Chapter 17: A Minute in the Storm
Under the jaw-dropping gaze of the audience, Chen Mu flew up and jumped before Jim Jackson's ball hit the basket.
The basketball hit the basket and bounced into Chen Mu's hand, Chen Mu did not hesitate to buckle down with both hands and smashed the basketball into the basket.
"Toot ......!"
The ball scored in the whistle, Chen Mu completed the whistle dunk, and around the rebound, the red light that symbolized the end of time was lit up, and the ball was dunked just before the time limit arrived, and the two points were valid!
"Beep!"
At the same time, the referee's whistle also sounded, and when Chen Mu got up to make up for the dunk, Turiaf, the Lakers substitute behind him, unconsciously reached out and pulled Chen Mu's jersey.
I don't know if it's a kind of compensation for Chen Mu's technical foul before, the referee on duty showed a rare severity for this kind of action that generally does not blow penalties, and the schematic diagram is that Riaf fouled, and Chen Mu got the opportunity to add a penalty.
ββ¦β¦ Ahh!!h β
After returning to the ground, Chen Mu looked up to the sky and roared, venting the depression in his heart at one time.
THIS IS THE FIRST TIME HE HAS SCORED IN THE NBA BY MEANS OTHER THAN AN OPEN CATCH, AND IT IS THE FIRST ANDONE HE HAS SCORED IN PROFESSIONAL BASKETBALL!
"Chen ......!!!"
Chen Mu roared angrily, and the Sun players behind him were also excited and couldn't help themselves, and they all jumped high.
Jim Jackson, who threw three points, and Barbossa, who sent a pass, were particularly excited, ran forward quickly, and jumped onto Chen Mu, looking as if they had just won the championship, and they were very excited.
βYESβ¦β¦οΌβ
On the bench, D'Antoni knew that he had won the first game of his gamble, and he shook his fist with one hand and the tie on his chest fluttered, and he was also very excited.
Next to D'Antoni, the main general Steve Nash also cheered, waving his towels in the air with both hands.
In fact, Chen Mu's button completely blew up the Suns' bench, and all the players stood up from their seats, waved their towels frantically, and kept shouting. Huo Bao Dior also pretended to make a posture to stop his teammates from rushing onto the field, spreading his hands horizontally, blocking the excited teammates behind him.
The dramatic footage was fully captured by the cameras on the sidelines, as the television signal spread across the United States. Rookie Chen Mu relied on a whistle to make up for ANDONE, which made the Suns' originally somewhat silent bench burst into amazing vitality in an instant.
"Hoo ......"
After some celebration, Chen Mu came to the free throw line and stood still, took a long breath, took the ball from the referee, slapped it on the floor a few times, and then raised his hand to throw it.
"......!"
As soon as the ball was shot, Chen Mu knew that it would definitely not go in. Not to mention the extremely stiff feeling of his body, even the green ring that appeared in front of him in an instant had already told him that he couldn't score this free throw.
"When~"
The basketball smashed on the basket, the first quarter of the game ended, and the audience in the stands was relieved and exhaled and happy.
If Chen Mu scores this goal, such a rare whistle two plus one will undoubtedly become a big rock in the chest of the Lakers if it is completed. Although the score is still ahead, the momentum of the game is likely to be reversed by the Suns.
Returning to the bench and sitting down, Chen Mu took a big gulp of water, in fact, in the first quarter of the game, he only played for less than a minute in total, and his physical strength was not a problem.
It's just that I don't know if D'Antoni will continue to keep Chen Mu on the field at the beginning of the second quarter.
"Attention, everyone."
D'Antoni seemed to see through Chen Mu's thoughts, and said at the right time: "In the first half of the second quarter, keep the current lineup unchanged!" β
"Even though the three points didn't go in, we played the right way. Next up is the transition stage, which is very crucial. Their Kobe Bryant was not on the court, and the main players were basically resting. If we can take advantage of this opportunity to catch up with the score in one fell swoop, the situation will be very favorable! β
In NBA games, the end of the first quarter to the beginning of the second quarter, as well as the second half of the third quarter and the beginning of the fourth quarter, are generally referred to as "bridging segments". Because at this time, the main players are generally tired and need to rest, and the substitutes of each team will take turns to appear.
To make an inappropriate analogy, it is like the confrontation between the two armies in ancient times, if at other times, it is the commanders of the two sides who cut each other face to face, then the game of the connecting section is the moment when the infantry of the two sides meet each other.
If you can take the initiative in your own hands, it will play a big role in winning the competition. In order to control the transition game, there are also many super sixth men in the NBA, the purpose is to play on the court in the transition section and use the strength of not losing to the main players to turn the game around in one fell swoop. The importance of the bridging stage competition is self-evident.
D'Antoni pulled out the tactics board and, with the help of offensive assistant coach Gentry, began to draw complex tactical instructions.
"The basic style of play is very simple, Chen, you act as a beacon in the middle and cover for the shooters. Barbosa holds the ball and if the space in the middle is stretched, he immediately breaks through and makes a quick basket. Jim, James, Eddie, the three of you have to keep running, cover each other more without the ball, don't hesitate when you have the opportunity, and resolutely shoot three points! β
After saying all this, D'Antoni raised his eyes and looked at Chen Mu, and said with a straight face: "Chen, this lineup only has one rebounding point for you, what should you do, you don't need me to say more, right......?" β
"I understand, coach ......"
