Chapter 1240 Gasol Was Fouled Out
The Heat attack.
"Keep letting him go." Li Ba said to A-Lian in Mandarin.
A-Lian nodded and wiped his sweat.
They had already discussed the tactics, so they let Bosh shoot from outside. With a three-point shooting rate of less than 50% or 60%, he could not kill the Suns for the time being, because the Heat could not form an advantage of outnumbering under the basket, and Li Ba could control the backcourt rebounds and increase his shots.
Bosh was let go two steps again, and he pulled outside the three-point line again and received the ball from James, but he failed to make the open shot this time.
Only Wade rushed in to grab the rebound under the basket, but he and Gasol teamed up and could not grab Li Ba.
Attack and defense switched, the Suns attacked.
"Mark, don't foul easily!"
Pat Riley shouted at Gasol.
Then he shouted to James: "LeBron, pay attention to breaking the pick-and-roll."
This time it was the same tactic, but when Li Ba pulled out from the basket to receive the ball, James and Gasol did not keep up, and waited for Li Ba to attack the basket with the ball.
This way, Dudley had no chance to do a pick-and-roll, and Li Ba had no chance to get a one-on-one chance.
But Li Ba still didn't make a jump shot near the basket. He still turned around with the ball, rushed to the basket, and then turned around and leaned on Gasol.
"Ouch, the hammer took the initiative to rush into the double team." Zhang Heli shouted in surprise.
Before he finished speaking, the offense and defense under the basket had ended.
As soon as Li Ba approached Gasol, James clamped in front of him and tried to grab his ball, but he held the ball with both hands, and his huge hands like steel and iron produced a strong control force. He stood up against James's grab and forced himself to stand up.
As he stood up, four big hands pressed on him.
But he burst out with all his strength, and the huge force of standing up broke through the obstacles, broke through the blockade, and broke the double team.
The next moment, with a bang, he smashed the ball into the basket.
"Beep!"
The referee pointed at Gasol and made a gesture of blocking foul.
In order to prevent Li Ba from getting up, Gasol himself failed to jump up to defend and got his fifth foul.
He was very frustrated. He thought that he and James could stop the boss from getting up, so that he would not need to jump to defend, but unfortunately, they did not hold down Li Ba.
To celebrate this ball, the American West Arena rang with a tsunami-like shout.
"Beautiful! Beautiful! So beautiful!" Yu Jia shouted excitedly.
Pat Riley knew he was in trouble. With five fouls, how much defense could Gasol have left?
Li Ba missed the free throw, and Gasol grabbed the rebound and the Heat attacked.
This time Bosh was left open by A-Lin again, and he received the ball from James again.
But this time A-Lin's return defense was very timely. Although he failed to complete the block, the block action forced Bosh to raise his shot and the ball missed.
This is Li Ba's proactive defensive strategy, deliberately letting A-Lin leave Bosh open, inducing James to pass the ball to Bosh in the open position, which determined the defensive target and made A-Lin's return defense more prepared, faster and more timely.
Li Ba grabbed the backcourt rebound again, and the Suns attacked.
The Heat players were a little nervous because Gasol had five fouls, so Li Ba would definitely focus on him. Once Gasol was beaten, the Heat would be passive.
And now Gasol had five fouls, so he didn't dare to make a move, and the Heat was also passive.
Sure enough, Yi Jianlian held Bosh, and then Li Ba pulled out to receive the ball, and then took the initiative to rush into the double team.
Gasol didn't dare to reach out at all. How could James alone withstand Li Ba's attack under the basket?
"Bang!"
Li Ba carried James and jumped up, holding the ball with both arms, pressing Gasol's raised hands, and directly made a standard dunk.
"Yeah!"
The continuous dunks under the basket made the atmosphere of the American West Arena explode.
Pat Riley looked very serious.
He knew it was difficult to play. Gasol's defense had reached an extremely passive point. How could such a defense limit Li Ba?
Although James doubled up, he was not a low-post player, and his low-post defense skills were not good at all, so he couldn't defend Li Ba.
52:48, the Suns were still 4 points behind, and the Heat attacked.
This time, A-Lin took the initiative to defend Bosh again, inducing James to receive the ball.
But James was not a fool, he had a high IQ, he saw the Suns' defensive intentions, this time he did not give the ball to Bosh, but to Wade.
Wade left Ginobili behind, and was about to cut to the paint area, when the ball came, he stretched out his hands.
But at this moment, Li Ba had already completed the attack. At the moment James passed the ball, he rushed to the basket, and at the moment Wade received the ball, he defended in front, and with one hand, he accurately lifted the ball that Wade had just received into the air.
Then, things were simple, and Wade could only look up at Li Ba to grab the basketball in the air.
Amid the cheers of the whole audience, the Suns counterattacked.
Ginobili ran desperately, and then received the ball from Li Ba, and at the same time he saw Li Ba was fast down.
James also desperately returned to the middle from the wing, and finally caught up with Ginobili at the top of the arc.
Ginobili continued to rush to the basket, but he had no chance to make a layup, so he rushed directly out of the baseline.
James stopped and turned at the basket because he noticed that the ball was not in Ginobili's hands.
As he turned around, his eyes blurred and a huge white figure quickly enlarged in his field of vision.
"Bang!"
Li Ba rushed into the paint area, grabbed Ginobili's back pass with one hand, and soared into the sky. With a bang, he smashed the ball into the basket.
James failed to react and was knocked down by Li Ba under the basket, sliding backwards.
"Yeah!"
The Suns fans in the stadium suddenly jumped up, cheering and shouting.
Several injured veterans on the bench were excited, rushed to the sidelines, raised their fists at Li Ba, and shouted.
"Beep!"
The referee ran up from behind, pointed at James, and made a blocking foul.
"Beautiful! James committed three fouls." Yu Jia shouted excitedly.
"Double the Heat!"
Li Ba raised his right fist in excitement and roared with his head raised.
"Double the Heat..." The whole stadium was ablaze.
"The Suns' momentum is back, back!" Zhang Heli shouted excitedly.
Li Ba made a free throw, 52:51, the Suns played a wave of 10 to 3 attacks, only one point behind, and now the Heat attacked.
This time James did not pass the ball again, but attacked by himself, hitting a long two-pointer over Dudley's head.
Attack and defense switched, the Suns attacked.
This time, Li Ba was in a high position, which made the Heat react in time. Gasol and James followed at the same time.
Yi Jianlian and Bosh were entangled under the basket, stuck the latter, and received Nash's pass.
James and Gasol made mistakes again, and actually returned to the basket at the same time.
Behind them, Li Ba did not stay in the high position, but rushed down with them.
Facing a three-man double team, Yi Jianlian decisively threw the ball over Gasol's head.
Gasol turned around, his eyes blurred, and just like James just now, as the basket above his head was smashed, he was also knocked directly under the basket.
"Beep!"
The whistle sounded.
"Yeah!"
The Suns fans in the audience stood up again, raised their arms high, and cheered non-stop.
Amid the cheers, the referee pointed to Gasol, first made a blocking foul gesture, then fouled out, and Li Ba scored an extra free throw.
On the sidelines, Pat Riley's expression froze.
James' heart sank a little. It would be difficult to play next, and the hammer would definitely continue to attack the inside. So could Bosh withstand it?
His answer was absolutely no, Bosh would be crushed into slag by the hammer.