pinnacle of basketball

Chapter 474 A heads-up match full of situations
The heads-up match is not like a basketball game, but more like a vicious Colosseum.

The 10 players who participated in the competition were all good one-on-one heads-up players, and the players who liked heads-ups all had similar looks. They refused to admit defeat, especially when facing players with the same personality as themselves, they would not easily admit that they were inferior to others.

But Wade is an exception. When one's goal is a championship, he will never care about these false names in the All-Star Game.

This is where Wade is different from others. He is already a mature and stable player who knows what he wants.

It's just that Mu Chenfeng and Barrett off the field are looking at him expectantly, and at the same time there are three shining trophies beside them.

No team has ever achieved a Grand Slam in an All-Star game.

The four individual events have different requirements for players. The three-point contest requires precise shooting, the slam dunk contest requires physical fitness, the skill contest requires comprehensive skills, and the one-on-one competition focuses on individual abilities. It can be said that the All-Star individual event includes all the conditions necessary for a championship team. It is also rare for a team to send players who can win the championship in each event at the same time in an All-Star game.

Wade knows how important it is to win the heads-up game. If he can win the heads-up game, the Miami Heat will be permanently recorded in the history of the All-Star Game.

The Heat were originally the targets of all teams in the regular season, especially in the recent wave of the longest winning streak of the season. All teams wanted to be the terminator of the winning streak. They all played hard against the Heat, but they were all defeated by the Heat.

The heat in the regular season was already unstoppable. They did not expect them to continue this winning streak to the All-Star Game. After winning the first three championships, the nine players who participated in the heads-up match spontaneously formed an alliance with the purpose of preventing Wade from winning the championship.

It is almost impossible to defeat Wade one-on-one. Although the defeat cannot be completed, it can be consumed.

A total of three matches are required from the preliminaries to the final round of the heads-up match. No matter who encounters Wade, he must try to delay the game as much as possible in terms of physical fitness and consume his physical energy to the greatest extent.

At the end of the lottery, Wade's opponent in the first round was the shooting guard Tres from the host Orlando Magic. He is a well-known bench gangster in the league. There are no top stars in the league in Orlando. As a substitute player, Tres can become the Magic's scoring leader with an average of 17.6 points per game, which shows his outstanding scoring ability.

17.6 of Tres's 13 points per game came from individual singles, and the average number of singles per game ranked fifth in the league. He is a veritable singles maniac.

The first opponent Wade encountered in the heads-up match was a hard bone.

This is Tres's ninth season in the league. In the first 9 seasons of his career, he has moved to 9 teams, and almost all of his career has been as a substitute player, but no matter which team he is on, Tres plays an important scoring role on the bench. He is also good at doing this.

Every time Wade and Trece meet, it is inevitable to have a one-on-one match with him. Although Wade can win in statistics every time, the process is not easy.

This is the first time the two have met on the All-Star stage. Tres's purpose is very clear. He is here for the championship, even if the person standing in front of him is Wade.

"That little guy who wanted to teach you guys a good lesson, I didn't expect him to retire." A trace of disappointment flashed across Tres's face, and at the same time he glanced at Mu Chenfeng who was sitting off the court talking with Barrett, "But retiring is a wise choice."

"That's really disappointing." Wade said slowly, "I don't have a chance to see you being abused by him."

"What did you say?" Wade's words made Tres irritated, "I really should have found an opportunity to match him in the last game, and let him know what it means to be singled out."

"Don't worry, there is still a chance." The opportunity Wade refers to is the first game after the All-Star Weekend. The Heat will face the Magic at home. At that time, Tres will have the opportunity to match up with Mu Chenfeng on the court. At the same time, it will also be the 21st game of the Heat's winning streak.

"Okay, before we deal with him, let's practice with you, an All-Star." The special format of the heads-up match gave Tres a lot of confidence. Without the assistance of his teammates, he dared to wrestle with any player in the league.

The game between Tres and Wade was arranged in the fifth group.

The first set was between Lloris of the Chicago Bulls and Ennis of the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Both of them are the starting small forwards of each team. The main core task of forward players in the game is to score, so both of them have outstanding offensive abilities, but they are different.

Lolis was originally the Bulls' backup small forward, but after Barrett left the team, he was directly promoted from the bench to the starter by the team. He repaid the management's trust with his outstanding performance on the field.

"I have always felt that Loris is an underestimated player." As an old teammate, Barrett gave Loris a high evaluation, "If I hadn't been in the team, he would have been able to start, but I still think Loris is more suitable as a shooting guard."

Lloris does have some disadvantages in the small forward position, especially in terms of physical confrontation. His body is a little thin, and the small forward is a very confrontational position.

That's why Barrett thinks that the most suitable position for Lloris is not small forward, but shooting guard.

Ennis, standing across from him, is a natural small forward.

Ennis has the same height as Loris, but weighs 20 pounds more than him. This makes his body larger than Loris by a large circle, and the muscle lines on his arms are clearly visible. It seems to be wrapped in a bomb that may detonate at any time, full of strength.

