readytorunbook Chapter 601 The Final Moments!
Chapter 601 The Final Moments!
Thanks to two three-pointers made during "King Time" in the second quarter, the Nets led 67-60 at halftime.
Davis and James battled the Nets for 23 minutes, keeping the score close with just one minute left in the first half.
However, Wang Xiucheng's two three-pointers made all their previous efforts vanish in an instant.
Without any delay, James turned and walked towards the player tunnel.
Wang Xiucheng sat on the bench for a while, took a sip of water, and then got up to leave.
"Welcome back to the live stream."
The live stream feed from the penguin platform switched to the live stream room in front of us.
There is no plan to broadcast the Mid-Season Invitational finals live in Penguin's live streaming schedule this year.
However, the Nets made it to the finals, which prompted Tencent to temporarily change its live broadcast schedule.
As always, Wang Meng delivered a promotional message for a sports protective equipment brand, and then read out the data: "James' performance in the first half was mediocre, scoring 11 points. Davis still has a significant advantage in the paint, having already scored 20 points."
"Wang Xiucheng scored 16 points and had 6 assists for the Nets, while Towns also contributed 12 points."
"Teacher Yang Yi, is there anything you want to say?"
Yang Yi looked away from the statistics on his laptop and said, "You can't ask James and Davis to do any more."
Yang Yi looked down at his laptop again. "The Lakers scored 60 points in the first half. The old man was so tired that he had to rest his knees several times."
"But apart from Reeves, there aren't many players on the Lakers who can help James Davis today."
"Especially three-pointers; it seems like the Lakers only made one three-pointer in the first half."
"It was entirely due to Davis's hard-hitting inside game."
"In this era of small-ball, you can't win without three-pointers."
"Wang Xiucheng has already made 3 three-pointers in the first half, Towns has 2 more, plus Durant and Westbrook."
"The Nets have already made 7 three-pointers in the first half."
"It will take you, Davis, a few possessions to come back from those 21 points."
"If the Lakers' three-point shooting doesn't fall in the second half, this game will be very difficult for them."
After Yang Yi finished speaking, Wang Meng looked at Meina sitting next to him.
"Sister Na, what good things have you brought for everyone today?"
Mina coughed lightly, stood up, and showed off her clothes.
"Today we are broadcasting the Mid-Season Invitational Finals live from Las Vegas, so we are bringing you this authentic limited edition patchwork hoodie that is half Lakers yellow and half Nets black."
Mina turned around and showed off her hoodie. "On the yellow side of this hoodie is Lao Zhan's picture, and on the right side is Xiao Wang's picture."
"For those of you who have trouble making decisions, you don't need to agonize over whether to buy LeBron or Wang. Once you buy this hoodie, you won't need to choose anymore; both of them can take it out."
"For example, I'm both a Lakers fan and a fan of Xiao Wang, so this hoodie is perfect for me."
"This hoodie is only available on the NBA website today, and it costs $299. Look at this one, I bought it from an official store before."
Mina showed the tag that hadn't been removed from the jersey, and sure enough, the price of 299 was still there.
"However, today in our live stream, you can get this limited edition patchwork hoodie worn by Lao Zhan and Xiao Wang for only 299 RMB. This is not a knife, it's Chinese Yuan."
"If you guys want to show your fandom like me, you should buy this hoodie without hesitation."
Seeing that Mina had finished her work, Wang Meng said, "The second half of the game will start soon. Let's take a break and come back right away."
The halftime break in this match was a few minutes longer than the normal break, which is understandable given that it was the Mid-Season Championship final and there were some performances during the break.
After waiting for about 20 minutes, the second half of the game finally started.
Just like in the first half, Davis still had a huge advantage in the paint.
Towns sometimes prefers to let Davis go because of foul trouble.
But on offense, Towns can be a huge threat to the Lakers.
Whether he was switched onto Prince or Reddish, Towns took shots indiscriminately.
Furthermore, because Towns was constantly on the perimeter, it made it easy for Wang Xiucheng, Westbrook, and even Durant to find space to break through.
The Nets hit three more three-pointers in the third quarter.
Not many, but the Lakers didn't make a single three-pointer.
The Lakers already had few three-point attempts, and they weren't making them, which made the Lakers players even more hesitant to shoot.
Davis and James worked tirelessly, and with Reeves performing well in the first half, the Lakers managed to keep the Nets at a distance.
However, as the fourth quarter began, both James and Davis were resting on the bench.
It's impossible for them to compete like Wang Xiucheng at their age.
If LeBron James exhausts himself because of this so-called Mid-Season Tournament final, or even gets injured and can't play in the regular season, it would be a huge loss for the Lakers.
Swish!
Westbrook withdrew his hand from above his head and retreated with a smug look on his face.
The game has reached the third minute of the fourth quarter.
Westbrook just created some space and made his second three-pointer of the night.
Although he took five shots, he made two, which made Westbrook very satisfied.
With a whistle, the referee blew the whistle.
Ham finally called a timeout.
During those three minutes, although Wang Xiucheng did not play, Westbrook and Durant were both on the court.
Relying on the one-on-one play of these two players, the Nets went on an 8-2 run in three-pointers.
If it weren't for Reeves hitting a mid-range shot, the Lakers wouldn't even have scored yet.
Ham felt that James and Davis couldn't be allowed to rest.
The most important thing is to get the two of them on the court as soon as possible while Wang Xiucheng is resting so they can catch up on some points.
However, when the timeout ended and Ham put away his tactical board and stood up, he saw that Wang Xiucheng on the other side had also stood up.
This made Ham feel a sudden headache, as if the bump on his head had gotten even bigger.
Wang Xiucheng's return has made the Nets even more confident that they are getting closer to victory in this game.
When the game resumed, Davis continued to dominate the paint like a bull.
Towns committed another foul, but Udoka did not substitute him out this time.
No matter how many points Davis scores inside, as long as the Lakers' outside shooting doesn't improve, that's the best news for the Nets.
Udoka himself didn't know what curse the Lakers were under today, as they only made two three-pointers tonight.
If the occasion hadn't been inappropriate, Udoka would have laughed out loud.
The game remained deadlocked until the final two minutes of the fourth quarter, when the Nets had taken an 8-point lead, 115-107.
The point difference may seem to have narrowed, but it was all thanks to Davis's hard work in the paint and James's tireless drives to the basket.
Now, whenever either of them loses possession of the ball, they hold their knees and gasp for breath.
The Nets had possession of the ball. Westbrook dribbled past half-court and passed it to Dillon, who was backing down and leaning against Reddish.
Dillon turned his back and hit Wang Xiucheng, then saw Wang Xiucheng coming around and immediately passed the ball to him.
Then Dillon took a big step and blocked Reeves, who was following Wang Xiucheng.
Without pausing, Wang Xiucheng swung his racket and took a big step back, ending up just outside the three-point line.
Wang Xiucheng jumped and shot the ball before Reeves could reach it.
Swish!
The basketball arced through the air and slid into the net!