warrior godfather

Chapter 616 Absolute Gap
May 6, Chicago, United Center.

The audience was dyed red, and the Bulls fans raised their arms and chanted "mvp".

Rose stood at the free throw line, greeted by the fans.

At this time, G3 of the finals had reached the last 1 minute and 12 seconds of the fourth quarter. On the big screen in midair, the score was 104:112, and the Bulls led by 8 points.

Rose made a solid second free throw, 113:104.

The Warriors quickly served the baseline ball, Curry dribbled the ball across the half, borrowed the double screens of Green and Antetokounmpo, and made a three-pointer into the net, 107:113.

The Warriors only took 8 seconds to attack this time, retaining a glimmer of hope for a comeback.

But in the next round, Rose controlled the ball at the top of the arc and spent the offensive time until 5 seconds left before starting to break through and rushing into the inside.

Although he missed a throw under Clay's interference, he only left the Warriors with 41 seconds.

The Warriors quickly served the baseline ball, Curry dribbled the ball across half court, surrounded by two people, Curry passed to Leonard, Butler stuck to the defense tightly, and did not give him a chance to shoot a three-pointer.

Leonard had no choice but to break through the basket, and easily made a layup without defense. 109:113, the Warriors trailed by 4 points.

The Warriors took 7 seconds to attack this time. Looking back, Rose continued to control the ball at the top of the arc, wasting time.

Clay and Curry came up to press, Rose gave the ball to Dunleavy, Dunleavy didn't make a shot, and just stayed where he was, Leonard turned around, and he gave the ball to Butler.

The Bulls just kept passing the ball on the outside until 4 seconds left in the attack time, Butler broke through to the inside line for a layup, Antetokounmpo came up to block, Butler leaned forward, and then threw the ball casually go out.

"Di-"

Butler's action seemed to be a switch, the referee immediately blew the whistle, and Antetokounmpo blocked the foul.

Antetokounmpo held his head in his hands, his face full of disbelief, and the Warriors immediately surrounded him and appealed to the referee.

But the referee was unmoved, and his attitude was very firm, that is, to judge Antetokounmpo for a foul.

At this time, a slow-motion replay of the ball was broadcast on the big screen in mid-air. It can be clearly seen that Antetokounmpo did touch Butler, but he did not press down his arm. Butler himself hit it , whistled for blocking fouls very reluctantly.

A few Warriors fans booed at the scene, but they were immediately suppressed by the cheers of Bulls fans.

They don't care whether the referee's whistle is fair or not. As long as the Bulls make a profit, the referee is fair. Otherwise, they will definitely complain about the referee.

In front of the Warriors bench, Zhang Yu folded his arms around his chest, looked up at the replay, and then looked down at the upright referee, sneering endlessly.

Cole, who went up to complain with the players just now, came back cursing. Zhang Yu asked:
"What did that guy say?"

"Fack! He did it on purpose, he didn't say anything, he just warned me to respect the referee..." Cole scolded angrily.

The sneer on the corner of Zhang Yu's mouth became more intense, he took a deep look at the referee, and returned to his seat.

Zhang Yu didn't appeal in person. He received a technical foul for complaining about the penalty in the first half. If he hadn't been caught by Ron Adams, he might have received a second technical foul in his rage and was expelled from the game. up.

After calming down, Zhang Yu stopped negotiating with the referee in person, and handed over this task to Cole.

While Zhang Yu was talking with Cole, Butler made two free throws, 109:115, with 12 seconds left, the Warriors trailed by 6 points, and the situation was over.

But Zhang Yu still made the last effort. He called a timeout and arranged a sideline ball tactic.

After a timeout, when the Bulls focused on Curry, Clay shot out from the baseline, covered by Olynik to the top of the arc, and hit a three-pointer with the ball, 112:115, with 7.5 seconds left.

The Bulls served, Curry fouled Rose, Rose withstood the pressure and made two free throws, 117:112.

The Warriors had no timeout and could only serve from the backcourt. Curry evaded many obstacles all the way to the frontcourt. Under Noah's interference, he missed a super long three-pointer, and the game lost suspense so far.

