unfinished glory

Chapter 94 Backward
In the second quarter, Li Chongxiao continued to stay on the court and replaced Prince to match up.At this point in the game, the movements of both sides became a little louder unconsciously.

However, the referee has been instructed before the game, and the whistle-blowing scale for the next game can be relaxed a little bit.

In fact, in this round of the series, the referee has been very loose in whistleblowing. If the standard of the previous East and West finals is brought to the finals, both teams will have to send three penalties at the end of the half.

Stern has been in charge of the league for many years, and he knows that once two defensive teams are put on a tight hoop, the fight will be extremely chaotic, like match-fixing.

Li Chongxiao and Prince have fallen on or off the court more than once in order to grab rebounds or floor balls.The little princes of the two teams have never played like an elegant gentleman.

But after all, Li Chongxiao's head was stronger. During a round of competition, their heads collided.Li Chongxiao just felt dizzy for a moment, but recovered quickly, while Prince's forehead was knocked open, bleeding profusely, and he was allowed to play after getting stitches off the court.

Fortunately, Pulis's face was just like that, and the scar on his forehead did not damage his appearance.

The confrontation between the two outside players is so fierce, and the hand-to-hand combat of the inside players can be imagined.

Rasheed Wallace's headband was blown off more than once, and Ben Wallace "bumped the street" many times.

Horry also suffered a minor injury to his left shoulder when it caught up with Ben's arm while fighting for a rebound.But he couldn't rest after the game. Muhammad's performance was too poor today, so he sent points when he played.

Duncan struggled until the plantar fasciitis showed signs of recurrence, but he remained expressionless and endured silently.

After the first half, the Spurs only led the Pistons by two points 40:38 at home.

Not long after the third quarter started, Li Chongxiao was too desperate and got his third personal foul early, and then Ginobili followed in his footsteps.

The difference from Li Chongxiao is that he went too far, the decision to steal was too hasty, and the thug foul was caught by the referee.

Popovich was really pissed off. If Li Chongxiao was off the court, Barry could play instead. If Ginobili was off the court, the burden of controlling the offensive rhythm would be entirely on Parker, who performed poorly today.

Sure enough, the seasoned Larry Brown immediately grasped the Spurs' weakness that did not appear in this round of the series, and strengthened Billups' personal aggression.

First, facing Parker twice in a row outside the three-point line, he shot cold arrows, and then broke through the ball twice to help Ben Wallace dunk.

Popovich surrendered a timeout and changed defenders continuously until Bowen defended Billups before curbing his attack a little.

However, Billups, who is in good form, has reduced his personal offense, but his organization of the team has been revealed. The Pistons suddenly seem to be able to score goals for everyone.

If you are an ordinary team and player, you can see the problem of the Spurs' offensive and defensive connection, and there is no way to effectively hit the Spurs' pain points.But the Pistons and Billups did it. The "Mr. Big Heart" of the Pistons strongly proved the strength of his No. [-] pick.

Hamilton also benefited from Billups' outburst. He was blocked by Li Chongxiao and Bowen in front of him. He didn't score a goal in the sports game. Next, facing Parker's defense, he directly hit two combos.

Fortunately, Rasheed Wallace on the side of the Pistons also made four fouls. Facing McDyess, Duncan endured the discomfort of the soles of his feet and succeeded in consecutive singles. This did not allow the Pistons to open the point difference to 20 points .

With 3 minutes left in the third quarter, the Spurs were already 13 points behind the Pistons when Li Chongxiao and Manu Ginobili returned to play.

Popovich quickly replaced Duncan and let him take a break.

Ginobili, who is not wavering, is still reliable. He helped the team stabilize the situation on the court. By the end of this quarter, the Pistons failed to expand their lead.

55:67, the Spurs were beaten too embarrassingly in the third quarter.

……

During the break between festivals, Li Chongxiao asked Duncan about his condition with concern.

Duncan, who always put his hands on the top of his head first before speaking, was no exception this time. He rubbed Li Chongxiao's hair and said with certainty, "Just tonight!"

Li Chongxiao, who scored 14 points in the first three quarters, showed a strong desire to attack as soon as he came up.

He received a pass from Ginobili, didn't even look at Hamilton who was defending him, and simply shot a jumper.

Seeing that the three-pointer fell into the basket very precisely, Popovich's expression loosened a little off the court.

Sure enough, in the second round, Li Chongxiao received the ball again, dribbled the ball against Hamilton, and then made an emergency stop and stepped back to score a goal.

The point difference quickly narrowed to 7 points. Larry Brown resisted the urge to call a timeout, but shouted at the players from the sidelines, asking the defenders to concentrate.

The Pistons players have also watched the video of Li Chongxiao's game against the Mavericks and the Suns, and they dare not underestimate this rookie who can kill the game with his shots.

Hamilton, who played 34 minutes in the first three quarters, seemed not tired at all at the moment. In the next two rounds, he completely followed Li Chongxiao and did not give him a chance to connect the ball.

But the Spurs have another prodigal son, Ginobili also made three points and a layup, helping the Spurs narrow the point difference.

The Pistons did not give up much here. In the third quarter, Billups and Hamilton, who had developed a touch in the backcourt, also scored goals in different ways.

Hamilton, who only scored 6 points in the first three quarters, exploded with amazing energy from his thin body. In this quarter, he shot, broke through, cut, and even twisted his body to cause Li Chongxiao's fourth personal foul, scoring 8 points personally.

At the beginning of this quarter, Billups was defended by Bowen. Facing this defensive expert, he still made two mid-range shots.

Halfway through the fourth quarter, the Spurs were still 6 points behind.This point difference seems to be a natural moat, no matter how hard the Spurs try, they can't narrow it.

Then the Spurs had a problem first. Duncan fell to the ground during a rebound, and the soles of his feet hurt him so much that he couldn't get up by himself.

This scene made the hearts of the audience tugged. The Spurs have been lagging behind, and they have been unable to narrow the gap for quite a long time, which has already given many fans an ominous premonition.

If the core of the team is out due to injury at this moment, is there any hope for this game?

Refusing the team doctor's request to let him into the locker room, Duncan took off his shoes and asked the team doctor to do a massage on the spot.

Without Duncan's deterrence, Rasheed Wallace succeeded in two consecutive singles against Muhammad, and opened the point difference to 10 points.

The audience on the court had no strength to stand up and cheer for the team, and looked nervously at Duncan off the court from time to time.

With more than three minutes left in the game, Popovich called a timeout. Li Chongxiao didn't sit on the bench to rest when he got off the court, but walked up to Duncan and asked, "Are you still playing?"

"Ok!"

Then Li Chongxiao took the towel, wiped his face and arms, and wiped every finger carefully, without even listening to Popovich's explanation of tactics.

Popovich simply stopped and stared at Li Chongxiao: "Are you putting on nail polish, sir?"

Li Chongxiao spread his fingers and waved them in front of his eyes, then raised his head and said to Popovich, "Look at mine, sir!"

(End of this chapter)