18:29, the score difference was still 11 points.

Unlike Popovich who was madly scolding his players on the other side, Jeff Van Gundy smiled and patted everyone, and kept saying:

“Good job!”

Lee saw that Jeff Van Gundy had drunk two bottles of drinks in less than one quarter, and knew that the bald young coach was still a little nervous:

“Don’t worry about the game tonight, we will win!”

Patting Jeff Van Gundy on the shoulder, Lee sat back on the bench with a smile.

Playing the whole first quarter, 4 of 5, 1 of 2 from beyond the three-point line, 2 of 2 free throws, 11 points, 1 rebound and 4 assists.

Lee was quite satisfied with his performance.

Alan Houston made 3 of 6 shots, Larry Johnson made 3 of 5 shots, and the three of them almost scored all the points for the team.

The inside players of the Knicks were all focused on defense and screens.

Unless there was an absolute opportunity, they would not participate in the offense at all.

Due to good foul control, the rotation lineup in the second quarter was Kurt Thomas and Ben Wallace in the inside.

Larry Johnson also continued to play, and Sprewell and Chris Childs became the guards.

The Knicks had a large-scale rotation, while the Spurs continued to play Tim Duncan, who played the entire first quarter.

Daniels and Steve Kerr became the guards, and Elliott and Malik Rose were the forwards.

Duncan, who scored 4 points and 2 of 4 in the first quarter, began to take the initiative to attack.

After Sprewell came on the court, he stepped back and made a jump shot in the left blocking area.

Looking back, Duncan received the ball in the left blocking area, turned quickly towards the baseline, passed Ben Wallace’s defense, and completed a one-handed slam dunk against Kurt who was helping to defend!

“Boo!”

Seeing the inside defense being broken, the scene began to boo again.

In fact, many New York fans are used to this situation.

In the Eastern Conference Finals, Rik Smits almost turned into O’Neal’s

“Little Ben” and smashed the ball in frustration.

Facing Duncan’s low-post attack, he really didn’t have a good way.

Steve Kerr didn’t get too many opportunities after he came on the court.

Chris Childs kept chasing and defending, and there was no scoring.

He was almost playing soy sauce for a few minutes.

Duncan, who was completely free, opened fire at this time, and continued to hit mid-range shots and strong attacks under the basket.

On the Knicks side, most of the rounds were to clear one side.

Chris Childs passed the half court and handed the ball. Sprewell singled out Antonio Daniels.

The Spurs bench cheered loudly with Duncan’s goal at the beginning, but Sprewell also hit jump shots in succession, and soon everyone was silent.

With 7 minutes and 1 second left in the second quarter, Sprewell broke through and caused Daniels to foul and stood on the free throw line.

Lee followed the atmosphere group on the sidelines and shook his towel.

The atmosphere in Madison Square Garden was still hot.

“4 out of 4 shots, Tim Duncan has already scored 8 points in this quarter, but Sprewell made 3 of 3 shots. If he hits this free throw, the score difference will still be 11 points.”

Bob Costas didn’t expect the game to turn out like this.

The expected situation of the Spurs suppressing the Knicks by rebounding did not happen at all.

Sprewell made both free throws, 26:37, the Knicks continued to lead.

Doug Collins saw that the Knicks turned into three guards and the Spurs put up the twin towers again, and simply commented:

“Lee will increase his off-ball offense, and Mario Elie can also use this opportunity to play a mismatch singles!”

The Spurs’ offense showed some different routines.

Mario Elie seemed to want to pinch Lee, the soft persimmon, and took the initiative to ask for the ball with his back in the left blocking area.

The two have similar body types, but Mario Elie is a bit more muscular and looks stronger than Clay Lee.

After receiving the ball, the Spurs spread out, David Robinson stood at the free throw line again, and Duncan prepared to receive the ball near the right baseline.

Daniels and Elliott stood on the left and right wings respectively, and everyone watched Mario Elie single out Lee.

Without choosing to face the basket, Mario Elie rushed to attack after receiving the ball, but after two hits, he found that Lee did not move at all.

With his left foot as the axis, Mario Elie, holding the ball in his right hand, suddenly turned quickly towards the baseline, switched to his left hand, and tried to squeeze into the basket.

