Chapter 813
He can keep shooting like this until the end of the game!
"Snapped!"
Parker has one statistic that ranks second among all guards in the NBA.
Field goal percentage near the basket!
His field goal percentage under the basket this season is as high as 65%, second only to Lin Tian's 67%, ranking second among all guards!
This figure is much higher than 90% of inside players!
This shows just how powerful Parker's layups are; his finishing ability and ability to break free are absolutely top-tier in the league.
Unfortunately, this time, Lin Tian, who knows him best and is most familiar with his habits, is the one waiting for him in the alliance!
Just kidding. During the years that my little brother entered the NBA, he played as a substitute for Lin Tian. The reason he improved so quickly, besides his own hard work and talent, was that he practiced with Lin Tian every day during those years with the Pacers. The daily face-to-face matches with Lin Tian were definitely of great significance to his growth.
But at the same time, this also gave Lin Tian an extremely good understanding of Parker.
While Lin Tian couldn't perfectly predict every attack choice and route, he could definitely get a general idea of what was going on.
After all, Parker isn't as unpredictable and unpredictable as Ginobili; his breakthrough routes are still predictable.
For example, this time, Lin Tian took off early and, while high in the air, swatted away Parker's layup with a 'smack'!
The basketball landed right in the hands of Okur, who was standing under the basket.
After Okur caught the basketball, he immediately passed it to Lin Tian, who then turned and ran!
"Run! Keep up!"
With a roar, the entire Knicks team finally got going!
Lin Tian took the lead with the ball, and the Celtics players followed suit, sprinting after him and the other Knicks players. It has to be said that the Celtics' defensive habits and discipline are truly excellent.
They took turns maintaining their formation to the maximum extent possible, at least preventing any significant gaps from appearing on the Knicks' side.
But clearly, when facing the Knicks' fast breaks, simply marking players and denying them space is definitely not enough!
Lin Tian glanced at his teammates as he moved at high speed, and then immediately decided to handle the attack himself!
He accelerated rapidly and in the blink of an eye, he was inside the three-point line, the area where he almost achieved legendary status today.
Here, Lin Tian suddenly stopped and looked up. This sudden stop made all the Celtics players shudder.
Then, both Howard and Parker, who were in the lead, rushed towards Lin Tian.
To their delight, Lin Tian actually jumped up.
But to their dismay, Lin Tian's shot didn't look like a proper shot at all!
Because the basketball's arc is incredibly low, it's not heading towards the basket at all!
Parker and Howard looked back in mid-air and saw Stoudemire catch the ball easily with no one guarding him, and then complete a slam dunk with no one defending him!
"Finally a fast break! Finally a fast break! This is the Knicks' first fast break point of the night! Their first! This is the Knicks!" Barkley shouted. "The Celtics' defense is absolutely perfect! They shut down the Knicks' fast breaks 0-0 in the first half."
"But the Knicks finally found their chance in the second half! Let's see if this will be the turning point of the game! Let's see if the Knicks' offense can get going!"
"And more importantly, with this score, the Knicks have taken the lead! They've finally taken the lead! Let's see how the game goes from here on out!"
"I'm afraid it's difficult." Miller shook his head and said, "The reason why this fast break was able to run was not because the Knicks played well, but because the Celtics made a mistake. Parker was very unwise on this drive."
"As long as Parker calms down and stops playing so recklessly, the Celtics will definitely be able to continue to control the pace."
“And there’s one more important point,” Kenny continued, “Rivers’ adaptability might be average, but his voice is really loud!”
Upon hearing Kenny's吐槽 (tu cao, a Chinese internet slang term for sarcastic or witty remarks), the other three commentators couldn't help but burst into laughter.
Yes, his voice is really loud!
"Hold on! Hold on! Don't run! Don't advance too quickly, slow down! What's the rush! I'm asking you, what's the rush! Whether it's an advance or positional warfare, stay calm!"
