svetikya Chapter 388 The steal! In the final 2 seconds, Lin Tian was robbed of the ball!
Chapter 388 The steal! In the final 2 seconds, Lin Tian was robbed of the ball!
"Pat Riley," Lin Tian said, picking his ear, "hasn't he always been the leader of Miami? Neither you nor Gary have ever been the leader of Miami."
Lin Tian's words instantly deflated the previously high spirits of Mourning and Payton. Lin Tian continued to undermine them, saying, "Let's move on. Even if Vince goes to Miami and becomes the leader, so what?"
"Next year you get sick, he retires, and Vince is carrying the team alone, bearing all the pressure. Then, following Pat's bastard habit, he'll make him play 45 minutes every game, as if he wants him to die on the court?"
At this point, Lin Tian looked at the two guys and said, "I think we should just see each other in the competition! Let's not do this boring stuff before the competition."
After Lin Tian finished speaking, he didn't give these two old guys any face and pulled Carter away.
"Anywhere is fine, Minnesota, Milwaukee, Toronto are all okay, just don't go to Miami." After walking a distance, Lin Tian immediately gave his advice.
"You hate them both that much? I used to think you hated Karl Malone the most!" Carter scratched his head, a little confused.
"No, I respect them a lot, and if given the chance, I'd even recruit them to my team and help them win a championship ring!"
"I'm not letting you go because of Riley! That guy never treats players like human beings, only as tools for his own success! If you have value, he'll treat you like his own son; if you don't, he'll immediately change his attitude and treat you like the product of his wife's infidelity."
"I don't know how much you can achieve if you go to the Heat, but I'm sure you won't be happy."
"Don't be fooled by how close Alonzo and Riley are now, like father and son. If Alonzo's kidneys ever have any problems again, Riley will throw him out like trash! Just like he did with Hardaway a few years ago."
"If it weren't for his personality and behavior, how could a coach of his caliber have been ousted from both New York and Los Angeles without even a single player supporting him?"
"In short, trust me, you absolutely won't go wrong!"
Carter nodded as if he understood Lin Tian's words, but there was nothing he could do about it, since Carter was not like Lin Tian and did not have the Heavenly Eye.
He couldn't see how Riley would deal with Mourning in the future, or how he would trick him back. He also wouldn't know that Wade had given everything for the Heat, only to leave in frustration in the end. He would never know about Riley's cold-blooded behavior.
But Lin Tian believed that Carter would listen to him.
This young man is good at listening to advice, but his problem is that he is too indifferent to desires.
Carter loved basketball, but he wasn't as passionate about winning.
Some people will give up many personal hobbies for victory, but Carter is the kind of person who would give up victory for personal hobbies.
This explains why he flew back to North Carolina the night before Game 7 to attend his graduation ceremony, which led to a series of missed shots in Game 7, and why he went to great lengths to trade him because he was unhappy in Toronto.
This is also why, despite being very wealthy, he spent so many years as a substitute in the league on a minimum salary.
He loves basketball, but he doesn't chase after victory and honor.
His motto is: to be happy in victory and joyful in defeat.
Such a guy is indeed not suitable to be the leader and soul of a team. He is more suitable to be the second-in-command and do what he is good at!
Far away.
Back to the game!
In the first game of the series, the Pacers, who had a full week of rest, faced the Heat, who had just finished two rounds of fierce battles and were at the peak of their confidence, form, and fighting spirit!
The current Heat team, although their roster strength and the level of their core players may not be that great, their fighting spirit, tenacity, resilience, and the confidence gained from two consecutive upsets are enough to elevate their fighting power by at least one level!
Lin Tian even felt that, in some ways, this Heat team was even stronger than the Heat team that he had faced in the Eastern Conference Finals two years ago!
Lin Tian had a feeling that this team, composed of past stars and nobodies, might bring him a lot of trouble!
"beep!"
With a whistle, the referee standing in the center circle tossed the ball into the air, and the game began!
Although Mourning has already been afflicted with kidney disease once, his performance on the court this year is still quite remarkable. After slapping the ball to Payton, Mourning quickly ran towards the frontcourt to prepare for positioning.
