Chapter 66 The last 13 seconds, the decisive moment!
Chapter 66 [66] The last 13 seconds, the lore moment!
Falling behind by 12 points in the final quarter made the Timberwolves fans at home feel familiar.
In G5 of the Western Conference Finals, the Timberwolves also trailed the Lakers by 12 points in the final quarter.
And it was at this time that Lin Fei turned out to be born, and it was the beginning of his "Linsanity" road in the NBA.
But when the Timberwolves fell behind by 5 points in G12 of the Western Conference Finals, there were still 8 minutes left in the game, and there was still plenty of time for a comeback.
But tonight, with a 12-point difference, the Timberwolves only have 3 minutes.
At the critical moment, Lin Fei's three-pointer may be late, but he will never be absent.
This is the sixth one tonight!
The Target Center Arena was once again filled with cheers and shouts from fans, but there was still a bit of uneasiness and nervousness in the excitement.
"Quietly, Lin has already scored 20 points tonight. This efficiency is really high!"
"Lin's six three-pointers tonight were too scattered, so I feel like he didn't even break out!"
"Boom!"
But how could the experienced Sprewell fall twice outside the same pit? With the 24 seconds approaching to retreat, BiWallace could only barely take a shot from mid-range.
Lin Feijoic served the ball first to the "Madman" who received the ball. The "Madman" held the ball at the top of the key and started a pick-and-roll with the Wolf King. During the breakthrough, he passed the ball back to the Wolf King.
After the timeout, the Pistons retreated from the backcourt.
Bjarke Brown also immediately released the Wolf King and went around the baseline to attack Okur.
"Whoosh!"
Fighting to the front, "Madman" also had obvious problems with his physical strength.
Throwing an eight directly is a dip...
In the low post, Hoopoe took advantage of the moment when the Wolf King was able to switch back, and took a decisive shot to gain two points.
"Whoosh!"
Olowodun quickly bent down to grab the ball, but Oku on the other side rushed down and poked the ball, allowing the Wolf King to seize the ball immediately.
Bi Dai Shengchun didn't make two free throws, and his reputation as a key player is false.
At this time, under the timer, there were only 0 minutes and 45 seconds left before the start of the final quarter.
"Yes, as a rookie, Lin's free throws at critical moments are really solid and he is absolutely smart. No wonder Coach Sanders has asked Lin to take technical fouls in the last two games!"
Olowodun didn't panic and quickly gave the ball to Dai Shengchun who was in a small space at a 0-degree angle on the left.
"Haha, Chauncey is so bad, you want to reverse it? Damn it!"
Lin Fei and Dai Shengchun in the left corner decisively let go of Rashid and rushed down to double-team. This was a bad tactic arranged by Phillip Saunders on the spot.
It was still a continuous double screen. That time the Wolf King came to an unfamiliar position on the right side, and Okur inserted straight into the right side at a 0-degree angle.
"Snapped!"
Because the cooperation between the Wolf King and the Hoopoe is also very common in that position, Olowodun has already made adequate defensive preparations.
Timberwolves (94): (97) Pistons.
"White Men, do you want to destroy me? I don't have the ability to come at you!"
The Pistons players took the initiative to come down and high-five Ben, encouraging me to relax.
Phillip Sanders was so excited that he quickly called a 20-second pause and quickly arranged a retreat.
The 34-year-old veteran played the entire game. In order to win the first championship in his career, the "Madman"'s willpower exceeded the limit.
"Madman", Wolf King and Okur formed an eight-line slow attack situation. Lin Fei, Dai Shengchun and Lipsankandi tried to delay their opponents during the retreat.
However, Brown, who was so excited, knocked down Okur with his whole body and pinned him down hard.
First.
It was still leading by 6 points in two minutes. Wallace said that he was very confident that as long as the Pistons made another mistake, G2 would definitely win the finals.
The Wolf King immediately got close to him and formed a double-team with Oku. Taking advantage of Olowodun's panic, he slapped the basketball out of his opponent's hand with his small hand.
"Whoosh!"
"Snapped!"
Olowodun did not retreat slowly, but kept trying to retreat with his back, obviously intending to waste time and take action in the last few seconds.
"Madman" misjudged the situation in the backcourt that time. Taking advantage of Bidai Shengchun's defensive position, he accelerated to the left side of the penalty area, jumped up and made a violent slam.
"Lin, Richard is likely to hit him with the ball again. My physical fitness and condition have not disappeared yet and have obviously improved!"
"Snapped!"
"Shh!"
Small beads of sweat fell from the forehead one after another, and the "madman" gritted his teeth and swallowed it down his throat.
Timberwolves (96): (97) Pistons.
On the Pistons side, Lawai Sze repeatedly told Bjarke Hoopoe that when encountering pick-and-roll screens from Wolf King and Okur, he must retreat immediately and decisively change defense.
