With continuous pick-and-roll screens and interspersed runs, the ball kept rotating between Warriors players.
The Clippers are also constantly switching defenses. This defensive strategy of switching sides at every cover can maximize the space for the Warriors to take action. As long as the Warriors are not left open, they will not have a suitable opportunity to take a shot.
After a screen change, Vincent faced a young man named Dale.
Vincent is no stranger to this young man. He is a two-time NBA regular season MVP. He has been a five-time starter in the Western Conference All-Stars. He is one of the best three-point shooters in the NBA today and can even be regarded as the best point guard currently in service.
Vincent knows that facing this young man, he must use all his concentration, but even so, it may not be able to prevent Dell from scoring.
The 24-second attack time was about to come. Seeing that this would be a successful defense, at this moment, Dell on the opposite side suddenly took action.
There are still two meters away from the three-point line. This is a super long-range three-pointer.
Vincent's reaction was also very fast. He immediately pounced on him. At this time, it was impossible to block the shot. He could only interfere with the opponent's shooting.
With a "swish" sound, the basketball went directly into the frame, and the already boiling auditorium once again erupted with the sound of a landslide and tsunami, causing the entire Oracle Arena to shake.
From a defensive point of view, there was no problem with this defense. The 24 seconds were compressed to the end, and the opponent had to take a shot two meters outside the three-point line and force a three-pointer.
But judging from the result, the defense failed this time because the opponent scored a goal, and it was a three-pointer.
Vincent knew that there was no problem with his own defense, and no one else could defend this magical ball.
But he doesn't think this is an excuse.
"I can do better! I must do better! I must do better!" Vincent couldn't help repeating in his heart. He knew that if he couldn't restrain the Dale in front of him, let him do this again. If he shoots three-pointers unscrupulously, it may be difficult to win this game.
…
Dell dribbled the ball quickly, but found that he could not get rid of the defender in front of him. He instinctively passed the ball to his teammates, hoping to tear apart the opponent's defense.
However, teammates are also facing huge defensive pressure.
"Damn infinite defense changes!" Dell cursed in his heart.
This tactic of unlimited defense changes is what he dislikes facing the most, because the opponent's unlimited defense changes will make it difficult for the Warriors to find space to take shots. Each player will be surrounded by a defender, and every shot will be interfered by the opponent. .
A three-point shooter naturally hopes to get an open shot opportunity most, rather than facing the defender to complete the shot every time.
Run, pick and roll, screen, pass, the ball is back in Dell's hands, and as the point guard, he should be the one to organize the offense.
However, this was the third time Dell touched the ball in this offensive round, which meant that the Warriors' first two organized attacks failed and the ball had to return to his hands.
The pick-and-roll just now resulted in a change of defense, and he faced Vincent again, or should he be called "Uncle Vincent".
Dell's father was also an NBA player, serving as a shooting guard and winning the Sixth Man of the Year award. He was a marksman who contributed 1,245 three-pointers in his career and was the scoring leader of the New Orleans Hornets. Dell's uncanny three-point shooting more or less inherited his father's excellent genes.
Dell's father spent the last three years of his career with the Raptors. At that time, Vincent had just entered the NBA and his team was also the Raptors. In other words, Dale's father had been teammates with Vincent for three years.
As a child, Dell often went to Raptors training facilities and often watched Raptors games. What he remembers most about the Raptors is the man who was flying to play! Every time the man flew up, young Dale would open his mouth in surprise.
Today, this man is still playing basketball, standing opposite him!
The key is that he is still flying and hitting the ball!
After two organized attacks, there were very few 24-second offensive rounds left, and the Clippers' defense was still pressing hard. None of the five Warriors had a good shot.
"You still have to shoot it yourself!" Dell glanced at the basket secretly from the corner of his eye. Although it was a bit far from the three-point line, it was within his shooting range.
The next moment, Dell suddenly started to take action, and the movement was very sudden.
However, Vincent's reaction was faster. The moment he made a shooting motion, Vincent had already rushed over and started to interfere with his shooting.
Dell jumped up and shot.
Vincent jumped up to block the shot.
The moment he took action, Dale suddenly discovered that Vincent seemed to be flying again.
Dell subconsciously wanted to open his mouth like he did when he was a child. At the same time, facing Vincent's block, Dell increased the arc of his shot. This did not require brain thinking and was a pitcher's instinctive reaction.
The ball was not blocked and flew towards the basket, but due to the higher arc of the shot, the ball was blocked by the basket.
