piratefiction Chapter 233 Shocked! Popovich's Nose Bridge Was Broken
Chapter 233 Shocked! Popovich's Nose Bridge Was Broken
Chapter 233 Shocked! Popovich's Nose Bridge Was Broken
At the end of the third quarter, the score on the big screen was 70 to 60. The Mavericks led by 10 points and entered the fourth quarter.
After a short intermission, the final battle of the game came.
At the beginning of the fourth quarter, the Spurs players recovered some strength and began to counterattack.
Duncan faced Nowitzki's defense in the high post on the right and scored a goal with his iconic 45° shot.
In the next few rounds, Deng Daidai scored the goal in the same way.
In this quarter, the Spurs changed their offensive tactics. Deng Daidai no longer entered the penalty area for low singles, but chose to score jump shots from mid-to-long distances.
Therefore, double-team tactics are not so easy to execute.
If Li Xuan went out to double-team rashly, the entire basket would be empty, giving other Spurs players a chance to cut inside. Such a result is unacceptable to the Mavericks.
Fortunately, Nowitzki felt good in the fourth quarter. He turned over and hit several fadeaway jumpers one after another, which was evenly matched with Deng Daidai, so that the Spurs did not narrow the point difference.
In this way, the game was extremely fierce and anxious, no one took advantage, and the point difference remained at around 10 points.
When the fourth quarter was halfway through, the Mavericks still led by 10 points.
At this time, the Spurs coach Popovich on the sidelines was extremely anxious.
Returning to the home court with a big score of 0 to 2 points will definitely be affected. Winning this game is the best result.
So, he yelled towards the field: "Defend, fight actively!"
After hearing this, the Spurs players on the field nodded to express their understanding.
Although they are exhausted, the desire to win is still high.
In this attack, Nash organized the offense with the ball at the top of the arc and directed his teammates' running positions.
With the help of Nowitzki's off-ball screen from the penalty area, Li Xuan ran towards the three-point line.
The Spurs did not switch defenses, and Bowen used all his strength to pursue the defense. He believed that this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
"Hmph! As long as that kid dares to catch and shoot the ball, he will obediently lie on a stretcher and be carried away."
After Bowen made up his mind, he rushed up quickly.
Seeing this situation, Nash, who was holding the ball at the top of the arc, immediately passed the ball.
The moment Nash passed the ball, Parker, who was already ready to steal the ball, suddenly reached out to intercept it.
Fortunately, Nash passed the ball fast enough, and Parker's fingertips slightly touched the basketball, but failed to completely break it off.
After Nash's pass was affected by Parker, the flight trajectory changed slightly, and it did not pass to Li Xuan before Bowen.
Bowen, who was moving at high speed, saw the basketball fly by in front of his eyes, and subconsciously reached out to intercept it, and his fingers just touched the basketball.
The pass was destroyed by Bowen, and the basketball changed its flight trajectory and flew towards the sideline.
Seeing this, Li Xuan rushed to the sideline to see if he could save the ball.
Originally, if he didn't save the ball, it was also the Mavericks' possession.
But when Li Xuan saw Popovich gesticulating on the sideline, he immediately thought of a clever plan.
"Hey! Li is too active. His choice of this ball is too unwise. He shouldn't save the ball."
Kenny Smith offered his opinion.
When the basketball was about to fly to the sideline, the advancing Li Xuan immediately jumped up and saved the ball by diving.
On the sidelines, Popovich's smile gradually disappeared, and he saw a huge creature flying towards him, with a look of horror on his face.
Originally, when he saw Bao Wen desperately chasing Li Xuan, he knew that guy was going to do something, and he was very happy.
"Damn kid, say goodbye to the playoffs!"
But Popovich was stunned when he saw that things didn't go as he imagined, and he didn't pay attention to Li Xuan rushing towards him. It was too late for him to react.
Don't come here!
Li Xuan, who was flying in the air, reached out and threw the ball towards the court, but he flew towards the sideline due to inertia, and directly hit Popovich standing on the sideline with his back.
Immediately, the two fell to the floor one after another.
At the moment when Popovich was overwhelmed, Li Xuan naturally put down his elbow and hit Popovich directly on the bridge of the nose.
"Ouch!" Popovich yelled in pain.
He felt fluid coming out of his nose.
"Li Fei saved the ball and overwhelmed Greg who was standing on the sidelines. This action is very dangerous. I hope both of them are okay."
