The bald young coach was a little overwhelmed after falling behind at halftime.
In the first half, Mario Elie performed very well in the low post.
The veteran's strong muscles played a role.
Avery Johnson was defended by Lee.
He tried to speed up and rushed across the half court. When he came to the left wing, Mario Elie was already in the blocking area to ask for the ball with his back.
After Mario Elie received the pass, all the Spurs players moved away to make room for the veteran to play one-on-one.
David Robinson stood at the free throw line again, and Duncan moved to the right near the baseline.
Elliott moved on the right wing, ready to respond at any time.
Alan Houston tried his best to defend, and Mario Elie put the ball in his right hand and hit it hard, then quickly turned to the baseline and rushed to the basket against the defense.
However, this offensive routine was used too much in the first half.
Alan Houston, who was prepared, successfully predicted the opponent's breakthrough route.
After the two of them confronted each other, Mario Elie missed the shot.
At this time, Duncan and David Robinson had already squeezed to the basket, and the two big men rushed to grab the frontcourt rebound.
David Robinson grabbed the rebound, but Ben Wallace took off twice and successfully protected the backcourt rebound before the two.
"Wow!"
After being robbed by the opponent in the first half, a successful backcourt rebound made the New York fans cheer loudly.
Unable to play a transition offense, after Lee advanced with the ball, the Spurs had already retreated.
Due to Larry Johnson's inaccuracy in the first half, Alan Houston stood on the wing to respond after the start of the second half.
When Lee came to the right wing, Ben Wallace immediately stepped forward to screen, and at the same time, Oakley also moved to the top of the arc and stood still.
After a quick behind-the-back dribble, Lee switched to his left hand and began to move horizontally.
First, he pretended to break through with his left hand to attract David Robinson's attention.
Then, Lee accelerated horizontally again and came to the top of the arc.
With the help of Oakley's screen, he got rid of Avery Johnson's pursuit.
When Duncan switched defense, Lee suddenly jumped and dribbled the ball.
Then, with a flick of his left wrist, the basketball went directly through Duncan's right side.
The basketball bounced on the floor and flew straight to the basket.
Ben Wallace rushed in front of David Robinson, scooped the ball, and then went to the lower left of the basket to reverse the layup!
In the commentary booth, Bob Costas shouted in a brisk tone:
"Oh!"
"Wonderful cooperation! Continuous assists, the Spurs' inside defense was broken!"
"Little Ben" shouted excitedly after scoring the goal, and David Robinson frowned on the side.
48:50, the Knicks took the lead again, and the New York fans at the scene shouted happily again.
Lee clapped his hands and reminded everyone to pay attention to defense. Soon, Avery Johnson came to the left wing under the defense, and David Robinson moved to the left elbow area.
Realizing that the opponent was going to set up a pick-and-roll, Lee quickly walked down the line and squeezed through to gain space for the pass.
Avery Johnson came to the free throw line with the ball in his right hand and immediately passed the ball back to David Robinson.
The latter received the ball and did not give "Little Ben" too much time to react, and immediately made a jump shot!
"Bang!"
The rebound bounced out and was caught by Larry Johnson who just retreated to the basket.
Then he quickly passed the ball forward.
Lee rushed to get the ball in front of Avery Johnson and immediately launched a transition offense.
David Robinson had an excellent shooting touch in the first half, and he was annoyed that he missed the shot.
At this time, he could only bury his head and rush forward quickly to retreat.
Avery Johnson kept giving physical confrontations to Lee's side, and the two entangled and came to the left wing.
Noticing that David Robinson was about to rush back to the basket and approaching the paint area, Lee, who was holding the ball in his left hand, slowed down slightly, leaned against Avery Johnson, and quickly dribbled the ball under his crotch with one hand.
While changing the rhythm, Lee grabbed the ball with his left hand and leaned forward to pick up the ball!
Unable to make any defensive reaction, Avery Johnson watched the basketball fly to the backboard.
David Robinson, who quickly retreated, jumped up to block the shot, but found that the basketball flew very high.
"Bang!"
The basketball hit the backboard and went into the basket.
Lee retreated quickly with a calm expression.
