I really play basketball

Chapter 128 Five Grabs!
In Phoenix's G3, the game has just started, and the change of the sun is on the bright side.

First of all, at the center position, they replaced the experienced AC Green.

Secondly, after Lin Xing won the jump ball, on the first attack of the game, he found that the Suns had switched defenses.

Cedric Ceballos pushed forward in front of him, his long arms outstretched.

Lin Xing doesn't know much about Ceballos, only that he has also won the dunk title.

There is also a well-known nickname, called Iceman.

This Iceman is not that Iceman, and the gap between Ceballos and George Gervin is still a bit big.

Like Barkley, Paul Westphal doesn't expect Ceballos to lock up Lin Xing.

He has only one request: follow Lin Xing, and don't give Lin Xing the space to easily take the ball from the outside.

The Sun's two-handed change looked unremarkable and did not attract the attention of Nelson and Lin Xing on the court.

For the first attack in the opening game, Lin Xing still played one by himself.

The main reason is that Lin Xing is not convinced. He feels that with his 81 mid-range shot, no matter how unbearable he is, he won't be unable to find his touch in three consecutive games, right?
With this in mind, he made a face-off in the beginning.

In the middle distance, facing the defense of Ceballos and AC Green, he made an emergency stop, followed by a retreat, and raised his hand to shoot.

Bang!

"It's only a little bit close..."

Lin Xing stared, the goal was indeed just a touch away.

"Have a chance!"

He shook his hands, trying to warm up his hands as much as possible.

Feeling the heat in his palm, Lin Xing seemed to see the picture of him making consecutive shots in the middle and long distances.

Turning around to defend, he found Barkley directly as in the previous two games.

Immediately afterwards, the Sun's offense.

Barkley received the ball and asked for a pick-and-roll directly.

The experienced AC Green's pick-and-roll is of extremely high quality.

After dismantling the block, Barkley accelerated and rushed straight to the basket.

That momentum is really like a pig flying up.

Clang!
As soon as Lin Xing got around the screen, Flying Pig was hanging on the basket.

As for this ball, Lin Xing was dumbfounded.

"No, no, this is not right!"

For this ball, in the first two games, Barkley never hit it once.

One came at the beginning of this game, which is more than wrong.

The sun simply stopped pretending, and it was a showdown——

In this game, they want to completely liberate Barkley.

On the defensive end, Barkley no longer needs to face Lin Xing, and on the offensive end, he also avoided Lin Xing's defense through the pick-and-roll.

Especially this time, after the pick-and-roll was dismantled, Barkley faced Tyrone Hill's defense.

Although Hill is a short center, he is not fast because of his huge tonnage.

Although the tonnage is relatively large, he is not Barkley's opponent in terms of strength.

So in this set of matchups after blocking and splitting, Tyrone Hill is not Barkley's opponent at all.

"This is... a pick-and-roll roll call tactic? No way?"

Lin Xing thought of the one-on-one a la carte style of play after the pick-and-roll that will prevail in the NBA in the future, which is very cancerous and effective.

Although this is only the first ball, but if Barkley really finds the feeling, this game will be difficult.

"No, I have to find a way to get around the cover."

Lin Xing realized the seriousness of the problem, but just realizing it made the old bachelor sigh—it was useless.

Why did the sun change AC Green to start?Not even Oliver Miller's pick-and-roll quality, which is called a hot eye.

AC Green is different. He is an old player with solid basic skills and high-quality pick-and-roll.

A high-quality pick-and-roll only needs to block Lin Xing for a second or two, and it is enough for Barkley to completely separate the two.

In the next game, Barkley used AC Green's pick-and-roll again and again to bypass Lin Xing's matchup defense, crush Tyrone Hill's defense, and score in various ways.

In half a quarter, Barkley scored 7 points, plus 2 rebounds and 2 assists.

While being extremely efficient, he also played his due role, driving the offense of the Suns team.

In the words of the commentator Simat Gudika -

"Back home, Charles Barkley alive!"

Barkley is alive, but Lin Xing is still alive.

In half a quarter, he hit a 4-for-2.