Besides the veteran duo of Payton and Mourning, the Heat's other three starters are Eddie Jones, the only former All-Star shooting guard in the league to have Kobe Bryant as his backup; Brian Grant, a blue-collar power forward with considerable defensive and rebounding abilities; and Kendall Gill, a former steals champion who is now past his prime.
If all four players were in their prime, the Heat's roster could be considered one of the "Big Four," but unfortunately, apart from Jones who is still in his prime, the others are clearly past their prime.
So instead of calling them the Four Heavenly Kings, Lin Tian felt it would be more appropriate to call them the Miami Sunset Red Dance Troupe.
They're all old guys whose professional careers are almost over.
At the same time, Lin Tian was also very clear that there was only one trick to deal with this kind of old men's team.
Run! Run for your life!
They might be able to keep up in the first half, but in the second half, the team's stamina and form will inevitably decline drastically. At that point, the Pacers will be able to easily go on a run and secure the victory!
In order to get moving, in addition to speeding up your own pace, it is equally important to find a way to make your opponent's pace speed up as well!
Only when you run towards the goal can you truly run!
So, just as Payton crossed halfway, Lin Tian rushed up to him and began pressing him tightly.
"What's wrong, Gary? Didn't you handle Allen pretty well last time? Now try handling me! Let's see if your gloves are leaky."
Years of confrontation with Lin Tian have taught the trash-talking king Payton to keep quiet. Now, his matchup against Lin Tian is just like his matchup against Jordan!
Even if you can't out-argue someone, you might not be able to win a fight.
Talk back? You're just asking for trouble!
Payton ignored Lin Tian's taunts, dribbled to the frontcourt and quickly passed the ball to Gil who had come out from the low post. Gil took the ball, dribbled for only one step, and then pulled up and shot from beyond the three-point line!
"Whoosh!"
The fact that Gil, whose three-point shooting has never been consistent throughout his career, can be so decisive and resolute in taking three-pointers speaks volumes!
The Heat are truly united right now!
They were all at the most confident stage of their lives!
Let alone the Pacers they are facing now, even if they were facing the Mars team that Jordan faced in the movie, they would be full of confidence and believe that they would definitely win!
This is the transformation of a team's mental attributes after a series of victories and defeating stronger opponents!
The subsequent matches confirmed Lin Tian's idea.
The Heat, a team that has been past its prime, have played exceptionally well on both ends of the court! They held their own against the Pacers!
With their insane fighting spirit, relentless hustle, ever-increasing physicality, and utterly reckless style of play, they never allowed the Pacers to pull away!
Their success rate on offense isn't actually that high, and their footwork on defense isn't even that fast. Although they shoot decisively, they don't make many shots they shouldn't have made!
They held their nerve against the Pacers!
Lin Tian, who initially wanted to steer the Heat into his own rhythm by increasing physicality and speed, discovered more than halfway through the game that the Pacers were being led into the Heat's rhythm!
It wasn't a positional war where both sides engaged in back-and-forth hand-to-hand combat during repeated positional attacks and defenses.
Instead, it was clear that both sides were playing very quickly, with many offensive and defensive transitions and a lot of shots.
However, under these circumstances, both sides had very low shooting percentages, but their defensive intensity was extremely high!
Simply put: Both sides are running and defending!
Although he was running, Lin Tian didn't feel comfortable at all. He could feel that this was not the rhythm he liked at all, and he could also feel that his teammates were playing very uncomfortable!
On the other hand, the Heat's veteran players are getting more and more comfortable and confident as they play, and they have clearly entered their best rhythm!
At the end of the first three quarters, the score was only 60-59!
The Heat are currently leading by 1 point!
If you only look at the scores of both sides, you would definitely think that this was a very slow game, with every offensive play becoming a positional battle, and every shot being the product of careful consideration. You would also definitely think that this game must have been a game where every offensive play lasted until the last 5 seconds of the 24-second shot clock before a shot was taken.
But quite the opposite!
One simple statistic can reflect the playing styles of both sides in this match.
The Pacers have already taken 81 shots, while the Heat have taken an even bigger 88!