At 48:52, seeing that the Knicks had opened up the gap in a few rounds, Popovich on the sidelines hurriedly made tactical gestures and loudly reminded his players.
Lee, who retreated to the half court, also whispered to his teammates to defend:
"Charles, don't let him catch the ball easily!"
Every time the Spurs fell behind, they would most likely give the ball to Duncan.
Lee had already noticed this and naturally had to remind them.
The Spurs' tactics were very clear.
This time, Duncan started to ask for the ball with his back to the right blocking area.
Oakley, who was well prepared, kept pulling while defending, trying to defend around the front.
Lee also covered Avery Johnson on the right wing and kept interfering.
Pulling and dragging, Oakley also secretly raised his elbow when he went around.
Duncan was a little annoyed by these small actions, so he simply took advantage of the old guy's going around and secretly pushed him straight into the basket.
Oakley lost his defensive position, but Avery Johnson's pass was interfered by Lee.
Duncan found that the ball was passed too far and tried to retrieve it, but he almost fell directly to the camera under the basket.
"Oh!"
The Spurs made a mistake, and cheers rang out again.
The fans once again waved their orange handkerchiefs wildly, and Madison Square Garden was boiling again.
Seeing Avery Johnson with an ugly face, Doug Collins shook his head slightly:
"The offensive intention is too obvious. Avery Johnson should be more patient."
Popovich on the sidelines also found that something was wrong.
The quality of the pass tonight has dropped a lot.
In the commentary booth, Doug Collins was still sighing, but Bob Costas shouted at this time:
"Oh! God! Lee broke through the double team defense!"
Suddenly speeding up, Lee dribbled across half court, and Ben Wallace set a high pick and-roll at the top of the arc.
The quality of the screen was not high.
Lee dribbled the ball behind his back and switched to his left hand and suddenly led the ball forward quickly.
David Robinson was still moving sideways, but he found that the basketball had already flown to his left front.
He subconsciously wanted to steal the ball, but Lee suddenly squeezed through the two of them, scooped up the ball with his right hand and immediately accelerated straight.
Avery Johnson almost bumped into his teammate, and at this time he had completely lost his defensive position.
In the blink of an eye, he saw Lee had already broken through to the paint area, near the left baseline.
Just as Duncan was about to move his feet, he saw Lee pull the ball back with his right hand.
Subconsciously stopping his feet, Duncan realized that something was wrong and wanted to complete the defense, but he could only watch Lee easily layup.
Huge cheers broke out in the stadium, and Bob Costas subconsciously raised his voice:
"What a beautiful goal! The fake move on the move deceived Duncan, and Lee fooled the Spurs' defense!"
48:54, after a wave of 8:0, the Knicks took.a 6-point lead.
Popovich immediately requested a.timeout, and the Spurs bench, which was smiling in the first half, fell silent.
Jeff Van Gundy kept high-fiving and patting Lee who was leaving the court.
The atmosphere group also regained its vitality.
Ewing also stood up to encourage everyone at this time.
Seeing David Robinson miss the shot, the gorilla smiled in his heart:
"That's it. Don't let them catch the ball easily. If they make a mistake, we will counterattack!"
Waving his arms, Ewing did Jeff Van Gundy's job and kept sending chicken soup.
Compared with the Eastern Conference Finals, Ben Wallace's screen was better, and Lee was less likely to be double-teamed in the pick-and-roll.
"Ben, good job! Pay attention to the rebound."
After the timeout, before going on the court, Lee patted Ben again and gave a simple reminder.
Ben Wallace nodded quickly.
Losing the rebound in the first half was indeed his problem.
The Spurs who returned to the court continued to let Duncan receive the ball in the blocking area.
This time the offense was much more patient.
There was no chance on the left, so they moved to the right.
Finally, David Robinson received the ball at the free throw line and played a high-low match, which sent the ball to Duncan.
It was close to 24 seconds again.
Duncan received the ball in the low post on the right side and forced a shot to the basket, causing Oakley to commit a hand foul.
He was pulled down directly, and there was no chance of 2+1 at all.
Seeing Duncan swinging his right hand, Popovich on the sidelines began to complain loudly to the referee again.
After Duncan made two free throws, the game entered the rhythm that the Knicks liked again.
