Jordan: I thought he was there to help me!

Chapter 1104 A Moment of Life and Death! Jackson Unleashes Another Crazy Lineup

In the midst of the chaos, the basketball fell and flew up several times. Finally, a long arm emerged from the crowd. This arm didn't try to catch the basketball; instead, it slapped it towards the basket.

"Snapped!"

The sound was quite crisp, showing how much force the arm's owner used to bounce the basketball.

Wade!

Everyone followed the arm and found its owner.

And the basketball did not disappoint Wade's hopes and that heavy slap; as if by magic, the basketball hit the backboard and then bounced into the basket.

133: 130!

The gap between the two sides has been narrowed to one goal!

There are 59 seconds left in the game!

"What a beautiful shot! Wade has brought the team back from the brink of defeat! This shot was absolutely crucial! Now it's up to the Lakers to see if anyone can step up and become a hero!" Van Gundy shouted immediately after Wade scored.

"50 points! The second 50 points tonight! Wade! He's got 50 points too! He and Anthony have combined for 100 points tonight! A crazy night! A crazy night!"

Clearly, the crazy night wasn't over yet.

The Lakers still didn't call a timeout. The ball was quickly inbounded again, but although the baseline pass was quick, Lin Tian didn't rush to attack. Instead, he stopped after receiving the ball and waved to signal everyone to move into position.

Then, Lin Tian turned around and used his buttocks to block Wade's close advance. Step by step, almost touching the edge of the 8-second violation zone, he steadily dribbled the ball across half-court.

"If you make this shot, you're finished." Lin Tian leaned against Wade with his back to him, still looking relaxed.

"Give it a try!" Wade, having just scored a game-winning shot, was brimming with confidence. "But if you miss, you know who'll hit the game-winner, right?"

"Was it that exciting?" Lin Tian said with a smile, "Then you guys have to do your best, otherwise I'll be very disappointed if I never get to see that scene in my life!"

Lin Tian and Wade exchanged trash talk while keeping an eye on the time on the court.

With seven seconds left, Lin Tian suddenly turned around and started moving.

His turn was as fast and smooth as ever, as if he had wheels on his feet. In the blink of an eye, he dodged Wade and sprinted toward the three-point line. But Wade was already prepared. He moved laterally to block one side of Lin Tian and drove Lin Tian to the other side.

Upon seeing Wade's clearly biased defense, Lin Tian immediately guessed the Cavaliers' defensive strategy.

By putting yourself in a trap, if nothing unexpected happens, someone will definitely come to your aid soon!

Sure enough, Lin Tian only took two steps forward before Chalmers' defense arrived in a flash. He spread his arms and waved them, blocking Lin Tian's path forward. Wade was still by Lin Tian's side, and the two of them, one on each side, firmly blocked all of Lin Tian's breakthrough routes.

According to the Cavaliers' plan, Lin Tian should pause for a moment and then either pass the ball directly. If Lin Tian passes the ball, someone will have already covered Kobe's spot, which Chalmers missed. Kobe will not be able to shoot immediately. He will either have to dribble to get rid of the ball or pass it again.

Alternatively, Lin Tian could retreat to create space and reorganize; these are all possible outcomes the Cavaliers could anticipate.

But no matter which option Lin Tian chooses, or how he plays, with only 24 seconds left on the shot clock, it's too late. The Lakers will most likely only be able to end the offensive possession with one hasty shot.

The Cavaliers were very pragmatic and rational. They didn't try to force Lin Tian into a mistake to make a steal or anything like that, and they didn't even try to create a 24-second violation for the Lakers.

Their idea was to use their defense to force the Lakers to end their offense with an unreasonable, difficult shot.

Even so, they still overestimated their defense!

Just as Chalmers and Wade finished double-teaming Lin Tian, ​​Lin Tian's choice surprised everyone.

He didn't stop to observe, didn't retreat to create space, and didn't pass the ball to his teammates.

Without any hesitation or pause, Lin Tian slapped the basketball towards Chalmers' crotch with silky smoothness, as if he had planned it all along. Then, he suddenly turned to the side and slipped through the tiny gap between Wade and Chalmers' double-team!

Although Lin Tian tripped and nearly fell when he jumped because the two players were already double-teaming him so tightly, he still managed to control the basketball with one hand and brace himself with the other on the floor.

Then Lin Tian pushed off the ground and sped up, leaving Wade and Chalmers, who didn't even have time to turn around, behind him in the blink of an eye.

He accelerates, stops with a jump step, and then throws the ball towards the basket with one hand.

"Whoosh!"

With a crisp sound, Lin Tian tossed the ball into the net with two seconds remaining on the shot clock.

"Oops." After scoring, Lin Tian looked at Wade apologetically and said, "Now that I've made this shot, does that mean I'll never know who's going to come for the game-winning shot?"

