Westbrook had a depressed expression on his face. In the previous round, he failed to break through Zhang Guan three times, while Zhang Guan successfully scored two points with one breakthrough. Judging from the results, in this round of competition, Westbrook lost to Zhang Guan.
"Damn it!" Westbrook's face was full of anger. Being passed by Zhang Guan was second to none. The key was that Zhang Guan also used a street ball move to pass people. This is equivalent to showing off Westbrook's face severely. Anyone can NBA guards will be unhappy if their opponents show off their catching moves, let alone the young and energetic Westbrook.
"I originally thought Zhang Guan only relied on speed and strength to break through, but I didn't expect that he also knew the technique of breaking through! Why? It's just that his speed and strength are better than mine, but why can his technology defeat me! I don't accept it!" There was a hint of unwillingness in Westbrook's eyes.
Westbrook tried to break through again. He wanted to return the ball, but was still blocked by Zhang Guan. In desperation, Westbrook passed the ball to Durant. Durant made a jump shot, but the basketball missed the basket.
"No shot was made. Durant has missed the ball three times in a row! It seems that Durant's touch has been relatively average during this period of time!"
"If Durant's shooting percentage was better, it wouldn't have reached the fifth overtime."
"I can see that Durant's shooting movements are a little deformed, probably due to lack of physical fitness."
"Should Coach K replace Durant and take a rest?"
"I guess the U.S. team is afraid to replace Durant now. The U.S. team needs a leader. If Billups is still there, maybe he can replace Durant as the leader, but now Billups and Odo Mudu's physical strength has been exhausted, so he can only rely on Durant!"
"What about the other members of the U.S. team? Granger, Iguodala, and Rose are also the bosses of their respective teams, right?"
"Iguodala and Granger are not qualified leaders, otherwise their team's record would be more than that. As for Rose, he is still too young to lead the US team at this critical time."
On the court, Zhang Guan once again broke through with the ball, and it was still difficult for Sam to excel.
"It's Sam Gold again! Westbrook and Rose were tricked by Zhang Guan again. Now it's 138 to 134. The Chinese team is 4 points ahead. This is a relatively safe score."
Durant's expression was solemn. He knew that he had to score the next goal. Otherwise, the Chinese team was likely to open up a six-point lead. Overtime is no better than regular time. A six-point lead in overtime is much harder to catch than a six-point lead in regular time.
"With the way I feel now, I shouldn't continue shooting." Durant thought in his mind. If it were in a normal game, he might still choose to shoot to find his touch, but the importance of today's game is self-evident, which makes him dare not be careless in every decision.
This time, Durant chose to break through.
Suddenly having to consume more physical energy is a burden for Durant now, but the shooting rate of breakthrough is obviously higher. It is not enough to draw a foul, but he can still score two points with free throws.
"Durant, force a breakthrough! The ball is here, two points!"
I saw Durant shake off his steps and pass between the two defensive players in the blink of an eye. Then facing the 2.21-meter-tall Zhang Zhaoxu, he put the ball into the basket with a lever action.
"As expected of Durant, facing the severe defense of the Chinese team, he can still break through to the basket and complete a layup! Huh? What's wrong with Durant?"
Surprised shouts erupted from the surrounding auditorium. Durant landed on the ground after a layup, but instead of running, he grinned and limped around.
"Durant is injured!"
Players from the U.S. team immediately gathered around and the referee stopped the game.
"Leg cramps!" Durant said through gritted teeth.
…
Leg cramps during a game can be big or small. Some people get better after a few exercises, while others may feel pain for several days. However, for a physically strong player like Durant, suffering from leg cramps really shows that the physical exertion is too great.
Leg cramps are actually not a serious problem. We normal people also have leg cramps. Under normal circumstances, calcium supplementation will be enough. But for athletes, leg cramps caused by excessive physical exertion, if they do not rest, are likely to cause muscle strain in the next step. This is a much more serious injury than leg cramps, even in the NBA. , there are no longer a few players who have sunk due to a small muscle strain.
For example, LeBron James often chooses to take a rest directly after leg cramps, or even leave the game for examination, in order to prevent muscle strain. Today, Durant obviously cannot stay on the court after suffering leg cramps. Even if he does not leave the game immediately for examination, it is impossible for him to continue playing.
The U.S. team took Durant off the court and replaced Durant with Rudy Gay.
As the leader of the team, Durant's dismissal was a major blow to the American team, and the five people on the court seemed to have lost their backbone for a while. For example, Iguodala is indeed a very good player, but he is not suitable to be the leader of a team; and Rose, for example, wants to take on the responsibility of a leader, but as a young man, he does not yet have that kind of prestige. Can convince everyone else.
