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Chapter 490 - 215. One win, one loss, the situation is stable

Chapter 490: 215. One win, one loss, the situation is stable

Saunders, although he felt there was little chance, still called for a timeout to gamble a bit, 8 seconds 8 points, 35 seconds 13 points... all seemed impossible.

After the timeout, Billups took a shot at a three-pointer... missed; it really was impossible.

Millsap blocked Max Hill’s aggressive charge, Okafor secured the defensive rebound, and the game officially ended.

Zhang Yang made 11 out of 25 shots, including 1 of 4 three-pointers, plus 12 of 14 free throws, scoring 35 points, offsetting Hamilton.

Hamilton made 12 of 27 shots, including 4 of 10 three-pointers, along with 7 of 8 free throws, also scoring 35 points.

Okafor scored 18 points, Gerald Wallace 15 points, Felton 16 points, outscoring Billups with 25 points, Rasheed Wallace with 15 points, and Prince with 5 points.

The Bobcats narrowly defeated the Pistons 96 to 90, holding their second home game!

After the game ended, Saunders wasn’t that anxious anymore, glimpsing at the big screen with a twitching corner of his mouth.

On their side, the four tigers scored 80 points, the whole team 90, making up 88.8% of the total points.

On the opposite side, the four youngsters scored 84 points, the whole team 96, making up 87.5% of the total points.

He somewhat regretted directing the opponent’s main attack at the star player in G1, his initial thought was to sever the opposing role players and the four youngsters from forming a team offense, G1 was very successful, they won.

Even though he knew the opposing old coach’s style was extreme, he didn’t expect it to be so radical!

No use fretting now, next up is heading back to the hotel to discuss with the coaching staff on how to curb the opposing star’s tactics while the iron is hot!

In the post-game interview, when Saunders was asked about the four veterans not scoring over the young four, he replied, "The Bobcat’s young players have an unlimited future, they have the youngest player with the talent of a scoring champion, they can defeat any opponent in scoring... Not being able to lead 2-0 away is a bit regrettable, but we have already won an away game, the advantage is ours!"

...

The Bobcats secured the second home game, preventing the Eastern Final from losing suspense, much to the relief of the fans.

Although there was a group of 50-year-old Pistons fans suddenly setting the pace, most fans still did not want to see the Spurs and Pistons in the Finals.

The 2005 Finals... a shadow! It’s a dark shadow over the heads of many fans who paid to watch the live broadcast! The 50-year-old Pistons fans declared they couldn’t sway the rhythm, totally unmovable.

In fact, watching the match between the Bobcats and the Pistons on live broadcast had the fans’ hearts in a twist.

One moment scoring bursts, next a ferocious defensive deadlock, then both teams miss after miss... till the end, both sides’ duos exploded with a shootout!

Fans in front of the TV didn’t dare to use the bathroom, fearing they would miss something... the viewership curve looked very pleasing.

But in the end, Zhang Yang’s back play in the elbow area, Felton’s three-pointer, Zhang Yang’s successful counter-defense + counter attack, both jointly played Billups and Hamilton a 7 to 5 game ending, making the fans thrilled, not in vain to hold back their urine.

Barkley on T.N.T Sports during the post-game analysis commented, "Bickerstaff’s playoff coaching style is really elusive. We all thought he would go for strong defense, they started with a burst of offense, we thought it would be a scoring spree like in G1, then both teams scored less than 25 points for 3 quarters, less than 20 in the final quarter... that’s Bickerstaff for you, he can always bring you surprises, although sometimes they might be shocks; I won’t predict his games anymore."

Do you all remember the NBA’s first major upset? The 42-win Nuggets, trailing 0-2 in the first round, Bickerstaff grabbed the clipboard and led the team to win 3 consecutive games, overturning the 63-win SuperSonics."

But actually, that year’s second round for the Nuggets was even more astounding. Trailing 0-3 to the Jazz, Bickerstaff once again stepped up from the bench, took away the clipboard, and the Nuggets won the next 3 games, reaching Game 7. Back then, I kept praying for the Nuggets, unfortunately, they lost in Game 7, otherwise, that would have been the first-ever NBA 0-3 series comeback, pinning Malone on the column of shame..."

Kenny Smith: "Charles, do you think it’s possible that because you prayed, they were jinxed and failed to complete that epic comeback?"

Barkley: "Kenny, XXX I’m going to duel you..."

On Carlisle’s end, after watching the game, he was glad he wasn’t the naïve assistant coach from years ago who didn’t know the harshness of society and ran eagerly to participate in coaching.

Not to mention potentially offending his possible future boss Bickerstaff, just this game alone, he felt that if he were coaching, it might not be 1-1, but 0-2 instead.

He watched the G1 video several times during the day; he really couldn’t figure out a way to win.

In terms of player capabilities, both teams were about even.

But in terms of roster structure, the Pistons were better than the Bobcats, with Billups, Rasheed Wallace, and Webber forming a tri-core, connecting both the inside and outside lines.

The Bobcats were somewhat lacking in tactical coordination. If Rondo had another year to grow, it could greatly narrow this gap. Carlisle absolutely adored this rookie; that game intelligence was something any coach would covet.

But right now, Rondo was still just a rookie. He was more useful in the regular season, but in the Eastern Finals, his greatest role was to reduce Zhang Yang’s rebounding burden and cut down on counterattack exertion.

That aspect was secondary, the biggest gap was experience!

The Pistons had been in the Eastern Finals for five consecutive seasons, and except for losing Ben Wallace, the other four cores were still there!

Half of the Bobcats’ players were in their second playoff, half had never been in the playoffs, with a large gap in handling the details of the game.