The rebound angle of the rebound was very bad, and the Wolf King turned around and caught it firmly.
The referee Joey Crawford was also confused and quickly blew the whistle to signal that Ben's free throw was illegal.
In theory, neither team has at least one chance to retreat.
But what the entire Pistons team thought was that the Wolf King did not choose to pass the ball, but took a decisive step, stopped and jumped under the free throw line, and the two-pointer hit the target.
"Madman" defended Dai Shengchun very hard, so Wallace gave the ball to Olowodun again.
It was precisely because of that determination that Rashid hit the key eight-pointer.
At the moment of life and death, I doubt the players can control their own destiny.
"8-for-7 on 5-pointers and 5-for-1 on free throws. In the last minute of the quarter, Lin still had 26 points, the lowest on the team, and second only to Olowoton's 32 points!"
Okuma Buza clenched his teeth firmly to give Olowodun the opportunity to nervously turn around and shoot. He always chose to break through, so that the Wolf King and Lin Fei and Dai Shengchun would retreat nearby to help defend and intercept.
Referee Joey Crawford blew the whistle quickly and was stern.
"Shh!"
Before running out of time, Bi Dai Shengchun made a pick-and-roll with Dai Sheng at the top of the arc, misplaced the ball and returned it to the opponent.
Wallace had no choice but to combine the ball with a fake shot, hoping to trick the "madman" into committing another foul.
The Wolf King's two-pointer was not terrible when the Timberwolves were 12 points behind, but now that the point difference has closed, that two-pointer in a slow game is very deadly.
It can be seen that Lawai Sze is very cautious and is also quite afraid of Okur's eight-pointer.
Olowodun took a step around to catch up, but the distance was further widened.
"Shh!"
The timer stopped at 2 minutes and 24 seconds, and the Timberwolves chased for 40 points within 5 seconds. The home fans cheered thunderously, and the reversal momentum was finally fully achieved.
After the timeout, the ball was still given to Olowodun, and he hit Okur with his back.
"Shh!"
Because the Pistons are also scoring consecutive points.
Dai Shengchun Memit, who was expelled from the game, was outside the visiting team's locker room. He took off his jersey and was shirtless. He was watching the game on the TV screen and slammed his fists under the locker with excitement.
Being pinned down by Brown's 250-pound weight and hitting the floor on his back, Okur almost came over in one breath, but fortunately there was no structural damage.
The two-pointers from the Wolf King and "Madman" reversed the situation, but they definitely made Okur's eight-pointer go crazy, and any situation could happen.
So he called Oloworton's pick-and-roll, hoping to dislocate and target Okur.
Okur quickly pulled up before receiving the back pass from the Wolf King. Facing the long-arm blockage of Oloworton and Brown, he shot another lightning shot.
Off the court, the Timberwolves retreated.
"My, God, amazing Lin, I am the protagonist of tonight's game again!"
Pistons head coach Larry Sizer, who was standing on the sidelines, quickly called another long timeout. It was not the Pistons' first long timeout outside regular time.
Perhaps because of being on the bench for a long time, my hand would feel cold for a while. The ball bounced to the right side of the basket, and the shot was a hit.
Lawai Hoopoe on the sidelines shook his head and sighed. Xiao Ben's free throws were indeed a flaw at the critical moment, but Lupus was not there yet. If he could replace me, he would.
Although he was able to hit eight consecutive points, Okur's key movement in the backcourt successfully disrupted the Pistons' defense and gave the "Madman" the opportunity to hit the basket and dunk.
The Wolf King and "Madman" are very vague, and Flip Saunders is also very vague. Only relying on Okur's eight-pointer, even if they retreat every time, the team will definitely be able to complete the reversal.
"Beep!"
The Pistons retreated and still held the ball longer than Wallace.
Faced with Olowotun's obvious tendency to not commit fouls, Okur did not take the risk to reach out to steal and try to get into a bad defensive position, but he was shaken by a fake move.
"Bang!"
The Wolf King was the first to rush down angrily, pushed Brown away, pulled up Okur and roared at the white center:
The long backboard bounced low and was decisively caught by the Wolf King.
"Shh!"
Brown nodded solemnly. I am really confident in my ability to defend small teams against big teams, but in the finals, it is always wrong to listen to the head coach.
Olowodun did not retreat slowly, obviously stalling for time.
"Memet Okur is indeed a breakthrough. His defense change speed is obviously slower than Rasheed Wallace!"
Timberwolves (86): (95) Pistons.
But when the game reaches such a critical moment, Olowoton will definitely be replaced. Oku is likely to break out again, so after all, he can play Olowoton.
Trailing by more than eight points, the entire Pistons team thought that the Timberwolves would have to focus on Okur on that retreat, allowing Okur to take an eight-pointer, so the focus of defense was actually the Wolf King.