Chen Mu clenched his fist with his right hand, his eyes flashed with a terrifying brilliance, and the corners of his mouth raised slightly: "Grab the damn rebounds......!" β
β1γ2γ3β¦β¦ SUNSοΌ β
With Chen Mu's whistle dunk as an opportunity, the fighting spirit of the Suns players was stimulated, and they shouted in a circle, and then walked into the court with their heads held high.
In the first quarter of the game, D'Antoni's gamble, was an unprecedented success.
"Smack"
The Lakers missed a shot, Chen Mu grabbed the rebound, looked up, and saw that the three sharpshooters Eddie House, Jim Jackson, and James Jones had quickly advanced to the frontcourt.
"Chen!"
And Barbossa was asking for the ball on Chen Mu's side, and as soon as Chen Mu took advantage of the situation, the fast Brazilian instantly turned into a bolt of lightning and rushed to the center line with a whoosh.
At this time, the three shooters were already in position in the bottom corners on both sides and at a 45-degree angle on the left side, and the Lakers defenders had not yet been able to fall into position, and were attracted by the two shooters hoarded on the left side.
Jim Jackson received the ball and took a shot, although the former scoring master is no longer at his peak, but his instinct as a shooter is still there. This three-point shot is as smooth as silk, and any shooter can tell at a glance that this goal will be scored.
"Huh!"
Sure enough, the basketball hollow into the frame, 27-32, the Suns only trailed by 5 points!
The Lakers bench players obviously failed to come to their senses, and a black shadow flashed when the baseline serve, and Barbosa actually snatched the ball directly from the front court, and then threw it at a 45-degree angle without looking.
"Good ......!"
Eddie House received the ball and shot, the basketball crossed a wonderful arc in the air, Chen Mu, who had just come to the frontcourt, looked up and did not find the rebound drop point prompt, and smiled easily and went back to the backcourt.
"Huh!"
Another hollow shot into the net, and the score difference was chased to only 2 points!
ββ¦β¦οΌοΌβ
There was a deathly silence in the audience, everyone was dumbfounded, and under their gaze, the Lakers offense hit iron again.
"Dang!"
"Rebounds are my ......!!!"
Chen Mu flew up, raised his hands high, and took off the rebound in front of Turiaf, who had not yet judged the landing point above his head, and then didn't look at it as a long throw.
"Too much strength!"
Chen Mu's pass was a little big, but Barbosa still chased the ball with superhuman speed, grabbed it, turned around and dribbled, left the Lakers' defenders behind, and then made a lateral and large-scale transfer.
In the bottom corner of the left side, James Jones has already been in place, he has not touched the ball once since he came on the court, and his hands have long been itchy.
ββ¦β¦οΌβ
Everyone was watching the three-pointer with bated breath, especially the Suns players, who were all looking forward to it.
If this goal can also be hit, the situation on the field will be completely reversed!
ββ¦β¦ Swish! β
Jones' three-point arc was super high, and it landed firmly in the basket, bouncing the Nets up with a crisp sound.
ββ¦β¦ Oooh oh!!! β
With the goal in the net, the Suns' bench once again made an earth-shattering sound, and everyone was shouting hard to applaud this wave of stormy offense.
ββ¦β¦β
In contrast, there is the deathly silence of Staples Arena, where the Lakers players, fans, coaches, everyone is shocked, as if they can't believe what they are seeing.
In the second quarter of the game, only a minute passed, and the Suns completed a wave of 9-0 offensive, if you count Chen Mu's dunk at the end of the first quarter, the Suns' bench lineup has played a wave of 11-0 small **!
"Too ...... It's shocking! β
On the commentary seat, Kenny Smith looked surprised and said in a dramatic tone: "The super small-ball lineup put forward by Coach D'Antoni of the Suns actually completely blinded the Lakers at the beginning of the second quarter, and a wave of offensive frenzy with great visual impact forced Lakers head coach Phil Jackson to call a timeout!" β
On the court, all the Lakers players were sweating profusely, especially the few players who were on the court just now, and they were so angry that they threw their towels.
On the Suns' side, emotions are high, the bench players are performing well, and the rest time of the main players can also be increased, which will be of great help to the final stage of the victory.
And Chen Mu is the key person who makes it all work!
"Chen, well done!"
D'Antoni smiled and praised: "After the timeout, the Lakers will definitely find a way to curb our outside shooting, but as long as you can take off the frontcourt rebounds, our one-big and four-small tactics will still work!" β
"Don't worry, Coach." Chen Mu nodded and said, "I have ...... rebounds!" β
"Toot"
The 20-second timeout was over quickly, and as the Suns shouted in unison to get ready to play, the team's main player Nash frowned.
He saw that the Lakers made personnel adjustments and replaced Turyaf, who was beaten by Chen Mu on the ground at both offensive and defensive ends, and a slender bald player walked into the court.
Ramar ...... Why did Phil Jackson change you......? β