Quicken Loans Center.
Entering the last 3 minutes of the game, the score between the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Boston Celtics was 110 to 101, with the Celtics still 9 points behind.
Compared with the points behind, the real concern for the Celtics at this time is their lineup.
Kyrie Irving suffered too much physical exertion and failed to score for at least 3 minutes. The performance of other players was mediocre. Except for Al Howard who still has a little touch inside, other offensive points basically failed.
In this case, Jayson Tatum cannot be counted on, and Jaylen Brown cannot be replaced because of Irving. This makes the Celtics quite anxious. Head coach Brad. Stevens even stood in front of the team bench and paced.
"Damn it! How could it be like this?"
"Should we replace Brown? But once we do that, that guy Kyrie will definitely not let it go... What should we do?"
"Can we win if Brown is replaced? Do we really have to take a gamble?"
Just when Coach Stevens was struggling, the Celtics players on the court sent the ball out again.
Irving got the ball and advanced past half-court again.
At this time, he has been conserving energy. In order to relax in these few minutes, he who doesn't like passing the ball keeps feeding the ball to his teammates.
"Enough rest! It's time for me to chase points!"
Irving held the ball and moved it at the top of the arc. One second, he looked like he was planning to pass the ball, but the next second, he directly dribbled the ball and rushed out from the left side.
At this time, Zhao Feiyang had already been replaced, and he and LeBron appeared on the court at the same time at the last moment.
Seeing Irving rushing out with the ball, Zhao Feiyang did not give up and continued to follow.
The two of them reached the basket one after another. Irving suddenly jumped up in front of the penalty area. Zhao Feiyang was not expecting it. He planned to pounce on him, but his teammate Kevin Love on the inside had already reached out to defend him in time.
Love and Irving met in mid-air. Irving did not pull the lever this time, but threw the ball high with his left hand. The basketball he threw successfully bypassed Love's interference, and finally successfully hit the board and fell into the basket.
Snapped.
The ball went in.
Seeing Irving finally score a goal, the Celtics bench finally burst into applause again.
103 to 110.
7 points left.
It was the Cavaliers' turn to fight back.
Zhao Feiyang pushed forward with the ball. He did not choose to force himself, but passed the ball to LeBron at the top of the arc. LeBron was in pretty good shape. After receiving the basketball, he singled out the defensive player. Soon, he raised the basketball to avoid the opponent's interference and shot decisively.
boom.
The three-pointer thrown by LeBron failed to score, and the basketball bounced out.
Celtics insider Horford picked off the rebound, and when he got the ball, he immediately passed it to Irving who was standing on the outside.
Irving reacted very quickly. After getting the ball, he rushed towards the half court.
Zhao Feiyang chased after Irving as fast as possible.
At this time, Owen obviously noticed Zhao Feiyang behind him. He was originally quite confident in his speed, but he didn't expect that Zhao Feiyang was no worse than him. Shocked, Irving decisively gave up his layup plan and rushed to the basket, deliberately slowing down to pull the lever.
Zhao Feiyang jumped up high at the right time and slapped Irving's shot.
Unexpectedly, when Zhao Feiyang's hand was about to touch the basketball in Irving's hand, Irving deliberately made a pulling action towards Zhao Feiyang.
call out.
The referee whistle sounded.
Zhao Feiyang evaded urgently, but it was too late! He wanted to take the opportunity to pull the ball off Irving, but Irving backhand threw the ball toward the backboard one second before it hit the ground.
Snapped.
The basketball hit the backboard and fell firmly into the basket.
Two plus one.
The whole audience exclaimed.
Not only the Celtics players, but also the fans watching from the sidelines were surprised by Irving's goal.
Zhao Feiyang, who was defending him, shook his head helplessly.
"Damn! I was careless just now!"
Soon, with all the fans watching, Irving walked to the free throw line. After receiving the referee's pass, he spun the basketball twice with his hands, and then threw the ball amidst the noise of the audience.
Uh-huh.
The ball went in.
106 to 110.
The Celtics are 4 points away.
There is only the last 1 minute and 16 seconds left.
The Cavaliers continued to attack.
At this time, all the fans had stood up, and countless people were looking forward to the home team winning this game. Once the Cavaliers can win the match point at home, it basically means that it is impossible for the Celtics to get back to the final game.
By then a 4-0 sweep would not be a problem at all.
After the ball passed half court, Zhao Feiyang continued to give the ball to LeBron. LeBron holds the ball and plays singles at the top of the arc. Amid the cheers and applause of the fans, LeBron suddenly accelerated into the basket with the ball. His breakthrough was quite brutal, without so many bells and whistles, and he directly pushed his opponent away with his body.
Seeing him go all the way to the penalty area, just when LeBron was about to take action, Horford and Morris of the Celtics double-teamed him at the same time. The three of them met in mid-air. The ball is thrown.
boom.
The basketball hit the rim.
It bounced once...twice, and the third time it failed to fall into the basket. The basketball quickly spun out. This time, Love's hand was a little slower, and the opponent's big man Morris took the rebound. The ball is taken away.
Snapped.
Morris picked up the rebound and made another long pass.
It was Irving who received the ball. He quickly rushed towards the half court with the ball.
This time Zhao Feiyang didn't have time to return to defense. Just as he was running back, Irving's teammate Smart deliberately blocked him, which caused Zhao Feiyang to be thrown away by Irving.
J.R. Smith, who was originally guarding Smart, could pursue him, but the "Smart Knife" was confused again at the critical moment. By the time he reacted, Irving had already rushed to the three-point line on the right side of the half court.
Uh-huh.
Irving decisively shot a three-pointer without interference.
The basketball fell steadily into the basket.
109 to 110.
Irving scored 8 points in a short period of time, successfully helping the team narrow the point difference to 1 point.
There are 50 seconds left.
Now it was the Cavaliers' turn to get nervous.
Head coach Tyronn Lue decisively called a timeout and asked his players to take a rest. At the same time, he also wanted to take the opportunity to interrupt Irving's feel and rhythm.
On the Celtics side, Irving dragged his tired body off the field. Unlike before, this time when he walked to the team bench, several young players took the initiative to make room for him.
Jaylen Brown, who used to be sarcastic after he came off the field, also calmed down this time.
Head coach Stevens was even more surprised.
"Kelly! Well done!"
"I finally understand how you played before... Your performance just now was amazing! Come on! Let's discuss the tactics at the last moment... Are you okay? I I plan to give you the final right to attack..."
