Yao Ming protected the defensive rebound and Thibodeau called a timeout.

There were 41 seconds left in the game and both teams had at least one offensive opportunity.

For the Bulls, there are now two options.

Option 1: Play a quick attack within 14 seconds. Regardless of whether it succeeds or not, you can turn around and defend it, so that you still have a chance to kill the opponent in the end.

Option two is to play a patient offensive round, striving to score a buzzer beater. This way you only need to defend the Heat's last attack to win the game. However, the disadvantage of this option is that if you can't score, you can only choose the foul tactic.

But no matter which choice you make, you will have the initiative on the field only if you score in the next round.

After the players came down, Thibodeau turned around and called up someone from the end of the bench.

Steve Novak.

Novak rarely had a chance to play for the Bulls during the regular season, and basically only appeared in garbage time.

Plus the Bulls have more wins than losses this season, so you can basically understand that he is the Bulls' victory cigar.

Basically, when he comes on the court, the Bulls win.

However, this player is included in the Bulls' 12-man active roster in almost every game. [Note 14]

The reason is simple, Novak's fixed-point three-pointer is of nuclear-level quality, and is rarely used in normal games, but when needed, it can be a deterrent when he is on the court.

Moreover, Novak's three-pointers are absolutely functional, just like the buzzer-beater during the Rockets' 22-game winning streak. He only played for 7 minutes in the whole game and only made one goal, which was the final buzzer-beater three-pointer.

Shooting machine, cold hands and such don't exist.

Of course, Thibodeau's purpose in replacing Novak at this time was obviously not to let him execute the buzzer-beater, but to open up the offensive space on the court and create opportunities for Xu Yong.

Xu Yong has scored 27 points tonight and is the best player on the Bulls.

After the break, the game continues.

"Waterfake?" At this moment, Barkley in the commentary booth couldn't help but beep.

Because the Bulls replaced Rose with Novak.

Battier, Xu Yong, Artest, Novak, except Yao Ming, the four players with the highest three-point shooting percentage of the Bulls all came up.

From a tactical point of view, this is not a big problem, but Thibodeau actually replaced the new MVP Rose at the critical moment!

If they lose in the end, Thibodeau will definitely be criticized by the fans after the game.

I have to say, this bald guy is quite courageous.

Moreover, Novak had not played for a single minute before, which was beyond Spoelstra's expectations.

But the Heat no longer had a timeout, so he could only let the Heat execute the tactics arranged during the timeout.

The Bulls served the ball from the backcourt, and Xu Yong controlled the ball and advanced.

The Heat tried to double-team, but Artest was very experienced and came over to transition. After six or seven seconds, the Bulls successfully pushed the ball to the frontcourt.

The ball reached the 45° angle on the left, and Xu Yong faced Wade with the ball.

Although Xu Yong can strictly speaking only be regarded as the second-in-command of the Bulls, Thibodeau has unlimited trust in him in positional warfare.

Moreover, when Rose was on the court before, the Heat could directly double-team him, but now they dare not do so at all.

Xu Yong observed the defense and then backed up to play against Wade.

The situation was somewhat similar to the previous round, but this time Wade's defense was very aggressive and he kept trying to steal the ball.

And after Xu Yong turned around, he continued to press forward, and let go of one side to push Xu Yong towards the basket.

This seems to be a slightly abnormal defensive method, because Xu Yong's chances of getting to the basket will definitely be higher than that of fading away.

However, when Xu Yong broke through, James on the weak side and Qian Moss on the strong side both attacked him.

Obviously, this was Spoelstra's defensive arrangement, which was to tightly trap Xu Yong. If Xu Yong could still score the ball when facing three opponents alone, then he would have to accept the result of this round.

As for other players, as long as the ball does not reach Yao Ming, it is difficult for role players to make shots at critical moments.

When Xu Yong broke into the penalty area, he was trapped by three people and was unable to force a shot.

He knew that the whistle was biased tonight, and there would be no whistle even if he was beaten to death, and the probability of a goal with three people attacking was too low.

He jumped up, and when his vision was completely clear, he threw the ball directly to Novak who was at a 45° angle on the right.

At this point we have to talk about the different results that different people get from making the same choice.

