Chapter 1242 50+

The Heat attacked, and Bosh entered the paint area.

James wanted to pass the ball to Bosh, but the opportunity was not good. A-Lin was bigger and stronger, and Li Ba was taking care of him. Bosh had no chance to catch the ball under the basket.

Bosh had to pull out to avoid facing the defense of Li Ba and A-Lin at the same time under the basket.

But at this time, A-Lin and Li Ba switched defense, and the latter caught up with Bosh.

Now, James didn't dare to pass the ball and could only shoot himself.

With a bang, the mid-range shot hit the basket, and A-Lin grabbed the rebound over Joel Anthony's head, and the Suns attacked.

This time, the Heat did not double-team Li Ba again, and James returned to Dudley's side.

Li Ba moved to the basket, and he guessed very keenly that the Heat wanted to cut him, and immediately shouted to A-Lin: "Pull out."

A-Lin responded and pulled to the right wing.

Bosh did not double-team the basket again, and caught up with A-Lin, which made Li Ba more certain that the Heat was going to implement the hacking tactic.

At this time, he had already blocked Joel Anthony, and Nash passed the ball.

Joel Anthony was ready to foul Li Ba the first time he received the ball.

Because the number of fouls in this quarter had already been reached, he could just cut it directly.

But just after Nash passed the ball, Li Ba suddenly arched back and pushed Joel Anthony back a small step. At this time, the ball arrived, he jumped directly, pressed his right hand and pushed the ball into the basket.

"Beep!"

The whistle sounded, and the referee pointed to the basket and made a gesture to block the foul.

Zhang Heli laughed jokingly: "So sometimes you are too weak and can't even cut people because your knife is not sharp."

Barkley also said in the live broadcast: "Although Joel Anthony weighs 110 kilograms, his strength, nerve reaction speed, and explosiveness are far inferior to that of the hammer. He can't withstand the hammer and can't react in time, let alone jump to block, and even can't cut people in time."

Kenny Smith said: "The hammer's method is very simple, which is to arch your center of gravity first, so that you can't keep up with his rhythm, and then play two plus one. He played like this against Duncan, Gasol, and Gasol. It's very simple, but there's no way to deal with it."

Barkley nodded and said: "Yes, I am stronger and faster than you. I just rely on my physical conditions to eat you hard, and you can only watch."

Li Ba made another free throw, 75:84, the Suns led by 9 points. With control of the rebounds, this advantage is huge.

In the following time, the Suns played steadily and relied on their strong rebounding control ability to prevent the Heat from finding a chance to turn the tables. The Suns won the G3 game 85:102, leading the Heat by a big score of 2 to 1.

At the end of the game, the whole audience cheered wildly, as if they had won the championship.

Li Ba played 48 minutes, 20 of 22 shots, 14 of 22 free throws, and scored 54 points, 21 rebounds, 1 assist, 5 steals, 4 blocks, 2 turnovers, and 3 fouls.

In this game, his defense was mainly reflected in rebounds, and his other contributions were few, but on the offensive end, his strong play caused a lot of damage, which was the key to victory.

The Suns won this game, which surprised the media present. You know, Li Ba scored more than half of the points alone, and the others only scored 48 points in total. This situation usually means that the team loses because the ball is too concentrated, so they can't accept it.

The media surrounded Li Ba and started an on-site interview.

Barkley asked first: "Hammer, congratulations, you are the sixth person in the league's history to score 50+ in the finals."

"Oh, who were the five before?" Li Ba asked with great interest.

Barkley smiled and said, "Elgin Baylor scored 61 points, 22 rebounds and 1 assist in 1962, Rick Barry scored 55 points and 12 rebounds in 1967, Michael Jordan scored 55 points, 8 rebounds and 4 assists in 1993, Jerry West scored 53 points, 3 rebounds and 10 assists in 1969, and Bob Pettit scored 50 points and 19 rebounds in 1958. You are the sixth. In terms of points, you are after Jordan."

Li Ba nodded and smiled, "I didn't expect it to be so difficult to score 50+ in the finals, so I will do it again."

Barkley shook his head and smiled, "If you can score 50+ again in the finals, you can set another record."

"Iron Hammer, you scored 54 points alone, although only 22 shots, but with free throws and turnovers, you took the ball to attack 35 times, accounting for half of the team. This lone wolf style of play is a harm to the Suns and makes your teammates' efficiency drop. Will you change this style of play?" A reporter asked at this time.

Li Ba sneered, "As long as we can beat the Heat, why should I change?"

The reporter rolled his eyes in anger, but he was used to being criticized by Li Ba and could do nothing about it.

At this time, another reporter took over the big stick and continued to ask, "Iron Hammer, you were double-teamed from a few minutes after the first quarter to the second quarter, and you rarely shot. This period of time lasted for 15 minutes, so you got the ball 35 times in the remaining 33 minutes, which means that you monopolized 70% to 80% of the shooting rights in these 33 minutes. Do your teammates care?"

"Whether my teammates care or not, you have to ask them. Why are you asking me?" Li Ba said.

The reporter was also shut up by the criticism. He really asked the wrong person.

"We don't care, we just want to win, and the boss is leading us to victory, so don't try to provoke us. Our Suns' locker room is the most united locker room in the entire league."

At this time, someone shouted outside.

The speaker was Polish Hammer. Among all the players of the Suns, except Li Ba, he was the most extroverted. The rest, even a few veteran superstars, were gentle people, and would not take the initiative to respond to reporters.

"Hammer, you put too little energy on the defensive end in this game. Does this mean that you will transform?" A reporter asked again.

"No, I will still focus on the defensive end. This game is just a special case." Li Ba said.

After finishing the on-site interview, Li Ba attended the post-match press conference afterwards.

The first reporter who was called up asked Pat Riley, "Mr. Riley, the Heat had the upper hand in the first half, and you froze the Hammers' energy on both offense and defense. Why did they collapse in the second half?"

Pat Riley shook his head and said, "We didn't collapse. We just didn't control the fouls in the interior and lost control of the rebounds."

"So what do you think of the Hammers' performance on the offensive end? Do you think tonight's loss is normal? How will the Heat deal with the Hammers' offense next?"

The reporter asked.

Pat Riley pondered for a moment and said, "The Hammer once again showed his strong offensive energy, especially his offense in the paint and under the basket. The destructive power is too great. Our current interior defense can't stop him.

We must adjust our tactics to deal with the Hammers' interior offense, otherwise things will be very troublesome. But we believe we can find a way."