Basketball Legends: Strikers Are King

The first three games of the series were tied 2-1, and the importance of the fourth game goes without saying. If the leading team keeps up its efforts and rewrites the score to 3-1, it will be half on the edge of promotion;

If the trailing side wins, the big score will return to a 2-2 tie, and the best-of-seven games will be immediately shortened to the best-of-three games.

This is true for the Pacers and Heat, the same is true for the Celtics and 76ers, and the same is true for the Thunder and Lakers.

Among the four sets of matchups, only the Spurs-Clippers series is an exception, because the Spurs have won 3 consecutive games and have the momentum to sweep their opponents 4-0.

If there is a precedent for coming back from a 1-3 deficit, it can give fans of the trailing team some comfort;

Then the cruel reality that no team came back from behind 0-3 has already been made known to Clippers fans. They only need to calmly accept the news that the team is out after the next two to three games.

"We have to do our best."

Heat coach Spoelstra said to the players,

"The last game has become a thing of the past. Today, we don't need to feel any pressure. We just need to do our best. We are the strongest!"

The 36-52 rebound comparison and 9-20 assist comparison in the previous game have taught the Heat enough lessons.

With Bosh absent, the Heat's original weakness is the inside, and even replacing Turiaf and Haslem will not help.

"Then we can only..."

Spoelstra looked at James and Shane Battier and said,

"When attacking, Sean stands in the corner, opens up the space, moves inside to set up a pick-and-roll, and tries his best to completely clear the basket and create opportunities for LeBron."

"In terms of defense, we still stick to the strategy of the last game. LeBron and West faced off, and Sean defended the small forward."

"Focus on defending the opponent's perimeter and forcing them to the basket. Although we don't have much inside advantage, if we defend well, the opponent won't be able to just rush in and score!"

When the head coach saw the referee's signal, he nodded and told them to get ready.

"one two three!"

"victory!"

Everyone in the Heat walked onto the court with high spirits.

Vogel on the other side was also giving pre-match instructions.

"Be more decisive in your outside shots, try to have the best success rate, defend well on the outside, and pay attention to rebounding inside."

"Okay, let's show up."

"one two three,"

“Solidarity!”

Each team that enters the playoffs has its own cheering slogan, which is mostly released by official media and printed on T-shirts for free to fans watching the game.

Most of the slogans are condensed into three words, and the short ones are also composed of two words. For example, the Eagles' "loyal to Atlanta" is not very powerful because Atlanta is a bit difficult to pronounce.

The Pacers are the only one out there, because their slogan, "Oed by Basketball", is made up of only five English words. "Oed by Basketball (United)" doesn't look like it can be read in one second.

slogan.

After shouting the awkward playoff slogan, the starting five came to the court and looked at their opponents.

Qi Tian and his teammates watched with intense eyes as the referee signaled the center to jump the ball in the middle circle.

"Does it look like the Heat are giving up on the inside?"

Similar to Game 3, the Heat put on a lineup of Chalmers, Wade, James and Battier, only replacing Pittman with Turiaf at center.

The combination of Battier and Turiaf inside, trying to compete with West and Hibbert of the Pacers, is obviously overthinking.

"Haha, the regular season MVP won't stop in the second round, right?"

Therefore, Collison expressed disdain for the opponent's lineup, which naturally aroused the echo of the Pacers' bench players.

"Yeah, I think so too. It looks like the development trend today is the same as the last game. There is no problem."

Stephenson whispered,

"Maybe I will have a chance to play in the fourth quarter!"

He only got 1 minute of playing time in the last game, and he played with Price. How could Stephenson play enough?

Qi Tian's face was solemn. Although in his memory, there were only some game clips about the Heat, the defensive counterattacks and outside shooting of the Heat's first and fourth players still gave him enough impression.

Now that the Heat have half their foot on the edge of the cliff, they naturally won't sit still and wait for death. I don't know if they can withstand it.

Amid the cheers of many Pacers fans at the scene, the referee blew the whistle to start the game:

"Dudududu!"

Hibbert jumped hard and grabbed the ball, and Hill advanced with the ball.

"Pick and roll!"

Standing at the top of the arc, Hill called West to pick and roll. Chalmers knew his opponent's breakthrough ability and quickly bypassed the screen and returned to his opponent.

"Chance!"

Naturally, Hill would not miss this open opportunity. The moment Chalmers bypassed the defense, he shot a jumper directly.

"Whoosh!"

Basketball hollow hit.

"0-3."

At the beginning of the game, the Pacers showed their own style. Granger caused James' mistake, Hill blocked Chalmers' shot, and Hibbert was unstoppable inside.

Although Granger made consecutive jump shots, George stole the ball from Turiaf, caused a foul with a quick layup, and made two free throws.

"0-7."

Two minutes into the game, the Pacers actually scored 7 points and shaved their opponent's head at the same time!

"The horse-walking team will win!"

The Pacers fans were so excited that they waved their signs wildly, creating a sea of ​​yellow in the arena.

Chalmers broke through with the ball, West made a decisive move to complete the steal, and the Pacers gained momentum.

Hill advanced with the ball and found Hibbert under the basket after the pick-and-roll, but Hibbert was distracted and failed to grasp it firmly, and the basketball flew out of the baseline.

"Out of bounds!"

The referee awarded the ball to the Heat.

Fortunately, Hibbert made up for it on the defensive end and raised his right arm to block Chalmers' shot.

Then there were two flourishes under the basket, giving James a big hat.

The offense was so smooth that George decisively started the three-point long-range shooting mode.

Unfortunately, the Heat's defense was very tight, and George's touch was not good, so several three-point attempts ended in failure. After grabbing the offensive rebound, George assisted Granger and hit a layup.

"0-9."

The game lasted five minutes before Chalmers assisted James for a layup, scoring the Heat's first two points.

Fortunately, Battier hit a three-pointer and successfully narrowed the point difference.

But Hill hit another three-pointer from the outside to stop the Pacers' bleeding.

"5-12."

Not to be outdone, Chalmers hit two consecutive three-pointers, Hibbert scored 4 points in a row to stabilize the situation, and Granger finally opened his account, scoring a long three-pointer.

"11-19."

"Substitute!"

The Heat took the lead in requesting substitutions, leaving only two starters, James and Battier, and the Pacers gradually replaced them with substitutes.

Qi Tian's three-pointer at the buzzer was missed, but it did not prevent the Pacers from ending the first quarter with a 7-point lead.

"18-25."