In contrast, in the historic game between the Pacers and the Mavericks before the All-Star break, the Pacers had only taken 84 and 89 shots respectively by the end of the third quarter!
However, if we look at the scores, both teams had already scored over 100 points by the end of the third quarter in that game, but tonight, the combined score of the Heat and the Pacers has only just surpassed 100!
Just by looking at the number of shots, you can tell how fast the game was going, and by looking at the final score, you can tell how badly both sides were playing tonight!
The Pacers shot 25-for-81, a field goal percentage of 30.1%, with a dismal 3-for-19 from three-point range (15.7%). Only their free throw percentage was acceptable, with 6-for-8.
热火队那边的悽惨状况不遑多让，他们88投27中，命中率30.6%略占上风，但他们的3分球是可怜的16投1中，仅仅6%的命中率！或者说他们自从开局第一次进攻命中了那个3分球之后，接着的15个3分球全铁了！
As for their free throws, they only made 5 out of 10, barely reaching 50%.
Both teams were incredibly evenly matched tonight!
The Pacers have always played this style of play, and they have absolute confidence in their offense. Regardless of whether the shots go in or not, everyone will continue to shoot one after another!
As for the Heat, although their high-speed, run-and-gun style of play tonight is completely out of character, they are now extremely confident!
They believe they can defeat all opponents, regardless of their style!
When these two completely different sources of confidence collided, the two sides were tied in the first three quarters.
However, in the fourth quarter, the scales of victory began to tip in favor of the Heat.
Even though they keep missing shots, the Heat remain confident!
After all, that's how they won the first two rounds of the playoffs! They love this kind of rhythm!
Their secret weapon is that even though I don't know how to attack, neither do you!
We all work together to forge iron, but we all fail to score!
Then, the Heat used their extensive experience in shooting to gain the upper hand in the game and ultimately win it!
That's just their style!
But for the Pacers, no matter how confident they are, no matter how many victories they have achieved through constant scoring and offense, some of them can't help but start to doubt themselves in tonight's situation.
Can I really do it?
Can I really make the shot?
Will I keep losing tonight?
When self-doubt begins to emerge, and when players hesitate to shoot, the gap between the two sides slowly begins to widen!
The more they hesitate, the more likely they are to miss the shot. And when the opponent starts to hesitate and lack confidence, the Heat's confidence grows stronger!
The Heat's shooting percentage hasn't improved much, but they've started to take control of the game!
Their lead began to slowly widen!
1 point…3 points…5 points…
But with two minutes left in the game, the Heat had already built a seven-point lead!
Of course, both teams still scored very low; in the first ten minutes of this quarter, the Heat only managed a 13-6 run.
Not much, but enough!
Given tonight's success rate and efficiency, a 7-point gap and 2 minutes in time really give the impression that it's an insurmountable chasm!
During the timeout, Carlisle looked at the somewhat dejected players on the bench and, without giving them any leeway, unleashed a torrent of yelling at them. As a young coach, he rarely lost his temper and usually maintained his composure.
But tonight, he wasn't angry that the players couldn't make shots, and he wasn't angry that the players couldn't defend against the opponent or even lost the game.
But at this moment, Carter, Webber, Christie, Parker, and others all looked dejected.
These bastards are clearly scared now. They're too afraid to attack because of their inability to make shots. They're intimidated by the Heat's increasingly aggressive style of play!
Seeing that his angry outburst had failed to make the players raise their heads, Carlisle cursed inwardly.
He knew that this was because the team's past victories had been too easy and continuous, and the players hadn't faced any difficulties for too long.
At the very least, he felt he couldn't get things done tonight; he was unlikely to be able to restore the team's confidence.
However...
Why do we have to cheer everyone up?
Five brave guys are enough. As long as someone dares to go up and fight, and as long as we can win the game tonight, then everything will be fine! Our morale will be back in no time!
The victories of the past few years have not only fostered the players' confidence, but Carlisle's confidence has also grown stronger over time! He is confident that even if the team is down by 7 points, they can definitely turn things around!
"I don't need to explain what losing this game means, right? We'll lose a home game, which is the bare minimum. Those seasoned veterans on the other side will be even more confident, and they'll be even more aggressive in the upcoming games!"
"Tonight, we have to crush them! Let them know that we are a completely different team from the 76ers and the Magic! Let them know that our strength is far beyond what those two lousy teams can compare to!"
"Crush them! In the last two minutes, take back this seven-point deficit and completely crush them! I want them to forget the feeling of victory after this game, and I want them to forget what they did in the first two rounds!"
"I want them to fear us! Understand?"
"Understood!" Lin Tian was the first to stand up, followed by Ben Wallace, Harrington, Miller, and Arenas!
These five are the five players Carlisle just named, and they are also the five most bastards and toughest players on this Pacers team!
These five guys have hearts bigger than the rest of them; they're all the kind of people who'll be even more ruthless than you if you're mean to them!
In the last two minutes, they were definitely more reliable than Carter, Webber, and others who were clearly out of sorts at this point!
The game continues!
The Heat fielded their starting five. Lin Tian received the ball from the baseline, but this time he didn't rush to advance. Instead, he slowly dribbled the ball to the frontcourt and then spread his arms to signal everyone to spread out!
Payton's defense was a good two steps away from Lin Tian, and he was letting Lin Tian shoot!
This isn't Payton's fault; it's just that Lin Tian's mid-to-long-range shooting was absolutely terrible tonight!
他3分线外只有7投1中，中距离投篮也同样只有11投3中！今晚的林天，绝对处于他整个职业生涯中手感最糟糕的几个夜晚之一了。
Faced with Payton's deliberate conceding of a shot, Lin Tian did not choose to directly shoot and try to get a feel for the ball; now was not the time to be reckless!
Lin Tian dribbled the ball and slowly began to advance!
Yes, keep moving forward, he's testing Payton's limits!
I left you two steps outside the three-point line, and now that I'm inside the three-point line, will you still leave me there?
put!
Payton continued to retreat!
He maintained his distance from Lin Tian. To him, Lin Tian posed virtually no threat from mid- to long-range. The only thing he needed to be wary of was Lin Tian's potential breakthrough!
Payton's retreat meant that Lin Tian didn't encounter much defensive pressure near the free-throw line!
"You really think I'm Shaquille O'Neal?" Lin Tian laughed and blurted out, then suddenly pulled up and shot at the free-throw line with an almost free-throw motion!
"Whoosh!"
"I was just having a bad day, my hand isn't broken!" After scoring, Lin Tian waved his arms and yelled at Payton, "Keep letting me go!"
Not defending three-pointers is one thing, but not defending free throws either?
Do you really think I can't even make free throws tonight, Payton?
"F*** you!" Payton gritted his teeth and swore.
He mainly blamed himself. He was indeed careless in that round and completely forgot that even if Lin Tian's touch was terrible, his shooting range wouldn't be so ridiculous that he couldn't even make an open shot from the free throw line!
Fortunately, with only 1 minute and 40 seconds left, the Heat were still leading by 5 points!
Payton quickly dribbled up the court and then passed the ball to Mourning again.
At times like these, the giants under the basket are always more reassuring!
The problem is, Mourning has been playing hard for 40 minutes tonight! If he hadn't been sick, this shot would have been no problem at all.
But now?
With his brute force, Ben Wallace held Mourning firmly outside the three-second zone. No matter how hard Mourning tried, he couldn't advance even half a step. His legs were starting to go weak and he couldn't push off anymore!
"Alonzo!" Just when Mourning was stuck and unable to get past the big man, a familiar hoarse voice suddenly rang out. Mourning instinctively passed the ball in the direction of the voice!
The voice was very familiar; it was definitely from someone he had known for a long time!
"Thanks, Alonzo!" Lin Tian hugged the basketball, turned around, and started pushing the ball forward again!
Mo Ning was certainly familiar with Lin Tian's voice! The two had indeed known each other for 5-6 years!
No problem, absolutely no problem!
Lin Tian pushed his speed to the limit this time. After a flash of lightning, he forced his way into the heart of the Heat's territory. He didn't care that Payton and Jones were still defending him. He just started his run and jumped high into the air!
It's true that I'm not having a good shooting touch, and it's also true that I'm missing shots.
But damn it, how can a dunk go wide?
With this unstoppable momentum and terrifying impact, Lin Tian raised the ball high with one hand, and after making contact with Payton and Jones in mid-air, he slammed the basketball down heavily!
"boom!"
After a loud bang, Payton and Jones were completely unable to stop Lin Tian's dunk. He completed another amazing one-handed dunk over their heads!
The entire venue finally erupted in a tremendous cheer!
The Conseco Center has been quiet for a long time tonight!
They were dominated by the Heat for almost the entire game, and they were out of sorts for almost the entire game. For almost the entire game, the Indiana players didn't dare to unleash their passion. They were really holding back tonight!
But after Lin Tian scored 4 consecutive points, narrowing the gap to 3 points, even with only 1 minute and 20 seconds left in the game, the Pacers fans were completely unleashed!
Won!
Every Indian has this confidence! Our forests are back!
We've got this game in the bag!
We'll definitely win!
That's how confident I am!
Instead of calling a timeout, Riley let Payton continue dribbling and organizing the offense off the court!
At this point in the game, he knew that timeouts wouldn't be very effective, so it was better to save them for a more crucial moment.
At the same time, the Heat's veteran players are absolutely worthy of the new appointment! Their experience, ability, and ability to handle big games never disappoint!
Sure enough, Payton didn't try to find Mourning this time. Instead, he passed the ball to Gil, who easily broke past Miller with his speed and then passed it to Jones, who was cutting to the middle. Jones got the ball and took a shot from the free-throw line!
"Whoosh!"
With a crisp crack, the Heat finally broke their scoring drought! The gap between the two teams has once again reached 5 points!
75: 70!
Payton angrily clenched his fist. With that shot in, he felt they had basically secured the win for the night!
Stabilize? Not at all!
Before Payton could even lower his fist, Lin Tian had already received the ball from the baseline and launched another attack on the Heat's defense!
Keep pushing fast! Keep switching between offense and defense! This is something ingrained in Lin Tian's DNA!
In less than 5 seconds, Lin Tian drove all the way to the Heat's three-point line. Apart from Mourning, who was unable to return, the other four Heat players were all in their defensive positions, watching Lin Tian intently, ready to collapse and double-team him at any time!
Seeing that the four people were almost forming a square and waiting for him to rush in, Lin Tian only paused slightly outside the three-point line before accelerating again and charging towards the encirclement of the four!
"He's here after all!" Payton was overjoyed. He knew Lin Tian wasn't shooting well tonight, and he also knew that if Lin Tian wanted to play fast, he would definitely choose to continue attacking! That's why the Heat's defense was so compact; he was waiting for Lin Tian to walk right into their trap!
You can dunk over two people like Jones, so what about four of us? Can you get past all four of us and dunk over them?
If Lin Tian knew what Payton was thinking, he would definitely tell Payton: I can't! But does that matter?
"Whoosh!"
A whooshing sound rang out, and Payton, who was already caught up in the game, watched incredulously as the basketball whizzed past his ear. Payton forgot that Lin Tian was a true point guard, not Iverson, and that he could pass the ball!
Then the entire Heat team watched helplessly as the basketball landed in the hands of that sharpshooter who struck fear into the hearts of the entire league.
Reggie Miller!
"Whoosh!"
Miller never hesitates or hesitates when faced with such an absolute wide-open space; he swiftly cuts down the knife with a crisp sound!
75: 73!
The last 50 seconds!
The gap between the two sides has narrowed to one goal!
Conseco Center erupted in cheers once again, with fans celebrating wildly and cheering for Miller! Riley, not daring to hold back his last timeout any longer, reached out and called it out; he needed to carefully plan the next possession.
The five Pacers players received hero-like applause and treatment. Carter, Webber, and others, who had been a little out of sorts and hanging their heads just now, were now revived and stood up to high-five Lin Tian and the others in celebration!
Even just sitting on the sidelines, their teammates' performance rekindled their hope and confidence!
We can get it!
All we need to do is defend against the next ball!
"We're not making any substitutions in the last 50 seconds! You five have fought your way to this point, and I'm handing over the final chance to you five!" Carlisle said simply and directly. "I believe victory belongs to us!"
"If we defend this time and then hit the target, tonight's victory is ours! Simple, right?"
At this moment, Carlisle channeled Bird's personality, shrugging and adopting a nonchalant attitude.
"Leave it to us." Lin Tian glanced at the time, took one last swig of his energy drink, and led his men back onto the court!
Then, in the next 40 seconds, Riley's tactics clearly failed completely.
The Heat missed their shots in two consecutive possessions and failed to score.
Of course, the Pacers weren't in much better shape either. They failed to score and almost let Mourning make a game-winning putback after losing an offensive rebound!
Fortunately, Ben Wallace played defense with all his might, grabbed the offensive rebound, and passed the ball to Lin Tian. However, the Pacers' next offensive play went wrong. While Lin Tian was making a fast break, he passed the ball to Harrington, who was cutting to the basket.
But just as Harrington got the ball, Jones stole it, and the basketball flew out of bounds.
The Pacers have the ball at the baseline with just 2 seconds left in the game!
The Pacers are still down by 2 points!
The bigger problem is that the Pacers have run out of timeouts. They have to immediately inbound the ball from the baseline and rely on their past practice understanding and memory to finish those last two seconds!
Basically, it's a direct shot after receiving the ball, and you can dribble up 1 to 2 times at most!
It must be a fatal blow! There is no room for error or maneuvering.
"Reggie, go to the baseline to serve!" Commander Lin Tian quickly glanced at the five people on the court, and after a moment's thought, he realized that Miller was the only one suitable to serve!
Harrington just made a mistake and his mentality is unstable; Arenas is too rash and may be impulsive; as for Ben Wallace...?
Who would dare let him serve at this moment? Heaven knows what kind of wild idea this guy might come up with for Lin Tian and throw the ball directly to the backcourt.
Therefore, Miller had to serve while the rest of the players ran around looking for opportunities.
"Number 4!" Lin Tian shouted quickly after Miller stood under the basket, and then the entire Pacers team stood together.
Their biggest advantage right now is that they're only down by 2 points. All they need to do is score this one basket! It doesn't matter if it's 2 or 3 points!
So, the referee blew his whistle, and the Pacers started their sprint!
Ben Wallace set screens for his teammates near the free-throw line, sending the other three players sprinting around him. Then, Ben Wallace suddenly turned and ran towards the basket. If the Heat didn't follow up at that moment, Miller could immediately deliver an alley-oop dunk.
But the Heat are a team of experienced veterans, and Mourning immediately positioned himself to block Ben Wallace and prevent him from receiving the ball.
However, outside the three-point line, Lin Tian had already completed an off-ball screen with Harrington. Harrington blocked Payton, and Jones was clearly a step too slow, giving Lin Tian a chance to receive the ball.
Lin Tian, positioned at the top of the key, immediately reached out for the ball, while Miller simultaneously sent the ball flying rapidly toward Lin Tian.
Just as the basketball was about to reach Lin Tian's hands, Lin Tian looked incredulously at the person in front of him.
Suddenly, two hands appeared in front of him!
"Snapped!"
With a bang, those hands caught the basketball and held it tightly in their arms!
Bad news: Miller's pass to Lin Tian was intercepted!
Good news: Arenas intercepted the ball!
Yellow jersey, number 0!
One step beyond the three-point line, Arenas sidestepped and intercepted the ball, grabbing it into his own hands. He didn't even look at Lin Tian behind him, nor did he care that Miller had already entered the court and run into an open space, reaching out for the ball.
Ignore it! Ignore everything!
Take a shot!
Arenas made the most unexpected choice on the court at that moment, throwing the basketball towards the basket!
The basketball flew across the court, and the entire Conceco Stadium was completely silent. Everyone stared wide-eyed, waiting for the final moment to arrive!
"Whoosh!"
Two seconds later, the basketball did not disappoint and went straight into the net!
At the same time, the stadium buzzer sounded, signaling the end of the match! (End of Chapter)