unfinished glory

Chapter 74

The second game was scheduled for April 4. After three days of rest, the Spurs easily solved their opponents again.

The Grizzlies couldn't even organize an effective attack wave at the Spurs' home court, and they were beaten all the way.At the end of the half, they fell behind by more than 30 points. This time, they couldn't even get back a point in the fourth quarter like in the previous game, and finally lost by 34 points.

Li Chongxiao scored 10 points in this game, but he didn't perform well.It's not because he doesn't play well, but because he doesn't have much playing time, the opponent has no resistance, and he has no chance to perform.

The basketball fans in Huaxia have been very excited these days. The Rockets have won two away games. According to the probability, they have already won the series.

In the history of the league, there have only been two consecutive away games in the playoffs, and finally lost the playoffs.In 1969, the Warriors led the Western Conference's top Lakers 2:0, but lost four games in a row. In the Western Conference semifinals in 1994, the Rockets trailed the Suns 0:2. As a result, Olajuwon showed his power and finally won the tiebreaker.

Judging from the current situation, the probability of the Spurs and Rockets meeting in the Western Conference semifinals is extremely high. Li Chongxiao teased Yao Ming on the phone, don't give him a chance at that time, and complete the "flying over the tower" dunk first.

The third game was held in Memphis. The Grizzlies returned to the home court with great morale. After the opening, they performed very positively. They used the pick-and-roll cooperation as soon as they came up. Battier and Mike Miller made a three-pointer respectively. , leading the Spurs 6:0.

After Duncan made a shot, they were 4:0 again, and Popovich called a timeout directly.The Grizzlies played very aggressively today, with more personnel running positions, and the speed of the ball was very fast.Jason Williams spends less time dribbling and handling the ball and more time making catch-and-go transfers.

The passing ability of Gasol on the inside is also very strong. After he mentioned the high position, he can not only perform pick-and-roll and mid-range shooting, but also play the role of the center axis. will be held back.

Back from the timeout, the Grizzlies switched defenses in a timely manner, and Ginobili's shot missed.The Spurs also strengthened their defense, and the Grizzlies also hit the iron.

Soon the two teams turned the game into a defensive battle, bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang their opponents.

The Spurs are familiar with this kind of situation and are not impatient because they are behind. They started by relying on defense.

The Grizzlies are still in the lead, so they are naturally happy to see the results, hoping that this situation will remain until the end of the game.

By the 8th minute, Li Chongxiao didn't change the situation when he came on the court. He was so focused on defending that he didn't shoot a single ball.But he also defended against Mike Miller's [-]-for-[-] shooting, fully implementing the Spurs' style: I don't score, and neither do you.

At the end of the first quarter, the Grizzlies led the Spurs by 21 points with 17:4.The situation on the court is not as one-sided as the away game. The Grizzlies can't say they have the advantage, at least they are evenly matched.

The second quarter continued the trend of the first quarter, with both sides putting defense first.The Grizzlies' defensive enthusiasm and efficiency have risen by more than one level today. Even Gasol has become tougher, and Duncan was blocked in the defense.

In this quarter, the Grizzlies still relied on the overall offense. They scored 18 points, and the protagonist on the Spurs side became Li Chongxiao.

Although the Grizzlies have studied every player on the Spurs side, the focus is still on the GDP trio. For Li Chongxiao, they still focus on catch-and-shoot, although they have already performed pick-and-roll attacks in previous games. , but Mike Fratello doesn't think that's the norm.

Li Chongxiao, who played with confidence, was full of desire to attack, and he broke through Mike Miller at the beginning of the second quarter.

After receiving a pass from Duncan, he hit a corner three-pointer and a long two-pointer.

Seeing that he played so well, Popovich did not replace him to rest.Facts have proved that this decision is wise. The other players of the Spurs were lost in the confrontation today. They only hit 12 of 2 shots in the second quarter.

The Spurs fell into a scoring drought again, and the Grizzlies took the opportunity to extend the score to 6 points.At this time, Li Chongxiao hit two three-pointers in a row, one was a shot after a pick-and-roll, and the other was a shot against Battier's defense.

With three and a half minutes left in the second quarter, the Spurs tied the score by relying on Li Chongxiao's two three-pointers.

Next, the two sides continued to strike iron, and the Grizzlies only hit a mid-range shot, leading the score again, 39:37.

In the last ten seconds of the first half, the Spurs had another chance to attack. Facing Battier's defense, Li Chongxiao entered the penalty area with the help of Duncan's pick-and-roll.

Gasol was a little bit out of position, but he still tried to keep up. When Li Chongxiao took off, he tried his best to block the block.

Li Chongxiao had already rushed up at this time. According to the usual tactics, the ball returned to Duncan would be a dunk.But he didn't think about passing the ball, and relied on Gasol to force it up. Under the confrontation, he twisted and pressed the ball into the basket with his left hand, causing Gasol to foul.

The audience exclaimed for a while. Many fans who don't pay much attention to other teams don't even know the rookie's name.

The extra penalty hit, with Li Chongxiao's 16 points in a single quarter, the Spurs scored 21 points in the second quarter, and they are still one point behind the Grizzlies for the time being.

In the third quarter, Li Chongxiao sat off the court. He originally thought that the Spurs' offense would be better, but the situation on the court was not as he expected. The performance of his teammates today was terrible.

Duncan made a butter hand error, followed by another high toss, and missed the frame.Even Dinghaishenzhen is like this, let alone other players, all kinds of mistakes can be made into a collection.

Li Chongxiao covered his face below, feeling unable to see.Popovich yelled a few words at first, and then simply sat on the bench, too lazy to speak.

If it weren't for the team's good defense, the Grizzlies on the court were also blocked from attacking, and the coach would have to go up and down.

It was almost 10 minutes in a quarter, and the scores of both sides had not yet reached 8 points, the Spurs had 9 points, and the Grizzlies had [-] points.

The former coach of the Grizzlies, Hubie Brown, was the commentator on the scene today. He pointed out that the fundamental problem of the Spurs today is that the players are collectively lost. Although a strong team will have a downturn, there will always be someone who stands up. Today’s situation is very important for Still relatively rare for the Spurs.

Unlike the optimism of the Grizzlies fans, he was a little worried about the situation of the Grizzlies in this game.Facing the state of the Spurs, the Grizzlies tried their best and only led by two points.

The Spurs came on the bench, but Li Chongxiao still didn't play. Popovich's purpose is not easy to guess. It seems that he wants to make good use of this gun in the fourth quarter.But judging from the previous performance, it seems like a blindfold.

At the beginning of the fourth quarter, the Spurs, trailing by 6 points, took their best player on the court today, and the Grizzlies also sent Battier to follow up.

In the first round, Li Chongxiao acted like the Grizzlies showed that he didn't come up to attract firepower.He took the ball one step beyond the three-point line and shot it straight away, Battier couldn't reach it.This is not Popovich's tactic, but he will also allow Li Chongxiao to play like this.

For the Grizzlies, Posey responded with a two-pointer.In the defensive round, Battier began to defend close to the body, and Li Chongxiao had no chance to receive the ball.

But this time Popovich gave him the right to attack independently, and players like Nesterovic were also on the court to cooperate with him.He started dribbling the ball, trying to go inside, but Battier saw it when he was going to the left and broke the ball directly.

The Grizzlies fast break, Brian Cardinal took the lead, rushed to the front court, Battier then made a long pass in the past.

Li Chongxiao didn't stand there annoyed after conceding the goal, but reacted quickly, and rushed forward quickly.

After Brian Cardinal got the ball, he dribbled it inside the three-point line. Instead of speeding up to take off, he slowed down slightly to prepare for a dunk, which gave Li Chongxiao a chance.

When Cardinal was about to dunk with the tomahawk, Li Chongxiao came out from the left side and pressed his right hand on the ball.

The two confronted each other in the air, Li Chongxiao was knocked to the ground, rolled over, but quickly got up again.Cardinal lost his center of gravity, fell forward, and fell to the ground.

The ball was knocked off and hit the backboard. Li Chongxiao got the ball ahead of James Posey and threw it to the frontcourt immediately.

Nesterovic, who moves slowly, would have been the only player in the frontcourt instead, took the ball and took a dribble for an easy dunk.

Li Chongxiao, who made up for his mistakes, became more and more excited. In the next round, he first defended and forced the Grizzlies to make a pass error. Then he cut in the middle of the offense to attract the defense and assisted Barry to hit a three-pointer.

After the Spurs tied the score, the Grizzlies were forced to call a timeout and took all the main players, because they saw the hope of victory in this game and could only fight.

The Grizzlies with the full main lineup still have a certain advantage when playing as a substitute for the Spurs. Gasol faced Muhammad's defense and scored two consecutive goals, forcing the Spurs to also switch to the main lineup ahead of schedule to start the decisive battle.

Li Chongxiao continued to stay on the field, and his teammates began to feel warmer, and he started to defend with peace of mind.

The Spurs' offense gradually straightened out, and the Grizzlies were a little bit overwhelmed. They continued to score goals, but their efficiency was not as high as the Spurs, and they were quickly overtaken by the Spurs.

Having won at this stage, the Spurs' stability began to play a role again. They expanded the score bit by bit, and never gave the Grizzlies a chance.

78:70, the Spurs won the third game of the series and got the match point. Li Chongxiao scored a game-high 26 points.

(End of this chapter)