In the end, the Bulls narrowly beat the Warriors 117:112, tying the score to 1:2.

After the red light came on, the Bulls players on the bench rushed into the field, hugged with the main players, and celebrated the victory.

Amidst the falling colorful fireworks, Zhang Yu came to the technical stage with colorful and shredded paper, shook hands with Stevens, and snorted coldly:
"Brad, you won, are you in a good mood?"

Stevens shook off Zhang Yu's hand:

"Okay, don't be weird here, I didn't let the referee blow it like this, don't take it on me if you are angry!"

"So you also know that you are invincible?"

"Like I said, it's the referee's blowing, and even if it's a normal scale, we can win!"

"Oh, I don't believe it."

"Then when you lose the next game, you will believe it..."

Zhang Yu and Stevens quarreled and returned to the Warriors' bench, feeling much less depressed.

The Warriors seemed to have lost this game, but the process of the game was irritating.

Just 5 minutes into the first quarter, the referee called Curry two fouls. Zhang Yu had to replace him, and the Warriors also fell into a disadvantage.

But this is just the beginning. The referee stared at the Warriors and blew the whistle. Antetokounmpo and Green had 5 fouls, Clay, Curry, and Leonard had 4 fouls, and Rose and Butler had a total of 24 free throws. 8 more free throws than the Warriors.

Rose and Butler did have a lot of breakthroughs, but according to the standards of the playoffs, the Warriors should not call fouls at all in their defensive actions.

With the great help of the referee, the Bulls have been able to maintain their lead over the Warriors.

But even though the referee went off the field in person, the Bulls almost overturned at the last moment, forcing the referee to blow a very reluctant foul by Antetokounmpo, and the Bulls kept the victory.

In the difficult situation where the penalty was unfavorable, the Warriors were able to keep clinging to the score, and they fell short at the last moment, which has a lot to do with the Bulls' tactics.

Stevens adjusted his defense and began to pinch Curry to limit his scoring. The weak side shrunk to protect the frame, preferring to give the Warriors a chance to open outside, but also to lock Curry's three-pointer and Antetokounmpo's attack frame.

The Bulls focus on emptying Green. He is also the most inaccurate point among the five small outsiders. Clay and Leonard both shoot more than 40% of their three-pointers. .

But Green's long-range shooting difference is only relative. This season, his three-point shooting percentage has reached the highest in his career, and it is above average in the league. His output exceeds any previous season, and he is a reliable space point.

Today, he seized the open opportunity and scored 4 three-pointers, punishing the Bulls for their emptying.

The Bulls' defense became chaotic, and Clay and Leonard also began to get opportunities. The Bulls restricted Curry and Antetokounmpo, but they couldn't prevent the other three. The game was stalemate until the last minute.

In the end, Curry had 23 points, Clay had 21 points, Leonard had 18 points, and Green had 17 points. The Warriors played a perfect team basketball, but they scored 14 points less than the Bulls in free throws and lost the final word Opportunity.

If the Warriors can win G3 today and expand the big score to 3:0, the finals will lose all suspense, and the Bulls will no longer have the possibility of a comeback, but falling behind 1:2 is a completely different concept.

In the post-match interview, Zhang Yu angrily scolded the referee, mercilessly:
"The referee call is a piece of shit. We are forced to play on a different scale. Giannis played a clean defense at the end, but he was called for a foul. When the Bulls do the same action, they will not be called. Call foul, we have 18 fewer free throws than the Bulls, no one can win the game in this situation, the referee ruined what would have been a very good game! I understand that the league does not want the finals to be one-sided, but This kind of eating is too ugly, this is a crime! I can assure you that it will not work, we will still win, and we will win very simply, just wait and see!"

Curry, Green, Leonard, and Clay who were interviewed also expressed dissatisfaction with the referee's whistle, but the words were not as fierce as Zhang Yu.

When the Bulls were interviewed, from Stevens to the Bulls players, they avoided talking about the referee's question, but once again expressed their determination to win.