James' passing bias in key moments is high, so opponents will be wary of the passing lane between him and the shooter;

Xu Yong tends to play singles in critical moments, so Spoelstra tends to double-team him when making defensive arrangements.

Moreover, the Bulls were trailing by one point at this time, so the probability of a two-point shot was much higher than a three-point shot.

So after the ball was passed, Novak got a completely open opportunity.

Wade's face changed drastically when he saw this. He tried to rush out, but it was too late.

Novak completed the three-point shot with an extremely calm expression, just like when he first arrived in Chicago and the Bulls saw him train.

A killer with a crush on someone.

After the basketball was shot, it drew a beautiful parabola in the air with extreme backspin.

I have to say that Novak's three-pointer was truly textbook.

As the basketball passed the highest point and began to fall, the hearts of the fans at the scene jumped into their throats.

This ball is so right!

“Swish!”

With a crisp sound, the basketball fell straight into the net and Novak made this three-pointer.gif!

94 to 92.

The Bulls took the lead!

After scoring the goal, Novak excitedly pumped his fist, and there was an uproar at the scene. Miami fans held their heads in disbelief.

Despite leading by as many as 15 points in the final quarter, they were actually overtaken by the Bulls.

In other words, in the past 9 minutes, they were outscored by the Bulls 19 to 2.

This is really too abstract!

Soon a short whistle was heard from the sidelines, and Rose came on to replace Novak.

In a basketball game, as long as the ball is still on the court and can be moved, it is called a live ball, otherwise it is a dead ball.

For example, if a player misses a shot and there is no out-of-bounds or foul, it is a live ball. However, if the above situations occur, even including a goal, it is a dead ball.

As long as there is a dead ball situation, you can make a substitution.

In fact, Rose had been waiting at the technical table. If the Bulls failed to score, they would choose to foul on the spot and then substitute Rose.

Of course, there are certain risks involved. If the ball fails to go in and forms a long rebound, and the Heat counterattack, it will be too late.

However, Thibodeau had already made such a big bet on James in the fourth quarter, and now he was just raising the stakes.

Judging from the results, the risk was worth it.

And the Heat didn't have a timeout, so Spoelstra could only yell and make tactical gestures at Wade on the court.

There were still 20 seconds left in the game. Although the trailing Heat team had the last chance to score the winning goal, if they failed to score, the score would be 0-3, and there was a high probability that they would be swept out.

It only took them 9 minutes to go from heaven to hell.

The pressure that the Heat players are under now can be clearly felt from the expressions on their faces.

It was as if a mountain was pressing down on their chests, making it impossible to breathe.

Wade held the ball directly after passing the center line, and after reaching the three-point line, he broke through to the inside as soon as possible.

His choice was clear. The Heat hadn't scored a goal in too long. Just like Bosh before, he might not be able to make the shot even if he had the chance.

On the contrary, if you go inside and get fouled, you still have a chance to go into overtime.

Battier then quickly came over and formed the Chicago hamburger with Xu Yong one in front and one behind.

As soon as this double-team appeared, James on the outside was left open again.

But this time Wade did not pass the ball to James. He chose to force a shot against two defenders.

Because of the referee's problem, Battier and Xu Yong didn't dare to attack or confront at this time, and Wade got a very good chance to shoot.

but!

Just as the ball was jumping up, a figure was moving up at a faster speed than him.

That's Xu Yong!

Xu Yong didn't dare to confront or attack, so he aimed directly at blocking the shot.

Before Wade took the shot, he was already a tiger ready to go.

This time, it's like a hungry tiger pouncing on its prey!

Before the ball rose to its highest point, Xu Yong directly grabbed the ball and pulled it back, then confiscated the ball directly!

The fans at the scene were stunned. Xu Yong jumped so damn high.

The referee did not blow the whistle because it was obvious that this ball had nothing to do with interference. As for the air whistle, the referee was not good at this job at that time.

Moreover, Rose was extremely smart at this time. He saw Xu Yong get the ball and ran to the frontcourt. After Xu Yong landed, he directly threw the ball forward.

After catching the ball, Rose did not fast break for a layup, but dribbled the ball in the frontcourt to waste time.

