All-round Athlete

Chapter 926: Scene 26: Black Eight Miracle

The Lakers and Spurs have gradually replaced the main lineup.

"Manu, you were too careless just now." Parker said.

"I didn't expect that passer-by to be capable." Ginobili looked displeased. As a veteran who has been in the NBA for many years and is known as a "demon knife", he was rewarded with a big blow by a passer-by. hat, it really made Ginobili feel a little embarrassed.

"That passer-by player is also seven feet long. He's standing there. He's facing a breakthrough head-on. He's easily blocked." Parker took the ball and continued, "Watch me later! I'll avenge you, Shoot that passerby down!"

Parker's breakthrough ability is definitely the top in the world. It can almost be said that he sees whoever breaks through. When Parker was young, others would take two steps to defend against him. The purpose is to prevent him from breaking through. As Parker grows older, Parker's The number of breakthroughs has also decreased a lot. After all, breakthroughs are an offensive method that is more likely to be injured. When you get older, you don't work as hard as you did when you were young.

Seeing that Parker was holding the ball, Split stepped forward with a pick-and-roll, which formed a misplaced defense. Parker directly faced Whiteside, and then Parker rushed past Whiteside in a disguised form.

Whiteside also quickly caught up, preparing to get a big block from behind Parker, but Parker also guarded against this, instead of laying up directly from the side, he went over the basket and made a reverse basket.

"Slap!" A big slap directly pressed the basketball against the backboard.

"Parker was blocked too? Is it the guy who just blocked Ginobili?"

While everyone was surprised, Whiteside swung his arm and threw the ball directly to the frontcourt, while Zhang Guan had already started, caught up with the ball and scored two points for a layup.

Parker's face was also a bit unfriendly. The next ball was a pick-and-roll breakthrough. This time he did not directly choose a layup, but passed the ball to Duncan who followed up, and played a match.

However, Whiteside followed up again. Although he missed Duncan this time, he forced Duncan to increase the arc of the layup, and the ball bounced out of the frame. Whiteside grabbed the rebound.

The ball was handed over to Nash, and Nash advanced quickly, and the Spurs' defense was not in vain, and the players quickly returned to defense.

Nash pretended to make a breakthrough, and then passed the ball to Zhang Guan. Zhang Guan made a three-pointer, but unfortunately the basketball bounced out of the frame.

"Rebound!" Leonard yelled, rushing forward as Splitter caught Whiteside behind him.

However, what Splitter didn't expect was that Whiteside, who was not in a dominant position, jumped up, pushed the basketball into the air with his long arms, and then jumped again to grab the rebound.

Splitter is a very good defensive center. His size, his positioning, and excellent defensive awareness are the foundation of his foothold in the NBA, and he can play pick-and-rolls, which allows him to play in the talent pool. Get a starting center position on the Spurs.

But when it comes to bouncing, Splitter is really bad. This guy basically has no bouncing ability, let alone secondary bouncing. And many black insiders like Whiteside are jumping masters.

The key to grabbing rebounds is to rely on positioning. Occupying a good position can offset the opponent's height advantage and also offset the opponent's bouncing advantage, but it is difficult to offset the opponent's continuous bouncing ability. Those masters of continuous bouncing can first move the ball to a more favorable position in the air, and then get the ball in their hands through continuous bouncing ability. From this point of view, Split really can't beat Whiteside.

Whiteside got the rebound and did not attack. He knew that his task was to grab rebounds and block shots, so he passed the ball directly. Nash took possession of the ball again, and then cooperated with another pick-and-roll to pass the ball to Zhang Guan.

Zhang Guan didn't feel good, and the three-pointer was still a little bit short, but Whiteside once again grabbed an offensive rebound from the crowd. In this third attack, Zhang Guan finally made a three-pointer.

"Two offensive rebounds in a row, and two blocks before that, where did the Lakers get this guy."

"Whiteside, I've never heard of this name, where did this guy come from? How can he grab rebounds so much!"

