Chapter 233 232. Kill demons and Buddhas!

On the Spurs side, the players were all silent...it's always like this.

There are many advantages to a team that has played the same style for 10 years. For example, role players do not need to have a particularly good understanding of tactics. They can just add players according to needs. Role players also have fixed playing styles.

There is no need for the star player to have very good communication skills. Everyone knows how to play next, and the role players do what they are supposed to do, leaving the responsibility and pressure of winning to the star player.

Even though they are trailing after three quarters, the Spurs' role players are not under any pressure.

The boss takes all the pressure on himself. If the Spurs were not located in that shabby place of San Antonio and the owner was not stingy, they should have become the most popular team among role players in the past decade.

But head coach Popovich is in a very bad mood now...

On the other side, all the members of the Bobcats were excited!
Although the lead was only 3 points and although we played so well in the third quarter, we only won by 4 points in that quarter.

However, this is the first time in their five games in the finals that they have had the upper hand in both the regular time and the crucial stage of a quarter!

Especially seeing Zhang Yang play for 21 minutes in three quarters and get 22 points... 22 points is not the point, the point is that he only played for 21 minutes, and their key players in the final quarter were able to play the entire quarter!
Just like Duncan can maintain high efficiency throughout the game when his playing time is controlled within 40 minutes, Zhang Yang's overall performance will be better if his playing time is limited to 35 minutes than if he plays 40 minutes.

No matter whether Zhang Yang scores a goal or misses a shot, as long as he is on the court, his teammates will feel at ease, and if he fails to score, someone will take the blame!
Teammates all like Duncan and Zhang Yang. Who doesn’t like a star player who shoulders all the responsibilities?
After the intermission, Zhang Yang continued to play, and he was personally prepared to play the entire final quarter.

Playing with him were Rondo, Gerald Wallace, Millsap and Muhammad.

Bickerstaff asked Felton, Okafor and Perkins to get ready and take a break, as they might not be able to come off the court after returning.

When Zhang Yang was applying the magnesium chalk, he saw the opposing player on the court... Hey! He's changed!

Parker, Barry, Bowen, Horry, Duncan, Popovich actually sent out this lineup during regular time!

The defensive pressure on Muhammad is a bit too much... It doesn't matter, it's not like he is the one guarding the rim.

At the start of the fourth quarter, the Bobcats attacked first.

Zhang Yang received the ball in a high position next to Barry and made a fake move of turning sideways. Barry, who was slow in lateral movement, moved quickly. Zhang Yang took the opportunity to turn around and break through, braked to receive the ball at close range, jumped and shot... and it hit!
In the offense and defense transition, Parker used Duncan's screen to break into the inside, Muhammad came back from the baseline, Parker passed the ball, Horry followed Muhammad into the inside, received the ball and made a layup!

With wide open space, Parker played really well. The highest scorer on the court was not Zhang Yang and Ginobili who scored 24 points, but Parker with 25 points! Parker's 6 assists were also the highest in the game.

It was the Bobcats' turn to attack again. Zhang Yang continued to break through. This time, Duncan moved into position and interfered with Zhang Yang's quick stop and jump shot.

But when he turned to protect the board, Millsap got there first.

Millsap rushed into the basket and dunked to get two points!
The Spurs attacked, and Parker continued to play pick-and-roll with Duncan.

After Rondo was blocked by Duncan, he retreated directly to the basket. Rondo guarded in front and Millsap chased behind. Parker broke into the deep and passed the ball to the left side under the double-team.

Duncan received the ball at a close range at a 45-degree angle on the left side and shot...and it went in!
80 to 83, the Spurs are keeping the score close.

Duncan made 14 of 6 shots and 8 of 4 free throws, raising his personal score to 16 points, supporting the Spurs' inside scoring.

His hit rate was a bit dismal, but it was mainly because he couldn't make singles. When Parker and Ginobili needed a capable receiving point rather than a teammate who just received dunks, he did not let him down.

Even though he was in danger of physical exhaustion after playing two games in a row, he was still able to perform like this, which amazed the commentators.

This is Duncan. Even when Tianzun and Yaodao were replaced, his physical strength was affected and he collapsed. However, Duncan still played at the All-Star level. In addition to 16 points, he also had 8 rebounds, 4 assists, 1 steal and 2 blocks.

When the Bobcats attacked, Zhang Yang still rushed to the inside.

Millsap performed well in offensive rebounding, so of course he had to create opportunities for his teammates.

Unfortunately, Millsap failed to grab the offensive rebound this time, and Zhang Yang took half a step into the three-second zone and made a layup!
This time, Duncan did not come out to defend!

