Nine Hundred and Seventy-Six: The Shot that Has Been Waiting for Fourteen Years

For the second time in a row, Link crushed the Warriors' dream of victory.

Cole just feels like his scalp is numb now. The last player he knew who could forcefully change the trend of the game by himself like this was called Michael Jordan...

Even when he could no longer score easily, Link could actually change the situation, which cast a shadow on Cole's heart.

At this time, Cole suddenly began to doubt something in his heart - can Link really be defeated?

Although such thoughts only passed through his mind for a moment, they terrified Cole. He quickly shook his head to get the terrible thought out of his mind.

Link is just a player. As long as he is a professional player, he will experience failure!

So why can't the Warriors give him failure?

Cole then picked up the tactical board and yelled at the demoralized players, "Cheer up, have we lost the game?! Not yet!"

After the past two rounds, the Warriors players were all demoralized. No matter who has two key offenses that must be scored, they will feel uncomfortable.

Therefore, Cole needs to restore the players' confidence.

"In the last 2.3 seconds, the Grizzlies didn't have much attack time. As long as we can defend the ball, the game will be dragged into overtime! The Grizzlies are very strong, and they are not an easy opponent to beat. But. We must also tell the Grizzlies that we will not give up so easily along the way!"

Cole is encouraging the players and himself at the same time.

Although Link's continuous outstanding performance caused the Warriors to miss opportunities to kill the game again and again, Cole believed that the Warriors still had the advantage.

First of all, in the last 2.3 seconds, the threat of the grizzly bear is not as great as before. Cole must admit that Green's vicious elbow did give the Warriors an advantage. Otherwise, the game may not reach this point at all.

Now Link is injured. Although he doesn't know how serious the injury is, what Cole can know is that Link's shooting is affected.

Next, if the Grizzlies insist on using Link to shoot the buzzer-beating shot, Link will not be as sure as usual.

What if the Grizzlies use someone else to take the buzzer-beating shot? That's even better!

Link's personal ability allowed him to ignore the defense and make wonderful shots several times. But not everyone has this ability.

In Cole's opinion, in the last 2.3 seconds, the Warriors have a high probability of being able to defend against it. If the game goes into overtime, the Warriors' advantage will be even more obvious.

The longer Link's injury drags on, the more painful it becomes. It is impossible for him to show such a magical defensive performance in overtime.

As long as Link doesn't cause trouble, it won't be a problem for the Warriors to kill the grizzly bear!

Everything still seemed fine, Cole convinced himself. He firmly believes that his team can survive this.

On the other side, on the Grizzlies bench, the Grizzlies players were much calmer than their opponents.

Joger did not yell like Cole, because what the Grizzlies need now is not passion, on the contrary, what they need now is calmness.

"Link, how do you feel?" Qiaogel looked at the grinning Link, feeling a twinge of pain in his heart.

this season,

The Grizzlies have been suffering enough from injuries. But no matter how injured he is, the grizzly bear will never fall. The reason is simple, they still have Link.

If Link also falls, the Grizzly Bear will really be besieged on all sides.

"I'm fine, it's just a little sore. Time is running out, let's finish this game first!" Link waved his hand, indicating that Qiao Geer would lay out his tactics first.

In addition to Link and Carter himself, those who believe Carter is ready include Qiao Geer.

He had been prepared for this situation, knowing that Link was now unable to shoot efficiently due to injury, so he was ready for another person to step up.

"Vince, this time, you are our first choice!" Joger raised his head and looked at the tenacious Carter.

So far in the game, Carter has scored 18 points, a new high in this year's playoffs. Among them, Carter shot 4 of 5 from beyond the three-point line.

From the first quarter of today's game, Carter played very well. He led the team in the rotation and beat the Warriors to the ground. In fact, if it weren't for Green's elbow, everything should not be like this...

It is no exaggeration to say that Carter is the Grizzlies' most reliable point from beyond the three-point line today. There's nothing wrong with choosing him to take the final shot.

The 38-year-old and 125-day veteran nodded silently, without saying a word, and answered briefly and directly, "No problem!"

After finishing speaking, Carter looked at Link.

This young man has led him all the way here and once again to the finals.

Now, it was his turn to give Link a push.

Qiaogel began to lay out tactics, and everyone listened carefully.

The harsh electronic buzzer soon cut through the chilly air in the Oracle Arena, but to Carter's own surprise, he was actually very calm and not nervous at all. Not even a feeling of excitement.

This feeling was completely different from when he faced the same situation in 2001.

Yes, for this moment, for this chance of redemption, he waited for 14 years, a full 5124 days.

In every training session since 2001, Carter would practice again at the position where he missed the shot. Again and again, day after day.

He had been preparing for so long, so why was he nervous?

He is no longer the high-spirited young man at the beginning of the millennium. Now he is more mature, stable and calm!

"At the last desperate moment, players from both sides stepped onto the court! Huh? We saw that the Grizzlies replaced Vince Carter and Andre Iguodala at the same time! In other words, now the Grizzlies All five people on the court have the ability to shoot three-pointers! It seems that Coach Joger wants to give the Warriors more confusion!" Mike Breen didn't pay attention to Carter and Iguodala. In his opinion, those two Guys are just bait.

Although Link now has some shooting problems, Mike Breen believes that he is still the Grizzlies' only option.

Cole thought so too, and he didn't care about other people at all. Iguodala is indeed a key player, and the Warriors were extremely eager to acquire him last summer. Who knew, Randolph actually took the initiative to cut his salary to retain Iguodala for the Grizzlies...

But it must be said that Iguodala has never been a scorer.

As for Carter...that's even less likely. No coach in the world would choose an almost 40-year-old veteran to shoot the buzzer-beating shot!

Even for the Spurs, their key balls are now handled more by Leonard than Duncan.

Cole then waved his hand and stared at Link!

Carter looked at the court and the score on the big screen. Just like in 2001, once again, the life and death decision of both parties lies in his hands alone.

But everything is different from 2001. This time, he has a man by his side who can always create miracles. And all he has to do is score a goal.

Just this ball!

Iguodala stood on the sidelines, preparing to serve the sideline ball. Before the referee even started the game, Link felt like he was being tricked.

"Let's see how the Grizzlies will play with the sideline ball this time. Sideline balls are a problem worldwide. Just now the Warriors' sideline ball was destroyed by Link."

As soon as Mike Breen finished speaking, Iguodala fired the ball from the sideline.

Link and Conley took away the defense, and Harris gave Carter an off-ball screen. Under everyone's stunned eyes, Iguodala handed the ball to Vince Carter!

"Didn't the Grizzlies' tactics work out!? It was Carter who caught the ball!" Mike Breen felt like his head was going to explode. Is it really going to go into overtime?

Carter didn't think too much, because he knew that everything was going as planned!

After receiving the basketball, Carter took the ball and walked to the left corner where he is most familiar. The place that gave him nightmares also gave him motivation.

Livingston chased after him in panic. He really didn't expect Carter to catch the ball. Livingston was not prepared for this!

Carter was unusually calm. He knew he didn't have much time, but when Livingston pounced on him, he calmly faked a shot.

He succeeded, and Livingston was tricked into flying past Carter. Carter took advantage of this time difference and jumped up to shoot.

The moment he took the shot, the backboard glowed red.

14 years ago, in the same position, Carter missed perhaps his best opportunity to play in the Finals.

But today...

The ball goes in and the whistle blows. Vince Carter raised his shooting right arm high, his face full of confidence and calmness.

"The ball went in, the ball went in! Vince Carter, Vince Carter killed the game!"

The shot I had been waiting for for 14 years was finally put into the basket...

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