Jordan: I thought he was there to help me!

Chapter 552 Still Mid-Range! Rivers' illustrious resume continues...

Pierce stood at the inbound line and calmly made both free throws, extending the Celtics' lead to 3 points!

"Don't give them a 3-pointer! Don't give them a 3-pointer!" Rivers, already standing and directing the game, yelled at the top of his lungs, "Absolutely do not let them shoot a 3-pointer!"

At this point, Rivers paused, then, as if having made up his mind, continued roaring, "Don't give it to the basket! Protect those two spots, defend this shot, and we've got the win!"

How to defend these two points?

Lin Tian heard Rivers' words clearly, and he even felt that the guy might have deliberately let him hear them.

Rivers was in the heat of the day, and he was going to shoot mid-range shots in the heat of the day.

He's betting that Lin Tian won't score!

great.

I just love having gamblers around.

After all, Master Lin has never lost a single gamble in his entire life!

Then Lin Tian suddenly accelerated his dribbling and rushed to the frontcourt in the blink of an eye. Facing Allen and Davis who came from the side, he did not stop at all, but suddenly accelerated, and the basketball and he once again rushed through the two of them at the same time!

Lin Tian moved with incredible speed, as if he had pressed a fast-forward button. In the blink of an eye, he bypassed the double team, took another step forward, and then, without hesitation, pulled up and shot directly from the free-throw line.

"Whoosh!"

One second later, another crisp sound rang out, and Lin Tian made another mid-range shot!

Lin Tian's 50th point tonight, and also his 32nd from the mid-range!

With 37 seconds left in the game, the Knicks are down by one point!

124: 123!

"FUXX!" Rivers cursed angrily as he called his last timeout. He was truly exasperated by Lin Tian's mid-range shooting performance tonight.

But he had no choice. What could he do?

Let Lin Tian shoot a 3-pointer?

This guy is incredibly accurate.

Let him attack the basket?

It's true that he only made 4 of 9 shots in the paint tonight, but that was only possible because the Celtics' twin towers were both camped under the basket and gave up going out to help defend.

They paid a huge price for this!

They helped the Knicks' shooters find their rhythm. By surrounding and blocking Lin Tian and keeping the big man inside, they allowed Anthony to score 20+ points for the second consecutive game, Okur to score 17 points, and even Steve Jackson tonight scored a playoff high of 18 points!

But Rivers and Thibodeau, the man behind him, both expressed helplessness regarding this outcome.

Lin Tian made 16 mid-range shots in one game, who the hell can stop him?

Their only consolation was that the team's offense had stabilized.

The team maintained its lead with just over 30 seconds left.

"Paul, you receive the ball and hold the offense until the last 8-9 seconds! Tim, you and Paul are on the same side, everyone else spread out to the weak side! I need a local 2-on-2!"

"If they double-team, you know what to do! Pass to the weak side. If they're one-on-one, Paul, you analyze it: should you go for it yourself or pass to Tim!"

Rivers' tactical arrangements are quite simple and straightforward, which can be summed up in one sentence: rely on the individual abilities of star players!

If his team had players of Jordan, O'Neal, or Lin Tian's caliber, his arrangement would be perfectly fine, as it would be far more effective than any complex tactic.

But now it's Pierce and Duncan, whose scoring and offensive capabilities are at least a level weaker than the ones mentioned above!

This time, the Celtics' offense followed Rivers' plan exactly in the first half. Pierce faced Anthony one-on-one on the strong side again, but this time he didn't force the shot. Instead, he observed the situation and passed the ball to Duncan.

Stoudemire was guarding Duncan!

He is widely regarded as... the worst defensive player and the least capable defender in the Knicks' starting lineup.

Having Duncan face him one-on-one under the basket is the most efficient strategy!

This is Pierce's assessment, and it's also the opinion of almost everyone who has watched the Knicks play.

After receiving the ball, Duncan did not rush to dribble. Instead, he cleverly looked around several times to make sure no one was coming to help defend before calmly placing the ball down and starting the attack!

