Chapter 96: Dumping Bowen

The score between the two teams in the first quarter was 32:30, with the Mavericks leading by two points.

With the score difference so small, neither Barkley nor Kenny Smith in the TNT studio dared to start criticizing first, for fear of being slapped in the face.

However, the object of their support has not changed.

"Dear fans watching on TV, from Zheng's performance in the first quarter, we can see that he is in very good shape today.

Although Bowen said in front of the media before the game that he would completely lock down Zheng, it was obvious that he was just bragging.

Just wait and see, Zheng Yang will win this game, I promise! "

Kenny Smith said firmly that unless the Spurs won at the end of the game, he would always believe that the Mavericks would win no matter what the circumstances.

"Humph, a completely ignorant person."

Buckley glanced at him with disdain.

……

After the break, both sides continued today's game.

The first offensive round of the second quarter was from the Spurs. French sports car Tony Parker controlled the ball to the frontcourt and faced Jason Terry in front of him.

Jason Terry opened his arms, lowered his center of gravity, and stared at the other person seriously.

Tony Parker was scanning the court, and just when you thought he was looking for his teammates and preparing to pass the ball, he suddenly accelerated and passed Jason Terry directly.

The latter is a player who is better at offense than defense. In the Mavericks' starting lineup, he has always been the defensive weak point.

After passing Jason Terry, Tony Parker stepped on the accelerator and rushed directly into the inside. Dampier rushed forward, ready to find an opportunity to block his opponent.

But Tony Parker suddenly passed the ball from behind, and Duncan followed up and dunked the ball.

The fans at the scene stood up and cheered for this wonderful combination. To be honest, the Spurs' style of play is generally simple and unpretentious, so it is relatively rare to play so gorgeously and smoothly like this round.

After seeing this round being scored, Jason Terry raised his hand to signal to his teammates that it was his own problem, and he also felt a little annoyed and self-blaming.

If his defense had been better, it wouldn't have been so easy for the Spurs to score.

Ugh!
"It's okay Jason, we are a team, we will help you defend as much as possible."

Zheng Yang patted Jason Terry's butt and encouraged him.

Every player is not perfect, that's why teams exist.

A good team is one that maximizes the strengths of each player and avoids their weaknesses.

Jason Terry nodded. This time, after he received the ball across half court, he raised his hand and shot towards Tony Parker at the three-point line. His shot was quite determined.

There is also some desire to get back at the party.

The basketball also cooperated and fell into the basket.

After making the three-pointer, Jason Terry opened his arms to celebrate. This is his signature move. In fact, his nickname "The Jet" also comes from this.

Jason Terry is a very accurate three-pointer player. He has made 2282 three-pointers in his career, ranking seventh in NBA history.

This season, his three-point shooting percentage is 42%, which is an extremely high percentage, and it is a percentage that makes Fat Monk drool!
In the next round, Duncan received the ball and faced Dampier, who also pressed forward and tried to interfere with him as much as possible.

Duncan certainly didn't have the upper hand in terms of size and strength against Dampier, but his solid footwork under the basket allowed him to turn around twice before finding space to shoot, and then he hit the ball into the basket.

Dampier also seemed a little helpless. Defending Duncan was really a very difficult task. He gave you the feeling that no matter how you defended him, you just couldn't defend him.

His technical moves are very ordinary, nothing fancy, but he can score goals.

It's like playing basketball with the superpower of "ignoring all defense."

Popovich on the sidelines also shook his head helplessly. What's wrong with Tim? He played like this when he was a rookie. How many years has he been in the league now?

Still use this strategy!

No progress at all!

We are still standing still year after year!

……

There is really not much to say about the second and third quarters. After all, both sides performed very well and successfully played to their strengths.

However, the strength of the teams was indeed close, so at the end of the third quarter, the score was 82:84, still only two points apart.

But at the beginning of the fourth quarter, a disadvantage of the Spurs emerged, that is, their main players were not as durable as Zheng Yang.

While Duncan and Ginobili of the Spurs were still resting in the first three minutes of the fourth quarter, Zheng Yang was still playing on the court.

