Chapter 101 100. So what if five against eight?

Entering the halftime break, all the Spurs players were very excited!

Compared with G3 and G4, their number of fouls tonight was actually much less. In the first quarter, they had a total of 4 fouls and only gave the opponent 5 free throws.

Their defense was actually better in the second quarter, and theoretically they should have committed fewer fouls, but they ended up committing 6 fouls in the quarter and conceded 8 free throws to the Heat.

But, what if it was 5 vs. 8? What if the free throw rate was 5 vs. 13 in the first half? They still dominated the opponent!
However, in Zhang Yang's opinion, the reason they were able to play 5 against 8 was not because of how well they defended or how well they controlled fouls. Didn't the opponent still get 13 free throws in the first half?

They were able to suppress the opponent because they had good offensive coordination in positional warfare and accurate shooting, which reduced the number of defensive counterattacks by James and Wade.

The Heat have fewer opportunities for defensive counterattacks, so James is forced to play more difficult offense in positional battles.

Although James had a whistle, he made 8 of 5 free throws in the first half, but only 9 of 3 shots.

Of course, Zhang Yang admitted that James has strong personal abilities and they cannot defend him one-on-one, but relying on teamwork, it is really not difficult to defend the simple balls that James is best at.

If Wade hadn't scored 8 points in the second half of the second quarter, the game would have been ruined. This reminded Zhang Yang of Irving in 16 and Davis in 20...

When Popovich encountered a situation where he couldn't defend, he actually tried to solve the problem from the offensive end. This is a big change compared to the previous decade.

Just when Zhang Yang thought the game was securely won, in the third quarter, the referee told them that 6 fouls and 8 free throws in a single quarter were only the limit of what they could do to avoid fouls, not the limit of the whistle's life!

In the third quarter, the Heat "caused" the Spurs to commit 12 fouls, got 18 free throws, made 18 of them, and scored 15 points in a single quarter.

The Spurs only caused the Heat to commit three fouls in a single quarter, and none of them were shooting fouls.

For the Spurs, committing many fouls not only means losing more points, but also causes opponents to go to the free throw line constantly, which interrupts the game and affects their offensive rhythm. In the first half, their shooting percentage was over 21%, but in the third quarter it dropped to only 8 of shots, less than %!

The game was played like they were using the Hack-A-Shaq strategy against the Heat!
21投8中，其中三分球6中2，马刺队这一节只拿到18分。

After three quarters, the score was 68 to 69, and the Spurs were overtaken by the Heat!

...

During the intermission, Popovich ran to the referee and screamed, but the referee ignored him.

But the referees are also human beings, and they also know how outrageous the call they just made was.

One time, Parker retreated to help defend and just touched James. James immediately showed a mask of pain... I can only say that the Finals MVP is so terrifying that any corner of his clothes can knock James into that state.

The referee felt that the whistle was about to break tonight, so he had to go to the technical table to change it. He didn't have time to kick Popovich out of the court.

On the other hand, Zhang Yang never thought that a game could make him so angry.

Looking at the Troika standing at the side of the court with their hands on their hips and sulking, Zhang Yang said, "The old Jewish guy in the box doesn't want us to win, but I don't accept it. I just want to win!"

To Zhang Yang's surprise, it was Duncan who responded first.

"Let's see whether they are better at free throws or we are better at shooting!"

Watching his teammates transform their anger into fighting spirit, Zhang Yang sighed that he was worthy of being Tim Duncan. If he didn't speak, it would be fine. But once he opened his mouth, all his teammates were ignited.

That’s right, if Zhang San hadn’t spoken just now, would this guy with expressionless face not have planned to say this sentence?
By the way, does Duncan have social phobia? If so, then it's lucky. If this guy is not socially phobic, he might become a yellow-haired guy kicking cement at the village entrance.

After cursing, Popovich wanted to seize the moment to motivate his players, as they had just lost their temper due to the referee's whistle.

