boyutpedia Chapter 235 A Match with a Cold Hand
Chapter 235 A Match with a Cold Hand
Wang Xiucheng is 198cm tall with a wingspan of 210cm.
Zubac is 213cm tall with a wingspan of 223cm.
This was definitely not a fair contest.
Even if Wang Xiucheng's jumping ability and speed are far superior to his opponents, he still cannot compete with Zubac in the ball-fighting game.
Unless the referee allows Wang Xiucheng to jump first.
The referee stood inside the free-throw circle with the ball, looked at the two players, seemed to smile, and then tossed the ball into the air.
Zubac practically jumped up with the ball, swatting it just as it reached its highest point and began to fall.
Wang Xiucheng jumped symbolically, but the difference in height and wingspan made him realize that he couldn't possibly touch the ball.
The basketball was passed from Zubac to Luke Kennard.
The latter received the ball and immediately passed it to George.
George shoved Durant, then dribbled the ball and pushed Durant forward.
Just then, George felt someone approaching him.
A bad feeling arose.
He wanted to pass the ball, but the person next to him had already come up in front of him.
It's Wang Xiucheng!
George didn't know why Wang Xiucheng had appeared to his left so quickly.
But he knew that if he tried to dribble the ball again, he would definitely be dispossessed.
He was now caught in a pincer movement between Wang Xiucheng and Durant.
George suddenly slowed down, trying to break free from their encirclement.
Snapped!
Because of his slowing down, Wang Xiucheng's outstretched hand landed squarely on the basketball.
To outsiders, it appeared that Wang Xiucheng extended his hand first, then George slowed down, and the basketball hit Wang Xiucheng's hand.
Wang Xiucheng lunged at the basketball immediately.
George's eyes widened and he lunged forward.
Durant didn't lunge for the ball again, but waited behind.
Wang Xiucheng, being shorter and more agile, made the first save.
So Wang Xiucheng was the first to place one hand on the basketball.
He scooped the ball towards the side furthest from George, and it rolled towards the far sideline.
Durant quickly caught up with the basketball, then bent down to control it and swiftly passed it to Joe Harris in front.
Joe Harris dribbled into the paint and easily scored two points after Zubac had already left the paint.
After a series of events, the Nets finally scored their 3rd and 4th points.
This seems to indicate that this match will not be easy.
In fact it is.
In the next few minutes, it was extremely difficult for either team to score a single point.
Whether it's Wang Xiucheng's floater in the paint, Durant's pull-up jumper, or George's isolation play on the Clippers.
It was difficult to score for a while.
When the timer reached the 6th minute, and the referee called the first timeout for the home team, the Clippers, the score was 10-9.
An extremely low score.
Sitting on the bench, Wang Xiucheng covered his head with a towel.
Both sides made many mistakes today, which is one of the reasons why the game was so fragmented.
Even Wang Xiucheng himself made a series of rare mistakes.
He almost lost the ball to Luke Kennard.
If Wang Xiucheng hadn't cheated by flicking the ball out of bounds at the last moment, the ball would have been intercepted.
Nash stood in the middle of the court and discussed it with his assistant coaches.
Wang Xiucheng was heavily guarded by the Clippers today.
The Clippers even went so far as to commit fouls.
Reggie Jackson committed three fouls and has been substituted by Powell.
However, Powell also engaged in a rough matchup with Wang Xiucheng, and has already committed two fouls.
Given this, Nash decided to let Wang Xiucheng continue playing and let Durant rest.
Neither side's offensive efforts were very effective; most of the time, their movements were ineffective.
This meant nothing to the young Wang Xiucheng.
But for Durant, who is already 34 years old and has injury concerns, it is a risky and not cost-effective endeavor.
Upon arriving at the bench, Nash said to Durant, "You rest first, let them wear themselves down."
Nash then looked at Seth Curry on the bench and said, "You go in."
Seth Curry immediately stood up and took off his coat.
Seth Curry didn't expect to be able to play so quickly today.
Seth Curry plays shooting guard, so Joe Harris, who used to play shooting guard, was forced to become small forward.
Royce O'Neal would need to move to the power forward position.
This lineup has a weakness: it's not tall enough.
Apart from Claxton, everyone else, including Wang Xiucheng, is less than two meters tall.
This requires five players to improve their success rate; otherwise, it will be difficult to compete with opponents for rebounds.
Nash just wanted to see if this lineup would work, and if it didn't, he would immediately make a substitution.
Both Benci and Delon Sharp are on the bench.
The problem is that neither of them can shoot three-pointers. Daryl Sharp is alright, at least he can shoot open threes, but Ben West doesn't shoot at all, completely wasting Wang Xiucheng's passes.
The pause has ended.
Players from both sides took to the field.
The Nets made a substitution, taking Durant out of the game.
This surprised many fans, and even Tyronn Lue was somewhat baffled.
With Durant out, the Clippers have possession of the ball, and it's now Joe Harris who takes over in front of George.
So this time, George once again opted for a one-on-one play.
After faking out Joe Harris, George entered the paint and made a slow layup, finally scoring two points.
This gave the Clippers an 11-10 lead over the Nets.
This was also the first time the Clippers had taken the lead against the Nets in this game.
Ballmer stood and clapped, shouting in a way that no one else could understand.
But soon, Ballmer sat down with a blank expression.
In the next possession, Wang Xiucheng followed George's example and entered the paint, and as he passed the free-throw line, he suddenly tossed the ball out with one hand.
Neither Powell, who was following Wang Xiucheng, nor Zubac, who was defending from the front, had time to react.
Wang Xiucheng's "steal shot" went directly into the Nets' basket, scoring two points and putting the Nets back in the lead.
Durant clapped with his back bent, and the towel on his head fell to the ground without him even picking it up.
"When did he learn this?"
While wondering what was going on, George received the ball himself and then dribbled it across half-court.
Using Zubac's screen, George entered the paint again and took a two-pointer, but this time he missed.
George clapped his hands together, and for some reason, his hands felt unusually cold today.
Zubac and Claxton both went for the rebound, but the ball flew towards the top of the key after they touched it.
Wang Xiucheng and Powell both reached for the basketball at the same time.
The next moment, Wang Xiucheng had taken the lead by half a body length.
Seeing that he had no chance to reach the basketball, Powell crashed into Wang Xiucheng's body, causing Wang Xiucheng to lose his balance and miss the ball.
Powell snatched the ball and passed it to George.
George took a step back and launched a three-pointer.
Still no luck.
The rebound was once again contested and grabbed by Seth Curry, the shortest player on the court.
Wang Xiucheng reached out for the ball.
Seth Curry immediately passed the ball to Wang Xiucheng.
Wang Xiucheng received the ball and glanced at the referee as he passed by.
He also shrugged, as if asking if the previous play was a foul.
The referee acted as if he hadn't seen anything and ignored Wang Xiucheng.