unfinished glory

Chapter 118
The Mavericks players and spectators fell from heaven to hell, and everyone looked at the No. 6 Spurs celebrating on the court in dismay.

Li Chongxiao celebrated wildly, this round of the series brought him a lot of pressure.

On the one hand, he is always worried about his good friend's injury, and worried that plantar fasciitis will affect Duncan's career; on the other hand, he has to face the dilemma of Duncan's absence. As easy as ever.

This goal was a sigh of relief and vented all the previous pressure.

Regardless of whether the Spurs win or lose, Li Chongxiao can face it calmly.

After the celebration, Li Chongxiao was interviewed by reporters on the sidelines. He put all the credit on his teammates, thinking that his teammates played in good condition in the away game, which gave him a lore chance.

After the interview, he walked to the locker room. When passing by the auditorium, he saw Cuban looking at him with a complicated expression, and he rarely cursed.

Returning to the locker room was another round of celebration, and Popovich also looked at everyone with a smile.

This victory was hard-won and crucial. After the away victory over the Mavericks, the Spurs took the initiative and got the match point.

Next is a home game. According to the Spurs' home record, there is a high probability of winning and eliminating the opponent.

At the press conference, most of the reporters were either asking Li Chongxiao how it felt to kill the Mavericks; or they were asking about his attitude towards the next game.

There were only a few local reporters in Dallas who watched Li Chongxiao become the focus angrily, and deliberately asked:

"Your consecutive free throw record is fixed at 108 shots, what do you think?"

"I don't need to think about it, you should think about it for yourselves." Li Chongxiao sarcastically said:
"'Mavericks win at home' isn't a good headline, I suggest you use 'Daye Lee's free throw record ended by Mavericks'.

I won anyway, and I didn't give a damn. "

……

The Spurs rushed back to San Antonio overnight, and after a day of rest, they were preparing for Game 5 against the Mavericks on May 19.

In this game, in addition to the fans of the two teams looking forward to it, the Suns are also very concerned.

In another set of semi-final confrontation that took place one day earlier, the Rockets finally lost to the Suns at home 98:112, with a big score of 2:4 and a regrettable exit.

In this series, Yao Ming scored 34.2 points, 14.1 rebounds and 3.4 blocks against the sky, but he was still powerless.

Except for the center position, where the Rockets have the upper hand, the other positions are blown out.

The two centers of the Suns, Tim Thomas, did not entangle Yao Ming in the interior at all, and even pulled the perimeter to shoot 6 three-pointers per game.And another center forward, Boris Diaw, did not confront Yao Ming, but kept walking and transitioning the ball within the three-point line.

This round of the series exposed the shortcomings of the Rockets' lack of inside players. Juwan Howard's offense is okay, but the defensive end is basically useless.Chuck Hayes is too short and his feet are not flexible enough. Facing the sun, this kind of swimming and playing tactics will not have much effect at all.

Yao Ming's tonnage is not suitable for defending on the outside, and there is no qualified blue-collar to do the dirty work for him. He fights hard for 39.4 minutes in each game, and only with a super high shooting rate can he win two games. Four games, averaging 14.5 points per game.

The Suns took the lead in entering the Western Conference finals, waiting for work, waiting for another opponent to appear.

……

On the evening of May 5th, the SBC center arena in San Antonio was packed, and Spurs fans put on the T-shirts prepared by the home court and took various cheering props to cheer for the home team.

Li Chongxiao continued to start, and the Spurs returned to the regular lineup, preparing for a head-to-head game.

The Mavericks, who were fighting to the death, were also unambiguous and came up with the strongest lineup.

Muhammad succeeded in jumping the ball, and the Spurs took the lead in attacking.

Duncan's throw near the baseline was interfered by Nowitzki and missed.The Mavericks got the rebound and the offense didn't score.

Both sides strengthened their defense at the beginning of the game. The Spurs played steadily and played their own advantages, hoping to win the game smoothly.

The Mavericks had no way out, and they didn't dare to reveal too many flaws.It is unrealistic to expect to kill the Spurs at once. Their tactics should at least ensure that they will not be left behind, and then find a way to take the lead and keep it until the end.

Adhering to this point of view, the two teams played rather dullly. It was more than three minutes into the game before Devin Harris broke the deadlock on the field and scored the first score of the game.

The Spurs scored until the 4th minute before Bowen made a three-pointer.

Under the high-intensity defense, it was very difficult for the two teams to score. Even a pitcher like Li Chongxiao missed all three shots in one quarter under the defense of Josh Howard.

After the first quarter, the score between the two sides was only 14:12. If it weren't for the fact that the new MVP was a bit famous and had a familiar face, most of the fans probably thought that the TV station had made a mistake in the program list, and the recorded program was regarded as a rebroadcast.

The senior basketball rookie pointed to the team wearing dark blue jerseys on the screen, and asked his friend if he could defend the Spurs to this extent, is this the Pistons?

In the second quarter of the game, the offense of both sides did not improve much, and they were spent in constant strikes.

Li Chongxiao tried to shoot a few times, but his touch today is really mediocre, and his overall shooting percentage is less than four levels.

He is not Kobe, Iverson, he will keep shooting under the condition of low shooting rate, he has no such qualifications.

As a pitcher who was inaccurate, Li Chongxiao could only focus more on defense.

The two teams spent more than three quarters in this way, and the score of both sides was less than 60 points.

If it was last season, this situation should be that the Spurs brought the opponent's offensive level to the same level as their own, and then used their rich defensive experience to defeat their opponents.

But this season, although the Spurs' defense ranks second in the league, the Mavericks are not bad either. Their defense ranks fifth in the league.

Compared with the offense, the Spurs are much worse. They only rank 21st in the league, while the Mavericks rank 9th.

By the end of the day, the stamina of players on both sides who had fought against each other for an entire game had declined, and the Mavericks' offensive experience helped them.

In the last 3 minutes, they liberated themselves, boldly tried different offensive routines, and slowly overtook the score.

On the other hand, on the Spurs side, Popovich still requires the players to maintain defensive focus, even if they can't score, they have to drag their opponents to miss the shot.

This conservative tactic caused the Spurs to lose their 4-point lead.

Although Li Chongxiao, who played 44 minutes, was still very active and helped the team score 7 points in the fourth quarter, the Spurs still capsized at home.

As Li Chongxiao missed a long shot in the backcourt, 78:74, the Spurs lost 4 points at home.

Now it's the Mavs' turn to celebrate at home in San Antonio.

The Spurs players were very disappointed and refused to leave for a long time, but Duncan showed leadership and led everyone back to the locker room.

Faced with the loss of the game, Popovich made a self-criticism, thinking that there were some deviations in his tactics. He just thought about his strong defensive ability, but he didn't come to the Mavericks' defense first.

In the fourth quarter, his tactics were conservative. After Li Chongxiao, Ginobili and others gradually recovered their touch, they still stubbornly played according to the established defensive tactics, wasting a great opportunity to expand the point difference.

On the other hand, Avery Johnson on the opposite side boldly allowed the players to attack and finally won the game.

Faced with this situation, Li Chongxiao could only lament in his heart: Newborn calves are not afraid of tigers, but they are afraid of sheep when they grow horns. The ancients were sincere and did not deceive themselves!
　I did a SB thing, sent the chapter to the VIP, and had to find an editor to delete it.

　　The content inside is scribbled, and it is estimated that it has not been ordered.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)