dognovel Chapter 346: Second Victory Against the Celtics in One Month
Chapter 346: Second Victory Against the Celtics in One Month
Luo Wei was inbounding the ball when Wang Xiucheng suddenly stole it and threw a shot. By the time Luo Wei noticed Wang Xiucheng's shot, he rushed onto the court to jump and block it, but it was too late.
By the time Luo Wei got to the ball, Wang Xiucheng's ball had already started to fall.
The referee blew his whistle immediately, indicating goaltending.
The goal stands.
The score, which had just become 97-84, changed again in an instant, becoming 99-84.
In an instant, the Nets' lead became 15 points!
Mazula's face turned black, her fists clenched so tightly that her nails dug into her flesh.
The fourth quarter has just begun, and you're already calling a timeout?
That's too embarrassing!
The entire stadium was filled with fans standing, clapping, screaming, and waving all sorts of things.
Durant, unusually, was shouting trash talk at Mazura on the other side of the scorer's table.
Fortunately, Nash was there to hold things back, otherwise it would have been another chaotic brawl.
If Nash hadn't overheard Durant's trash talk, he would have suspected that the guy was actually insulting him.
It seems that Durant has finally let out the pent-up frustration he's been holding in since being swept in the first round of last year's playoffs.
Tatum gestured to his teammates to lower their hands.
This means slowing down the pace to increase the success rate.
First, we need to score and stop the bleeding.
So Tatum used his strength to drive into the paint and, with little time left on the shot clock, banked the ball into the basket.
Mazura breathed a sigh of relief when he saw his team finally score.
But before she could exhale completely, Mazura saw Wang Xiucheng flash past her like a black lightning bolt.
Whoosh!
Mazura even felt a slight stinging sensation on her face!
Mazura immediately looked over and saw Wang Xiucheng and the basketball, one after the other, arriving at the frontcourt.
Wang Xiucheng even slowed down, turned around and waited a moment before catching the basketball.
then……
Wang Xiucheng entered the paint, placed one foot on the free-throw line, and deftly slammed the ball in with one hand.
The fans in the stadium were like boiling water at 100 degrees Celsius, jumping with their backs to the field and their arms around each other's shoulders, lifting the entire Barclays Center into the air.
Mazura leaned against the technical table and could even feel it vibrating!
"pause!"
Mazura still requested a timeout.
If this atmosphere continues, their team is likely to collapse.
Wang Xiucheng landed on the ground and pointed to Zeng Fanbo, who had passed him a long pass from the backcourt.
Zeng Fanbo also raised his hand from afar.
The Nets players are now very comfortable with this kind of long-distance passing.
Whether it's starters like Durant, Claxton, and Ben West, or substitutes like Zeng Fanbo, they all specifically train this kind of passing as a skill.
Zeng Fanbo, in particular, knew very well that this move could greatly help the team.
Whether it's the Nets or what Wang Ge calls the "national team".
As Wang Xiucheng walked toward the bench, the stars in the front row on the sidelines reached out their hands.
Wang Xiucheng high-fived everyone as if it were an assembly line.
Mazura squatted on the ground, her voice hoarse from shouting, before everyone could hear her.
There was nothing he could do; the fans in the stadium were too loud. He was already very close to his teammates; any closer and they would have kissed.
As it turns out, the pause call was worthwhile.
After bringing in their starters early, the Celtics finally stabilized the score.
The two teams remained deadlocked for a period of 10 to 15 points.
The Nets were unable to extend their lead to more than 15 points.
The Celtics were also unable to close the gap to within 10 points.
With three minutes remaining in the fourth quarter, the score was 109-98.
Nash looked at his three timeouts and, not wanting to waste them, called one.
This was also to allow Wang Xiucheng to rest.
With Durant out today, Wang Xiucheng will inevitably need to play more minutes.
In fact, Nash is already quite satisfied with Durant's attendance rate this season.
Before this game, Durant had played every game.
This is certainly related to the team's intention to reduce Durant's playing time.
But this is also based on the fact that Wang Xiucheng is present.
During Wang Xiucheng's three-game suspension, Durant played like a beast of burden, playing over 38 minutes in each game, which is how they won those three games.
This may be the reason why Durant is facing potential injury risks.
Like the Celtics, Nash also brought on all his starters.
The decisive battle between the two teams has begun.
The Nets have possession. Wang Xiucheng carries the ball to the frontcourt, fakes a move to break into the paint, and then passes the ball to Joe Harris on the perimeter.
Joe made a shooting motion, but the basketball was passed to Wang Xiucheng in the paint instead.
With that back and forth, Wang Xiucheng had already slipped under the basket.
Claxton had already led Lowe out of the paint, and Wang Xiucheng easily dunked for two points.
The gap between the two sides widened again to 13 points.
In the next possession, Tatum hit a three-pointer, but Wang Xiucheng passed the ball to Joe Hark again and slipped into the paint once more, only to have Claxton take him away again.
The scene was exactly the same as last time.
This time, Tatum abandoned Benci and came to the paint to help defend.
This time, Joe Har didn't pass the ball; instead, he took the shot himself.
Swish!
Three-pointer, in!
The two sides traded blows, and it quickly entered the final minute.
Wang Xiucheng dribbled the ball past half-court and, facing Tatum who switched onto him, unleashed an unreasonable step-back three-pointer.
Although Tatum reached out to interfere, he was wary of Wang Xiucheng's attempt to extort money, so he didn't press his hand down.
Swish!
With a significant gap between his feet and the three-point line, Wang Xiucheng sank his seventh three-pointer of the night.
The gap between the two sides has widened to 15 points.
Mazura shook her head, called a timeout, and then substituted in a substitute.
This means the Celtics have conceded defeat.
Durant stood on the sidelines, giving high-fives to each of his teammates, especially Wang Xiucheng, who was the last to come down.
Durant was initially a little embarrassed during the game.
After all, it's a bit unreasonable for someone who earns the highest salary on the team but doesn't play games.
Durant himself feels that this year is different from last year.
Last year, both Irving and Harden often took breaks, so he didn't feel any pressure when he rested.
However, Wang Xiucheng hasn't missed a single game this year, except for the suspension.
I would feel really bad if I continued to take so many breaks like I did last year.
Fortunately, during Wang Xiucheng's suspension, I led the team to three victories, which can be considered as doing my best.
This is why he agreed to let the team give him a rest.
"Well done, bro," Durant said to Wang Xiucheng.
Wang Xiucheng smiled, sat down in the chair, took the towel and covered his head, breathing slightly heavily.
The game has officially entered garbage time.
When the referee finally blew the whistle to end the game, the score was 119 to 107.
The Nets defeated the Celtics for the second time in a month.
The players from both sides did not shake hands after the match.
So, amidst the cheers of the fans, the Celtics players quickly disappeared into the player tunnel.
The victorious Nets players gave interviews.
Whether it's local New York television stations or ESPN, which broadcasts the news nationwide.
There's also Nippon Television, which interviewed Yuta Watanabe, and Tencent Sports, which interviewed Wang Xiucheng and Zeng Fanbo.
Today's interviewee with ESPN is Ben West.
Speaking of which, Benxi did set a record tonight.
Ben Simmons played 26 minutes tonight, going 0-for-3 from the field and scoring no points, but he still managed 9 rebounds and 13 assists.
This somewhat bizarre record makes him the third player in Nets history, after Vaughn and Kidd, to record 0 points and 10 assists.
Bencić's primary responsibility tonight was defending Tatum, so his five fouls limited his playing time.
Otherwise, getting two pairs shouldn't be a problem.
Furthermore, Benciunas's role in limiting the opponent's attacking force on the defensive end is something that these statistics cannot reflect.
How can one become the top scholar without real skills?