With a "bang" sound, the basketball bounced out of the frame. Three Clippers players rushed to the landing point at the same time to protect the backcourt rebound.
An extremely successful defense.
Humans can't defend against fairy balls, they can only be defended by demigods!
"This old guy is almost 40 years old, and he can still fly. How does he maintain it? Mine is still far away from the contract year. Isn't it time to play basketball for health?" Dell suddenly started thinking wildly.
…
The situation on the field was still inextricable, but a satisfied smile appeared on Dai Li's face. The situation was just as he expected.
Replace Noel with a space-oriented No. 4 position and replace him with defender Vincent. This is the answer given by the sign above. Dai Li thought about it carefully and realized why the lottery box gave such an answer.
Noel is the one who has championship rings, and two more.
Vincent is different. He does not have a championship ring, and he has made a lot of sacrifices in pursuit of that championship ring.
Like Vincent, the other four players on the Clippers court have never won a championship.
What you don’t get is always the best. For example, that championship ring is what they long for.
What's more, at this stage of the game, both sides have already seen their bayonets see red, their trump cards have been revealed, and it is clear how capable each other is. The game is more like a contest of wills, and the competition is who can hold on to the last breath.
At this time, the desire for the championship is the best shot in the arm, the motivation that allows players to continue.
Tie, overtake, tie again... The game finally entered the final fierce stage.
In the last two minutes of the game, the two sides played for a full 20 minutes. The confrontation on the court became extremely fierce, with a lot of physical contact. The referee had to watch the game video repeatedly to determine the ownership of the ball.
This is the Western Conference finals. Both teams have so many stars. As soon as the whistle blows, the stars from both sides will gather around to put pressure on the referee. Faced with this situation, even the most experienced referees will be cautious and cautious to avoid misjudgments.
The NBA is like this. Stars can complain to the referee from time to time, or even ask the referee to watch the video, but a rookie may get "T" if he says even half a word.
…
The score is 102 to 102, with 28 seconds left before the end of the game. In theory, both sides still have an opportunity to attack.
The ball is in the Warriors' hands and they have many offensive options. They can choose a two-point tactic or a three-point tactic, and the most important thing is time management.
In 28 seconds, no matter which way the Warriors choose to attack, the ball will return to the Clippers. Even if they use up the 24 seconds of attack time to the end, they will still leave the Clippers with 4 seconds of attack time. The delivery paused the serve at halftime, passed the ball twice and then shot.
"Don't wait until the last moment to take action. Our opponents have the ability to kill at the last moment. If you give them 4 seconds or 14 seconds, the effect will be the same. We may all be killed." The Warriors head coach paused. , and then ordered: "So the next attack will be the same as usual. No matter who has the opportunity, let me take the shot. We need a three-pointer. With a three-point advantage in hand, we will be invincible. The worst The result was just overtime!”
The Warriors players returned to the field. They did not appear panicked, but continued to cover the ground as before, playing in full accordance with the established tactics.
"Whoosh!" A three-pointer was shot. This was a three-pointer shot quickly during the pick-and-roll gap. Strictly speaking, it was not considered a good shooting opportunity, but under the Clippers' defense, it was possible to have such a The shooting opportunities are already pretty good.
There was no shortage of shooting masters at the scene. When they saw the arc of the basketball in the air, they already felt that the ball was going to go in.
Sure enough, the basketball hit the net hollowly. This goal fully demonstrated the Warriors' super three-point shooting ability.
The Warriors led 105 to 102, and with 12 seconds left in the game, the Clippers immediately called a timeout.
The 3-point difference forces the Clippers to make a three-pointer on their next shot. The best-case scenario is to hit a three-pointer at the buzzer and not give the Warriors a chance to serve again. With the Warriors' ability, they can get a kill if they are given a few tenths of a second.
The Clippers are playing star ball. At this time, the script that can be used is that after the ball is released, everyone will open up space outside the three-point line. No matter who is holding the ball, they need to rely on the personal ability of the star. Shoot three-pointers against the opponent's defense.
As for whether the shot is successful or not, in addition to strength, it also depends on luck.
"We have to shoot a buzzer-beating three-pointer to drag the game into overtime. Now we need some good luck!" After Li Dai thought of this word, he immediately looked at his watch.
"There are still 5 minutes until the next time I use Lucky Horseshoe's prayer skill!" A trace of gloom flashed across Dai Li's face.
The cooling time of the prayer skill is 30 minutes. When the lot was drawn, Dai Li used the prayer skill once, and it is 25 minutes ago.