Losing two offensive rebounds in a row, the Spurs' home fans vaguely remembered boos.

...

Duncan was panting heavily. He felt that he was very tired from playing in the first half of the game.

"Damn running and bombing!" Duncan cursed inwardly. For the 38-year-old him, running up and down the court like a young man, his body was really too much for him.

For the Lakers, Nash's situation is similar to Duncan's. Nash is 40 years old, two years older than Duncan, and has a back injury. In the high-intensity confrontation of this kid in the playoffs, it is not bad for Nash to last 20 minutes a game.

Fortunately, the Lakers have no shortage of guards. Meeks and Farmar can both play point guards. Although Marshall is a defensive loophole, he is a player who is very good at bombarding tactics.

The current score is 89 to 83, and the Lakers temporarily lead by 6 points. Although the lead is not much, the rhythm of the game is in the hands of the Lakers.

Whiteside grabbed another rebound, and D'Antoni on the sidelines nodded in satisfaction.

"Whiteside is a nice young man," D'Antoni murmured.

In this game, Whiteside has become the key to the Lakers' victory. Although he has no achievements on the offensive end, he has grabbed 13 rebounds and contributed 4 blocks. With him on the court, the Spurs dare not easily Attack inside.

Many fans pay attention to the three statistics of points, rebounds and assists, and not many people pay attention to blocks. In the statistics of the NBA every year, the average score per game is 30+, the average rebound can also be 12 or 3, and there are many guards who average 10 assists per game. Compared with the top shot blockers, the average block per game is also very high It is difficult to exceed 3. For a player like Howard who can jump, he averaged only 2.9 blocks per game in his best season.

Many fans think that one block means that the opponent loses two points, and an average of 3 blocks per game means that the opponent loses 6 points, and two more three-pointers are thrown to make up for it. But in fact, the role of blocking shots cannot be reflected by statistics.

A big center may not cover a few times in a game, but when he sits at the basket, he can act as a deterrent. For example, when Dayao is on the court, if the opponent wants to break through, he will first carefully consider whether he will be blocked by Dayao's slap. So Dayao performed well in the season, that is, he averaged 2 blocks per game, and more often when Dayao was on the court, opponents would not dare to attack the basket easily.

Today's Whiteside played exactly this role. After 4 blocks, the Spurs players felt a little bit of fear. When they attacked the basket again, they would inevitably appear timid. Even Duncan shy away from a shot-blocker like Whiteside.

A player like Whiteside has outstanding physical talent and passion for playing. As long as he doesn't make mistakes, any team will welcome him with both hands. There are quite a few players of this type in the NBA, such as McGee and Stephenson, who behave like an All-Star player when they don't commit two, but are annoying when they commit two, and no team wants it. If Whiteside is willing to play solidly in his rookie season, he will definitely not miss the ball.

Whiteside's sudden display of power broke Popovich's deployment before the game. If Popovich knew that the Lakers had such a block leader, he would never choose to focus on the inside. Lost the initiative, the score is always behind.

The game finally entered the last two minutes, and the Lakers still held a 7-point lead. At this time, it is often a superstar moment.

So far in the game, Duncan has been on the court for more than 36 minutes. He feels a little tired, and he can't even keep up with the rhythm of running. Duncan's current state is not suitable for attacking with the ball.

Leonard stood up at this time. When everyone felt that Leonard was just a defensive vanguard, he showed a good offensive ability. It's just that Leonard took on the heavy responsibility of scoring points on the offensive end, and on the defensive end, he also had to limit Zhang Guan's scoring, which still seemed a bit powerless.

Zhang Guan's three-pointers did not disappoint either. At such a critical moment, every time Zhang Guan hit a three-pointer, it seemed to give Popovich a heavy hammer in the chest.

"Is it going to lose?" Popovich's eyes showed a hint of unwillingness. As the coach of the Spurs, he certainly didn't want to lose at home with a 3-1 lead.