Of course they know that there is a problem with the referee's scale, but as the beneficiary, they cannot criticize the referee and can only vaguely pass it.

……

The next day, the league issued a $25000 fine to Zhang Yu, but after his answer was reported, it immediately aroused the sympathy of the fans, and the Internet was full of angry remarks against the referees.

"I'm a dog referee, I'm fucking stupid, just judge the warrior as a loser!"

"The finals are clear. I have seen this scene. It also appeared when the Warriors were playing against the Heat. The co-authored alliance only targets the Warriors?"

"The league is not aimed at the Warriors, it targets whoever leads. Xiao Hua is such a dog, he can't wait for the finals to be a tiebreaker. How can he just watch the Warriors lead 3:0?"

"Coach Z is too daring to say it, but Xiao Hua really doesn't want any face, he is the advertiser's own son!"

As long as the audience watched the game, they could see that the referee had a problem.

Warriors fans were angry at the inconsistency of the scale, neutral fans were unhappy that a wonderful finals was ruined, and even Bulls fans knew that they were wronged and did not dare to argue too much.

In the referee report released later, the Bulls made 2 profits in the last 3 minutes, and the Warriors made 1 profit, including Antetokounmpo's foul on Butler, which was also a misjudgment.

This aroused the anger of the fans even more, demanding that the referee be punished, and the abuse of Xiao Hua rushed to the top ten Twitter searches.

Seeing that public opinion is becoming more and more unfavorable to the alliance, Xiao Hua had no choice but to stand up and explain:
"We have penalties for referees who make misjudgments, but we don't make it public. We have a system of monitoring and judging referees. Their task allocation is affected by the quality of their judgments. Of course, I understand the outside world's misjudgments very well. Dissatisfaction with missed judgments, the league has been conducting research to try to reduce the occurrence of this situation..."

Xiao Hua's response is not satisfactory. Compared with the punishment of the referee, the biased punishment that will inevitably appear in the playoffs is what makes people most dissatisfied.

In the previous three rounds of the Warriors series, the away games were difficult to play, and the referees clearly favored the home team in terms of penalties. However, the difference in strength between them and the Warriors was too large, and the Warriors completed three consecutive rounds of sweeps.

But this time, there was a gap between the Bulls and the Warriors in strength, but it was not irreparable. Coupled with the referee's bias, the Warriors finally overturned.

Prior to this, the Warriors had repeatedly complained to the league about the referee's penalty scale, but the league responded impeccably every time, and then continued to favor the Warriors' opponents next time.

This time, Zhang Yu was outraged, and directly pointed it out at the press conference after the game, pointing the finger at the alliance, which was surprising, and felt that the alliance would not dare to do this again.

But, why does Xiao Hua care about things like reputation?

……

On June 6, the Warriors and the Bulls started their fourth contest.

This is a crucial game. If the Warriors win, they will get the match point, and G5 will return to the Warriors' home court. As long as the Warriors keep their home court, they can win the championship.

And if the Bulls win, they will be able to tie the big score to 2:2, and return to the same starting line with the Warriors, and the ownership of the championship will be in suspense again.

What Xiao Hua wanted was this suspense.

In this game, the referee's scale is still biased towards the Bulls, but the public opinion has been raging these two days, and Xiao Hua didn't dare to go too far, and restrained a lot in the penalty.

Stevens followed the tactics of the previous game, pinching Curry, shrinking the inside line, letting the Warriors' weak-side shooters shoot, and locking Curry and Antetokounmpo at two points.

In the first quarter, Zhang Yu responded by placing one of Clay and Leonard in the corner on the weak side.

The Bulls implemented the established tactics and missed the open corner. The two seized the opportunity and made a total of 5 three-pointers. The Warriors led the Bulls by 27 points at 23:4 and ended the first quarter.

In the second quarter, Stevens adjusted his defense. The Bulls still flanked Curry + shrunk the frame, but the one who emptied became Green, and Clay and Leonard were always guarded.

In the last game, Green scored 4 three-pointers to punish the Bulls for the shorting, but his past long-range shooting experience is not enough to make people fearful, and there is no deterrent to the Bulls.

