Mashburn's arrogant behavior aroused Malone's strong dissatisfaction.
In fact, Mashburn's behavior is not out of the ordinary. After scoring a difficult goal on the court, he beat his chest and roared twice, and then turned back and knocked away the player who was defending him. This happens in every game.
The difference is that Malone's status is extremely high, while Mashburn has gradually become a third-line player in the past two years.
For a third-line player to do this to a superstar is provocation.
Does Mashburn still consider himself a third-line player now? In more than half a quarter, he has scored 12 points and has regained his monster status. He is a top small forward on the first line.
In the Jazz's offensive round, Malone reached out for the ball, obviously intending to beat Mashburn alone.
His offense is simple and unpretentious, which is to use the impact force to knock away the opponent and then face the frame to shoot. Of course, when impacting, he will inevitably use his elbow to clear the way. This is Malone's unique skill that has dominated the league for more than ten years.
When Mashburn was close to him, Malone used his elbow and hit Mashburn in the chest.
This elbow move was huge, so of course the referee called Malone an offensive foul. This is the treatment of a superstar. If it were a junior player, this elbow would have at least been called a technical foul.
Ben rushed over immediately, pulled Mashburn behind him, and took two steps forward to confront Malone.
Ma Long cursed, but Ben didn't say anything. He just kept pushing his chest and head against Ma Long. It looked like a fight was inevitable.
Mashburn quickly hugged Ben, "Ben, relax, I'm fine."
"I don't know why, it doesn't hurt at all. Karl, have you not eaten?"
"Is this the strength of your elbow? It looks like you are really old."
These words were just adding fuel to the fire. Ma Long wanted to knock off Ben and go find Mashburn to settle the score. Unfortunately, there was no way Ben could let him do so and protect Mashburn tightly behind him.
"Dudududu!"
Sloan quickly called a timeout. This was their home court in Salt Lake City, and he didn't want the situation to get worse. If there really was a fight, what good would the Jazz do?
At first glance, Ben is not someone to be trifled with. The only person with real fighting ability on the Jazz side is Malone, not even Stockton. People like Hornacek are old and weak, so there is no way they can fight.
The key is that no matter whether they win or lose, the Jazz will suffer the loss. Malone or Stockton will be suspended. How big a loss is that? The cost of a one-game suspension is worth Ben's salary for a season.
Lin Yu stood on the sidelines to greet Mashburn's fate.
"Good buddy, I knew you could do it. You've never let me down since you joined the Bullets!"
Lin Yu hugged Mashburn and praised loudly.
Mashburn was so moved, "Coach, I can feel everything coming back. Thank you. You are really the best coach, bar none."
"No matter what happens in the future, I will always serve you as long as you need me."
With Mashburn's usual character of being unable to beat a fart with three sticks, the fact that he could say such disgusting words was enough to show that his gratitude to Lin Yu could not be greater.
"Ben, in the next time, you have to guard against Malone's offensive rounds."
"If he dares to elbow you, just elbow him back. We won't cause trouble and we won't be afraid of it."
"A ban is a ban. I will help you pay all the losses caused by the ban and fines."
Lin Yu still has more than one million US dollars in his bank account, and he said this with confidence.
"No, how can you make the coach pay for it? I'll pay for it!" Weber quickly answered.
Mashburn became more and more moved. What was his life like in Dallas? Fighting with Jim Jackson and Kidd every day, I have never experienced this kind of team atmosphere.
Under the leadership of Lin Yu, the entire Bullets team is like a big family, and the players are extremely united.
After the timeout, with Big Ben's appearance, the Bullets definitely couldn't continue to play apart and began to fight regular position battles.
After Malone returned to the court, he restrained himself a lot.
The game continues like this. As the number one player in the Western Conference, the Jazz's combat power cannot be underestimated. Even if Mashburn has awakened, the Jazz still have the advantage on the scene.
Through this game, Lin Yu can actually realize the gap between himself and top coaches like Sloan.
Is the Jazz lineup good? Excluding the two Utah duo, the Jazz's lineup is not worth mentioning. Even if Utah's duo is included, the Bullets' roster is stronger than the Jazz's.
But the Jazz can dominate the Bullets on the court. This is the value of a top coach.
In addition, Lin Yu also realized that the Bullets may not be able to use pick-and-roll tactics. Even if they can, the effect will definitely be far less than that of the Jazz.
The main reason is that the Bullets lack a point guard like Stockton.
Speedy's strength is certainly not bad, but his defensive ability, organizational ability and overall view are at least two levels behind Stockton.
He can play the normal two-man pick-and-roll, and he can hit the speeder, but he can't play the complex multi-player pick-and-roll like the Jazz, with serial pick-and-rolls and blocking each other in the front and backcourt. Either he can't find someone or he can't get the ball out immediately. .
