Sorry, I Didn't Mean To

After the timeout, the Knicks tightened their defense, but the Spurs' teamwork was too strong, and they still managed to score on the possession.

The Knicks are down by four points, 96-92.

In the transition between offense and defense, Li Chen used his speed and change of direction to break through the Spurs' defense. When he went for a layup, he drew a foul from Muhammad, who already had five fouls, and successfully executed a [Miracle Shot] to complete a 2+1 play.

Meanwhile, Mohammed became the first player to be sent off in this match.

Popovich was furious at Muhammad's foul, cursing him inwardly as a complete waste. He then substituted a player with a substitute.

A moment later, Li Chen took the free throw.

Although the game had reached a crucial moment, Li Chen remained very calm, and the basketball swished through the net.

The score is 96-95, with 40 seconds remaining in the game.

With an advantage on Spurs, the Spurs weren't in a hurry; their only task now was to convert every offensive possession into points.

But the Knicks couldn't afford to drag it out, so they started a full-court press defense.

Parker was in a precarious situation for a moment, almost having the ball stolen by Li Chen.

Parker dared not delay any longer; he was afraid. He had really been stripped of the ball. If Li Chen stole the ball from him this time, he would be the culprit of the Spurs.

Just then, Ginobili came to assist Parker. They both knew Li Chen's ability to steal the ball, as he had already made five steals in this game.

Parker was overjoyed to see Ginobili coming to his aid, but at that moment, Li Chen made another move.

Snap! The basketball was accurately stolen, but Parker reacted quickly, frantically snatching the ball back.

His face was still filled with lingering fear. No, it was too dangerous to have the ball in his hands. In a flash, he hurriedly passed the ball to Ginobili.

The pass was rushed, resulting in very poor quality; Ginobili barely managed to catch it.

It's important to know that the Knicks' strategy is full-court press, meaning there's always a Knicks player guarding Ginobili, and that player was JR Smith.

Seeing that Li Chen almost succeeded in stealing the ball, the kid had a flash of inspiration and tried to do the same.

However, his steals are not like Li Chen's steals. Li Chen's steals leave room for maneuver, and he won't lose his defensive position just because he fails to steal.

Jr. Smith is completely different; his steals are suicidal, and he doesn't even consider the consequences of failing to steal the ball.

He moved with lightning speed, accurately swatting the basketball away from Ginobili's grasp.

However, JR Smith's excessive force caused the basketball to roll rapidly towards the baseline.

JR Smith was naturally unwilling to give up. He desperately chased after the ball after his failed steal, but he used too much force and couldn't save the ball at his current speed.

On the other side, JR Smith's steal took Li Chen by surprise, but he knew this wasn't the time to think about that.

He knew this was the Knicks' chance to overtake the Spurs. In a flash, he unleashed a burst of power from his feet. Like a leopard waiting for its prey, he sprang into action, going from a standstill to full speed in the blink of an eye.

He shot off like an arrow, leaving a dazzling trail as he hurtled towards the basketball that was about to go out of bounds.

His feet planted firmly on the floor, each step seeming to tell the world of his determination.

His hand was outstretched, his eyes fixed on the basketball, like a cheetah eyeing its prey, determined not to let it escape his sight.

Before anyone could react, Li Chen had already rushed to the basketball.

He accurately judged the trajectory of the basketball and, with all his might, retrieved it just as it was about to go out of bounds.

However, the force of inertia prevented him from stopping, and he only had time to throw the basketball to JR Smith, who was running towards it.

Then the two bodies slammed into the fans in the stands like cannonballs.

The Knicks fans gasped, but instead of scattering, they all stretched out their hands to welcome their hero.

On the other side, JR Smith received a pass from Li Chen and began to drive to the basket for a layup.

But Ginobili and Parker won't let him have his way.

But now JR Smith has a sense of mission. People like JR Smith who like to show off are like that; he often unleashes unimaginable power when high expectations are placed on him.

So JR Smith was more serious than ever before. He brought his physical talent to the extreme, not only scoring against two defenders but also drawing Parker's fifth foul.

That was a brilliant 2+1 play.

At that moment, Madison Square Garden erupted in thunderous cheers, and these cheers were not only because JR Smith had won that precious 2+1.

This also includes Li Chen's desperate save of the ball.

They knew how important Li Chen's shot was, which is why the fans disregarded their own injuries to catch Li Chen; they knew how important Li Chen was to the Knicks.

A moment later, JR Smith took the free throw.