The two who lost were mid-range shots; the two who scored were both stealers at the basket.

So, it turns out that shaking your hands is not the way to get your hands hot e.

With 4 points in half a quarter and 2 assists, Lin Xing's performance is not as good as Barkley's.

Also because Barkley didn't press this point, the Warriors fell behind in half a quarter of the game.

With a score of 15 to 18, although they were only 3 points behind, the lag on the scene was much greater than the score.

Seeing that Barkley returned to normal state, Old Nelson was also anxious.

But the widow sighed anxiously-it was useless to tick 8!
To put it simply, Barkley made himself alive by relying on his teammates and relying on pick-and-rolls.

After blocking and dismantling, isn't it still one-on-one?
If you can't defend against one-on-one, then you can only assist in defense.

As soon as the help defense came up, Kevin Johnson's opportunity came.

Lin Xing's mid-range shot didn't open, and the Warriors didn't have an inside line like AC Green who can play fast breaks and positional warfare can contribute high-quality pick-and-rolls.

He can't use the pick-and-roll to avoid the pinch the way Barkley did.

So on the offensive end, all Lin Xing can do is pass the ball and occasionally steal.

Without Lin Xing facing Biao Barkley, the Suns quickly gained the advantage.

In the fourth quarter, they once extended their lead to double digits.

In the end, in the first away game, the Warriors lost a small loss to the Suns and lost a game.

At the end of the game, Old Nelson had a cold face.

The feeling of losing is very uncomfortable, especially in this game, the point where the Suns should not explode, this game exploded.

"20 shots and 12 goals. In this game, Charles Barkley scored 32 points, 9 rebounds, 6 assists, 2 steals and 2 blocks. Sir Flying Pig is back!"

"Relying on the explosion of the Flying Pig, the Phoenix Suns, who are playing at home, have won back a victory..."

In line with the cheers in the American West Arena, the commentary booth of NBC also praised Barkley in a timely manner.

Speaking of this game, Barkley did perform well, playing the demeanor that the defending MVP should have.

Paul Westphal on the sidelines was happy and regretful at the same time.

"I listened to Charles earlier, wouldn't I win this game?"

Unfortunately, no if.

For the Warriors, just looking at the statistics, Lin Xing's performance is not bad.

17 shots, 9 hits, more than [-]% hit rate.

入账22分，外加10个篮板7个助攻2个抢断1个盖帽。

Efficiency or something is still very high.

But again, data is often deceptive.

As far as this game is concerned, most of the 9 goals scored by Lin Xing were stolen and missed.

This kind of stealing and missing goals, in terms of tactical contribution, is basically zero.

That is, these 22 points are a bit indispensable for the Warriors.

At the end of the game, Matt Gudica, who had long been characterized as Lin Xing by many fans, did not praise Lin Xing again.

The main reason is that Lin Xing played well in this game, there were not many bright spots, and he was suppressed by Barkley.

This performance is really hard to blow. If he insists on blowing, Matt Gudica would rather blow his bangs a few times.

That's much easier than Lin Xing, who was bragging about this game...

If we talk about the first two games of the series, the Warriors lead 2-0.

In this era when the first round of the playoffs is still a five-game three-win system, they have a huge advantage and are only one victory away from advancing.

So now, after losing another game, with a total score of 2 to 1, it seems that they still have an advantage.

But in fact, considering that the next game is still the home of the Suns.

And, the truth is that winning first is not winning, but winning later is the truth.

The current warriors actually no longer have any advantage.

The series has become confusing.

In Phoenix, the Warriors ended up renting a practice facility.

Old Nelson must find a solution to the immediate predicament within two days.

There is not much time, and the solution is not something that can just be said. The situation is actually more difficult than imagined.

……

Also moving forward with difficulty, the Supersonics will soon usher in the fourth game of the first round of the playoffs.

As the second in the West, they are already 1 to 2 behind.

The fourth game is their life and death battle.

Before this game, Lin Xing, who lost the game, was not very happy, so he called Pei Wuxin, wanting to be happy.

