Jordan: I thought he was there to help me!

Chapter 540 Another Situation of Ice and Fire Showdown: One That Cannot Be Defended

The Celtics' next attack missed!

Although they have many star players in their squad, they don't really have any good offensive tactics or system. This team's offense basically relies on two moves.

Singles plays by star players and those brilliant little combinations between them.

As for systems, teamwork, or anything else, the Celtics really don't have much of that.

This is one of the main reasons why Rivers told them to slow down the pace and settle into a defensive position.

If your offensive tactics are bad, then attack less and try to hide your weaknesses as much as possible.

The Knicks' next attack also missed!

Because although the Celtics' offense is weak, their defense is really strong.

The defensive abilities of these guys on the court and the team's defensive system are absolutely top-notch. Even Lin Tian, ​​when his teammates are not performing well, finds it difficult to maintain his offensive power and efficiency and keep scoring.

In the next few minutes of the match, those who couldn't attack met those who couldn't defend, and those who were good at attacking met those who were good at defending. The clash between these two sides, with their rather peculiar styles, produced a rather unique effect.

Holy crap... this ball didn't go in?

as well as……

Holy crap... they managed to defend against that?

As for the final result, both sides became extremely inefficient in scoring, and they kept missing shots. From 3 minutes and 30 seconds before the end of the game until the last minute, the score was still tied.

85: 85!

The two sides have been tied 2-2 in just 2 minutes and 30 seconds.

What does it mean to meet a worthy opponent or a general with exceptional talent?

That's it.

A perfect match between Zhuge Liang and Feng Yu.

"It's hard for me to say clearly who had the upper hand in this game, or who played more efficiently and at their own pace." Barkley could only shake his head and sigh at the situation, saying that he couldn't understand it: "I can't even tell if this is a matchup between two top-five teams in the league."

Kenny nodded in agreement, "That's right! You said the game was in the Celtics' rhythm, but they didn't get a single point lead. You said the Knicks controlled the game and took the initiative, but they only scored 85 points."

"Tonight, things are bad on both sides."

At this point on the court, the timeout ended, and both teams returned to the field.

The Knicks replaced Stoudemire with Smith, who had a stellar fourth quarter performance, while the Celtics fielded all five of their starters.

"We scored!" Lin Tian shouted to his teammates as he raised his hand before receiving the ball, "We've taken the lead!"

Then he crossed his arms, called out a tactic, signaled his teammates to get ready, and then took the basketball and began the attack.

With 59 seconds left, the Knicks are on offense.

After Lin Tian arrived at the frontcourt, he did not rush to attack. Instead, he waved for Okur to come up and screen for him. Then, he changed direction and got past Marbury. Okur quickly moved out to create space for Lin Tian to break through, while also pulling the Celtics' interior defense out.

Duncan had no choice. Even though Okur wasn't shooting well tonight, he could only step out two steps to prevent Lin Tian from passing the ball, while Howard stayed under the basket, waiting for Lin Tian's attack.

Smith has been released again!

Ultimately, the Celtics still didn't believe Smith could keep scoring! Even though he had already made three consecutive shots in the fourth quarter, the Celtics still chose to let him go at that point.

If you dare to release it, then Lin Tian dares to spread it!

Lin Tian, ​​who had driven into the free-throw line and was about to enter the next area, suddenly clapped the ball together with both hands and threw it towards Smith.

Howard, under the basket, could only glance in that direction before setting off to help defend his high school buddy.

We can't just let Smith shoot with an open shot, can we?

Howard realized something was wrong after only one step.

The basketball never even appeared in Smith's hands!

NO PASS LOOK!

Lin Tian only glanced at it and made a passing motion; the basketball was still in his hands.

Even with Howard's exceptional talent and superhuman strength, it would be impossible for him to get back to defend the basket in time.

"boom!"

Then came a crisp sound, and the Celtics' defensive system, on which they relied to survive at 85-87, was completely broken by Lin Tian's pick-and-roll!

85: 87!

With 45 seconds left, the Knicks finally took the lead again!

With a two-point lead, the Knicks now have the upper hand!

"Beautiful! I knew it. The Knicks' ultimate solution is still Lin! It's still Lin's individual ability to save the world! Just like Lin has done time and time again over the years."

Barkley roared with excitement at Lin Tian's fake pass and powerful dunk, as if the Knicks had already secured the victory.

In their next offensive play, the Celtics spread out completely once again, creating space for Duncan. Ultimately, Duncan is the biggest star and has the highest status on the team. Although Pierce is a veteran Celtics player, at this moment, everyone still trusts Duncan!

However, after Duncan got the ball, the others didn't just stand around watching. Pierce and Marbury both moved toward Duncan's side, hoping to get a shooting opportunity.

Then, after Lin Tian and Jackson had effectively shut them down, Marbury and Pierce came up with a brilliant idea. They suddenly set an off-ball screen on the wing and hooked each other.