He successfully predicted the opponent’s attack, and Lee blocked the baseline.

The two had a physical confrontation and immediately cut the ball.

Subconsciously pulling the ball back to avoid Lee’s defense, Mario Elie wanted to continue to push to the basket, but the referee’s whistle came to his ears.

The referee pointed to the baseline, indicating that Mario Elie had just stepped on the line.

Popovich on the sidelines rubbed his eyebrows and shouted to the Spurs to retreat.

“Oh!!”

Lee’s successful defense made the New York fans shout happily again, and continued to throw their handkerchiefs.

Some fans in the front row also mocked the veteran..

Sprewell sent the baseline ball and immediately waved to the Knicks, indicating that everyone should move out.

After quickly moving across half court, he directly passed the ball to Lee on the left wing to ask for the ball.

The moment he received the ball, Lee immediately turned around and took a quick tentative step with his right foot.

Mario Elie subconsciously took a small step.

Lee immediately released the ball with his left hand, dribbled it hard, quickly retreated, and quickly jumped outside the three-point line!

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

Seeing Lee smiling and retreating, Mario Elie, who was standing there, had his eyes wide open. He shot it away?

“God! Lee’s shot is too fast. Mario Elie needs to pay attention to his defensive center of gravity.”

Bob Costas in the commentary booth exclaimed. Even after calling God several times, Avery Johnson was still able to lower his center of gravity and interfere, while the veteran Mario Elie was left with only his tendons.

Popovich wanted to request a timeout, but David Robinson hit a mid-range jumper from the free throw line and breathed a sigh of relief.

Sprewell quickly advanced across half court again.

Daniels kept interfering, but it didn’t have much effect.

On the line, Lee quickly cut from left to right, and with the help of the screens of Kurt and Ben in the two elbows, he quickly bounced out to the right wing.

Mario Elie lost his defensive position with a screen.

David Robinson quickly switched defense, chased in front of Lee, raised his left hand high, and lowered his center of gravity at the same time, preparing to slide.

Lee received the ball and faked it.

While David Robinson was leaning forward, he quickly released the ball with his right hand.

After a powerful blast, he quickly stepped back and drifted to the right, quickly completing the shot!

“Squeak!”

David Robinson, who reacted quickly, jumped up to defend and directly tackled Lee.

The referee whistled, and the basketball went into the net again.

“Wow!”

The New York fans at the scene began to stand up and cheer, and the fans in the back row even waved their handkerchiefs and screamed wildly.

This time, all five Spurs players on the court were stunned, and Popovich on the sidelines stopped scolding the players.

Obviously, there was a mistake in their preparations before the game.

Sprewell and Alan Houston smiled and pulled Lee up.

On the Knicks bench, the atmosphere group even began to celebrate the victory of the game.

Seeing Lee’s free throws hit steadily, scoring 7 points in two rounds, the Spurs immediately requested a timeout.

At 28:44, the score difference reached 16 points, and Madison Square Garden was completely boiling.

The huge score difference made Doug Collins realize that the Knicks would most likely have to defend their home court.

For a moment, he could only sigh:

“Unbelievable! This is a terrifying shooting ability, totally unreasonable!”

“The Spurs were obviously not prepared, they should have seen how the Pacers defended.”

Bob Costas was speechless.

The two of them commented on the entire Eastern Conference Finals.

The Pacers were “black-footed” defense.

Facing the pads on both sides, Reggie Miller was chased and could only break through.

In the finals, this kind of defense was not suitable.

Bob Costas knew that the NBA wanted to show the world its beautiful basketball, so the penalty standards were much stricter.

Isiah Thomas also knew that the times had changed, and he added with a smile:

“The Spurs can consider using Elliott to defend Lee, but I don’t think it will work. They still need to respond on the offensive end.”

“At least, grasp those open three pointers, otherwise the game will soon lose suspense.”

After getting back the main lineup, the Spurs quickly responded on the offensive end, and David Robinson scored again under the basket.

But at this time, Lee, who was in a hot hand, continued his three-pointer.

For several consecutive rounds, he would step back and jump shot.

Avery Johnson, who had not yet adapted to Lee’s offensive rhythm, failed to use the “black foot” move.

