one-handed ball

Chapter 33 The End and the Gift

At the beginning of the second quarter, the two teams put on the rotation lineup respectively.The core of the Timberwolves' bench is the backup small forward who was replaced by Zheng Ke in the starting lineup, the black boy Ryan Gosman, the Supersonics replaced the old pitcher Szczerbiak, and the white insider Nick Collison still has Jeff Green, who has a strong body, is really hard to distinguish between the two.

The substitutes of the two teams attacked back and forth, and they played faster and more chaotically, but they came and went, and they played smoothly.The bench lineup on the court has no tactics. For weak teams like the Timberwolves and the Supersonics, the main point guard may not be able to grasp the rhythm of the game well, let alone a bunch of substitutes playing games on the court.

When the main players switched to the sidelines in turn in the second quarter, the Timberwolves still led the SuperSonics by six points 38 to 32.

At this time, Zheng Ke partnered with McCants and Gosman to form the outside line of the Timberwolves. In this outside lineup, the Timberwolves' height is not too disadvantaged.

Durant suddenly found that the yellow-skinned player in front of him was difficult to deal with. His defense was very oppressive. Durant found it very difficult for him to hold the ball every time, and his shooting was even more disturbing.It is not that he has never encountered a small forward like Zheng Ke before, but he can rely on his own speed and shooting touch to solve opponents, but today his hand feeling is not good, and his speed is not enough to shake off Zheng Ke. In the depths, Durant couldn't help sighing.

But what can be done?Life still has to go on, the game still has to go on, Durant dribbled the ball at the top of the arc, thought for a while and called Kurt Thomas to come out for a pick-and-roll.

Zheng Ke is a narrow-minded man. He still clearly remembers the ball that was slapped by Thomas in the first quarter, so out of the corner of his eyes, he noticed that after Thomas came out of the pick-and-roll, his eyeballs rolled around, and then the corners of his mouth turned up slightly, as if thinking of something.
Zheng Ke didn't move his position on the court, and he didn't seem to notice that Thomas stepped forward to pick and roll. Durant was secretly delighted. Could it be that he was distracted, or was my tactical gesture too subtle?Who cares, Durant didn't have time to think about it, and made a big change of direction in front of his body, moving sideways to the right.
Zheng Ke seemed to bump into Thomas unconsciously, but after touching Thomas, he seemed to hear Thomas' muffled groan, and then Zheng Ke fell exaggeratedly to the left as if being pushed hard by someone, with a mouth Also made a miserable cry.

Ah ~
Drop~
As soon as he fell, the referee's whistle sounded at the same time.He succeeded!The referee blew his whistle and called Thomas a screen foul.

In fact, the referee did not see the complete contact process between Zheng Ke and Thomas, but with his many years of experience in judging, if someone fell down and screamed, then someone must have fouled, so there is nothing wrong with blowing the whistle first.Seeing that Zheng Ke was "pushed" and Thomas raised his arm slightly, he decisively called Thomas a screen foul.

Thomas was not calm now, he almost roared to defend the referee: "The referee was deceived by him, he is flopping, flopping!" The little daughter-in-law who was wronged by her daughter.

The referee was splattered by Thomas' spittle, and his long face was blacked out in an instant. He blew the whistle that had just been put down on his chest without hesitation, then crossed his hands into a T shape, and raised them above his head, making a penalty for Thomas. Penalties for technical fouls.

What?Thomas was angry, his eyes widened, and he thought there was no reason!Just when he was about to ask the referee to say "why is this", he was hugged by Durant and his teammates and dragged back to the bench.Among the Supersonics, the oldest may be Thomas, but the calmest is Durant, a young man who has just turned 19 years old. Calmness is a quality, which has nothing to do with game experience, but is connected with one's heart.
Zheng Ke didn't expect that his little trick would directly kill a general of the Sonics, although he only wanted to earn the ball.

After Thomas was fined a technical foul, Zheng Ke was also verbally warned by the referee. The referee said: "Don't think I don't know your little tricks, play the game well boy, next time, hehe."

"Of course, of course, sir!" Zheng Ke showed what he thought was the brightest smile: "I will abide by the rules of the game, I promise!" Chrysanthemum, extraordinarily enchanting.
The so-called reaching out and not hitting the smiling face, seeing Zheng Ke so good, the referee nodded in satisfaction: "It's good to know!"

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the game is still going on
The Sonics, who lost a general inside, had to be replaced by a white power forward, Nick Collison.

Nick Collison was the first-round lottery pick of the golden generation in 03. He missed his rookie season because of double shoulder injuries, but he has since played for the Sonics that picked him until today.Although he is a white player, his style of play is more aggressive than most blacks, especially when it comes to rebounds, which can be called every ball.

After Collison came on the court, I thought the Timberwolves would open up a gap from him. After all, the Timberwolves with Jefferson are the strongest at the power forward position.However, this is not the case. Collison plays very tenaciously. Although he is thin, he weighs 116 kilograms. His biggest shortcomings are his general jumping and slow moving speed. These two shortcomings are basically back and center. For Jefferson who voted, it is not a big disadvantage.

So the Timberwolves still failed to kill the Supersonics with a single stick. Until halftime, the Timberwolves were still tepid, leading by 5 points.

Whitman did not make any adjustments or explanations to the Timberwolves' battle plan. According to his thinking, the two big teams are inseparable. Who will end who will definitely have a result in the second half. The key is to look at the players. Their play.

The fact is also the same. After the start of the second half, the two teams were evenly matched, and the Timberwolves' 5-point lead did not last long before being equalized.Both sides are young teams, both sides are very passionate and energetic, and the audience is very happy to watch because the competition is fierce.

