LRAB Chapter 291 The terrifying scoring ability of fundamental skills! 50 vs 50!
Chapter 291 The terrifying scoring ability of fundamental skills! 50 vs 50!
Chapter 291 The terrifying scoring ability of fundamental skills! 50 vs 50!
"Oh, sorry, that was a bit rude of me," Lin Tian continued with a smile. "By the way, what's your name again?"
"My name is..."
Lin Tian was in no mood to listen to Daniels' self-introduction. As Daniels announced his name, he suddenly accelerated and charged into the paint once again!
He needs to test whether Robinson has truly lost his mind!
Although he hadn't committed his third foul by the time the first half was almost over, it's never too late to call a foul if the referee is willing to blow the whistle!
After rushing into the paint, Lin Tian jumped up again to face Robinson, raising the basketball high as if to shoot a layup.
Robinson's defensive aggression has indeed improved significantly! He no longer just raises his hand without confronting Lin Tian, unlike before.
Much more difficult to deal with indeed!
After muttering something, Lin Tian suddenly pulled the basketball he had been holding high back to his waist, then passed it behind his back to Webber, who was standing right next to him. Webber immediately pulled up for a floater.
"Whoosh!"
The Pacers scored two points, giving them a six-point lead!
"A little improvement, but still terrible!" Lin Tian shook his head and backed away, saying, "Why don't you just retire, David? With your current skill level, you're really just a burden and a drag on the team! Tim, you think so too, right?"
"No, I don't think so. David is my good older brother." Duncan shook his head, indicating that Lin Tian was talking nonsense.
"You actually answered me." Lin Tian scratched his forehead. It was the first time someone had answered him so seriously in this situation.
"Then tell me, who's better, David or Shaq?" Lin Tian tentatively asked Duncan.
"Shaq is amazing." Duncan rarely showed a smile and said, "Shaq is better than Chris, Ben, and everyone on your team."
A fox pretending to be harmless!
They actually dared to sow discord between us?
Lin Tian pursed his lips and mentally gave Duncan a rating.
The Pacers continued with their previous defensive strategy, with Duncan easily scoring 2 points in a one-on-one situation against Webber in the low post!
These 2 points were his 30th in the first half! They also set a new career high for Duncan's points in a half!
Duncan is destined to break his personal scoring record tonight!
He's still 16 points short; his previous career high was 46 points!
However, after Duncan scored this time, Webber quickly went to the baseline and threw the ball towards the frontcourt with one arm!
He waited a long time, and finally got another chance to throw the first pass!
This time, the Pacers finally unleashed their signature fast break once again!
Lin Tian received the ball in the middle, Miller stopped on the left side of the three-point line to attract the Spurs' attention, while Carter made a quick cut from the right side to look for an opportunity to receive the ball.
Although the Pacers' fast break was extremely quick, with their three perimeter players arriving at the frontcourt in the blink of an eye, the Spurs' retreat defense was equally swift! All the players who could return were back in their defensive positions immediately.
After observing the situation on the court for a moment, Lin Tian suddenly dribbled forward and broke through. After only one step, he suddenly dribbled back and stepped back, retreating from the three-point line again. Then, Lin Tian gathered the ball, aimed, and pretended to shoot!
Lin Tian wasn't making this fake move for Daniels, who was already 3 meters away from him. Daniels couldn't interfere with Lin Tian's shot!
Lin Tian's gesture was directed at the big guy behind him!
Lin Tian had just caught a glimpse of Robinson rushing from behind out of the corner of his eye. After a fake shot, Robinson fell for it! Thinking he hadn't been spotted by Lin Tian, he jumped high from behind Lin Tian, trying to block his shot!
But after he jumped up, the guy realized: Oh no! He'd been tricked!
"Bang!" Lin Tian collided with Robinson, who was chasing behind him. However, Robinson was an old hand and knew he couldn't avoid the foul, so he simply didn't dodge. The moment he collided with Lin Tian, he grabbed Lin Tian and didn't give him a chance to shoot!
You've already tricked me into committing a foul, and you still want a 3+1? That's going too far!
"Beep!" The referee quickly blew his whistle, giving Robinson a foul and sending Lin Tian to the free-throw line.
