Jordan: I thought he was there to help me!

Chapter 576 The Spurs are in a dilemma! Should they quickly catch up or put up a better play?

"pause!"

Popovich couldn't stand it anymore. If he didn't call a timeout soon, the game might just turn into garbage time!

Although he called for a pause, he hadn't actually figured out what to do.

James has been playing for 16 minutes straight. Logically and emotionally, he should be allowed to sit down and rest. But why is he being asked to sit down now?

Lin Tian has been playing for 16 minutes already!

Finally, the Knicks will definitely have to make a substitution, and Lin Tian will definitely have to go out and rest. If Popovich takes James out as well, then there will be no way to target their bench.

Then all the previous efforts would have been in vain?

Popovich looked at James, and after several attempts to make up his mind, finally opened his mouth and asked, "LeBron, can you do it?"

"I can keep playing! I don't need to rest!" Even though James was covered in sweat and panting heavily, he nodded to indicate that he was fine.

"Let's continue!" Popovich finally went all out: "Tracy, Mike, JR, Chris! The four of you and LeBron come at me together!"

After the team fell behind by 15 points, Popovich finally decided to go all out and fielded a pure offensive lineup of one big man and four small men!

These are the five most aggressive offensive players the Spurs can field right now!

It's especially worth mentioning that although this lineup looks like a big man and four small men, James and McGrady are both over 2 meters tall, JR is 198 cm tall, and Bosh is 208 cm tall. The height of this lineup is actually not short at all, and is even taller than the starting lineup of many teams!

So this lineup is actually not small at all; it's just that Popovich himself doesn't like such an extreme lineup, so he rarely uses it.

"Lin, Amar'e, take a break." Old Nelson was very relaxed at this moment. With a 15-point advantage in hand, he could play around as he pleased.

"Melo, do you have the guts to go up against LeBron? That guy is definitely focused on competing with you, trying to prove he's the best of the 03 draft class."

"I can take him down anytime!" Anthony patted his chest, having rested for over eight minutes straight, now bursting with energy and enthusiasm ready to be unleashed: "Just let me match up against him!"

"Then you go and take him down!" Old Nelson nodded in satisfaction, quite pleased with Anthony's fighting spirit.

Then he clapped his hands and said, "Alright, go! Go show your strength, go and beat these exhausted San Antonio country bumpkins who can barely move their legs to a pulp!"

After Don Nelson finished speaking, the Knicks' bench players, led by Anthony, Houston, Ward, and others, took to the court to prepare for the next match.

Then, upon seeing that McGrady and James were indeed still on the other side, Anthony and the others once again showed confident smiles.

Popovich, my old man has seen right through me again!

Wouldn't I beat you to death then?

Of course, Anthony and others' confidence comes from Don Nelson, but Don Nelson really doesn't have much confidence in them.

As soon as the game resumed, Old Nelson pulled Lin Tian aside and whispered, "If they can't hold on, you're ready to step in and take over! Amare needs a rest; his stamina will drop rapidly if he plays for too long."

"Don't let your body cool down, stay alert, stay thirsty! You might have to go back on in 3 minutes. 10 points... no, 7 points! Once the Spurs close to 7, go in and stabilize the situation!"

Old Nelson was no longer the confident man who had been so smug about Anthony being unparalleled. His words clearly showed that he could see that Anthony was inferior to James.

Or rather, Anthony alone is no match for McGrady plus James.

It's a completely different level.

Old fox!

After listening to Old Nelson's words, Lin Tian thought to himself: These old men who play tactics, no matter what they show, are all wicked and cunning, full of black water and tricks!

Even well-known dogmatists and old fogies like Larry Brown and Jerry Sloan have plenty of dirty thoughts in their heads.

They've just hidden themselves better, making them harder to spot.

Sitting on the bench, Lin Tian was completely relaxed. To keep his body warm, he put on a jacket and covered himself with a towel, ready to go on stage at any time.

On the court, without Lin Tian and Stoudemire, the Knicks' offense really couldn't keep up. Although Anthony could also score one-on-one, Ward's ability was indeed no match for Lin Tian's.

Fortunately, this guy is indeed steady and patient. No matter how much Bibby trash-talks him or confronts him, he doesn't say a word and doesn't get worked up at all. He always advances slowly and deliberately. When he gets to the frontcourt, he first directs everyone's movement and only starts passing the ball after everyone is in position.

This kind of player is the kind who doesn't seem to have much skill, and actually isn't that good, but he can control the game and keep everyone calm.

The main principle is to avoid mistakes rather than seek merit!

Even at his peak, Ward only scored 8-9 points and 3-4 assists per game, and only scored 20+ points twice in his career. But he was able to stay with the Knicks for 12 years, which shows that he had the ability.

