novelhk Chapter 37 I said it, here!
Chapter 37 I said it, here!
Separated from the referee and the players trying to break up the fight, Iverson was cursing under his breath. When he finally met Lin Ze's gaze, he opened his mouth to speak, but Lin Ze spoke first.
"You're dead meat, shorty!" After being pulled away, Lin Ze successfully predicted what Iverson was going to say: "You mean this, right? You should read more books, shorty! You'll learn more useful trash talk that way."
"Shut up! Do you want to be kicked off the field?" The referee glared at Lin Ze. They were ready; if Lin Ze uttered another word, they would give him a technical foul.
"I'm very calm." Lin Ze, who was completely unaffected, spread his hands to indicate that he was done.
"Wow, that's impressive. No wonder he's a member of the Bulls dynasty, and one of Jackson's favorite players." Wilmarcus said while watching the replay, "He didn't get angry or upset at all after a clear offensive foul was wrongly called. Instead, it made Iverson lose his composure."
"I'm starting to believe that rumor more and more," Smith said. "One of the prerequisites for Jackson joining the Lakers was to get Lin on board. I used to think it was a joke. How could a top coach in the league negotiate with the Lakers for a role player?"
"But looking at it now, even if Lin were just an ordinary rotation player, even if he were still at the level he was at with the Bulls, he would still deserve all of this! The help he provides to the team outside of basketball is worth at least a first-round draft pick."
On the court, Iverson's hands were trembling with anger at Lin Ze. It wasn't that he hadn't been criticized before, but those who criticized him before were top-tier guys like Jordan, Miller, and Garnett. What level is Lin Ze? How dare he criticize me?
"Bang!"
Then, Iverson missed his first free throw.
Fortunately, after taking a deep breath, he made his second free throw.
97: 99!
With 41 seconds left, the Lakers are on offense.
Kobe called for a screen from Lin Ze at the top of the key, and after a quick split, he rushed to the basket. After reaching the basket, he suddenly slowed down and glanced back at Lin Ze, who was stretching out his hand for the ball beyond the three-point line. This drew away a lot of the 76ers' defensive attention before he jumped and shot.
"Whoosh!"
"FUXX!" Kobe roared excitedly after scoring. His performance tonight was truly abysmal. The biggest reason why the Lakers hadn't been able to take the lead so far was because he played terribly.
But this shot, which allowed the Lakers to tie the game with 28 seconds left, finally allowed Kobe to completely release the pressure on him.
"No timeout needed!" Iverson shouted, waving his hand. "We scored! No timeout needed!"
With 56 points already under his belt, Iverson was absolutely confident. He controlled the game time and pace, and he would never take a shot until the very last moment.
This time, Iverson further compressed the offensive time, only suddenly accelerating with 5 seconds left, trying to break through Kobe's defense.
But Lin Ze's help defense came even faster. He spotted Iverson preparing to start his move and suddenly rushed over.
They stuck close and double-teamed Iverson.
Faced with a double team, Iverson suddenly felt a pang of regret.
Launching an attack with only 6 seconds left is really overconfident.
He could only retreat, look for an opportunity, find his teammates, and then accelerate his dribble again to try to get rid of them, but Lin Ze and Kobe surrounded him even more tightly.
Iverson could only gather the ball, turn around, and then forcefully jump to release it.
He managed to pass the ball successfully thanks to his excellent physical attributes, but the problem was that he passed it too late.
Snow, who received the ball, had absolutely no time to handle it. Even though he was in an open position, he had no time to shoot after receiving the ball.
"Buzz!"
24-second violation!
The Lakers executed a perfect defensive play!
With four seconds left in the game, the Lakers should at least be able to force overtime unless they make a stupid mistake.
Jackson immediately called a timeout. He needed to carefully plan this final attack. Nobody wants to go into overtime if they can finish the game directly.
"AC, you're in charge of the inbounds." Jackson immediately began instructing after everyone had arrived, entrusting the crucial inbounds play to the most experienced veteran: "Start with the Starburst formation, everyone gather here, then explode!"
"Robert, left corner; Glenn, right corner; Lin, free throw line area."
"Kobe, go to the basket first, then turn around and run to the free-throw line to set a screen for Lin. Then get the ball at the right 45-degree angle and start immediately. Lin, come up and set a second screen for him."
"You have to make a decision within two dribbles! You can go for it yourself or pass it out. My bottom line is no turnovers and no fast breaks by the 76ers. Okay, let's go with this! We're tied, so there's no need for pressure. Even if we're defended and can't get a shot off, it's fine. In any case, don't make turnovers and don't force passes."
After listening to Jackson's words, the Lakers players nodded and went back onto the court.
"You shorty!" Lin Ze launched a personal attack on Iverson as soon as he stepped onto the court, pointing to the right 45-degree angle and saying, "Here! Your dad will hit the game-winning shot from here!"
After Lin Ze finished speaking, he completely ignored Iverson's response, turned his head away from him, and started running.
Whether Kobe passes him the ball or not, or whether he makes the game-winning shot, is completely unimportant.
The important thing is that just saying this will cause trouble for the 76ers' defense and put the 76ers players in a dilemma.
Is it true or false? Did they really make these arrangements? Was he serious or just talking nonsense? If it's true, will they change their tactics?
"A game-winning shot or overtime?" Smith asked excitedly from the sidelines. "The most exciting round of the night is about to begin!"
"Starburst offense!" Wilmarcus yelled. "Kobe's circling out to receive the ball!"
"Lin! Lin's up here! The two of them run a pick-and-roll at the top of the key—a classic Lakers tactic!"
"With the help of a screen, Kobe drove into the three-point line!"
On the court, Lin Ze immediately popped out after setting a screen, moving to the position he had just pointed to, and then got ready to receive the ball.
He doesn't care whether Kobe passes the ball to him or not. Even if Kobe only passes it once out of a hundred times, Lin Ze will be ready every single time!
"He's lying! Kobe! Double team!" Iverson shouted at this moment, calling George, who was trying to defend Lin Ze, to double team Kobe.
With a whoosh, Kobe chose to pass the ball!
Catch the ball, look at the basket, and shoot!
"Buzz!"
The whistle to end the 24-second shot clock blew first, but the basketball in mid-air was not disturbed by the buzzer and flew straight toward the basket.
"Whoosh!"
Lore!
"Shorty!" After scoring, Lin Ze didn't have any exaggerated celebrations. Instead, he shouted at Iverson, bent down, and slapped the floor twice heavily with one hand: "I told you, here!"