After the NBA canceled the long and short timeout rules, the timeout time was uniformly set at 75 seconds. Although the game will not be so strict and the normal timeout time is longer than 75 seconds, it is absolutely impossible for the referee to give a 5-minute timeout. Pause time.
A long "beep" sounded from the speakers at the scene, telling everyone that the timeout was over and the players were returning to the court.
The Warriors players moved quickly. They quickly walked onto the court, obviously trying to set up their defensive formation in advance.
"The cooling time for prayer is not over yet, I have to delay! I need a 'actor' now!" Dai Li looked at his bench, and finally set his sights on Calabi.
"Calabi, I need you now!" Dai Li said.
Calabi stood up excitedly. He did not expect that the coach would trust him so much at such a critical time.
Dai Li lowered his voice and said, "You come on the field, and then pretend to be injured when you slip and fall. Lie on the ground for three minutes!"
"What? Slip? Injured? Where are you injured?" Karabi asked blankly.
"It's up to you. In short, the more you look like you, the better! I don't believe that you, the best defensive player, can't act!" Dai Li snorted coldly.
In the NBA, in addition to a strong body, a strong will, a positive attitude and good defensive awareness, an excellent defender also relies on acting skills. Many defensive masters in the NBA are actually first-class "actors". If their acting skills are not excellent, they will not be able to deceive "fouls" from the referee.
The so-called "falling with one's clothes on" means falling down after just touching the jersey. This trick is very effective for players whose bodies look relatively thin.
Calabi is the kind of player with a very thin body. He has won the NBA Defensive Player of the Year once and the NBA All-Defensive Team four times. In addition to his height, long arms and good jumping ability, his ability to draw fouls is also a special skill, so The "acting skills" are of course also top-notch.
This is also the reason why Li Dai chose Karabi.
Calabi looks like a reckless man on the outside, but after playing in the NBA for more than ten years, he has long since grown into a scheming bitch, so he already understands that Dai Li intends to delay time. Although he didn't know why Dai Li was delaying time, if the coach asked, he would naturally respond.
I saw him walking onto the court, walking towards the Warriors defensive players, and then deliberately looking for a physical confrontation.
On the sidelines of the game, when the referee was about to hand the ball to the Clippers player who was responsible for serving, Calabi stumbled violently and fell directly to the ground. At the same time, he yelled to deliberately attract the referee's attention.
Sure enough, the referee looked at Calabi, and then saw Calabi with a look of pain on his face, rolling on the ground holding his calf.
Next to him, a Warriors player had an innocent expression on his face.
You obviously didn't touch him, so why did he fall down!
At this critical moment, the physical confrontation between athletes is very intense. In order to reach a good position, it is common for players to start pushing each other before the ball is served. This kind of thing is not surprising to referees. But before kick-off, if a player is injured, the game will definitely not be able to continue. The referee immediately blows the whistle and then steps forward to check.
As soon as the whistle blew, all the players from the Clippers and Warriors gathered around.
Karabi's acting skills are indeed very good. He gritted his teeth and had a ferocious expression. It really looked like he was suppressing pain.
"Calabi is 38 years old. He is a veteran. Why are you yelling at him? Look, he is injured this time. Someone will definitely accuse you after the game!" Dell said to the innocent Warriors player.
"I didn't touch him! I really didn't touch him! We just walked across each other, he walked past me, and then fell!" The man defended, but judging from the expressions of the people around him, it was obvious that No one believed him.
The Clippers' team doctor had already walked up. He also received instructions from Dai Li to try to delay as much time as possible, so he completed various inspection steps.
For the Warriors, coach Nicholas looked at the big screen at the scene, waiting for the replay just now.
Finally, the director showed a replay of the scene. Calabi and the Warriors players were seen facing each other, and then Calabi turned around. Their shoulders touched each other, and Calabi suddenly fell to the ground. on the ground.
"There was no physical confrontation at all. Karabi fell by himself. Well, it was more like he slipped when he turned around. Was the ground slippery?" Nicholas couldn't help but look at the ground, and then shook his head.
During the timeout, the staff on the sidelines had already wiped the floor, probably wiping off the sweat on it. Moreover, the players' sneakers were not just for decoration. They had to have anti-slip effect. This was not the case when running fast or exercising intensely. During the confrontation, the person who fell down was really inexplicable.
"Did you fall on purpose? But why? Is it to delay time and arrange new tactics?" Nicholas thought of this and looked at Dai Li, but saw that Dai Li was not talking to anyone at all, he just couldn't stop talking. Staring at the watch.
