Without the postman, Hornacek became the first point of attack. He encountered the tightest defense and double-teams. He is not the kind of person who is strong in offense with the ball. His talent is not outstanding. He missed his shots when double-teamed.
Wang Tiejun got a backcourt rebound and the Suns attacked.
After all, the Jazz are not the Bulls and do not have such a strong perimeter defense. Although the Suns do not have the Lightning, Perry, a new force, is still quite fast. He can get rid of Stockton through a wide range of runs and quickly advance after receiving the ball.
Tocton has been playing until now, and his physical fitness is gone, and his defensive intensity has also dropped, so the Suns' perimeter was able to hold on at the last moment.
If there is no problem on the outside, there will be no more problems for the Suns.
"Bang!"
Wang Tiejun scored another goal, and this time Spencer fell at his feet, making the score two plus one.
"Beautiful! We are still two points behind, one point behind on free throws, there are still 51 seconds left, there is still a chance." Su Qun shouted excitedly.
Lao Wang stood on the free throw line, but unfortunately, due to excessive physical exertion, he failed to hit the extra free throw. 104:102, the Suns trailed by two points, and the Jazz attacked.
Stockton and Hornacek played a high pick-and-roll tactic. After the split, the former rushed into the paint with the ball, and the latter reached the top of the arc from the outside.
Perry immediately switched defenses with Person.
"It's still Hornacek!"
Seeing Stockton's back pass, Zhang Lili reminded loudly.
"brush!"
The basketball slipped over Perry's palm, fell from the peak, and directly penetrated the net.
"well!"
The American West Arena sighed, and countless fans looked at the Death Ray Hornacek with mixed emotions.
"Ouch, three points, so accurate! Hornacek is merciless to his home team!" Su Qun sighed.
"Perry is not tall enough. He changed defense very quickly after encountering the pick-and-roll just now. He is a little short." Zhang Lili shook his head.
When the Suns attacked, Perry quickly advanced to the frontcourt, Wang Tiejun immediately entered the basket, and the Jazz immediately tightened their defense. Power forward Kyle and small forward David Benoit all rushed to the basket.
At the last moment, the Jazz's outside line finally participated in the defense of the low post. Since they lost the postman, they could not guard against Old K just by double-teaming the two inside lines.
The moment Lao Wang caught the ball, he threw it out and the ball flew towards Horry.
It's not that he doesn't want to play, it's just that he has put in a hard fight and his physical fitness is no longer enough. If he still chooses to play hard at this time, his opponent will probably choose foul tactics.
And Horry's performance this year is indeed very stable, especially at critical moments, his shots are more accurate than usual. He can only choose to believe in Horry.
One step inside the three-point line on the left wing, at a 45-degree position, Horry caught the ball and was wide open. He calmly and calmly took a step back to outside the three-point line, then jumped up and threw the ball towards the basket.
"brush!"
The water splashed and the three-pointer hit.
"pretty!"
Su Qun roared excitedly.
"ah!"
The American West Arena also burst into cheers.
107:105, with 13 seconds left in the game and the Jazz leading by two points, they called the last timeout after serving.
"Put it off until the last second, I want three points."
Jerry Sloan said the first sentence in a deep voice, and then added: "If they implement foul tactics and respond calmly, if they can score two free throws, we will definitely win. If they only score one free throw, we will have a chance, but we must
To guard against their three-pointers, neither Horry nor Person can miss them."
On the Suns side, Westphal was surrounded by all the players and said: "For foul tactics, try to find the one with the lowest free throw percentage.
If they make both free throws, we have to shoot three-pointers and repeat the foul tactics. If they only make one, we also have to make three-pointers and try to enter overtime."
Then the timeout ends and the game begins.
The Jazz replaced Spencer and added an extra forward, the main small forward Chris Morris and the backup small forward David Benoit at the third position. Their free throw shooting percentage was above 70%.
"Beep!"
The referee's whistle sounded and Ben fouled Chris.
"call!"
Chris Morris took a deep breath and dribbled the ball several times before throwing the ball.