After recognizing this reality, Lin Yu sighed helplessly. It seemed that his Washington Bullets could no longer play the league's mainstream tactics.
…
The game lasted until halfway through the fourth quarter. The score on the field was 78:86. The away team was ahead, but the Bullets were still 8 points behind.
The offensive and defensive rhythm of both sides is relatively slow, so even if the shooting percentage is good, the score is not high.
Lin Yu was not in a hurry to use "Perfect Curtain Call". If he could win this game, the opportunity to use it could be left for other games.
And if there is really no hope of winning at the last moment, Lin Yu will not let go of the opportunity to win against the Jazz.
The Jazz are first in the Western Conference and second in the league. It is of great significance to win them. Just like Lin Yu said when he poured chicken soup to the players, as long as the Bullets win the Jazz, it means that they have truly become one of the league's top players.
Player morale can soar and they can also gain a psychological advantage when facing other teams.
Lin Yu waited patiently for more than three minutes and called a long timeout. At this time, there were still 5 points left and two and a half minutes left in the game. If the game continues normally, the Bullets want to recover these 5 points. The score difference is very difficult.
In this case, the only choice is "Perfect Curtain Call".
Mashburn has scored 28 points tonight, which is about equal to the total in all games since he joined the Bullets.
After the generals came off the field, Lin Yu waved to Mashburn and called him to the corner of the bench.
"Jamal, do you believe me?"
Lin Yu's voice was so low that only Mashburn could hear it.
"Of course, coach." Mashburn looked confused. He couldn't understand what Lin Yu was going to do.
"Okay, then I now ask you to run to the jump ball area of the midfield line to shoot three-pointers in the next time. Will you do it?"
"Huh? Coach, this joke is not funny at all."
Mashburn's expression changed from confusion to horror. He wondered whether Lin Yu was possessed by something dirty.
"I'm not kidding, I'm serious. Trust me, you will never regret it this time." Lin Yu continued to encourage in a bewitching tone.
"this……"
"Coach, what on earth do you want to do? Shoot a three-pointer from the midfield line? Isn't that outrageous?"
"But if you insist, I can give it a try."
Even if Mashburn couldn't understand Lin Yu's purpose, one thing he was sure of was that Lin Yu would never harm him.
"Okay, remember, you must shoot in the scrimmage area, and you must shoot four times."
"Don't tell anyone, this is a little secret between us."
"If anyone asks, you can say whatever you want, but don't mention me."
Lin Yu also knew how outrageous what was going to happen next, so he didn't want the outside world to focus on him.
If a player shoots four three-pointers at the midfield line, it can be explained by being too hot on the court or being young and frivolous. If a coach arranges for the players to go to the midfield line and shoot four three-pointers, and he still shoots four, isn't that insane?
After the timeout, the two sides returned to the court. Mashburn was standing in the scrimmage area at the midfield line, and Cassel passed the ball to him.
After catching the ball, Mashburn couldn't help but glance at Lin Yu on the sidelines. He only saw Lin Yu nodded slightly, as if he was encouraging him to take action.
Mashburn took a deep breath and simply stopped thinking about it. Lin Yu would not harm him. There must be a reason for him to take action.
There are no defensive players around at this moment, and no player can run into the scrimmage area to guard a small forward.
After taking a deep breath, Mashburn jumped up and shot a jumper.
The more than 10,000 fans at the scene were all dumbfounded. They wondered if they were delusional. Mashburn shot a three-pointer from the midfield line? !
Not only the fans were dumbfounded, but the players and coaches on and off the field were also dumbfounded, as if they had seen a ghost.
"boom!"
This super long three-point shot hit the backboard and didn't even touch the basket.
"Wow..."
The fans at the scene burst into laughter. They felt that Mashburn was just joking. Even if the Bullets needed to chase points, they wouldn't shoot such a funny basket, right?
Even Sloan, who had always been serious, couldn't help but laugh. This was the first time he had seen such a shot in decades of coaching.
Of course there are half-court shots, but they are only one or two seconds left in the game. There is no other choice but to shoot like that. Now the Bullets still have plenty of time, and Sloan really doesn't understand Mashburn's purpose.
Malone and Stockton on the court laughed. They thought Mashburn was jumping over the wall.
If a speedster faced this situation, he would never shoot a second midfield three-pointer anyway. However, Marshburn was different. The unruly and unruly he became more motivated the more he faced ridicule.
The Jazz started to attack and played slowly for more than 20 seconds. Finally, Malone took a mid-range shot and failed to score. Ben protected the rebound.