Zhang Yang and Blair, two players with more extroverted personalities, went to argue with the referee, but the argument was ineffective and the whistle remained the same, so the two could only sulk.

I didn’t expect that as soon as I came back, I saw fire in the eyes of my teammates!
What's going on?
I can’t worry about so much. Since the players’ fighting spirit has not been wiped out by the referee, I should hurry up and arrange the tactics!

Popovich's coaching philosophy has indeed undergone a 180-degree change compared to the previous decade. When encountering problems, offense is the top priority!
The idea is the same as the Spurs four-wheeler!
The intermission is over and the fourth quarter begins.

The Heat sent out a combination of Chalmers, Wade, Mike Miller, James and Bosh.

The Spurs sent out a combination of Parker, Zhang Yang, Ginobili, Leonard and Duncan.

The Heat attacked first, Wade broke through with the ball, passed the ball to James who cut in, Duncan got the ball back to the basket, James passed it again, and Bosh received the ball at the baseline and made a mid-range shot.

Duncan quickly picked up the ball and passed it to Zhang Yang, who immediately initiated a fast break.

The Heat's lineup of one big and four small players retreated quickly and did a good job of defending against fast breaks. Chalmers and Wade caught up with Parker, James followed Ginobili, and Bosh delayed Zhang Yang's advance.

But Zhang Yang did not wait until his teammates had a chance to catch the ball and shoot before passing it. Ginobili was still two or three steps away from the three-point line when Zhang Yang passed the ball!

Ginobili just received the ball outside the three-point line, changed direction, passed James, and went straight to the inside on the left.

The magic sword and the sports car attracted the defensive attention of the three opponents who retreated to the three-second zone. Ginobili passed the ball again... Leonard flew in and dunked to get two points.

Zhang Yang didn't care whether he could get an assist or not. When he saw his teammate had a second chance to connect with the opponent, he passed the ball directly, tearing apart the opponent's defensive formation!
In this game, the TV commentator said that Zhang Yang pushed the counterattack like Kidd...

70 to 71, the Spurs are keeping the score close!

Attack! Attack! Attack!
In the next few rounds, the Spurs focused on offense, and on defense they kept an eye on two three-point shooters, Mike Miller and Chalmers. Duncan closed the basket to prevent the opponent from breaking through the basket and causing damage. The Heat wanted to cut in and make mid-range shots. They would interfere if they could, but forget it if they couldn't. They didn't give the opponent a chance to scream and put on the mask of pain.

The Spurs focus most of their energy on offense!
Relying on the threat of 1-point shooting, the Heat created very good offensive conditions, played very good pass-cut cooperation and mid-range shooting opportunities, and continued the offensive firepower in the third quarter.

But the Spurs have more firepower!

Although the Heat's scoring efficiency was similar to that in the third quarter, they had fewer free throws and could no longer go to the free throw line constantly to disrupt the Spurs' offensive rhythm like they did in the third quarter.

Zhang Yang pushed forward, the sports car charged to attract firepower, the demon sword followed up to assist or support... As long as there was a counterattack opportunity, it would basically not be missed; in positional warfare, Duncan went to the top arc to pick and roll for Zhang Yang, Parker, and Ginobili in turn, blocking the defender, pulling to a 45-degree angle to assist or support. The task was simple and easy, and the rest was left to Zhang Yang, Parker, and Ginobili with fire in their eyes. Although Leonard was just a rookie, his offensive awareness was innate. Whether it was a counterattack or a positional attack, he could seize the opportunity to cut in very well...

The Heat made 12 of 7 shots in the first half of the final quarter, including 2 of 1 three-pointers, plus 3 of 3 free throws, scoring 18 points, which was their best half-quarter performance in the finals.

但马刺队半节12投8中，其中三分球5中3，加上2中2的罚球，狂轰21分！
Halfway through the final quarter, the Spurs overtook the Heat by two points with a score of 89 to 87!
The James and Wade duo are stunned!