"There are no new tactics arranged. Is this just delaying time? What is this Li Dai doing? Does he think that by delaying a little time, he can score a buzzer-beating three-pointer?" Nicholas shook his head, but then his eyes stopped. On Dai Li's wrist.
"It's a good watch! It's a new model! It's so expensive! I'm so envious!" Nicholas sighed with gleaming eyes.
On the other side of the bench, Dai Li didn't care about Calabi's situation at all, but kept staring at his watch.
Finally, Dai Li let out a sigh of relief.
"30 minutes are up, the cooling time of the prayer skill is over!" Li Dai raised his head, looked at Calabi who was still on the ground trying to pretend to be in pain, and then muttered silently in his heart:
"Calabi offers sacrifices to the sky, and his magic power is boundless; Calabi offers sacrifices to the sky, and his magic power is boundless..."
Calabi took a dive, but he did all the tricks, and in the end he was helped back to the bench.
The game restarted, and the Clippers had 12 seconds left, enough to organize a complete attack.
All five members of the Clippers were stretched beyond the three-point line, while the Warriors defended one-on-one, not daring to double-team for fear of exposing an open three-pointer.
After several passes, there was no good three-point shot opportunity, and the ball finally came to Raymond's hands.
Raymond dribbled the ball, and when time was about to run out, he stood up and made a pull-up jumper!
The opposing Warriors players immediately jumped up to block the shot, but did not dare to make any move forward. Because he was worried about fouls.
The current NBA is quite harsh on shooting fouls. Many deliberate deceptions such as "two plus one" or "three plus one" will be whistled by the referee as a foul before shooting. In other words, the referee considers that intentional cheating The foul action is not a complete set of shooting actions.
As for Raymond's pull-up jumper, even if he leans forward to jump, his torso will always remain upright. This jumper technique places high demands on the waist, so Raymond has been suffering from waist injuries.
However, this kind of pull-up jump shot is also a jump shot that cannot be "touched" at all, because the torso of the body is always in an upright state, so as long as the defender touches Raymond's body, even if it is just a slight scratch It can be regarded as a violation of the shooter's cylinder. The NBA has always been very strict in punishing violations of the shooter's cylinder.
Moreover, Raymond has a strong ability to stay in the air and a high shooting point. When the defender fouls, his ball may not be released yet, which means that he has the opportunity to adjust the strength and angle of the shot in the air, resulting in a "two plus one" or "Three plus one".
Back then, countless defenders were defeated by Raymond's pull-up jumper, not because they were stupid and deliberately committed fouls, but because they really had no choice. This is the NBA's rules for violating the shooting cylinder.
In this regard, the Warriors defender is very smart. He knows that defending such a pull-up jumper requires too much movement, and he may even deliberately avoid the defense.
The defender has to hide from the attacker. This may sound funny, but it is the most helpless fact.
This kind of "hiding" defense is actually very difficult to interfere with, so when Raymond takes the shot, the Warriors can only pray that Raymond can't make the shot.
When the ball is in the air, the red light around the basket has sounded and the timer has turned to "0", which means that the game time has ended.
Immediately afterwards, the basketball hit the basket.
"Oops, it's too powerful!" Raymond's face tightened. As a shooter, he was the first to sense the problem.
"Bang!" The basketball hit the upper edge of the small square on the backboard.
"Didn't score!" The Warriors players looked happy and were about to celebrate.
However, the basketball rebounded and entered the basket.
A three-pointer at the buzzer! Still hit the board and put it in the basket!
The entire Clippers team breathed a sigh of relief, while the Warriors, both players and fans, looked frustrated.
"We were so unlucky to hit a three-pointer!" The Warriors head coach couldn't help but let out a long sigh.
…
"We are so lucky to hit a three-pointer!" Assistant coach Cassel raised his hands happily and wanted to give Li Dai a hug, but Li Dai pushed him away with both hands.
At this time, Li Dai was really shocked and broke out in a cold sweat. If it weren't for the good luck provided by the prayer skill, the goal would definitely not have been scored.
Three-pointers and two-pointers are two completely different levels of difficulty. Many players will practice two-pointers, but practicing three-pointers is almost like self-abuse.
The distance and arc of the three-pointer make it difficult to hit the ball through the board. Even the top shooters in the NBA need luck to score a three-pointer through the board.
With this lucky ball, the two sides were tied again, and entered overtime, and the game returned to the starting point.