In the last round, he was sure that he would not be able to come back if he made a layup, so he calmly and rationally chose the most suitable and safest defensive method, squatting under the basket, preventing the opponent's inside scoring and protecting the rebounds. He could only leave the defense of the opponent's outside players to his outside teammates.

No one can say that Duncan's defensive choice was wrong, but his overly stable style of play was not only unexciting and unwatchable, it also really made the Spurs lose a lot of possibilities.

However, this is the charm of contemporary basketball. Every superstar has his own uniqueness. Even Kobe, who has been imitating Jordan, has fundamentally different playing style and role on the court from Jordan.

Parker had Duncan's high-quality screens to break away from Rondo's close defense, and Duncan's mid-range and short-range shooting threats to contain the defense. In addition, Popovich had a shooting lineup of one big and four small players, and the offense was booming.

Zhang Yang's offensive conditions were also better. Duncan couldn't expand, and Barry was close to him, so Zhang Yang broke through. When Barry was left a little open, he would make a mid-range shot.

When the double-team came, Parker passed the ball decisively; Zhang Yang shot if he could, and passed the ball if he couldn't.

The two fought back and forth, and the score difference fluctuated between 3-7 points. At 5 minutes and 35 seconds, Popovich couldn't bear it anymore and called a timeout!

90 to 94, the Spurs trailed the Bobcats by 4 points.

In 5 and a half minutes, Parker scored 4 points and 4 assists, Duncan scored 4 points and 1 assist, leading the team to 14 points. The offensive performance was very good, but the opponent scored 15 points!
张杨6投3中加上2中2的罚球拿到8分1助攻，得分提升到30分，超过了帕克的29分，全场最高！
Including free throws, Zhang Yang threw 5 shots in 7 and a half minutes, which was so wasteful that Popovich was trembling.

If you have the opportunity to shoot, you must shoot; if you don’t have the opportunity to create opportunities, you must shoot. Only when you really can’t do it, pass the ball.

Millsap, Muhammad, Rondo, and Gerald Wallace are all accustomed to Zhang Yang's style of play, and they do a very good job of rushing and cooperating.

Popovich originally wanted to let Ginobili rest for two more minutes, but he was worried that he would be exhausted by the opponent if he continued like this.

After the timeout, Popovich replaced Ginobili, but this time he kept Parker on the court as well.

Normally, the main purpose of replacing a shooting point guard with Ginobili is not to create space for Ginobili. When Ginobili gets excited, his shooting choices are even more outrageous than Kobe's. The main purpose is to create space for Duncan to play one-on-one. Duncan will definitely not be able to play one-on-one tonight, so let the two All-Stars in the backcourt play together.

The frontcourt remains unchanged, with Bowen, Horry and Duncan continuing to be the three.

At the moment of the bayonet fight, Popovich still chose to put the pressure on Duncan, he believed that Duncan could withstand it.

It’s called trust.

On Bickerstaff's side, Felton, Zhang Yang, Gerald Wallace, Okafor and Perkins were substituted.

The Spurs were on offense, Ginobili held the ball, broke into the inside, and passed the ball to Horry who was left open. Horry slammed the ball on the rim with a "bang" and missed!
Fortunately, Gerald Wallace rushed to the basket and tried to make a layup against Duncan's defense, but was interfered by Duncan and the ball slipped out of the basket.

It was the Spurs' turn to attack again. Ginobili broke into the inside and was double-teamed. Horry pulled away, but Ginobili did not pass the ball. He took two steps to the front of the basket and made a high layup against Perkins's defense... and it went in!
92 to 94, Ginobili held on to the score and prevented the Bobcats from pulling away!

The Bobcats players were impressed that this could go in.

However, the confidence and determination of the Bobcats players were not affected and they continued to fight!
The Bobcats sent out the twin towers of Okafor and Perkins to limit Parker and Ginobili's attack on the basket, while Okafor could also block Duncan's close-range shots.

Of course, this also affected their own offense, and the conditions for Felton, Zhang Yang, and Gerald Wallace to attack the basket also deteriorated.

But considering that Ginobili had 24 points in three quarters and Parker had 29 points, Bickerstaff made this decision decisively even if it would hurt the enemy by a thousand and his own by eight hundred.

Bickerstaff's bold adjustment once again worked!

In the 11th minute of the final quarter, the Bobcats attacked. Zhang Yang ran to the high post with the help of a screen at the left baseline. Horry did not switch defense, but stayed under the basket to help Duncan protect the rim. Zhang Yang took three shots in the past, one single shot and two blocked shots, all of which missed. Horry chose to protect the rim first.

