disagreed. He preferred to watch big stars break through defense.

NBA players actually like to pretend, and black players who have made a lot of money have left the bottom.

Amid the cheers of Nets fans, Kidd, who came to the top of the key, did not launch an attack from this position. Instead, he took the initiative to come to the back wing and handed the ball to Carter.

Although Kidd delegated power, some details were still taken into account. After handing over the ball, he ran to the bottom corner, slipped across the baseline from right to left, and loudly directed his teammates to open up offensive space.

However, Li You had no intention of cooperating with the opponent's performance and quickly took over the defensive task, and then Carter misfired.
The fans started cheering loudly. Carter, who kept fighting, felt that he was losing face. After being pulled, he was still arguing with the referee.

Li You's bad taste is essentially to attack his opponents. If Carter didn't speak loudly before the game and was silent during the game like Kidd, he wouldn't bother to defend.

Seeing Carter holding the ball with his left hand, lowering his center of gravity and moving sideways, the fans at the scene were excited and many of them shouted "Attack" loudly.

"Defense!."

After the skirmish, the defensive cheers at the Continental Airlines Center became a little louder. "Performance" is still useful, and most fans are just fine with it.

After receiving the ball from the baseline, Li You leisurely dribbled across the half court and came to the right wing. Laga Bell noticed Carter taking the initiative to switch defense and immediately slowed down.

Carter glances behind him from time to time. Li You doesn't talk about martial arts, and most of his attacks are based on pick-and-rolls.

Gasol cooperated tacitly, noticed that Carter was distracted, and took the initiative to move, further attracting the opponent's defensive attention.

Carter subconsciously stepped forward to defend, preparing to establish a defensive position in advance. Li You suddenly changed direction with his hips, slumped his shoulders and accelerated, actively colliding with the opponent.

The outstanding explosive power caused Li You to be stuck half of his body in an instant without cover. Although Carter slipped in time, he was still half a beat too slow.

The two bodies collided, and Li You slowed down slightly and then suddenly increased his stride.

Krstic, who followed Gasol to the paint area, wanted to help defend, but Li You took advantage of the situation and went in and out.

Swinging right and left, Li You shook his body greatly, directly stopping Krstic in place. Carter, who was sliding continuously, almost hit his teammates, and in desperation completely lost his defensive position.

After shaking, Li You, holding the ball in his left hand, flew close to the ground. Collins, who was on the lower left side of the basket, was still pulling with Kurt Thomas behind him. When he turned his head, he saw Li You flying into the air.

Collins instinctively defended to the basket. Before he could fully take off, Li You rushed up and grabbed the ball with his left hand. He ignored the block and threw his arm for a dunk!

"squeak!"

At the same time as the referee blew the whistle, the basket suddenly exploded, and cheers erupted in the arena. Li You, who was under the basket, pretended to beat the camera and beat his chest:

"Soft!"

While shouting and shaking his head, Li You ignored Carter, who looked ugly, and slowly walked to the free throw line, high-fiving his teammates in celebration.

Doug Collins could see clearly that Li You's breakthrough timing was just right, the fake screen amplified his physical advantage, and his combined man-ball control skills were a guarantee of scoring at the basket.

Thinking of Li You's age again, Doug Collins suddenly sighed:

"Maybe Lee will not decline significantly until he is 35. He is the most complete backcourt player I have ever seen."

Kevin Harlan didn't notice many details, but he saw Li You crushing Carter on both offense and defense in the first quarter.

Compared to technical details, Kevin Harlan prefers gossip. Taking advantage of Li You's free throw, he once again said:
"I like games like this. Once Carter regains his touch, the Nets still have a chance."

Carter's performance continued. After attacking with the ball to no avail, he began to catch the ball in the left and right blocking areas.

It's just that too much physical confrontation has affected the shooting feel, and Carter's low-post offense is still strong.

The two exchanged offense and defense for several consecutive rounds, and in the end both Li You and Carter had to take free throws.

At the end of the first quarter, the excitement among Nets fans disappeared.

At 32:20, the point difference still reached double digits.

The fans who had high expectations at first would cheer loudly when they saw Carter keep asking for the ball and attacking continuously, but after Bang Bang hit the iron, everyone lost their mood again.

11中3，罚球4中3，卡特低效砍下9分.
Although he scored half of the team's points, Carter, who returned to the bench, did not receive encouragement from the fans, and his teammates were also very dull. Head coach Frank didn't make many adjustments. Under Jefferson's strong request, he only asked Scalabrine to replace Collins.

