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Chapter 521 - 226. Gambling Dog Bobcat!_2

Chapter 521: 226. Gambling Dog Bobcat!_2

But even though the game was ugly, the ratings for G3 went up instead of down, because the Bobcats had won G2!

As expected by the media and the fans, tonight, both teams engaged in another ugly, hard-fought battle.

Playing against the Pistons, the Bobcats could make this or that change because the Pistons’ frontcourt was indeed too old, with Webber, Pistons’ legend, Dale Davis, Antonio McDyess... out of their 5 main frontcourt players, 4 were at least 33 years old, and they had lost their pillar in the paint, Ben Wallace.

But playing against the Spurs, the Bobcats didn’t have the ability to make more changes and could only fight head-on.

Tonight, the Bobcats couldn’t gain the upper hand in the first quarter, a furious Duncan after the loss played for 10 minutes, shot 3 out of 5, and together with making 4 out of 6 from the free-throw line, scored 10 points, 4 rebounds, 1 assist, and 2 blocks!

When Duncan went to rest, the Spurs had already taken an 11-point lead over the Bobcats, 24 to 13!

At the end of the quarter, Zhang Yang and Gerald Wallace each made a layup, and the Bobcats barely managed to close the gap to within 10 points, trailing the Spurs by 9 points, 17 to 26, going into the second quarter.

The nightmare of G1 came again, and the Bobcats started their long journey to close the gap.

In the second quarter, the Bobcats at one point played to a 20 to 15 score, pulling the overall score to 37 to 41, with the gap narrowed to 4 points.

But after the Spurs called a timeout, Ginobili isolated and split the defense, Barry hit an open three-pointer, and then with the Bobcats’ shot missing, Parker grabbed the defensive rebound and counterattacked all the way, outrunning the defense for a layup, stretching the lead back to 9 points.

It was only because Zhang Yang, with the last 3 seconds of the half, hit a tough shot against Ginobili’s block defense, that the gap was narrowed to 6 points.

At halftime, the Bobcats were trailing the Spurs by 6 points, 40 to 46.

In the third quarter, Duncan, who had taken it easy for 8 minutes in the second, started to push again, shooting 3 out of 6 and making 3 out of 4 free throws, he scored 9 points, grabbed 3 boards, got 1 assist and 1 block, leading the Spurs to score 21 points in the quarter.

On the Bobcats’ side, Zhang Yang scored 6 points, Okafor 6, Millsap 4, Gerald Wallace 3, and Muhammad 2; altogether, they also got 21 points.

Duncan, all by himself, fended off the Bobcats’ rally and prevented them from narrowing the gap like they did in the second quarter!

In the final quarter, under the leadership of Zhang Yang and Okafor, the Bobcats continued to rally.

In the first 10 minutes, Zhang Yang shot 3 out of 7, with 1 of 1 from the three-point line, scoring 7 points, Okafor made 2 out of 4 shots, plus 2 for 2 from the free-throw line scoring 6 points; together they amassed 13 points, leading the Bobcats to score 20 points during this time, while only allowing the Spurs to score 19 points.

The score was brought to 81 to 86, the Bobcats closed the gap to 5 points, prompting the Spurs to call a timeout!

With a two-score lead, the Spurs were steady as a rock; after the timeout, Duncan post-up split the defense, and Ginobili, stepping on the three-point line, shot a long two-pointer to widen the gap to 7 points.

At the crucial moment, you can always trust Zhang San; when it was the Bobcats’ turn to attack, Zhang Yang, using a screen to break through Horry’s pick-and-roll defense, stepped back for a long two-pointer and made it, biting into the score.

But in return, Duncan’s strong play inside drew a foul, and two successful free throws pushed the lead back to 7 points.

On the Bobcats’ offense, with only 1 minute remaining, Zhang Yang prepared to take a chance and took Felton’s pass in the frontcourt, attempting a three-pointer off the screen... but missed!

Gerald Wallace, taking advantage of Duncan blocking Okafor, slipped in along the baseline for a put-back layup for two points, narrowing the score to 85 to 90, keeping the hopes of a comeback alive.

Immediately after, Ginobili’s attempted game-killing solo three-pointer didn’t go in, and Rondo grabbed the defensive rebound, pushing the counterattack.

Zhang Yang followed up, receiving the ball on the left side of the three-second area and entering below the basket, circling around, and scoring a layup behind Ginobili, who was retreating, 87 to 90, hope had really appeared! If they defended well, they might even tie the score!

But Ginobili immediately crushed the Bobcats’ hopes by driving into the paint and scoring off a high-arching bank shot over Okafor’s help defense, even drawing a foul from Okafor!

Although he missed the free throw, the Spurs pulled ahead by 5 points with only 11 seconds left!

The Bobcats called a timeout, knowing their hope was slim, but still had to take the chance.

Unfortunately, after the timeout, Felton’s three-pointer off Zhang Yang’s drive and kick still missed, and luck was not on their side...

At 11:24 p.m., the final whistle blew.

Duncan played for 36 minutes tonight, shot 11 out of 20, and went 7 out of 10 from the free throw line, scoring 29 points, grabbing 15 rebounds, dishing out 4 assists, 1 steal, and 4 blocks. After losing the home court advantage, he went all out tonight!

Even though Ginobili only scored 15 points on 6 out of 16 shooting, and Parker traditionally underperformed with 3 out of 9 shooting for 10 points and 4 assists, they led the team to a 92 to 87 victory over the Bobcats on the road, taking the series lead 2 to 1, and reclaiming home-court advantage!

Apart from Duncan, one other area where the Spurs excelled tonight was wing shooting.

Bowen, Horry, Barry, and Udrih combined hit 7 three-pointers tonight, but their great shooting was mainly because Duncan was so aggressive on offense that it forced the Bobcats’ wings to contract in double teams, giving them the opportunity.

For the Bobcats, Zhang Yang shot 10 out of 25 tonight, 2 of 6 from the three-point line, and 4 out of 5 from the free-throw line, scoring 26 points; Okafor went 8 out of 16, plus 4 out of 6 from the free-throw line, scoring 20 points and 11 rebounds; Gerald Wallace went 6 out of 13, 1 of 1 from the three-point line, and 4 out of 5 from the free-throw line, scoring 17 points, 7 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal, and 3 blocks... but still couldn’t outdo Duncan.