“Swish!” Another three-pointer went in!

“Boo!!”

46:46, head coach Sloan immediately requested a timeout.

The iron-blooded coach looked grim, but before 2 minutes had passed, the Knicks tied the score.

The atmosphere group didn’t care about the boos at all.

They jumped up and down and high-fived Lee who was leaving the field to celebrate.

Oakley and Ewing also bumped fists to tie the score, and the old guys’ confidence returned.

Bob Costas didn’t expect the Knicks to play with two guards, and for a moment he sighed:

“Horasek’s defense is in place, but Lee’s shooting speed is too fast!”

Doug Collins did not think this was a good option, and said firmly:

“If Lee’s shot misses, the Jazz will most likely seize the opportunity and launch a counterattack.”

“Of course, if he can keep making these difficult three-pointers, the Jazz can only pray.”

After the timeout, the Jazz quickly regained their composure, with Stockton and Malone performing a simple pick-and-roll at the elbow on the right side of the free throw line.

Malone received the ball at the free throw line, took a tentative step and then made a jump shot!

Oakley was so angry that he smashed the basketball, and the shot was also backward.

How to defend against this?

The Knicks played the same tactic again.

After Lee ran back twice in a row, this time the shot from the left wing missed.

“Wow!”

The Jazz fans at the scene cheered loudly, and head coach Jerry Sloan on the sidelines breathed a sigh of relief.

Stockton, who got the backcourt rebound, did not seize the opportunity to switch offense and continued to fall into the position.

The Knicks players continued to chase and defend, and in the final moment, there was a pick-and-roll with nearly 24 seconds left, and Stockton made a quick stop and jump shot from the right elbow area, but missed.

The basketball hit the front of the basket, Chris Childs successfully grabbed the rebound, and then immediately passed it to Lee who was accelerating in the middle.

There was booing everywhere at the scene, and the Jazz players hurriedly retreated.

Lee received the ball in the middle, holding the ball in his left hand and kept accelerating.

Feeling the physical confrontation from Hornacek on his side, he quickly went in and out near the three-point line.

Lee shook right and left, holding the ball in his left hand, which made Hornacek beside him stunned.

Before he could react, Lee had already stopped at the three-point line, converted a three-pointer and quickly made a jump shot!

“Swish!” The three-pointer went into the net.

49:48, the Knicks overtook again.

A random shot went in?

Stockton and Russell, who had already retreated to half court, looked solemn.

“Boo!”

Ewing was also getting excited at this time.

He didn’t care about the boos from the audience at all and began to loudly call on his teammates to defend.

The Jazz also started to score and shoot.

Malone received the ball in the low post on the left side, and Russell took the opportunity to quickly cut into the basket.

Although he successfully received the ball, this was not a good offensive choice.

Larry Johnson chased and defended in time, and Ewing retreated to the basket.

The moment Russell raised the ball, he was cut off by the “grandmama”.

“squeak!”

The referee immediately blew the whistle and called a foul on Larry Johnson, and Russell was awarded two free throws.

Without complaining, Larry Johnson quickly walked to the paint area.

Russell missed the second free throw, and the fans at the scene exclaimed again.

Ewing grabbed the rebound and Chris Childs immediately responded.

Lee had already quickly rushed across half court at this time.

The Jazz, who had suffered a great loss, retreated desperately, and the Knicks were forced to follow suit and engage in positional offense.

Lee was still slipping to the baseline, and Hornacek continued to chase and defend him with all his might.

Moving quickly from left to right, just when he was right under the basket, Lee suddenly turned around, stopped abruptly, accelerated back and quickly bounced to the left wing.

Coming outside the three-point line, Lee received another cross pass from Chris Childs, and then immediately raised the ball for a fake shot.

Hornacek chased after him in time, but this time he was tricked by Lee into jumping up.

He tried to dodge in the air, but was still hit by the free throw.

Lee shot the ball into the air without paying attention to the opponent’s defense, and then shouted:

“Ball!”

The basketball didn’t even touch the rim, but the referee still awarded three free throws.

