bayedsolid Chapter 499 James: Why don't you teach my two sons how to guess?
Chapter 499 James: Why don't you teach my two sons how to guess?
42:42.
The score is tied again.
Led by Wang Xiucheng and Jokic, the Nets and Nuggets have once again entered a scoring duel.
The two sides traded leads, but neither could extend their advantage to two possessions.
Jokic's ability to unleash his scoring prowess from the top of the key makes him very difficult for the Nets to defend.
Wang Xiucheng's shots from position 2 and his occasional final passes made him unpredictable for the Nuggets.
With two minutes remaining in the first half, the Nuggets and Nets were still evenly matched.
The Nets lead by one point, 53-52.
But the Nuggets retained possession of the ball.
After receiving the ball on the sideline, Jokic maintained firm control of the basketball.
Jokic didn't shoot even after 21 seconds had passed.
He stood outside the three-point line, and after a few probing steps, Claxton finally moved slightly.
So Jokic took that game-winning shot that brought the clock down to the last second.
Bang!
Time is at its limit, and so is this ball.
The basketball hit the rim but eventually fell out.
Durant grabbed the rebound, passed it to Westbrook, and then ran forward.
Westbrook dribbled the ball up the court, Wang Xiucheng shoved Murray, then immediately turned and retreated, receiving the ball from Westbrook.
There are 1 minute and 18 seconds left in the first half.
Everyone stood there, watching the final moments of the first half on the field, wondering what would happen.
Wang Xiucheng decided to control the time.
Murray kept trying to steal the ball, and several times he even scratched Wang Xiucheng's hand, but the referee did not call a foul.
This level of foul is within the limits allowed by the referee.
Finally, the time officially came to within one minute.
The Nets have 6 seconds left on their shot clock.
Wang Xiucheng's hand, while dribbling the ball, suddenly went too far.
Murray's eyes lit up slightly, and he reached out again to try to steal the ball.
Despite having failed many times, Murray always felt that he was getting closer and closer to success.
For example, this time, it seems that success is indeed possible.
His fingers had even touched the rough leather surface of the basketball.
Just then, Murray saw the basketball suddenly grabbed by Wang Xiucheng's two hands.
The balls are combined!
broken!
Murray immediately felt a sense of foreboding.
How could the strength of his one hand compare to that of Wang Xiucheng's two hands?
He started to pull his hand away.
But it's too late!
The next moment, he saw Wang Xiucheng jump with the ball.
Her hand, which had been resting on the basketball, slipped onto Wang Xiucheng's wrist as the basketball moved upwards.
"what!"
Murray heard Wang Xiucheng scream in utter misery!
Then, he saw Wang Xiucheng throw the basketball out, and then dramatically fall to the floor.
Murray watched as Wang Xiucheng seemed to be under a spell, sliding relentlessly towards the sideline!
This wasn't sliding; it was more like someone was pulling him from outside the sideline.
Swish!
Murray finally heard the crisp sound of the basketball going through the net behind him.
Then he saw referee Mark Davis, whose thigh had been hit by Wang Xiucheng's head, waving his fist outside the sideline, indicating that the three-pointer was valid.
Then Murray saw Mark Davis point to himself and make a hand-checking foul gesture toward the scorer's table.
The three-pointer is valid, plus one free throw!
Murray shook his head with a gloomy expression and walked towards the center line.
Wang Xiucheng's foot was still on the logo just now. Who in their right mind would shoot a basketball here?
After seeing the referee's decision, Wang Xiucheng sat up on the floor.
"A beautiful shot."
James said something, and then he and Davis reached out to help Wang Xiucheng up.
"I just guessed," Wang Xiucheng replied with a smile.
James looked annoyed.
Is it possible to get a 66% hit rate by guessing?
Teach me...
Forget it, I'm too old now. Why don't you teach my two sons how to guess?
You Chinese people always like to hide good things away, that's not good!
Wang Xiucheng patted James and Davis on the hand, then went to the Nuggets' interior and stood at the free-throw line.
Swish!
The penalty kick went in.
Wang Xiucheng scored 4 points again.
The score became 57-52, and the Nets' lead instantly increased from 1 point to 5 points.
Wang Xiucheng was fairly satisfied with his free throw shooting performance today.
So far, Wang Xiucheng has only missed one penalty kick.
There are 53 seconds left.
The fans in the stadium were all laughing happily.
Is it difficult to score?
Why not just hand it over to Wang Xiucheng?
The Nuggets had possession of the ball, and this time Jokic didn't run out of time.
Instead, he went to the frontcourt, found an opportunity and went inside. After squeezing past Claxton, Jokic didn't take the shot himself, but passed the ball to Gordon on the perimeter.
Gordon hit a three-pointer over Durant.
The Nuggets narrowed the score to 55-57.
The gap between the two sides remains at the level of one goal.
There are 38 seconds left.
In theory, both sides still have one more chance to attack.
Jokic knew very well that the last half minute was crucial.
Given Wang Xiucheng's scoring ability, if the Nuggets hadn't held on in those 38 seconds, the gap could have widened to seven or eight points in an instant.
This is no exaggeration; "the king's time" really can kill!
The Nets began their offense, with Westbrook still holding the ball and Claxton setting a screen for him.
Although Claxton's screens weren't great, they were better than nothing.
Westbrook made it to the frontcourt safely.
Westbrook glanced at Wang Xiucheng, who had been crouching in the corner for a while, and was unsure whether to force a shot.
If they score, that's fine; but if they don't, it would be too damaging if the Nuggets launch a counterattack.
Wang Xiucheng didn't move, still crouching in the corner. Murray grabbed Wang Xiucheng's jersey with one hand to prevent Wang Xiucheng from suddenly accelerating.
This let Westbrook know that Wang Xiucheng meant there was no rush.
So, Westbrook dribbled the ball, keeping an eye on Pope while moving slowly, looking for any openings.
Finally, with 7 seconds left on the attack timer, Wang Xiucheng made his move.
Durant, Claxton, and Ben West all drove into the paint.
The Nuggets' interior defense immediately fell into disarray.
Claxton appeared beside Murray at some point.
Wang Xiucheng suddenly accelerated and ran towards the top of the arc. Murray wanted to follow, but was blocked by Claxton.
After getting behind Westbrook, Wang Xiucheng received the ball from Westbrook with a handoff, then stepped back to the side, standing right outside the three-point line on Westbrook's left.
Porter Jr., who came out of the paint to try and follow Wang Xiucheng, was blocked by Westbrook.
Without hesitation, Wang Xiucheng pulled up the ball and shot it.
The basketball flew past Porter Jr.'s hand and toward the basket.
Swish!
Three-pointer, in!
With the score at 60-55, the Nets' lead has been extended to 5 points.
There are 15 seconds left.
Jokic had picked up the basketball and stepped out of bounds at some point.
With a whoosh, Jokic threw the basketball towards the frontcourt.
Porter Jr., who had previously been guarding Wang Xiucheng at the three-point line, had already started his run and was chasing towards the frontcourt.
Fast break!
This season, the Nuggets have launched this kind of quarterback-style baseline fast break in every game.
The initiator was Jokic.
Whether it's Porter Jr., Gordon, or Murray, they are all very familiar with this approach.
Today, however, the Nuggets' opponent is also a team that excels at baseline inbounds fast breaks.
With Porter Jr. in action, Wang Xiucheng wasn't idle either.
Just as Porter Jr. reached the frontcourt, Wang Xiucheng also sped past him like an arrow.
After a few steps, when Wang Xiucheng controlled the basketball inside the three-point line, he was already more than a full body length ahead of Porter Jr.
At this point, there are still 11 seconds left.