David Robinson made consecutive shots and free throws, and the Spurs also began to work hard to speed up.

With 2 minutes and 42 seconds left in the first half, the Knicks were about to attack for 24 seconds.

In the right corner, Lee received the ball.

After a three-pointer, he put the ball in his right hand, stepped back, and quickly jumped!

“Swish!” Another three-pointer!

After two missed shots, Lee raised three fingers, jumped, and quickly retreated.

Popovich couldn’t hold it anymore and asked for a timeout again.

When he returned to the bench, everyone on the Spurs was a little confused.

They were going to be shot to death in this quarter.

Sprewell, who walked to the bench, shouted excitedly.

Everyone knew that they had won so many points and the game was basically out of suspense.

In the last 2 minutes of the first half, the Spurs also tried to respond from outside the three-point line.

However, after several missed shots, the Knicks, who had taken the long rebound, found an opportunity, and Sprewell began to stand on the free throw line.

After Oakley came on the court and moved his body, the first half ended quickly.

At 42:59, the Knicks entered the second half with a 17-point lead.

Clay Lee scored 13 points in the second quarter, making 4 of 7 shots, all three-pointers.

Avery Johnson was already numb from the shots, and when he walked to the player tunnel, his eyes were wide open, and he didn’t even feel when he bumped into his teammates.

Bob Costas has watched too many Knicks games, so he naturally knows what 17 points means:

“Popovich and the coaching staff should be preparing for the next game now.”

“Although Spurs fans may not like to hear such comments, considering the shooting state tonight, such a score difference will be difficult to catch up.”

Doug Collins also nodded in agreement.

The two witnessed all the games of the Knicks in this year’s playoffs, and at this time he also added:

“Like I said, slow down the pace of the game, improve the quality of defense, and attack more positions, the Spurs can still dominate the game.”

“The premise is that they have to limit Lee’s performance. Considering that this is their first match this season, I think the Spurs will adjust in time.”

After the start of the second half, the game became boring.

The three people in the commentary booth talked more and more off-topic, and even began to discuss how the Spurs broke out of the West.

The huge score difference did not make the Spurs give up the game, but as the Knicks scored more points, Popovich on the sidelines could only sit back on the bench with a sullen face.

Larry Johnson played a low-post single, Kurt and Ben got second rebounds, Lee broke through and passed the ball, and Alan Houston received the ball and jumped.

Although the number of fouls increased rapidly, thanks to the performance in the first half, Ben Wallace was still not troubled by fouls.

After several mistakes, the Spurs, who tried to speed up, played a positional offense again.

But Duncan’s goal seemed to be useless.

On the defensive end, the Knicks still scored easily.

The outside defenders changed a circle, and the Spurs coaching staff finally realized that they just couldn’t defend.

With 1 minute and 47 seconds left in the third quarter, after being fouled tactically, Lee stood on the free throw line.

Avery Johnson completely lost his temper, and the “little general” was replaced with 4 fouls.

Popovich looked at the score difference on the court, waved his hand, and directly replaced the atmosphere team.

The score was 22:26 in a single quarter, and 64:85 after three quarters.

The game entered garbage time.

On the Knicks bench, the atmosphere team cheered with the fans.

Everyone can show up in the finals.

Lee returned to his seat, took the towel handed by Lewis, and bumped fists with the newbie:

“Come on, Bro, try to get some data after you go on the court!”

The newbie Lewis patted his chest, his expression was a little excited, and he jumped up and down to move his body.

He didn’t expect that he could still play in the finals.

Clay Lee played for 31 minutes, 10 of 16 shots, 5 of 9 from beyond the three-point line, 4 of 4 free throws, 29 points, 3 rebounds, 7 assists, and no turnovers.

Jeff Van Gundy glanced at the technical statistics, saw Lee’s performance, nodded secretly, but pretended to be calm on the surface.

The on-site director frequently focused the camera on the bald young coach and Ewing.

One calmly drank his drink, while the other grinned and kept fist-bumping with the people on the bench.

The atmosphere group came on stage.

On the commentary stand, Doug Collins saw Popovich with a serious expression and sighed for a moment:

“Coach Van Gundy is worthy of being a championship coach. Popovich may have to re-examine the series after the game.”

….

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

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep