in2ebook Chapter 674: Which team's star player would rest for 10 minutes in Chapter 4?
Chapter 674: Which team's star player would rest for 10 minutes in Chapter 4?
The fourth quarter became a tale of two cities between Doncic and Durant.
Just as Doncic assisted on an alley-oop dunk, Durant scored on a one-on-one against Derrick Jones after he switched onto defense.
After each team had three good possessions, Kidd realized that this wasn't working and the score wasn't closing at all, while time was running out. So he waved his hand and the Mavericks started to physically attack each other again.
The game went on intermittently until there were still 6 minutes left, and the score difference hadn't changed at all.
Uduka looked down at the floor and waved his hand, replacing Thomas the Tank Engine with it.
The Nets have a master of disruptive tactics; it would be a waste not to use him now.
Wang Xiucheng, on the other hand, continued to rest on the bench.
With 6 minutes left in the fourth quarter, the score difference between the two teams remained between 15 and 20 points.
Furthermore, the Mavericks committed increasingly frequent fouls and their actions became more and more aggressive.
Uduka knew that Wang Xiucheng was going to participate in the Olympics.
Wang Xiucheng has seemed to be holding back his energy throughout the past six months of competitions, often crouching in the bottom corner as if he has disappeared.
It's because Wang Xiucheng doesn't want to get injured and doesn't want to miss the Olympics.
If it were any other player, even Durant, Udoka would exclude that player from the team roster.
If you don't want to fight, then don't fight.
But this is Wang Xiucheng, the team's minority owner.
And it's clear that the big boss, Cai Congxin, tacitly approved of this.
Therefore, no one in the team dared to have any objections.
Now that we have such a big lead, we don't need Wang Xiucheng to play for the time being.
Anyway, he'd just be squatting in the corner anyway, so it's the same whether he's on the bench or not.
If needed, it will be timely to replace Wang Xiucheng.
After all, the "king's time" hasn't come yet!
So the two sides played intermittently, and the game gradually came down to the last two minutes.
The good news is that the Mavericks scored more points than the Nets in the fourth quarter.
The bad news is that it was only two points more.
The score is now 105-90, with the Nets leading by 15 points.
Kidd didn't want to give up; in this era of small-ball dominance, 15 points wasn't impossible to catch up on.
Wang Xiucheng has a precedent of scoring 13 points in 34 seconds this season, so who says that something like this can't happen to Doncic again?
What made Kidd's eyelids twitch was that Wang Xiucheng finally came on after resting for 10 minutes.
10 minutes!
Which team's star player would rest for 10 minutes in the fourth quarter?
Aren't you afraid the players will lose their form?
Kidd secretly hoped that Wang Xiucheng's shooting touch was still on the bench and hadn't returned.
Kidd waved to Doncic and shouted, "Catch up!"
If we don't catch up now, we might as well just surrender.
Doncic heard it, but didn't respond. He simply shoved Wang Xiucheng aside with his shoulder, then switched hands between his legs, using the change in rhythm to carry Wang Xiucheng into the paint.
Doncic immediately pulled the basketball back, stepped back to the three-point line, and shot directly.
This play wasn't just a step-back; Doncic also added a slight fadeaway.
He also anticipated Wang Xiucheng's jumping ability.
As expected, even though Wang Xiucheng jumped up, he still couldn't interfere with the ball.
Swish!
Just as Doncic was struggling to fall backward, the basketball went in!
Doncic made his fourth three-pointer of the night!
Yes, he just made 4 shots, taking 12 attempts.
A hit rate that can hardly be described as high.
However, considering that Doncic faced the Nets' targeted defense all night, this shooting percentage is barely acceptable.
The score was 105 to 93, bringing the difference back to 12 points.
With possession of the ball, Wang Xiucheng picked up the basketball at the bottom of the court and tossed it to Durant.
Once on the court, Durant passed the ball to Wang Xiucheng.
Durant ran ahead with a hunched back, while Wang Xiucheng played hide-and-seek with Doncic behind him.
Upon reaching the frontcourt, Durant ran to the side, and Wang Xiucheng, facing Doncic, took a probing step and, without checking if Doncic had fallen for the feint, charged towards him.
Doncic knew that Wang Xiucheng wouldn't be foolish enough to run into him.
As expected, Wang Xiucheng made a sharp change of direction ahead of time and rushed to the other side.
Doncic made a move this time, moving sideways like a human shield, trying to block Wang Xiucheng.
But the next moment, Wang Xiucheng switched his hands and feet between his legs, bringing his front foot back just outside the three-point line.
Collect the ball, jump, and release in one continuous motion!
Wang Xiucheng completed the shooting motion in one smooth motion, almost instantly.
Wang Xiucheng even added a lean-back move that he had never been good at!
With a thud, Wang Xiucheng's feet didn't keep up with the backward lean of his body, and he fell to the ground on his back.
At that moment, the basketball hoop made a crisp "swish" sound!
Wang Xiucheng's three-pointer went in.
And the movements were exactly the same as Doncic's before, even the fadeaway was the same.
Doncic watched as Wang Xiucheng fell to the ground, walked forward, and reached out his hand.
This time, Wang Xiucheng slapped Doncic on the hand, then pulled Towns and Westbrook to their feet.
"I knew it would turn out like this, hahaha..."
O'Neal, who was not far away, burst into laughter, and the stool creaked again.
The game continues.
Doncic turned around and received the ball from Irving, then quickly sprinted towards the frontcourt.
He wanted to take advantage of the Nets' unstable footing to score a basket.
But Wang Xiucheng had just gotten up from the ground, his jersey still hanging outside his shorts, when he turned around and started running after Doncic.
Doncic had to slow down and focus more on physical confrontation, keeping Wang Xiucheng behind him.
Fortunately, Irving also sped up and ran over at that moment.
Doncic immediately passed the ball to Durant, who had already run into the paint and was facing Irving.
Irving didn't slow down; he jumped as soon as he entered the free-throw line.
Durant did the same, trying to block Irving's shot.
Both sides knew that this ball was the most important ball of the game.
Durant jumped high, his two long arms completely covering the space above Irving's head.
But at that moment, Irving suddenly seemed to make a folding motion in mid-air, his body shrinking instantly as he slipped past Durant.
Irving then tossed the ball upwards with his hand.
The basketball left my hand, hit the backboard, and then spun violently on the backboard like a tire rubbing against the ground.
The next moment, the basketball instantly swung to above the rim.
Swish!
The basketball went into the net!
Wang Xiucheng stood outside the three-point line, staring intently at the ball.
Is this a jelly layup?
Wang Xiucheng saw it clearly just now: when Irving went for the layup, his wrist holding the ball twisted violently.
It was like tightening a screw, which unscrewed the basketball out of the way.
This caused the basketball to spin violently above the rim when it touched the backboard, much like a billiard ball with spin.
Under normal circumstances, according to Wang Xiucheng's perspective, the basketball did not have any extra force to rotate towards the rim when it touched the backboard.
But the ball just spun in.
This rekindled Wang Xiucheng's long-dormant thirst for knowledge!
Jelly layup?
Bring it to you!