Chapter 143 Away Win

   The next day, most of the media criticized the Suns.

  From Barkley to coach Paul Westphal, from Wang Tiejun to Ceballos, who only scored three points, one by one criticized.

  The local media is still merciful. The Phoenix and Arizona media are not as ruthless as the New York media, and they do not accuse players too much.

   But for the coaching staff, the local media did not let it go, directly accusing the coaching staff of not adjusting their tactics in time, leaving Wang Tiejun directly exposed to the Lakers' outside impact.

   Amid media criticism, the Suns boarded a plane to Los Angeles.

   During dinner, Danny Angie sat next to Wang Tiejun and asked in a low voice, "Old K, don't you have an appointment with Miss Julia Roberts tonight?"

   Old Wang was startled and said, "What do you ask her to do? It's the playoffs now. I can't spend my energy on her, it's not worth it."

   "Puff!"

   Everyone laughed and laughed.

   In fact, he and Roberts are only sending an occasional text message to greet him now, and it is not a relationship between boyfriend and girlfriend. If the distance is too far, if we don't see each other for a while, the intimacy will fade.

   In the evening, the Suns coaching staff gathered again to discuss the tactics of the G3 battle.

   They didn't sleep much last night, and they all suffered from dark circles under their eyes. They have to continue to do it tonight, otherwise how would they explain to Colangelo?

   That night, Mosaic defeated the Clippers on the road, leading 2-1 and winning match point.

   After a sluggish game, Olajuwon played crazy again, hitting 14 of 20 shots, with a shooting rate of 70%, and sent 4 big blocks again, scoring 32 points and 12 rebounds.

  There is only one game in the West, and there is only one in the East. The Hornets beat the Celtics, and they won two games in a row with a 2-1 lead and won the match point.

  Mourning’s performance was average, with 14 points, 8 rebounds, 1 assist, 2 blocks, 3 fouls and 5 fouls. As a rookie, he was also in trouble with fouls, and only played piecemeal for 31 minutes.

   No. 4, match day, a total of four games.

  West, G3 battle between Suns and Lakers, G3 battle between Jazz and Sonics.

  East, G3 battle between Bulls and Eagles, G3 battle between Knicks and Pacers.

   At 8:00, the two teams announced their starters at the Great Western Forum Arena.

  Sun: Wang Tiejun, Barkley, Ceballos, Dan Marley, Kevin Johnson

  Lakers: Divac, Eldon Campbell, AC Green, Byron Scott, Cydalus Ritter

  The atmosphere of the Great Western Forum Arena is very hot, the scene is dazzling, and some big Hollywood stars can be seen everywhere, including Julia Roberts.

   "Julia, are you still dating old K?" A reporter came forward to interview.

   "Well, it doesn't seem like we started." Roberts smiled.

   "Will you support the Lakers or the Suns today?" the reporter asked again.

   "Individually, I support Old K, and as a team, I will support the Lakers. I am a Lakers fan." Roberts smiled.

  …

In the visiting team's locker room, head coach Paul Westphal was arranging tactics and said: "That's it, Ceballos, your main task tonight is to protect the opponent when he hits the old K. You are defending. If you want to shrink, just stay by the old K's side."

   "Understood." Ceballos said with a bitter face.

  Barkley can't do hard work, he can only do it as a starting small forward.

  The coaching staff thought about it again and again, and could only come up with this method.

   Of course, the main problem is Pharaoh himself, try to foul as little as possible, and don’t stretch your hands and feet.

   At 8:15, the starting lineup.

   "Hey, Julia."

   "Hey, old K."

  Wang Tiejun went straight to Roberts, who was on the sidelines, after a few chats, he went to warm up.

   At half past eight, the game officially started.

   Jump ball, the Lakers take the lead.

   After winning the game last time, Divac was full of confidence today. As soon as he reached the low position on the left wing, he asked for the ball from the top of the arc.

   Although Wang Tiejun committed six fouls in the last game, although the coaching staff asked him to foul as little as possible, he still adopted a tough defense and directly pushed up with his chest.

  The ball was passed down, and before Divac received the ball, he suddenly came back with a strong kick, and completed the force without moving his feet.

"Snapped!"

   Relying on the power of hitting the upper body, Divac's upper body leaned forward slightly, made a mistake in catching the ball, and the ball tentacle popped out of the baseline.

   The bottom referee immediately made an offense-defense transition gesture, turned his hands, and then pointed his right hand to the frontcourt of the Suns.

   "He pushed me!" Divac shouted angrily.