Lin Tian was awarded 3 free throw opportunities!
Robinson, who had been guarding against fouls for 5 minutes, just gave them away!
He committed his third foul! Fortunately, there were only 20 seconds left in the first half.
Although the number of fouls is a bit high, it's only a bit high, not too bad.
The main problem was that it dealt a significant blow to Robinson's personal morale.
Frustrated! Extremely frustrated!
"I told you, David, you're a burden now, a complete and utter burden," Lin Tian said as he walked to the free-throw line. "The Spurs might be better off without you!"
As Lin Tian spoke, he steadily took the free throws, and after three crisp sounds, he scored 5 points in a row, bringing the difference between the two sides to 7 points!
In the final 20 seconds of the first half, the Spurs were in no hurry; they wanted to completely run down the clock and give the Pacers no chance to shoot.
With about 10 seconds left, the Spurs finally got the ball to Duncan!
As soon as Duncan got the ball, the Pacers double-teamed him!
In the final round, their double-team came with unwavering determination and perfect timing!
Lin Tian came over with his arms outstretched, and just as Duncan was dribbling, he slapped the ball down!
But Duncan's fundamentals are indeed very solid!
Although Lin Tian tried to steal the ball, this guy's reaction was ridiculously fast. In the instant Lin Tian came over, he tapped the basketball with his fingertip and slapped it towards the top of the arc.
Daniels, who had been let go by Lin Tian, got the basketball and then pulled it up and threw it!
"Bang!"
With a crisp sound, the basketball bounced off the rim. Lin Tian aimed for the ball's landing point and jumped high to the left of the free-throw line. Instead of catching the ball, he flicked it towards the three-point line in mid-air, and the basketball bounced up into the sky again, just over Rose's head as he prepared to grab the rebound.
Lin Tian spun past Rose and caught the ball falling again beyond the three-point line, with only 2 seconds left in the first half!
Lin Tian dribbled the ball twice towards the opposite side, and then suddenly pulled up two meters away from the center circle, launching a super long-range buzzer-beating three-pointer!
"Buzzing!"
The first thing to sound was the whistle to end the first half. After making that super long three-pointer, Lin Tian knelt down on one knee, resting one arm on his raised leg and supporting his chin with the other, as if observing whether the shot would go in.
The entire AT&T Center fell into an unusually quiet silence for two seconds.
"Bang! Swish!"
The basketball slammed heavily onto the backboard, then bounced and fell into the basket!
Lin Tianchao hit a buzzer-beating three-pointer from beyond the arc!
The Pacers are leading by 10 points going into the second half!
As soon as the basketball went into the basket, Lin Tian immediately began his celebration. He stretched out three fingers on both hands, touched them to his lips, and then pointed to the sky, as well as to the Spurs fans in all directions.
This ball and this flying kiss are for you!
Have a wonderful evening!
「超远3分！超远3分！」巴克利被林天这个距离超远的3分再次震撼，兴奋的大喊道：「蒂姆·邓肯上半场轰下30分11个篮板又怎幺样？马刺队还是落后了10分！因为林今天上半场，也已经拿下了22分！其中还包括了第二节最后1分钟这连续的8分！」
"Those 8 points give the Pacers a 10-point lead! Given the level of both teams, this 10-point gap won't be easy for the Spurs to close! Kenny, what do you think? Why do you think the Spurs are still trailing despite Tim Duncan's phenomenal performance?"
When Kenny saw Barkley bring up the topic, he coughed and said, "Because this isn't the rhythm the Spurs like. Duncan scoring high points alone isn't the right way for the Spurs to win! They need to involve more people in the game; they need their four stars to perform at the same time."
"The Spurs are essentially a team that plays team basketball. They need more people involved in the game, instead of like tonight, where only Duncan scored in double figures by halftime, and the rest of the team weren't playing well."
"I have to say, the Pacers' defensive strategy of letting Duncan isolate and cut off his connection with his teammates, while double-teaming Robinson and not giving the other players any open looks, was truly impressive! Bird's tactical ability and in-game tactical planning are indeed top-tier in the league!"