When Lee stood at the free throw line, the shouting and cursing became louder and louder.

It was obvious that this offensive move completely angered the Jazz fans.

“Free throws are free points. At such a critical moment, three free throws can also help the Knicks stabilize the situation. Lee is really smart.”

Bob Costas praised him, but Isiah Thomas saw that Lee was running out of tricks, so he laughed and joked:

“I think Hornacek has adapted to Lee’s offense by now, and it’s not that easy to score.”

At 52:49, Lee made all three free throws, helping the Knicks take the lead again.

Stockton did not show any mercy at the critical moment.

After passing the ball several times from the outside, he made a jump shot after a pick-and-roll at the elbow area on the left side of the free throw line.

In the next few rounds, Ewing and Larry Johnson failed to score under the basket, and Malone and Russell seized the opportunity, making shots and free throws to overtake the score.

At 52:55, Jeff Van Gundy also immediately requested a timeout.

The Jazz fans cheered loudly, victory was in sight!

They caught the Knicks at their weak spot and fell into positional attack.

Lee was double-teamed because he held the ball too much, and Ewing’s low-post attack efficiency was low, making it difficult for him to score.

Oakley was panting and feeling depressed.

Malone’s big elbows were effective at home.

When blocking, swinging elbows was allowed here.

Lee didn’t expect the old guy on the opposite side to be so fast and his physical fitness was better than he thought.

Without waiting for Van Gundy to speak, he immediately suggested:

“Pat, watch my movement, with my back to the basket, catch the ball in the blocking area, and pass the ball to the baseline in time.”

The low post didn’t work.

When Ewing heard what Lee said, he immediately nodded.

The atmosphere group was silent at this time.

Away games were more difficult and noisy than they had imagined, which made Jeff Van Gundy raise his voice and loudly deliver chicken soup.

The offense failed, so they could only hope that the defense would also make the opponent miss shots.

“Defense! Defense! Defense!”

The defensive cheers were getting louder and louder.

After the timeout, the Knicks attacked with the same tactics.

Lee quickly slipped to the baseline and then went to the right wing to receive the ball.

Hornacek chased him and defended his right hand.

Lee released the ball with his left hand and broke through with a cross step.

Just after he took two steps into the three-point line, Stockton blocked his breakthrough route.

Quickly pass the ball back to substitute Charlie Ward at the top of the key.

The latter received the ball and did not pass it around.

While Stockton was returning to defense, he quickly moved to the left wing and then passed the ball to Ewing who was in the blocking position with his back to the basket.

After completing the pass, Lee made an arc, came to the left blocking area and pretended to cut into the baseline.

Then he exerted force with his feet, and after a few big steps, he quickly bounced out to the left bottom corner.

Ewing immediately passed the ball, and Hornacek reacted quickly and jumped up to defend!

The moment he received the ball, Lee shot the ball out without any adjustment, and then was knocked down by Hornacek, and both of them fell to the ground at the same time.

“Swish!” The three-pointer went into the net!

At 55:55, the Delta Center suddenly became quiet, and then there was another round of boos.

“Hey! This is a foul! Look at all my players being tackled!”

Seeing that the referee did not make any comment, Jeff Van Gundy was furious and wanted to chase him to argue.

In the end, the coaching staff hurriedly pulled the bald young coach back.

We finally tied the score, but if we were called for a technical foul, it would be a big loss.

Without a cylinder and without the need for falling space, coupled with the flexible standards of penalty calls, these little tricks will become completely ineffective after being used a few times.

Lee stood up without complaining and quickly retreated with the Knicks.

Soon both sides began to score points through free throws.

Ewing also tried his best at this time, constantly squeezing towards the basket, and Larry Johnson also rushed to the basket.

Karl Malone and Stockton were also able to get free throws.

61:61, with 4 minutes and 35 seconds left in the third quarter, the two sides were still tied.

As long as the free throws were made, both teams would engage in positional offense.

The Jazz learned from the Bulls’ lesson and the game became more and more stable.