However, as time passed, the Spurs' hope of winning became more and more elusive. 5 points, 6 points, and 7 points. , It is also difficult for the Spurs to catch up with the score.

The shouts of the fans at the scene are getting louder and louder, and they are eagerly looking forward to the fact that the team can catch up with the score at the last moment, and even overtake it. But in the face of a bombarded team, as long as the opponent's shooting rate does not drop, all the Spurs can do is stalemate.

But the stalemate means that time is consumed by every minute and every second. The Lakers can't wait for the time to go faster, but the Spurs can't afford it.

"Substitution, the Spurs made a substitution! Danny Green and Mills are on the field!"

The two newly replaced Spurs made more than 40% of their three-pointers, especially Danny Green, who averaged 3.2 three-pointers per game, and his offense basically relied on three-pointers.

"The Spurs are going to shoot three-pointers desperately! But this is normal. They have defended several times in a row and failed to prevent Zhang Guan from scoring, so they can only fight for three-pointers! Oh, Zhang Guan steals and directly attacks the basket. Two plus one!"

The audience booed everywhere, but Zhang Guan made the free throw steadily.

"Fatal steals, the key is to hit the city with a two-plus-one, and the point difference suddenly becomes 9 points. The Spurs need three three-pointers to tie. And it must be guaranteed that the Lakers will not score in three rounds. OK."

"In this game, if the Lakers win, the total score will become 2 to 3. The Lakers are only one game behind, and the next game will be played in Los Angeles. The Lakers are likely to tie the score to 3." It's 3! You think the Lakers won't be able to stage a miracle!"

"Impossible. The previous Lakers were 0-3 behind. No team has ever been able to come back from a 0-3 deficit! Maybe the next game back in Los Angeles, the Spurs will win away!"

Amidst the people's discussion, the Spurs still lost to the Lakers at home 103 to 109. The score of this series has also become 3 to 2, and the Spurs still hold two match points.

...

Fans in Los Angeles never thought that this round of the series would return to Los Angeles. They thought that the last game would be the last game of the Lakers this season.

However, the Lakers brought Los Angeles a huge surprise. They won the Spurs on the road and dragged the game to Staples Field.

In the last game, Whiteside became famous in one battle. At least when he returned to Los Angeles, there were already many people who could call him by name. This made Whiteside feel that even after the season ended, the Lakers were unwilling to renew his contract. , I can also win several training camp contracts.

On May 2, the sixth contest between the two sides was held in Los Angeles.

From the score of 0 to 3, chasing the score of 2 to 3, and then returning to the home court, the Lakers fans have a feeling of survival after disaster. And when the game started again at the Staples Center, the fans dedicated their most enthusiastic performance to the home team.

The entire Staples Arena was covered in a sea of ​​yellow. All the fans were wearing yellow T-shirts. They waved the Lakers flag. When every player of the Lakers came out, they shouted the player's name loudly. .

This scene has not happened for many years. The last time Staples became like this was in the 2010 Finals, when the Lakers played against the Celtics. The fans at that time were as enthusiastic as they were.

In recent years, the Lakers have not performed as expected by the fans, and it is difficult for the Staples Arena to reproduce the grand occasion of the year.

But this season, the Lakers, a team sentenced to death, rushed into the playoffs abruptly, making every Los Angeles fan feel a miracle. Now, they are looking forward to the miracle happening again!

It would be a miracle if they could come back from 0 to 3.

Many people don't believe in miracles, but they are looking forward to miracles, and more people want to witness a miracle with their own eyes. Therefore, they came to the home court of the Lakers to witness with their own eyes how the score changed from 0 to 3 to 3 to 3 3!

"MVP! MVP! MVP! MVP..."

The moment Zhang Guan held the ball, the audience shouted "MVP" loudly, which made the whole arena tremble, and the moment Zhang Guan scored a goal, the audience all stood up and shouted loudly.

And this is only the first quarter!

...

