Chapter 91 A 3+1 at a critical moment
During the half-time break, neither coach gave any further instructions.

In fact, their offensive and defensive strategies are currently very clear and firm. As for what the final result will be, it mainly depends on the performance of the players on the court.

Before the start of the third quarter, when Nash was about to leave the locker room, D'Antoni stopped him.

"Hey Steve, wait a minute."

Nash looked back puzzledly, then walked up to him.

"What's wrong coach?"

"This game is up to you!"

D'Antoni patted him on the shoulder and said seriously that he saw Nash's outstanding performance in the first half, but he had to play well throughout the game to have a chance to win the game.

There are many things a head coach can do, but there is also little he can do. No matter how he arranges his troops, in the end it is up to the players to perform well in order to win the game.

"I will give it my all, coach!"

Nash said seriously that he had no reason not to try his best. If he wanted to stand on the stage of the finals and hold the championship trophy that countless people dreamed of, he had to overcome the obstacle of the Mavericks first.

Of course, for the Mavericks, they are also his roadblocks.

……

In the second half, players from both teams continued to strictly implement the offensive and defensive strategies of the first half.

In fact, everyone has started to feel tired, after all, they have been playing games from mid-April to now.

Especially the recent matches between the two teams have been very intense and demand a lot of physical energy.

We gave our all from the very beginning in today's game, so it's normal to feel tired now.

But they still have to hold on, only if they can hold on longer than their opponents will they have a chance of winning the game.

They fought hard to advance!
In the third quarter, both sides played back and forth. Nash also reduced his offense in this quarter and focused on connecting the team. The main purpose was to save energy and prepare for the bayonet fight in the fourth quarter.

The other players performed well in the third quarter and did not cause the Suns' offense to suffer a power outage.

Zheng Yang here had the same idea, so although he ran a lot in the third quarter, his main purpose was to disrupt the opponent's defensive formation and allow his teammates to attack.

He himself didn't attack much.

Speaking of which, he ran quite a long distance today. If there was a step count ranking list, he would definitely be at the top.

As for the second on the list, it was Shawn Marion who had been following him closely. This guy had run a lot today and was very tired. He originally had the leisure to chat with Zheng Yang and say a few trash words.

Later on, I didn't even have the energy to speak, and the only way to communicate was through eye contact.

As for whether he can understand it or not, that is Zheng Yang’s own business.

After the third quarter, the score was 79:75, and the Mavericks were still trailing by 4 points.

But the good news is that they still have a whole quarter to catch up.

As long as they can maintain their good form, it is hard to say who will win this game.

As soon as the fourth quarter started, both sides began to fight.

Zheng Yang, Nowitzki, Nash, Shawn Marion and Stoudemire did not plan to rest for even a minute in the fourth quarter and went straight into the final battle.

The first offensive round of the fourth quarter belonged to the Suns. After dribbling across half court, Nash once again played pick-and-roll with Stoudemire. At present, Dampier was still resting at the bottom.

The Mavericks' rim protector became Nowitzki. After running down the court, Stoudemire received the pass from Nash, then stepped on the accelerator and rushed directly into the inside.

As mentioned before, Stoudemire is definitely one of the best players in terms of speed and strength among the big men in the interior. When he rushes, few people can stop him except by fouling.

Nowitz is basically not good at defending this kind of center, so Stoudemire easily passed him and then dunked.

After the dunk, Stoudemire flexed his muscles toward the Mavericks players and yelled, "You can't stop me!"

Trash talking is a common thing on the court. After all, players always need some ways to vent their emotions during the game, and trash talking is a very suitable thing.

Zheng Yang didn't dislike this thing. On the contrary, he quite liked it because he was a trash talker and could always break other people's defense.

Do you remember the game between Zheng Yang and the Lakers in his rookie season? At that time, Zheng Yang used his trash talk to make Malone miss two free throws again.

When it comes to talking, he has never been afraid of anyone.