On the defensive end, Oakley and Ben Wallace kept going forward, and Lee and several other players on the line pressed the passer desperately.
Although it was an easy dunk to dunk the ball into the paint in some rounds, the Spurs' offense became sluggish in most rounds.
Relying on his personal ability, Duncan made shots and free throws to help the team score.
As time passed, after Alan Houston and Oakley hit consecutive mid-range jumpers in the elbow area, the Spurs were a little overwhelmed:
The Knicks' offensive rounds were increasing.
Trying to use the outside line to drive the inside line, Mario Elie played a back-to-back singles, hanging on Alan Houston to break through to the basket.
He wanted to pass the ball to David Robinson who was cutting in, but Ben Wallace poked the ball away.
In the half-conversion, Lee accelerated on the left wing, carried Avery Johnson's defense, cut into the basket, met David Robinson who was helping, and completed a left-handed shot!
"Bang!"
The basketball hit the rim and came out under interference.
Before David Robinson could turn around to protect the rebound, Ben Wallace jumped high and pressed the ball into the basket!
"Bang!" The dunk was successful!
"Ah!"
Ben Wallace screamed after landing after completing the dunk, and Popovich requested a timeout again.
60:66, 3 minutes and 01 seconds left in the third quarter, the Knicks still maintained the lead.
Noting that the Knicks replaced Larry Johnson with Sprewell after the timeout, Isiah Thomas said with a smile in the commentary booth:
"Coach Van Gundy is a bit conservative, but it's not too late to make a substitution now!"
"Tonight, the Knicks almost cut off the Spurs' inside and outside connections in the second half. I like this kind of defense."
The Spurs also made substitutions, with Elliott guarding in front of Lee.
Daniels, who came off the bench, was responsible for guarding Sprewell, and Mario Elie continued to defend Alan Houston.
Popovich on the sidelines was still hoping that the defense would work, but after Elliott's close defense, he was easily broken through by Lee.
Mario Elie of the Spurs just scored a single in the left blocking area.
Looking back, Lee on the right wing broke through and passed the ball.
Oakley, who was unguarded in the elbow area, scored again from mid-range!
After completing the attack, the old guy excitedly punched.
The scores of both sides rose alternately again, and by the end of the third quarter, the score was 68:75.
Noting that the Spurs only took 18 shots in the third quarter but made 5 turnovers, Doug Collins said helplessly:
"It is not easy to comfortably pass the ball to the big man in the interior. Several turnovers were caused by the cooperation between the inside and outside."
Bob Costas had a deep experience tonight.
The intention of passing the ball was too obvious, and the Knicks restricted the Spurs' outside passes:
"I hope that in the fourth quarter, the Spurs can control the turnovers!"
The three people in the commentary booth discussed the trend of the game again.
After the last quarter started, they did not expect Ben Wallace to become the protagonist in the early part of the fourth quarter.
The Spurs, who learned from their experience, began to let David Robinson assist in the low post.
Mario Elie's sudden cut caused Alan Houston to lose his defensive position.
He received the ball in the paint area and broke through to the lower left of the basket.
Just as he was about to complete the layup, he was blocked by Ben Wallace who turned around to assist.
"Oh!"
A solid block caused a huge cheer in the stadium.
Alan Houston took control of the ball and rushed forward.
The Spurs were unable to complete the defensive matchup in time.
Elliott was slow to retreat, and Lee received the ball on the right wing outside the three-point line and faked it, causing the opponent to jump up from the side to block it.
After deceiving the opponent's defense, Lee released the ball, took a step back, and used the time difference to convert a three-pointer with a quick jump shot!
"Swish!" The three-pointer went into the net.
68:78, the Knicks atmosphere group raised their right hands with Lee, raised three fingers, and shouted happily.
Subconsciously speeding up the offensive rhythm, this time the quality of the outside lob pass was very high, but after Duncan received the ball under the basket, Sprewell blocked it and kept interfering.
Quickly passing the ball to the left bottom corner, Elliott made an open three-pointer and missed it!
Kurt Thomas, who came off the bench, protected the long rebound.
After Lee received the ball, he launched another conversion attack.