This incredibly simple maneuver immediately caused problems for the Knicks' defense.

Jackson wanted to switch on defense, but Lin Tian decided not to. The two made completely different defensive decisions. This was because the Knicks hadn't practiced defense much in the past year, and the players had no chemistry at all.

This resulted in the Celtics having a very good shooting space.

With Duncan's vision and selflessness, he certainly wouldn't let such an opportunity pass by. He quickly passed the ball to Pierce, who had already rushed to the corner, giving him a good chance to catch the ball and shoot directly.

Even though Lin Tian was sprinting at top speed, trying his best to catch up, jump, and try to interfere, Pierce had already shot after getting the ball. How effective Lin Tian's desperate defense would be was still completely unknown.

"Bang!"

A muffled thud, enough to make the entire Madison Square Garden cheer, rang out as the basketball bounced off the rim, missing the target.

Duncan, Smith, Howard, Okur, and others immediately scrambled for the rebound under the basket, all crowding into the three-second zone, trying to grab this crucial rebound. Neither side had an advantage in positioning, making it a close contest.

In this situation, it all comes down to luck and talent!

As the basketball bounced up and fell, Howard and Smith, two of the league's top springers, jumped at the same time, but their jump heights were almost identical, and they hit the ball at the same time, neither of them able to control it.

They could only try their best to nod towards the sky, making the basketball fly up again, before the two of them had to land regretfully.

The second wave of competition will come down to timing and experience.

Okur and Duncan were also huddled together.

At least during this rebounding possession, the two players were evenly matched.

"Stop him!" Lin Tian shouted suddenly from behind Okur. Okur, who trusted Lin Tian completely, immediately turned around, no longer caring about the rebound, but using all his strength to push Duncan out of the rebound position so that he could not grab the rebound.

Even Duncan was helpless against this style of play, where players would rather not grab the rebound themselves than let their opponents get away, and it was difficult for him to grab the rebound.

He's not afraid of Oku taking it from him; he's afraid that Oku won't want it either!

Seeing that both players had simultaneously moved out of the area where they could grab the rebound, Lin Tian finally rushed to his position, grabbed the backboard, and shouted to his teammates, "Score another basket! We've sealed the victory!"

"No foul! No foul! Hold on! We must hold on to this ball!" Rivers glanced at the remaining 29 seconds and Lin Tian's almost 90% free throw percentage, and decisively chose not to foul, opting for a proper defensive play.

According to Pierce's thinking, as long as they defend this ball, they will still have at least 5-6 seconds left on the shot clock, enough for them to make a game-winning shot!

Hold it off!

"Stop fucking dreaming!" Marbury slammed his hand on the floor, bracing himself for the worst, his eyes fixed on Lin Tian. He was going to fight tooth and nail: "I'm going to stop that shot from you!"

"Stop dreaming!" Lin Tian snorted, then changed direction and accelerated, leaving Marbury behind in the blink of an eye.

With such overwhelming talent, if you could stop Master Lin just by working hard, then what's the point of me using cheat codes?

Furthermore, Marbury himself believed that at this point in the game, Lin Tian should, both morally and logically, play it safe and wait until the offensive clock had almost expired before launching an attack.

But he clearly forgot one thing: the so-called common sense and rationality do not apply to Lin Tian!

Seeing that the Celtics' defensive formation was not yet set, Lin Tian charged straight in, catching them completely off guard.

After blowing past Marbury, Lin Tian continued to penetrate the paint, going straight for the Celtics! He wanted to use the simplest method to crush them!

After Lin Tian drove all the way to the inside, he encountered Howard's defense again, and Duncan once again had to rush out to the outside to guard Okur's shot.

Everything was so similar to the last round.

Lin Tian still held the ball with both hands, and then swung it towards Smith at the baseline.

This time, Howard remained unmoved. He wanted to defend his territory and prevent Lin Tian from attacking the basket!

But this time, the basketball really disappeared; it really flew to Smith at the baseline.

Once again left wide open, Smith caught the ball and, without hesitation, pulled it up and threw it!

After making the shot, this flamboyant guy didn't even look back to see if the ball went in or not. Instead, he confidently turned around and ran towards his own half of the court.

That's a sure goal, I need to get back on defense!

"Whoosh!"

Then came a crisp sound as Smith hit his third three-pointer and fourth basket of the fourth quarter!

With 11 points in a single quarter, Smith became the Knicks' biggest surprise weapon tonight!

85: 90!

With 20 seconds left in the game, the Knicks successfully extended their lead to 5 points!

They've basically secured the victory!

For the Celtics to win now, they can only hope for a miracle or for the Knicks to make a huge mistake and hand the ball to them.

Rivers called a timeout; he needed to devise a fast-paced three-point play to get the team to score quickly.

