socalfunplaces Chapter 708 Tim, the future is yours! No, it's about not letting loyalty...
Chapter 708 Tim, the future is yours! No, it's about not letting loyalty...
Even after being double-teamed, Bell's passing speed was still quite fast; he passed the ball to Parker in the corner!
Meanwhile, Parker in the bottom corner was completely ignored!
It's not that the Knicks' defense is the problem.
Old Nelson deliberately let him go!
Who told this guy to play like a war criminal tonight, the Celtics' biggest mole?
Letting him go was Nelson's plan!
Otherwise, given the Knicks' defensive cohesion and ability, if they defend all four Celtics perimeter players, there will likely be problems, and they might end up leaving their most accurate shooters, Ginobili or Bell, open!
Parker, who had been overlooked, raised his hand and waved it, then couldn't help but shudder. He had been having such a terrible shooting night that he didn't dare to shoot!
Moreover, the more the Knicks let him go, the more hesitant he became.
"Shoot, you son of a bitch!" Then two voices came from both sides of the court at the same time.
Duncan and Lin Tian both asked him to shoot!
Logically speaking, while Parker's shooting wasn't great, it wasn't actually that bad either.
The hit rate is still around 30%!
But at this moment, his hand trembled. Instead of shooting, he dribbled and drove to the basket, facing Stoudemire who was just spreading his arms to deal with him, and made a layup!
After all, Stoudemire's task was to prevent the opponent from scoring a 2+1, not to defend against the opponent's offense, so Parker's move was quite easy!
"Whoosh!"
Goal!
But it was all in vain!
It took the Spurs a full 10 seconds to score that two-pointer, and they were still down by five!
But then, an even more serious problem occurred!
The first thing Stoudemire did after Parker scored was to quickly grab the basketball and step off the baseline. Then, he used one arm to throw the ball up the court!
"Hurry up and inbound the ball! My God! The Knicks, how dare they play like this at this point? Crazy! Absolutely crazy! Aren't they afraid of making mistakes, afraid that one mistake could ruin their entire game?"
Don Nelson: What's there to be afraid of! I'm up by 5 points, what's there to be afraid of! Forget 5 points, even if we're only up by 1 point...
If we're leading by one point, of course we're still afraid.
But with 5 points now, no worries! It's a sure thing!
Stoudemire's pass was faster than any of the Spurs' players. The basketball flew to the frontcourt and into the hands of Lin Tian, who was sneaking down the court. Lin Tian caught the ball, didn't waste any time, and started running, slamming the ball into the basket with one hand!
When he made that shot, the Celtics' fastest player, Ginobili, had only just reached his own three-point line!
They completely misjudged the Knicks' playing style, completely wrong!
They assumed the Knicks would call a timeout after the basket, or at least inbound the ball and slowly advance to run down the clock.
But who would have thought that old Nelson would be so fierce?
"In this play, on both offense and defense, Don Nelson completely dominated Doc Rivers! His offensive and defensive strategies were flawless! He used two unexpected methods to defeat the Celtics!"
Kenny sincerely said, "I can only say that old Nelson is indeed a 'mad scientist,' he's a complete lunatic! But don't forget, this guy is also a scientist who can invent all sorts of tactics! Tonight, he was practically Einstein!"
In the two rounds of back and forth, a total of 12 seconds passed, but the score difference between the two sides was still 7 points!
This means that the previous 12 seconds were completely wasted.
Not only did the Celtics waste 12 seconds, they also wasted a timeout!
Victory is getting further and further away from them!
Rivers didn't call another timeout after that.
He only has one left, and if he calls now, he won't have any time to adjust.
So Rivers decided to play it safe! He wanted to trust his players this once!
The Celtics took the ball out from the baseline again, and Ginobili dribbled quickly to the frontcourt.
The Knicks maintained their defensive positioning, with four players sharing the three-point line and Amar'e Stoudemire guarding the basket to prevent the Knicks from scoring.
Of course, given the current situation, there's no point in the Celtics trying to pull off a surprise attack.
Ginobili quickly moved to the frontcourt, then faked a shot to gather the ball and forced a three-pointer over Ariza's defense!
This isn't a good opportunity, but there's not enough time left for the Celtics to find a good one!