"Gary, this game is your life and death battle, right? Don't really lose, really lose, I don't guarantee that I can hold back my laughter, Gary..."

On the other end of the phone, Pei Wuxin yelled angrily: "Get out, Si Da, don't bother me so much!"

Then, there was a busy tone of "beep beep".

Lin Xing grinned, and Xiao Chong beside him was even more overjoyed.

People are like this, it doesn't matter if you are unlucky, as long as someone is more unlucky than yourself, there will be comfort in your heart.

Lin Xing was very concerned about the game in the evening, and so was Xiao Chong.

To their disappointment, in this game, the Sonics held on.

Kemp was as pitted as ever. He took 14 shots and only hit 4 times.

Schrempf didn't break out, and even Payton was unremarkable.

But the Sonics just won because the opponent was worse.

Reggie Williams, who played well in the first three games, only made 15 of 3 shots in this game.

And Mohammad Rauf, who was also defended by Payton, made 15 of 5 shots.

One side is Kemp's one-man pit, and the other side is a two-man pit. It's no wonder that the Supersonics can win.

"It's a pity, it's a pity..."

As expected, not long after the game ended, Payton called.

The phone rang, and the little insect on the side encouraged: "Don't answer it, let him hang up."

Lin Xing thought for a while, but still connected.

As soon as he got through, he said, "Why are you calling Big Brother, Gary?"

One sentence is lore, and Peyton on the other side of the phone opened his mouth, and the mocking words that were originally on his lips could not come out.

The Sonics and the Nuggets reached the tiebreaker, and the Rockets swept the Trail Blazers in three games.

The Jazz also conceded a game in the third game, and won the fourth game cleanly, with a total score of 3 to 1, eliminating the Spurs.

After the game, Karl Malone brought up the old story again: "I said, David Robinson will pay the price for his 73 points, his regular season scoring champion!"

In these four games, the general averaged only 20 points, 10 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 2.5 blocks per game, and his shooting percentage was only 41.1%.

Generally speaking, just two words - "pull the hip!"

In the East, the Pacers swept the Magic, the Knicks swept the Nets 3-1, and the Bulls swept the Cavaliers. All three games were won.

Just before the G4 of the Warriors and the Suns was staged, there were only three games left in the first round of the playoffs between the East and West, the Eagles vs. the Heat, the Supersonics vs. the Nuggets, and the Warriors vs. the Suns.

G4, still in Phoenix, still at the American West Arena.

The Warriors have the opportunity to directly end this round of the series, and Nelson also made changes before the game.

In order to deal with Barkley's pick-and-roll offense, he customized a defensive formation for the first time.

In the 90s, the NBA did not allow zone defenses, but fake zone defenses could appear on NBA courts. The Knicks and Spurs all played fake zone defenses.

The Warriors' defense formation, strictly speaking, is also a pseudo-defense.

Specifically, it is to fix the center forward to the penalty area.

When Barkley wants to pick and roll, he uses Madman or Mullin to switch defenses.

After the pick-and-roll, Barkley walked in and let the center guard out to form a partial pinch defense.

When the game started, the Warriors' set of zone defenses did effectively stop the Flying Pigs from raging.

But the problem is that defending Flying Pigs means that Kevin Johnson has more opportunities.

So this defense still can't completely strangle the Suns.

It can only be said that after such a defense, the situation is much stronger than G3's one-sided situation.

At least, the Warriors can fight the Suns until the last moment, and then win a decisive battle.

But to no one's surprise, at the end of the quarter, the Suns suddenly unleashed a new weapon—Charles Barkley and Kevin Johnson's pick-and-roll.

At that time, Lin Xing's expression was just two words - surprise!
"This shit, are you sure it's not Dooku's pick and roll?"

Although Kevin Johnson is not good at shooting, he may not be able to hold a three-pointer in a game.

Although Barkley's long-range shots are not accurate.

But the pick-and-roll cooperation between the two can be said to be invincible for the Warriors.

On the one hand, both of them have strong abilities to work alone, and one-on-one, only Lin Xing's defense can firmly dominate one of them.

On the other hand, the quality of Barkley's pick-and-roll is so good that it's hard to bypass whether it's a bug or a madman who comes over.

As a result, Lin Xing had to switch to Kevin Johnson again and again, and then missed Barkley.

Relying on Zhu Kai's pick-and-roll, in the final quarter, the Suns won a decisive victory.

"At the end of the quarter, Paul Westphal took out his hole card. Phoenix pulled two games in a row when they were behind 0 to 2. Now, the total score is 2 to 2, and they are going to fight for five!"

In the commentary seat, Matt Gudica announced loudly that the series between the Warriors and the Suns will also enter the tiebreaker.

"Steamer, don't be overturned in the end!"

Lin Xing gritted his teeth. In this game, he really tried his best.

In the first three quarters, his offense was still mainly stealing chickens and picking up leaks, playing tepidly.

But in the fourth quarter, at the decisive moment, he stood up and stood up.

For one of the balls, he held the ball at the waist, turned around and squeezed away the pinch defense first, making a breakthrough.

He rushed near the bottom line, was pinned again, and then relied on the strength of his body again to forcefully squeeze past.

In the end, against the supplementary defense of the big center under the basket, he abruptly dunked the ball into the basket.

Just this one ball, let Matt Gudica blow hard for 2 minutes.

This 2-minute flattery can be summed up in three words - "Too hard!"

Of course, most of the time, he rushed in with the ball in his arms, and all the balls that were thrown out against the multiple people's traps flew away.

The defensive pressure the Suns put on him is still too great.

Lin Xing's efficiency in this game was not high because of his crazy rush to the basket and various shots in the final quarter.

In 22 shots, he only hit 8 goals, and his hit rate was rarely lower than [-]%.

20分12个篮板6个助攻2个抢断2个盖帽的数据，也只是这一轮系列赛林星的基操。

Six is ​​impossible, and a 2-0 win became 2-2 for the Warriors.

The series has entered the tiebreaker, and the winner will be determined in one match.

"Sure enough, as we predicted before the game, the strength of the top six in the Western Conference is actually very close."

"Especially the Warriors and the Suns. Without Charles Barkley's two injuries, the Suns' ranking shouldn't be as low as sixth in the Western Conference."

"Now, they and the Warriors have reached the fifth tiebreaker, which proves it..."

After G4 was over, the media began to make second-guessing again, and it was still the kind of second-guessing.

What was as we predicted, and what we already said...

In fact, they did say it, but when it was 2-0, they also blew it:
The Warriors are much stronger than the Suns, and the sweep is in the next game.

It can only be said that this group of media reporters is the strongest in terms of changing faces.

But as they said, with the same score of 2 to 2, the situation of the Warriors is much more dangerous than that of the Suns.

"The Warriors need to solve Charles Barkley, who is getting better and better, and also need to find a way to solve the Sun's Zhu Kai pick-and-roll. Of course, the most important thing is that they also need to find a way to improve the state of Star."

Yes, that's right, at this point in the series, Lin Xing's state has finally attracted the attention of the American media.

已经打完的四场比赛，林星场均只有21.5分11.75个篮板8个助攻2.25个抢断和1.5个盖帽入账。

The most important thing is that the hit rate is only 43.2%.

For a power forward, this hit rate is very unqualified.

After losing G4 and standing on the edge of a cliff, the Warriors flew back to the Bay Area overnight.

How to play the tiebreaker, in fact, at the end of the game, old Nelson had a very specific idea.

"We can no longer rely on Starbucks, we can no longer treat Starbucks as a point guard, let Starbucks play power forward, give the ball to Tim, and we play the simplest run-and-gun offense..."

To put it simply, the Warriors will change from the Heat and Cavaliers led by Ajan in those years to the Suns led by Steve Nash in those years.

Lin Xing will change from Azhan to Stoudemire or Marion.

Of course, Ajan, Stoudemire, and Marion here all refer to style of play, not looks.

The reason why old Nelson has such an idea is because in the past two games, he has seen too many Lin Xing break through and tear the defense line, but he can only pass back in the face of the pinch defense.

