pertwk Chapter 44 Game 2 Crushing Defeat! The Spurs' Revenge
Chapter 44 Game 2 Crushing Defeat! The Spurs' Revenge
The boos from the AT&T Center were like ice-cold knives, raining down from the players' tunnel.
San Antonio fans held up signs that read "End the Internet Celebrity Miracle" and "Send the Warriors Back to Oakland to Eat Canned Peaches," turning the arena into a sea of silver-gray. During pre-game warm-ups, Bowen deliberately bumped into Lin Hao, leaned close to his ear, and chuckled sinisterly, "Kid, you got lucky in Game 1. Today I'll show you what NBA-level defense is all about."
Lin Hao ignored him, simply unscrewing a can of yellow peaches and forking a piece of peach into his mouth. His ankle was still aching slightly; the scramble in the final moments of Game 1 had left him with an old injury. The team doctor had repeatedly told him before the game not to push himself too hard, but he knew in his heart that against Popovich's Spurs, if he relaxed even slightly, he would be torn to shreds.
Sure enough, right at the start of the game, Popovich revealed his killer move – abandoning the BOX-1 defense from Game 1 and switching on a full-court infinite switching defense instead.
"Ignore Lin Hao's pass, strangle everyone around him!" Popovich yelled from the sidelines. The Spurs players were like wound-up machines. As soon as a Warriors role player received the ball, two players would rush up to double-team him, leaving Lin Hao to play one-on-one.
This move precisely struck at the Warriors' Achilles' heel.
Richardson, fresh from injury, was ice-cold, missing three consecutive open three-pointers; Dampier was completely shut down in the paint by Duncan, unable to even grab rebounds; the substitute guards panicked, turning the ball over every time they got their hands on it. In just three minutes, the Spurs went on a 12-0 run, instantly widening the gap.
"Give me the ball!" Lin Hao shouted to his teammates, taking the initiative to call for the ball at the top of the arc.
Facing Bowen's tight defense, he used a crossover step to create half a body's distance, then stopped abruptly and calmly sank a mid-range jumper. But it was all in vain; the Spurs' switch-everything defense was like an impenetrable net, completely shutting down the Warriors' offense. Apart from Lin Hao, no one else had a single comfortable shooting opportunity.
第一节结束，勇士18-30落后12分。林昊单节砍下12分，其余队友加起来只得了6分。
The atmosphere in the locker room was incredibly tense. Richardson slammed a towel to the floor, his eyes red as he cursed himself, "I'm a fucking piece of trash! I couldn't even make a shot from that wide-open space!"
"Don't look down." Lin Hao patted his shoulder and handed him the can of yellow peaches. "If you're not feeling well, move around more, pass the ball more. With me here, the sky won't fall. In the second quarter, let's play fast, push the transition, and not try to wear them down in the half-court."
But at the start of the second quarter, the Spurs' defense became even more aggressive.
Duncan was in peak form, dominating the Warriors' interior with his low-post back-to-the-basket moves, pick-and-roll plays, and put-back blocks. He scored 14 points and grabbed 8 rebounds in a single quarter, and whenever he had the ball, the Warriors' paint became an uninhabited zone.
Lin Hao was forced to switch to individual scoring mode, employing a variety of skills including drives, three-pointers, and fadeaway jumpers. However, Bowen's defense became increasingly dirty, with his elbows constantly hitting Lin Hao's waist and his hands constantly making dirty moves. The referee, however, seemed to be blind and didn't call a single foul.
With 6 minutes left in the third quarter, the most nerve-wracking moment occurred.
Lin Hao dribbled and drove to the basket. Bowen deliberately took a step back and stretched his foot out where Lin Hao would land. Lin Hao jumped to shoot, and when he landed, his left foot landed right on Bowen's instep. There was a soft "crack" sound, and he staggered and fell to the ground, clutching his ankle and trembling with pain.
"Beep—" The referee finally blew the whistle, but only issued a regular foul.
The entire arena erupted. The Warriors' bench players all rushed out, yelling at the referee; Richardson nearly got into a fight with Bowen. The team doctor stormed onto the court like a madman, pulled down Lin Hao's sock, and his ankle was visibly swollen.
