Thanos

Chapter 218 The Second Tie-break

With the Suns' fast break, the Lakers stood firm in their defensive formation and successfully defended again.

In fact, defense and offense are never independent, but complement each other, and are even closely related.

Just like the Lakers' offense failed, the Suns received the rebound and could launch a fast break in an instant.

And if the offense is successful, the Suns have to serve the baseline and then organize the offense.

The time difference is enough for the Lakers to easily return to defense.

The Lakers have done well during this period of time, with a high offensive success rate and a good defense. They immediately played a wave of 8:2 attacks.

The score was 62:71, and the point difference narrowed to single digits.

But at this moment, Nash made a step-back jumper with the help of his teammate's cover, and assisted Jim Jackson to score a three-pointer, scoring 5 points in a row to widen the point difference again.

Throughout the third quarter, the Lakers scored a full 32 points, but the Suns also scored 30 points.

At the end of the three quarters, 86:99, the Lakers are still 13 points behind.

In the critical fourth quarter, the Lakers still played very well, but they couldn't prevent the Suns' offense.

As the time passed by every minute and every second, the defeat was set.

At 112:125 at the end, the Lakers suffered another big defeat, losing their second away game in a row, and the score became 3:2.

On May 5, the sixth battle between the two sides.

The Lakers still played very well, but eventually fell to the American West Arena.

107:119, three consecutive defeats.

All of a sudden, the wind direction of the media changed.

"The Suns became the fourth team in the league to fall behind 0:3 and win three games in a row."

"If they win the tiebreaker again, they will make history and become the first team to comeback 0:3."

"The Los Angeles Lakers are cornered."

"The Lakers players will be forever on the pillar of shame!"

Phoenix fans are also full of fighting power. They grabbed Pippen and Pierce, who were not optimistic before, and beat them up, and made all kinds of blackmail on Erpi's Facebook account.

Meanwhile, the Pistons beat the Pacers to become the third team to reach the conference finals.

The Suns and the Lakers have also become the only matchup that has not yet finished.

This is also the second time the Lakers have played tiebreakers this season, but it feels completely different from the first time.

In the series with the Mavericks, the Lakers are the chasers, and the more they play, the more confident they become.

But this time, the Lakers are the ones being chased, and losing three games in a row will really affect the players' confidence.

After days of training, Ye Heping also clearly felt that everyone's morale was a bit low.

Several meetings were held in the locker room, but the effect was not good, and morale still did not improve.

On the contrary, the Suns are in high spirits.

Stoudemire said in an interview with reporters: "We are the best team, we are strong, and we will make history!"

To create history, the implication is to defeat the Lakers and become the first team to come back from a 0:3 deficit.

And coach D'Antoni also mentioned a piece of good news: Joe Johnson will return in the tiebreaker, and the Suns will play the seventh game with a complete lineup.

This is good news for the Suns, but bad news for the Lakers.

A piece of information gathered together, and the Lakers felt unprecedented pressure.

Los Angeles is a good place, and the exposure is several times that of other places.

But it is not a good place at the same time. When you do not do well, the pressure will multiply and make you breathless.

Facing the bombardment of the media, the Lakers players, especially the young players, are about to be overwhelmed.

If you go to the tiebreaker in this state, the Lakers will lose.

As the captain, Ye Heping suggested to the coaching staff to hold a plenary meeting, and everyone continued the previous practice of discussing tactics.

The atmosphere of the meeting was not very good, and everyone's pressure could be clearly felt, and some people even started arguing themselves.

If it wasn't for his teammates to stop him, he might have fought.

After the conflict ended, the meeting room fell silent, and everyone was silent.

This meeting can be said to have been a failure. Not only did it fail to solve the problem, it also caused the problem to explode.

But Ye Heping smiled instead.

"If you still want to fight, you can find me!"

When Ye Heping said that, the two of them trembling with fright just now, did they fight with Ye Heping?They would rather be singled out with Kobe and get blown up a hundred times.

"It's good! After arguing, the pressure in your hearts has been relieved a lot. Next, I have some ideas to talk about!"

When Ye Heping proposed a meeting, he naturally had his own ideas.

Everyone looked at Ye Heping, full of expectations. Everyone still trusted him, even though he was only a first-year student.

"I think if we only talk about offense, there is no team in this league that can match the Suns. They are the only one. We are far, far behind!"

As soon as Ye Heping said that, everyone's faces changed.

That's what you want to say?A blow to our already fading confidence?
But Ye Heping changed the subject: "But we also have something better than them, defense!"

Everyone was excited, looking forward to Ye Heping's next words.

"Throughout the season, our defense has been doing very well. Protecting rebounds, assisting defense, supplementing defense, and targeting the opponent's arrows. I can't say it is the best in the league, but it is definitely better than the Suns!"

"That's our strength and we should make the most of it."

Coach Frank nodded: "Ye is right. We allowed the Suns to score too many points before, nearly 120 points per game. This is not normal. This is the playoffs!"

Kobe also agreed: "The Suns' offensive rhythm is very fast, and it is easy to affect the opponent. Just like in G5, we did a good job of defending in the first half of the game, but as soon as the Suns' offense came out, we would follow. Run, lost our own rhythm, and lost our defense."

Odom continued: "So we must stick to our own rhythm, and we must maintain it, and we must not be affected by our opponents."

"very good!"

Divac showed joy, and the Lakers are back on the right track.

"Next, let's study how to do it!"

That night, the Lakers studied for a long time, and practiced all day the next day.

On May 5, the Lakers came to play at the American West Center again, kicking off the prelude to the tiebreaker.

It was the last game remaining in the second round of the playoffs, and the rivalry, plus the possibility of making history, attracted unprecedented attention.

TNT continues to broadcast live across the United States, and the commentators are still the Big Three: Barkley, Smith, and Magic.

And in China, CCTV5 sent a double team, and even invited Yao Ming, who had just returned to China, to BJ's studio to treat the game with all his strength.

Needless to say, the attitude of the Chinese fans, Yao Ming fell into the sand, Ye Heping became the only Chinese who is still playing in the playoffs, who do not support him?

Although the Lakers are not in good shape and have just suffered a three-game losing streak, the entire United States and even the world are not optimistic about the Lakers.

But Chinese fans will always be Ye Heping's most solid backing.

(End of this chapter)