"Of course, the Pacers players' performance was equally important, especially Lin's explosion at the end of the second quarter, scoring 8 points in one minute, which was truly outstanding! Lin always has this ability, this ability to single-handedly turn a close game into a game without suspense in a short period of time!"
"I have to say, Lin might be the best active player in the league right now! He's number one!"
After Kenny showered Lin Tian with compliments, Barkley wore a smug expression, as if Kenny were praising him. He laughed and said, "Kenny, this is the first time I've realized you're not so stupid. I didn't expect you to look so goofy, but you actually know a lot about basketball!"
During halftime, Popovich said in the locker room, "Tim did everything he could in the first half! But the rest of the team didn't support him enough! Not just not enough, but far too little! We can't win at this pace! To win, every one of you needs to give it your all!"
"In the second half, we're no longer going to attack Tim! David, we'll start with you! We'll focus on David! Jaylen and Mitch, you two stand on one side with David and pass him the ball. If the Pacers continue to double-team David, your passes need to be quick!"
"Give the ball to Mickey and Jaylen, let them take open or semi-open shots! Let's shift our offensive focus! Tim, you rest in the third quarter. Go to the weak side to spread the floor, be a feint and bait. We need to get everyone involved in the game!"
"Also, Antonio, you'll start again in the second half!"
Popovich really didn't dare to put Porter and Jason on the court. As long as those two were on the court, they would almost become easy prey for the Pacers' monster perimeter players. Although Daniels couldn't handle Lin Tian either, at least he wasn't as miserable when he faced Carter and the others.
After changing the starting lineup, Popovich thought for a while to make sure there were no oversights or anything else that needed to be added before clapping his hands and signaling everyone to come over and shout a slogan together.
On the Pacers' side, Bird didn't relax just because the team had a 10-point lead. He knew very well that the 10-point lead was not secure. It was Lin Tian's sudden outburst that brought the lead, rather than the advantage brought by the team's overall strength.
If Lin Tian can have a breakout performance, then is it impossible for the Spurs' four star players to have a breakout performance as well?
Bird knew very well that in a matchup of this caliber, a 10-point difference was utterly insignificant! The opponent could easily come back and win in a matter of minutes!
"In the second half, following the Spurs' usual pattern, they will most likely try to focus their attacks on Robinson and improve their ball movement and teamwork! If we continue to double-team Robinson, his passes will be faster, and those who receive his passes will be more decisive in their shots!"
"The second half, at least in the early stages, will likely be a battle of shooting touch! Whoever has the better shooting touch and scores more points will win the game!"
"Coach, I have a question!" Just as Bird was about to go over the game's tactics and rotations again, Ben Wallace suddenly raised his hand: "We don't necessarily have to double-team David Robinson! I can handle him!"
Bird was taken aback by Ben's statement, then gave him a thumbs up and said, "You've got guts! I like it! We'll do it your way, Ben! You go and take down David! The rest of you, keep an eye on your assigned players, don't leave anyone open, don't do excessive help defense, just watch your own men!"
"Ben, if you can't hold on, just let me know and I'll adjust our defensive strategy." Bird thought for a moment, then, still worried that Ben was overexerting himself, and gave him a word of advice.
"I held him off for the entire first half. His skills and strength are just so-so! I'm confident I can't even get him into the paint, he can only shoot from mid-range and long-range!" Ben Wallace said confidently, "He's just an old guy about to retire. My goal is to become the league's best role player!"
With Ben Wallace's bold statement, the Pacers' strategy for the second half has been finalized.
One-on-one! The perimeter defenders closely guarded their assigned players, continuing to sever the connection between the Spurs' twin towers and the rest of the team, trapping them in endless isolation plays!
The second half of the game resumed quickly!
In the Spurs' first offensive possession, the ball was passed around a few times at the top of the arc before reaching Robinson in the paint. Robinson backed down Ben Wallace, but instead of rushing the attack, he observed the court and waited for the Pacers to double-team him.
Hmm, I didn't get to see it!
The Pacers' perimeter players didn't double-team him like they did in the first half, but instead let him go one-on-one with Ben Wallace!
"Kid, your teammates have given up on you? Your midfield strategy is for everyone to watch me kill you?" Seeing that no one was double-teaming him, Robinson immediately started trash-talking Ben Wallace.