Cassell had just received the ball from the boundary line. He turned around and saw Mashburn standing at the midfield line. What was even more outrageous was that he actually saw Mashburn reaching for the ball.
This ball could not be given anyway. Cassel secretly warned himself that he felt that after the game was over, it was necessary for Lin Yu to take Mashburn to see a psychiatrist. Isn't this completely insane? How can any player shoot like this?
"give him!"
"Pass it to him!"
Lin Yu shouted from the sidelines.
Cassel almost cursed in his heart. What crazy team had he been traded to? How come the players are sick and the coach is not normal either.
Although he was cursing his mother in his heart, Cassel still passed the ball to Mashburn. He did not have the capital to disobey the coach's arrangement.
After receiving the ball, Mashburn took a deep breath again, obviously planning to take another three-point shot from midfield.
Seeing this, Ma Long actually made a gesture of invitation towards Mashburn, which was full of humiliation.
The enraged Mashburn jumped up and shot a three-pointer without even thinking about it.
The three-pointer drew a perfect parabola, flew towards the basket, and then inserted straight into the basket as Lin Yu watched.
"Wow..."
The ball went in, and the midfield three-pointer was actually hit!
The scene was in an uproar again. This time no one laughed at Mashburn. They all looked at Mashburn with disbelief at the miracle he had just performed.
Lin Yu breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed that Mashburn was pretty lucky. There was only a 30% chance of hitting the first ball. It was normal to miss. This ball had a 50% chance of being hit by Mashburn.
Malone clapped his hands and walked to Mashburn's side. He chuckled and said, "You're such a lucky guy. How dare you continue to vote?"
"Why don't you dare?"
After Mashburn hit this midfield three-pointer, his confidence was overwhelming. Thinking of Lin Yu telling him to shoot four times, he would continue to shoot even if Malone didn't ridicule.
In the Jazz's offensive round, although Stockton failed to make a hit, he fouled Cassell and scored one point on 1 of 2 free throws.
At this moment, the score difference is only the last three points, and there is less than one minute left in the game.
Still at the midfield line, Cassel didn't even need Lin Yu to shout this time and took the initiative to pass the ball to Mashburn.
"You shoot, I won't guard you, I will stand here and watch you shoot." Ma Longpi said with a smile.
Malone actually had his own little calculation in making such a gesture. The point difference was only three points, and it was really hard to say whether he would win or lose the game.
And if Mashburn continues to shoot three-pointers in midfield, he definitely doesn't believe that he can continue to hit them. If this consumes the Bullets for one round, then the Jazz will definitely win this game.
Mashburn didn't say a word and just raised his hand to vote.
"Uh-huh!"
Go in again, another midfield three-pointer.
The fans at the scene were no longer shocked this time, but had expressions as if they had seen a ghost. Some fans even made crosses on their chests.
It’s so weird. Hitting a midfield three-pointer can be explained by luck. Hitting two in a row? Can this be explained by luck?
Two consecutive three-pointers directly equalized the original five-point deficit!
It was the Jazz's offensive round again, and they consumed as much time as possible. Malone received a pass from Stockton and scored in the mid-range shot. The Jazz led by two points, with 13 seconds left for the Bullets.
"You lose unless you can make that kind of shot again." Even though Mashburn had already scored two midfield three-pointers, Malone still didn't believe he could continue to hit them.
Mashburn smiled contemptuously at Malone. He didn't know why, but he had a strong confidence in his heart. He felt that he would definitely hit the fourth midfield three-pointer.
Still at the midfield line, Mashburn did not take a rash shot this time. He was waiting for the time on the timer to enter the countdown three seconds.
Malone was a little bit too hard to get off, so he stepped forward to defend? He was afraid that this was Mashburn's trap. If he caused a foul on Mashburn, it would be too much.
But if he didn't step forward to defend, he would always have an ominous feeling.
"5!"
"4!"
"3!"
When the number on the timer jumped to 3, Mashburn took action.
With such a long shot distance, when the basketball got into the net, the referee's whistle also sounded.
With a 100% hit rate, there is no reason not to score!
"Uh-huh!"
Killer!
The monster that has just been released from the cage can determine the outcome with four shots.
Mashburn looked at his hands in disbelief. What had he just done? Three midfield three-pointers in a row? !
To be precise, what did Lin Yu do? Marshburn couldn't help but look at Lin Yu who seemed to already know the result on the sidelines, his eyes full of awe.
Malone was stupid, Stockton was stupid, Sloan was stupid, everyone was stupid, and they looked at Mashburn blankly.
This is definitely the most magical day since the founding of the NBA, and some atheist fans have even shaken their beliefs.
There have indeed been many outrageous things in NBA history, but three consecutive three-pointers in midfield? Still too explosive.