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

At this stage of the game, Duncan held nothing back and went all out, going head-to-head with Stoudemire.

Stoudemire's lower body strength was still negligible, and Duncan easily pushed him to the basket.

But then, just as Duncan nudged him with his shoulder again and then hooked him with his arm, Stoudemire suddenly got hard this time!

Unlike usual, he was no longer easily pushed away by Duncan's elbow. Instead, he gritted his teeth, withstood the elbow, and not only did he not retreat an inch, but he also jumped up at the same time Duncan made the move!

Although Duncan was too tall and big, and Stoudemire's jump was forced after a confrontation, so his jump height was not high enough to block the shot.

But that's enough!

Stoudemire successfully disrupted Duncan's hook shot, and that seemingly sure shot went wide!

"Beautiful defense, Amar'e! I knew you could do it! That's why I didn't come to help defend." Lin Tian was the first to rush to the basket, grabbing the ball Duncan missed, then giving Stoudemire an encouraging pat on the butt before dribbling and starting to advance.

The last 15 seconds!

"No rush! Stay calm, we can handle this! Press them until the very end, deliver the fatal blow, and leave those bastards no chance to fight back!"

Lin Tian casually signaled to Old Nelson that there was no need to pause, and also signaled to his teammates to calm down.

Fifteen seconds is enough for him to advance, observe the game, and then hit the game-winning shot.

This is the absolute confidence that Lin Tian has accumulated over the past 10 years of his professional career!

"Snapped!"

The first sound to ring out on the court was Duncan pounding the floor.

The guy was incredibly frustrated, his face filled with regret.

It was so close!

With just that little bit of skill, he could give his team a 3-point lead, force the Knicks to only shoot 3-pointers, and ensure that his team was at least undefeated.

But a slight difference can lead to a huge discrepancy.

But he missed the shot. He couldn't make such a crucial shot against Stoudemire's defense!

Duncan's frustration lasted less than three seconds. After he slapped the floor and released his emotions, when he looked up again, his eyes were filled with determination.

"Hold on! Everyone, get into position! We're holding on! We're still up by one point, we can win!"

Duncan's encouragement energized the Celtics players on defense, making them play more aggressively and ruthlessly.

Everyone stuck to their opponent, and Allen practically clung to Lin Tian from midfield onwards, his hands gripping Lin Tian's jersey and his legs shamelessly placed between Lin Tian's thighs.

Even though he's a rookie, and even though it's an away game, Allen believes that at this point in the game, the referee won't call a foul of this level!

Lin Tian dealt with Allen's defensive moves, which were all fouls, with ease. He kept an eye on the time, dribbled the ball calmly, and then suddenly started his attack when there were 5 seconds left on the shot clock!

First, Lin Tian's ball-protecting hand suddenly turned to his side, swatting away Allen's claws that were clinging to him. Then, the shoulder on the side of Lin Tian that was close to Allen suddenly went soft and relaxed. He turned to the side and easily slipped past Allen, beginning his accelerated charge.

"Assist in defense!"

Allen never imagined that his all-out defense would be so easily neutralized by Lin Tian. Now, all he could do was let out a nearly tragic roar, hoping his teammates could block Lin Tian for him.

The moment Lin Tian broke free from Allen, Pierce and Davis immediately released Anthony and Jackson. They were going to double-team Lin Tian with all their might. They would rather be eliminated by Anthony or Jackson than give Lin Tian that chance!

Lin Tian didn't care at all whether you gave it to him or not.

He acted extremely quickly this time!

He didn't give the two players a chance to get close to him. He had just stepped into the three-point line when he suddenly pulled up and shot the ball!

Theoretically, this is the shot with the lowest return and the highest difficulty on the basketball court!

With three seconds left in Game 3, Lin Tian chose to shoot in the most difficult way.

This is absolute confidence, and also absolute arrogance!

Because he could clearly still dribble and continue to drive, getting closer to the basket before shooting.

Lin Tian: No need!