"And who told you to double-team Lin just now? Didn't I say, no double-teaming! No double-teaming, let him shoot!"
"If you had let him shoot, he might not have made it, but you insisted on double-teaming him, which gave them the opportunity to dunk!"
"Only the dumbest idiot would double-team an opponent in the mid-range, letting them dunk right under the basket! Understand? No double-teaming, let them keep shooting!"
Rivers' words undoubtedly deeply wounded Thibodeau, who was sitting next to him. The fat man, who had just calmed down and was focused on watching the game, turned his head to the side and didn't even look at Rivers.
Regardless of how this season ends, and regardless of whether they try to keep him, Rivers is determined not to stay here.
no way!
So insulting.
On the court, after being blocked and watching Lin Tian assist his teammate for a powerful dunk, Parker quickly calmed down.
He once again thought of the person in front of him, who was the best player in the NBA and also his mentor.
Lin Tian probably knows himself better than Parker's own father.
Don't get carried away, stay calm!
That's the only way to have a chance of winning!
Once Parker calmed down, he stopped making careless shots, and the Celtics regained their rhythm and strategy from the first half.
The Knicks' fast breaks just couldn't be executed once again.
The Celtics' strategy tonight was absolutely flawless; they deserve a perfect score.
But their problem is: their responsiveness is terrible! Or rather, they have no responsiveness at all!
Throughout the third quarter, the rest of the Knicks team remained out of sorts and struggled to put the ball in the basket.
Even Lin Tian's performance has declined somewhat. No matter how good or stable his performance is, he can't always make a jump shot under such high-intensity competition.
Although Lin Tian's shooting percentage started to decline and his teammates still couldn't make shots, the Knicks were not left behind by the Celtics!
As for the reason?
The reason stems from a famous quote by a well-known Japanese center.
The one who controls the rebounds controls the game!
In the third quarter, all the Knicks players went crazy trying to grab rebounds!
Especially after Don Nelson understood the situation tonight, he started the rotation early, taking out the undersized Wallace and replacing him with Smith, who has the standard size of a power forward!
The third quarter is a battle of rebounds, height, physical attributes, and relentless effort – these are the most important aspects of the competition between the two teams.
The Knicks' high-flying players really did have a remarkable effect by relentlessly attacking the boards, repeatedly snatching back the ball from Howard and Duncan's grasp.
They relentlessly pushed Duncan and Howard out of the paint time and time again, and then desperately grabbed the defensive rebounds.
Throughout the third quarter, the rebounding score was 17-10!
The Knicks outrebounded the Celtics by 7 in a single quarter!
In particular, the two sides dominated the offensive rebounding battle with an 8-2 score!
The Knicks grabbed eight offensive rebounds, while the Celtics only managed two.
The number of rebounds actually shows that both teams' efficiency declined in this quarter.
The Knicks only made 8 of 24 shots in this quarter, scoring a total of 19 points.
Of those 19 points, 12 came from Lin Tian! But Lin Tian only made 6 of 14 shots in this quarter, his efficiency dropped significantly, but it was still significantly higher than all his teammates!
Apart from Lin Tian, the rest of the Knicks team only made 2 of 10 shots, and only scored 7 points including free throws!
It's fair to say that the Knicks were able to keep the score close in this quarter thanks to their incredible rebounding!
Several times, Lin Tian's mid-range shots bounced off the rim, and his teammates would tip the ball back to him, and he would only make the shot on his second attempt!
The Celtics fared slightly better than the Knicks, shooting 7-for-18, a slightly higher efficiency than the Knicks. However, their three-point shooting was better, going 2-for-3 in this quarter, and they also made 3 free throws.
The Celtics also scored 19 points in this quarter!
19: 19!
The two teams were tied in this quarter, with the Knicks still trailing by one point!
64: 63!
Tonight, the outcome of the game will definitely not be decided until the fourth quarter!