Because the passing level is not so outstanding, he can't find open teammates at once.

In many cases, Lin Xing's pass is just an ordinary return pass.

There is no threat, and it can't even tear the Sun's defense a second time.

The past two losses have proved that such a fight will definitely not work.

Therefore, change is necessary.

As for Lin Xing, after he became Stoudemire and Marion, did he lose his offensive threat?
No!

Old Nelson also had to thank Paul Westphal for reminding him—

Although Lin Xing is just a fake power forward, his size and strength have reached the standard of a power forward.

For pick and roll, just right!
The solar energy plays the pick and roll of the pig, and the Warriors can also play the pick and roll of the snake, and even the violent pick and roll.

Copying it according to the gourd painting, Lin Xing's attack threat is still very great!
……

As the Warriors vs. the Suns also scored the tiebreaker, the remaining three playoff games in the Eastern and Western Conferences all entered the tiebreaker.

The difference is that the fifth tie between the Warriors and the Suns will be staged at the end.

The first staged was the fifth tie-break between the Supersonics vs. the Nuggets.

Before the game, Lin Xing was in no mood to call Pei Wuxin anymore.

The backyard of our own house is on fire, who cares about other people's houses?

However, they still found time to watch the live broadcast of the Supersonics vs. Nuggets game.

In G4, the Supersonics were able to win back a victory, relying on their defense.

With successful experience, they still started from the defense in the tiebreaker.

At the beginning of the game, Rauf hit three consecutive shots under Payton's defense.

That is to say, Uncle Mu was very tough at the basket, grabbed two offensive rebounds in a row, and stabilized the situation.

The starters were against the starters, and the two sides drew a tie.

When it came time to come off the bench, Robert Parker and Beeson Dele together blasted the Sonics' bench lineup.

Just like that, the Supersonics lost in the fifth game...

"The Supersonic lost, really lost..."

"It's a black seven, the fourth black seven in NBA history."

Lin Xing shook his head, he didn't know, if it wasn't for his little butterfly flapping its wings a few times, the Black Seven this time should have been the Black Eight.

Supersonic was really hacked, but Lin Xing was not so happy.

After thinking about it, he still called Peyton.

"Gary, don't be too sad. Basketball, that's it. If you win, you lose. Take it easy and come back next year!"

Peyton originally thought that Lin Xing called because he wanted to take advantage of the opportunity that they were eliminated by the black seven, and laugh at him a few words.

In the end, he didn't expect that what he heard was comfort. He was stunned, and the obscene words in his mouth could not come out, and the only thing left was——

"Okay, Si Da, I'll take a look at it. Tomorrow, you have to cheer for the game!"

On the same day, the Eagles defeated the Heat by 11 points and rejected the black eight.

In the five-game tiebreaker, only the Warriors vs. Suns are left.

All the eyes of the United States came together like this.

Most of the public opinion before the game was not optimistic about the Warriors.

Still the same sentence, winning first is not winning, and winning later is called winning.

The Warriors won two games first, and then were pulled two games in a row.

Clearly, the Suns made a successful change, and it worked for two straight games.

In this case, what needs to be tested is the warrior's ability to adjust.

If the adjustment is successful, they still have a chance to turn over.

If the adjustment fails, then you can prepare for things like going out to sea and fishing.

But generally speaking, the adjustment in this situation has a probability of success of only 1% at most.

Therefore, the pessimism of public opinion is also understandable.

In this frenzy of public opinion, the Oakland Stadium, the G5 battle, arrived as scheduled.

……

The locker room before the game was quiet and a little scary.

The teammates who were used to playing mahjong for a while before the game also sat in their seats obediently, silent.

Even his eyes were confused, and he didn't know what he was thinking.

Lin Xing's eyes were firm, and he tied a wristband to his left arm.

Then in his mind, he recalled over and over again the routines he had been practicing in the past two days back to the Bay Area.

"It's time to let everyone know what it means to really play with your brain!"

Soon, Old Nelson pushed the door open and entered.

Before the game, he had nothing to say about the tactical arrangement.

Because in the past two days, he has emphasized enough.

