Jordan: I thought he was there to help me!

Chapter 1065 I'm not sure how scary Lin is, but I know Huai

In the first four minutes of the fourth quarter, Lin Tian dominated the game!

In the third quarter, when James perfectly controlled the team and integrated the Mavericks into a perfect whole, Lin Tian did not take a shot.

While Nowitzki was dominating the Lakers' forwards and scoring repeatedly in the third quarter, Lin Tian didn't take a shot.

He chose to let his teammates play first, and only if they were comfortable and able to open up the score and gain an advantage would it be his turn to shine.

This is Lin Tian's most common playing style now that he is approaching 40.

It's not to say that he truly had unconditional and absolute trust in his teammates.

It's mainly Lin Tianlan.

If you don't need to do something yourself, then you shouldn't do it yourself.

Wouldn't it be more fun to have your teammates do it?

But tonight's situation is clearly different.

The Mavericks were in such good form that they couldn't be contained at all, so in the fourth quarter, Lin Tian didn't hesitate to fire away. In just 4 minutes, Lin Tian made all 5 of his field goal attempts, including 2 of 2 three-point attempts and 3 of 3 free throws, scoring 15 points in a short period of time with a 100% shooting percentage!

His scoring explosiveness remains among the best in the league!

When he wants to score, he's still unstoppable!

Lin Tian's rampage allowed the Lakers to regain control in just 4 minutes.

Although the Mavericks have been in good form lately, with excellent offensive efficiency and shooting percentage, and without any major mistakes.

However, it's clear that their good form is just enough to keep them from falling behind the Lakers; it's definitely not enough to extend their lead or maintain their advantage.

After Lin Tian scored 15 points in a row, Jameson had no choice but to call the first timeout of the fourth quarter. He couldn't stand it anymore; the team had to make some adjustments.

During the break, he had already predicted that the Lakers would play with Lin Tian as the absolute core. He also set up a very tight double-team and help defense strategy in hopes of limiting Lin Tian, ​​but unfortunately, it had no effect!

With a perfect 5-for-5 shooting performance and 15 points in 4 minutes, the Mavericks had no chance to defend against him.

When this timeout was called, the Mavericks' hard-earned two-point lead from Nowitzki's explosive performance in the third quarter had already vanished.

Instead, they trailed by 5 points.

In just 4 minutes, the Mavericks lost by 7 points again.

James' plus-minus rating, which had just improved in the third quarter, plummeted again.

There's nothing he can do about it. He's not always there when the Mavericks are winning, but he's always on the court helping out when they're losing.

The timeout ended quickly, and the players from both sides returned to the field to continue the game.

This time, the Mavericks went all out early, bringing back their full starting lineup and not letting James and others who had just been on the court rest.

They clearly value this 5-point gap, and the whole team needs to put in all their effort to get those 5 points back as soon as possible!

The Lakers were in a similar situation. They brought on four of their starters and let Lin Tian, ​​who had just played for four minutes, rest in preparation for the final battle.

Clearly, with a 5-point lead, the Lakers are more confident and have more room to rotate and make substitutions.

The game resumed soon after.

For the Mavericks, Nowitzki immediately hit a mid-range jumper upon entering the game to help his team narrow the score gap. He had already scored a terrifying 30 points in the second half, and his shooting touch did not decline at all despite resting on the bench for a while.

On the other hand, Kobe Bryant scored 2 points with a turnaround jumper after a post-up move, maintaining a 5-point lead for the Lakers. Facing Nowitzki's dominance, the Lakers were not going to back down!

In the next few minutes, the two sides fought back and forth, with neither gaining the upper hand.

Both sides scored points but also missed some shots and made some mistakes. In short, the game was completely deadlocked, with the score difference fluctuating around 5 points.

The Mavericks, thanks to consecutive attacks from Nowitzki and James, narrowed the gap to 1 point with 5 minutes and 50 seconds left in the game.