By this point in the game, everyone could see the key to the match! "What the Celtics need to do in the fourth quarter is to hold onto the rebounds and stop the Knicks from getting so many rebounds. This is actually easy to do. As long as Duncan and Howard pay attention to positioning, their height and size will definitely make it very difficult for the Knicks to attack."
During the break, Kenny quickly began his analysis: "Then there's the defense against Lin Tian. What kind of strategy will they devise against Lin in the fourth quarter? After all, on a night where both sides were constantly missing shots and playing a frantic defensive game, Lin's stats felt like they were on a completely different level from everyone else!"
Miller continued, "But the Celtics are also facing a difficult decision. If they don't change their defensive strategy against Lin, can they maintain this one-point lead? If they do change their strategy, what if the rest of the Knicks find their rhythm?"
"The Celtics must choose one of these two poisons to drink."
“Don’t look at me,” Peyton snorted. “If it were me, I would definitely kill Lin first and let others defeat me! Because Lin’s poison is an absolutely lethal ultimate poison! As soon as it enters the mouth, it will definitely kill the person!”
"But the other cup is a non-lethal poison that might only give you diarrhea or make you feel a little uncomfortable."
"I think it's pretty clear by now which of these two drinks to choose!"
"I'm willing to trust Gary's judgment! Because he has an incredibly wealth of experience getting beaten up by Lin!" Barkley laughed heartily, finally finding another opportunity to bully Payton.
"That's what they call 'experience makes a good doctor'!" Kenny covered his mouth and joined in teasing Payton.
"Actually, you can't say that. After all, although Gary has been beaten many times, he is still the best defender among us. He may not have reached that conclusion because he was beaten so many times. Maybe he just studied Lin so hard because he couldn't win a championship."
"He's just trying harder than us for the championship!" Miller offered his assessment, feigning to be a peacemaker and a rational observer, but clearly, his sarcastic remarks were what really infuriated people!
Payton was furious because his teeth were crooked, yet he was completely helpless.
What can he do?
He doesn't have a championship, but the other three jerks do. What can he do?
On the field, both teams' players have now arrived.
At this point, both head coaches reinstated their starting lineups!
Or rather, starting from the third quarter, the two sides stopped rotating players as much.
There was nothing we could do; this match was just so important and so close.
For both sides, this is a match they cannot afford to lose!
The Knicks don't want to lose home-court advantage, and they certainly don't want to break their eight-game winning streak in this year's playoffs.
For the Celtics, if tonight is a crushing defeat, then so be it; it's an away game, so losing is normal.
But with the game so close and completely at their desired pace, losing such a game would definitely have a huge impact on the team's morale!
So the Celtics absolutely have to win! They need this victory even more than the Knicks!
After all, nobody knows if the Knicks will be this inept in the next game, and nobody knows if the Knicks' shooters will recover.
If the Celtics can't even beat the Knicks when the whole team is off their game, how can they possibly beat the Knicks when they're in good form?
Not to mention this is the division finals! Every game is destined to be incredibly important.
Under these circumstances, neither team dared to make a large-scale rotation!
Instead, it would be perfectly reasonable for each team to continue fielding their key players!
In the fourth quarter, the Knicks had possession on the first possession after returning to the court.
Lin Tian dribbled the ball and stood in front of Parker once again.
"Tony, the usual place!"
"FUXX! Stop it! Enough!" Parker was truly sick of hearing that phrase tonight; he was genuinely disgusted!
Upon hearing that Lin Tian was coming again, she immediately couldn't help but curse.
But at the same time, his body subconsciously tilted slightly in the direction Lin Tian indicated.
They say no, but their actions tell a different story!
But what kind of person is Master Lin? He is understanding, kind-hearted, and always willing to help his men with their dreams and hopes!
You, Parker, don't want me to drive to the left and pull up for a jump shot? Fine, I'll grant your wish!
Lin Tian suddenly used an in-and-out dribble with his left hand to move the ball from the left to the right, then accelerated directly into the three-point line, then gathered the ball and pulled up for another mid-range jump shot!