After playing for most of the quarter, Hornacek began to breathe hard.

Lee would run around in every round, and the Knicks didn’t need to organize an offense at this time.

It all depended on Ewing and Larry Johnson to rush in.

This time the Knicks attacked, Lee cut across the line again, from right to left to the left wing, and Hornacek chased and defended in time again.

Malone, who followed Oakley to the free throw line, was ready for double-teaming.

After receiving the ball, Lee maintained a three-threat posture.

Noticing that Hornacek in front of him intentionally let go of his right hand, he kept a distance.

Lee, who had been protecting the ball sideways, took a quick tentative step with his left foot and suddenly exerted force with his foot.

He pulled his foot back and shot a dry jump shot!

“Swish!” Another three-pointer went in!

64:61, the Knicks took the lead again.

Hornacek was a little confused.

He threw it away like that? And it went in?

The Knicks’ atmosphere team also became active at this time, and they started to shout.

Stockton seemed unaffected, passing half court in an orderly manner and quickly directing his teammates to their positions.

There was a cross screen under the basket, and then Karl Malone came to the right elbow area and asked for the ball with his back to the basket.

After receiving the pass from Stockton, Malone turned around, faced the basket, took a quick test step with his right foot, and then took a mid-range jump shot!

“Clang!”

It was a rare missed shot, so Ewing grabbed the rebound and quickly passed the ball to the front court.

Just as he crossed the center line, Lee received the pass near the right sideline.

Russell, who was chasing and defending, saw Lee slowing down after receiving the ball, and immediately gave him a physical confrontation.

At the same time, the Jazz players were also retreating quickly.

Lee, holding the ball in his left hand, came to the right wing against the defense, stepped on the three-point line, and quickly pulled back with a cross step.

He adjusted his steps the moment he switched to his right hand, and while Russell was defending, he dribbled the ball between his legs twice in a row at an extremely fast speed, shaking his body, and then exerted force on his feet to quickly step back.

With a little space to shoot, Lee overcame the opponent’s block, converted a three-pointer and made another jump shot!

“Bang!”

The basketball first hit the front of the basket, bounced high and then fell into the basket.

67:61, the score difference reached 6 points, and the Knicks atmosphere team threw the towel wildly.

Lee was tackled to the floor by the opponent again.

When he saw the ball go in, he immediately stood up and punched.

The Jazz fans who couldn’t hold back cursed at him.

Bryon Russell was dumbfounded and it was useless to hit him in the face.

At the last moment of the third quarter, Malone once again forced his way to the basket and stood on the free throw line to help the Jazz narrow the gap.

On the Knicks side, Lee started to miss shots, and Ewing also failed to finish at the basket.

Jeff Van Gundy wished the game would end right there and then, shouting in a panic unconsciously on the sidelines.

Charlie Ward threw himself in the air during his breakthrough, but still couldn’t get a free throw.

With 6 seconds left in the third quarter, Stockton forced his way to the basket and made both free throws, bringing the score to 67:65.

The Jazz fans at the scene cheered, and the Knicks kicked the ball out from the baseline.

After Lee received the ball, Russell quickly took the lead in defense.

Realizing that time was running out, Lee casually shot the ball into the basket before crossing half court.

The Jazz players didn’t care at all, and the fans were still cheering loudly.

As the timer light came on, the basketball went into the net.

The Delta Center suddenly became quiet again.

Lee was stunned at first, and then he immediately pretended to be cool, smiling and walking towards the bench with his hands raised.

“ah!!”

Ewing and Oakley rushed over and hugged Lee and shouted excitedly.

Even though there was still one quarter to play and the score difference was 5 points, it was enough for them to catch their breath for a few minutes.

70:65, after three quarters, the Knicks overtook by 5 points.

In the commentary booth, Doug Collins was also stunned.

He glanced at the technical statistics and exclaimed loudly:

“God! Incredible performance. The Knicks overtook the score in this quarter!”