Durant is also a restriction on Westbrook on the court, so that Westbrook will not take shots blindly. After all, when he was in the Thunder, Durant was the leader and Westbrook was the second leader, so in Dream Nine In the team, as long as Durant is on the court, Westbrook will not play very unrestrainedly. Now that Durant is off the court, Westbrook immediately started the "having fun" mode. Regardless of whether the shot is reasonable or not, he will score points first.
Westbrook's scoring ability is indeed exaggerated. In terms of pure scoring ability, Westbrook is worse than Rose. The reason why Westbrook's data is not as good as Rose's is mainly because Durant's presence has taken away too many points. The ball rights, but Rose is the undisputed boss on the Bulls. After Durant leaves the Thunder in the future, Westbrook's average of 31 points per game also proves that his scoring ability is not weaker than Durant's.
…
"Westbrook made a three-pointer, 139 to 140, and the US team was only 1 point away from catching up. There are 1 minute and 12 seconds left in the game, and it seems that the outcome of this game is still uncertain!"
Westbrook seemed very excited after scoring the goal. He roared loudly and vented his emotions, and the 1-point difference also gave the American team hope.
Deng Huade hesitated for a moment, but still chose to call a timeout to let the American team cool down.
In NBA games, there are two 20-second pauses in each overtime, but according to the rules of the World Championships, there is only one timeout in each overtime, and the timeout is 1 minute. So after Deng Huade called this timeout, at least in this overtime, there was no chance to call another timeout.
With 1 minute and 12 seconds left in the game, the Chinese team had the ball. Zhang Guan chose to break through. This breakthrough attracted the defense of three people from the US team, including Love at the center position. Zhang Guan passed the ball. It was given to Zhang Zhaoxu who penetrated into the basket. Zhang Zhaoxu dunked directly and scored two points. After all, he is 2.21 meters tall. Although his muscle strength is a bit lacking for his height, and his offensive skills are also rough, his advantage is that he has excellent mobility and quick take-off speed. He can catch the ball under the basket and dunk directly.
He seemed very excited after scoring. This was his first score in this game. As a purely defensive blue-collar player, he basically has no ability to score in singles. He was able to score on the head of the American team. Two points, and at such a critical time in overtime, every point is precious. This dunk is enough for him to remember for a lifetime.
"The U.S. team seems to be surprised. They probably didn't expect that Zhang Guan would choose to pass the ball. The current score is 139 to 142, a three-point gap, and there are 52 seconds left in the game. Theoretically, the U.S. team still has two offensive opportunities, and The Chinese team still has one more chance to attack! The next attack of the US team will be very critical. If they can score, they still have a chance to maintain a point difference within 3 points. If they do not score, maybe the point difference will be It will be more than 3 points.”
A 3-point difference can be tied with one ball, but a 4-point difference requires two balls. This is obviously a huge difference.
Everyone on the US team knows this very well, and their expressions are extremely serious at this time. Although few of them have made it to the second round of the NBA playoffs, they have regarded this game as the NBA championship. The final moments of Game 7 of the finals.
Although Westbrook's expression was serious, his eyes shone with confidence.
"Let me save Team America!"
Westbrook didn't pause after receiving the ball and shot a three-pointer directly.
"A three-point shot! Westbrook! Oops! Unfortunately, the shot missed!"
Although Westbrook is good at scoring, his three-point shooting percentage is indeed relatively poor. In his rookie season, his three-point shooting percentage was only 27%. Last season, his three-point shooting percentage even dropped to 22%. , so he was once regarded as the famous "blacksmith" in the NBA. Throughout Westbrook's career, his average three-point shooting percentage has only just reached 30%, which is obviously unqualified for a top defender.
Although the three-point line in the World Championships is one meter closer than that in the NBA, three-pointers are still not an offensive method that Westbrook is good at. On the last ball, Westbrook felt good and made the shot. After a one-minute timeout, his hand gradually cooled down and he naturally missed the shot.
The basketball missed, and Love rushed over with all his strength. It was Zhang Zhaoxu who fought with him for the rebound.
"Where did the Chinese team get so many big men?" Love clearly felt that the opponent was more than ten centimeters taller than him. Although the opponent's strength was relatively average and could not withstand him at all, this big man could jump.
"This ball is hard to grab!" Love knew he couldn't grab the rebound, so he moved the ball with one hand to the direction of the bench.
Iguodala jumped up and grabbed the ball before it went out of bounds. Then he used a fake move to get rid of Ding Jinhui, who came forward to defend, took a step forward and chose to shoot.
"Whoosh!" The basketball hit the board and bounced into the basket, scoring two points!
"141 to 142, the US team has caught up to one more point!"