But standing in the middle of the locker room without saying anything, I always feel that the morale of the team is still a little bit low.

and so--

"Honestly, I don't want to emphasize how important this game is, in fact, it doesn't matter at all."

"If we win, we will only reach the semifinals of the Western Conference. If we lose, we will only lose the first round of the Western Conference playoffs."

"But I know, some of you guys, you've played some playoff games and you've been losing. You should lose enough, right?"

Old Nelson paused for a moment, his eyes wandering around Mu Lin and Xiao Chong.

Soon, Xiao Chong responded: "Of course, coach, we have lost enough!"

"Some of the rest of you have only played in the playoffs this time. You don't want your first playoffs to be out in the first round, right?"

This time, Old Nelson's eyes were fixed on Lin Xing and Madman.

"Coach, we will do our best."

The madman said this, but Lin Xing was surprised——

"No, coach, we will definitely win this game!"

"Is it sure to win?"

"Yes, I've won!"

Lin Xing said with a straight face, "As long as you believe in me, I will lead you to victory in this match!"

"Of course, Sta, of course we believe you..."

Xiao Chong stood up and hugged Lin Xing's shoulder.

Then, a group of people stood up and stretched out their arms.

"This game, we will win!"

……

After an imposing appearance ceremony at the Oakland Stadium, the entire Warriors became murderous.

Of course, the opposite sun is not bad either.

Kevin Johnson and Dan Marley are both veterans, and they know how they should play in this tiebreaker.

As for Barkley, he is not only a veteran...

For him, he stretched his hips in the first two games of this series, and he played better and better in the last two games.

Now that his hands are hot, he is naturally full of confidence in this game.

It can only be said that the Warriors playing at home are more imposing.

"The crucial tiebreaker, whoever wins will advance. If the Warriors win, we can see Dalin's next playoff game..."

Yang Wu's commentary is naturally a brainless warrior.

Before the game, Shuang Ping was a little nervous, the two had been cheering up the Warriors——

"For the Warriors, they are playing at home in this game. Just look at the process of this round of the series. The Warriors have won both home games and lost both away games. This home game has a great chance..."

It can only be said that there is nothing wrong with the logic of Shuangping.

But sometimes, logic is useless.

In the end who wins and who loses, we still have to wait until the game starts to know.

The fans in front of the TV, the fans around the stadium, the double draw, the commentators from all walks of life, and the media reporters didn't wait too long.

Soon, the referee blew his whistle and the game began.

There is still no suspense about the jump ball. Lin Xing defeated AC Green and grabbed the opening ball for the Warriors.

In the subsequent attack, Lin Xing played soy sauce.

The opening should be the probing stage, and Old Nelson handed over the power of offense in the probing stage to Xiao Chong.

Right now, Xiao Chong holds the ball, takes a cross step at the top of the arc, and speeds up to pass Kevin Johnson.

He went straight to the basket, but the Suns' defense was very tight. When he raised his hand for a layup, AC Green went up to help defend.

Bang!

Under the interference of AC Green, the ball missed the basket.

In the area near the frame, Barkley jumped up and grabbed the rebound directly.

Turning around, he pushed a wave of counterattack.

Fighting whirlwind against whirlwind quickly, this counterattack is destined to fail.

So it's still a positional battle, Lin Xing vs. Barkley, Xiao Chong vs. Kevin Johnson.

At the beginning, the Suns used their hole cards.

A Zhukai pick and roll, Barkley went down to catch the ball.

But this time, Tyrone Hill's supplementary defense was timely enough to strangle Barkley to death in the middle distance.

Barkley didn't pass the ball either, and made a direct shot from the mid-range, bang!

Immediately afterwards, the Warriors attacked, Xiao Chong broke through and scored Mullin.

Mullin made a three-pointer, bang!
The Suns' offense, Kevin Johnson made another one, throwing a shot at the basket, bang!
No one expected that the five-game matchup between the Warriors and the Suns would start with an iron fight.

"Is this the intensity of the key battles in the playoffs?"

　A change of 7.5k to complete the guarantee task
　　
　
(End of this chapter)