Chapter 152 Two to One

  At 1:00 noon, after having lunch, Wang Tiejun brought his suitcase and drove to the training base.

The training base and headquarters of the Suns are together. After parking the car, he happened to meet Colangelo. He has always respected the team owner who took him out of Chinatown. Greeted:

   "Sir, good afternoon."

"good afternoon."

   Colangelo nodded with a smile, and then asked, "Old K, how is your physical fatigue?"

   "The situation is normal."

   The smile on his face has been reduced because he feels that his physical fitness is not very good. The fatigue after yesterday's game is still there, and he has not fully recovered, and his muscles still have some soreness.

Colangelo is also mentally prepared. A young man who has not engaged in physical training for two years has a physical reserve. It is conceivable that Old K can persist until now and can still perform 20+10. He has worked very hard. , impeccable.

   An hour later, the Suns boarded a plane to San Antonio.

   That night, the Suns gathered together to watch the game between the Eastern Knicks and the Hornets, and this is the only game tonight.

  Barkley said while looking at the TV: "I don't know how the alliance arranged it. Mosaic and the Supersonics played the G2 game on the 12th. They didn't play the G3 game tonight, but it was arranged for tomorrow."

   "We play a back-to-back, and they have to play one, and that's fair." Kevin Johnson said.

   "But not in the East. The Bulls play G3 on No. 15. Why don't they arrange for No. 16 to play G4? We play back-to-back and they can have a day off, which is too unfair." Dan Marley said.

   "Because there is no absolute fairness in this world." Danny Angie laughed.

  Wang Tiejun is also worried about the next back-to-back. His physical fitness is not as good as that of his teammates.

   In the end, at 106:110, the game was won by the Hornets, tying the big score to 1-2 and not giving the Knicks a chance to sweep.

Super center Ewing didn't play very efficiently and made a lot of shots, but he only made 13 of 31 shots, with a shooting rate of 41.9%. What's more outrageous is that he didn't make a free throw. It is conceivable that his offense was all jumpers from the outside. No lethality.

   The Knicks have only made 12 free throws in total, while the Hornets have made 35 free throws. The free throws alone are enough to ensure the Hornets win this home. Of course, this may be related to home field advantage.

  The Hornets played a suffocating defense, with as many as 17 steals, the Knicks had only 7, and the shooting percentage was also four percentage points higher than the Hornets.

   The next day, the 15th, match day.

   On this day, the four teams in the West played their G3 games at the same time.

   At the same time, there is also a game in the East, and the G3 battle between the Bulls and the Cavaliers also started tonight.

  The home team's locker room, Spurs coach John Lucas is setting up tactics.

   A two-game losing streak away from home. If they lose another home game, the Spurs can basically be out, so the pressure is huge.

   Under the pressure of the outside world and the pressure of the two-game losing streak, he and Robinson reached an agreement to abandon each other's prejudice, shelve each other's opinions, and focus on the game.

In the   G3 battle, he arranged breakout tactics, pass and cut tactics, high post pick-and-roll tactics, low post support tactics and so on.

   David Robinson did not arrange a lot of low-post singles tactics, this is because Robinson's single-handed defense against Wang Tiejun is really not efficient enough.

   Not only against Wang Tiejun, but in the first round of the series, Robinson played the Blazers, and the opponent he faced was a bit shorter than him, only 206 cm. The strength was also very different, and the efficiency was still very low.

   At 8:00, the G3 battle between the Suns and the Spurs started first, and the other two games were half an hour later.

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

   Spurs: David Robinson, Antoine Kyle, Sean Elliott, Dale Ellis, Avery Johnson

   Jump ball, Spurs attack.

   "Sigh!"

  Antoine Kyle threw in a mid-range shot first.

   Looking back, Barkley wanted to return one, but he failed. The rebound was taken by Dale Ellis, who rushed in, and the Spurs attacked.

"boom!"

   Dale Ellis misses a three point shot.

The Suns failed to get this backcourt rebound, the ball bounced off the right wing, Antoine Kyle picked this offensive rebound over Barkley's head, and then passed to Dale Ellis, who swung it away Dan Marley made a two-pointer.