The movement is the same, but in a different direction!
This really caught Parker off guard. He thought the other side was on the left, but it turned out to be on the other side. He really couldn't even turn around to look.
That was too fast! He was completely fooled!
"FUXX! This is never going to end!" At this point, Parker had no other choice but to roar to the sky.
What can he do?
He's really about to be shattered by Lin Tian's punches!
But Rivers remained unmoved, refusing to change his defensive strategy and insisting that Lin Tian keep throwing the ball around like that.
Parker is now 100% certain that Rivers is not only not worried or angry about Lin Tian making that shot, he is actually quite happy!
As expected, Lin Tian kept throwing mid-to-long-range shots.
"You're definitely going to start missing shots! You'll be missing like crazy in the third quarter, and in the fourth quarter, you'll only miss even more! Let's keep playing like this!"
That's definitely what Rivers is thinking right now!
"Shh!"
At this moment, Lin Tian finally made the shot, the basketball went into the basket, and the Knicks took the lead again!
"He can keep shooting like that until the end of the game!" Barkley was truly impressed by Lin Tian's incredibly clean shot!
"I think he can shoot until the universe is destroyed! Even if the world ends again, Lin's shooting will definitely remain this consistent." Sharpshooter Miller also gave him extremely high praise.
Even though Lin Tian and Miller weren't good friends or former teammates, Miller couldn't help but want to praise Lin Tian properly at this moment.
He played exceptionally well! His shooting was truly breathtaking!
On the court, feeling helpless towards Rivers, a nearly broken Parker passed the ball to Josh next to him after arriving at the frontcourt.
Josh faced Wallace, and after receiving two consecutive crossover dribbles, he immediately changed direction and accelerated, then pulled up and shot when he was just inside the three-point line!
Wallace couldn't keep up with that shot; Josh's speed is indeed impressive.
The problem is, Josh's shooting is nowhere near as consistent as Lin Tian's!
"Boom!"
After a crisp sound, Howard and Duncan simultaneously turned and positioned themselves inside the three-second zone, forming a tight huddle with Stoudemire and Okur. The four of them then engaged in a frantic physical battle under the basket.
In the end, it was Howard, with the best physical attributes, who stood out and touched the basketball first with his long arms and big hands, returning it to its original position.
"Shh!"
Howard's putback gave the Celtics the lead once again.
"The Celtics have finally changed their tactics! They're going to compete with the Knicks on rebounds and inside dominance!" Kenny exclaimed, noticing the problem. "After the Knicks benefited from rebounding and kept the score close in the third quarter, it's the Celtics' turn to unleash their biggest advantage!"
"If you ask me, they should have played like this a long time ago!" Payton said. "If they had used their inside advantage earlier and gone for the rebounds sooner, they would have been able to pull away much earlier."
"Maybe they're scared?" Miller shrugged. "Maybe they're afraid of the Knicks' fast break. If all the big men go for the rebounds, it's great if they get them, but if they don't, then nobody can stop the Knicks' fast break!"
"Clearly, the Celtics tonight still wanted to focus on defense rather than offense. They played very conservatively, and many of their choices were conservative!"
"Now they've finally become a little more aggressive. Let's see if this little bit can change the course of the game!"
On the court, Lin Tian comforted Stoudemire and Okur, who hadn't grabbed the rebounds, while also abandoning any thoughts of fast breaks and transition offense.
The Celtics defended their transition offense so well that they had a really hard time finding fast break opportunities tonight.
So instead of running up to the frontcourt and waiting for the ball only to turn back and waste energy and time, Lin Tian chose to stand near the baseline and call for the ball directly.
At this stage of the game, it's crucial to stay calm and avoid making mistakes!
At this point, the two sides are no longer competing to see who is better or more outstanding.
The two sides are now competing to see who is more stable and calmer.
Whoever makes no mistakes will win!
"Tony, want to do it again?" (End of Chapter)