Swish! The basketball goes through the net cleanly.

The Knicks have taken the lead, 98-96.

There are 25 seconds left in the game.

The entire Madison Square Garden erupted in cheers as people celebrated Jr.'s outstanding performance.

Seeing this, Li Chen revealed a mysterious smile. JR Smith is now practically the Knicks' second-best player, and he doesn't believe he can't fool that old fox Morey.

Popovich, sitting in the Spurs' bench, looked extremely grim. He cursed inwardly, "It's that Yellow Monkey again. Why is he always here?"

Lost in thought, he called a timeout; in this situation, they wanted to win the game.

Therefore, they must execute this attack, and then they must resort to fouling tactics. Only then can they turn the tide and win.

On the other hand, although Alvin Gentry is far less capable than Popovich in coaching, he still has a clear understanding of the current situation on the court.

Therefore, he knew that the Knicks' task after the timeout was to stop the Spurs' attack.

Even if we can't successfully stop the Spurs' attack, we should still waste a lot of time and prevent the Spurs from having a chance to turn the game around.

But when he returned from the match, Alvin Gentry was somewhat frustrated.

Because the Knicks' defense only stopped the Spurs for 15 seconds.

With 10 seconds left in the game, Duncan scored with a layup from a 45-degree angle, tying the score at 98.

At this moment, the Knicks fans in the arena were on edge, and the game had entered a heated phase.

The Knicks scored this basket, and the Knicks will win the championship tonight.

In the VIP room.

"James, congratulations to your Knicks on winning the championship," David Stern said to Dolan with a smile.

"Haha! The competition isn't over yet!" he said, then changed the subject. "But David, I have to thank you for your help this time!"

David Stern smiled slightly and said nothing, but in his heart he thought, "I'm just an employee, this is what I should do."

On the field, the match time was very short.

The Knicks' final possession.

Crawford throws the ball in from the baseline.

However, Li Chen did something completely unexpected.

After receiving the ball, Li Chen shot the ball directly while the Spurs player was fouled.

Clearly, Li Chen was trying to draw a foul on a three-point attempt. This way, even if the Spurs made their next three-pointer, they would only be tied and the game would go into overtime with the Knicks.

Of course, the ball must hit the rebound in your own offensive court; otherwise, the referee might consider it a "faked" three-pointer.

Therefore, Li Chen needs to be about 8 meters away to receive the ball, which is enough to ensure he can touch the backboard.

The shot was very straight, lacking any graceful arc; the basketball flew towards the Knicks' frontcourt like a cannonball.

Thud! Swish! The basketball slammed against the backboard and bounced into the basket.

At the same time, the referee's whistle blew.

However, to everyone's astonishment, the ball miraculously went in. The Spurs were stunned, the Knicks players were stunned, and the fans were stunned.

Even Li Chen was dumbfounded. This actually works?

He actually made a 3+1!

However, Li Chen reacted the next moment. He spread his hands at Popovich, who was staring in disbelief in the Spurs' rest area, as if to say, "I didn't mean to be so cheeky."

Meanwhile, seeing the arrogant Li Chen, Popovich looked extremely ugly, as if he had eaten something disgusting.

Li Chen's action was a provocation against the opposing head coach, and the referee gave Li Chen a technical foul, but that's no longer important.

The moment Li Chen stood at the free-throw line and steadily sank the basketball, the more than 20,000 fans at Madison Square Garden stood up and cheered.

Meanwhile, outside Tracy McGrady Square Garden, fans in countless bars cheered and jumped for joy as they welcomed their first championship in 30 years.

The Knicks ultimately defeated the Spurs 102-98, winning the 2004-2005 NBA championship.

The Spurs' GDP scorers in this game were: Duncan, the highest scorer, with 25 points (10-20 shooting), 18 rebounds, and 5-6 free throws.

Parker had 18 points, 4 rebounds, and 8 assists.

Ginobili, 20 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists.

For the Knicks, JR Smith had an outstanding performance with 20 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists, and 3 steals.

Wang Zhizhi scored 18 points, Crawford 18 points, Ariza 15 points, and Allan Houston 10 points.

Li Chen played 45 minutes in this game, shooting 12-for-28, scoring 40 points, 18 assists, 5 steals, and 4 blocks, including 6-for-9 from three-point range and 10-for-10 from the free-throw line.

In the TNT broadcast room.

"Hahaha! No wonder he's the lucky one!"

Kenny Smith wholeheartedly agreed with Barkley's words, and immediately said, "Congratulations to the Knicks, congratulations to Li Chen, for lifting the O'Brien Cup again."