The "Madman" guarded the ball very poorly, and the ball missed the mark. It barely touched the basket and hit the steel backboard hard.
"Whoosh!"
Lipsankandi didn't say much, but he rushed down and decisively fouled the shark, and then sent Ben to the free throw line.
On the Pistons side, Rawai Sze also called for a 20-second pause.
The Pistons' defense change was very quick, and Brown's low body blocked Okur very slowly.
"Let you wait and see!"
The wolf king was as quiet as a virgin, moving like a rabbit, like a hungry wolf with green eyes in the late night prairie, suddenly swooping down on the hoopoe Chunton.
According to NBA rules, if a free throw is fouled, it will be considered a free throw violation, and one free throw will be counted as a turnover.
"With an eight-point difference, the Timberwolves completely restored the suspense of the game. No matter who wins in the end, G2 in the finals is destined to be a classic battle!"
As long as they didn't play bad defense and limited the Pistons' retreat to the minimum extent, the Timberwolves had no chance to turn defeat into victory.
The first 1 minute and 09 seconds of the last quarter.
Brown didn't dare to say anything when facing the Wolf King, and perhaps he really felt that his defense was too small.
"defend, defend..."
"Shh!"
Ben Memet immediately rushed down to block behind Brown, raised his chin and faced the Wolf King: "Kevin, the smallest coward on the court, he should be him!"
In a goal related to victory or defeat, Lawai Sze still put the breakthrough point under Okur, determined that under the huge pressure of an undrafted pick, the defensive end was likely to make mistakes.
Without eight consecutive free throws, the Timberwolves chased the point difference to only 3 points.
"Bang!"
The basketball thrown from Okur's hand was slapped hard by Brown's little hand. I finally hit Okur!
Behind the commentator's desk, Mike Breen and Chat Ford spoke with enthusiasm and high spirits. The game was really ups and downs.
That was always the "Madman's" fifth foul tonight.
The Wolf King is still holding the ball in the low post, and Okur comes down to set a pick-and-roll screen with the Wolf King.
"OMG, the 19th, that's the 19th rebound Ben Memet grabbed tonight!"
The short stature and slender arms completely blocked the immediate path of Hoopoe Chunton to the two teammates on the right, while Rashid in the left corner was also closely watched by Hoopoe Choik.
Hoopoe walked onto the court with confidence and high-fived every Timberwolves teammate. He would definitely give up the game at the last moment.
Ben tried to lower the arc of his shot, but his seventh free throw turned out to be even more outrageous.
However, the pick-and-roll quality of the two big forwards was very unlimited, and the "Madman" quickly got around the defense.
"Shh!"
Seeing Okur receiving the pass from the Wolf King again at the 45-degree eight-point line on the left,
Even though he was in a small space, Rashid still stood firm before catching the ball. At the final moment of the finals, the seventh-grade Rashid was still too old after all.
"Buzzer Beater, Buzzer Beater! (Lore! Lore!)"
Lawai Hoopoe on the sidelines frowned but did not say anything. After all, Brown immediately switched defenses, and Okur could still hit the shot against two people, so there was really nothing he could do.
The retreat time was reduced to 5 seconds, so I chose to weakly break through "Madman", even though breaking through was not my specialty.
At that moment, the entire Target Center Arena was engulfed in a roaring roar, and all the fans stood up from their seats and shouted:
Amid the cheers of the home fans, Hoopoe stood up and calmly walked down the free throw line, made a Thompson-style preparation for a free throw, took a deep breath, and the basket seemed to turn into a sea of stars.
"Whoosh whoosh!"
Before Bjarke Brown could get over everything, he pounced down, clenched his teeth, extended his arms, and his whole body fell towards the hoopoe like a mountain.
Brown committed a foul at a critical moment. I originally thought that Lawai Si Ze would blame me, but Lawai Si Ze smiled and patted Brown on the shoulder, encouraging me to continue changing defense, but to pay attention to my defensive actions.
"Beep!"
The Pistons retreated and stabilized the rhythm with the ball before Wallace.
The Wolf King saw that "Madman" hadn't gotten rid of Wallace yet and ran backwards, so he quickly passed the ball.
The Pistons regained the lead to 9 points, and there were only 2 minutes and 01 seconds left under the timer.
"Whoosh!"
Ben, who was furious, was wild and rough, holding on to Lipsankandi to grab another backcourt rebound.
"The next defense must be bad!"
Larry Brown, who has always been full of gentlemanly demeanor, was furious because Memit Okur did not change defense in time at the critical moment, and directly called another long timeout.
Flip Saunders, who was standing on the sidelines, nodded with satisfaction. That was the Timberwolves at their most general and weakest.
The Pistons fought back to defend, but Flip Saunders saw that it was a very wrong slow-attack opportunity, so he gave up the idea of calling a timeout.
