Pick Westbrook

Chapter 421
6 month 5 day.

The NBA Finals still implements the 2-3-2 game rules.

Since 1979, the finals of the NBA playoffs have been played in a 2-3-2 format. Although there are obvious disadvantages to the side with the superior record, this rule was of great benefit to both teams at the time.

Because the transportation in that era was inconvenient, players had to go back and forth to various away games and home games in the playoffs, and the exhaustion of traveling and traveling was very exhausting.

That's why the 2-3-2 competition system was implemented in order to reduce travel, but with the development and progress of technology, there is no need to worry about this at all.

The continuation of the 2-3-2 competition system will only be detrimental to the side with the superior record.

Tonight is still home to the Heat.

Before the start of the game, the Pelicans players seemed a little nervous, because they will be the championship after winning tonight's game.

In addition, no player on the team has the experience of winning a championship, so the tension quickly spread, and no player has the experience to stand up and stop it in advance.

Such nervousness caused the Pelicans to miss three consecutive shots after the opening.

Paul missed a mid-range shot, Leonard missed a three-pointer, and Jordan even made a dunk.

The Heat took the opportunity to play a 9:0 spurt, and Li Lai had to call a timeout urgently.

"Hey guys, what's up with you guys?"

"You guys are playing on the court like that Timberwolves team that has been around for a long time."

"Don't worry about what happens next, just be yourself."

"We have worked hard for the whole season, this time is to accept the results, not to torture ourselves there."

Li Lai applauded to cheer up the players, and this encouragement also had a certain effect.

After resuming the game, Anthony Davis took the lead to lose the burden and made an alley-oop hit.

This goal made Li Lai finally feel relieved. In fact, he has noticed that not only the players on the court, but also the players and coaching staff off the court are very nervous.

Even Stevens, who had experience in the NCAA finals, was a little anxious at this time.

"Coach, the NCAA finals are crazy but completely different from the NBA."

"It's a game-based game system, and everyone feels like they've been beaten, and the NBA is a long series."

"In this series, the player's state, tactical response, the wits and courage of the coaching staff and pre-match preparation are all processes that must be experienced."

Li Lai nodded in agreement and said, "Compared to the NCAA, the NBA is more like a marathon. It's not that whoever runs ahead at the beginning can have the last laugh."

"What we want to compare is who can last longer and who has more perseverance. The winner is the one who reaches the end, not the one who has been running in front."

Hearing this, Du Feng took a deep breath, feeling that it would last a lifetime.

on the field.

Wade was in a very good state in the first quarter, stealing Leonard, making a layup with a stray step and assisting James with an alley-oop dunk.

At the end of the single quarter, Wade has scored 11 points, 3 rebounds and 2 assists.

The Pelicans trailed 20:26.

In the second quarter of the game, Zhan went all out again, hitting the basket and scoring dunks.

Fortunately, JR Smith hit two consecutive three-pointers, which gave the Pelicans a successful continuation.

At the end of the half, the Pelicans were still 45:55 behind.

The third quarter of the game.

James and Wade obviously found that the Pelicans were not well prepared for tonight's game, so they led the team to chase after the game in the third quarter.

In order to limit the two brothers, Li Lai even resorted to double-teaming tactics in the end, and the result was the first explosion of the Heat's outside artillery since the playoffs.

雷阿伦全场三分7中3，肖恩-巴蒂尔全场三分6中3，迈克-米勒全场三分5中2。

The entire Heat team made 28 of 13 three-pointers.

The Pelicans lost the game with a score of 95:110.

At the post-match press conference.

Both James and Wade said very firmly: "The series is not over yet. If we win another victory in New Orleans in the next game, then the Pelicans should panic next."

Eric Spoelstra also said very confidently: "The Pelicans will not be our opponents, we will win the next two games in one go."

new orleans.

Countless fans lowered their heads in silence after seeing the Pelicans lose the fifth game, and then breathed a sigh of relief.

"Hey guys, haven't we already guessed that the Pelicans won't win the championship, definitely not."

"We're always going to fall short at the end, we're not going to win a championship, never will be."

"Yes, we are cursed."

Crescent City.

In the simple house in the middle of the lake, the old man had already had gray hair all over his head. He tremblingly watched the pelicans on TV who looked disappointed after losing the game.

"We're under the devil's curse, there will be no heroes in New Orleans."

6 month 8 day.

New Orleans Arena.

Li Lai sat in the locker room and watched every player.

Everyone knows they screwed up last game, threw away an upcoming championship, played like shit, and let the Heat play their signature basketball.

More importantly, fans throughout New Orleans lost patience with them after the last game.

With the blessing of the city's cursed fate, no one wants to believe that they can still win the championship trophy in the end.

Even if the current big score is 3:2, the Pelicans have the advantage.

"Hey guys, do you know what's the most important thing in basketball?"

Li Lai suddenly sat cross-legged in the middle of the locker room, looked at his disciples and said with a smile on his face.

He didn't scold the players after the last game for not working hard enough, not being tough enough on the court, not mature enough.

Because winning a championship is never easy.

Beverly raised his hand and said, "It's talent! As long as you have good talent, you can play in the NBA."

It can be seen that Beverly is not good enough in talent.

As Beverly was the first to speak, the players behind became bold one after another.

Jimmy Butler stood up and said: "It's hard work! Hard work can overcome all talents. As long as you work hard enough and work hard with your life, there will be rewards."

This is what Jimmy Butler has fought for all his life.

Chris Paul hesitated and said, "It's tough, coach."

"Small players have to be tough to survive on the pitch, and it's okay to even make small moves for it."

"This is what my idol Iverson taught me on the court to survive."

Li Lai was a little surprised. He didn't expect Paul's idol to be Iverson. After all, he had coached both of them, and they were players with completely different styles.

Leonard kept silent, Li Lai raised his hand to signal him to be bolder.

Leonard's voice was slightly lower: "It's determination, the determination from your family that allows you to fight forever on the basketball court."

"."

Li Lai shook his head lightly after hearing the team members' chattering remarks.

The players were a little disappointed seeing this scene, because they felt that their answer was the best answer.

Li Lai continued: "It's talent! Hard work! Toughness! Determination! It's all of you!"

Stevens and Du Feng on the side couldn't help but sigh in their hearts after hearing this sentence, and all the Pelicans players raised their heads tacitly.

Li Lai said again: "It's unity!"

"Uniting our talent, hard work, toughness, determination, uniting us all."

"We must firmly believe that we are the championship!"

All the players looked at each other at this moment, and they finally understood what the coach wanted them to understand.

Beverley's talent, Jimmy Butler's hard work, Chris Paul's toughness, Leonard's family.
When the Pelicans unite everything from all players, they are that unbeatable team.

Beverly stood up excitedly, crying like a ghost and howling like a wolf.

"Oh~"

This sound startled everyone.

He said: "We will definitely beat the Heat, isn't it the brothers?!"

Little Jordan stretched out his hand and yelled, "That's right, stop thinking about those messy things, win this game tonight, it's that simple."

All the players held out their hands, and Paul shook his hands to signal everyone to approach.

Everyone knows what that means.

But this time, Paul didn't speak, and the players moved closer to one direction to leave a few open spaces.

They looked up at Li Lai at the same time.

Li Lai smiled tacitly, and motioned Stevens and Du Feng beside him to step forward at the same time, and he put his hands heavily on the players' hands.

"Guys! What time is it!"

"Whoa New Orleans time!"

"We will never give up!"

"We persevere!"

"Let's fight to the last minute, even the last second!"

"New Orleans!"

"Fight!" "Fight!!!" "Fight!!!"

Everyone pressed their hands down heavily, and Vince Carter couldn't help applauding himself and his teammates, he clenched his hands and said.

"fighting."

On the court, the game begins.

Seeing the hope of the series, the Heat showed more terrifying fighting spirit and determination from the beginning of the game than in the last game. James and Wade rushed to the basket and fouled Jordan as soon as they came up.

In the first quarter alone, Jordan suffered three fouls, and Li Lai had to replace him early.

Anthony Davis couldn't help but patted Jordan as he left the court.

"Brother, I'm going to defend with your share, get ready to cheer for me off the court."

Jordan patted Anthony Davis on the butt and said, "I'll always be watching you."

The Pelicans played a small lineup in advance, consisting of Anthony Davis and Diaw inside, which is even more of a challenge for Anthony Davis.

Because Dior is not good at protecting frames.

James hit the basket again, Anthony Davis went up to the man and did not give James a chance to take off early, the two collided and fell out of the court together.

The referee penalized Anthony Davis for a defensive foul. The latter didn't mind, stared directly at James and said, "I still have 5 fouls to play with you."

It was even more difficult for Wade to break through for a layup afterwards. Anthony Davis seized the opportunity and sent a big cap.

In three consecutive rounds of scrambling for the rim, Anthony Davis grabbed offensive rebounds from Birdman Anderson to help the Pelicans establish a lead.

On-site commentary desk.

Kenny Smith said: "Anthony Davis' performance in this round of the series was not very good, because the Heat's defensive strategy was to cut off Paul's passing lanes, so he lost a lot of assisted goals."

"In individual singles, the Heat's defensive double-team also put a lot of pressure on Anthony Davis, so the three games the Pelicans won before were all based on the performance of outside players."

"But tonight, Anthony Davis knew he was less of an offensive role, so he put a lot of effort into it defensively and on the boards."

"8 rebounds in a single quarter, including 3 offensive rebounds, the Heat's rebounds are about to explode!"

With the performance of thick eyebrows in the penalty area and on the rebound, Paul, Leonard and Jimmy Butler dared to attack more focusedly.

At the end of the first quarter, the Pelicans led 28:25.

In the second quarter of the game, the situation changed suddenly.

Diaw first passed the ball to JR Smith and hit a difficult drifting three-pointer. The Heat, who were almost scared by JR Smith's quick shot, immediately focused on defense against him, trying to curb the rotation of the Pelicans. attack.

As a result, veteran Carter broke out suddenly.

A corner [-]-pointer, a cut and a lob dunk from Diaw, and a drive past Shane Battier for an unexpected pull-up layup.

The Pelicans immediately established a 5-point lead.

Carter hit the gas pedal with both hands, facing the Heat with a hideous face.

"Veteran Carter is ready!"

Seeing the amazing alley-oop dunk, Barkley couldn't help but praised: "This is a half-human, half-god UFO."

"At 36, he can still fly!"

In the second quarter, relying on Carter's performance, the Pelicans led the Heat 58:50.

The third quarter of the game.

James and Wade made another effort, and the two combined to score 3 points in 12 minutes.

More importantly, Bosh, who did not play very well in the entire series, had amazing efficiency tonight, scoring 12 points on 8 of 17 shots in the first three quarters.

Before the start of the fourth quarter, the Pelicans tied again with the Heat.

82: 82.

Li Lai adjusted his tactics and said: "Oden, Anthony Davis, Jimmy Butler, Leonard, Paul, we are going to close the game now!"

Li Lai did not win the death five at the last moment, because James and Wade of the Heat have only rested for 1 minute so far in the whole game.

Eric Spoelstra moved Bosh to center and played smaller lineups in order to increase the team's offensive possession efficiency.

In Li Lai's eyes, this is an opportunity that can be used.

He emphasized to the players that the next game should try to hit the ball inside as much as possible, and let Bosh and Battier defend the Pelicans' inside offense.

Both Oden and Anthony Davis have the skills and ability to attack inside. At this time, Li Lai also maintained full trust in the players.

After this lineup was taken, Pat Riley, who was watching the game, immediately reminded Eric Spoelstra.

"It is necessary to shrink the inside line. Jimmy Butler, Leonard and Paul will frantically return to the defense. They will not let the Heat succeed in playing fast."

"At this time we have to defend the inside offense of the Pelicans."

Eric Spoelstra, who was instructed by his mentor, immediately adjusted his defensive strategy.

on the field.

The moment Anthony Davis took the ball to eat Battier alone, James immediately shrank back to defense.

But what James never expected was that Anthony Davis didn't play hard in the face of double-teams, and immediately passed the ball to Jimmy Butler who was open on the outside.

Swish!
Jimmy Butler made a three-pointer.

The same tactic in the next round, James returned to the defense again, this time the vacancy appeared on Leonard.

Duang!

The latter hit the iron with a three-pointer, and Anthony Davis jumped up and flew straight into the air, grabbing this offensive rebound and smashing it into the basket.

boom!
"Score in again!"

CCTV commentary desk.

Yu Jia already had a premonition of something, and said again and again in shock: "The Heat's inside line is going to be exploded!"

(End of this chapter)