"Two championships in three years, I just want to say, who else can do that?" Barkley shouted.

Kenny Smith chuckled and reminded him, "Charles, have you forgotten Mr. Russell?"

"Hey, hey, hey! Kenny, stop arguing, okay? With my idol's talent, it's only a matter of time before he achieves what Mr. Russell has."

Kenny agreed with this point, but that was based on the premise that Li Chen was not injured.

As his thoughts wandered, Kenny Smith said, "Then in half an hour, let's see who will win the NBA Finals MVP and other awards this season."

During the game and the post-game handshake ceremony, Popovich made no attempt to hide his disdain for Li Chen.

That's right, he didn't even want to act anymore, but it's understandable, considering Li Chen stopped him twice.

Seeing this, Li Chen didn't care; he didn't care about Popovich's hypocrisy.

However, he still wanted to annoy Popovich, so Li Chen smiled faintly and said, "Coach Greg, I'll be waiting for you in the NBA Finals next season."

Hearing Li Chen's arrogant words, Popovich sneered, "Arrogant and conceited. Even Michael Jordan wouldn't dare say he could reach the NBA Finals next season. It's better to be humble, young man."

With that, Popovich turned and left.

Li Chen watched Popovich's retreating figure and thought, "Everyone says you're a kind head coach, but in my opinion, you're just a hypocrite, nothing more."

At this moment, a beautiful ESPN reporter walked up to Li Chen and said, "Mr. Li Chen, could you answer a few questions for me?"

He looked away, and when he saw the beautiful reporter, he was slightly taken aback, because he vaguely remembered her. After thinking for a moment, he remembered who this reporter was.

So she smiled and said, "Oh, it's Miss Cassidy!"

Cassidy Habers was very surprised that Li Chen still remembered her. This reminded her of how she had been eagerly waiting for Li Chen to call her so that they could have a chance encounter.

But after waiting for several days, Li Chen still didn't call her, which annoyed her. Later, in her anger, she never interviewed Li Chen again, yet this man still remembered her.

She was overjoyed to be remembered by a man she had only met once.

As his thoughts wandered, Cassidy Habers smiled slightly, and the little resentment in his heart vanished.

First of all, congratulations to Mr. Li Chen on leading his team to another NBA championship.

"Thank you!" Li Chen said with a smile.

"Chen, what do you think of your teammates' performance tonight?"

"Them? They played very well. Especially JR Smith, his last steal was crucial. Without him, we might have had to play six or seven games in the NBA Finals."

Li Chen thought about it again and decided to hype up JR Smith and the others to make the game more attractive and catch the big fish.

Thinking of this, he added, "Actually, what they lack is just match experience. I believe they will perform even better next season. They are really great, and they would perform exceptionally well if they weren't with me."

Cassidy Habers was surprised that Li Chen thought so highly of her teammate, but she felt that Li Chen was overestimating him. As a veteran sports reporter, she was very familiar with the condition of the other Knicks players.

To put it bluntly, without Li Chen, the Knicks are a bottom-feeder team that can't even make the Playoffs. Just like the Clippers, they haven't made the Playoffs since Li Chen left.

At the same time, Li Chen also noticed the unspoken meaning in Cassidy Habers' expression, which made him frown slightly.

He thought to himself, "If even a reporter doesn't believe JR Smith and his team have the ability, how are we going to fool an old fox like Morey?"

No, next season we must show other NBA team managers how strong JR Smith and others are.

At this point, Cassidy Harbers asked another pointed question, "So... how does that compare to your Clippers teammates?"

Coming to his senses, Li Chen thought to himself that this woman must be getting revenge for standing him up.

Although that's what she thought in her heart, she said on her face, "They are equally outstanding."

After Cassidy Habers finished his interview and left, the awards ceremony for the NBA Finals was about to begin.

First, Bill Russell, and then team representative Dolan received the O'Brien Cup from David Stern. Goodness, Alvin Gentry, the coach and general manager, didn't even get a glimpse of the Larry O'Brien Cup.

Dolan delighted, handed the Larry O'Brien Cup to Li Chen.

"Chen, congratulations." Dolan was very excited at this moment, because he had only dreamed of this moment before, and today his dream had come true.

Seeing how excited Dolan, the big boss, was, Li Chen didn't know what to say.

After receiving the trophy from him, he said in a low voice, "Mr. Dolan, don't get excited, it'll still be ours next year."

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