“In a single quarter, he made 6 of 9 shots, 3 of 3 free throws, and all his shots were from outside the three-point line. Clay Leescored 21 points in a single quarter!”

Isiah Thomas didn’t expect that Lee could support the Knicks’ offense with three-pointers:

“Incredible shooting talent, but the 5-point difference is still within the reach, the Jazz still have a chance!”

We were behind in the 3rd quarter and didn’t need to rest until the last quarter.

Both sides chose to fight to the death with their main players.

Jeff Van Gundy replaced Chris Childs, and the two guards took turns to consume Stockton.

“Defense! Defense! Defense!”

The Knicks took the lead in attacking. Russell then stood in front of Lee.

Hornacek couldn’t hold on and had no choice but to switch defense.

Lee had a good touch, quickly slipping across the baseline from right to left, bouncing outwards and cutting across the line again, almost circling the court, and returning to the right wing.

Russell tried his best to defend, and when he saw Lee catch the ball, he shot it and jumped up from the side to block it again!

“Bang, bang, swish!”

The basketball still hit the front of the basket, bounced high, and finally fell into the basket after a bump.

“Boo!!”

Seeing Lee fall to the ground again, Jeff Van Gundy complained loudly to the referee, but was given a verbal warning instead.

Finally, he was pulled back by the Knicks team.

Lee quickly got up and smiled at the Jazz substitute, which again caused the fans in the front row to curse at him.

73:65, the Knicks led by 8 points.

Ewing and Oakley were in high spirits at this time, and soon the two sides entered into an ugly hand-to-hand fight.

After Lee made the three-pointer, he started to miss shots one after another, and Russell, who was defending him, was fouled every time.

Complaining was of no use, and the Knicks started to rush to the basket again.

The Jazz then made free throws and slowly narrowed the gap.

With 58 seconds left in the game, the score was 80:80.

Seeing that the offensive time was about to reach 24 seconds, Lee was fouled again.

Russell then tried his best to defend on the right wing, constantly pushing Lee towards the sideline.

The attack time was about to come, Lee simply dribbled the ball behind his back, switched to his left hand, took a long step and suddenly stopped.

Lee raised the ball and faked it.

Russell subconsciously blocked it from the side, but found that Lee did not move.

It was too late for him to turn his body.

Successfully creating a time difference, Lee took advantage of the situation and shot the ball up, shouting again:

“My Ball!”

“squeak!”

This foul was too obvious and Russell was successfully tricked into committing a foul.

On the Knicks’ bench, the atmosphere group screamed, and several people hugged each other, jumping up and down to celebrate.

With 52 seconds left in the game, Lee stood on the free throw line.

Russell on the side was still explaining to the referee, but the free throw result would not change.

The Jazz fans at the scene made a lot of noise, trying to interfere with the free throws.

But as Lee made all three free throws, the only sounds in the gym were exclamations.

83:80, the Jazz were forced to request a timeout.

Jeff Van Gundy squatted on the floor and loudly reminded everyone to concentrate:

“If we can defend this round, we can get the match point, hold on!”

Oakley was breathing heavily and successfully controlled his fouls tonight, but he consumed too much energy.

Lee’s physical strength had reached its limit at this time, and he had used all the tricks to draw fouls.

He had already tried his best in this game.

After the timeout, the Jazz successfully launched a fast attack.

Karl Malone received the ball in a pick-and-roll and went straight to the basket, scoring easily.

83:82, with 40 seconds left in the game, Chris Childs and Lee took turns to kill time on the outside and look for opportunities.

Throughout the fourth quarter, the Knicks scored mostly from second-chance tip-ins and free throws.

In the final moments, Lee was double-teamed again on the left wing.

Chris Childs received the ball at the top of the arc and then went straight to the basket.

He attracted the defense and quickly passed the ball to Ewing, but Malone reacted faster and did not give the gorilla a chance to shoot, and he fouled him cleanly.

“Boo!!”

Ewing stood on the free throw line and was booed by the crowd.

The Knicks players on the sidelines were praying.