Duncan wiped the sweat off his head, and he looked at the audience around him with some despair. At this moment, he seemed to have returned to the 2001 playoffs, which was the second year of the Lakers dynasty. At that time, the OK combination was unstoppable. That year, the Lakers only lost a game when they faced Iverson in the Finals. The rest of the road to promotion was swept, including a 4-0 sweep of the Spurs in the Western Conference Finals.

That year, the Spurs were No. 1 in the regular season in the Western Conference, but they were helpless against the Lakers. Duncan only remembered that at the Lakers' home court, neither he nor David Robinson could stop a vicious O'Neill. In that game, he and David Robinson scored a total of 33 points, while O'Neal scored 35 points alone!

This is what the Staples Center looked like back then!

At that time, Duncan was just a fledgling young man, but now Duncan has entered the end of his career. But the Lakers home court thirteen years ago still lingers in his mind. He didn't want to recall the scene when he was swept away, but the fans at the scene forced him to recall that scene.

"These people may be the fans at the time, or the children of the fans at the time... This is the home court of the Lakers!" Duncan took a deep breath, but the air was full of Lakers fans' desire for victory!

...

On May 2, the Lakers beat the Spurs 111-107 at home. Zhang Guan scored 51 points, and the Spurs also scored in double figures with six players. The two sides fought until the last moment to decide the winner.

The total score of the two sides has also become a 3-3 tie, and then they will enter the seventh game of the tiebreaker. If the Lakers win, it will create a "Black Eight Miracle".

In the history of the NBA, there have been five black-eight miracles. The Nuggets beat the Sonics in the 1994 playoffs; New York beat the Heat in the 1999 playoffs; the Hornets beat the Mavericks in the 2007 playoffs; The 76ers beat the Bulls. Among them, in the first two black-eight miracles, the first round of the playoffs at that time was still five games and three games, which was much less difficult than seven games and four games.

But there has never been a comeback when they are behind 0 to 3. The closest to a comeback was the playoffs in 2003. The Mavericks led the Trail Blazers 3-0, and the Blazers caught up to 3-3. However, the Blazers lost to the Mavericks in the seventh game and eventually fell short.

In terms of strength, being able to score 3-0 in a series shows that the strength gap between the two sides is relatively large. At this time, if you lose one or two games at this time, it may be due to luck, but losing four games in a row is basically a theoretical analysis. unlikely to happen.

Black eight miracle, 0 to 3 comeback, the next game between the Lakers and Spurs carries too much, and it is destined to attract the attention of the world.

...

The media has not yet started the game, and the media has already begun to warm up.

ESPN found some experts to conduct a survey. Among the 18 experts, only Magic Johnson voted for the Lakers, and the other 17 experts all voted for the Spurs. And the magician's vote is because he used to be a Lakers player, so he will support the Lakers.

Yahoo Sports launched a public vote. Among the more than 3,000 fans who participated in the vote, less than 300 supported the Lakers, and almost all of them were Los Angeles fans.

Obviously, neither experts nor ordinary fans are optimistic about the Lakers.

...

"There are many objective factors for the Lakers to win back three games in a row. First of all, two of these three games are the Lakers' home court. We all know that the Lakers' record at home this season is very good. As for that time The away win was entirely due to the fact that the Lakers sent Whiteside, and Popovich's tactics happened to be restrained. This time back to San Antonio, I think Popovich will play steadily. Once the Spurs stabilize, the Lakers are afraid There is no chance!"

In the studio, Barkley ruthlessly "poisoned milk" the Spurs.

"But the Lakers have Zhang Guan, a super scorer after all. He scored 51 points in the last game and helped the Lakers defeat the Spurs!" the host asked.

"In the previous rounds of the playoffs, Kobe also scored close to 50 points in San Antonio. Didn't the Lakers still lose to the Spurs?" Barkley asked confidently.

In front of the TV, Zhang Guan pressed the pause button.

"If you can't win with 50 points, then you can score 60 points! If you can't win with 60 points, then you can score 70 points! At worst, I will also play with 81 points!" Zhang Guan sighed softly.

It's late, sorry.