On the sideline floor, Li Xuan pressed on Popovich, and he felt very comfortable when he heard Popovich's heart-piercing screams.
This elbow should be enough for Popovich to drink a pot.
No player in the league can bear an elbow from him, let alone an old man.
"Coach Greg is really a good man. In order to prevent me from getting hurt, he was willing to be under me to protect me. He is really one of the best coaches in the league!" Li Xuan thanked him "sincerely".
After hearing this, Popovich was so angry that his nose was crooked, and he kept greeting Li Xuan in his heart.
Does I want to be suppressed by you?
It's not that you little brat bumped into me, I didn't have time to dodge.
But he wanted to maintain his tall image, so he asked in a discussing tone according to his patient anger.
"Li, can you get up first, I feel a little uncomfortable down here."
"Coach Greg, you still need to be patient. It won't be good if I move around and hurt you. Wait for other people to pull me up!" Li Xuan suggested "sincerely".
The bald referee Crawford on the side reacted and immediately stepped forward to pull Li Xuan up.
When he saw Popovich's miserable appearance, he felt a little admiration.
There are not many coaches in the league who can sacrifice themselves for the sake of protecting the health of players.
At the same time, Crawford felt a little rejoiced.
Fortunately, I hid quickly, otherwise I would suffer. It seems that I am not as noble as Greg!
Just when the bald referee Crawford thought that Popovich was a noble character, the referee Popovich covered his nose and accused Li Xuan of the crime.
"Murder, this is simply murder. That kid must have bumped into me on purpose. Look at how he bumped me into me. You must give me an explanation!"
The bald referee Crawford froze when he heard Popovich's roar.
This guy doesn't seem as noble as I imagined!
At this moment, Li Xuan interjected with a guilty expression.
"It's all my fault. I shouldn't be so active in saving the ball. The injury caused to Coach Greg is indeed my fault. I am willing to take responsibility, but I really don't want this to happen."
After hearing this, the bald referee immediately took a liking to Li Xuan.
What a nice guy, the layout is not so big!
"Pop, Li has sincerely apologized to you, so don't embarrass him, and there is no regulation in the league on how to punish such a thing, and there is nothing wrong with Li's behavior at all." The bald referee mediated.
Popovich gritted his teeth angrily.
I got elbowed by that brat for nothing!
"This matter is not over, I will appeal to the league after the game."
After Popovich finished speaking, he immediately followed the team doctor to deal with the nose problem, which was really painful.
Seeing Popovich leave, the bald referee Crawford smiled awkwardly, turned to look at Li Xuan and said, "Li, don't worry, the league will not care about this matter, you can finish the game with peace of mind! "
"Thank you, Mr. Crawford."
Li Xuan nodded, responded, and returned to the game.
At the on-site commentary, Barkley laughed so hard that his stomach ached when he learned what had happened.
"Hahaha, Lee may be the first player who beat the head coach in public without any punishment."
On the field, the ball that Li Xuan rescued was caught by Nash.
The Spurs players thought that the ball would go out of bounds just now, so they didn't keep an eye on their defender.
After Nash received the basketball, he was unguarded and immediately shot a three-pointer.
Swish!Hollow into the net!
When retreating, Nash passed by Li Xuan, who had just returned to the field, and asked with concern.
"Li, are you okay? Don't save this kind of ball in the future, it's too dangerous."
"Steve, thank you for your concern. I have nothing to do. I will pay attention to it in the future." Li Xuan replied with a smile on his face.
After this episode, the game continued in an orderly manner.
At the same time, in the on-site commentary seat, Barkley received a small note from his assistant, glanced at it, and widened his eyes.
Seeing his partner's expression on the side, Kenny Smith curiously leaned over to see what was written on the note.
When he saw the content on the note, he was also dumbfounded.
Barkley recovered from the shock, adjusted his state, and shared the explosive news he had just received for the fans in front of the TV.
"We just got feedback from the front staff. We learned that Coach Greg deliberately used his body to catch Li Xuan in order to protect Li Xuan's safety. As a result, Li accidentally injured the bridge of his nose. Such a spirit of self-sacrifice is worth learning from."
"According to the information we have received, Coach Greg has a slight fracture of the bridge of his nose, but nothing else is serious. Let us wish him a speedy recovery."
After Barkley finished speaking, he couldn't help laughing.
Something like this is unheard of in the league and it's just amazing.