Take Ward for example. He's only averaging 3 points and 1 assist per game this year, which seems unremarkable. But so far this season, he's only had 4 turnovers. His ability to control turnovers is indeed good.

With him on the team, the Knicks can be assured that even if we lose points, we won't lose them in a precipitous, rapid manner.

Let's grind it down little by little!

Ward's playing style also led to Barkley criticizing him every time he played.

"The Knicks' most boring moment has arrived!"

For example, in the latter part of the second quarter tonight, the Spurs really found their rhythm, trying to drive to the basket and launch a few fast breaks to quickly close the gap.

With Ward around, they just can't get going!

That momentum could never be fully ignited.

Therefore, although they are trying to catch up, the pace of their comeback is not very fast.

It wasn't until there were only 3 minutes left in the second quarter that Don Nelson called another timeout.

The score is now 60-67.

The Spurs have finally narrowed the gap to 7 points.

During the timeout, Don Nelson didn't say much, but instead waved his hand and said, "Go! Go all out! Crush them!"

"At this point, they absolutely dare not take McGrady and James off the court. No matter how talented those two are, they've reached their limit. They've been playing at high intensity for over 20 minutes straight, and they need rest more than we do!"

"So, don't let them rest! Run! Run! Run! Understand? Everyone, run!"

After speaking, Old Nelson looked at the excited expressions on all the players' faces and then pointed out the names of the players who would be playing next.

"Amaree! Josh! Carmelo! Gerrard and Lin! Go!"

The Knicks' strongest offensive lineup is on the court at the same time!

"SHOW TIME!" Anthony shouted excitedly, raising a fist. Although he had scored quite a few points, he was really annoyed by the constant attention from McGrady and James, and had suffered several losses.

But now, his brothers are back, and they're going to kill you all!

"Don't shout slogans that are suspected of plagiarism." Lin Tian slapped Anthony on the head and said, "The people of Los Angeles will sue you."

"Then what should we shout?" Anthony turned to look at Lin Tian.

"Party Time!" Lin Tian shouted, raising his hands high. "Come on!"

"If I could beat him, I would definitely punch him." Anthony's lips twitched. What difference did it make?

Well... there are some, but the difference between having none and not having them is really not that big.

"What makes Lin so deserving of a beating, yet he's been in the league for so many years and hasn't gotten a single one?" Stoudemire slapped Anthony on the head and said, "I'm actually looking forward to someone stepping up and sparring with Lin!"

"I can hear you, you two bastards. I'll feed you balls and help you grow up." Lin Tian tilted his head and stared at the two of them, saying, "You talk bad about me behind my back, and you expect me to get beaten up?"

"That's because nobody can beat you!" Anthony patted his chest and said, "I'm saying this as a fight fan."

Compared to Anthony, who actually tried to explain in a serious manner, Stoudemire was much smarter. He simply walked to the sideline and shooed away Wallace, who wanted to inbound the ball: "I'll inbound the ball."

The Spurs are fielding almost their entire starting lineup right now.

They only replaced Nesterovic with Smith, and played a lineup with one big man and four small men. This time, seeing the Knicks' lineup, the Spurs players finally breathed a sigh of relief.

at last.

Popovich finally made the right prediction this time, accurately predicting the Knicks' lineup.

Unfortunately, at this point, even a correct prediction doesn't help the Spurs players.

What they need now is to catch up!

Popovich, McGrady, James, and others all understand that whether they can correctly predict the Knicks' current roster is not important; what is important is whether they can withstand the Knicks' offensive firepower at this stage!

withstand?

Of course, it's impossible to withstand that!

As soon as he reached the sideline, Stoudemire passed the ball to Lin Tian. Lin Tian didn't even put the ball in his arms after receiving it; instead, he threw it directly toward the basket without any hesitation!

The pass was made without any hesitation or pause. In the eyes of the fans, it was as if the basketball, after passing through Lin Tian as a transit point, drew a perfectly right angle and flew directly to the basket.

This is just like "Kuroko's Pass".

"boom!"

Immediately afterwards, a loud bang came from under the Spurs' basket. Smith descended from the sky, completely ignoring that Bosh had already set up his position and that Bosh had made a near-perfect defensive choice: standing up straight, raising his hands, and cutting off all connection between him and the ball.

Smith doesn't care about that at all!

He jumped up, grabbed the ball, and then slammed it toward the basket without a second thought!

This shot was the ultimate display of his physical abilities and the best interpretation of his talent, which is considered to be among the best in the league's history below the head!

Upon landing, Smith roared excitedly, his hands forming the shape of a giant eagle in front of his chest once again.

The eagle spreads its wings once more!

"Heh heh heh!" Barkley let out another burst of snickering laughter: "A right-angle connection! The Knicks' signature right-angle connection! Never let your guard down when the Knicks are inbounding the ball; they have too many players who can spread their wings and soar, too many players who can take off at any moment!"