But less than 40 seconds later, the Lakers widened the gap to 5 points again with Durant and Kobe each scoring a basket!

But the Mavericks immediately started scoring again, their offense remained unstoppable, and the gap was narrowed to 2 points once more.

In short, the battle between the two sides was extremely intense!

With 4 minutes and 50 seconds left in the game, James drove hard to the basket again, drawing a foul from Bynum and going to the free-throw line.

At this point, Jackson stopped waiting and waved his hand, bringing Lin Tian back on stage.

With less than 5 minutes remaining, both sides fielded their strongest lineups.

The final showdown is about to begin!

"FUXX! FUXX!" James, standing at the free-throw line, glanced back and saw Lin Tian walking back onto the court. He couldn't hold back and blurted out two curses.

At this moment, he really didn't want to see Lin Tian appear.

So, subconsciously, James couldn't help but complain.

He was completely unaware that his casual complaint had been captured perfectly by ubiquitous cameras.

Even before the match ended, the commentators were already bursting into laughter.

"Hahaha, that's hilarious! LeBron must be scared." Because it was ESPN, and because he wanted to give his sister some face, Miller's sharp tongue had actually improved a lot in recent years, but at this moment he couldn't help himself again: "I only ever show this kind of expression and reaction when I've made a mistake as a kid and see my dad."

"As for the result, of course, my dad kicked me in the butt."

"I really wish Lin would do what my dad did and kick LeBron in the ass."

Van Gundy did have some principles; he didn't immediately resort to sarcasm, but clearly, that was all he did—avoid sarcasm altogether.

"James has improved a lot this year, very significantly, but he really shouldn't be like this. As the team leader, showing such obvious frustration at this time, what kind of chain reaction would it have if his teammates or opponents saw it?"

"The Lakers' morale will be much higher, while the Mavericks will be demoralized because of it. At such a crucial moment, as a team leader, managing one's expression is very important! And this time, James clearly didn't do it well."

Jackson said, "The best news for the Mavericks right now is that the game shouldn't replay that moment, otherwise they would really be in big trouble. And the bad thing is that they will definitely have to deal with this again and again after the game."

"Hopefully, James's complaint won't have any negative impact on them at that time."

It's unclear whether Lin Tian's appearance displeased James, or if it was due to James's own actions.

In short, James made 1 of 2 free throws, failing to capitalize on the valuable opportunity to tie the score, but the gap between the two sides narrowed to 1 point again!

With 4 minutes and 50 seconds left, the Mavericks were down by one point to the Lakers, but they still had a good chance!

"It's alright, they fought tooth and nail, but they still weren't in the lead." Lin Tian waved to everyone as soon as he entered the arena, signaling them to relax: "Now that I'm back, let's crush them together!"

Lin Tian dribbled the ball quickly to the frontcourt, waving to signal everyone to create space for him.

"Scatter! Scatter! Everyone scatter!" Lin Tian shouted, waving his arms. "Space! I need space!"

As Lin Tian shouted, the Mavericks' defense also quickly changed its formation.

Allen, James, and Williams stood on the top line, with Nowitzki and...

A 3-2 defensive formation quickly took shape. This tactic targets perimeter ball handlers who like to launch attacks from the top of the key and the two wings. While strengthening the defense on the perimeter, this defensive formation also does not relax its defense under the basket.

However, when the 3-2 defensive formation is deployed, the team is almost completely undefended on the bottom corners on both sides.

In a joint defense effort, there always has to be trade-offs and sacrifices.

For a team like the Lakers, which has a plethora of top-tier ball-handlers on the perimeter, a 3-2 zone defense seems like a pretty good option.

Lin Tian glanced at the Mavericks' zone defense but remained unmoved, instead urging his teammates to spread out to the perimeter.

After the Lakers' three players, excluding Bynum, spread out beyond the three-point line, Lin Tian immediately started his run, dribbling between his legs and accelerating to once again shake off Williams.