Zhang Yang went around to the high position and his fourth shot after three consecutive iron shots was still decisive. No one interfered. His shooting action was very complete and his strength was very comfortable. The ball drew a beautiful arc and fell into the frame!
102 to 99, the Bobcats lead reaches 3 points!
The Spurs called a timeout!

Including Zhang Yang's shot, the Bobcats scored 5 points in the past 8 minutes, while defending the Spurs to only 7 points!
These 7 points were all scored by Ginobili alone. He made 3 of 1 shots, the only goal in running games was a three-pointer, and the other 4 points were scored by making 4 free throws after he broke into the paint and caused two fouls.

The physical difference was reflected. When Duncan, Okafor and Perkins stood under the basket, Parker couldn't even see where the basket was if he broke through. But Ginobili has the standard small forward body shape of 198 cm!

Watching the players return to the bench, Popovich had a worried look on his face. Fortunately, the players were already used to his extroverted personality and were not affected by his emotions.

So, as a head coach, there is no need to learn the aloof style of Phil Jackson, Philip Saunders, and Pat Riley. Just do what you should do. Once your players get used to it, you can live a happier life.

But Popovich is really worried now, as it has come to the critical moment again, and that bad boy Jack had been missing shots continuously, reducing his shooting percentage in the final quarter to 9 out of 3. As a result, he was given an open position and scored immediately!

He felt his players had played well tonight.

吉诺比利22投10中，其中三分球7中4，加上9中7的罚球，拿到31分6助攻。

帕克20投11中，加上8中7的罚球，拿到29分10助攻。

两人拖着今晚17投7中仅拿到18分的邓肯打成这样，已经不能更好了，当然邓肯13板5助攻1抢断2盖帽同样起到了重要作用，过去5分钟邓肯拿下4个防守篮板球，遏制了对方两大锋线的进攻篮板球冲抢。

After a moment of melancholy, Popovich adjusted his mentality and thought and arranged tactics.

He hesitated and did not make any personnel adjustments, mainly not replacing Parker.

Popovich is not good at on-the-spot strategic response, in this aspect he has learned the true skills from Larry Brown.

But he is quite good at tactical arrangement in a single round, and he has learned a lot from old Nelson in this aspect.

After arranging the tactics, Popovich looked across and saw Rondo taking off his training suit...

He concluded that the defender substituted by the opposing team was definitely not Zhang Yang.

He called Horry and Bowen out of the bench and made wild hints.

When they were called aside, they thought the old thief was going to do something bad again. After listening to what the old thief said, Bowen looked up at the ceiling. The empty ceiling was so beautiful. Horry looked down at the floor. The patterns on the floor were so beautiful...

During the regular season, when the Spurs went to Oakland to play the Warriors, Horry heard a legend.

Bad boy Jack was injured by someone stepping on his foot in high school. He didn't get revenge at the time, so he later took the football players from the University of Southern California to break the ankle of the high school student who stepped on his foot.

The violent incident shocked the whole city, even the Compton City Hall was alarmed, but in the end it was settled by Zhang Yang's family with money. There is a legend that Zhang Yang is the eldest son of the owner of an international catering company. The two believed that this legend was very likely to be true.

There is a photo as evidence - a photo of Zhang Yang and Tyson Roy, who was selected by the San Francisco 49ers in the sixth round with the seventh pick after graduating from USC.

There is also news that Zhang Yang's father opened a new farm.

Popovich, you old thief! We are here to win the championship, and you want us to die?

...

The Bobcats replaced the lineup with a big-four-small combination of Rondo, Zhang Yang, Alan Anderson, Gerald Wallace and Okafor.

After the timeout, the Spurs attacked.

Popovich stood on the sidelines, his expression even more worried.

He didn't know whether the two team members understood his hint, and neither of them responded to him.

But Parker's action in receiving the serve made Popovich not care whether the two men understood his hint or not - little bastard, pass the ball!
Parker received the ball and came to the top arc. Ginobili went up to ask for the ball. Parker waved his hand to let Ginobili go away, and he wanted to do it himself!

他小跑车今晚20投11中命中率55%，不比22投10中命中率45%的吉诺比利强？

Ginobili had 6 assists and 3 turnovers. How strong is it for him to have 10 assists and 2 turnovers?
Why should Ginobili initiate the offense? He can still feed the ball to Horry!

Popovich jumped up and cursed outside the court, but Parker turned a deaf ear to him. He wanted to prove himself!

Popovich was about to explode and wanted to call a timeout... He quickly stopped calling for a timeout because he had already called all the timeouts. If he called for another timeout, he would get a technical foul and give the opponent 1 point, which would be tantamount to suicide.