For the Spurs, James dribbled the ball up the court, turned his back to organize the team's offense, and then used a screen to suddenly break into the paint!

Although the Knicks' defense was terrible, they still had at least a tiny bit of help defense and rotation.

As James drove into the paint, the Knicks players began to collapse, decisively giving up the mid-range area for James to operate freely, with both big men retreating to the paint.

Seeing this, James could only curse once, and then passed the ball to Bosh, who was completely left open on the wing by Smith.

Bosh took a shot from two steps inside the three-point line after receiving the ball, but unfortunately, his mid-range shot still missed!

These Spurs players really felt their legs going weak.

Lin Tian rushed into the paint, grabbed the backboard, and then threw the ball forward as he landed, while simultaneously moving quickly to launch another counterattack in the frontcourt.

Even though the entire Spurs team was exhausted, and even though everyone, including James, felt their stamina rapidly declining, they still chose to rush to the bus to block the Knicks' fast break.

This time, Lin Tian didn't pass the ball, slow down, or show any fear of the Spurs' defense. He charged forward with all his might, overcoming all obstacles, and in the blink of an eye, he reached the Spurs' basket. Then, facing McGrady's defense, he executed a skillful floater, easily sending the basketball out.

With a crisp "swish!" sound, the Knicks scored another 2 points!

The point difference between the two sides has widened to 11 points again!

"Tracy, if you don't make a move now, you won't be making a move tonight." After scoring, Lin Tian casually retreated while looking at McGrady with amusement.

He simply couldn't believe that this guy would willingly step down to the second line and play support for a young upstart.

This guy is a two-time scoring champion... oh, never mind, McGrady no longer has a scoring title.

That means he's a guy with extremely high aspirations, who's single-mindedly focused on winning and desperately wants to win.

Normally, he can keep a low profile and not be too high-profile, even handing over control of the team, but Lin Tian believes that this guy hasn't given up yet.

Although he is a well-known NBA star with a short peak and a short career, many people say that he doesn't work hard, doesn't train, doesn't put in the effort, and doesn't fight hard.

This guy's personality is also very problematic; he has countless flaws.

But Lin Tian knew very well that a guy who was willing to risk his entire career and even take injections to help himself get into the second round wouldn't give up so easily.

As for what Lin Tian needs to do now, it's to make McGrady refuse to accept his fate.

If you don't accept your fate, then there's bound to be some conflict between you and James, right?

Even if you two can still hold hands and go to the bar for drinks after this game and still be best buddies, at least tonight, I'm going to ruin your Christmas!

In the next possession, the Spurs' offense was still led by James. After a series of pick-and-roll plays and directing his teammates' movements, he suddenly turned and drove to the basket.

This time he finally pushed past Stoudemire and made a layup, scoring 2 points for the team!

However, their good fortune didn't last long. Just 10 seconds later, the Knicks executed another brilliant play!

After Lin Tian and Stoudemire executed a pick-and-roll, Lin Tian pretended to pass the ball to Stoudemire, but the ball went through his legs and into Anthony's hands on the other side.

After receiving the ball, Anthony turned and dribbled past James' defense, then made a layup to score another 2 points for the team!

"Tracy, are you really just watching?" Lin Tian provoked McGrady again. "You weren't this cowardly when you were with the Magic! Back then, you dared to tell Malone and Duncan to get out of the way and take on the one-on-one yourself. And now? Where has that confidence of yours gone?"

"Was it eaten by the dog or by yourself?"

Lin Tian's words undoubtedly stung McGrady. He asked himself if he was any worse than James, and he even felt that he was far better than James! But the team insisted on making James the team leader.

Why should I?!

Just because he's young?

Well, that is indeed a fairly important and valid reason.

But that doesn't mean McGrady gave in.

He was not convinced at all; he was angry.

So, when James was about to call a play in the next possession, McGrady came to the wing, backed down Wallace, and reached out, saying, "LeBron, ball! We need to catch up quickly!"

James paused for a moment, then considered ignoring McGrady and playing a more reasonable game.

But after hesitating for a moment, he still passed the ball to McGrady.

Let him handle it!

After McGrady got the ball, even though he had his back to Wallace, he was still skilled and daring. Suddenly, he dribbled behind Wallace's back, and the basketball flew right in front of Wallace!

Wallace watched the basketball pass by and instinctively reached out to grab it, but the basketball had already moved away from him and returned to McGrady's hands.

Then McGrady quickly grabbed the basketball with his other hand, and with a lightning-fast turn, launched a fadeaway jump shot!

The entire movement was fluid and incredibly exciting!

"Whoosh!"

Then came a crisp sound as McGrady made a difficult and spectacular jump shot, scoring 2 points!

64: 73!

With two minutes remaining in the second quarter, the Spurs launched another counterattack! (End of Chapter)