The Whip of the God of Basketball

In the 1984 Finals between the Lakers and the Celtics, in Game 4 at the Great Western Forum Arena, the Lakers, who were leading 2:1, always suppressed the Celtics at their home court. If they win this game In this game, the Lakers will have an absolute 3:1 lead.

The Celtics were bloodbathed by the Lakers in their last game in Los Angeles. A furious Bird yelled at his teammates as "pussies" during training. So Kevin McHale decided to make a really tough foul in the game. As a result, when the Lakers were still six points ahead of the Celtics and Rambis was about to hold the ball for a layup, McHale faced Rambis. A clothesline foul knocked him to the ground hard.

Now, what Chris Anderson did is exactly the same as McHale. The difference is that it is not the finals. At the same time, McHale has always claimed after the game that this was not premeditated, and he did not expect the fouler to be so serious. As for whether this is the case, only McHale himself knows. Anderson's foul rule is suspected of being deliberate. For the Celtics, it is necessary to find ways to destroy Kobe's state. O'Neal can use the penalty area to limit it, but Kobe's opening up is very scary.

In short, McHale's foul made the Los Angeles Lakers timid and lose their energy in the subsequent games. In the end, Larry Bird hit a fatal shot in overtime, not only losing the game, but also the finals. took the initiative, and finally lost the finals and lost the championship.

Chris Anderson's foul almost caused a conflict between the two sides. Then he was sentenced to a flagrant foul and left the game directly. Kobe stood on the free throw line and made one of two free throws. The score difference between the two sides widened again. The Celtics' best player in this game is no longer there. This is a stupid foul no matter how you look at it, but Leon is not in a hurry. He replaced Wang Zhizhi to replace Anderson, and the Celtics will launch a final counterattack.

Wang Zhizhi has played the role of a surprise player in recent games. A 7-foot-1 three-point shooter is so unique that no team has any targeted methods for him.

The same is true for the Lakers. When Wang Zhizhi and Grant Long formed the inside line of the team, O'Neal suddenly became unguardable. He could neither stay under the basket nor save and defend directly. He could only awkwardly defend. Standing near the free throw line and sticking there like a goalkeeper.

Wang Zhizhi did not immediately make an impact and hit a three-pointer after coming on the court, but he undoubtedly affected the Lakers' defense on the court. When there was no one inside the Celtics, the Lakers' defense was stretched abnormally flat. As a result, Malik Siri relied on his rich experience and ran counterattack again. Wang Zhizhi caught the ball and reversed the ball, assisting Siri for a direct layup.

The Lakers' paralysis on the defensive end ran through the entire game. They could no longer have the super defensive explosiveness they had the year before. Without Grant and Ron Harper, their defensive experience and talent had greatly regressed. Phil Jackson had nothing to do about it. He couldn't remember how many times the Celtics had penetrated the defense in this way and scored easily in this game. This also reminded O'Neal of being beaten by the Celtics many years ago. The fear dominated by Utah's two elders.

Jackson blew a loud whistle towards the players to remind everyone to cheer up. This trick has worked repeatedly over the past three years. Whenever he does this, the Lakers players will wake up and take the next offense or defense seriously.

At this time, O'Neal was taking position under the basket because the person guarding him was Wang Zhizhi. But Kobe, the ball holder, didn't pass the ball. He chose to shoot directly from outside the three-point line!

Missed, Williams grabbed a backcourt rebound. This time they will no longer linger in a positional attack. In the last quarter, they must counterattack!

Williams ran wildly with the ball, and Kobe stuck to it like candy. He passed the ball to Alexander, and Alexander continued to rush forward. Facing Brian Shaw under the basket, he suddenly passed the ball 45 degrees to the right and stood outside the three-point line. Watching the undefended Wang Zhizhi!

There was a huge gap, and it was impossible for O'Neal to pursue this place. Wang Zhizhi calmly made a three-pointer, and the ball drew a high arc, and then went hollow into the net!

After scoring the goal, Wang Zhizhi clenched his fists and roared. Now he is becoming more and more confident. Even the moment he took the shot, he knew that he would definitely make the shot, because in this place, he has already practiced such counterattack tactics in training. countless times. The running speed, observations during the process, and the angle of the shot were all corrected by Leon, and everything was natural.