And Green's performance in the second quarter also confirmed Stevens' judgment. He made 3 of 1 shots from beyond the three-point line, all of which were wide open. This kind of scoring efficiency is completely acceptable to the Bulls.

After the second quarter, the Bulls relied on their defensive success and a biased penalty from the referee to overtake the Warriors by 54 points 50:4.

However, the Warriors with a deeper lineup still had the upper hand in the transition period. After returning from the starting lineup, the Bulls couldn’t get much advantage against the Warriors’ five minors’ fast rotation + strong single defense. They didn’t score many points and didn’t establish a big lead. .

In the second half, the Bulls, who had tasted the sweetness, continued to empty Green. Green came up and missed a three-pointer. Zhang Yu watched Green strike the iron from the sidelines, his face darkened.

Memories of the previous life began to flood Zhang Yu's mind, and Green's widely circulated famous scenes flashed in his mind in turn, and gradually overlapped with Green in front of him.

Zhang Yu decided that if Green couldn't make a three-pointer, he would be replaced. No matter how good his defense was, he couldn't let others play four-on-five on the offensive end!

Maybe Green heard Zhang Yu's voice, maybe it's just that his touch just recovered. Just after Zhang Yu had the idea of ​​substituting, Green started to score.

He first received a pass from Curry and made an open three-pointer, then received a point from Antetokounmpo, broke through to the Bulls inside, evaded Noah's defense, wiped the board and made a layup, scoring 5 points in a row. Helped the team narrow the point difference to 2 points.

However, the Bulls did not look at him differently because of Green's scoring, and continued to let him go on the defensive end.

But Green is not the Dracula-Green, who only sees the sky on three-pointers in the future and can only suck blood. He has a not-so-accurate, but qualified three-pointer. He can make a series of shots when he feels good. It hasn't completely disappeared either, daring to take the ball and break through to the inside to score.

Green, who found the touch, quickly paid the price for the Bulls' contempt.

In the rest of the third quarter, he scored 3 three-pointers and scored 14 points in a single quarter, helping the Warriors overtake the score with 79:73!

After three quarters, Green has broken the record of the previous game, raising the number of three-pointers made in a single game in the personal finals to 5.

But Stevens continued to empty Green in the fourth quarter, insisting on the defensive strategy of flanking Curry + shrinking the inside.

He didn't want Green to keep shooting, but among the five players on the Warriors' court, Green was the least offensive threat, and the lesser of two evils was the best defensive strategy Stevens could think of.

And even if the Bulls flank Curry after halftime, they still can't guard him.

Curry is strictly guarded against the ball, so he will find space by running without the ball after he is out of the ball. It is a direct ultra-long three-point shot.

After three quarters, Curry still scored 18 points under the strict defense of the Bulls, and Stevens dared not relax his defense.

In the fourth quarter, the Bulls' defensive intensity against Curry went up to a new level. Curry scored more difficultly and only made a conversion three-pointer in a fast break.

But Curry attracted the Bulls' strong defense, and the rest of the Warriors had more opportunities.

Green got the most space, scored 2 fixed-point three-pointers, and had an air-cut layup. Clay and Leonard scored 6 and 7 points respectively.

Only Antetokounmpo didn’t score a single point. He only cut down the air and counterattacked fast breaks. In the regular season, he could use face-up breakthroughs on the court. Under the intensity of the playoffs, he couldn’t make a shot. The Bulls blocked the penalty area. After that, he couldn't score and could only play a containment role.

Relying on their overall performance, the Warriors gradually consolidated their advantage on the court. The point difference was stable at around 8 points, and the Bulls were still unable to close the score.

The defense + rotation of the dead five small and five small makes it difficult for the Bulls to cooperate. The Bulls can only rely on the personal abilities of Rose, Butler, and Gasol.

But as the finals progressed, Gasol became more and more unable to do what he wanted. His consumption increased, and the fighting spirit inspired by the championship was gradually wiped out. .

