NBA Please Answer 2007

Chapter 223 Free Throws Determine the Winner

The Magic are attacking and passing the ball non-stop from the outside. In this game, the scores of both sides have decreased because of the fewer rounds.The Magic strives for positional warfare and does not want to fall into the rhythm of the Warriors.Their current rhythm makes head coach Van Gundy such an impatient person can't stand it, and I don't know how he endured it.

The Warriors' three sharp knives on the outside showed their power in this round and kept blocking the Magic players. Turkoglu saw that the time was up, so Li Zhi made an emergency stop jump shot and continued to hit the iron in singles.

Jordan took the rebound without much effort, and Howard didn't fight for the second attack, and returned to the defense directly.

The Magic are afraid of the Warriors' fast break, but now they have to follow the Warriors' rhythm, and they will definitely die if they don't return quickly.Turkoglu and Lewis worked hard to return to the defense, but they still fell behind Li Zhi. If hard work is useful, what else can talent do?

Li Zhi thought so, caught the ball and hit a layup, 62:65, 19 points lower in a single game.

The Magic were attacking, and the ball was still passing from the outside. They started the second quarter with a three-pointer, and this time they continued to play outside.

Howard put all his energy on the defensive end, not receiving the ball on the offensive end, just grabbing rebounds and pick-and-rolls. This style of play is indeed more powerful than his singles with the ball.However, the fans can always see from this game that Howard is not a dominant center on the offensive end.

Just when the fans were thinking this way, the Magic made a fatal mistake. Pietrus passed the ball to Turkoglu after the pick-and-roll, which was intercepted by Li Zhi.Picking up the basketball, Li Zhi immediately rushed to the frontcourt, and made a three-pointer directly from beyond the three-point line. It was a tie at 65, his 22nd point, and the Oracle Arena cheered loudly.

The domestic fans laughed at Yan Yan, and Zhang Lili said: "The Warriors played a signature offense as soon as the third quarter came up, and the two sides tied the score, so it will look good!"

Yu Jia said: "Li Zhi scored 22 points, 3 rebounds and 4 assists. Look at the defense this time. If he can defend, maybe he will overtake."

With the magic ball, Howard went to the center to pick and roll, and then went to the inside to make an empty cut.However, he did not help the Magic to attract double-teams, and Jordan single-handedly defended.

Lewis moves to the left and Milicic immediately goes out to defend him, leaving the interior completely empty.Turkoglu passed the ball to Howard, and Jordan fouled immediately upon seeing this.

This foul was grasped very well. At the critical moment of chasing points, it was time to test Howard's free throws.

Howard walked to the free throw line, and the fans behind the basket booed loudly. Howard shook his hand and missed the first free throw.

The second penalty was scored, 65:66.
Li Zhi took the ball to the frontcourt, and the Warriors immediately ran.The Magic was still in the zone defense. Li Zhi and Milicic picked and rolled in the middle, and then picked and rolled with Jordan for the second time. He dribbled the ball to the bottom corner, but Howard didn't make a save.

When Milicic received the ball, Li Zhi pointed to his eyes with two fingers, and then pointed to Milicic, meaning to let him play singles.The Warriors' tactic just now was seen through by the Magic. If the double-screen tactic fails to attract double-teams, it will fail.

If a set of tactics is used repeatedly, the opponent will quickly adapt. Even a super scorer like Jordan cannot score consecutively without tactics.They have to create opportunities for Jordan to create singles conditions, otherwise Jordan will face a hell-level defense.

Li Zhi can play singles, but Milicic obviously has a better chance than him. The defender is Rashard Lewis, a guy who has been called a defensive black hole by fans.

Milicic calmed down, thinking about what he said before the game.

"I'll blow up Lewis for you to see!"

Tell me?To the fans, to himself, to the Pistons, to the Grizzlies, to the Magic!

Milicic leaned on Lewis and turned to the right, with his right foot as the axis, stepped forward with his left foot and retracted, took another step in the opposite direction, made a jump shot, and the ball went in! 67:66.
Rashard Lewis is rocked!
The Warriors fans were boiling. Van Gundy watched the tense situation from the sidelines. It was not that the Magic was not good enough, but that the Warriors were too good.Whether it is teamwork or personal ability, they can score.

Milicic was not immersed in the cheers of the fans, and the Warriors immediately chose to return to defense.Milicic hides a maturing heart under her pussy appearance.