Everyone else on the Heat team gave up, except for Chalmers, a small player who saw the situation and rushed forward to commit a foul.

It’s just a pity that he...can’t catch up!

So, the final moments of the game were as ironic as tonight's game, with the other Heat players standing in the backcourt watching, and then Chalmers in the frontcourt chasing Rose half court, but unable to foul.

The game ended until the final whistle sounded at the sidelines.

Rose threw the ball into the air, and the Bulls players began to run the court wildly to celebrate.

They completed a 15-point comeback in the final quarter!

Incredible match!

Xu Yong also raised his hands and clenched his fists.

Before Thibodeau's timeout, when the Bulls decided to let James shoot, no one, including him, thought they could turn the situation around.

But in the end they actually did it!

Moreover, 5 against 8, a comeback after falling behind by 15 points, and a big score of 3 to 0, when all these factors are mixed together, anyone would feel it is crazy.

Novak became the object of everyone's celebration, and almost the entire team touched his head.

It was this scene that made some old fans feel deeply moved.

Three years ago, on February 13, 2008, the Rockets played against the Kings, and Novak also completed such a near-game-winning shot.

In addition to Novak himself, those present at the time included Yao Ming, Battier, Alston, and Artest, who was on the Kings at the time.

And then they were all present now.

What year is it tonight!

After the game, Wade and Novak hugged each other tightly and had a lot of conversations.

After the game, Xu Yong and Novak followed Thibodeau to attend the post-match press conference.

Novak's near-game-winning three-pointer and Xu Yong's key assist and block were the two heroes who contributed to the Bulls' victory tonight.

However, because Xu Yong has had so many key performances, reporters are no longer surprised, and the darling of this press conference is Novak.

You have to know that this is on the stage of the Eastern Conference Finals, which is not on the same level as the regular season of that year.

In other words, this three-pointer made by this role player is worthy of extensive media coverage and may even directly change his entire career.

"I just did the only thing I could do. That's more of Xu's credit. You know when there's a superstar holding the defense, you're going to get a great shot."

Novak's answers to reporters were extremely tactful.

And he was not flattering, because the two experiences, one with McGrady and the other with Xu Yong, were exactly what he said.

However, Xu Yong felt extremely comfortable with what he said. After the press conference, he took Novak directly to the local shopping mall and bought him a thick gold chain.

Just as they were doing this, people on social media began to dig deeper into Novak's story.

Yes, there are too many role players in the NBA. They may be the Jordan in their own stories, but most of them are unknown in the NBA.

As the saying goes, “Ten years of hard study and no one cares, but one overnight success makes everyone famous.” [Overnight fame] is just like that.

When Novak's story was uncovered, it shocked many fans.

In his last season before entering the NCAA, he averaged 17.5 points per game, making him the team's leading scorer. He averaged 8.4 three-point shots per game, with a 46.7% three-point shooting percentage and an astonishing 97.4% free throw shooting percentage.

Moreover, he made nearly 800 three-pointers in his four years in college with a hit rate of 46.4%, making him the number one three-point king in the draft that year.

His most brilliant game also came from his senior season. He scored 41 points and 16 rebounds in 40 minutes of the game, leading the team to defeat the University of Connecticut, which was ranked second in the Big East Conference and the NCAA champion this season, which Xu Yong had defeated before.

Moreover, he had the experience of defeating Notre Dame with 1.8 seconds left in the NCAA, showing his big heart.

These data show that he was already a standard shooting machine before entering the NBA.

He also has a very iconic [Championship Belt] celebration.jpg.

This move later became famous because it was imitated by Aaron Rodgers, the legendary quarterback of the NFL Green Bay Packers.

Of course, most importantly, he is from Marquette University.

That’s right, it’s the alma mater where Wade and Butler played.

Moreover, he was teammates with Wade in his freshman season, and together with Wade, he led the team to the NCAA Final Four!

This explains why Wade reacted so strongly when he saw Novak catch the ball during the game, and also explains why the two chatted for so long after the game.

It's like a kind of fate.

If Wade had joined the Bulls alone during the offseason, he would even have rekindled his relationship with his former teammate Novak.

But now, he was nearly defeated by his former teammate Novak and had to face the situation of being behind the Heat 0-3.