He squatted on the sidelines with his head covered. He arranged for Ginobili to initiate the attack. It was not because he thought Ginobili was better at passing the ball than Parker, but if Ginobili could not pass the ball, he could still shoot himself.

Parker was sent on the field just to trust this guy at the critical moment. Moreover, if the three-point opportunity is really not good, Parker can quickly attack one, and then use foul tactics or full-court press to steal the ball. The lineup of one big and four small players is suitable for full-court press.

Yao Dao: I missed two games and finally pulled out the sword to stab the opponent, but at the last moment I lost the ball!

However, Parker did not pass the ball. Ginobili chose to respond calmly and actively moved to the sidelines. Duncan also came up from the wing, ready to help Parker with the pick-and-roll.

On Zhang Yang's side, the scene in front of him made him stunned. He thought their plan of provocation had failed long ago, but he didn't expect it to work at this time!

After coming to his senses, he immediately clapped his hands and gestured to his teammates, clenching his fists!
The teammates received instructions and began to adjust their defensive positions.

When Parker saw Ginobili pull away and Duncan move up, he felt relieved instantly and his fighting spirit immediately rose. He wanted to lead the team to victory.

Parker broke into the paint with the help of Duncan's screen, and the Bobcats' defense moved quickly.

Rondo used Bowen's screen to run towards Horry in the high position, and went around to defend and receive the ball.

Alan Anderson went around Ginobili, and Gerald Wallace left Duncan open and chased after Parker, but he did not go up to close to him. Instead, he stayed between Parker and Ginobili who was running back, assisting Alan Anderson to go around Ginobili and completely cutting off Ginobili's chances of receiving the ball and shooting from the outside.

After Parker broke in, he found that he had lost contact with the three teammates who were ready to shoot three-pointers!

Popovich's mentality exploded for a while. Seeing Parker rushing in and facing Okafor one on one, he expected Parker to make a quick shot and then commit a tactical foul to replace the bastard.

An even more desperate scene happened... Parker didn't shoot, but stopped at close range, looked left and right, and was blocked by Okafor who came out to cover!

Duncan quickly cut in.

He didn't cut to the basket before because he wanted to make space for Parker and let Parker make a quick shot. Seeing the movement of the opponent's defense, he knew that the three-point tactic could not be implemented in this round.

Parker saw Duncan appear in his field of vision, found his backbone, and quickly passed the ball... A nimble figure rushed in from the wing, bypassed Duncan, and shot the ball!

Zhang Yang steals the ball!

He was sticking to Bowen on the left sideline and saw Duncan moving towards the inside. He judged that Parker was stuck by Okafor and could not pass to the basket, so he could only pass when Duncan was cutting in. At that time, the line of sight between Parker and Bowen would be blocked by Duncan, so he attacked decisively.

The bet was right!
When Parker passed the ball to Duncan, he really couldn't see Bowen, and he didn't even see him rushing in!

Holding the ball firmly and avoiding Duncan's counterattack, Zhang Yang started to counterattack, and Duncan couldn't even pull him up!

Popovich was completely desperate about tonight's game...but in despair, he still had a glimmer of hope, hope for the entire finals.

Seeing Horry struggling to defend, Popovich's eyes became brighter and brighter...

Then, he saw Horry retreat to the right side of the free throw line to block Zhang Yang. Zhang Yang passed the ball to Rondo who followed up on the left. Horry turned around to help Rondo. He failed to defend two people at once. Rondo made a layup. Horry slapped his thigh and looked up in frustration...

Popovich: No, that's it? What are you doing? Provoking a conflict! Pulling down Rondo's layup!

Yes, all he wanted was to commit a rough foul to provoke a conflict, and he didn't even let the two of them commit a flagrant foul on Zhang Yang. This was the finals, and he was not that bold.

But the two men didn't understand what he meant, and thought he was going to deal with Zhang Yang the same way he dealt with Nash...

But even if they understood, they wouldn't pay any attention.

What difference does it make to the young players on the other side who are so united? A flagrant foul on Rondo less than three meters away from Zhang Yang?

The video of Raja Bell being knocked unconscious while he was 6 meters away from Zhang Yang after a foul, and he did not escape, is still a popular video now!
Moreover, since it is a hint, just pretend that you didn't understand the hint... He is a six-time champion, the player with the most championships currently, so it doesn't matter if he is cut.

The Bobcats players and fans at the scene don’t know the mental journey of the Spurs coach and some players, and they don’t care about the conflicts that may arise between the Spurs coach and players, and between players.