With a 5-point deficit and only 37 seconds left, Wade didn't respond to Lin Tian's trash talk.

Meanwhile, since the Cavaliers only had one timeout left, they didn't call another one; they wanted to hold onto that last timeout a little longer.

Gasol reached the baseline and, observing that the Lakers were continuing their full-court press, decisively abandoned the idea of ​​rolling the ball across the floor. Instead, he immediately passed the ball to Wade.

This time, Wade wanted to launch an attack immediately after receiving the ball, but Lin Tian's defense was perfect, blocking Wade's way in the first place. Wade tried to get rid of him repeatedly but failed each time. Seeing that time was passing by so quickly, Wade dared not hold onto the ball and try to score himself anymore.

He quickly passed the ball to Chalmers, who dribbled two more steps before passing it to Anthony.

Anthony received the ball 1 meter beyond the three-point line, and without hesitation, he launched a long-range three-pointer!

Durant's defense was equally timely; he spread his arms and pounced on Anthony like a giant spider.

Anthony hit five three-pointers tonight, so Durant certainly won't let up on his defense against him.

"Bang!"

Immediately afterwards, the shot that carried almost all of Cleveland's hopes unfortunately missed the rim. Fortunately, Gasol had already made his run into position, and he and Bynum were locked in a tight battle under the basket. Gasol knew that it was almost impossible for him to control the ball directly.

So he spotted a direction, slapped the ball with his big hand, and sent it flying towards the three-point line.

Chalmers leaped high and seized the opportunity his teammate had fought so hard for. Then, without hesitation, he pulled up for a strong three-pointer over Kobe's defense!

"Whoosh!"

This time, the three points went straight into the net!

An ordinary person became a great hero!

A 2-point gap!

135: 132!

There are 22 seconds left in the game.

There wasn't enough time for the Cavaliers to complete a full defensive play; they had to immediately resort to fouling tactics to send the Lakers to the free-throw line.

"Defense! Full-court press! Defense!" The Cavaliers players shouted in unison, each finding their assigned player to defend. If they failed to force a Lakers turnover the moment the ball was passed, they would immediately foul.

We will absolutely not give the Lakers any chance to stall for time.

"pause!"

The usually composed Jackson requested a timeout at this moment. When it's time to play it safe, he will still choose to play it safe rather than be reckless.

The team needs to make some good plans for the final moments.

"What the Lakers need to do now is to inbound the ball without turnovers and make both free throws. That would basically give them the win!" Van Gundy said. "If they make both free throws, they'll have a four-point lead. The Cavaliers will have to hit two three-pointers in a row to take the lead no matter what."

"As for the Cavaliers, there are actually quite a few things they can do. Besides passively waiting for the Lakers to inbound the ball and then fouling, they can actually control the Lakers' players who receive the ball."

"Kobe, Lin, and Durant all have 80% or even 85% free throw percentages and are known for their clutch performances. Asking them to take free throws at this point is obviously not good news, so the Cavaliers can force the Lakers to pass the ball to their fourth player on the court."

"That person, maybe it's Terry, maybe it's Barnes. Both of them played well for the Lakers tonight and had relatively consistent free throw percentages, but they are obviously not as reliable as the Lakers' Big Three."

"If the Cavaliers can't force the Lakers to make a mistake, then they might as well create an opening and let them pass the ball to a player who isn't so good at free throws, and then foul him before he can pass the ball."

"Although the Lakers will definitely field their four highest free throw percentage players at the end, the Cavaliers can still try their luck and make some moves."

Miller said, "Actually, I think it's acceptable as long as it's not Kobe or Lin, you can just foul them! Durant's stamina has declined significantly. He just made one of two free throws, so fouling Durant isn't unacceptable."

"I think the most important thing right now is to see who Jackson will put in the fourth position so that the Cavaliers can target their defense accordingly," Jackson continued. "I think Isaiah Thomas is also a good option. He's fast enough and small enough that if you give him the ball, he can use his speed to run down a lot of the clock."

While the commentators were analyzing and speculating in the commentary booth, both sides had already completed their final tactical arrangements.

The players from both sides took to the field.

The Cavaliers didn't field their twin towers; instead, they brought out their most mobile lineup, clearly aiming to foul the Lakers as soon as they inbounded the ball, preventing the Lakers from wasting time.

They also clearly anticipated that the Lakers might field Isaiah Thomas, hoping he could use his speed to disrupt the Cavaliers' defense. The Cavaliers' preparations were quite thorough.

They're just going to foul!

Even so, even though they had guessed that the Lakers might field Terry, Thomas, Barnes, or even continue to play Murphy, who was in good form tonight, the Cavaliers were still somewhat shocked when they saw the Lakers' starting five.

"That's insane," Miller couldn't help but remark after seeing the Lakers' roster.

Because the Lakers' current roster consists of Kobe, Durant, Terry, Lin Tian, ​​and Kapono!