This shot was particularly difficult for the Celtics.

They need three points, and it has to be three points, so the Knicks will definitely defend them with their feet on the three-point line, which will make their shots incredibly difficult.

At the same time, they need to be quick! With only 20 seconds left and a 5-point gap, even if they manage to make that 3-pointer, they must immediately foul and then pray that the Knicks make at most 1 of 2 free throws, so that they have a chance to turn the game around.

In short, after Lin Tian's spike and pass, the victory was basically in the Knicks' pocket. Whether the Celtics could pull it out of their hands depended on their own strength!

Soon, the timeout ended, and Rivers replaced Howard with Tony Allen, the team's rookie drafted this year, who is also the team's most consistent three-point shooter off the bench!

Hmm... Fun fact: When Tony Allen was first drafted, he was good at offense and had a pretty good three-point shot. He was once developed by the Celtics as their offensive core off the bench.

And then? Who knows what he went through, but he became a top defensive player who was selected as the best defensive player for six consecutive times and could compete for the title of the best point guard and shooting guard in NBA history.

Well...that's not important. What's important is that the Celtics need at least two three-pointers to win this game!

"beep!"

With a whistle from the referee, the tall and long-armed Pierce stood on the sideline, ready to inbound the ball. The rest of the Celtics players, centered around Duncan, began to run, needing a shooting opportunity.

With a series of runs, Allen, who had just come on, created an opportunity on the wing, and Pierce's pass arrived immediately.

Although Jackson sprinted at top speed, trying to disrupt Allen's shot, Allen remained calm and managed to release the ball.

"Bang!"

With a muffled thud, the Celtics missed a three-pointer!

Fortunately, they still had Duncan. Under the basket, Duncan didn't even think about holding the ball. Instead, he slapped the ball away, and it immediately flew towards the 45-degree angle on the wing that he had already spotted. Pierce was the one who caught the ball there.

After receiving the ball, Pierce faced Anthony in front of him. He made a simple fake and then dribbled to the side before forcing another three-pointer!

"Bang!"

Unfortunately, he couldn't shake off Anthony, and the shot was a little too short.

It's Duncan again!

This dominant center was absolutely unstoppable at this moment. He grabbed the rebound once again and then passed the ball to Marbury, who had been left out on the other side.

Marbury didn't have time to adjust or observe after receiving the ball, and took another shot from beyond the three-point line.

The third consecutive three-pointer!

"Snapped!"

But this time, all we heard was the sound of the basketball colliding with an arm.

"Is this never going to end? Get the hell out of here!" Lin Tian roared, leaping up from the side and slapping Marbury's shot away. He then glanced at the shot before sprinting towards the frontcourt.

Jackson had already made a diving leap, getting ahead of everyone else, grabbing the basketball, and throwing it into the frontcourt before the Celtics players could catch up.

Lin Tian grabbed the basketball, dribbled quickly to the frontcourt, and completed another powerful dunk!

"boom!"

After that loud explosion, the suspense of the match vanished completely.

85: 92!

A 7-point lead!

There were only 5 seconds left in the game.

The outcome is already decided.

"MVP! MVP! MVP!"

"Lin! Lin! Lin!"

"Our King!"

"New York will win!"

"Sweep away those old Boston bastards!"

"Dry them to death!"

As Lin Tian scored, the fans in the stadium, who had been somewhat tense, finally erupted, releasing all the pent-up frustration they had been holding in all night. Their cheers, shouts, and profanities lasted for several minutes.

Even after the Celtics inbounded the ball from the baseline, and Marbury dribbled helplessly until the clock ran out, and the game officially ended, after the players from both sides had exchanged high-fives and hugs, the fans' noise finally began to subside.

Series score: 1-0!

"The Knicks won. It was a tough game!" Barkley said. "The Celtics completely controlled the pace of the game. They controlled the tempo from start to finish, and the entire game's flow and style were exactly what they wanted."

Kenny added, "But they still lost. There are two main reasons for their loss. One is, of course, Lin! Tonight, Lin's team shooting percentage was only 37%, Stoudemire's performance in the first three quarters was terrible and he was directly DNP in the fourth quarter, and although Anthony scored 22 points, he only made 7 of 18 shots."

「独自一人拿下了39分13篮板10助攻3抢断3盖帽的完美数据！他一个人连投带传，就创造出了64分的分值，球队70%的得分都和林有关！」

"But honestly, Lin's outburst and brilliant performance were exactly what the Celtics could have predicted and were part of their game plan. The real reason they lost was Smith's outburst."

"Tonight, Smith absolutely delivered the best performance of his career so far. He went 4-for-4 in the fourth quarter, including 3-for-3 from three-point range, scoring 11 points in the quarter. This included not only his early scoring runs to help the team close the gap, but also the game-winning three-pointer at the very end!" (End of Chapter)