The Fifth Point Guard

On June 12, 2005, Game 2 of the Finals began at Gund Arena in Cleveland.

The Spurs, who lost the first game, changed their appearance and seemed to be a different team.

They have always been relatively slow to start and continued to put pressure on the Cavaliers from the beginning.

Duncan scored a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds in the first quarter!

Gooden and Varejao, who came on the bench, jointly contributed 4 fouls.

I don’t know what method Popovich used to stimulate them. In short, the Spurs’ collective performance that day was a blowout.

Especially Duncan, who almost takes over the work of the two inside players, so that when Silas changes to a smaller lineup, he can safely replace Nesterovich with Malik Rose and use him to defend. Get to James in the fourth position.

In this game, Bowen stared at Shentong like a tarsal maggot from the beginning to the end.

And James took the initiative as the main point of attack to shoulder the important task of attacking the city.

It's just that against the equally powerful forward Malik Rose, James' tank-like breakthrough failed to play its usual role and level.

With the Spurs' offensive end open, Shentong and James were targeted again. Although the Cavaliers put up a very tenacious resistance, they were still captured by the Spurs at home.

94-108.

The Cavaliers lost to the Spurs by 14 points at home in the second game, and the score was tied 1-1 by their opponents.

Shentong's performance was below average, "only" contributing 24 points, 4 rebounds and 5 assists.

Although James scored 28 points, he took 29 shots and his scoring efficiency was far lower than usual.

After the game, Manu Ginobili, who scored 30 points and 6 assists, was elated after the humiliation of the first game.

In an interview, Ginobili said: “My performance in the last game was a disaster. When I returned to the hotel after the game that night, I locked myself in the bathroom and took a shower for a full hour. I dare not think back on what happened that night.”

The reporter asked: "What made you perform so well in the second game? Compared with the first game, it was like a different person."

Ginobili laughed loudly and said: "It must be Popovich, that old man. Ahem, what that guy said to me in the first game kept me in the process of this game. I tightened my nerves and didn’t dare to be careless at all.”

"What did Bobo say?"

"At that time, I was on the court and had just been scored by STO. Bobo called a timeout and then said to me, if I put you back on the court again, can you play like a normal person?"

"Bobo really said that?"

"Of course." Ginobili quickly replied, "He even told us that we must go all out to play with the Cavaliers and not relax at all to beat them!"

The reporter laughed when he heard this.

Apparently, this is local media in San Antonio.

Ginobili's words caused dissatisfaction among some surrounding Cavaliers fans.

The fans' boos also kept coming from the TV cameras.

Popovich waved to Ginobili and told everyone to return to the locker room immediately.

This time, it was the Spurs' turn to beam and greet reporters' questions at the press conference.

Unfortunately, except for a few local San Antonio media who asked a few sporadic questions, the Chinese media and the local media in Cleveland did not ask many questions. This left Popovich, who originally had a lot to say, nowhere to vent. feeling.

"What, don't you have anything to ask? Here comes the two-pound question, the two-pound question!"

When it was the Cavaliers' turn, although they lost, the atmosphere of the press conference was still very enthusiastic.

After Paul Silas routinely answered questions from several familiar media reporters, the staff at the scene signaled that there was one last question left.

At this time, a reporter from San Antonio stood up and asked Shentong questions.

"Hello Shen, when I was interviewing Manu just after the game, I heard that Popovich said that he would beat you guys in this game. What do you think of this?"

This sentence obviously has a hint of ridicule.

Shentong turned on the microphone switch and said expressionlessly: "Talk to the ball."

the next day.

"Wow!"

Shen Tong came to the pool, took off his soaked training clothes, and twisted out the water.

Wagner was dumbfounded.

James also stared with his eyes widened, silently watching.

Watching Shentong put on his training clothes again, Wagner couldn't help but ask Shentong who was walking out of the locker room: "Shentong, where are you going? Aren't you taking a shower?"

"I'll go practice for a while and then wash up when I come back."

"Boom." The door of the locker room blocked Wagner's gaze towards Shentong.

James silently wiped his sweat, wrung out the towel, and then pushed out of the locker room and walked out.

Wagner curled his lips, and while he was hesitating, several players also put on their training uniforms again and walked out.

In the end, only Wagner and Miller were left in the locker room.