The Bulls have only two stable scoring points left, Rose and Butler, and their shooting is not good. The Warriors shrink the inside, and the difficulty of scoring for the two has skyrocketed.

If it weren't for Green and Antetokounmpo's two fouls that could be blown or not, the referee would have blown them all, and Rose got 4 extra free throws, and the Bulls would only fall behind even more.

However, the referees did not dare to risk the dissatisfaction of the world. Like G3, they clearly favored the Bulls. All they could do was beat the side drums. If the Bulls want to win, they still have to rely on their own strength.

But the Bulls have done everything they can to the extreme. Stevens' tactics are already the optimal solution, but they still can't beat the Warriors.

This is the absolute gap in strength between the two teams. The Warriors have a better lineup than the Bulls. Curry has a higher star level with Rose. As the weakest part of the Warriors' offensive end, Green is now also a well-known space fourth in the league. , unless Zhang Yu makes a mistake, the Bulls have no chance of winning.

In the end, the Warriors defeated the Bulls 106:99, leading 3:1 and winning the match point of the finals.

全场比赛下来，格林17投9中，三分球13中7，罚球2中2，砍下27分11篮板7助攻2抢断2封盖，其中下半场砍下22分，是两队得分最多的球员。

Curry scored 21 points, Clay 17 points, Leonard 16 points, and Middleton 11 points. A total of 5 Warriors scored in double figures. This is another team basketball victory.

Curry didn't score many points, but he sent 12 assists under the attack and only made 3 turnovers. He sacrificed himself and revitalized the Warriors' overall offense. Of the 7 three-pointers Green made, 4 were receivers. Made a pass from inside.

For the Bulls, Rose had 25 points and 5 assists, Butler had 23 points, Gasol had 15 points, Noah had 10 points and 15 rebounds, Dunleavy had 8 points, and no one scored more than 5 points.

The Warriors still couldn't prevent Rose's impact on the rim, but his long-range shots today were mediocre. He made 4 of 1 shots from beyond the three-point line, and his passing was also restricted. He only had 5 assists, but 4 turnovers. Failed to drive teammates as successfully as Curry.

The rotation speed of the Warriors' five juniors is too fast. Rose breaks through to attract the help defense and pass the ball out. The Warriors can also complete the cover and block. Moreover, the Warriors' strikers have extraordinary wingspan. If Rose is not careful, the pass will be intercepted. .

And Curry was flanked as soon as halftime passed, and the Bulls were in a two-tower lineup, and the filling speed was much slower. He distributed the ball, which was an open opportunity.

In terms of free throws, the Bulls made a total of 24 free throws, 7 more than the Warriors. In addition, those fouls missed by the referee were not counted, but Green became an unexpected flash point. In that way, unscrupulously biased towards the bulls.

However, Xiao Hua can only do so much.

The Warriors are not a small team like the Pacers. The Pacers can be blatantly hacked in the tiebreaker, but the Warriors have huge popularity all over the world, and Zhang Yu is not easy to mess with. Although Xiao Hua doesn't care about his reputation, he He didn't dare to do anything.

The last time the Warriors were hacked, Zhang Yu directly pointed the finger at the league in front of the media. If there was another game like G3, no one knew what Zhang Yu would do.

In case he directly breaks face with the league, or even gets angry and plays a negative game, it will be a major blow to the reputation of the league.

But this degree of partiality still made Zhang Yu dissatisfied. He complained a few words in the post-match interview, but as a winner, he did not hold on to it. He mainly talked about the performance of the Warriors:

"Drummond stepped up when Steph was flanked, and it was the best game of his career. He was perfect on both ends of the floor...Steph played really well, he attracted The two-man defense of the Bulls, under the tight attack, can also send out 12 assists. In the last game, he assumed the responsibility of the scorer. Today he has completed his work as an organizer. He is the biggest contributor to our win! "

As a loser, Stevens remained calm in front of the reporters. No one could see what he was thinking. His answer was very official:
"The series is not over yet. Don't forget, the Warriors completed a major reversal last year when they fell behind 1:3. We will continue to fight..."

　Ask for monthly tickets and recommended tickets!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)