Judging from Lin Tian's fearless and unwavering demeanor, it's clear that he's determined to take matters into his own hands and stabilize the situation for the team.

Then the Mavericks' defense quickly contracted, with even Nowitzki, who was originally supposed to guard the right side of the midfield, moving up a step to completely block Lin Tian's breakthrough route.

"Whoosh!"

Just when the Mavericks thought their defense was solid enough to thwart Lin Tian's attack, Lin Tian suddenly passed the ball.

The basketball grazed past Nowitzki's ear, even sending his long hair fluttering in the wind.

The basketball flew in the direction that was most vulnerable in the corner of this 3-2 zone defense!

No one on the Mavericks had time to cover that corner; they could only watch helplessly.

What Nowitzki found most puzzling was that the reason he dared to so arrogantly step forward and completely abandon the defense of the baseline corner was because he saw no one there, not a single person.

That's why he dared to stride forward and surround Lin Tian.

How could someone suddenly appear in an area that was just empty a moment ago?

Instant teleportation?

Nowitzki looked toward that bottom corner with utter disbelief.

someone!

Kobe!

But Kobe's speed didn't seem to match that of the basketball; the ball was about to fly out of bounds before Kobe could even get it.

From this perspective, there's nothing wrong with Nowitzki leaving that position.

Because strictly speaking, even now, there's no one in that spot!

Everyone watched Kobe running frantically, wondering if he could catch the ball before it went completely out of bounds.

The Mavericks players even forgot that they had to press and stick close to Kobe at this moment; they had to ensure that even if Kobe got the ball, they could interfere with him immediately.

But nobody did that, and at that moment, the entire Mavericks team lost focus.

They just watched, as if they, like the fans, only remembered to be nervous and to watch.

This moment seemed to be the most tense moment of the entire event.

Everyone saw Kobe's foot almost step out of bounds. They watched as Kobe stretched out his arm as far as he could, and then, at the last second, pulled the basketball back from the sideline.

Not only did Kobe pull himself back, but he also successfully regained his balance, preventing himself from falling out of bounds due to his excessive momentum.

Kobe retrieved the basketball, steadied himself, and then, not wasting the huge open shot, pulled up and launched a three-pointer from beyond the arc!

"Whoosh!"

With a crisp click, Kobe's three-pointer swished through the net! The Lakers extended their lead once again!

"That pass was too far." After scoring, Kobe looked at Lin Tian on his way back on defense and said, "If I weren't fast and had strong core strength, you would have made a mistake on that play!"

"Don't talk nonsense." Lin Tian snorted and immediately retorted, "Don't blame me for passing the ball if you're slow and have short arms. If Kevin were in this position, he wouldn't complain at all."

"Kevin doesn't even need to go full speed; he can easily get the ball and shoot it directly."

"Go to hell, you bastard!" Kobe was helpless; besides spewing out a curse in his impotent rage, he couldn't say anything else.

After all, even Kobe couldn't ignore the huge difference in height and wingspan between himself and Durant.

Lin Tian gave the ball plenty of lead time, but as Lin Tian said, if it were Durant, he definitely could have easily caught it.

Miller couldn't help but exclaim, "That was a beautiful play! Lin's shot is textbook perfect. There's never been a more perfect pass, never a more brilliant anticipation, the ball arrives just as perfectly as the player, and the shot is released flawlessly! Everything was so perfect, so effortless!"

Van Gundy said, "Kobe was also very good. If Kobe had been even slightly lacking in core strength, absolute speed, wingspan, and control of the ball, it would have been a turnover."

"But he caught it! Right? Anyone else probably wouldn't have been able to catch it, but Kobe caught it and made the shot. Both Lin and Kobe made a fantastic play!"

"But I think," Jackson said with a smile, "as a point guard, I think if it were someone else, the shot might have been slower, the lead might have been smaller, and the person receiving the ball would have ended up in the same situation as Kobe."

"The perfect push to the limit! Allowing a teammate to catch the ball under extreme conditions and then smoothly raise their hand for an open shot is the pass that every point guard dreams of."

"Lin's control over the actual situation, ball speed, and the speed and ability of his teammates has obviously reached the pinnacle. Lin can predict when his teammates will arrive and what speed and angle of pass will allow them to catch the ball without making a mistake."

"This is the real story behind Lin's pass! He knew that Kobe could catch it in that position. If Durant had been there, Lin might have passed it even further. If Barnes had been there, Lin's pass might have been much slower and the angle wouldn't have been as tricky."

"Pass the ball according to the individual's abilities and skills."

"Is he really that scary?" Van Gundy couldn't help but ask.

"I'm not sure if Lin is that scary," Lin Tian's former teammate Miller said with a smile and a shrug. "But I'm pretty sure that everyone who thought Lin wasn't that scary lost badly and got completely crushed by him."

For the Mavericks, although their 3-2 zone defense couldn't hold for even a second in the last possession, it was easily broken by Lin Tian with a pass.

The good news is that their offensive touch is still there! Even after Kobe hit a three-pointer, the Mavericks maintained their success rate. This time, Allen found an opportunity and took advantage of the Lakers' defensive focus being on Nowitzki and James to dribble to the basket and score a layup.

"Spread out!" Faced with the Mavericks' relentless and tireless scoring offensive, Lin Tian only had one sentence.

He waited for everyone to pull him away, and he continued to keep a close eye on the Mavericks' defense.

Last round we used zone defense, what about this round? Should we switch?

Looking at the Mavericks' defensive positioning, Lin Tian quickly determined it.

No change!

The Mavericks are still using a 3-2 zone defense.

This time, Lin Tian's choice was even simpler and more direct.

With a "whoosh," the basketball was flung out with one hand. Lin Tian used almost all his strength, and the basketball even gave the illusion of breaking the sound barrier in mid-air, completely turning into a blur.

As for the direction the basketball flew, it was naturally the bottom corner!

This time, however, it was Durant who received the ball.

Still empty!

Although Bogut had rushed towards Durant with all his might, given his limited mobility, it was clearly a futile effort.

"Whoosh!"

With a crisp sound, the basketball pierced through the hoop once again!

The Lakers hit two consecutive three-pointers, one from the left and one from the right corner. The Mavericks' 3-2 zone defense failed to mount any aggressiveness or play any role and was completely broken by the Lakers, or rather, by Lin Tian.

"Is your head coach out of his mind?" Lin Tian pointed to his head with his finger, a mocking look on his face. "A 3-2 zone defense against us? What's the difference between that and not being able to get anyone on the defense, letting us play 5-on-0?"

"We don't dare to practice this thing during training."

"Because it's too easy to crack, it can easily make us arrogant and complacent."

"And then, you just handed this piece of junk to us, all all fresh and clean?"

"Oh, I see!" Lin Tian suddenly smiled and looked at James: "Your coach wants to come to our victory celebration party with you tonight! Come on, both of you! If you two don't come tonight, I guarantee no one will dare to touch even a single bottle of wine!"

"Others weren't so welcoming, especially Dirk."

"Who wants to go to your victory celebration!" James snorted. "But you are the one I'm inviting to our victory celebration."

"You guys don't have a victory celebration. The only meeting you'll have this year is the season debriefing! You'll hold that meeting right after this series ends, and then everyone goes their separate ways to go on vacation."

"Just you wait!" James glared at Lin Tian, ​​then turned around and stuck out his butt, sending Durant flying backward. He then sat down in the paint a few times, successfully compressing the Lakers' defense.

He then passed the ball again, this time to Allen outside the three-point line.

After receiving the ball, Allen faked a move and then drove to the basket, stretching and compressing the Lakers' defense once again. He then passed the ball to Williams, who was now unguarded outside the three-point line. Williams caught the ball, pulled up, and decisively launched a three-pointer.

"Whoosh!"

The Mavericks have successfully stopped the bleeding! (End of Chapter)