"Bang!"
Mentality is very important at critical moments. Morris's mental quality was average and he failed to make a free throw.
Several Jazz players came up to give him high fives, and then he prepared to take the second free throw.
"The postmen have taken a break, you'd better surrender." This was a trash talk from Lao Wang.
When Morris heard this, his hands trembled.
"Bang!"
Under the influence of Lao Wang's trash talk, the second free throw was missed.
Lao Wang grabbed the backcourt rebound. At this time, Person and Perry were already trying their best to get off the ball. Stockton and Hornacek were both old and played another game, unable to keep up with these two players.
A young man.
Especially for Stockton, Perry just came on the court and ran so fast that he lost a lot of ground.
"Whoosh!"
Lao Wang made a long pass and sent the ball out.
Perry caught the ball, got to the basket in three steps, and succeeded in a layup.
"Beautiful, 107 is even!"
Su Qun shouted excitedly, but then added: "It would be great if Perry could shoot a three-pointer just now and take the lead directly."
"There are 5 seconds left, how will the Suns defend?" Zhang Lili asked curiously.
The Suns have no timeouts, and the players on the field can only decide how to play. At this time, the role of the core on the field is reflected.
"Don't foul easily. Let's go into overtime. We have an advantage going into overtime." Lao Wang made the decision.
The game continued. The Jazz attacked and served from the backcourt. After several passes, the ball came into Benoit's hands. With Benoit on defense, he shot a three-pointer and missed. The ball hit the backboard. The game time was over.
Then, after a short break, the two sides will play overtime.
As Lao Wang said, in overtime, the advantage went to the Suns. Wilkins and Perry partnered in the back line. Both of them are fresh forces and there is no problem with their physical fitness.
Wilkins is the main attacker, and Wang Tiejun is responsible for rebounding and defense, as well as internal and external cooperation.
As for the Jazz, Stockton and Hornacek are out of physical fitness, but no one can replace them, and they must continue to play.
After five minutes, the Suns launched a 10:4 attack wave. Wilkins grabbed 4 points, Wang Tiejun grabbed 2 points, 2 backcourt rebounds and an offensive rebound. Horry made a hit.
After shooting, Perry made a fast break, and everyone worked together to defeat the Jazz with a score of 111:117 and win the G2 game.
"The competition process was very hard, but the result was still good." Zhang Lili sighed.
"It depends on how injured Lightning is. If he doesn't come back for the next game, it will be in trouble." Su Qun said with some worry.
"It also depends on the postman's injury. If he doesn't come back, the Suns can still win." Zhang Li said with a smile.
Su Qun took the data table and read: "In the overtime, Old K played 50 minutes and only rested for three minutes. He made a total of 14 of 22 shots, a shooting percentage of 63.6%, and 12 of 19 free throws, a shooting percentage of 63.1%.
To the data of 40 points, 24 rebounds, 7 assists, 1 steal, 5 blocks, 3 turnovers and 4 fouls.”
Zhang Lili said: "Wilkins scored 22 points today and Horry scored 19 points. They both performed well. Without everyone's efforts, this game would not have been won."
On the sidelines, Wang Tiejun was worried about Lightning's injury, so he hastily ended the on-site interview and left the field with his teammates.
Finley can no longer play in the playoffs. If he can't even play in the playoffs, then this second round series may be overturned by the Jazz.
No matter who he loses to, he doesn't want to lose to the Black and White Shuangsha.
As soon as he entered the locker room, he saw the idle team doctor Andrew John and quickly asked: "Andrew, where is Lightning? How is his knee?"
Andrew said: "Aaron has sent him to Dr. Carter. I thought it was a hard injury, but there is redness and swelling behind him. Although it is only a little bit, I'm afraid it's a bit troublesome. He won't be able to play anyway."
"Ma's!"
Lao Wang cursed.
"Tie Jun, you should take a medicinal bath first." Gao Bin said at this time.
He nodded and asked again: "Do you know about the postman?"