   Looking back, Barkley missed a mid-range shot again, and the Spurs protected the backcourt rebound.

  David Robinson got the ball one step away from the low post on the left wing, turned over for a jumper, was almost capped by Wang Tiejun, and naturally missed the ball.

  Wang Tiejun turned around to grab the rebound, but the backcourt rebound was lost again. Spurs point guard Avery Johnson rushed in, grabbed the ball in front of Barkley, and made a layup.

   In the opening game, the Spurs made 3 of 5 shots and made a 6-0 attack wave. Barkley made 0 of 2 shots, and the Suns have not scored yet.

   However, coach Paul Westphal did not call a timeout in time and the game continued.

   This time Danmar made a shot and threw a three-pointer, but he still missed.

"boom!"

   The rebound bounced far, popped out of the paint, and was picked up by Spurs' Antoine Kyle.

   "Sigh!"

   Sean Canliot hits a free throw in the head of Ceballos.

  0:8, the Spurs made 4 of 6 shots and the Suns missed 3 shots. They were 8 points behind and fell into a scoring drought.

   After two more rounds, Kevin Johnson made his first shot and hit a mid-range shot, but he turned around and Spurs guard Dale Ellis made a successful layup.

  2:10, the sun attacked and finally called a timeout.

   "The sun feels cold, and the G3 battle is worrying!" Winston Rollins said in the ESPN live broadcast booth.

   "Not to mention fatigue, the two sides played the same game. I think the Suns won two games, maybe the players are a little careless." Carter Oldman said.

Rollins analyzed: "Today the Spurs' defense is better than the previous two games, especially Antoine Kyle, who was very close to Barkley. Barkley missed two shots. The Suns, on both ends of the offense and defense. The quality is far worse than the G1G2 war."

   "Old K is running around and hasn't touched the ball yet." Altman teased.

   After playing for four minutes, he didn't touch the ball, and all the statistics were duck eggs. Wang Tiejun sat on the bench a little depressed.

   He gasped and drank a few sips of water. He felt very tired today, and his body couldn't get excited at all. It has been more than 40 hours since the last game, but the fatigue has not recovered.

   "How are you feeling, Charles?" he asked Barkley.

  Buckley nodded: "I'm not bad."

   The timeout ends, the game begins, and the Suns attack.

   Kevin Johnson broke through with the ball, attracted the defense and then passed the ball to Wang Tiejun, who hit a basket hook.

  4:10, Spurs attack.

  David Robinson pulled up from the low post, made a high post pick-and-roll for Avery Johnson, and then stayed in the high post to contain Wang Tiejun in the high post.

  Junior Johnson broke through the wall and got rid of Kevin Johnson. After reaching the basket, he encountered Barkley's supplementary defense. He immediately scored the ball to Antoine Kyle, who made a near-basket jumper.

  4:12, Sun attack.

  Wang Tiejun got the ball again and missed a hook near the basket.

   "The Suns are in trouble today." Winston Rollins shook his head.

   In the 10th minute of the first quarter, at 18:28, the Spurs had a 10-point lead, and the Suns called a timeout and replaced the bench.

   On ESPN's live broadcast, Carter Oldman said: "The Spurs are in full bloom, and the offensive and defensive tactics are very successful.

   On the Suns side, the tactics were unclear and they played poorly. They fought their own way. Only Kevin Johnson was in good shape and scored 8 points by making breakthroughs. "

  Winston Rollins said: "Barkley made 1 of 4 shots, he was not excited at all today."

  Oldman said: "Old K also made 1 of 4 shots. He didn't have a basket attack, and the movement was rarely very slow."

  Rollin Road: "If you continue to go off the court, it is impossible for the Suns to win this game."

   "This one?"

   Oldman laughed: "Tomorrow back-to-back, in this state, the Spurs are sitting on home court advantage, and there is a high possibility of a tie."

   Two hours later, the game was over, 96:111, the Suns lost their first away game.

