No.1 in basketball scoring-Chapter 162 - 100. What if it’s five against eight?_3

The game had reached this point, and swathes of empty seats were now visible in the stands, with about a third of the fans having left early.

The loyalty of Miami Heat fans was vividly on display at this moment.

Still, many fans were holding out hope for a comeback like in the third quarter. A 5-point deficit with 44 seconds to go, and they still had possession!

On the Miami Heat’s offense, James said he’d been attacking for a few rounds and was tired, needing a break, so he passed the ball to Wade.

Wade had no doubts, his good brother wouldn’t possibly cower from attacking with 44 seconds left—he picked up the explosive pack and charged into the paint.

In the past few rounds with James taking the lead on offense, Wade indeed got some relief. This play was very beautiful; under Duncan’s pressure, Wade did an air adjustment with a low-hand layup, avoiding the block and scoring off the glass!

Popovich called for a timeout to make substitutions.

The fans in the arena cheered wildly, with 29 seconds left, all they needed was to defend against the Spurs’ next offense to have a chance to tie the score and drag the game into overtime!

After the timeout, the Spurs sent out Zhang Yang, Danny Green, Ginobili, Richard Jefferson, and Duncan.

After receiving the inbound, Zhang Yang leaned against Wade, holding the ball and running the clock down.

Zhang Yang didn’t have Wade’s impact in terms of collisions, but he was top-tier in weight among guards, with first-class strength, good ball-holding habits, and a height and wingspan even better than Wade’s. All Wade could do was watch Zhang Yang run the clock down anxiously, while the other Heat players didn’t dare to approach for a double-team because Danny Green, Ginobili, and Jefferson all had three-point shooting percentages over 40% for the season.

James, with his height and wingspan, would theoretically be better for pressing defense, but his current weight was too much, and he couldn’t keep up with Zhang Yang’s one-on-one breakthroughs.

With only 7 seconds left of the 24-second shot clock, Zhang Yang swiveled left and broke through; Wade turned to chase... but was blocked by Duncan.

Bosh switched at just the right time, but he was wary of Zhang Yang’s threes and long twos, defending a step inside the three-point line. Zhang Yang crossed him over with a change of direction.

Zhang Yang drove straight into the lane; James moved in to cover. Zhang Yang pulled out the Euro step, taking two strides to James’s left rear.

James played tough defense on this play, making a good turn, reaching the position in time as Zhang Yang took off on his second step... but Zhang Yang’s jump seemed unaffected by the consecutive changes in direction and steps!

And James had just collapsed from the corner, exerted full effort to turn and chase, jumping not as high as Zhang Yang!

Zhang Yang put the ball in the basket over James’s head!

to 100, the Spurs regained a 5-point lead, and Miami Heat called for a timeout.

Mournful howls rang throughout the arena, and people began to leave in waves again.

Zhang Yang’s drive and Euro step layup after a pick and roll crushed the hopes of the Miami Heat fans!

With only 8 seconds left and trailing by 5 points, even the Heat’s coaching staff and players felt there was no hope.

But they still had to gamble, what if they could pull off an 8-second, 8-point miracle?

But after the timeout, Mike Miller caught the ball at the top of the arc, faced with defense, and took a shot only for Zhang Yang, with precise timing, to slap the ball to the other side of the court.

Zhang Yang’s block crushed the remaining third of the fans in the stands... no, wait, with his block, the majority of the remaining fans in the arena jumped up to cheer and celebrate!

In the American Airlines Center’s twenty thousand seats, the die-hard Miami Heat fans still present accounted for less than a tenth of the seats, with around 6,000 fans in the arena and fewer than 2,000 being die-hard Heat fans. The rest were fans from all over America, all over the world, gathered in Miami to watch Zhang Yang play!

After the ball rolled out of bounds at the other end of the court, the referee signaled out of bounds, Miami Heat ball, with 2.3 seconds left. The Heat didn’t call a timeout anymore, and James didn’t even attempt a shot after going back to receive the inbound, as the final whistle blew.

The Heat scored 31 points in the final quarter, their highest scoring quarter of the night.

But the Spurs scored a wild 37 points in the final quarter!

Zhang Yang made 10 out of 20 shots, including 2 of 5 three-pointers, and with 4 of 5 free throws made, he got 26 points, 8 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal, and 2 blocks.

Duncan had 15 points, 12 rebounds, 3 assists, and 3 blocks; Parker had 15 points and 6 assists; Ginobili had 16 points and 5 assists...

to 100, the Spurs won the pivotal game to lead the series 3 to 2 against the Miami Heat!

The Spurs players tore off their stoic masks and gathered together for a wild celebration after the final whistle, winning five against eight!

...

Two days later, on June 24th, back on their home court, the Spurs faced the Miami Heat for Game 6 of the Finals.

In the two rest days that had passed, the Spurs’ coaching staff and players were all brainstorming how to optimize their offense to counter the terrifying eight-man basketball of the opposition.

They didn’t take the Heat lightly just because they dominated the final quarter of Game 5.

They had managed to reverse the game in the final quarter of Game 5 and take control because they did well in conserving energy in the first half.

If in the upcoming games, the referees were to start blowing the whistle from the beginning... the nightmare of the 2006 Mavericks was still fresh in memory.

But they were still confident, as their offense was much stronger than the 2006 Mavericks, who could only take turns playing isolation basketball.

However, when the game started at 8 PM, the referees didn’t blow the whistle on Spurs’ players as soon as they touched a Heat player, unlike the second half of Game 5.

While the Spurs were focused on preparation during the past two days, the league, the Miami Heat, James... they had all been lambasted by the media.

This wasn’t like 2006 when the internet wasn’t so prevalent.

With the high profile of the Heat’s Big Three and the Spurs’ high ratings in recent years, the public opinion was explosive.

This 𝓬ontent is taken from fre𝒆webnove(l).𝐜𝐨𝗺