Andrew John said: "Some media followed him to the hospital. There is no news yet. Calculating the time, he should have just arrived at the hospital."
Just after taking the medicinal bath and preparing to attend the press conference, the news about the lightning came back. It was no big problem. After treatment, the redness and swelling had begun to subside, but it was best to take a rest after the next game.
Lao Wang and others breathed a sigh of relief. It didn't matter if they took a break. Now they were two games ahead. At most, they would lose one game away from home, which would not affect the overall situation.
At this time, news from the postman also came, and there was no big problem.
"Suffering a loss."
Lao Wang said unhappily.
On the field just now, he took advantage of the situation and knocked over the postman without restraining his force. Unfortunately, he did not injure the postman.
Now he is not the same person as before. Whether it is the endorsements he has or the national team's identity, he must pay attention to his personal image. He will also be the spokesperson for the capital's Olympic bid in the future, and he must not act recklessly. His style of play can be violent.
You can be tough, but you can't be dirty. You can't fight on the field. Being successful and famous is a different kind of shackles.
He looked at the others and saw that none of them had a dirty style. Ben Wallace looked fierce, but he was actually kind and honest at heart. It was okay to do hard work, but he wouldn't force him to do that kind of dirty work if he couldn't.
Let Ben do those things. These are his teammates, not his thugs.
Forget it, let's find an opportunity to teach the postman a lesson.
He called Lightning and went to attend the press conference.
On the 10th, the Suns flew to Salt Lake City.
In Los Angeles, the Lakers headquarters, not a single player is left, they have all gone fishing, but the management is still busy.
Bass was sitting in West's office, and the two were discussing something.
He has determined that he wants to rebuild the team, and what he needs most is the cornerstone to build the team, so he and West went to find Stern the day before yesterday.
Duncan was mentioned in the conversation. He believed that only a big market like Los Angeles was worthy of Duncan. This was recognized by Stern.
He vaguely mentioned that he hoped to get a good lottery in 1997, and he would use that lottery to select Duncan. Then Stern told him sternly that the lottery was something that only God could decide, and human factors could not interfere.
Haha, on the day of the draw, I hope God dresses up like David Stern, that's all he can hope for.
But Duncan is a matter for next year, and this year's draft is also very important. Now the Lakers are preparing for trial training, and he and West are now working together to formulate an invitation list.
If Duncan can be selected next year, there is no doubt that Duncan will be the core inside, so the team also needs an outside core.
This outside core should ideally be selected this year.
Duncan, the core player on the inside, can be compared to the role of Old K. On the outside, both he and West believe that they need to find a "Jordan".
According to the Lakers' scouting system, Jerry West is very interested in a young man, but that young man is too young, just a high school student, so he needs to take risks.
But he is very optimistic about Kobe Bryant's talent and future, so he plans to invite him to participate in the Lakers' trial training this time.
"Do you really think highly of this high school student?" Bass asked suspiciously.
If he was wrong and failed to succeed after several years of training, it would be bad, and the team's reconstruction would be delayed for several years, which would have a huge impact, so he was very cautious.
West said seriously: "I have studied Kobe's information and I am very optimistic about him from his character, competitiveness, physical talent, and skills. As for his lack of NCAA qualifications, I think that may make his growth slow.
to two years, but he is less than eighteen years old and has enough room to grow.
Moreover, according to my information, someone within the Suns team revealed that Kobe once learned his power-playing skills from Old K. This news came from the Suns locker room."
"real?"
Jerry Buss was so surprised that he stood up from the sofa.
"But it is said that Old K's force-generating technique is very difficult to practice. I don't know whether Kobe has learned it or not. According to his game data, I have never seen him use it." West said.
"Jerry, invite that young man." Jerry Bass sat back on the sofa.
"OK."
West nodded and added: "Our pick this year is No. 24. I'm afraid we won't be able to select Kobe. His predicted draft position is basically in the lottery area, so he needs to be traded."
"Let's take a look at the trial training first."
Bass said something and finally added: "If you really think it's okay, you can make the decision."