"Hey, Reggie, don't you go practice a little longer?" Wagner asked.

"No need. I came here for training three hours early, and now I don't even have the energy to raise my hand."

"."

Wagner silently put his sneakers back on, then pushed out of the locker room and ran to the court.

On June 14, Game 3 of the Finals was played at the SBC Center, home of the San Antonio Spurs.

Although the Spurs' playing style is very calm and reserved, the Spurs' home fans are different, very enthusiastic and unrestrained.

A hot girl wearing a gray Spurs jersey rolled up the jersey around her waist, revealing a small fair waist. The No. 21 on her chest was held tightly by Nuo's big balls.

At this moment, Barkley, who is sitting in the SBC Center Arena for live broadcast, can be regarded as a feast for the eyes.

"The quality of beauties in Texas is really high." Buckley had an indescribable smile on his face.

"Charles, let's talk about football," Smith reminded.

"I'm watching football right now, don't disturb me."

"."

In this game, the starting lineups of both sides remained unchanged from the previous two games.

Before the game, Buckley commented: "The Cavaliers lost one of their first two home games, and now they are visiting San Antonio. They must try their best to win a victory here, otherwise they will be in a very difficult situation. "

Smith agreed with his partner and said: "But the Spurs' home court is not easy to play. This is a severe test for Paul Silas and STO. We saw that in the second game, the Spurs' GDP combination collectively He showed off his power and pinned the Cavaliers tightly, with no ability to counterattack. The other two players, Bruce Bowen and Malik Rose, seemed to be born to defend Shentong and LeBron. This made the Spurs' lineup It's very reasonable and very specific for the Cavaliers."

Barkley said: "To defeat the Spurs, the Cavaliers need to make breakthroughs in certain aspects and change the situation of being passively beaten in the second game. First, Tim Duncan cannot be allowed to do whatever he wants in the paint alone. He is the team's core player. It is very difficult for the Cavaliers to keep Tim alive with the cornerstones and support points. After all, they do not have a star of Tim's level inside. Secondly, Shentong and LeBron must break the defense of Bruce and Malik. , if they need to invest a lot of energy in the offense, then the Cavaliers' overall strength will inevitably be affected, because the ball needs to be launched from the two of them. Third, the Cavaliers' bench lineup must give enough help to the main players. In the last Thunder game Jim Miller made 1 of 7 outside shots, and Anderson Varejao seemed to be playing just to contribute foul data. If the Cavaliers' substitutes are still so ineffective, then the Cavaliers will still be in trouble in this game."

Two games into the finals, and it seemed like the two TNT commentators were not optimistic about the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Before playing, Shentong touched the red string on his right wrist.

This was tied by Nina Dobrev herself before she left for San Antonio from Cleveland.

"My dear, this red rope is blessed with luck. I hope it can bring you good luck."

His thoughts returned to the court, and Shentong's expression returned to seriousness, his eyes staring directly at the ball that was about to be thrown up by the referee.

Amidst the deafening shouts and cheers of the SBC home fans, the game officially started!

Duncan took the lead in winning the ball for the team.

The Spurs attack from position.

Duncan stuck Gooden inside and immediately started a singles after receiving a pass from Parker.

After two consecutive collisions, Duncan took three steps, drifted laterally, and hooked the ball toward the basket with his left hand.

Before Gooden had time to adjust his center of gravity, he could only watch the ball flying over his head.

Just as the ball was about to disappear from his sight, the lights behind him suddenly dimmed. A palm stretched out from behind and slapped Duncan's throw out of the penalty area!

It’s STO!

"What are you looking at? Just let me charge!"

Only then did Gudeng react and quickly took big steps to follow Shentong's back.

The ball was passed only twice before it was in James' hands.

The Spurs retreated very quickly.

From the first two games, they already know that the Cavaliers transition from offense to defense very quickly.

So when Shentong blocked the shot, three people from the Cavaliers arrived at the Spurs' half. At the same time, the opponent had already defended three people. They were all crowded in the penalty area, giving the Cavaliers no chance to fast break.

But James, who has the ball, is standing in the bottom corner on the right.

With the three-pointer on his toes, James shot a three-pointer directly.

When the ball was released, James raised his arm high.

This kind of feel has been maintained by James under the guidance of Shentong.

