Chapter 583: 582. Partner Stockton
19 points in a single quarter is not a big deal for first-class players, even quasi-first-class players.
And Mike James, a role player among role players, actually scored 19 points in a single quarter!
I have an impression of this man, Liu Mang, a very inspirational player. He went to gold in Europe before, and returned to the United States to play at the age of 25. He was defeated. In the 01-02 season, he was signed by the Heat and became a trainer. Yes, he was a trainer. , with a monthly salary of US$3,000. At the end of the season, he got two short 10-day contracts from the Heat and played 15 games. After the end of the 2001-2002 season, he signed a one-year basic salary with the Heat. The Oscars in the world were selected as one of the most inspirational sports figures in 2002. In the past summer, he signed a three-year 9 million contract with the Celtics as a backup point guard.
Who would have imagined that this player would suddenly explode in a game with such a big difference in strength!
The Eagles were stunned in the third quarter. After three quarters, the Celtics chased the score to a 78-78 tie!
Coach Kruger quickly replaced the main lineup with Liu Mang, Jason Terry, Raheem, Rasheed Wallace and Ratliff.
But after the start of the fourth quarter, the Eagles did not have the absolute advantage as they did in the first half. Liu Mang and Jason Terry's backcourt double waves kept the Eagles' offensive firepower. But the Celtics' offense was completely thrown away. The short backcourt combination of Chucky Atkins and Mike James ran and played happily. Pierce played with confidence in the third quarter. The tough defense against Raheem played quite steadily. When the score was about to be opened by the Eagles, he stood up and succeeded in mid-range singles, and then relied on the regular offense of Atkins and Mike James to bite the score .
The most important thing is that Rasheed Wallace worked too hard on both offensive and defensive ends in the first half. His physical strength can allow him to concentrate on offense or defense throughout the game, even in overtime. The ability to maintain focus on both offensive and defensive ends of the field, even because the first half was too desperate, even if the halftime break and the third quarter did not play, the fourth quarter came up to defend for a while, and obviously lacked physical strength, the offensive end shot was weak, and the defensive end He also couldn't keep up with the footsteps of the new force, Riff LaFrentz, which caused Ratliff to guard against Mark Blunt, the desperate Saburo, and LaFrentz's air cuts in the interior, which made Ratliff care about it. Can't take care of the end.
It's okay to say, the key is that LaFrentz has the ability to shoot three-pointers!
In the middle of the fourth quarter, with Pierce's step-back three-point jumper, the Celtics succeeded in leading the score by two points 95-93!
The Eagles called a timeout with 5 minutes and 32 seconds left, and the timeout became an official timeout.
Looking at Mike James, who has already scored the second highest score in the game with 26 points, Liu Mang is in pain, mainly because the Celtics' two speedy double point guards are too difficult to deal with!
In the first half, there was only one Atkins or Mike James who came off the bench. Bryan sent Atkins and Mike James on the field at the same time, assuming he was going to give up the perimeter defense and attack. Liu Mang could defend one but not two!
And I tried it in the third quarter. Prince is not good at defending against Mike James or Atkins. These two point guards are about 1.8 meters tall.
"Don't worry! There are still 5 minutes left! Let's not worry, play slowly, Ace, John, you go on the court, defend the opponent's two point guards, Sharif, Carlos, your partner forward, defend Pierce and Lavron Ci, run, start the offense, Theo... No, Kwame, go up, use your speed and confrontation to defend the basket!" Coach Kruger gave it a go.
I didn't expect that the game would reach this point. Rasheed Wallace was obviously lacking in physical strength. Coach Kruger felt that it was not without reason that Rasheed Wallace became a defensive loophole in the Blazers. Supporting the Trail Blazers, the inside points to Rasheed Wallace to score, and the outside points point to Flying Squirrel. Pippen is just an organizer, so it is too difficult to score at such an age.
After this game, Coach Kruger's coaching staff really understood the advantages and disadvantages of Rasheed Wallace. For the future, there is a clearer way to use Rasheed Wallace. But at this stage, Rasheed Wallace can only rest first, and the goal now is to win.
And Ratliff felt as exhausted as he did when facing Kenyon Martin for the Celtics' two insiders who ran and played, so coach Kruger replaced Kwame Brown and looked forward to Kwame Brown, who played the best performance of his career in the last game, was able to continue his good performance. When Ratliff rested in the second and third quarters, Kwame Brown performed well, scoring 7 points and 6 rebounds.
Stockton moved his body, what is he doing with the Eagles? Isn't it time to play at this time! He came to hold the lineup for the Eagles at a critical moment.
Kwame Brown is also very excited, this is the first time in his career to appear at a critical moment!
...
After the timeout, the Celtics still sent Atkins, Mike James, Pierce, LaFrentz, and Mark Blunt in the second half and played a 56-36 frenzied chasing performance.
The Eagles attack, the frontcourt ball, Stockton receives the serve and organizes the offense, the Eagles set up a pick-and-roll offensive tactic, Liu Mang cuts to the basket without the ball.
Raheem came to the middle distance on the left side of the basket and took Pierce away, Liu Mang cut to the basket, Mike James followed behind him, Kwame Brown blocked Mike James inside, Liu Mang used the pick-and-roll to go around After passing Mark Blunt, he ran from the bottom line to the outside of the 45-degree three-point line on the right. While Liu Mang cut into the basket, Stockton and Boozer's pick-and-roll from the outside were carried out at the same time. Stockton borrowed Boozer picks and rolls, moves right to the mid-range, Stockton's mid-range shot is too threatening, Atkins and LaFrentz both defend Stockton, to the mid-range, Ah Tekins couldn't prevent Stockton's mid-range shot, and LaFrentz couldn't prevent Stockton's breakthrough.
After Boozer gave Stockton a pick-and-roll, he made a very critical judgment. He didn't cut in from the left to take away the defense of Atkins or LaFrentz, and he didn't help Stockton attract the defense. Stockton made a mid-range shot or broke through, but let Stockton be double-teamed, bypass Stockton's back, and come to the middle distance at a 45-degree angle on the right! Liu Mang just ran out from next to Boozer. At this time, Mike James, who was about to bypass Kwame Brown to chase Liu Mang with his speed, was blocked by Boozer!
Stockton, who was caught in the double-team, did not panic, clearly judged the running position on the field, and sent the ball to Liu Mang at the moment when Liu Mang took advantage of Boozer's second pick-and-roll and there was a gap.
Liu Mang caught the ball outside the three-point line at a 45-degree angle, adjusted it, and threw the ball decisively!
The tactical movement is perfect, the shooting opportunities are perfect, and the shooting rhythm is perfect. Both the sharpshooter level 5 and the pick-and-roll master level 5 are triggered.
Amidst the boos of the audience, Liu Mang's three-pointer was hollow!
The basket didn't even touch the basket, and there was a burst of net flowers after entering the basket!
This seems to be the first time Liu Mang has partnered with Stockton in an official game. The feeling of catching and shooting is great!
However, Liu Mang's three-point attempt to snipe the Celtics' morale didn't seem to have much obvious effect, and the Celtics were still in full swing!