At the beginning of overtime, the Spurs were as stable as ever. The first ball passed through the hands of five players, and finally it was Parker's throw that scored the ball.
The Lakers continued to play a seven-second offense. After a pick-and-roll between Zhang Guan and Gasol, before the defensive player could rush up, he directly threw a three-pointer, and he actually made it.
"84 points! Zhang Guan surpassed Kobe and reached the second place in history in scoring in a single game!" The commentator sighed: "I originally thought that Zhang Guan had no chance to go further, but I didn't expect that there would be overtime. ! Although Duncan's 0.4-second shot saved the Spurs, it also gave Zhang Guan a good opportunity to set a new record!"
On January 22, 2006, the Lakers played against the Raptors at home. Kobe shot 28 of 46 from the field and 18 of 20 free throws, scoring 81 points. From then on, his title as "the number one active player in the NBA" was no longer in doubt.
But now, Zhang Guan has surpassed Kobe, and there is only one peak left in front of him: Chamberlain's 100 points!
"Currently, Zhang Guan is only 16 points away from Chamberlain's 100 points. Do you think it is possible for Zhang Guan to surpass Chamberlain?"
"Beyond Chamberlain? How is that possible? Oh, I'm not saying that Zhang Guan's scoring ability is not good, but Zhang Guan doesn't have that much time. Don't forget that this is only overtime. The entire overtime only lasts 5 minutes. Now that we have played one round, we need to score 16 points in the remaining time? Unless the Lakers give all their shooting opportunities to Zhang Guan!"
However, the situation really made this person right. The Lakers really put all the offensive rights in Zhang Guan's hands. Including Gasol, they focused on defense.
In fact, for the Lakers, their physical exhaustion is also very serious. If they are just defending and supporting, the effect is very good, but if they are attacking, they may not have that much energy.
D'Antoni's tactics originally require players to run and the basketball to quickly debate. While creating scoring opportunities, it is also a great drain on the players' physical strength. In the playoffs, the intensity of the game is much greater than that of the regular season, and the physical exertion on the players will also be great. D'Antoni's team was as fierce as a tiger in the regular season, but could never go further in the playoffs. This factor was also involved.
It's just that D'Antoni is very lucky this year. He has a super scorer like Zhang Guan under his command.
…
"Zhang Guan, emergency stop jumper! In! 91 points! Still 9 points left!" The commentator looked at the time and suddenly realized that with Zhang Guan's offensive efficiency, he would have to score 9 points in just over one minute. It doesn't seem to be very difficult.
In the past two rounds, the Spurs continued to expand their defense outwards, leaving Duncan alone at the basket. This was obviously to guard against the Lakers' three-pointers.
It is a consensus in the NBA that three-pointers cannot kill anyone. At least before the Warriors won the championship, the coaches of each team thought so. Especially since the Celtics' Big Three won the championship, the Big Three model has become the standard for championship teams. The success of the Miami Heat has further confirmed this. Therefore, in this era, if the team wants to win the championship, the purpose of building the team must be to recruit three All-Stars to form the Big Three.
However, in this game, Popovich had doubts about this consensus, because he found that his team was really about to be killed by three-pointers!
And Zhang Guan also shot two mid-range jumpers. It was said to be a mid-range two-pointer, but in fact it was almost considered a "long two-pointer." This kind of long-distance two-pointer was quite popular ten years ago, and many stars They all rely on this kind of step back to gain two points. However, two or three years later, this long two-pointer was considered the least offensively efficient way to score.
For Zhang Guan, it is also very good to use this scoring method occasionally. For example, he has now scored 91 points and is still 9 points away from the 100-point mark.
On the sidelines of the game, as a coach, Popovich was sweating profusely like the players.
Popovich has always been very confident in his team's tactics and the Spurs' defense. However, today he found that there was a player on the court that the Spurs could not guard at all. Long-range three-pointers, mid-range jumpers, and close-range attacks to the basket, Zhang Guan is simply proficient in all offensive methods, and his shooting percentage is still very good, which makes the targeted defense that the Spurs are good at at a loss. The so-called targeted defense must be to prepare a certain offensive method. However, when the opponent's offensive methods are very comprehensive, targeted defense becomes "loophole defense."
"Zhang Guan hasn't rested since the beginning of the third quarter. He's been playing for almost fifty minutes. Don't you feel tired yet? God, let that guy feel tired quickly!" Bobo Thinking of this, Vicky suddenly laughed at himself.