He also knew that now was the time to overtake and widen the score gap, so he took over the ball at this time.

At the beginning of the fourth quarter, Zheng Yang held the ball at the three-point line. Bowen stood in front of him with weak legs, trying to adjust his breathing.

Bowen's defense is certainly worthy of recognition, but while he was trying to drain Zheng Yang's strength as much as possible, his strength was also rapidly declining.

Real defense is actually more tiring than offense.

After all, you can attack at your own pace, but on defense you can only follow the opponent's rhythm and keep looking for his flaws.

Defending against Zheng Yang is the most tiring job. After all, Zheng Yang can break through and shoot, and he has good physical talent. Once you are a little careless, you will be left behind by him.

“Hey rookie, are you tired?

Just look up at the scoreboard, we're about to win the game.

No matter how hard you try, you can’t change this outcome…”

Bowen kept talking trash to Zheng Yang, trying to influence his mentality.

But Zheng Yang, who had a strong psychological quality, was not affected at all. He first used his shoulder to push Bowen away, creating some offensive space.

He then passed the ball and used his own rhythm to adjust Bowen's center of gravity.

Suddenly, Zheng Yang broke through to the right. Although Bowen's legs were weak, he still followed as much as possible.

But the next second Zheng Yang stopped suddenly and pulled back, and at the same time gently pushed Bowen's waist with his left hand. Bowen had just returned from the bench and had not yet fully adapted to the current game status.

After being pushed by Zheng Yang, the whole person flew out.

Zheng Yang would not miss such a good offensive opportunity and immediately accelerated into the inside.

Robert Horry blocked Zheng Yang, but the latter was not afraid at all. He jumped high, confronted him and made a pull-up shot.

Layups against centers are commonplace for Zheng Yang, let alone being just a forward.

84:84! The two teams tied again. I don’t know how many times the two teams tied in this game. The two teams kept taking turns to lead the score.

"I like the way you look at me right now."

After making the layup, Zheng Yang looked at Bowen who got up from the ground and said coldly.

The latter clenched his fists and gritted his teeth.

"OMG! Zheng knocked Bowen down!

I couldn't believe what I saw. At the beginning of the fourth quarter, Zheng shook off Bowen. We all know the grudge between them, but Bowen, who was known as the villain on the court, had never gotten any good results from Zheng.

The defense that he was so proud of seemed nothing special to Zheng Yang.

Damn, what is a scoring champion? This is a scoring champion!

Kenny Smith shouted excitedly with his loud voice. In a basketball game, knocking down your opponent is definitely one of the most exciting things.

What’s more important is that the person he knocked down was Bowen, who had a long-standing grudge against Zheng.

The feud between these two people did not last long, but the feud over knocking off an egg is probably the deepest feud among all the feuds in the alliance.

As a fan of Zheng Yang, Kenny Smith has always stood on Zheng Yang's side in the feud between the two. Therefore, when he saw Zheng Yang knock him down, he was more excited than the person involved.

"We don't know what Zheng said to Bowen, but judging by Bowen's facial expression, it was clearly not a friendly one.

Haha, this is our Zheng. Not only is his basketball skill superb, his trash talk is also very good.

Bowen is not the first victim, nor will he be the last!"

……

In the next round, Robert Horry missed the mid-range shot, the rebound was protected by Zheng Yang, and then he started a fast break.

Zheng Yang's fast break counterattack is definitely ranked in the first tier of the league, and he can even be said to be one of the top players. His ball control level is quite good and his speed is also very fast.

Once he grabs a rebound and rushes forward, there is basically no one who can stop him.

Just like in this round, even though Brent Barry of the Spurs tried his best to catch up with Zheng Yang, the latter easily pushed him away with a confrontation.

Then he scored easily.

The Mavericks took the lead by two points.

Popovich on the sidelines immediately patted Ginobili on the shoulder, signaling him to get ready to go on the court.

He saw what Zheng Yang was thinking, so he prepared to let Ginobili go up first.

As for Duncan, he played long enough in the first three quarters. In order to ensure that he had enough physical strength at the critical moment, Popovich decided to let him stay downstairs for a while.

Ginobili's appearance eased the Spurs' offensive crisis. This season, Ginobili averaged 10.5 shots per game and scored 16 points, making him the team's third-leading scorer.

Only 0.6 points away from the second-leading scorer Tony Parker.

Ginobili's appearance did ease the Spurs' scoring crisis, but it doesn't mean they can keep the score close.

Because no one can stop Zheng Yang when he starts to explode.

In the first four minutes of the fourth quarter, he took most of the team's shots, making 8 of 5 shots and scoring 12 points, helping the team take a 7-point lead.

Although the score difference is not big enough, it is enough to help the Mavericks take control of the initiative in a game with such a close score.

However, with the arrival of the final battle, Zheng Yang's physical strength declined and the score between the two teams did not widen further.

When the time came to four minutes, Tim Duncan also began to explode. He successfully singled out Dampier in the next two rounds, and in the third round, when Ginobili missed a mid-range shot, he grabbed the offensive rebound and dunked.

The six-point operation immediately ignited the enthusiasm of the fans in the SBC Center Arena. Everyone shouted Duncan's name frantically, calling him the King of San Antonio!
Barkley in the TNT studio also praised Duncan crazily.

"TMD! What is a super giant? This is a super giant!

In one of the highest-level games in the NBA, at the most critical moment of the game, the player who can stand up and help the team narrow the score is a superstar.

He doesn't care how many obstacles old Nelson puts in front of him in the interior. He is Tim Duncan!
A guy who made the All-NBA team in his rookie season, who can stop him? No one, no one! ”

Barkley looked very excited, Duncan's performance deserved his excitement.

In fact, Stonefo's overall performance in this game was not very good, because when the Mavericks shrank the inside, his shooting space was very poor.

Therefore, his number of shots in this game was less than his normal number of shots.

But at the critical moment of the team, he still stood up.

This is the difference between an ordinary player and a superstar. Perhaps in the defensive strategy you arrange, he will play uncomfortably and not as well as usual.

But as long as the player finds his form and his touch improves, he can always score the ball no matter how poor the shooting space is.

So is Zheng Yang, and so is Duncan!

With Duncan scoring 6 points in a row, the score between the two teams came to 105:103, and the Mavericks only led by two points, which was just one round.

Old Nelson requested a timeout, apparently to suppress Duncan's momentum. During the timeout, he once again emphasized the next defensive and offensive focus.

"We must ensure that our inside line is strong enough to prevent the opponent from breaking through easily. Eric must control his fouls. It is not our intention to let the opponent stand on the free throw line.

Zheng, keep your offensive aggressive, don't stick to singles, you can rush into the inside through screens.

Muhammad is not tall enough, so you can score over him or draw a foul.

Hey everyone listen carefully, this is an important game. Although our current score is 0-0, if we can win this game at their home court, we will have the initiative in the entire series.

Focus, discipline, give it your all, do everything you can, and victory will be ours."

Everyone nodded seriously, although everyone was very tired, especially several main players, whose playing time was more than 38 minutes, and Zheng Yang even played for 45 minutes.

If he hadn't slacked off on the court for a while after his explosion in the fourth quarter, he would not have had the energy to take over the rest of the game.

But all efforts are for the ultimate victory. Competitive sports focus on the process, but more importantly, the results.

The timeout ended and the two teams returned to the court. It was the Mavericks' next offensive round. Zheng Yang received a pass from Jason Terry after half court.

Although Zheng Yang also wanted to teach Bowen a lesson, for the team's victory and to increase the possibility of scoring, Zheng Yang still used the screen to get in front of Tony Parker.

It is easiest to play against a player like Tony Parker who has no strong physical talent and average defensive ability. Zheng Yang only needs to change his posture to break through directly.

But in the paint area, Zheng Yang met Duncan who came up to assist in defense.

The tall and strong Duncan and the coveted Muhammad in the paint made Zheng Yang choose not to rush in rashly. He took a step back after a bomb and took a direct mid-range shot.

The two-point shot was a sure hit!
The mid-range is God’s weapon, and it’s his!
(End of this chapter)