"Bang!"
A muffled thud was heard as the Celtics missed a three-pointer. Stoudemire jumped high and, before Duncan could touch the rebound, slapped the ball out of bounds!
He took this shot with great skill.
I didn't use my full strength.
Because Stoudemire knew that with his own players inside the three-point line and the Celtics players outside, a lighter touch would increase the chances of his team getting the rebound!
Stoudemire won his bet!
Smith got the rebound, and knowing his own free throw shooting ability, Smith was afraid of being fouled by the Celtics, so he immediately passed the ball back to Lin Tian.
When Lin Tian got the ball, there were only 30 seconds left in the game!
With 30 seconds left and a 7-point deficit, the Celtics players glanced at each other and then chose to stand still.
There's no need to fight anymore!
After Ginobili missed that three-pointer and they failed to grab the rebound, the suspense of the game was over.
Should we commit another tactical foul?
That would just be helping the Knicks rack up points!
No need!
If Lin Tian makes a few more free throws, he'll score 60 points!
Not worth the candle!
Therefore, neither side played for the remaining time of the match.
The Knicks used up a full 24-second shot clock, the Celtics quickly inbounded the ball, and then waited for the clock to expire before the final whistle blew.
The match is over.
They gave it their all; Duncan gave everything, and everyone else fired every bullet they could.
But they still lost the game.
They still couldn't defend their home turf and win the crucial match.
2: 3!
The Knicks have secured a match point, and they are now just one step away from advancing to the NBA Finals for the second consecutive year!
The next game is at their home stadium!
They won't let such a good opportunity slip away like the Celtics did, losing at home.
Before this match, the bookmakers offered the two teams roughly a 40/60 chance of advancing.
Knicks 4, Celtics 6.
Who can blame them when the Celtics have home-court advantage and swept the Knicks three times in the regular season?
But after the match ended, the bookmakers' odds fluctuated wildly.
8:2 already.
The Knicks doubled their bet!
This pretty much explains everyone's current opinion on this series.
That's all.
The Knicks have basically secured their advancement!
Although the Celtics also breached the Knicks' home court and secured an away victory in this series.
But no one believed that Lin Tian's team could lose such an urgent battle at home after winning the crucial match.
That's what word-of-mouth is all about!
Lin Tian's reputation is the result of his consistent performance over the years!
Everyone trusts him and believes he can handle it.
And in fact, Lin Tian certainly did not disappoint everyone!
In the ensuing Game 6 of the series, the Knicks gave the Celtics no further chances or hopes.
They took the initiative from the very beginning of the game, and they were in the lead from the start!
Of course, the lead wasn't huge, but they held on firmly and, like a frog being slowly boiled in water, gradually widened the gap and secured the victory!
The Knicks led by only 3 points in the first quarter and by only 5 points at halftime.
At the end of the third quarter, they were only leading by 9 points!
By the fourth quarter, the score had been reduced to 6 points!
In the end, the Knicks only won by 6 points!
Throughout the game, the Knicks only led by more than 10 points once, and that lead lasted for less than 14 seconds before the Celtics narrowed the gap to single digits again.
Although they were unable to widen the gap or pull away completely, the Knicks displayed absolute dominance tonight!
They weren't behind for even a second!
Even the tie lasted only 30 seconds!
The first 30 seconds!
The Knicks have maintained their lead since they scored their first basket 30 seconds into the game!
It lasted a full 47 minutes and 30 seconds!
The Knicks' control of the game, their grasp of the situation, and their consistent and aggressive offense were fully demonstrated in this game!
They can let the Celtics launch their furious, relentless attack, and score at will, without us caring!
Because we can get more points!
Because all the Knicks players firmly believe: no one in the world understands offense better than us!
"We are the kings of offense in the league!"
With their absolute control on offense, the Knicks successfully defeated the Celtics at home!
However, the Celtics' resilience and hard work are absolutely worthy of respect!
One team is always behind, one team can never take the lead, they can never gain the upper hand, and they can never catch up!
Many times, they were just a hair's breadth away from turning the tide, many times they were just one round away from overtaking, but they just couldn't do it!
The suffocating feeling and immense pressure of being constantly chased from behind can easily cause a team to give up on the game or even collapse.