In a one-on-one fight, he was confident he could kill this short guy who was 20 centimeters shorter than him!
"Slap!" The response he received was Ben Affleck's hand, which suddenly reached out and slapped the basketball while he was talking!
The basketball immediately slipped from Robinson's control and flew away into the distance.
Christie was closest and reacted quickly, lunging out to grab the basketball and then throwing it towards the frontcourt.
Lin Tian, Carter, Rose, and Daniels were all running like madmen towards the frontcourt!
They all wanted to be the first to grab the basketball!
But in this pure contest of speed and power, there is one outside player in the league who is Lin Tian's opponent?
He pushed off with his shoulder, accelerated, and easily overtook everyone, gaining a body length lead over the rest.
Then Lin Tian grabbed the basketball and continued to drive towards the basket. Daniels and Rose behind him were sticking to him tightly, trying to block the shot the moment he released it!
In the blink of an eye, Lin Tian arrived at the Spurs' free throw line area and suddenly shot!
The basketball flew in a very stiff arc, hurtling straight up towards the top of the rim!
What is he going to do?
At this moment, all the Spurs players and fans were incredibly curious: had they sold the stock?
Then, in less than a second, they knew what Lin Tian was going to do!
Carter, who was originally trailing by three people, suddenly leaped into the air, caught the basketball that had hit the backboard and was returning almost the same way in mid-air, drew a very round windmill in the air, and then slammed the basketball into the hoop with one arm!
It was his signature windmill dunk again!
"Buzzing!"
Upon landing, Carter, realizing he had another highlight reel play, excitedly started riding his beloved little motorcycle again, this time adding sound effects to it!
Having just been caught off guard and robbed of the ball by Ben Wallace, Robinson was not about to let it go. He called for the ball in the low post again, this time with even more force and ferocity. Ben Wallace was considerably shorter than him, and although he was nearing the end of his prime, he was still one of the four great centers.
After a series of feints and footwork deceptions, Robinson shook off Ben Wallace and slammed home a one-handed dunk!
"See, kid? This is my true strength! The difference between us is... you... where the hell are you going! Stop right there!" Robinson was flexing his muscles and showing off his toughness, but Ben didn't even look at him and turned to leave.
However, to Robinson's surprise, Ben actually stopped when he told him to, and even turned around to look at him, saying, "The gap between the two of us isn't as big as the gap between you and Olajuwon! No, it's not as big as the gap between you and Ewing!"
"As everyone knows, you're at the bottom of the four great centers. The others either have championships or aren't even in their prime yet. What do you have?"
Ben roared menacingly at Robinson, looking incredibly aggressive, but then suddenly stopped, turned to Lin Tian, and said, "Lin, you spray the rest for me!"
This guy forgot his lines...
He could only remember so much of what Lin Tian taught him during the break.
"FUXX!" Lin Tian shouted at Big Ben, "When it comes to insults, sometimes you don't need to be so particular about tactics and logic. Sometimes what you say might not even be understood by the other person. The simplest way is enough."
"You're right!" Ben nodded, then turned to Robinson and said, "Fuck you! You short, quick, cowardly sissy!"
Robinson felt a surge of blood rushing to his head!
What kind of nonsense is this? He's played basketball for so many years and he's never seen anything like this—a trash talk workshop and trash talk instruction conducted face-to-face.
So, one is a real on-site teaching session, and the other is a real learning experience that's immediately put into practice?
Lin Tian ignored Robinson's ugly expression, which looked like he'd eaten shit, and quickly dribbled the ball to the frontcourt.
The Spurs' defensive system is really good. The Pacers players have a hard time getting shooting opportunities as easily as they do in other games. So after observing the situation, Lin Tian once again chose to forcefully attack the basket! After getting past Daniels in one step, Duncan immediately came up to help defend. Lin Tian made a low pass to Webber.
The moment Webber received the ball, Robinson was already in front of him. If it were any other center, the team's offense would have to come to a standstill at this point, either reorganizing or ending the possession with a one-on-one play.
But Webber certainly wouldn't do that! He raised his hand and made a similar floater motion. The basketball flew over Robinson's head, and the unguarded Ben Wallace leaped high, slamming the ball into the basket with both hands!
"boom!"
The point difference between the two sides remains at 12 points!
In the remainder of the match, both teams continued with the strategies instructed by their coaches during halftime.
Duncan, acting as a feint, practically occupied one side of the court, creating space for his teammates. Robinson, on the other hand, constantly engaged in one-on-one attacks inside. The rest of the Pacers team simply didn't double-team, instead keeping a close eye on their own players and preventing them from getting easy shots through cuts and movement.
In this case, the Spurs' offense will depend on David Robinson's success rate!
To be honest, it's very average!
At first, Robinson was able to score repeatedly against Ben Wallace's one-on-one defense, but after Ben Wallace quickly adapted to his footwork and tactics, his defensive efficiency began to rise sharply! His strength was significantly greater than Robinson's, enough to make up for the height difference between the two.
After Ben Wallace mastered Robinson's moves, it became extremely difficult for Robinson to back down and try to drive towards the basket!
More importantly, Robinson's signature skills are actually face-up offense, drives, and pull-up jump shots—the moves that perimeter players use. But now, as he gets older and his speed slows down, Robinson can no longer rely on those moves!
Especially when facing an excellent defender like Ben Wallace, his signature skills were completely rendered useless!
After experiencing a decline in leg strength, jumping ability, speed, and overall performance, Robinson took a total of 9 shots against Ben Wallace in the third quarter tonight, but only made 3 of them!
This efficiency is clearly unacceptable!
In the latter part of the third quarter, Robinson clearly realized that his success rate against Ben Wallace was not that high, so he stopped forcing himself to attack and started passing the ball, constantly passing it to Rose and Richmond.
Although neither of them were open when they got the ball, Christie and Carter were ultimately easier to deal with than Ben Wallace, so they managed to score some points through one-on-one situations!
In this quarter, Duncan only took two shots, making one for two points. Apart from Robinson, the Spurs' efficiency was quite good. Under these circumstances, the Spurs did not let the Pacers pull away or widen the gap. They even managed to close the gap by two points in this quarter!
88:80!
In this quarter, the Spurs' twin towers had a mediocre performance. The team was able to close the gap to 2 points thanks to Richmond and Rose, who combined for 14 points in this quarter, filling the team's offensive gap and allowing the team to continue to keep the score close!
At the start of the fourth quarter, Popovich changed his rotation habits, putting Duncan on the court earlier. At this point, the Pacers' frontcourt consisted of Davis and Lewis.
Facing Davis's one-on-one defense, Duncan played very clearly: tough and simple. Before the help defense could come, he quickly turned and hooked the ball for 2 points!
Following the Pacers' offense, Lewis received the ball beyond the three-point line, drove to the mid-range, and attempted a pull-up jumper, but missed. Duncan grabbed the rebound, and the Spurs leisurely advanced to the frontcourt once again, with the ball returning to Duncan's hands.
Everything was almost exactly the same as the previous play. Duncan made a smooth transition, turned around, and hooked the ball in one go, scoring the basket with just one dribble!
After a 4-0 run, the Spurs quickly narrowed the gap to 4 points!
"This piece of wood is really difficult to handle," Bird muttered, then patted Lin Tian on the shoulder and said, "Go on!"
Taking advantage of the dead ball situation, Lin Tian quickly came on to replace Buckner, and the Pacers' lineup now consisted of Lin Tian, Miller, Mullin, Davis, and Lewis.
On the Spurs' side, Duncan, Richmond, Daniels, Jaren Jackson Jr., and Chuck Brown all took to the court together.
Both sides used rotating lineups, but both teams' star players were on the court.
Lin Tianyi immediately blew past Daniels in one step, then pulled up for a mid-range shot and scored 2 points in a quick and powerful counterattack!
Despite conceding a goal, the Spurs showed no emotional fluctuations. They remained calm, and the entire team slowly but steadily advanced to the frontcourt.
This is what Popovich believes the Spurs should do most to win tonight!
Slow down the pace, establish a foothold, and test patience!
After all, the entire league has now reached a consensus.
Playing fast against the Pacers is tantamount to suicide!
No one can outrun them!