Their offense was so high, aiming for 35+ points in a single quarter, but the score gap didn't widen and they were overtaken!

Being overtaken in the score was not the most terrifying thing for the Heat.

The Spurs' offensive continuity made the Heat unsure of how to adjust during the official timeout.

In the past half of the quarter, the Spurs did not play with Parker, Zhang Yang, Ginobili, Leonard, and Duncan all the time. When a certain offensive player's physical strength declined and affected his performance, Popovich replaced "a screw". Patrick Mills replaced Parker, Danny Green replaced Leonard, Stephen Jackson replaced Ginobili, and Ginobili took a break and replaced Zhang Yang...

As long as one of Zhang Yang and Ginobili is on the court, the teammates will feel at ease. They know that if the team's offense cannot be opened up, someone will step up to solve the problem. Therefore, they play more devotedly and without fear.

Even if Split replaces Duncan, it will not have much impact on the Spurs, because Duncan has already shown Split the correct and simple way of playing, and Split just needs to follow it. When the "expiration date" of the playing method expires, Popovich will replace Duncan.

Neither Spoelstra nor Pat Riley behind the Heat bench could think of a way to deal with the Spurs' offense, so they could only choose to attack back.

They still have a chance in offense. The opponent won by 3 points in the first half of the quarter, but they just made two more three-pointers. As long as they can defend the three-pointers, they still have a chance to win the game.

However, after the official timeout, Spoelstra and Pat Riley's offense declined before the opponent could even miss a three-pointer!
前面已经打了36分钟，15投8中拿到22分6助攻的韦德体力明显撑不住了，官方暂停回来后他连续两次突到近距离的抛投铁了！

The Spurs launched two consecutive counterattacks. Zhang Yang and Parker, who returned to the game, scored two points each. The score was 93 to 87, and the Spurs' lead reached 6 points!
Wade is responsible for creating offensive opportunities for James, he is responsible for breaking through when the team is unable to open up in the first half, and he has to desperately defend Parker and Mills in the first half of the final quarter... Let's not talk about what kind of person Wade is. After entering the new decade, he has indeed become a 'sweatworker' of the Heat, doing the most tiring work, receiving the harshest scolding once losing, and finally being ruthlessly abandoned. If he wants to end his career as a Heat player, he has to lick his face and go back to get the minimum salary.

Wade couldn't play, which seriously affected the Heat's ability to play simple balls. In the next three rounds, the Heat only made 3 of 1 shots. Although they did a good job of retreating in these rounds and prevented the Spurs from counterattacking, they still failed to defend the positional battle.

马刺队抓住机会打出一波5比2，将分差打成98比89，领先优势扩大到9分！
Unable to play simple balls, James chose to take responsibility and do it himself!
In terms of personal ability, James is undoubtedly the strongest in the league today. If he really gets tough, he's very fierce.

In the next few rounds, he made 3 of 2 shots, plus 3 of 2 free throws, and scored 6 points, 1 assist and 1 steal. The assist was a three-pointer assist for Battier, leading the team to a 5-point surge in 9 rounds!
But during this period, the Spurs' offense remained stable, scoring two goals in four rounds and getting five points.

With 11 minutes and 16 seconds left in the final quarter, despite one turnover, the Spurs still maintained a 1-point lead of 103 to 98. The Heat needed to score at least two goals to tie or overtake the score, and the Spurs had to remain scoreless during this period.

At this point in the game, large areas of empty seats began to appear in the audience stands, and about one-third of the fans left early.

The loyalty of the Heat fans was fully demonstrated at this moment.

However, many fans still expected a "comeback" like in the third quarter, with a 5-point difference and 44 seconds left, and they still had the ball!
When it was the Heat's turn to attack, James said he had been attacking for several rounds in a row and was very tired and needed to slow down, so he gave the ball to Wade.

Wade had no doubts. He knew his good friend would never back down and dare to attack with 44 seconds left. He picked up the explosive bag and rushed to the inside.

