The strongest champion puzzle

Chapter 11 Give Me the Ball
The team's overall defense can limit the performance of stars, but it is often the performance of stars that can break the team's overall defense.

Therefore, in NBA games, the fourth quarter is often a confrontation between stars.

What Zhang Xiaotian has to do now is to defeat the Heat's defense and lead the team to victory.

His style of play has always been tough, but not very fast, limiting his ceiling.

Now with the skills of the king of the last quarter, the weakness of his footsteps can be ignored.

The Heat's strategy for defending him is that Trey Gilder, a player taller than him, is closely entangled, and the inside is ready to help defend at any time.

In the first three quarters, such a strategy can indeed limit him, but not in the fourth quarter.

In the fourth quarter, Zhang Xiaotian was too strong than Beatrey Gilder, and he couldn't wait for the help defense to come up, so Zhang Xiaotian hit the opponent several times.

The Heat's response is also very correct, that is, to find it on the offensive end.

The Spurs' two teams on the perimeter weren't great defensively, especially James Anderson.

When Zhang Xiaotian tore through the Heat's defense, Norris Cole and Terrell Harris also continued to create danger on the outside. Their efficiency was not as good as Zhang Xiaotian's, but the Heat had an advantage in scoring.

Both sides come and go, and the score gap between the two teams is gradually narrowing.

With 3 minutes left in the game, Zhang Xiaotian took off the rebound in the backcourt and quickly advanced, and directly scored a layup. The score became 75:78. The Spurs were still 3 points behind, and the two sides entered an official timeout.

Although the score is still behind, the momentum has been biased towards the Spurs.

The Heat can't prevent Zhang Xiaotian, so the Spurs have a better chance of winning the game.

"I don't believe it, I don't believe that Chinese boy can hit all the time, he is just lucky, he didn't play like this at all in the first three quarters."

"Yes, keep an eye on him and limit him, we can definitely win the game."

While the Heat's players were speaking, the coach was also hesitating. To prevent Zhang Xiaotian from continuing to show off his power, early flanking is an option, but if he uses early flanking tactics against an unknown player in the summer league, he may be rejected by others. laugh at.

The Heat coach chose to make player adjustments and replaced Zhang Xiaotian with a faster player.

Their offense has no more options, only relying on the convulsive shooting of outside players.

After the timeout came up, the Heat played a good match for the first time.

Dexter Pittman came up to screen, then slid down to receive a pass from his teammate and scored.

Most of the Heat shot from the outside. At this time, a sudden pass to the inside played a surprise role, and the score gap became 5 points again.

"Dude, I won't give you a chance, I'm completely different from the guy before..."

The buddy who was newly replaced to defend Zhang Xiaotian liked to think about it, and kept making small moves.

Zhang Xiaotian swiped his hand down and cut on the opponent's hand that was pulling the jersey. He taught the opponent a lesson and at the same time caught the ball and took a big step inside and pulled it up.

With a swipe, the shot is hit again.

Zhang Xiaotian's psychological quality was not good in the first place, but now it is even more stable, some off-the-job tricks don't want to disturb him.

The time is already more than two minutes into the last, at this time, whoever has trouble first between the two teams may lose the game.

The atmosphere on the court is getting more and more tense. From the perspective of the team, it is just a game of scouting people, but for many players, it is an opportunity to change their fate.

The Heat's offense was a pick-and-roll again, and Norris Cole lowered his head and slammed into the inside.

The Spurs' defense immediately shrunk, and Zhang Xiaotian also withdrew to assist the defense. At this time, he keenly saw Norris Cole glanced to the side.

Zhang Xiaotian was clever, and subconsciously stretched forward, just in time to block the ball passed by the opponent.

After a successful steal, Zhang Xiaotian accelerated without stopping the ball.

The Heat also returned to defense quickly. Zhang Xiaotian didn't pause, and started when he entered the Spurs' three-point line.

The Heat's defensive player directly chose to foul, and the referee's hand pointed to the free throw line following the whistle.

Zhang Xiaotian's free throws were already very accurate, but after improving his ability, he became even more stable. He took two deep breaths to calm his emotions, and hit both free throws.

At 79:80, the score difference between the two sides was only 1 point.

Terrell Harris missed a three-pointer in the next two rounds, and Corey Joseph also missed a pass from Zhang Xiaotian.

Time passed by, and the pressure on both sides was increasing.

Zhang Xiaotian understands that at this time he needs to shoulder this pressure and prove his worth.

It was the Heat's turn to attack again, and they didn't seem in a hurry. Norris Cole was still dribbling outside to suppress the rhythm.

Apart from his own defense target, Zhang Xiaotian is still paying attention to other people.

To do a good job in defense, you need to know how to observe. He has done it before, most of which are based on intuition, but in the past few days he has begun to understand and think about how to make a better defense.

More technically, it was Leonard's advice to him. He has a good instinct on the court, but he needs to do better. He has been observing this game and has already had a certain understanding of several main players of the Heat. understanding.

Norris Cole once again used the cover of his teammates to go inside the Spurs. This time, his expression was particularly fierce. He wanted to go up by himself, and Zhang Xiaotian made a judgment in an instant.

Norris Cole pulled up immediately after rushing past Corey Joseph. The inside block was too late to come up. Seeing that the opponent was about to make a move, Zhang Xiaotian had rushed over in time.

The finger touched the basketball thrown by the opponent, the interference was successful, and the Spurs rebounded.

This time they stabilized the rhythm, and Zhang Xiaotian turned his back to ask for the ball at the top of the arc.

After getting the ball, he turned around and faced the defender, who took half a step back to prevent him from breaking through.

Just as the opponent retreated, Zhang Xiaotian pulled up directly and made a mid-range shot into the net. At 81:80, the Spurs took the lead, and the game time had entered the final minute.

The Heat paused, but when the game resumed their tactics were simpler.

Norris Cole didn't pass the ball, but the shot hit the iron again.

The Spurs began to press the rhythm, and the ball was passed to Zhang Xiaotian after half of the attack time was exhausted. Zhang Xiaotian didn't make a shot until the last moment and missed, but there were only 15 seconds left.

The Heat still had Norris Cole dribbling, the Spurs knew he was probably going to make the last shot, and Cory Joseph was focused on defense.

Norris Cole dribbled for almost 10 seconds, then suddenly took a step back and made a three-pointer two steps away from the three-point line. It was a crazy move, but the ball... went in.

A crowd jumped up from the Heat's bench, and Norris Cole received the ovation with open arms.

But the game was not over yet, the Spurs requested a timeout with the last 3 seconds left.

"Give me the ball and I'll settle the fight."

(End of this chapter)