"All 12 Lakers players took to the court tonight, and 11 of them scored. The only one who didn't score was Kapono, who went 0-for-2 from three-point range and played less than 5 minutes! He was the only Lakers player who didn't score and had the least playing time tonight."

Van Gundy, as if afraid everyone wouldn't understand what it meant for the Lakers to acquire Kapono, began to introduce Kapono to everyone.

"He has won the three-point title, and his three-point shooting percentage has consistently been above 40% or even 45%. His free throw percentage has never been below 82%, and this year it was as high as 91%. So far in the playoffs, Kapono has a 100% free throw percentage and hasn't missed a single shot."

"But the problem is, the sample size is too small!"

"This year, Kapono has only played 6 minutes per game, averaging just 1 point, 0.4 rebounds, and 0.2 assists. He has only taken 4 free throws in the playoffs, all in the first and second rounds. And for a whole month, more than 11 games, he hasn't taken a single free throw."

"Even tonight, he was in terrible form. He didn't score a single point and was the only player on the team with zero points."

"But at that point, Jackson put him on the court."

Miller said, "It's probably just a ruse, meant to create space and stand at the far end, used as a strategic deterrent. But the Lakers probably won't pass the ball to him. If they have a choice, they won't give him the ball."

"Alright, timeout over. Let's see... Durant is walking to the sideline. Sure enough, having Durant, who is tall and has a much better passing ability than Murphy and Bynum, inbound the ball is definitely the best choice."

"Let's see how the Lakers position themselves."

"Beep beep!"

At that moment, the referee blew the whistle and gave the ball to Durant. The entire Lakers team immediately scattered and ran wildly according to their movement tactics, trying to find and create opportunities for themselves.

The same goes for Capono; instead of waiting for opportunities in the corner, he actively ran around, constantly reaching out for the ball.

Then, Kapono, who had just run to the basket, suddenly turned around and ran towards the top of the arc, while Lin Tian and Kobe passed him and ran towards the baseline.

On one side are Kobe and Lin Tian, ​​and on the other is Kapono. There is no need for any hesitation in making this choice. Everyone can make up their minds instantly.

Therefore, Capono was overlooked.

His opponents were all focused on Kobe and Lin Tian, ​​leaving him out of the picture.

Sessions, who was originally guarding him, was blocked by Lakers players and his own teammates because of this crossover, and was unable to catch up with Kapono immediately.

Of course, it only took a moment, because Sessions was fast enough that after breaking free from the group, he quickly caught up with Capono.

He caught up with Kapono, who had received a pass from Durant, and then hugged him tightly.

The Cavaliers committed this foul in just 1.5 seconds, which means they wasted almost no time and were extremely efficient.

But at this moment, no one praised the Cavaliers for making good fouls.

Because Jackson, Miller, and others know basketball very well, none of them could have imagined this situation.

Capono actually received the ball, and it was Capono who took the last two crucial free throws!

More importantly, this was not a spur-of-the-moment decision by Durant or a choice made out of desperation. In this play, it was clear that Kapono was sprinting to find an opportunity, and Lin Tian and Kobe were both baits for him to receive the ball.

Those two ran towards the baseline to create an opportunity for Capono to receive the ball and take a free throw!

"Is Jackson crazy? Using Lin and Kobe as bait, then letting Kapono receive the ball for those two crucial free throws? Isn't he afraid Kapono will hesitate? Has Kapono ever carried out such a demanding, high-pressure game-winning or clutch shot since entering the NBA?"

"Can Kapono withstand the pressure? Is Jackson really that crazy? Does he really trust his player that much, letting Kapono shoot free throws like that?"

"So, he's the 'Zen Master,' and you're just a stubborn old man." Miller shook his head and made a sarcastic remark about Van Gundy, but judging from his expression and tone, it was clear that this guy's true thoughts were exactly the same as Van Gundy's.

Jackson went mad!

They actually gave this opportunity to a nobody.

In such high-stakes situations, 99% of the coaches in the league wish their free-throw shooters were the team's leader, mentally unstable, and had a heart as big as their brains.

But who would entrust such crucial free throws, which could determine the outcome of the entire game and even the championship, to a player who averages 5 minutes of playing time, scored no points tonight, only made 4 free throws throughout the entire playoffs, and hasn't had a free throw in more than 10 games?

Jackson Club.

This guy is just that bold.

The fans at Quicken Loans Arena clearly didn't realize this was Jackson's plan. They thought it was their team's excellent defense that forced Jackson to let Kapono pass the ball. So at that moment, the arena erupted in thunderous cheers and shouts.

They were celebrating. Kapono going to the free-throw line was a hundred times better than Lin Tian or Kobe going up there.

Then Kapono stepped to the free-throw line, took a deep breath, raised his wrist, and executed a textbook free-throw motion with three perfect 90-degree angles. (End of Chapter)