The basketball was in Duncan's hands once again. This time, Duncan didn't even dribble. After receiving the ball, he turned around and, with one hand, used the momentum of his turn to put the ball directly into the basket!
Simplicity! Utter simplicity!
Without any unnecessary moves, Duncan's style is to score in the fastest, most effective, but also the most boring and basic way!
"Ben!" Bird said with a grim face, bringing Ben onto the court to replace Lewis.
Now it's the Pacers' turn to play with twin towers, except they're playing with a single blue tower.
Both inside players are purely blue-collar workers.
After Ben Wallace entered the game, the Spurs responded very quickly. First, they completely handed over the interior defense to Duncan, and the other players' defensive positions were obviously moved up. They wanted to strengthen their defense against the Pacers' perimeter players. As for the interior...
With Ben Wallace and Anthony Davis's offensive capabilities, Duncan could handle them with one hand!
However, while Duncan could indeed handle Ben Wallace and Davis with one hand, he couldn't handle Lin Tian with his other hand!
Just as Brown and Jackson were about to double-team Lin Tian, preventing him from easily breaking through, Lin Tian suddenly changed direction to create space, then dribbled behind his back again, while quickly turning sideways and jumping through the barely passable gap between the two defenders.
In the blink of an eye, Lin Tian broke through the defense of two people and once again drove straight into the paint!
Duncan had to defend against Lin Tian's breakthrough while also not daring to go too far, because there were two menacing thugs beside him!
These two guys' offensive abilities are indeed negligible, but they are not the useless duo from China nicknamed "Qilin" or "Qilin" combination, nor are they the kind of softies who can fancyly jump over a bridge even with an open layup.
Even with no one guarding them, they still manage to dunk every time!
Duncan didn't dare to come up, so Lin Tian's attacks on the basket were naturally effortless!
"boom!"
After a loud bang, Lin Tian slammed the ball in with one arm and scored another 2 points!
After Lin Tian's dunk, the Spurs immediately made two substitutions.
Rose and Robinson came on together, and the Spurs' four superstars were on the court together again. The last one was Daniels, the only perimeter player who was relatively effective at defending Lin Tian.
Well, this is alright, but the standard is actually very low.
It's not bad that he managed to defend himself even though he wasn't beaten to the point of vomiting by Lin Tian.
The Pacers quickly brought in Webber and Carter, and took out Davis and Mullin. Both teams returned to their strongest lineups and began the final battle ahead of schedule!
Immediately after the substitutions, both coaches wanted to involve more players in the game so everyone could get a feel for the game.
Whether it was due to fatigue or simply a bad shooting night, both teams' players experienced a drop in shooting touch in the fourth quarter.
Carter, Miller, Richmond, Rose, and others all missed shots repeatedly, resulting in a very poor offensive performance!
In the first half of the fourth quarter, the four of them combined for 3 out of 10 shots, averaging no baskets per person!
Even worse off than the other four was David Robinson, who not only found himself completely unable to attack Ben Wallace on offense, missing all three of his shots, but also committed a turnover.
Furthermore, during one offensive play, this guy lost his temper due to Ben Wallace's dirty tricks, swinging his elbow too high and getting called for an offensive foul! And on defense, he also went too aggressively while defending Lin Tian's layup, resulting in a foul from Lin Tian!
An offensive foul and a hand foul occurred in just two consecutive possessions! In less than 30 seconds, David Robinson was called for two fouls, bringing his total to five!
Popovich had no choice but to substitute him off the court to protect him, and then bring Robinson back onto the court in the last few minutes.
Without Robinson, the Spurs' interior defense is even more vulnerable, leaving only Duncan as a reliable option. Especially with Lin Tian and Carter, two top-tier penetrators, on the Pacers, the pressure on Duncan is immense!
In the first possession after Robinson left the court, Carter aggressively drove to the basket, raising his arm as if to unleash a powerful dunk to demonstrate his toughness.
But before he could even raise his arm, Duncan slapped his basketball!
"Snapped!"
A crisp sound!
The basketball flew straight towards the three-point line.
At times like these, Lin Tian is always the quickest to react!
He grabbed the basketball, then pulled up and launched a mid-range jump shot.