In the commentary box, Kevin Harlan couldn't comment after looking at the technical statistics, so he could only continue to praise:
"A scorer must have such confidence. I believe Carter will regain his touch in the following games."

Doug Collins did not comment on his personal performance, but said tactfully:

"The Nets are losing their game rhythm, they are attacking too casually!"

"Superstars shouldn't be swayed by their emotions, and Li did it better."

Also playing the first quarter, Li You made 8 of 6, 2 of 0 from beyond the three-point line, and 3 of 3 free throws, scoring 15 points.

Head coach D'Antoni naturally noticed that the Nets had entered a rhythm of blind chicken beatings.

23 shots were taken in a single quarter. This was not the Nets' normal game plan. The two big men turned back and ran significantly more times.

I expected to encounter a strong resistance, but when I saw Carter taking over the game, Mustache knew that the match point was secure:

"Tighten our defense and continue to test our opponent's shooting!"

"Bell, the defense continues to pester Vince Carter and wear down their patience!"

D'Antoni gave a brief reminder, and Laga Bell nodded fiercely.

At the beginning of the second quarter, Li You was sitting on the bench. After receiving the instructions, Laga Bell overunderstood and made more and more defensive moves.

Less than three minutes into the game, Carter changed direction at the top of the arc, holding the ball in his right hand and bursting through the middle. As a result, he was almost knocked to the ground by Laga Bale.
Carter clutched his neck, and Jefferson couldn't hold back any longer. After the referee blew the whistle, he saw Raja Bell's proud look and rushed forward and immediately punched him.

Barnes hugged the opponent from the other side, and soon the two sides were pushing each other near the free throw line.

Amid the cheers of the fans, the referee blew the whistle again. Coach Frank on the sidelines was still arguing loudly. In the end, Laga Bell was called for a flagrant foul.
Fisher continued to act as a good old man. He had a good relationship with the lower-level players in the players' union. He took this opportunity to take the initiative to comfort Jefferson:
"Richard, there's no need to be so excited! This is just an ordinary playoff game."

"Shh!"

The fans at the scene were not satisfied with this penalty and booed again. Jefferson remained silent. He just didn't like the attitude of the Knicks.

The fans turned against him, and his opponents didn't respect him. The Nets had lost for so many years, and Jefferson couldn't stand it any longer.

Soon Li You and Prince returned to the court. There were one senior and four juniors on both sides. Stoudemire was not interested in competing with the opponent's role players.

Taking the initiative to pick and roll for Li You, he could eat the cake with peace of mind. When encountering a transition attack, Stoudemire also ran very fast and rushed through half court as soon as possible.

In a lineup with one senior and four juniors, Li You, in addition to the pick-and-roll series attack, mostly chased Carter.

The cheers from Nets fans are getting smaller and smaller, and the reason is simple: Carter is still so stubborn.
Carter, whose mentality was shattered, no longer attacked the basket as hard as he did in the first quarter. In some rounds, he would even force pull-up jumpers from outside the three-point line.

The two chased each other for most of the game, and the point difference gradually widened. Kidd and Fisher, who focused on dealing cards, controlled their mistakes well. In the "pure strength" competition, Carter was obviously at a disadvantage.

With 4 minutes and 02 seconds left in the half, Li You crossed the line and received the ball from the right wing. Carter, who was chasing after him, was delayed by Kurt Thomas, who had just appeared.

Seeing that Li You didn't make any adjustments, he tilted his body and drifted to the right and rear to quickly take action. Carter caught up with him from the side and immediately pounced on him.

Unable to complete the block, Carter failed to control his body and fell to the floor with Li You.
"squeak!"

The basketball went hollow into the net, and the referee's whistle was a little slower. He hesitated for a moment before blowing the whistle.

Carter, who was pulled up by his teammates, was even more depressed. This was his third personal foul, which meant that he had to restrain his defensive actions.
"Good defense!"

Li You, who was pulled up by everyone, patted Carter. The opponent was so angry that he didn't even stretch his legs. This was a breath of fresh air among the players.

Kidd remained silent. He did intensify his aggressiveness, and he still made three-pointers.

Nets fans were silent, and several Nets players on the court were equally depressed.

"MVP! MVP! MVP!"

The New York fans watching the game didn't care about their opponents' emotions at all. They shouted happily at this time. The worse Carter was, the happier they were.

At the end of the second quarter, Carter finally hit the first three-pointer of the game from the left wing.

Coach Frank on the sidelines just clapped his hands encouragingly. Tonight's game has become a personal battle of proof.