  Barkley made 9 of 21 shots, 42.9% from the field, and scored 22 points from the free throw. His state improved slightly, but he was still unable to lead the team to victory.

  The Suns' scoring leader tonight was Kevin Johnson, who made 9 of 17 shots and 8 of 10 free throws, scoring 26 points, 6 rebounds, 7 assists and 4 turnovers.

  Wang Tiejun played 30 minutes, made 3 of 9 shots, 1 of 2 free throws, and only scored 7 points, 8 rebounds, 1 block, 3 turnovers and 4 fouls. His performance was far worse than the previous two games.

   Main shooting guard Dan Marley made only 2 of 10 shots, main backup Tom Chambers made 1 of 7 shots, and important backup Danny Ainge made 0 of 5 shots.

On the Spurs side, power forward Antoine Kyle made 10 of 14 shots, with a hit rate of 71.4%. That is to say, he mainly made jumpers and was not lethal. He scored 21 points even with penalties.

   Shooting back Dale Ellis made 9 of 16 shots, with a hit rate of 56.3%, which is very efficient for a perimeter.

David Robinson, on the other hand, was still not very good tonight. He made 4 of 16 shots. Although he didn't play much in the low post, he also made a lot of shots in the high post. Today's free throws were also good. He made 5 of 7 free throws and scored 13. He scored 8 rebounds, but he was not much better than Wang Tiejun, and his performance was still sluggish.

   But he did a good job in coordinating the ball and got 6 assists, which shows that the Spurs used him successfully tonight.

Comparing the data between the two teams, the Spurs hit 49.5%, while the Suns only had 40%. The Spurs took 11 more shots, 8 more rebounds, 6 more steals, and 6 fewer turnovers. Judging from these data, the Spurs have It's hard not to win.

"so tired!"

  Wang Tiejun soaked in ice water in the visiting team's locker room. He felt his whole body tense, even his nerves, his mind was empty.

   He is now worried about tomorrow night's game. He's so tired tonight, and it's not just him that's not in good shape. Except for Kevin Johnson, all his teammates are in poor shape. How to play back-to-back tomorrow night?

   The TV set outside was playing the game. The other two games were not finished yet. The channels were being tuned, and I watched this one, and that one, but no one spoke.

   After soaking for 20 minutes, he left the ice bucket. At this time, the other two games were also finished.

  The Bulls won the G3 game on the road at 96:90, becoming the first team to get the match point.

  The Mosaic team, which has lost two games in a row, won the SuperSonics 79:97 with home-court advantage.

  Kevin Johnson said: "The Rain Man was out of shape tonight. He only made 4 of 11 shots. He scored 12 points, but he was the player with the most points on the team. With the SuperSonics playing like this, it is difficult not to lose."

  Barkley said with a wry smile: "The SuperSonics, like us, won two home games. They were too excited. Once the excitement period passed, everyone's state fell one after another, and the next thing is going to be bad."

   Everyone nodded involuntarily.

  Dan Marley said: "Da Meng made 11 of 18 shots today, with a hit rate of 61%. He broke out!"

  Barkley said disdainfully: "I bet that if the three super centers play like this, they will not be able to make it to the finals."

After everyone's eyes came over, he continued: "Don't just look at Da Meng's shooting percentage, he feels good today, and he can't be so good every game. Look at his free throws again, not once, all of them are Jump shots on the outside."

  Everyone nodded involuntarily.

At this time, head coach Paul Westphal said: "In this year's playoffs, the three super centers are indeed dominated by jumpers. I remember that Da Meng only had three free throws in the last game. This should not be the referee's problem. , that's his home court, and with so few free throws, he's basically playing outside."

  Assistant coach Lewis said: "Dameng made 11 free throws in the second round of G1, but I don't know why the two games changed the way of play. This one is even more outrageous. There was not a single free throw."

  Barkley said: "I remember the last game, Ewing didn't even make a free throw. Although the three super centers are powerful, their style of play, to be honest, is not dominant enough."

  The crowd then talked about the Bulls, which is the team they care about the most.

  Daniel Marley said with some anxiety: "Jordan made 12 of 24 shots, 50% from the field, and 8 of 10 free throws. He made a lot of breakthroughs. He was very lethal to the inside and played quite efficiently."

   This is the opponent he will face. Every time he encounters it, he will be knocked out, so there is already a psychological shadow.

   Everyone talked for a while before going to take a bath.

   "Old K, you haven't spoken, are you tired?" Buckley asked before entering the bathroom.

   "A little bit." Wang Tiejun nodded.

  Some shadows flashed in Buckley's mind.

  If the old K continues to be weak, tomorrow's game will also be very bad. If the big score is tied, the pressure will be transferred to the Suns, and they will be very passive.

  On the 16th, two second-round G4 games in the West started, and on the same day there was a G4 game between the Eastern Knicks and the Hornets, three games in one night.

  The Suns' game starts at 8:30, and the remaining two games start at 8:00.

   After the third quarter, 78:88, the Suns trailed by 10 points away.

  Barkley continued his sluggish performance in the previous game. He made 6 of 18 shots in three quarters, with a shooting rate of only 33.3%, plus 3 of 4 free throws, and only scored 15 points and 10 rebounds.

Kevin Johnson is worthy of being one of the top point guards in the league after Magic's retirement. He still maintains a high efficiency. He made 5 of 10 shots in three quarters, and his breakthrough was extremely sharp. He made 9 of 10 free throws in three quarters. He has scored 19 points and sent 6 assists.

  Dan Marley and Tom Chambers are in the same slump as Barkley.

   Danny Ainge was good, 5 of 8 from the field, 2 of 4 from 3-point range, and scored 12 points.

Wang Tiejun, on the other hand, rarely showed performance in the first three quarters. Although he played for 30 minutes, he only made 5 shots in total. All of them were near-the-basket hooks. power, only 4 points.

   It's just that his rebounding was good today. He grabbed a total of 13 rebounds in three quarters, including 10 backcourt rebounds and 3 frontcourt rebounds.

In addition, he also sent 4 big blocks and 3 assists, but these data are useless, playing very unexcited, no offensive desire, and at the same time on the defensive end, fatigued, he can't keep up with David Robinson's moving speed, Robinson Dodging him to fight, so there is little confrontation.

On the Spurs' side, David Robinson had an explosion, repeatedly hitting the basket, making 6 of 14 shots, 14 of 18 free throws, and unlimited lethality. He scored 26 points in three quarters.

   This is also the negative result of Wang Tiejun, who had physical problems, passively reducing the confrontation. Robinson completely liberated himself by moving quickly and restored his vitality.

   Had the Suns not rebounded well tonight, they would have lost more.

   The final quarter of the game began, and all the main players of both sides played.

  The Spurs must win this game, they won 2-2, everyone went back to the starting line, but lost, 1-3, that would be bad.

   And the Suns want to win this game. Once they lose, they will be tied with a two-game lead, and the pressure will be even greater than the Spurs.

   So even if they are 10 points behind, the Suns are the main force.

   But Ceballos was the only one who didn't get on, and got on Danny Ainge, who was in good shape today.

  The main lineup of the Suns has not had enough three-point shooters, and the effect of opening tactics is not very good. In this last quarter, Paul Westphal will take a gamble.

   Danny Ainge is a swingman with a height of 193 cm and 80 kg. He is opposite to Sean Elliott and has a huge physical disadvantage. The latter is 203 cm and 93 kg.

  Paul Westphal was ready to be blown up on the defensive end of the 3 position. Anyway, Ceballos was also blown up, allowing Danny Ainge to go up and have a strong ability to pull off.

   Angie's three-pointer was very accurate today, and Sean Elliott would never let him go, so it would be very troublesome for the Spurs to double-team Old K.

   Of course, K is very weak on offense today, and the Spurs don't need to double-team him at all.

   But when he paused just now, he had already instructed Old K to strengthen his offense. Because Barkley was in poor condition, he could only rely on him to strengthen his low-post offense, so he had to be prepared to be double-teamed.

  …

   (end of this chapter)