It was the Mavericks' turn to attack. Shawn Marion approached Zheng Yang as he just crossed half court. The distance between them seemed a bit close.

"Hey Sean, stay here with me and take a breath. I'm a little tired..."

As soon as Zheng Yang finished speaking, he suddenly pretended to run to the left, and then suddenly rushed into the inside. Jason Terry was smart enough and passed the ball to him immediately.

At this time, Shawn Marion just reacted, but he was completely unable to keep up.

Due to severe physical exhaustion, his attention was indeed unable to be as focused as before, and he was easily fooled by some of Zheng Yang's fake moves.

After receiving the basketball, Zheng Yang made a layup. Stoudemire had just gotten into position and was about to come up to defend after seeing Zheng Yang, but he was still a little slow and the basketball was still easily scored by Zheng Yang.

"Hey Amare, maybe if you go faster you can eat my exhaust!"

Zheng Yang said to Xiao Si with a smile.

The biggest difference between his trash talking and others is that others talk trash with a fierce look, but he is the only one who does it with a smile.

It gives people the feeling that no matter how you fight back, you can't hurt him, let alone affect him.

Xiao Si glanced at him and didn't respond.

Then the game started with a back-and-forth offensive and defensive battle. Although the double-team tactics of the Suns in the first quarter did have a very good effect, when Zheng Yang continued to create opportunities with his off-ball movement in the fourth quarter, D'Antoni helplessly discovered that they still could not stop Zheng Yang.

Aren't they working hard enough?
No, that's not it. Shawn Marion almost vomited from running. How could he not try hard? He basically didn't attack at all today. All his energy was spent on defending Zheng Yang.

But for a player like Zheng Yang who has both shooting ability and the ability to cut to the basket, it is really difficult to limit him.

Once he adapts to your defense, he can always score in a variety of ways, making it difficult for you to defend.

Therefore, even though Nash and Stoudemire tried their best to score in the fourth quarter, with only three minutes left in the game, Zheng Yang made a layup to help the team tie the score.

At this moment, D'Antoni was standing on the sidelines looking at the court anxiously. There were only three minutes left in the game. As long as they won these three minutes, they could win the game and tie the score!

Can they do it?

Everything depends on the five players on the field.

In the next offensive round, Nash dribbled the ball into half court, panting, and was closely guarded by Big Ugly, who kept his center of gravity low to prevent the opponent from breaking through.

Nash was not in a hurry to attack. Each of the following offensive rounds was important and he would not waste any of them. After scanning the entire court, Nash suddenly signaled Stoudemire to come up for a pick-and-roll, but just as the ugly turned his head slightly to look at Stoudemire, Nash accelerated and rushed in from the right.

At this moment, Dampier is guarding the inside. This guy has red and blue spots all over his body, all of which are the result of the "hand-to-hand combat" with Stoudemire today.

Zheng Yang also immediately retreated to the inside, ready to help with defense.

Just as Nash rushed to the basket and jumped, he somehow passed the ball while being double-teamed, and Shawn Marion who was squatting in the bottom corner received the pass.

He only took one three-point shot today and missed it, but when the opportunity came, he still decided to take it resolutely.

It was definitely too late for Zheng Yang to return to defense, he could only watch the opponent shoot from outside the three-point line.

Then with a "swish" sound, it hit directly!

At the critical moment, Shawn Marion used the three-pointer, which he was not particularly good at, to help the team lead by three points again.

From the perspective of his entire career, Shawn Marion has basically no three-point shooting ability. He averaged 2.1 shots per game and only made 0.7.

Although his shooting percentage is not very high this season, he averages 4.2 shots per game and makes 1.4 of them.

This also means that he can make a three-pointer in almost every game.

Today his shooting has exceeded his season average, making one of two three-pointers.

D'Antoni on the sidelines shouted excitedly and patted Shawn Marion on the butt as he ran past him to show his approval.

But the other party had a cold face, remained silent, and continued to follow Zheng Yang closely. It was not because he was too cold, but because he was too tired.