If Loris is a skilled small forward, then Ennis is a typical representative of a powerful small forward. His shooting is not as good as Loris, but he has obvious advantages in strength confrontation.

The match between the two showed two completely different styles from the first ball. Due to the disadvantage in the confrontation, Loris chose to shoot every ball in the middle distance, and the occasional touch made his offense intermittent. Ennis aimed at the weakness of Loris' confrontation. The offensive end kept attacking the inside line, sending the ball closer to the basket, and the shooting rate was relatively high.

After several entanglements, Ennis took an absolute lead of 8:2 in the score. The huge lead made Ennis relax his vigilance. Loris took the opportunity to score 4 points in a row to catch up with the score. Fortunately, Ennis adjusted his state in time and used his tough defense to stop Loris' excellent touch. Then, with two strong inside shots, he finally won the first heads-up match 12:8.

Although the score was stalemate in the first game, due to the lack of physical contact and confrontation, it always made people feel unsatisfactory.

The heads-up match shouldn't be so dull.

The players in the second group were Thomas from the Thunder and Jefferson from the Nets. Both of them were point guards with excellent physical fitness, especially Jefferson, who was hailed as "the next Baron Davis". Baron Davis is one of the most physical point guards in the NBA.

Thomas is also a small steel cannon. He often staged wonderful dramas in the game with his small body. He is not tall enough, but he is full of confrontation.

The match between the two was full of sparks from the very beginning. From Thomas' first dribble, Jefferson's defense never left his body, and his arms kept waving in front of Thomas's eyes, not giving him an easy shot. Thomas managed to get out of the gap to make a shot. Unexpectedly, it was just a flaw that Jefferson intentionally exposed. After Thomas made a shot, he decisively blocked the shot.

Swapping offense and defense, Thomas' defense is not inferior to Jefferson's in the slightest, and it is difficult for Jefferson to get a shot if he does not lose the wind in the confrontation.

The two are somewhat similar in defensive style, but they have different choices when ending the offense. Jefferson often takes the shot when blocking, while Thomas is better at stealing before the shot.

The time limit for the heads-up match was 30 seconds. Jefferson saw that the 30 seconds were about to expire, so he quickly adjusted his posture and shot, but Thomas grabbed the ball with his ghostly hand and snatched the ball.

In 2 minutes, the score between the two was still at 0:0, and neither of them scored.

Although no points were scored, the scene was indeed very exciting. Even the audience sitting in the distance could feel the sound of the muscles colliding between the two. Needless to say, blocks and steals, one goal is more exciting than the other.

However, the heads-up match is ultimately about scoring. In order to prevent similar defensive battles, the game time will be extended indefinitely. The all-star heads-up match has a time limit. Each heads-up match has a time limit of 5 minutes. If neither side scores 5 points within 11 minutes, the side with the highest score wins.

After 5 minutes passed, the two sides still failed to score, and both were panting from exhaustion.

This is the most exhausting game since the All-Stars had a heads-up game, but the fans enjoyed watching it very much, wishing that the two could keep shaking. After all, it is difficult to see such a high-density defensive confrontation in regular NBA games.

"Finally, there must be a result." After a fierce battle, the two also cherished each other, but the golden goal still came.

In the decisive stage, Thomas got the right to attack and Jefferson defended. Although the physical strength of both of them had declined, since it was the last ball, neither of them wanted to lose, so they gritted their teeth and played the last ball.

Thomas controls the rhythm of the game. He is not eager to attack, but keeps dribbling on the outside, looking for Jefferson's defensive loopholes. A player is most prone to loopholes when his physical energy is exhausted.

"The right hand is his dominant hand." Jefferson took special care of Thomas' right side when defending, and his position was also biased to the right, giving him a chance to break through on the left.

"I found it." The fleeting opportunity was caught by Thomas. Jefferson's right hand showed a good breakthrough gap, and Thomas immediately started to break through to his left.

"Hmph, I was really fooled." Seeing Thomas start, Jefferson immediately withdrew his body to the normal defensive position, blocking Thomas' breakthrough route.

"I guessed right." Thomas sneered, pulled the basketball to his right with his right hand, and his body also turned to the right. The early change of direction was completed in one go. Jefferson had just turned his body, and it was too late to readjust.

The third and fourth groups that played next settled the battle within 3 minutes. West of the Pacers and Russell of the Pistons won the third and fourth promotion places respectively.

Four of the five promotion spots have been confirmed, and the last focus of the remaining battle is between Wade and Tres, both of whom are also favorites to win the championship, and whoever wins in the end may win.

"Captain, come on." Off the court, both Su Mengyao and Mu Chenfeng cheered for Wade.

At this time, Wade seemed to have not heard, and did not give any reaction, even though the three of them were only less than 10 meters away from each other.

"Wade has fully entered the game state, and it seems that he will take this game seriously." Barrett said.

This expression of Wade has been rarely seen since the beginning of the new season, but it was very common last season, especially at the critical moment of the game. This season, since he does not need to end the game himself, the burden on Wade is really light. But this time, he must win.

(End of this chapter)