The Magic attack and Turkoglu catches the ball at the top of the arc.With him around, Alston would not be able to attack with the ball, and could only choose to run and wait for the ball to shoot a three-pointer.Turkoglu, who was a playmaker, never had any fond memories of working with a point guard, who was a shooter as long as he was around.

In the first two games of the finals, the Turk's weakness was undoubtedly exposed. He is a big pitcher who relies on his height advantage to organize at the top of the arc and then seeks passing opportunities.He is familiar with the Magic's tactics, and he cooperates tacitly with his teammates to send out assists.However, after the three major swingmen of the Warriors are misplaced, their defensive ability is very strong, and his assists are reduced, and he can't pass Li Zhi's level, and he can't pass Milicic after covering.

The Warriors are not the Celtics and the Cavaliers. Those two teams who switch on the pick-and-roll are "Big Baby" Davis and "Brazilian Movie King" Varejao, and the speed is much slower.

Facing Li Zhi, Turkoglu couldn't even easily dribble the ball to face the basket. Li Zhi's lateral movement speed was too fast, and Turkoglu dribbled with a high center of gravity. Once he faced Li Zhi, he was in danger of being intercepted.Li Zhi is also extremely sensitive to steals, no matter how Turkoglu makes fake moves, Li Zhi will not take them.

There was no other way, after a few dribbles, Turkoglu passed the ball to Pietrus on the periphery.Pietrus didn't play well today either.

It was Jackson who was responsible for defending him. He was Jackson's substitute in the Warriors and was reused because of his good defense.Jackson knows him very well, and all his defenses are aimed at his shortcomings.His main score is the outside jumper, and Jackson follows closely, making it difficult for him to shoot.

Barkley sighed: "The Magic really met their nemesis this time. If they didn't face the Warriors in the finals, they might still have a chance, but now, it's difficult..."

Pietrus, the sixth man, met Jackson, the boss of the year. The Magic's core organization forward faced Li Zhi, the Warriors' strongest defender.

The Magic players were originally arrogant and energetic in the second quarter, with a kind of tragic feeling of going to the guillotine, but from the lead to the lagging, the whole process, the Magic players' confidence became less and less, and they subconsciously resigned to their fate.

The Magic players kept making several mistakes, and the Warriors took the opportunity to open the score.

In the fourth quarter, the Magic players fought stubbornly, but the Warriors were very unsympathetic. They fouled Howard several times at critical moments, forcing Howard to the free throw line.Stan Van Gundy was jostling and jumping on the sidelines. He was so shameless. He used the "shark hacking tactic" while leading by more than ten points. I have never seen such shamelessness!

"No, I really want to forget something..." Stan Van Gundy suddenly realized when he saw O'Neal, and said to the Magic player, "Kill him!"

Thus, such a scene appeared on the field. In the finals, the two teams decided the outcome with free throws.Nelson was strategizing. Since the Magic did this, it meant that they had given up their resistance. The "shark hacking tactic" can only be said to be a manifestation of Stan Van Gundy's frustration.

In doing so, the Magic has actually cut off the hope of victory, because no matter what they do, time is almost running out.

O'Neal walked to the free throw line, took a deep breath, raised his hand, and missed the first free throw.

Howard clapped his hands, smiled brightly at O'Neill, and said unscrupulously: "You also said that I'm bad at free throws, and you're not much better!"

Now Howard's mentality has been distorted. I'm rotten, but there are people worse than me. I'm not the worst!

O'Neal ignored him, picked up the basketball with a cold snort, and made a free throw gesture that hadn't been seen in the NBA for a long time-taking the urine tray.

"What?" Howard watched O'Neal throw the basketball into the sky with that ugly free throw posture, and the basketball happily fell into the basket.

The fans laughed, and O'Neal didn't care. In the finals, who cares about posture at critical moments.The Warriors players laughed unscrupulously, not laughing at O'Neal, but mocking Howard.

"Who said that labor and investment can't make it, I was just afraid of hurting your self-esteem just now, you are still young~" O'Neill looked at Howard and sighed, feeling that he had no opponent in the free throw field.

In front of the TV, the old Barry held the remote control and said to his sons, "What did I say, this fat man learns early, and he has 6 championships!" The tone contained pride, pride, and complacency, and the sons nodded repeatedly.

(End of this chapter)