The 9-point difference suddenly shrank to four points, and the Lakers suddenly became in danger. They were completely overwhelmed by the Celtics in terms of morale, although they still had a two-point advantage, even though they still had the best team in the league. A strong center and the best shooting guard, but he was forced into this state by a team like this. Regardless of win or lose, this game will become a footnote to the Lakers' poor state this season.

But no matter what, they still have to strive to win. If they lose, it will be embarrassing for Dafa. There were less than five minutes left before the end of the game. At this time, the Celtics finally began to use a complete shark-cutting strategy.

Wang Zhizhi had just thrown in a three-pointer and immediately gave O'Neal a warm hug. Adding in the Celtics' previous fouls, their total number of fouls had reached four. O'Neal was about to stand on that damn free throw line. .

O'Neal said that he may not make free throws in general, but he will make free throws at critical moments. Perhaps the four-point lead now is not a critical moment for the Lakers. O'Neal, who had already scored 30 points in the game, missed two free throws again. This was the fifth and sixth free throw he missed in the game. .

And the Lakers couldn't grab an offensive rebound because their best offensive rebounder was standing at the free throw line shooting free throws.

The Celtics, who got backcourt rebounds, once again launched a second quick counterattack. Although these players were just substitutes, Leon did not relax his demands on anyone in daily training, including simulated training without the ball. No matter how stupid you are, you have to take part in this exercise. This gives the Celtics players a good understanding among themselves.

This time O'Neal learned the lesson and started to stare at Wang Zhizhi, but Alexander would no longer pass the ball to Wang Zhizhi who was being defended. He handed the ball to Derrick Williams. Williams received the ball and shot a jumper directly. He missed, but Malik Siri, who followed up, got the offensive rebound and made a tip-in under the basket.

Malik Siry, a player who was almost ruined by a car accident, was still able to grab offensive rebounds and score for the team at critical moments. Leon also applauded him, and Jackson was furious.

Master Zen finally couldn't bear it anymore and jumped up from the bench. He called a timeout to the referee and picked up the tactical board in his hand. The players started yelling at everyone on the sidelines before they even got off the field. Leon, on the other hand, took his time and high-fived every player after the game, encouraging everyone to play well.

Although Chris Anderson was gone, Anderson used his own self-sacrifice to bring the Celtics' on-field cohesion to an unprecedented level. After experiencing a stalemate for most of the game, these substitute players had no psychological support at all. Instead of fearing the Lakers, they have built up their confidence as winners.

The Lakers fell into a strange circle in the last few minutes. Should they play O'Neal or not? If O'Neal is played, the Celtics will cut him. Anyway, no matter who it is, there will be no foul trouble. O'Neal's free throw shooting was terrible tonight. Without O'Neal, the Celtics would have completely defeated the Lakers in rebounding today, and Kobe's condition was not good either.

When the timeout ended, O'Neal was replaced, and Kobe seemed to still have a shadow over Anderson's foul just now. He tried again and missed a jump shot from the outside. The Celtics counterattacked and missed, but they grabbed an offensive rebound. Passing the ball to the outside, Wang Zhizhi hit another three-pointer and took the lead. Staples seemed to have become a big graveyard.

Jackson had to replace O'Neal later, and the Celtics immediately fouled him. This time O'Neal made one of two free throws to equalize the score.

But on the defensive end, the Lakers can no longer stop the Celtics, whose offense is in full swing. The self-confidence of this group of substitute players has been completely built up. Everyone can score goals, and they are all very difficult mid-to-long-range shots. , open your hand and you will have it.

A situation that was unimaginable to David Stern just happened. With one minute left before the end of the game, the Celtics led the Lakers by five points, 89:84! And the offensive power is still in the hands of the Celtics.

Stern didn't know what to say to those sponsors. He could only explain: "This is the charm of basketball."

When the Celtics ran out 24 seconds on the offensive end and relied on Malik Siri to hit a mid-range shot, the score difference reached 7 points. The main players on the Celtics bench began to cheer. They had already Take the victory into your pocket!

At this time, Fox-Leon sat back on the bench, took out a cigar from his inner pocket, lit it and smoked it as if nothing had happened.

Smoking has been banned in the NBA for a long time, but Leon secretly brought a cigar in at some point. At the home court in Los Angeles, in front of more than 20,000 Lakers fans, in front of David Stern, and in front of Lakers players, Like Auerbach back then, he lit a cigar of victory!

The big screen at the scene showed the Celtics bench, and the audience booed. The game was paused again. The referee on duty directly gave Leon a technical foul and expelled him!

But victory has been achieved.