In the last 3 minutes, the Timberwolves relied on McCants' key three-pointer to open the gap by 5 points again.

The Supersonics naturally did not dare to lag behind. Thomas received an inside pass from Wilcox, slammed an inside slam dunk, and roared to make himself angry.

After Thomas succeeded in dunking, the Supersonic generals cheered up and defended against the Timberwolves' attack. They almost defended for 24 seconds, and passed it to Zheng Ke in the last 2 seconds. Zheng Ke had no choice but to choose a jumper. As a result, the ball Just touched the basket, missed a long way, was picked up by Ridnour, and the Sonics launched a fast break.

The player who was also a 03 lottery pick did not choose to carry the ball himself, but passed it to Durant running ahead.

Zheng Ke knew that the ball could not be scored just after the ball was thrown. He did not go to grab the rebound and retreated immediately.

Durant dribbled the ball and gradually approached Zheng Ke. Zheng Ke stared at Durant's eyes, and sparks seemed to emerge from the intersection of their eyes.

In this ten-millionth of a second, both sides understood each other:
He wants to detain me!

He wants to hat me!

Then, as if they had agreed, the two jumped up at the same time.Zheng Ke has already exerted all his strength, and this ball also gave him enough space to take off. However, Durant's physical fitness is indeed better than him. He is holding the ball, and Zheng Ke's fingertips are only barely reached his wrist.

But in the competition for the ball, the two did not decide the winner. Durant was jumping, and after being blocked by Zheng Ke in the air, the force of rushing forward brought the two of them out of balance together. Like rolling gourds, they rolled out of the bottom line respectively.

No win or lose?

No, Zheng Ke fouled.

There is no problem with calling the ball. Although Zheng Ke didn't move his hand, and it was hard to tell who jumped first, but according to today's NBA penalty standards, the defender must be punished for a foul.

After Durant made two free throws steadily, the Sonics narrowed the score to one point.

Maybe it was too nervous, maybe it was too concerned about the outcome. The next four offenses of the two sides were all ironed out. Durant missed two consecutive mid-range jumpers.

Only the last minute left.

Although the Timberwolves are only leading by one point, a point is also a point. With one point in hand, the confidence suddenly becomes different, and the hearts of both sides gradually change.

Jefferson held the ball inside, mustered the last strength in his body, and slammed into Thomas fiercely, Thomas gritted his teeth and resisted.Under such circumstances, the referee will hand over the game to the players. If Thomas falls, he knows that the referee will never call Jefferson an offensive foul, so he can only grit his teeth and hold on.

a bit

twice,

In the end, the years got the better of him, and Jefferson opened up a little space and hit a left-handed hook.

The Sonics requested a timeout.

The situation is very favorable for the Timberwolves, and the cheers at the target center gradually increase.The time is only the last 45 seconds. If the Supersonics choose to play a 2-pointer, then they will need at least two rounds to catch up or overtake the score. Cause a blow, if you don't make it, and you don't grab the board, then the situation will be even more unfavorable
Back from the timeout, Durant controlled the ball at the top of the arc.

The Sonics still chose to give the ball to the team's boss Durant, even though he has not yet turned 20, even though he has only played more than ten NBA games.

Zheng Ke spread his arms out, his eyes were sharp, and he didn't dare to be careless.

Durant was swinging his hands back and forth, and the ball was bouncing back and forth like an elf. At this critical moment, Zheng Ke didn't dare to step forward to press.

Suddenly, Durant stops the dribble and appears to drive to the right.Zheng Ke was shocked, are you coming?Is it two points?But Zheng Ke guessed wrong. After Durant stopped, he chose a three-pointer!
Although Zheng Ke thinks that Durant will break through, he is always guarding against this kid's three-pointers. Although his current three-pointers don't look very accurate, Zheng Ke from later generations knows how accurate Durant's shots are at critical moments .So he stretched out his hand immediately and jumped up to interfere with Durant, so although Durant shot the ball suddenly, Zheng Ke still effectively interfered with him.

"boom!"

The basketball hit the rim and bounced far away. McCants, who was only 1 meters tall, grabbed this key rebound.Now, the Timberwolves are not in a hurry. The time is only 93 seconds. After 29 seconds, only 24 seconds of attack time are left for the Sonics. 5 seconds.

McCants controlled the rhythm and gave the ball to Zheng Ke on the weak side when there were still 10 seconds of attack time. Zheng Ke hit the ground and passed the ball to Jefferson, who had been stuck inside for a long time.

Jefferson wanted to score in the old way again, but this time before he started to attack, Durant double-teamed. Jefferson raised the ball high above his head. Due to Durant's height and long arms, Jefferson Under a lot of pressure, he saw the opportunity and slammed the ball out.

The basketball was firmly caught by Zheng Ke, and time was running out. Durant flew towards Zheng Ke with all his teeth and claws, but Zheng Ke still resolutely chose a jumper from beyond the three-point line.

"boom!"

Zheng Ke's shot was also hit, but fortunately, the ball hit the neck of the basket and bounced very high. After falling, it still hit the neck of the basket and bounced. The center of the target suddenly fell into silence. Among them, everyone is watching this naughty basketball, players, spectators, commentators.
"Shh!"

"Come in!" The DJ on the scene reacted immediately, and then his voice was drowned in the louder cheers.
The overall situation has been decided, and Zheng Ke's lucky ball cut off the Supersonic team's last thought of making a comeback. The Timberwolves finally won a hard-won victory, ending their own seven-game losing streak, and gifting their opponents a seven-game losing streak.
(End of this chapter)