In order to maintain this feeling of shooting, James even maintained a high-raised posture with his right hand for a certain period of time, just to form muscle memory.

"Uh-huh."

The ball passes through the net hollowly.

After clashing with Shentong, James clashed with Wagner again.

Then, Shentong and James returned to defend in their own half, and Wagner was knocked to the sidelines.

Parker missed a jump shot, and Big Z struggled to grab the defensive rebound.

Big Z, who averaged only 5.5 rebounds per game in the first two games, was criticized by many media and fans.

"This weakling is only tall and can't play basketball."

"Is this the All-Star center in the Eastern Conference? There may be a gap between him and Shaquille, Yao Ming."

"I'm afraid there's a big difference between him and Yao Ming."

Big Z also likes to visit websites, so naturally these words cannot escape his eyes.

Bearing the ridicule from outsiders and the expectations within the team, Big Z was holding his breath in this game.

Play it as the last game of your career!

Offensively.

Shentong used Gooden's screen to quickly break through to the inside, and faced Duncan and passed the ball to Big Z under the basket.

After getting the ball, Big Z held the ball with both hands and dunked under the basket, completing a two-handed dunk in front of Nesterovich!

According to past playing habits, after getting the ball under the big Z basket, it usually ends with putting the basket or wiping the board. Dunks like this are really rare.

"Wow, look at our big center, he's angry!" Wagner said with a smile to Big Z running past.

"Yes, Dajuan, you have to be more diligent. It's really tiring for us to play with you. In comparison, Tony's performance is much better."

The exciting method from STO.

Not to mention, Wagner really did this.

In the first two games, the self-proclaimed third-in-command of the Cavaliers was far behind Tony Parker in overall performance. STO's semi-ridiculous words catalyzed Wagner's performance.

Following Parker's defense, the French sports car's dribbling was a bit slow, and Wagner's defense was watertight.

"Hey, Tony, here." Ginobili slipped over and asked for the ball.

Parker was just about to pass the ball, and Wagner reached out in advance to steal the ball, intercepting it between Ginobili and Parker.

I predicted your prediction!

When Wagner's arm was discovered, Parker's pass was too late to retract.

As if cooperating with Wagner's steal, Parker "actively" sent the ball over.

After completing the steal, Wagner rushed to the Spurs half court like flying on grass, and dunked with both hands behind his back!

The huge momentum caused Wagner, who was hanging the basket with both hands, to swing his feet in the air like a pendulum. When he returned to the highest point, he released his hands and fell back to the court as lightly as fallen leaves in the autumn wind.

James, who followed him to the scene, immediately stretched out his hand and pressed it on Wagner's head.

"Well done, Dajuan! Let's keep doing this tonight!"

"certainly!"

Wagner replied decisively, looking back and seeing Shentong's thumb.

The Cavaliers gave the Spurs a 7-0 wave at the beginning, which made Popovich so angry that he almost dropped his stool.

The old handsome man called a timeout angrily.

When the Spurs' starting five returned to the bench, everyone lowered their heads and didn't dare to breathe.

After the timeout, the Spurs opened up the situation with Duncan's inside attack.

The game between the two sides began to become more offensive and defensive.

After the first quarter, the Spurs had unknowingly narrowed the point difference to only 1 point.

During the inter-quarter break, Barkley commented: "The Cavaliers played quite well in the first quarter, just like they did in the first home game. They beat the Spurs at the beginning, but the game was in the fourth quarter after all, and Pop Veach called a timeout in time, and then the Spurs relied on their home court advantage and calm play to almost even the score difference. I guess the Spurs will establish their home court advantage in the second quarter and take the lead and open up the score."

Smith said: "I also think the Cavaliers will be in a tough battle, especially if you look at it, Shentong was blocked by Bruce Bowen in the first quarter and made 0 of 1 shots without scoring. If Shentong didn't play, the situation between the Cavaliers and the Spurs would not be 55." It goes on too long.”

"Bruce, you defended well in the first quarter. Continue in the second quarter and don't give Shentong any chance!"

Listening to the praise from his teammates, Bowen didn't feel the slightest bit happy.

He looked at Shentong who was sitting on the bench resting on the other side, wondering what kind of medicine this kid was selling in his gourd.

But his sixth sense told him that STO would put himself and the Spurs in danger.

And this feeling is getting stronger and stronger!