   No one paid any attention to him. The referee could see it clearly. They didn't move their hands or feet. They only squeezed with their chests. This was a 100% normal confrontation.

  Sun attack.

  The left wing is low, Wang Tiejun holds the ball in his right hand and holds it high, facing up, carrying Divac with his left elbow and his left shoulder against the opponent.

   In the next instant, with the left foot as the support, the right foot suddenly stepped forward, one foot on the left waistline of the paint area, and made a breakthrough from the upper side.

  Divac quickly took a half-step back, but at this time he suddenly withdrew his right foot and made a move to get up and hook.

  Divac hurriedly jumped up again, but this time he took his right foot again.

   It's just that this time it wasn't fake, it was real, and at the same time, Tieshan was launched, and when Divac rushed forward, his left shoulder and chest slammed into the opponent's left shoulder.

  His move, move, move, three technical moves. In fact, the rhythm of the moves is not fast, Divac reacted, and his center of gravity was not lost.

  However, the last iron mountain hit was very timely, knocking the center of gravity that was moving forward, and Divac fell directly to the floor, but he stepped into the paint area in one step.

  Campbell made up for the defense, took off and blocked the shot, he took off against the former, grabbed the ball with his right hand and hit the basket through the former.

"boom!"

   As the basket trembled, the referee's whistle sounded.

   "Oh, Divac didn't get up, he seems to have sprained his left foot." Dort shouted at the TNT live broadcast booth.

"It should be that he was hit on his left shoulder and lost his balance. His right foot left the floor. When he fell, there was a twist of his body. His left foot, which was used as a support foot, was sprained. It should have been a sprained left ankle." Latham Analysis Road.

   The two analyzed their opponents, Divac was helped down, and the Lakers lost their main center at the beginning.

   "Old K, great job!"

   Barkley ran over and shouted excitedly.

   "Leave it to me, you'll be fine when you watch the show, anyway, your efficiency is not high." Old Wang patted his chest and assured.

"roll!"

  Buckley turned black with anger.

  The next penalty hit, the Suns lead by three points.

  The Lakers replaced the superstar James Worthy, playing the 3rd position, AC Green played the 4th position, and Pharaoh played against Eldon Campbell.

  Campbell may actually be close to 100 kilograms, standing in front of him like bean sprouts, but with a different style, people have the same way to deal with him, that is to pull straight out.

   As a 211-centimeter center, Campbell has a long range. Although he doesn't have three-pointers, he hit 40% from the far two-point range, 36% for the mid-two points, and 42% for the near-two points. No matter where he goes, he is threatening.

   He put one at the beginning, and was hit by Campbell for a two-pointer, and then he didn't dare to let it go, so he had to follow.

   Follow him out, and he won't come back.

  Similarly, AC Green also has a long shot, with a 44% shooting rate from far two points. Once he pulls out, Barkley has to follow.

   In this way, the two major insiders of the Suns have been pulled out on the defensive end, the penalty area is empty, and the Lakers have no scruples when the outside line is protruding.

   Fortunately, the Suns played their own offense well. The Lakers could not prevent Barkley's big butt, nor Wang Tiejun's low-post attack.

   In addition, since the Lakers have opened the inside line, they will not be able to foul Wang Tiejun, which is also worry-free.

   In the 6th minute of the first quarter, at 15:14, the Suns only led by 1 point and called a timeout.

Head coach Paul Westphal rearranged the defensive tactics, telling Barkley and Wang Tiejun not to follow too far, and letting go of their opponents appropriately. Whether it is AC Green or Campbell, they are not scoring madmen and have no explosive scoring ability. It's enough to maintain the defensive pressure properly and reduce their hit rate. The main defense is still in the penalty area.

   The timeout is over, and the Suns execute the game tactically.

  Barkley hit a ball and returned to the defensive end, Wang Tiejun let Campbell take two steps.

   His one step is about one meter two, and two steps are two meters five, just outside the left waist of the paint area, his eyes are fixed on the ball handler at the top of the arc.

   At this time, the ball was passed to Campbell, he immediately rushed over, took a big step, shortened the distance between the two to one meter two, and stretched his arm, Campbell was already within reach.

   He landed in one step, and Campbell just caught the ball.

   As an ordinary main player, Campbell's ability to catch and shoot the ball is average. After catching the ball, he needs to adjust it. After he adjusted, Wang Tiejun took a small step again, stretched his long arm, and slapped him hard.

"Snapped!"

   A loud slap sounded and the ball was knocked off.

"what!"

  Campbell shook his hands again and again in pain, feeling that several fingers were cut off by the slap.