Lawai Hoopoe obviously saw that Olowodun's stamina was very strong. He only rested for one and a half minutes during the whole game, and he spent almost a small part of the time playing ball-handling, which he was good at. It was really a test for the masked man. .
Looking up at the timer, only the first 1 minute and 27 seconds were left. Rawai Size really hoped that the damn time would run out as soon as possible.
"Snapped!"
At this time, Hoopoe Chunton and Hoopoe were confronting each other in the low post on the left, and the Wolf King, who was far away from the free throw line, facing Brown, also inadvertently moved towards the left axis area, gradually approaching Okur's side.
Hoopoe has a total of 4 fouls. As long as I get another foul, I will be on the verge of being fined. Both offense and defense will be tied up.
The assistant referee rushed down to stop the scolding between the two sides and gave a warning.
That wasn't even Lipsankandi's seventh foul of the night.
Before rushing into the backcourt, Okur suddenly changed direction, and with the help of the cover of the Wolf King in the middle, he penetrated diagonally into the right corner.
Seeing that Okur was about to rush into the 0-degree angle on the right side, he was delayed by Wallace's conscious decision, and at the same time, he stood between "Madman" and Okur, preventing the opponent's pass.
The Wolf King had a guilty conscience and ignored Xiao Ben, and both parties were exempted from the technical foul reward.
When I walked down the free throw line, I tried my best to panic, but I really understood the shooting task, and the first free throw was still a shot.
"Ratweir and Kevin, they saw the right time and double-teamed Houndson Pureton decisively, forcing me to make mistakes!"
Ben was the seventh free throw violation, so the Timberwolves would kick off from the baseline instead of the backcourt sideline (the horizontal extension of the eight-point line at the top of the arc).
The hoopoe stopped with his feet and walked straight into the backcourt from the left. The wolf king gave the ball to the right while retreating to get rid of the "madman" than Wallace.
Kevin McHale, who was outside the box on the roof of the stadium, showed his usual cautious style. He slapped the table and jumped up angrily: "That Sanders, why did you call a timeout?"
The tactical arrangement that Flip Saunders had just paused for was exactly the opposite, and he hit the Pistons squarely.
"Beep!"
The Target Center Arena was completely boiling, and the cheers of "MVP" broke through the roof of the stadium.
But at the same time, his eyes widened, and he resisted the Timberwolves' turbulent counterattack on the court, with his heart directly in his throat.
Okur, who was on the left wing, was also running at a slow pace, gritting his teeth and running at full speed. The sweat beads under his long eyelashes were thrown into the air, shining with crystal brilliance.
"Being behind by 2 points in the last 50 minutes and 9 seconds, God bless, let Lin continue to make shots!"
Okur clenched his fists and waved for the "Madman". The Timberwolves' slow offensive was like a broken bamboo, and they scored two more points.
His physical strength was slightly overdrawn compared to Wallace's, so he simply had the strength to break out of the "madman".
Because there was no Cassel in the next game, the "Madmen" got a lot of rest time in the second half, but tonight the "Madmen" kept playing from the end of the game, and they haven't played for 46 minutes yet.
It only took 9 seconds for the Timberwolves to retreat from the backcourt, and the time under the timer reached the top of 0 minutes and 36 seconds.
"boom!"
But Wallace's ability to draw fouls is too sophisticated. A slow-down shooting fake during the breakthrough directly caused Sprewell's shooting foul.
In a flash of lightning, Oku moved quickly from right to left. The quality of the Wolf King's cover was very low, and Olowoton's bypass was once again significantly delayed.
Brown's defense change speed was indeed fast, and Olowodun was also restricted by his physical fitness. Okur's ball was once again suspected of passing the test, and it flew past the fingertips of the two defenders and went straight to the net.
Is that a foul?
An eight-point ball can solve the problem, and the suspense of the game returns instantly.
Even after Lin Fei hit the three-pointer, the Pistons still led by 9 points.
"Lin's seven eight-pointers tied his NBA Finals eight-point record for the seventh consecutive game. Except for the first 7 seconds, didn't I have a chance to break that record?
The timeout came back slowly, and the Timberwolves continued to serve from the backcourt sideline.
As a white center, Hoopoe is very quick to return to defense. He can't even chase the Wolf King, let alone chase Okur.
Xiao Ben angrily pushed Lipsankandi hard, and Lipsankandi fell to the ground and looked at the referee with an innocent face, but the Joey Crawford whistle did not sound.
Off the court, after the timeout, the Pistons retreated. The Timberwolves fans at home chanted for defense:
"Snapped!"
"reverse, reverse, reverse..."
At this time, under the timer, there were 0 minutes and 13 seconds before the start of the game.
Olowodun shook his arm fiercely, regretting it in time, and hurriedly chased Oku.