unfinished glory

Chapter 120 The Summer Comes Early

The 15 minutes of intermission passed quickly, and the Mavericks' lineup did not change much at the beginning of the second half.

Facing Josh Howard's defense, Li Chongxiao used Duncan's pick-and-roll to face the misplaced Nowitzki, with a time difference, and made his first three-pointer today.

In the next round, he cooperated with Duncan again and went inside.Although the layup missed under the interference of the opponent, Duncan, who followed up, got a chance and made a successful dunk.

Then the two played an inside-out tactic, and Duncan scored another goal.

They scored three consecutive rounds and successfully defended the Mavericks for two rounds, narrowing the point difference to 10 points, which greatly boosted the morale of the Spurs.

Ginobili and Parker were resurrected again, and even Bowen hit a three-pointer and a layup under the restraint of his teammates.

The score was slowly shrinking, and the Mavericks watched this situation helplessly, a little helpless.

It was basically their best lineup on the field, and the point difference in the first half also showed that their tactics were successful.It's just that for some players, you may be able to guard him for a while, but you can't guard him for the entire game.

Duncan and Nowitzki in the two teams are such players, and Li Chongxiao also has the same meaning.

When he opened up, his mentality was calmer, and his shooting sights naturally came up. Coupled with the interaction with his teammates, the Mavericks were a little overwhelmed.

He scored 14 points in this quarter and helped the ball complete the overtake.

The offense played calmly, and the defense followed suit. Dirk Nowitzki and Terry, who were in the middle of the game, were completely overwhelmed by the Spurs' zone defense. They combined and only hit 14 of 4 shots.

After the third quarter, 79:78, the Spurs led the Mavericks by one point away.

The Mavericks are also a team with rich experience in the playoffs, and their adjustments came in a timely manner.

Seeing that they couldn't defend their opponents, Josh Howard and Devon Harris also let go of their hands and actively participated in the offense.

Terry, who had frequently hit the iron before, also turned into a point guard, passing the ball to his teammates non-stop.

Only Nowitzki hasn't changed much, and in Avery Johnson's tactics, he needs to keep shooting.

The Mavericks with full offensive firepower, no team in the league can say that they can defend, and the Spurs are certainly no exception.

It's just that they can't prevent it, but it doesn't mean they can't be restricted.

The defensive triangle formed by Duncan, Li Chongxiao, and Bowen put all their energy into entanglement with their opponents, and finally held down the rising offensive momentum of the Mavericks.

The entanglement between the two teams on both offensive and defensive ends continued until the end of the fourth quarter, and the two sides tied for the seventh time in the fourth quarter.

Nowitzki made a shot against Duncan's defense and took the lead.

With 1 minute and 17 seconds left in the clock, the Spurs were one point behind 99:101.

Back from the timeout, Duncan singled Nowitzki and caused a foul. Amid the booing of the Mavericks audience, Duncan made two free throws to tie the score.

This time it was the Mavericks' turn to call a timeout. In the remaining 57 seconds, every round was critical.

Avery Johnson's tactics still let Nowitzki play singles, but Duncan's explosive energy was so great that the German didn't have a chance to catch the ball twice.

In desperation, Terry missed a strong shot under the interference of Ginobili, and the rebound was taken by Duncan.

This time the Spurs did not call a timeout, but played steadily.It was another inside-out tactic. Josh Howard made a big mistake. He lost Li Chongxiao from outside the three-point line and chose to double-team Duncan who took the ball inside.

Duncan took advantage of the situation to pass the ball, and the unguarded Li Chongxiao hit a three-pointer.

104:101, the Spurs turned away, leading the Mavericks by 3 points.

The closer to the critical moment, Li Chongxiao became more accurate.

Cuban, who was outside the court, turned his eyes white and stared at Li Chongxiao for a minute.

The Mavericks called a timeout, and this time their tactical cooperation came out. After switching positions many times, Nowitzki got the ball outside the three-point line.

Just when everyone thought he was going to play back up or break through, Nowitzki faced Bowen's defense and hit a three-pointer.

The 9th tie in the fourth quarter!
In the last 7 seconds, the Spurs used up the last timeout.

At this time, the audience of the Mavericks was very worried, fearing that the story of the last home game would repeat itself.

Li Chongxiao became the focus of the audience, and the broadcast camera followed him all the time.

Cuban had words in his mouth, and he didn't know what he was talking about.Many spectators at the scene either clenched their fists on their chests or covered their mouths.

Duncan serves and Nowitzki interferes.

Li Chongxiao's reverse run attracted the double-teaming of Josh Howard and Terry, and Ginobili got the ball smoothly.