Quickly advancing to the right wing, Lee noticed that Elliott was also chasing behind him, and immediately realized that Sprewell had an opportunity.
When the two were about to close in, Lee suddenly jumped up and passed the ball, and the basketball flew straight to the left corner.
Mario Elie, who followed Alan Houston to the paint area, realized that the defense was wrong and rushed to defend Sprewell.
It was just too far away, and Mario Elie's block did not have any effect.
After adjusting, Sprewell easily jumped for an open three-pointer!
"Swish!" The conversion three-pointer went in again!
Sprewell jumped up and down and screamed for the first time in the finals.
The Spurs requested a timeout, and Madison Square Garden was completely boiling.
The New York fans who were present began to celebrate the victory of the game by waving their handkerchiefs wildly.
68:81, two consecutive three-pointers, the score difference reached 13 points.
Seeing Popovich scolding his players, Doug Collins sighed again:
"Perfect offensive rhythm! Lee always senses opportunities on the court, and the Spurs paid the price for their low-level mistakes."
The three discussed again and basically reached a common point of view:
"The Spurs can't catch up."
The double-digit point difference naturally wouldn't let the Spurs give up.
They took the initiative to speed up the offensive rhythm, and received the ball away from the basket.
Duncan and David Robinson simply rushed in with the ball.
The referee began to blow the whistle continuously, and the Knicks' inside line really couldn't withstand such an impact.
Several consecutive rounds were free throws, which also angered the fans at the scene.
Seeing Mario Elie also stand on the free throw line, they simply cursed the referee!
One-point rain began to fall on both sides.
Avery Johnson couldn't withstand Lee's breakthrough, and the whistle was also blown when he pushed in.
Popovich complained at first, but as the game time passed, the point difference did not narrow at all.
Lee, Larry Johnson, and Sprewell followed up with a barrage of free throws, and the Spurs coaching staff also knew that the game was over.
With 3 minutes and 32 seconds left in the game, Lee missed his second free throw and Oakley rushed to the frontcourt rebound.
Soon, Lee received the ball at the top of the arc again and wasted 24 seconds.
Steve Kerr, who came off the bench, was a little anxious and kept cutting the ball to interfere, but Lee, who was protecting the ball sideways, was not affected at all.
After being double-teamed on the line, Lee quickly passed the ball back to Alan Houston who returned to the court.
Elliott immediately let go of Larry Johnson in the left corner to rotate the defense.
Quickly transfer the ball, Larry Johnson received the ball without anyone defending, and took a while to shoot a jump shot.
"Swish!" Another three-pointer went in!
The iron tree blossomed, 1 of 5 shots, and Larry Johnson pounded his chest and shouted with a sigh of relief.
76:88, the score difference returned to double digits again!
The breath was completely exhausted, and Elliott had no choice but to put his hands on his hips and look at the scoreboard.
Time was not enough.
In the last 3 minutes, the Spurs were able to get to the free throw line and score in the restricted area, but the score difference was always around 10 points.
Steve Kerr missed a three-pointer, and Lee, who grabbed a long rebound, rushed again with the ball.
Before he could complete the tactical foul, the pull failed, and Kerr, who lost his defensive position, watched Lee rush across half court.
In the frontcourt, 1 vs. 0, Lee rushed into the paint area, jumped with both feet, swung the ball around, grabbed the ball with his right hand, and made a windmill dunk!
"Wow!!"
The cheers of the fans were particularly harsh.
They requested a timeout again. After Popovich angrily scolded Kerr, he still did not give up the game.
After the timeout, Lee began to control the rhythm, and the game time passed quickly.
In the end, the Spurs still failed to complete the counterattack.
The buzzer sounded at the end of the game, and the score was fixed at 88:99.
After protecting the two home courts, the score came to 2:0.
Jeff Van Gundy smiled and shook hands with the serious Popovich.
Jim Gray came to Lee and started the post-match interview with a smile:
"Lee, congratulations on winning the game again. What plans does the team have for the next three away games?"
Lee waved to his friends in the audience, and then answered in a relaxed tone:
"Everyone hopes to end the series as soon as possible. After all, the Spurs are very strong. We don't want to drag the series too long!"