Listen to the dragon's roar!

"Whoosh!"

Immediately afterwards, a crisp, clean sound rang out, and the basketball once again swished through the hoop with perfect accuracy, scoring 2 points for Lin Tian!

At the same time, the final whistle blew, signaling the end of the match.

Just as Lin Tian said, the match is over! We won't give them any chance to fight back!

One shot, one kill!

"Lin! Lin! Lin! Lin!"

"MVP! MVP! MVP!"

"Madison Gardens will never fall!"

"Lin! God of New York!"

"Kill him! Go home, you damn Boston chin!"

"You're all a pile of shit!"

"So what if we're down 3-1! We can come back from 3-0!"

"I gave you a chance, but you fucking idiots!"

"We are the best!"

……

Madison Square Garden erupted instantly, with fans chanting wildly, some cheering for the Knicks and others cursing Boston.

In short, everyone went into a state of revelry!

A game-winning shot in the seventh quarter – that was incredibly tough!

"What else can we say? What else can we say?" Barkley yelled after making the shot, "Lin! I knew he could do it! He never lets us down!"

Kenny added, "It's not a question of what else we can say, it's a question of what else the Celtics can do! They've done their best, they've given it their all, they've played everything they could!"

"Did Duncan play badly? Did Pierce play terribly? Their performance tonight was enough to win 99.9% of the time! But Lin seized on that last 0.1%! He found that tiny opening and chance, and then he killed the game!"

"A Game 7 buzzer-beater!" Barkley exclaimed. "Something that has never happened in the NBA for decades. It's considered by countless people to be something that can only be seen once in a lifetime. It's the ultimate thing that fans and players can imagine."

"How many times has Lin done this? The alley-oop dunk against the Lakers in the 2001 Finals, and tonight's clutch shot! Anything else? I can't remember! My mind is a mess, I can't remember if Lin has had any other Game 7 game-winning shots."

"But one thing I'm certain of: if you give Lin the chance to deliver the decisive blow, he won't let you down! If you're Lin's opponent, here's a piece of advice: never, ever, ever give him any chance to deliver the decisive blow! Because he will definitely take you down!"

"Alright, let's congratulate the New York Knicks on their incredible 1-3 comeback, winning three straight games and advancing to the Eastern Conference Finals!"

"Speaking of the desperate 1-3 score, it's worth mentioning that in the first round of the Eastern Conference last year, Lin's Pacers were also in a desperate 1-3 deficit against the Pistons. Then, Lin led his team to win three consecutive games and eliminated the Pistons, the champions of last year's Eastern Conference regular season, in a decisive Game 3."

"It's worth mentioning that the Knicks' next opponent in the Eastern Conference Finals is also the Pistons! The same opponent they faced last year! Will Lin be pushed to the brink again this time? And if he is, can he pull himself out of the woods for the third time in a row?"

"Another noteworthy point is Rivers, who is the complete opposite of Lin. How many times has he been reversed after leading 3-1? Not just a huge 3-1 lead, but 2-0, 3-2... In Rivers' short career, every playoff run he's made."

"He gets reverse-swept every single time! Every single time! If Lin is the king of reverse-swept comebacks in the league, then Rivers is definitely the king of being reverse-swept."

Kenny laughed and said, "Now that you mention it, I'm suddenly looking forward to Lin and Rivers teaming up. It would be really interesting if they were on the same team!"

"Nalin's fans might kill you! After all, Rivers doesn't have many die-hard fans to protect you." Barkley laughed heartily. "Alright, I've said my piece. Let's turn our attention to the court and see how the New Yorkers celebrate!"

On the court, Lin Tian once again stood on the scorer's table, opening his arms to the audience.

He was facing at least 8000 fans, all of whom were worshipping him and shouting his name.

All Lin Tian had to do was open his arms, welcome the cheers of the fans, and enjoy their frenzy.

Won!

They won another Game 7!

Even though Lin Tian had won countless times in his previous career, and even though he had done things similar to tonight many times before, each time was enough to make his adrenaline surge and drive him into a frenzy.