"Lin, you can't play anymore! Get off the field and get treatment immediately!" The team doctor's voice was trembling with anxiety.
Lin Hao gritted his teeth and tried to stand up, but as soon as his left foot touched the ground, a piercing pain shot through him. He looked down at his ankle, which was swollen like a bun, and then looked up at the score on the court—the Warriors were down 52-72, a deficit of 20 points.
"I'm fine." He pushed away the team doctor's hand, picked up the half-finished can of yellow peaches from the ground, and gulped down a big mouthful of the syrup. "The game isn't over yet, I can't leave the field."
[Ding! Temporary buff [Unyielding Spirit] triggered! Pain perception reduced by 50% while fighting injured, willpower temporarily increased by 30%!]
The system notification sounded in his mind. Lin Hao took a deep breath and limped back to the court.
The boos from the crowd instantly turned into scattered applause, and even many Spurs fans couldn't help but applaud the Chinese rookie who was playing with an injury.
But the Spurs showed no mercy.
Popovich immediately noticed Lin Hao's injury and signaled his players to focus their attacks on him. Parker and Ginobili took turns breaking through Lin Hao's defense, exploiting his reduced mobility to score consecutive points.
Lin Hao gave it his all, repeatedly chasing and defending despite his injured ankle, shooting over the defender time and time again. He scored 14 points in the fourth quarter alone, but the gap not only didn't narrow, it widened further. His teammates' mentality had collapsed, they made frequent mistakes, and they couldn't help at all.
终场哨响，比分定格在105-85。马刺主场20分大胜勇士，大比分1-1扳平。
Lin Hao slumped to the ground, panting heavily, sweat and tears streaming down his forehead. He scored 38 points and 5 assists, but it wasn't enough to turn the tide of the game.
Popovich walked to the sidelines, finally smiling, and said to the reporters, "This is the kind of performance we should be giving. Basketball is a team sport; no matter how good one person is, they can't beat a whole team."
Bowen was even more arrogant, waving his finger at the camera: "I told you, I would shut him down. He's just a social media influencer who only knows how to play one-on-one, he doesn't deserve to win."
In the player tunnel after the game, Harris, holding a stack of slow-motion replay videos, stood there, his face ashen: "I've submitted the evidence of Bowen's foul to the league. He must be suspended! This isn't basketball, it's murder!"
Zhao Dabao was trembling with anger. He pulled out his phone and posted the video on social media: "These foreign devils are too damn cunning! I want to see if the alliance dares to protect them!"
The video instantly went viral online. Chinese netizens were outraged, with the hashtag #BowenMaliciouslyFootballing# topping the trending topics list. Countless fans condemned Bowen's dirty play and demanded the league severely punish him. Legends like Jordan, Kobe, and Iverson also spoke out, condemning this behavior that harmed players.
But Lin Hao didn't say a word.
He sat on the physiotherapy bed, watching the team doctor apply an ice pack to his ankle; the swollen area had turned bluish-purple. Zhang Qingying sat beside him, her eyes red-rimmed, wiping his sweat; her hands trembled. "It's all my fault. I didn't stop you. What if you develop a chronic condition?"
"It's nothing, just a minor injury." Lin Hao smiled and reached out to pinch her cheek. "We're not that delicate."
He looked up at the window; the night in San Antonio was terribly gloomy.
"Game 3, back in Oakland." Lin Hao's eyes showed no sign of frustration, but rather a burning fire. "They think they can win the series by tripping my foot? Dream on."
"In the Battle of Tianwang Mountain, I will show them what happens when they mess with the people of Northeast China."
The team doctor walked in with the MRI report, his face grave: "Lin, your ankle is a grade one sprain. You'll need at least a week of rest. You absolutely cannot play in Game 3, or it will cause permanent damage."
Lin Hao took the report and casually tossed it aside.
He picked up the ebony suona leaning against the corner of the wall and gently wiped off the dust.
"A break?" He smiled, his eyes gleaming like a wolf. "In this crucial game, I'll die on the court, even if it means my death."