Jim Gray seemed to think that this question had no explosive points, and asked again with a smile:
"In the fourth quarter, the Spurs got 18 free throws. What do you think of the.refereeing in this game?"
Before looking at the technical statistics, Lee was also stunned when he heard 18 times, and then quickly joked:
"No problem, we should have taken a lot of free throws, we can't beat the Knicks by free throws!"
"."
He played 42 minutes, 10 of 21 shots, 3 of 8 from beyond the three-point line, 9 of 10 free throws, 32 points, 4 rebounds, 10 assists, 2 turnovers.
Lee did take a lot of free throws, Jim Gray finally smiled and patted his shoulder, and stopped asking provocative questions.
About to return to the home court, Tim Duncan was also asked about free throws at the post-game press conference:
"Tim, will you get more free throws when you return to San Antonio?"
The reporter from the New York Post was not polite at all.
Many media were very dissatisfied with the whistle in the fourth quarter.
9 of 19 shots, 10 of 12 free throws, 28 points, 13 rebounds, 1 assist, 2 blocks, 2 turnovers.
In the fourth quarter, Duncan also took a lot of free throws.
It seemed that he did not notice the provocation.
Duncan just calmly replied:
"I am just playing, and I don't care about the referee's whistle. We had some problems in the details of the game tonight, but after that, we will protect our home court."
After repeated provocations, Tim Duncan remained unmoved, and the New York media in the audience were mad.
On the morning of June 19, the Spurs, who had lost two games in a row, became the target of sports columnists' fabricated stories:
"Phil Jackson is coming to San Antonio!"
However, this news was slapped in the face in the afternoon.
A reporter from the Los Angeles Times broke the news that the Lakers were interested in Phil Jackson, and the champion coach would choose the City of Angels!
During the afternoon training session, the Knicks were gossiping.
Ewing, who was acting as the atmosphere group, didn't like to hear about the "Lakers championship":
"The Lakers won't get any better. The Spurs can beat them, which already shows the opponent's strength!"
Everyone knew the gorilla's little thoughts.
Among the four centers, only Olajuwon and him had championships.
If O'Neal really won the championship, this big mouth couldn't stop.
Jeff Van Gundy interrupted the gossip, clapped his hands and said loudly:
"We have to focus on the finals, Lee, in the next game, you may have more off-ball offense."
"Larry, Houston, Sprewell, you also have to be prepared. We have to make the opponent's double-team pay the price!"
Lee, who was gossiping with his teammates, heard the bald young coach's instructions and responded immediately:
"Don't worry, coach, we will win the championship!"
Soon everyone followed suit.
Jeff Van Gundy touched his forehead and was still a little worried.
Assistant coach Thibodeau saw what Van Gundy was thinking, and while everyone was resuming training, he whispered to comfort him:
"Without three-pointers, it will be difficult for the Spurs to widen the gap in a short time."
"Even if we are behind, as long as we have a climax, we can catch up with the game!"
Assistant coach Don Chaney also felt that Van Gundy was overthinking, and comforted him in a relaxed tone:
"Jeff, be more confident in our shooting, we have the strongest backcourt combination in the league."
"."
On June 21, after two days of rest, the finals G3 officially started.
After returning to the home court, Popovich suddenly adjusted the rotation, and Jaren Jackson entered the active list.
The Spurs, who were fighting for their lives, suddenly ate dumplings outside the three-point line.
In the case of David Robinson's 10 shots, Jaren Jackson made 6 of 12 shots, 5 of 10 shots from beyond the three-point line, and scored 17 points!
In the end, 83:89, the Spurs pulled back a city.
In the fourth quarter, the Knicks scored 14 points in a single quarter and almost broke the basket.
When Jeff Van Gundy and Clay Lee appeared at the press conference, the San Antonio reporters naturally would not give up such an opportunity:
"Lee, how would you evaluate the team's performance in the fourth quarter?"
Jeff Van Gundy looked grim, and the bald young coach thought that the whistle was wrong tonight and was still sulking.
Lee, wearing a dark gray suit, looked calm.
Seeing that everyone in the audience was looking at him, he shook his head and simply responded:
"We just couldn't make the shot."
....
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