This is what it feels like to be a winner!

Lin Tian didn't linger on the scorer's table for long this time, because he saw his teammates rushing over. Anthony, Stoudemire, Jackson, Okur, and others formed a net with their arms below the scorer's table, shouting Lin Tian's name loudly.

Lin Tian laughed heartily, opened his arms, let go of everything, and then fell backward.

Then, he was tossed up again, fell down, and tossed up again!

After the extreme celebration, Duncan and others walked over to the Knicks players.

"We lost." Duncan patted Lin Tian on the shoulder, his face full of bitterness. "We lost again."

"This is just the first time you've lost to me," Lin Tian said with a sly smile. "You'll have plenty of chances to lose to me in the future! You'll get used to it!"

"Damn bastard." Duncan shook his head, then reached out to touch Lin Tian's head.

But how could Lin Tian let his evil clutches succeed? With a quick dodge and a reverse grab, Duncan's evil claws not only failed to touch Lin Tian's head, but were instead pressed onto Pierce's head next to him by Lin Tian.

"What?" Pierce asked, pouting and looking completely bewildered.

"It's okay, you and Tim can have some fun. You might even lose to us next year!"

If there's anything in this league that Lin Tian fears, it's definitely Duncan's claws.

Who knows if there's some kind of curse, causality, or virus attached to it that will make you bald if you touch it? Regardless, Lin Tian won't let Duncan touch it.

After exchanging pleasantries with the two men for a while, Lin Tian quickly led his men away from Madison Square Garden.

What he said to reporters before the match wasn't just nonsense.

They had indeed booked their flights and hotel to Detroit.

The team departs tonight!

Unfortunately, their series ended in the final round of the second round, so they only have one full day of rest tomorrow. The night after tomorrow, they will have to play the Pistons at the Palace of Auburn Hills.

With only 48 hours of rest at most, Nelson decided to have the team fly directly to Detroit for the night and stay there for the full 48 hours to recover from physical fatigue as much as possible.

There are two advantages to doing this.

1. It would allow these energetic bastards to obediently go to Detroit to sleep instead of continuing to overdraw their energy in the glitz and glamour of New York.

2. It allows the team to have as much continuous rest time as possible, which is much better than having to rush to pack up, board a plane, and go to the hotel halfway through the rest period.

Old Nelson had no choice but to do this.

Who can blame them when the Pistons are well-rested and have plenty of energy?

Who made their team take on such a tough opponent? Although the whole team was incredibly excited after winning the Game 7, they were all exhausted and their stamina was clearly an issue.

After all, only Game 6 of this series was garbage time. In the other games, including the one where the Knicks lost by almost 20 points, the Knicks' starters played a considerable amount of time! Especially Lin Tian!

Excluding the sixth game which had garbage time, Lin Tian played an average of about 46 minutes in the remaining six games. In four of those games, he played the entire second half, with almost no rest time.

The other three players, Anthony, Okur, and Jackson, didn't get as much playing time, but compared to Lin Tian, ​​their average playing time was actually over 40 minutes.

Of the starting five, only Stoudemire, who was severely countered by the Celtics, had slightly shorter playing time, so he didn't have any stamina issues.

But the problem is, if Stoudemire can't beat Duncan and Howard, how can he possibly beat the Pistons' two Wallaces?

It will most likely be even worse!

It's completely countered by blood!

Sitting on the plane, old Nelson got a headache from thinking about it more and more, and when he had a headache, he wanted to curse.

As for who to criticize?

Criticize the Nets!

It's all the fault of the damn Nets for being so disappointing. If the Nets could have dragged the Pistons to seven games and then narrowly defeated them, the Knicks wouldn't even have needed to fly; they could have just gone home and slept.

Anyway, just cross the river and you'll be in the neighboring village.

These country bumpkins are unreliable! A bunch of good-for-nothings, they deserve to be wiped out year after year! Your team will fall apart sooner or later! (End of Chapter)