The Way of Basketball: Never Talk Shit to Him!
Chapter 142 - 113: He Finally Failed! Part 2

Chapter 142: Chapter 113: He Finally Failed! Part 2

Carlisle’s gaze was intense, and no one knew better than him what the Pistons had gone through initially and how they had gradually grown into the team they were in 2004.

"They won’t be easily defeated, the tougher it gets, the more it fuels their fighting spirit, so we need to maintain one hundred percent focus; the real game starts now!"

As it turned out, Rick Carlisle wasn’t wrong; this Pistons team, troubled from the outside, displayed a fierce fighting spirit in the third game of the series. Plus, it was evident; they had thoroughly studied Su Wan’s "Fixed-point Passing," which clearly limited his passing throughout the game.

Just like how in 2007 LeBron was stifled by the Spurs in the finals.

When shooters couldn’t receive the ball at the right time, the Pacers’ fast-paced style immediately slowed down.

The Pistons successfully dragged the pace into a "Position War."

"This is the playoffs! It’s not just about the strength of the teams but also about the ability of both teams to make adjustments, and the Pistons showed the adjustment ability that defending champions should have," Barkley expressed his satisfaction with the Pistons’ performance in the first quarter.

Kenny Smith, teasing him, said, "Buddy, I remember just before the game, you said the Pacers looked like champions, the hottest favorites for the championship so far in the playoffs!"

Barkley, unfazed and unflustered, replied, "The two things aren’t mutually exclusive, and I still think the Pacers have shown their championship-contending strength, but the Pistons adjusted very quickly tonight."

Pacers fans watching the TNT channel, hearing Barkley still emphasizing the "Pacers have championship strength," really wanted to rush to the TNT studio, shut his mouth, and yell:

You fat pig, stop jinxing, just shut up!

Having cracked Su Wan’s "Fixed-point Passing," the Pistons gradually took control of the game and eventually clinched their first victory of the series with a score of 79 to 72, a 7-point difference, on Indiana’s home court.

Right after the game ended, Ben Wallace, full of vengeful pride, stood in front of the Pacers bench and assumed the same "cross-armed" gesture that the Pacers players had made a few days earlier.

Su Wan shouted towards the stands, "Now it’s 2-1!"

Then the entire Conseco Arena echoed with unified chants:

"2-1!"

"2-1!"

"2-1!"

Ben Wallace immediately lost his enthusiasm for revenge.

Because the Indiana natives weren’t wrong; the Pistons were still the ones trailing.

When reporters asked Su Wan to comment on Ben Wallace’s actions and his feelings upon seeing him make that gesture, Su Wan didn’t hesitate for a second: "I heard his contract is expiring after this season; it seems he really wants to join us!"

As usual, these words were relayed to Ben Wallace, angering him severely; his face turned as purple as if the United States swim team had just finished a match and his "exploded" afro seemed even more "explosive."

This newcomer from Huaxia certainly knows how to spout nonsense!

The reporters, hesitating to speak further, still had some comments from Su Wan, but seeing Ben Wallace’s burst of anger, they were unsure whether to continue. Ben Wallace noticed their hesitation and guessed part of it: "What else did he say?"

This is what you asked me to tell you!

The reporter relayed the rest of Su Wan’s thoughts to Ben Wallace:

"This loss isn’t much about the Pistons’ defense; we didn’t do our part. I missed too many shots. In the next game, I will correct this issue, and we will head to Detroit with a 3-1 lead."

Ben Wallace, pushed to his limit, couldn’t help but laugh, "It just proves that rookie is the one who can’t handle losing!"

Is it so hard to admit the Pistons are truly strong?

After confirming Su Wan had no more comments, Ben Wallace ended the interview. Determined, he silently vowed to win the next game to see what excuses Su Wan would have then.

The reporter watched his receding figure and, ultimately, didn’t tell him that O’Neal had also expressed similar sentiments: "Tonight’s defeat had nothing to do with the Pistons; we didn’t manage to do what we normally do well. That’s the key reason we lost."

"I need to control my fouls; that’s my fault. I will not make the same mistake in the next game."

Tonight, O’Neal had been called for fouls five times, receiving three fouls before the second quarter even ended. This led him to spend most of the latter half of the second quarter on the bench.

In the crucial fourth quarter, he quickly received his 5th foul of the game, which made him play as if he were wearing shackles—surely not his true performance.

Rick Carlisle also said after the game, "Su and Jermaine’s poor performance tonight is rare, and I’m not worried at all, as it will happen in the next game."

Indeed, it had been proven once again that Carlisle was not only familiar with the Pistons’ players but also exceedingly acquainted with the Pacers’ players.

The fourth game of the series continued at the Conseco Arena.

This time, before the game, Pacers’ fans were visibly more nervous than in the previous game.

No wonder, if they lost this game, the score would be tied at 2-2, which would severely impact the Pacers’ morale. But if they won, they would lead 3-1 and have the Pistons hanging off the cliff by a thread.

An extreme change, showcased by the critical importance of the game’s outcome.

We must win!

Amid the prayers of the Indiana natives, the game began.

Today, the Pacers made a change not repeating the "Fixed-point Passing" strategy from Su Wan’s breakthroughs in the first three games, but instead employed the "Assist" tactic. O’Neal, who had not been able to fully perform in the previous game due to foul trouble, came into this game with pent-up energy, frequently confronting his former Big Brother from the Blazers and making strong baskets.

In just the first quarter, he scored 15 points.

After the Pistons clamped down on him under the basket, the Pacers’ shooters quickly caught fire and "blossomed inside and out" to quickly take a 10-point lead.

Larry Brown’s absence was felt at this point.

Once their initially planned defensive strategy failed, those Pistons players sorely missed Larry Brown’s shouting from the sidelines, which could have cleared their minds.

Plainly speaking...

They were stubborn!

Scolding was necessary!

Unfortunately, they couldn’t hear him, and the Pistons fell into disarray, losing the most critical game of the series by 16 points with the major score reaching 1-3.

Conseco Arena was immediately filled with a huge roar of cheers.

In NBA history, when a team leads a series with a score of 3-1, their chances of advancing to the next round are over 90%. Out of the hundreds of times a 3-1 lead occurred, only about a dozen times has the losing team come back to win, with the leading team securing victory in the remaining instances.

The Indiana natives felt that the Pacers’ recent luck was turning around.— Otherwise, how could Larry Brown have suddenly fallen into the ICU at such a time?

That had to be "Providence blessing Indiana", all thanks to Su Wan, the "Purple Star."

In this game, Su Wan eventually scored 24 out of 10 shots, barely achieving a 42% shooting rate for a total of 25 points, with 6 rebounds and 4 assists.

His performance wasn’t great. Without the scores from "The zone" mode, the shooting rate would be even more unspeakable. freewebnøvel.coɱ

But at least it was much better than the last game, which didn’t even reach 40%.

The Pistons had heavily blocked his "Fixed-point Passing" in these two games, letting him experience the defensive intensity of the "Peak Five Tigers", to speak honestly, Su Wan felt that in this league, no one could continue to perform well under such targeted defense.

Just look at last year’s finals with Kobe.

He couldn’t do it, and neither could the currently unstoppable Su Wan.

Of course, the current unstoppable Su Wan couldn’t manage it, but that doesn’t mean the future Su Wan couldn’t.

After all, he had an edge!

More importantly, he won.

So he could continue playing Kobe’s favored "Rebound Assistance Strategy."