He missed the first free throw and there was an immediate cheer from the crowd.

The second free throw still missed, and Ewing tried hard to grab the frontcourt rebound, but Foster firmly protected the backcourt rebound at this time.

There was no timeout and there were only 18 seconds left in the game.

The Jazz had a chance to win the game.

All the fans at the scene stood up to watch the game and cheer for the home team.

Stockton ran out of time and Karl Malone received the ball again in the right blocking area.

After a fake sway, he took a quick tentative step with his right foot, then quickly released the ball with his right hand.

Malone broke through the frame and went to the basket again.

At the bottom right of the basket, Malone faked the ball and fooled Oakley.

When Malone shot again, he was fouled by Ewing who was helping to defend.

“Squeak!”

With 2.3 seconds left in the game, Karl Malone got two free throws.

Oakley was panting at this time, standing next to the paint area, and immediately said loudly:

“He can’t make the free throw. We’re sure to win. In the next game, we’ll get the championship.”

Malone kept taking deep breaths, and the Jazz fans at the scene also quieted down.

Standing on the free throw line, Malone missed the first free throw, and there was an immediate roar of surprise from the audience.

Malone was obviously more nervous on the second free throw.

He paused for a moment before shooting the ball.

“Clang!”

The basketball hit the front of the basket, and the Jazz fans exclaimed, and then they saw Malone rush to the basket and grab the backboard.

In the blink of an eye, Malone completed a lob shot in the paint area, right in front of the basket.

However, as soon as the ball left his hands, it was blocked by Lee who rushed to the basket.

“oh!!”

The Jazz fans at the scene couldn’t hold back any longer, and all of them screamed in surprise.

At the critical moment, Russell didn’t block the shot, and Lee blocked it!

The basketball bounced onto the backboard, and everyone scrambled for it under the basket, and then the buzzer sounded at the end of the game.

“ah!!”

Everyone on the Knicks team cheered and rushed to Lee like crazy, hugged each other and shouted excitedly.

Karl Malone held the basketball, seemingly unable to believe the result, and stared at the scoreboard.

Jeff Van Gundy raised his hands high at this time, jumped around on the sidelines, and shouted loudly unconsciously to vent his excitement.

In the NBC commentary booth, three people also breathed a sigh of relief.

Bob Costas saw Malone still standing blankly under the basket and said with a sigh:

“Karl Malone almost became the hero tonight. Lee’s block may have shattered the Jazz’s championship dream!”

Doug Collins saw Stockton walking toward the player tunnel with his head down, and he felt sorry for the veteran:

“The Jazz executed their game plan perfectly, and the Knicks barely scored a field goal in the final quarter.”

After hearing the two people’s sighs, Isiah Thomas looked at the technical statistics and said with a smile:

“40 points, 4 rebounds, 6 assists, 1 steal, 1 block, 2 turnovers, this performance is incredible. Lee deserves a win!”

11 of 24 shots, 9 of 17 from beyond the three-point line, and 9 of 9 free throws.

Seeing Clay Lee’s technical statistics, Doug Collins shook his head subconsciously:

“It’s unbelievable. Most of Lee’s points were from beyond the three-point line. In my impression, they were almost all difficult shots.”

Bob Costas had already heard the director’s prompt at this time, and he concluded with a smile:

“Congratulations to the Knicks for getting the match point. With 9 three-pointers in a single game, Lee tied the playoff three-point record set by Rex Chapman in the 1996-1997 season.”

“At the same time, Lee also became the youngest player in NBA playoff history to score 40 points!”

At the Delta Center, the shouting and cursing were getting louder and louder, but the Knicks didn’t care at all.

Several people from the atmosphere team held Lee tightly and everyone walked quickly towards the player tunnel.

Although the victory was bumpy, Lee was in a good mood.

With the match point, there was not much suspense in the series.

Thinking of the unlucky Karl Malone, Lee really wanted to shout:

“I gave you a chance, but you are useless!”

….

By the way, don’t forget to throw power stones and leave a review to motivate me 🙂

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep