boyutpedia Chapter 663 Westbrook: But I can avoid holding you back!
Chapter 663 Westbrook: But I can avoid holding you back!
Carlisle watched his players sitting in their chairs, seemingly too weak even to reach for a towel.
This match was very taxing on his prized students.
Although most of the players on their team are in their prime, they should theoretically have an advantage in stamina compared to players like Durant and Westbrook.
But he knew that the team had probably expended more than twice the energy they would have expended against an opponent like the Lakers tonight.
Wang Xiucheng is incredibly fast and slippery; sometimes you can't even catch him if you try to foul him.
Furthermore, Wang Xiucheng's speed remained almost constant from the first minute of the match until overtime.
It is normal for a person's physical strength and speed to gradually decline as the competition progresses.
However, Wang Xiucheng did not slow down in a way that was visible to the naked eye.
"Could it be related to Wang Xiucheng often squatting in the corner?"
Carlyle considered this possibility.
"It's the last minute, everyone stay focused. If we can win this game, this series won't be a problem."
"Many people don't have high hopes for us, but tonight we'll show them how Indiana men play basketball."
Carlisle didn't talk about tactics; instead, he gave a one-minute pep talk before outlining the tactics.
The situation is similar in Uduka on the other side. At this point, it's essential to give them motivational speeches, otherwise how can they demonstrate their value?
How can you tell if a coach is good or bad?
Tactical ability is of course the most important.
However, many coaches in this league come from the same school and their tactical systems are not very different.
For example, Budenholzer, Snyder, Kerr, and Udoka himself are all Spurs-affiliated coaches, and they all learned roughly the same things from Popovich.
But the ability to spout motivational platitudes is a personal skill.
Popovich didn't teach this.
For example, Doc Rivers is a well-known motivational speaker in the league, and he gives a pep talk at almost every time the game is paused.
When the timeout ended, Wang Xiucheng stood up, wiped the sweat from his head with a towel, took a swig of his drink, and then returned to the field with the others.
Towns, standing outside the sideline, received the basketball and passed it to Westbrook, who was running around Durant to create space.
After receiving the ball, Westbrook ran around Durant to the frontcourt again, then slowed down, being careful not to get double-teamed.
In the past, Westbrook would have kept running around at this point, and when there was space, he would either shoot himself or pass the ball out if there was an open shot.
But now, he will keep the ball in his possession, looking for opportunities to pass it to Wang Xiucheng.
Wang Xiucheng was still slowly moving towards the baseline, and this time he was being defended by the stronger Nesmith.
Almost every time Wang Xiucheng took a step, Nesmith would bump into him hard, trying to knock him out of bounds.
If Wang Xiucheng leaves the field, then he will be unable to receive the ball.
It must be said that this idea is absolutely correct.
To Nesmith's surprise, Wang Xiucheng was more powerful than he had imagined.
Wang Xiucheng bumped into him several times, but instead of being knocked away, he even made Nesmith stumble.
Just then, Wang Xiucheng suddenly braked and turned around, extending his hands at the same time.
One step later, Westbrook, who had been keeping an eye on the situation, stepped forward and passed the ball over.
Having lost his position, Nesmith used all his strength to steady himself and lunged forward, trying to knock the ball out of Wang Xiucheng's hands.
Even if you can't do it, you have to foul to prevent Wang Xiucheng from shooting a three-pointer.
That's why he came to defend against Wang Xiucheng this time.
Wang Xiucheng received the ball, swung his racket once, and took a step back at the same time.
As he regained his footing, the basketball was back in his hands.
Nesmith's eyes lit up. He had anticipated that Wang Xiucheng would step back, so at that moment, he charged forward like a sports car.
It was Wang Xiucheng's retreat that gave him time to get close to Wang Xiucheng!
At this moment, Wang Xiucheng finally combined the ball and shot the three-pointer.
This time, however, Wang Xiucheng added a backward lean.
This was a very wide fadeaway shot, so wide that Wang Xiucheng's body appeared to be leaning back more than 45 degrees.
Having been Durant's teammate for so long, I've already learned everything I needed to.
This meant that Nesmith didn't even touch Wang Xiucheng's hand or the basketball; he only had time to slap Wang Xiucheng's elbow.
With a sharp crack, Wang Xiucheng's arm was struck, and the referee blew his whistle.
At the same time, the referee held up three fingers, staring at the basketball that Wang Xiucheng had released.
Wang Xiucheng lost his balance and fell towards the floor.
Swish!
The sound of the basketball going through the net and the sound of Wang Xiucheng falling to the ground rang out almost simultaneously.
Three-pointer scored!
"Guaranteed Three-Point Shot Card" activated!
Wang Xiucheng lay on the floor and clenched his fist.
The referee blew his whistle again and then announced to the scorer's table that Wang Xiucheng's three-pointer was valid, Nesmith committed a foul, and Wang Xiucheng was awarded a free throw.
Carlisle looked at Nesmith's innocent-looking outstretched hands and wanted nothing more than to kick him.
In the final minute, the best way to deal with Wang Xiucheng is, of course, to prevent him from receiving the ball.
If you can't do that, you can foul immediately to prevent Wang Xiucheng from shooting.
If that's still not possible, then just let Wang Xiucheng shoot, and don't give him the chance to be penalized for fouls.
Nesmith completely missed all the correct answers and made the worst choice.
He let Wang Xiucheng make a three-pointer, then fouled himself, and made Wang Xiucheng take another free throw!
Wang Xiucheng had already sat up, stretched out his hands, and pulled Durant and Towns to their feet.
Wang Xiucheng dusted off imaginary dust, walked to the free-throw line, took the ball from the referee, spun it around, patted it, and spun it again.
Swish!
Additional penalty.
Four points awarded!
With these four points, the Nets have now scored 14 points in overtime, while the Pacers still have 8.
There are 38 seconds left.
Carlisle crossed his arms and resisted the urge to call a pause.
38 seconds means the Pacers have two more offensive opportunities.
The best-case scenario is that the Pacers score 6 points on two possessions and then defend against the Nets' offense.
But the game doesn't always go as planned.
Every second the game is changing, and now all the Pacers need to do is score on this possession.
Haliburton brought the ball up the court and drove in without wasting any more time. He held off Westbrook, who was marking him, and scored a two-point floater.
The moment Harry caught the ball, Westbrook quickly raised his hands and stopped in his tracks.
At this point, even if we give Halliburton two points, we can't let him have a chance to score three.
Otherwise, everything Wang Xiucheng did just now would have been for nothing.
He knows he doesn't contribute much to the team's offense, but he can avoid being a liability!
This is the most important thing he has learned in his year with the Nets.
I guess that's why I was disliked in the past.
The two points brought the Pacers' total to 10 in overtime.
There are 20 seconds left.
This time, Wang Xiucheng came to the baseline to serve, which left Haliburton and Nesmith, who were following Wang Xiucheng, somewhat bewildered.
If I remember correctly, tonight is Wang Xiucheng's first time serving.
Towns leaned against Turner and reached out his hand; Wang Xiucheng immediately tossed the ball to Towns.
Turner seemed to think for a moment, but still fouled Towns.
With a beep, time stopped after only one second.
Towns clenched his fist and waved it in front of him.
We must win this game!