In the past few rounds, James was the main attacker, and Wade's physical strength was indeed relieved. He played this shot very beautifully. With the interference of Duncan, Wade pulled up in the air and made a layup with his low hand to avoid the block!

Popovich called a timeout for a substitution.

The fans at the scene cheered wildly. There were 29 seconds left. As long as they could defend against the Spurs' next attack, they would have a chance to tie the score and drag the game into overtime!

After the timeout, the Spurs sent out a combination of Zhang Yang, Danny Green, Ginobili, Richard Jefferson and Duncan.

After receiving the serve, Zhang Yang leaned sideways against Wade, controlling the ball to waste time.

Although Zhang Yang is not as good as Wade in terms of confrontation and impact, his weight is already top-notch among guards, his strength is also at a first-class level, his ball protection habits are good, and his height and wingspan are better than Wade. Wade can only watch Zhang Yang waste time and get anxious. Other players on the Heat team don't dare to double-team him. Danny Green, Ginobili, and Richard Jefferson, these three have a three-point shooting percentage of over 40% this season.

Theoretically, James' height and wingspan would be more effective in pressuring the defense, but James is too heavy now and cannot keep up with Zhang Yang's one-on-one breakthrough. The 24-second offensive time is reduced to only 7 seconds. Zhang Yang turns left and breaks through. Wade turns around to chase... but is blocked by Duncan.

Bosh switched defense in time, but he was afraid of Zhang Yang's three-pointer and long two-pointer, so he pressed his defense one step inside the three-point line. Zhang Yang passed him with a change of direction.

Zhang Yang rushed straight into the inside, James retreated in, Zhang Yang used the European step, took two steps in a row and came to the left rear of James.

James defended very hard on this ball and made a very good judgment in turning around. He caught up with Zhang Yang when he took his second step and jumped...but Zhang Yang's jump seemed to be unaffected by the two consecutive changes of direction!
James had just shrunk from the bottom corner and turned around to defend with all his strength, but his jumping height was not as high as Zhang Yang!
Zhang Yang put the ball into the basket over James' head!

105 to 100, the Spurs regained a 5-point lead and the Heat called a timeout.

There were wails of grief at the scene, and people began to leave in waves.

Zhang Yang made a European step and then a layup after a pick-and-roll, killing the hopes of the Heat fans!
With 8 seconds left and trailing by 5 points, even the Heat coaching staff and players felt there was no hope.

But we still have to take a gamble. What if they can perform a miracle of 8 seconds and 8 points?

But after the timeout, Mike Miller received the ball at the top of the arc and shot towards the defense, but Zhang Yang, who had a precise timing, slapped him to the other side of the court.

Zhang Yang's block shot killed the only one-third of the fans left at the scene... Oh, that's not right. After Zhang Yang's block shot, most of the remaining fans at the scene jumped up and cheered in celebration!

The American Airlines Center has 6000 seats, but the diehard Heat fans who remain occupy less than one-tenth of the seats. There are nearly 2000 fans on site, and less than of them are diehard Heat fans. The rest are fans from all over the United States and the world who have gathered in Miami to watch Zhang Yang's game!

After the ball rolled out of the other half-court baseline, the referee called it out of bounds and the Heat had the ball. With 2.3 seconds left, the Heat did not call a timeout. James went back and received the pass but did not shoot again. The final whistle sounded.

The Heat scored 31 points in the final quarter, their highest score in a single quarter tonight.

But the Spurs scored 37 points in the final quarter!
张杨20投10中，其中三分球5中2，加上5中4的罚球，拿到26分8板3助攻1抢断2盖帽。

邓肯15分12板3助攻3盖帽、帕克15分6助攻、吉诺比利16分5助攻……

105 to 100, the Spurs won the decisive battle and led the Heat 3 to 2!
The Spurs players took off their paralyzed masks and gathered together to celebrate wildly after the final whistle. They won with 5 against 8!

...

Two days later, on June 6, the Spurs returned to their home court to face the Heat in Game 24 of the Finals.

During the past two days of rest, the Spurs coaching staff and players have been thinking about how to play the best offense to counter the opponent's terrifying 8-man basketball offense.

They did not get complacent because they pressed the Heat in the final quarter of Game 5.

The team was able to complete the reversal in the final quarter of Game 5 and keep the Heat under pressure because they did a good job of consuming energy in the first half.

If the referee blew the whistle from the beginning of the next game... the Mavericks massacre in 06 is still fresh in our memory.

But they are still confident that their offense is much stronger than the Mavericks team in 06 who only knew how to play one-on-one.

But after the game started at 8 pm, the referee did not blow the whistle when a Spurs player touched a Heat player as he did in the second half of Game 5.

While the Spurs were preparing for the game over the past two days, the league, the Heat, James... were all criticized by the media.

This is not 2006 when the Internet was not yet developed.

The Heat's Big Three have attracted a lot of attention, and the Spurs' games have also had high ratings in the past two years, so public opinion has exploded.

The video footage of the 188 cm, 84 kg Parker moving in to help defend James, and the 206 cm, 120 kg James missing a layup, staggering sideways two steps with a mask of pain on his face, and getting two free throws went viral online.

Parker is jokingly called "the most brutal point guard in history".

The curious fans broke down and analyzed every time the Heat went to the free throw line from Game 3 to Game 5...nearly half of the free throws shouldn't have been taken!
Things have come to this point. If the Heat had won by giving the whistle like they did in 06, the Heat would be leading 3-2 now. Stern would insist, but the Heat can't even beat 8 against 5, so it's useless... Compared to the joke of the future, Stern still has some dignity to hide.

Moreover, the market sentiment on the other side of the ocean is even worse than that in the United States!

The worst-case scenario that the Spurs expected did not occur, and the referee executed the calls fairly, openly and impartially tonight.

But the Spurs can no longer take back their butcher knife!
After the first quarter, the Spurs led the Heat by 36 points, 20 to 16!
热火队首节22投仅8中，其中三分球8中2，加上2中2的罚球，只拿到20分！
The Heat players were stunned by the beating. Is the strength gap so big?

In fact, the Heat are not that bad.

However, they have developed a bad habit of relying on the threat of "1-point shots" to play simple offense in this finals. Today, the referee suddenly stopped whistling, and their simple passing and cutting cooperation could not be carried out. For a moment, they didn't know how to play.

During the game, a group of people were floating on the outside shooting three-pointers, and they shot 8 three-pointers in a single quarter!
In the second quarter, the Spurs' offensive momentum slowed down, and they only scored 28 points in the quarter. After such a high performance in the first quarter, they were also tired. Even if they could be more extreme and rotate 12 players, they still need to consider continuity.

However, the Heat played even worse in the second quarter, as if they had no idea how to play, and only scored 17 points.

At the end of the first half, the Spurs led the Heat 64 to 37, and the difference widened to 27 points!
After the halftime break, the Spurs' four players took turns to play, but Popovich still didn't dare to relax. He also knew that the opponent's strength was not that bad. Although the score seemed to have reached garbage time, he still had to be cautious.

Sure enough, in the third quarter, James and Wade launched a fierce counterattack after self-examination.

With the whistle sounding normally, the Heat scored 30 points in the third quarter.

This made Zhang Yang very puzzled. If he had the ability, why did he insist on playing simple ball? Because it could help him maintain his health?

Simple balls are easy, but tough ones are not! The reason why Zhang Yang was worried about his opponent was because the Spurs also scored 26 points and withstood the Heat's offensive! After three quarters, they still led the Heat by 90 points, 67 to 23!
In the final quarter, Popovich was completely relieved and replaced all four wheels, letting Mills, Danny Green, Leonard, Dio and Split go up to practice more.

The Heat continued to score in the final quarter. James scored 13 points and 3 assists, leading the team to 28 points in a single quarter, and defended the Spurs players to only 20 points, but it did not have any impact on the result of the game...