At this time, the inside line was empty. Just when everyone thought he would go in and help the team overtake the score, Ginobili made an incomprehensible choice. He shot a three-pointer from outside the three-point line. Divide the ball.

Not to mention that the ball didn't go in, the rebound bounced into Stackhouse's hands, leaving the Mavericks with more than 4 seconds.

Fortunately, the Mavericks did not have a timeout. Bowen stepped forward to delay, and then Li Chongxiao rushed over to double-team Stackhouse, making it impossible for him to play the ball immediately.

When Terry finally received the ball, there was only more than 1 second left. His shot in the backcourt didn't even hit the frame, and the game entered overtime.

During the holiday break, although Ginobili has repeatedly stated that it was his fault, Popovich didn't even have the strength and time to scold him.

Within 5 minutes, the players seized the time to recover their strength, and the coaches rushed to encourage the players.

At this point in the game, tactics and so on will not be of much use, basically relying on the performance of the players on the field.

Duncan jumped to win the ball in overtime, and the Spurs took the lead in attacking.

The first round was played more patiently. After passing the ball many times, Duncan still launched an attack inside. Unfortunately, the ball was a little bigger and hit the neck of the basket.

The Mavericks also played very cautiously. Nowitzki faced Duncan with the ball twice, but the chances were not very good and he didn't shoot.It took almost 24 seconds until Josh Howard missed the shot with Li Chongxiao.

In the second round, Li Chongxiao took the ball and only killed the inside line. After attracting the attention of the defense, he passed it to Bowen in the bottom corner and missed the shot.

The Mavericks also failed to seize the opportunity to break the deadlock. Nowitzki's shot was blocked by Duncan and Li Chongxiao.

The two teams did not score in the first two rounds, which is also in line with the expectations of the head coaches of the two teams. They would rather be steady and slow than make mistakes.

In the third round, Li Chongxiao decided to attack by himself. He shifted to Duncan's side, pretending to pass the ball to the latter, but actually cast his eyes away.

Duncan, who knew everything, also pretended to be singles, but in fact he was acting with Li Chongxiao.

Li Chongxiao moved the ball a little towards Duncan, then retracted it, and then raised his hand to shoot. Josh Howard's center of gravity shifted slightly, and Li Chongxiao rushed over to break through regardless.

Josh Howard's defensive position wasn't completely lost, he raised his right hand next to Li Chongxiao.

Duncan stepped back a bit, out of the way of the drive line, and blocked Josh Howard.

Nowitzki behind him hurriedly made up his position and stood in front of Li Chongxiao.But Duncan just blocked it for a moment, then took two steps back to the middle, ready to receive the ball.

Nowitzki was in a dilemma. Li Chongxiao dribbled the right hand in the direction of Duncan, and Nowitzki had to retreat to the middle.

This pass was a fake move, but Li Chongxiao turned the ball back with a flick of his wrist.He took two quick steps forward, over the rim, and dunked in with a backhand before Josh Howard and Nowitzki blocked shots.

The stalemate on the court was finally broken. Li Chongxiao has scored 32 points so far, second only to Duncan's 40 points and Nowitzki's 35 points.

Two points behind for the Mavericks, it seems very difficult to recover.A few more rounds followed, and both sides failed to score.

With only 1 minute and 33 seconds left, the Mavericks' attack was finally completed. Stackhouse singled Bowen with his back and hit a jumper.

The two teams returned to the same starting line, and the atmosphere of the game became more and more suffocating.

In this round of offense, Parker finally broke in for a layup, and the ball spun around the basket and fell out again.

Li Chongxiao got the offensive rebound, but had no chance to make a shot. He passed to Ginobili at the top of the arc, but Ginobili's shot missed again.

The Spurs who wasted the opportunity quickly learned their lesson. Terry used two screens and scored a deadly three-pointer.

The Spurs were forced to call a timeout to slow down. After Duncan came on the court, under tremendous pressure, he broke through to the inside and threw the ball in, winning a glimmer of life for the team.

From the end of the game, only 19 seconds left.The Spurs, who pressed hard and failed to steal the ball, were forced to foul Terry.

Terry made two free throws, and the Mavericks continued to maintain a 3-point lead, leaving the Spurs with 9 seconds.

After the timeout, Li Chongxiao was still the Mavericks' focus. Nowitzki didn't even interfere with Duncan's serve, but came over to double-team.

Ginobili received the ball, didn't have a chance to shoot, and gave it to Duncan again.

His teammates were all guarded to death, so he had no choice but to choose to shoot a three-pointer. The ball hit the basket and fell out of the baseline.

The last chance just slipped away, and the Spurs players could only watch as the Mavericks players, coaches and spectators celebrated wildly at home.

Li Chongxiao's offseason has arrived ahead of schedule!
(End of this chapter)