As soon as the commentator finished speaking, the Chinese team had already released the ball, and Zhang Guan Luck rushed to the frontcourt as quickly as possible.
"Be careful with the fast break!" Iguodala, who had just scored, immediately stepped forward to stop Zhang Guan's progress.
However, Zhang Guan had already accelerated completely, and Iguodala could no longer stop Zhang Guan using conventional means. He did not hesitate at all, and stepped forward and rushed directly to Zhang Guan. The next moment, the two collided.
An irresistible impact immediately knocked Iguodala to the ground and slid towards the billboard next to him.
"Beep!" the referee's whistle sounded, which was obviously a foul by Iguodala.
At the same time as the whistle sounded, Iguodala's head hit the billboard.
"Iguodala fouled, Zhang Guan is going to take a free throw!" the commentator said.
According to the rules of the World Championships, overtime is a continuation of the fourth quarter, so the fouls in overtime and the fourth quarter are cumulative. That is to say, if the number of fouls committed by the entire team in the fourth quarter reaches the number of free throws , then even the first foul in overtime will send the opponent to the free throw line. The rule in the NBA is that if the limit of 3 team fouls is not used in the first 3 minutes of any quarter of overtime, the team will be allowed to have one team foul in the last two minutes without additional free throws. .
Iguodala got up from the ground in a daze and saw Zhang Guan standing on the free throw line. Only then did he realize that the rules of the World Championships are different from those of the NBA. He was used to playing in the NBA and thought that the team still had enough fouls to avoid free throws, so he took the initiative to commit fouls, but he forgot that the World Championships was not like this. In fact, Iguodala didn't have time to think so much in a hurry.
If a foul does not require a free throw, then using a foul to delay Zhang Guan's action is obviously more worthwhile. However, if a foul requires a free throw, it is equivalent to giving the opponent two points and paying for a foul.
Zhang Guan scored both free throws, and the score that the American team had worked so hard to catch up with was once again widened.
The American team scored a quick two points and once again reduced the score to 1 point, but left the Chinese team 23 seconds to attack. This is a very embarrassing number. The Chinese team can completely hold on to its one-point lead and use up the last 23 seconds. Therefore, the US team will inevitably use foul tactics next.
However, the American team still hoped to steal the ball, and they adopted a full-court press defense.
Rose stopped in front of Zhang Guan, hoping to prevent him from catching the ball. However, Zhang Guan made several sudden stops and changed directions, easily shook off Rose, ran out of space, and successfully received the serve.
Rose saw Zhang Guan taking the ball and knew that the full-court press had no effect. He chose to foul Zhang Guan without hesitation and then sent Zhang Guan to the free throw line.
At the critical moment, Zhang Guan showed no mercy and made both free throws. The score became 143 to 146. The US team was still three points behind.
At this time, there were 21 seconds left before the end of the game, and Krzyzewski finally called a timeout.
21 seconds is enough time for the US team to make a tactical coordination. If it were in the NBA, there might be coaches who would try their luck with a two-point ball first, but in the World Championships, there is only one timeout in an overtime, and there is no frontcourt serve after the timeout, so Krzyzewski decided to arrange the final attack.
Now, only a three-pointer can save the US team. After scoring a three-pointer, the game will enter the sixth overtime. The US team still has a chance, but if it does not score, the US team can only lag behind.
"Without Billups and Odom, two first three-pointers are missing. Ross and Westbrook's three-pointers are not reliable, and the Chinese team will also defend against three-pointers. Now, , I can only take a gamble!" Krzyzewski thought of this and turned to look at Stephen Curry who was standing on the outermost edge.
"Stephen, you make the last shot!" Krzyzewski said.
"Me?" Curry was stunned. In this game, he didn't even get 1 minute of playing time, and he was not even as good as Guo Dashao, who was at the end of the Chinese team's bench. But now, the US team has reached the most critical moment of life and death, and Krzyzewski actually chose Curry!
Compared with other teammates, Curry has only played in the NBA for one year and is a young rookie in the Dream Nine team. However, in his rookie season, he shot a total of 384 three-pointers, hitting 168 of them, with a three-point shooting rate of 43.7%. This shooting rate is also the highest three-point shooting rate among the Dream Nine team.
Just listen to Krzyzewski say: "For this goal, the Chinese team will definitely focus on defending the three-pointer. They will defend Andre (Iguodala), Danny (Granger), They would defend Kevin (Love) and Eric (Gordon), but the Chinese team would never have imagined that the last attack would be completed by you, who didn’t get a chance to play in the whole game! You appeared on the court, You will definitely not be wary of the Chinese team, they will definitely despise you and even relax their surveillance on you, and this is exactly our chance to make a comeback!"
(End of chapter)