"Whoosh!"
Lin Tian scored his 40th point of the night!
The score has now reached 99:92!
The Pacers are still leading by 7 points.
"Rebounds!" Duncan said grimly, "You guys have to get those rebounds! Antonio, how could you leave Lin out? How could you leave Lin out at a time like this? If you leave him out again, you're off the bench!"
Duncan's rare statement put the Spurs players on edge, and although no one spoke, their offensive intensity noticeably increased in the following possession!
After a series of passes, the basketball eventually ended up in Duncan's hands.
After receiving the ball, Duncan did not lower his hands at all. He turned around and then jumped up to lay the ball with his hands raised high. This high-raised shot hit Ben Wallace's most vulnerable and painful spot.
high!
With his hair only 206 cm long, Ben Wallace was at least 15 cm shorter than Duncan. Playing like that, Ben Wallace was truly helpless!
These two points were Duncan's 40th tonight!
He and Lin Tian have both scored 40 points!
"Ben, it's okay! If you can hold off David, you can hold off this blockhead too. Push him out! Keep him away from the three-second zone. In terms of strength and lower body, you're no worse than anyone else!" Lin Tian patted Ben on the shoulder to encourage him, and then dribbled the ball towards the frontcourt again.
Lin Tian knew that his teammates were having some fatigue in the fourth quarter due to playing three games in four days and back-to-back games, and their shooting percentage had dropped significantly. So Lin Tian stopped passing the ball to them and instead blew past Daniels again and drove into the paint!
To be fair, Daniels is arguably the Spurs' best perimeter defender against Lin Tian, but he didn't actually stop many of them. In fact, because he played the most minutes, he got the worst treatment...
After penetrating the paint, Lin Tian didn't rush to challenge Duncan. Instead, he once again made a sudden stop in the mid-range and then pulled up for a shot!
"Whoosh!"
"Come out! Come out here!" After scoring, Lin Tian arrogantly beckoned to Duncan, as if to say, "If you don't come out today, I'll shoot you to death."
"Come in here." Duncan mumbled something in his throat, then shook his head and ran to the other side. This time, just as he was about to block the position to get the ball, Ben Wallace blocked him and pushed him out with all his might!
Although there is a huge difference in ability and height between the two, if we only look at strength and lower body, Ben Affleck might still have the advantage!
His lower body strength is likely among the top three in the league today! Apart from Shaquille O'Neal and the famous short center Alonzo Mourning, there really isn't anyone whose lower body strength can consistently surpass Ben Wallace's!
Duncan was pushed by Ben Wallace and could only catch the ball a full 2 meters away from the three-second zone. This time, after Duncan got the ball, he did not rush to dribble and back down the ball. At this distance, backing down the ball would easily lead to being double-teamed by perimeter players and causing a turnover.
Duncan turned around and faced the basket. After two feints, he suddenly pulled up for the basket!
"Bang! Swish!"
Two voices came in quick succession, and Duncan pulled out his trump card.
A mid-range layup at a 45-degree angle!
The basketball grazed the backboard before falling into the basket!
Anyone who plays basketball knows that there's a saying in this era: the rebound is the offensive player's third hand!
Being familiar with the elasticity of the backboard and using it to put the ball into the basket is a very basic, boring, but absolutely useful skill!
Duncan's bank shot is a move that almost no one in the league practices diligently because it's unnecessary; most people prefer to shoot directly.
But Duncan knew that mastering this move would definitely help him a lot on the offensive end!
The rebound, this "third hand," can make many difficult shots easier and more likely to go in!
After that basket, Duncan and Lin Tian officially began their duel!
Although one of them is an inside player and the other is an outside player.
One player's offense is fiery and graceful, like a dragon in flight; the other is as calm as ice, making each attack simple and uninteresting.
For example, Su Qun, a guest on China Sports Channel, which also chose to broadcast the match live, gave a very apt analogy for the duel between the two.
"The Dugu Nine Swords versus the Xuan Tie Sword Technique: one is extremely elegant and unrestrained, capable of conjuring countless sword shadows that are impossible to defend against; the other is a heavy sword with no edge, seemingly simple yet equally impossible to defend against!"
(End of this chapter)