In a dull atmosphere, Nets fans booed again at the end of the half.

At 60:41, with a huge point difference, everyone knew that the series was over.

After halftime, Carter made 20 of 6 shots, 3 of 1 from beyond the arc, 6 of 4 free throws, and scored 17 points with low efficiency.

李佑15中10，三分线外6中2，罚球5中5，高效砍下27分。

During the halftime break, Doug Collins watched the half-time offensive and defensive battle between the two and commented with a smile:
"Losing is not necessarily a bad thing. Carter is still young and this is his first season with Kidd."

"Considering that the Nets have experienced more injuries this year, their record will be even better next season after running in."

The gap is visible to the naked eye. Kevin Harlan did not expect that Li You could completely crush the dunk king with his physical fitness.

"Flying Man" Carter gives the impression of a shooting guard with excellent physical fitness. Not only did he not fly tonight, he even stretched his hips in all directions.

After the start of the third quarter, Carter was still working hard and his shooting percentage improved a bit.

At this time, Li You was no longer interested in competing with the opponent. He maintained the 20-point difference and clocked in another three quarters tonight.
Perhaps due to his broken mentality, Carter made a mistake at this time, which left Kidd helpless and could only speed up again.

The game continued smoothly, and coach Frank did not pause again. He stood on the sidelines silently watching the time pass.

At 28:24 in a single quarter, after three quarters, the score reached 88:65, and cheers broke out again at the Continental Airlines Arena.

In the last quarter of the game, Li You sat on the bench and looked at Carter, who was still struggling on the court, without much emotion in his heart.

Perhaps the opponent still expected him to play and continue the "men's showdown", but Li You did not respond. He changed into training clothes to show his attitude that he was going to rest.

After playing most of the game, Carter was also substituted. After returning to his seat, he threw away his headband in frustration and stared down at the floor without saying a word.

32中11，三分线外6中2，罚球9中7，31分6篮板5助攻1抢断3失误。

Carter, who scored the highest score in the series, showed his desire to win in this game, but the Nets still lost.

Some fans began to leave, and as the final buzzer sounded, boos and cheers echoed throughout the arena.

At 112:93, under fierce resistance from the Nets, the Knicks made another victory and got the match point, ending the suspense of the series.

Carter said nothing. He stood up immediately after the game, covered his head with a towel, and walked quickly to the tunnel.

According to the convention, Carter, who scored the highest score for the Nets, should be interviewed. In the end, Kidd accepted the interview with TNT instead of his teammates.

When asked about the outcome of the series, although Kidd's face turned dark, he still made a strong statement:
"Like Richard said, the other side has to win four games to win."

"Although we are behind by a big score, with the support of the fans, I believe we can create miracles!"

"."

After getting the match point, the team's condition is getting better and better. Li You, who attended the press conference, naturally smiled when facing the reporters in the audience.

The ESPN reporter obviously wanted to stir up trouble. He didn't talk about the series at all. Instead, he asked about Carter's data:

"Lee, in tonight's game we noticed that Carter took 32 shots but only scored 31 points."

"Do you think this offensive choice disrupts the Nets' rhythm?"

Hearing this question, Li You made his expression solemn and said with a "sincere face":
"There is no problem with 32 shots. I like Carter's competition!"

"In such a crucial game, Carter took on the responsibility of the leader. As for the data, it doesn't matter at all."

"I know Carter, he is a big-hearted player with a killer instinct, so in tonight's matchup, I never let him get the ball easily and kept disrupting his offensive rhythm."

"I know how much trouble a scorer like this will cause us when he finds his shooting touch!"

"In my opinion, Carter is like the Black Mamba. He is very dangerous. Facing such a killer, he cannot relax at any time."

"When the Black Mamba hunts, one strike can kill him. What I have to do is not give my opponent such a chance."

The reporters in the audience did not expect that Li You had such a high opinion of Carter, and that he could help his opponent to brag
The ESPN reporter looked at Li You's serious expression and was fooled for a moment. After thinking about it, he even felt that these words made sense.

On the morning of the 29th, mainstream media in New Jersey and New York reported the Knicks' victory. At the same time, Li You's evaluation of Carter also triggered heated discussions among fans.

The New York Post also spoke highly of Carter's crazy performance. In addition to praising his desire to win, he also followed Li You's words and praised:
"Vince Carter proved himself that he still has the killer instinct!"

"Always believe that the next shot will hit. This is Carter's unique Mamba spirit!"

"."

(End of this chapter)