"In the NBA, facing a superstar who performs exceptionally well, praying to God may be the coach's only way!" This sentence suddenly flashed in Popovich's mind.
He once sneered at this sentence. If prayer works, then why do you need a coach? It's better to go to the church and find a priest to consecrate the players! But just now, Popovich began to pray.
"I really have no choice! Now, I can only trust my players!" Popovich sighed and looked at Duncan, his longest-standing disciple and his most trusted partner. .
…
Zhang Guan suddenly started and rushed into the three-second zone next to Leonard. Although Leonard worked hard to defend, the speed gap made him always half a beat slower and unable to keep up with Zhang Guan's rhythm.
Almost at the same moment, the Spurs' helper defender also rushed over, but the helper's speed was not enough to affect Zhang Guan. Zhang Guan's silhouette flashed and he had already rushed to the Spurs' basket.
There, there is the last line of defense in the Spurs, the number "21", which has blocked Zhang Guan's path forward.
Duncan had already judged Zhang Guan's route, but he knew that he might not be able to jump.
For a 38-year-old veteran, he was almost unable to jump, and this was after playing 40 minutes in the playoffs.
But if you don't jump, you may not be able to stop Zhang Guan's layup just by standing there. Duncan believes that with Zhang Guan's physical fitness, it is normal for him to dunk himself.
"Foul, you can only foul! There is less than a minute left in the game. The foul at this time is worth it! If Zhang Guan misses one free throw, it will be a profit!" Duncan thought of this and slapped Zhang Guan with his big hand. , even if this slap can't touch the ball, it will hit Zhang Guan's arm and break his layup.
"It's Duncan!" Zhang Guan knew that he was facing the most difficult insider in the league, and then he saw Duncan rushing towards him.
"Duncan, can't you even jump? He's old. Maybe ten years ago, he could really stop me, but now it's impossible. Wait, no, he came for a foul! "Zhang Guan understood this instantly.
"Ha!" Zhang Guan shouted loudly, and he raised his arm with force. At the same time, Duncan's hand pressed on Zhang Guan's arm.
This layup turned into a contest of strength. Zhang Guan tried his best to maintain the layup posture, but Duncan also suppressed all his strength to stop Zhang Guan.
"Beep!" The referee's whistle also sounded at this time, and he called Duncan a foul.
However, neither player on the court stopped, as if they did not hear the whistle. Zhang Guan continued to complete the next action, and a veteran like Duncan knew that since he had been called for a foul, he had to commit it to the end and never let Zhang Guan score this goal.
"Fight!" Zhang Guan gritted his teeth. He knew that in this kind of competition, there was no sense of touch anymore, and even a layup might not be possible, so he changed his action and decided to dunk directly.
"He wants to dunk directly! Don't even think about it!" Duncan also noticed Zhang Guan's intention. He knew that he had already committed a foul. If Zhang Guan scored the ball again, wouldn't it be two plus one? !
However, Duncan suddenly felt as if his feet were off the ground.
"What's going on? I clearly didn't take off! Why did my feet leave the ground?"
…
However, in the eyes of others, Zhang Guan had already taken off, while Duncan was hanging on Zhang Guan's body and was forcefully pulled into the air.
"Oh my god! Zhang Guan pulled Duncan up forcefully!"
"With Duncan hanging on his body, does he still want to dunk?"
"Bang!" Zhang Guan just let Duncan hang on him, and then smashed the basketball into the basket with both hands.
"Ouch! Ouch! Ouch!" Even the home fans couldn't help but exclaim in amazement.
"The ball went in! This is definitely the best goal today! My God, there is a Duncan hanging on his body, but he completed the dunk! How much strength does this require? Could O'Neal do this back then?"
"Duncan even committed a foul, but still couldn't stop Zhang Guan from dunking. It seems that the Spurs today are completely unable to limit Zhang Guan's scoring.
"96 points, Zhang Guan's 96th point! And it's a two plus one. If he also hits the extra free throw, Zhang Guan will get 97 points! At that time, Zhang Guan only needed one three-pointer to surpass Chamberlain. 100 points! A three-pointer, with Zhang Guan’s touch today, maybe he can do it in the next attack.”
"For 100 points in a single game, I thought that even if it took another 100 years, no one would be able to break this record. Unexpectedly, I might be lucky enough to witness this miraculous moment today! Maybe today, we can witness it with our own eyes, A being beyond Chamberlain appears before us!"
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Chapter 2 is delivered, and Chapter 3 will follow later.
(End of chapter)