Zheng Yang has played for 42 minutes in this game, and he has also played for 41 minutes, which means that he has been relying on him alone to defend Zheng Yang throughout the game.

Remember what I said before about why basketball games are tiring?

It’s tiring to keep speeding up and slowing down, speeding up and slowing down!
Although Shawn Marion's previous game time was able to remain at 40+, he didn't have to speed up and slow down so many times.

Today, Zheng Yang sometimes ran around just to create an open opportunity, and Shawn Marion could only follow him and accelerate and stop suddenly.

One or two rounds is fine, but if you keep fighting like this for a whole game, even a donkey can’t stand it.

The most terrifying thing is that the guy was able to shoot from the outside with such a large amount of exercise and such a high heart rate, which simply stunned Shawn Marion.

Although he has not been a professional for long, he has seen many players, but he has never seen anyone with such an amazing touch.

Don’t forget that Zheng Yang has Stephen Curry’s top-notch touch.

Throughout the ages, there have been so many geniuses in the league, but why is Stephen Curry's three-pointer the most famous? It is because he can hit the three-pointer in various situations.

No matter how you wear him down, no matter how many times he runs, he can always score a goal in an exaggerated way.

So it is normal for Zheng Yang to hit various outside shots today.

Let’s get back to the topic and continue to focus on the game on the field.

When Jason Terry dribbled across half court, he first bowed and then rushed into the inside. Facing the tall and strong Stoudemire, his hands shook and he threw the ball directly to Nowitzki who was following up.

Nowitzki received the ball and dunked it directly.

The Mavericks' offense was also successful, but they were one point behind the opponent.

In the next round, Nash took advantage of Stoudemire's pick-and-roll and suddenly took a step back three-pointer, hitting it accurately again.

He made 6 of 4 three-pointers today and was in hot form. He has already scored 45 points and has broken his own scoring record.

In previous playoff games, his score had never reached 40+.

And his score may continue to rise today.

At the same time, from these two rounds you can also appreciate the importance of three-point shooting. When you can get three points and your opponent can only get two points, they need more offensive rounds if they want to tie the score.

And this may very likely be the reason for their defeat.

The fans at the scene were already getting nervous. They stood up one by one, clenched their fists, and stared at the court anxiously.

The Mavericks must score in this round, whether it is two points or three points.

If this round fails, the Mavericks will face great risks.

"Let's look at whether the Mavericks' offensive option this time is a two-pointer or a three-pointer.

Jason Terry was holding the ball at the top of the arc, waiting for Zheng Yang to run out...

The opportunity came, Zheng Yang received the ball at the 45-degree position on the right...

Zheng Yang chose to take a three-point shot, and Shawn Marion rushed over...

Shawn Marion tackled Zheng Yang...

The ball went in, it's a 3+1!"

Teacher Yu Jia in the CCTV studio also had an extremely strong tone fluctuation, because Zheng Yang's goal was really too shocking.

Even though his body was completely off balance after being tackled by Shawn Marion, he was still able to score the goal.

This three-point ability is really strong.

Knowing that he had gotten into trouble, Shawn Marion held his head with a look of regret, and his self-blame was evident in his words.

If they lose today, Shawn Marion will be the biggest sinner of the team.

When Zheng Yang walked to the free throw line, Teacher Yu Jia was still sighing about the previous shot.

“We thought Zheng Yang would play two points and three points, but we didn’t expect him to play four points.

The three-pointer just now was so beautiful that Sean Marion couldn't brake and crashed into it directly, but he didn't expect that Zheng Yang could actually make the shot.

This gave the Mavericks a chance to tie the score."

Zheng Yang made all his free throws steadily. His free throw shooting percentage this season is 90%, and missing free throws is a relatively rare occurrence.

This tied the two teams again, but there was only a little over a minute left in the game.

The Suns requested a timeout, they needed to arrange their tactics!

They must score in the next round, otherwise the initiative will fall into the hands of the Mavericks.

(End of this chapter)