"Okay, Jerry."
West was very excited and very nervous.
Successive operations have failed in the past two years, and boss Bass is still willing to believe him. If this reconstruction fails, he will have no choice but to resign.
Old Bass then said again: "Also, Jerry, what if we find a way to get Jordan here?"
"What?"
Jerry West was shocked. His boss's idea was even more radical than his!
Buss said excitedly: "I will also contact Stern, hoping that he can acquiesce in our recruiting Jordan through other methods."
West nodded constantly, feeling very excited.
If it really succeeds, Duncan Jordan's lineup, based on Duncan's performance in the NCAA, should not be bad after his debut, and he will be very competitive. Then he will find a way to get Kobe, who is optimistic about it, and let Kobe serve as Jordan's substitute for a few years.
, in a few years he will grow up and be able to take over from Jordan, then the team will be perfect.
…
This evening, the second round continues.
The Knicks lost in the away game. O'Neal was unable to defeat the combination of Ewing and Hardaway, falling behind by a big score of 1 to 2.
In another game, Mosaic, which had won two consecutive away games, returned to their home court and was trying to win the G3 game in one go to gain match point. The momentum was very strong.
Unfortunately, Drexler suffered a serious injury during the season and his condition was no longer as good as before. His hand was not good in this game. He made 6 of 17 shots, only 35% from the field, and only scored 15 points.
With one against three, David Robinson had an explosion in this game, scoring 38 points and 15 rebounds, with a shooting percentage of 62.5%, 100:91, and led the team to regain a game.
Sean Elliott also played very well, scoring 23 points, which is comparable to the Spurs' second giant.
After the game, Larry Bird, who was watching the game from the sidelines, accepted an interview with the media and said: "Although Mosaic's Big Three lineup is strong, I think it is in name only.
In order to make up the Big Three lineup, they completely sacrificed other positions and the quality of the substitute lineup. No one can step up to help them. Once one of the three of them has a problem, it will be unsustainable, so I am very disappointed with the result of this game.
Not surprised.”
"So do you think the Spurs have any hope of winning this series?" the reporter asked.
"I think the Spurs have a chance."
Larry Bird first gave a conclusion and then explained: "As I said just now, Mosaic is too focused on the Big Three, and the Big Three are a hundred years old in total. Their playing time must be limited, and the weak ones
The bench will hold them back. As the series progresses, the physical reserves of the Big Three will become less and less, and their lineup problems will become more and more serious.
In fact, this game has already exposed this problem. Drexler only played 31 minutes and Barkley 32 minutes. Their state was average. When they were on the court, they were able to maintain a stalemate with the Spurs.
On the field, the substitute lineup was immediately defeated by the Spurs. In this game, the Spurs' substitute players scored a total of 26 points, and what is the mosaic? It will not exceed 15 points, and this is proof."
On the sidelines, David Robinson was interviewed and said excitedly: "We won, which shows that our persistence is right. Our lineup configuration is more reasonable. The giant lineup is not competitive at all, and the Big Three are nothing great. We
Being able to come back and defeat Dameng is not a dream, he is just a coward who sticks together, and we will definitely be the ones to reach the Western Conference Finals."
Regardless of his body, skills and competition experience, he has reached his peak state at this time. He is 30 months younger than Dameng and has just turned 30. After winning this game, his confidence immediately increased.
Dameng and the other Big Three were walking by. When they heard these words, Barkley and Drexler had no reaction, but Dameng was so angry that he gritted his teeth.
Walking into the player tunnel, he said to Barkley and Barkley: "Brothers, give us some strength. The three of us can't defeat him alone. Where will we end up in the top 50 next year? It's possible to be at the bottom."
Barkley and Drexler nodded in unison. The championship didn't matter to them. They would definitely compete for the position of the top 50 superstars.
When Dameng saw the reaction of these two old guys, he was so aggrieved that he wanted to curse. Damn it, I have treated you so well for nothing. I have given you medicine and food to dogs. You all have a championship, but I haven't yet!