But the Celtics didn't!
They chased the score for 47 minutes and 30 seconds with all their might, and even with 10 seconds left in the game, they were still trying to make a desperate three-pointer in the hope of narrowing the gap!
But they just couldn't do it. Tonight, they were just one step short. Until the end of the game, until the whistle blew, they couldn't turn the tide!
When the final buzzer sounded, Duncan, who had played all 48 minutes and scored 39 points and grabbed 19 rebounds, seemed to have lost all his strength and collapsed onto the floor. He covered his face with his hands and didn't move an inch for a long time.
They lost! They lost again! They lost to Lin Tian once more.
This time, it was so close! I'm so unwilling to accept it! It hurts so much!
But it seems like we really can't beat them!
Duncan lay on the ground, feeling extremely distressed.
This is his tenth season since his debut.
In the blink of an eye, I'm almost 31 years old. I'm not young anymore!
Apart from reaching the Finals in his second year in the NBA and narrowly losing to the Knicks, he never came close to winning a championship again.
He always seems to lose, always seems to lose for various reasons.
I feel so awful!
"Hey Tim." After sulking on the floor for who knows how long, a super annoying voice came: "Are you crying? Do you need some tissues?"
"I didn't cry." Duncan moved his arm away from his face and looked at the guy who had given him such a crushing defeat: "It's just a loss, it's not worth crying about."
"You cried!" Lin Tian pointed at Duncan's face without explanation. "I can see the tear tracks!"
"That's fucking sweat!" Duncan straightened up, glaring at Lin Tian and cursing, "I didn't cry!"
"He just fucking cried!"
"I didn't cry! Are you fucking done yet?! Besides, I lost the game, so even if I cried, what difference would it make?"
"Not really," Lin Tian said with a smile. "At most, I can go around telling everyone: I beat Tim to tears! Like this..."
Lin Tian glanced around and suddenly shouted, "Hey Tony! Guess what! I made your boss cry! Look at Tim, he's crying nonstop!"
"Shut up, you bastard! You'll be in hell sooner or later!" Duncan yelled, raising his hand to slap Lin Tian on the head, but Lin Tian dodged it again. "You don't like people touching your head?"
"I don't like you touching my head." Lin Tian looked at the magical hand with lingering fear and said, "But this seems to be the first time I've heard you swear, it's quite strange."
"You're really relentless! You're so annoying to him." After the loss, Duncan seemed to have a lot to say. It was as if his floodgates had finally opened. He probably talked to Lin Tian more tonight than he had in the past few years combined.
"Alright, good luck in the next round, and best of luck in winning the championship." Duncan reached out his hand, indicating that he wanted to hug Lin Tian.
But Lin Tian only gave him one punch, bumping fists with him.
Lin Tian still dislikes hugging men; in fact, he strongly opposes it.
Lin Tian's opposition made Duncan quite embarrassed. The guy swore again and then turned to leave.
"Hey Tim, maybe you hate me, but there are some things I still have to tell you." Lin Tian coughed as Duncan was about to leave, then said, "I believe the future is yours!"
"The future is mine?" Duncan rolled his eyes. "I'm less than three years younger than you. Unless you retire immediately, what future do I have? Join you?"
"Ahem, ahem. I misspoke. What I meant was..." Lin Tian scratched his head a little sheepishly, then said, "Don't let loyalty hurt you! Choose the path that's best for you!"
"Loyalty has never hurt me! No, loyalty has never hurt either of us." Duncan shrugged nonchalantly and said, "We've both played for three teams."
"Loyalty didn't hurt you, but you hurt loyalty." Seeing that his famous line was useless, Lin Tian immediately retorted, "Before each transfer, I left my former team with a championship. What did you leave your former team with each transfer?"
"Perhaps it's because he misses me?" Duncan rolled his eyes and thought for a moment, then gave an answer that made him chuckle. He then patted Lin Tian's shoulder heavily and said, "I'm leaving now. Like I said, I wish you the best of luck in winning the championship!"
This time, Duncan really turned around and left the court, without saying another word or wasting any more time.
He wanted to go home and get some rest.
But of course, before going home, he still had to attend his last press conference of the year! (End of Chapter)