You, a head coach, saw someone flying towards you, not only did not avoid it, but also used his body to catch it, it is really courageous!
The audience sitting in the front row watching the game knows that when a giant like O'Neill saves the ball, he must dodge in time, otherwise he will hurt himself and the players.
But Popovich did the opposite. I have to say that he is a top iron?Or is it great?
On the field, the Spurs players saw Popovich follow the team doctor back to the locker room. They were a little worried about the situation of the head coach, and they were absent-minded when playing.
Budenholzer stepped in and became the interim coach.
But at a critical moment in the game, his head was also muddled, and he didn't know how to adjust at all, so he could only let the players follow the previous tactics.
But the previous tactics have been cracked by the Mavericks, and the offense is frequently blocked. Parker can only hand the ball to Duncan to play.
Duncan received the pass, and Nowitzki immediately stuck up and had no chance to shoot.
Immediately, Shifo started immediately, squeezed the "driver" and broke through to the basket.
At this time, Li Xuan retreated to the basket to block Duncan's travel route, and at the same time activated the active effect of the skill [Death Coil], predicting Deng Dadai's breakthrough route.
When Duncan was about to turn around and hit Li Xuan with his back, he found that the basketball in his hand was gone, and he looked confused.
"What happened? Where's my basketball?"
Li Xuan started at the fastest speed, sprinted from the side of Duncan, successfully rushed to grab the basketball, found Nash immediately and passed the ball.
After receiving the pass, Lao Na quickly dribbled forward and launched a defensive counterattack.
When Nash broke through near the free throw line, he attracted the Spurs' defense and passed the ball back to Li Xuan who had just ran beyond the three-point line.
After Li Xuan received the pass, he triggered the [Catcher and Shooter] effect, and against Bowen's defense, he shot a three-pointer.
When landing, he always pays attention to the foothold to prevent being caught by Bao Wenyin.
Bao Wenwen wanted to step up, but seeing the sideline referee watching him all the time, and Li Xuan using scissors to land on the ground, he couldn't find the opportunity to step up, so he had to let it go.
The basketball draws a perfect arc in the air.
Swish!Hollow into the net!
"After the ball was hit, the point difference has expanded to 16 points, and there is not much time left for the Spurs." Barkley analyzed.
After landing, Li Xuan looked at Bao Wen in front of him and sprayed.
"It's useless to give you a chance! Are you worried that I'll unload your dog legs and dare not step on your feet?"
Bowen was furious in his heart, clenched his fist, suppressed the anger in his heart, turned around and ran towards the baseline to serve.
I can't afford to provoke, can't I still hide!
In the next round, Parker caught Duncan's screen, broke into the penalty area and hit a small throw, recovering 2 points.
In the next round, the Mavericks quickly fought back.
Li Xuan cuts to the basket, receives a pass from Nash, slams Bowen away roughly, and dunks the ball into the basket with both hands.
At this time, Popovich returned to the bench after dealing with the injury.
When he saw the score on the big screen, he stomped his feet angrily.
Before he left, the score was only 8 points away, but when he came back, it was doubled.
At this time, there are only about 3 minutes left before the end of the game. How to recover 16 points? !
Immediately, Popovich requested a timeout and called the players back to adjust.
The timeout ends and the game continues.
After the Spurs adjusted, the effect was good and they recovered a few points.
But the point difference was too big, and there was not much time. The Spurs failed to overtake the score and turned defeat into victory.
In the end, the Mavericks beat the Spurs 96-84 for their second victory in the series.
In terms of statistics, Nowitzki beat Li Xuan to be the best player of the game.
在他上场的43分钟时间内，投篮20投12中，其中三分球3投1中，罚球5罚5中，得到30分10篮板4助攻的全面数据。
In this game, Li Xuan basically focused all his energy on the defensive end. Coupled with the rough treatment of Bowen and Horry, he rarely got shots, and his statistics were mediocre.
在他上场的44分钟时间内，投篮13投7中，其中三分球5投2中，罚球6罚6中，得到22分13篮板2助攻2抢断3盖帽的两双数据。
On the other hand, the best player for the Spurs was Duncan. In 44 minutes, he made 21 of 13 shots, 4 of 3 free throws, and scored 29 points, 14 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 blocks.
So far, the Mavericks have won the first two games of this series and headed to San Antonio with a 2-0 score.
(End of this chapter)