All they knew was that there were 28 seconds left and they were leading by 5 points. In the decisive battle, they had secured victory!
There was no foul, the Spurs did not call a timeout and could only continue attacking.

This time, Parker received the ball and pushed forward to the frontcourt and immediately passed it to Ginobili. He knew he had done something wrong, but it was no use regretting it...

Ginobili shot the three-pointer quickly. If it goes in, there is still a chance. He can try to force the ball and shoot again.

But Alan Anderson was very focused on defense and made the biggest interference, and the demon sword, who scored 31 points tonight, missed the three-pointer!
Rondo protected the defensive rebound. With 19 seconds left, he did not launch a counterattack and wasted time after advancing across half court.

If there was a timeout, the Spurs players would have tried again, but there was no timeout, and their plan to steal the ball and then attack after making a three-pointer was ruined, so there was no need to commit another foul.

The cheers of the fans were getting louder and louder. With just a few seconds left, the Bobcats players and coaches had already rushed into the court. The referee did not stop them because the opponent did not commit any fouls or force the defense. The game would be over once the Bobcats ran out of offensive time.

Amid the cheers of the fans and the celebrations of the Bobcats players, the final whistle sounded!
首节9分、第二节6分、第三节7分、末节10分，张杨今晚打了33分钟，26投12中，其中三分球3中1，加上8中7的罚球，张杨拿到全场最高的32分，外加4板3助攻2抢断！

His playing time was perfect and he had enough energy to complete a steal and counterattack in the final moments.

The teammates who gave him the conditions to play like this are Felton and Rondo!
费尔顿延续了上一场出色的表现，三分球9投4中，加上5中2的两分球，再加上4中4的罚球，拿到20分2板3助攻。

Rondo set new personal highs in scoring, rebounding and assists in the finals, scoring 8 points, 9 rebounds, 7 assists and 1 steal.

When the performances of Gerald Wallace and Okafor were already difficult to improve, the two's outstanding performances led the team to surpass the Spurs in regular time.

Zhang Yang scored in the final moments of the first two quarters but was outscored by Ginobili. He really relied on these two people to lift him up.

加上杰拉德-华莱士11分5板2助攻2抢断3盖帽、奥卡福16分8板……104比99，山猫队5分险胜马刺队，赢下天王山之战，大比分3比2领先！

When Zhang Yang was celebrating excitedly with his teammates, he noticed that someone from the opposite side also entered the court before the final whistle - Popovich.

Popovich ran straight to Parker and pointed at his nose and cursed him. Parker, who insisted on doing it himself at the critical moment, was scolded so hard that he didn't dare to breathe and looked like he was about to cry.

Zhang Yang lamented that Parker was so miserable, it was all the fault of the fat boss. How could he do such a thing to sow discord?

After a three-second silence for Parker, Zhang Yang put the poor sports car behind him and accepted the post-match interview with his teammates.

Tonight is the Bobcats' last home game this season. It has been decided that the entire team will be interviewed after the game. The interview camera will be connected to the big screen and the microphone will be connected to the live sound system.

This post-match interview was quite long. Zhang Weiping may have spent two days drafting it. He asked questions to every Bobcats player.

The answers of each player of the Bobcats showed their personality traits, but as they had received the notice long ago, they rarely used swear words when facing the camera of the court TV. Occasionally, it was because not everyone has really been to school. Many of their players could only get a guaranteed score of 2 points when they appeared in school.

When it was Zhang Yang's turn, he started to act like the group leader again. No matter how well or badly his teammates played, he would always find an angle to praise them.

For those who didn't play, such as Jarrett Jack, who played for 12 minutes in the Eastern Conference Finals and made only 5 of 1 shots and was abandoned in the Finals due to his lack of ability, Zhang Yang could praise him by saying "Jarrett's cheers were really loud."

Although the interview was long, few fans left early. They were very happy to win two games in a row.

Although the Bobcats failed to fulfill Zhang Yang's bold statement of winning four games in a row and winning the championship, they are leading 4-3 and have already surpassed the Spurs!

Finally, Zhang Weiping asked: "This is our team's last home game this season. Do you have anything to say to the fans who have been supporting you?"

What? Who will answer?

Everyone in the Boss Gang looked at Felton. He was their scapegoat… no, he was the one in charge.

The veterans had few opportunities to speak, and they didn’t try to grab the spotlight. The number of people in the struggle group was decreasing…

Felton looked at Zhang Yang: You read a lot, you come.

Zhang Yang wanted to show off, but after thinking about it, he chose to be low-key: "Wait for us, we will bring back the championship trophy for you to see."

(End of this chapter)