  The whistle did not sound, the ball was grabbed by Wang Tiejun, and the Suns immediately switched from defense to attack.

   "The thugs, the thugs!"

  Campbell jumped up in a hurry, and kept doing thugs at the referee.

   But the referee ignored him. He didn't see Wang Tiejun hit Campbell's arm. As for hitting his hand, there was no problem. The part where the hand contacts the ball is part of the ball.

  The Suns played a fast break and Dan Marley hit a layup.

  The Lakers attacked, the inside line opened, and point guard Sai Dalles Ritter broke through with the ball.

"Snapped!"

  Barkley quickly returned to defense, sent a block, and the ball was obtained by Wang Tiejun, who returned to defense.

   Back on offense, he carried Campbell to the basket with ease.

  Campbell was pushed away from the front, and the top of the arc dropped the ball at this time, and AC Green immediately double-teamed the basket.

"drink!"

   let out a low roar, and immediately after catching the ball, he hit the ball in a series of left and right.

   "Boom!"

   Two 100kg defenders were knocked over one after another and fell to the basket.

"boom!"

   Amid the violent blasting of baskets, the bustling Great Western Forum Arena was suddenly silent.

   "The difference between tonnage and strength is too great. The Lakers have no energy on the defensive end and cannot suppress this behemoth under the basket at all."

   In the TNT live broadcast booth, Dort shook his head and said.

"At least a strong center is needed to defend the old K, who can stand him, and another inside line with excellent mobility to help defend the double-team, so as to prevent the old K. Now Campbell and AC Green can't stop the old K from getting close to the basket. The basket and the double team can't be suppressed, like two small hounds biting an elephant, is it useful?" Lightham also shook his head.

   As he said, then Wang Tiejun frequently entered the basket and made strong plays, and he played twice in a row, and it was useless to double-team.

   Once he gets into the basket and receives the ball, he doesn’t need room to move like a big dream, so he just hits on the spot, he can hit with both feet still, it’s better to be able to move one foot.

   He relies on his body posture, plus a pair of big hands to dunk the ball, and his ability to protect the ball is very strong. It is very difficult for the Lakers to knock down his ball.

   In the end, the Lakers were forced to use foul tactics.

After solving the defensive problem, Wang Tiejun and Barkley played a tyrannical and efficient offense in the low post, and the Suns took control of the game. With the Lakers losing Divac, they won the G3 game smoothly, 84:107, with a single shot. The big win earned the match point.

  Barkley played 35 minutes, made 11 of 19 shots, 57.8% from the field, 4 of 7 free throws, and scored 26 points, 15 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal, 4 blocks, 2 turnovers and 4 fouls.

  Wang Tiejun played only 31 minutes, made 7 of 12 shots, 58.3% from the field, 5 of 9 penalties, and scored 19 points, 8 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal, 3 blocks, 2 turnovers and 4 fouls.

   Although he only took 12 shots, the number of times he actually took the ball and attacked was not much less than that of Barkley, and he was fouled.

   "Old K played a beautiful game. As a rookie, he performed very well in the playoffs." TNT live broadcast, Dort said.

  Dott said with a smile: "The combination of Barkley and K's inside line, only talking about offensive ability, should be no problem in the league, but the Lakers lost Divac, the inside attack is not in the flow at all, there is no contrast."

   Latham laughed: "Now the Suns are leading 2-1 and the match point is in hand. The next game is very important for the Lakers. If the series is lost, it will be over."

Dort said: "Divac's importance is still quite large. His defense can suppress Old K to a certain extent. If he is not injured today, Old K will not play such a great game. At the same time, his offensive ability is also Better than Campbell and Tie Hang Green, the Lakers' scoring ability will also improve.

  I think if he is not seriously injured, he will play in the G4 game. If the Suns want to win the Lakers, they have to be careful not to have a situation like the G2 game. "

   "Old K, 75% hit rate, what is the reason for you to play so efficiently?" At the end of the game, a reporter from TNT approached Wang Tiejun.

   "They stimulated me."

Pharaoh pointed to the two swellings on his face, as well as some scratches on his arms, and said, "They made too many small moves, but I told them with my offense that it was useless, and we will deal with them in the next game. "Their desperate struggles just added a little bit of ratings to our game and it looked intense."

   "Puff!"

   The reporter couldn't help laughing.

   Back in the locker room, got match point, the atmosphere was very lively, and Barkley started walking around again, chatting with this and interacting with that.

   "Charles, I think it's easier to boost our morale if you give us a bonus." Old Wang shouted.

   "Shut up, do you want me to go bankrupt?" Buckley scolded with a laugh.

   (end of this chapter)