110 to 95, the Spurs defeated the Heat at home!
When the final whistle sounded, the Spurs players once again took off their facial paralysis masks and cheered wildly in celebration.

Tonight's celebration was much more exciting than the one on the road on the 21st. Although there were cheers at the end of that game, there were only about people, which was not very exciting.

Tonight, the cheers of 20,000 people were deafening!
And this victory is fundamentally different from that one...the score was 4 to 2, and they won the championship!

Zhang Yang also joined in the celebration. Although this was just an experience for him, he played a truly key role in this championship!
He felt great about this experience.

The referee in Game 5 stopped acting and directly "joined" the Heat. Zhang Yang was facing a 5 vs. 8 situation and was almost furious, but in the end they won!
G6 also massacred the Heat!

Just when Zhang Yang was looking forward to the award ceremony after the game, he felt sleepy... Damn your uncle's training gate!

I made an appointment to have a drinking contest with Bird, but you waited until I was almost drunk to death before letting me go. Now that I’m averaging 25 points per game in the finals and winning the championship, I’m going to get the MVP, and you won’t let me have some fun…

……

……

At 2005 o'clock in the morning on December 12, 26, Zhang Yang woke up.

The last moment in his memory was when he fell asleep in anticipation of the experience.

But this was not his first experience, and he took the initiative to recall the experience of the just-concluded finals... We still won 5 against 8, and it was still so cool!
No wonder future fans will love to mention 58 all the time.

If he wasn't there, facing the situation where the referee directly intervened, with Duncan's personality, wouldn't he have to endure it?
Popovich probably has no choice as they no longer have Bowen and Horry.

Zhang Yang felt very sorry for not being able to enjoy the championship award ceremony.

In that case, then let’s really fight for a championship ourselves!

But if we go back to the 10th timeline next time, will we still play the Heat in the finals? By 13, Wade, who was over 30, seemed to be on the verge of collapse, and Bosh was completely useless, averaging less than 7 rebounds per game, and often only 1 rebound per game in the playoffs. Zhang Yang remembered that Bosh averaged only 13 points and 14 points per game in the 12 and 14 finals when Duncan defended him...

If we really play against the Heat, Zhang Yang is looking forward to it!
If it's not the Heat, then I'm even more excited. The Thunder's three... the two youngsters? The Splash Brothers? Or a new Big Three?

After ending his active recollection, the memory of his training was sealed again. What Zhang Yang "remembered" were only the experiences of using techniques, coordinating tactics, and responding to situations on the spot, which would not cause his memory to become confused due to the training.

He got up, went to the study to get a basketball, and went to a nearby park to practice dribbling.

"Small vs. Big (Parker): It's easier to find the shooting touch when facing a big player in the three-second zone."

The new gains from this experience are very suitable for him as his height, wingspan and weight are not yet fully developed. Steady shooting is a good way for him to shoot when he enters the inside and fails to shake off the defense.

His shooting speed has already increased slightly, so he has the conditions to practice stealing shots.

However, after practicing quick shots in the paint for a while, he didn't feel like he could find the shooting feel any faster. He guessed it would only be effective when there was an inside defender, so let's practice first!
The team had a three-day holiday and started preparation training on the day of the game, but Zhang Yang started training today after taking two days off on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.

It's nice to lie down and do nothing, but it's also fun to train to get stronger. Each has its own advantages, and he likes the latter.

After breakfast, his father went back to California to take care of the farm affairs, and his mother would go back to help after staying for a few more days.

During breakfast, Zhang Yang heard his parents say that they thought the environment in Charlotte was very good and that they would consider opening a store here if they had the chance in the future.

He thought it was a good idea. There were already many local fans supporting him as the "North Carolina genius player", and there would surely be more and more in the future. It would be best if he could make use of them.

But he also felt the pressure. His father hadn't even built the first farm yet, but he was already thinking about the second one! He must be the winner of the four-year agreement!
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(End of this chapter)