Piao Tianwen     At the end of the third quarter, Stephen's must-go shot was hit hard by Doriak, and he sent Stephen to the free throw line again. With Stephen's two free throws, this was Stephen's ninth free throw in this game, and he scored nine points with the free throw alone.

Stephen also increased his score in this game to 35 points, which is also the undoubtedly highest score among both players in this game. When the third quarter ended, Stephen won applause and cheers from the audience, because in the last two minutes, Stephen not only scored himself, but also contributed two key defenses to prevent the opponent's score. At the same time, he assisted his teammates to score twice, helping the team narrow the score to only six points in one fell swoop.

From sixteen points behind to only six points, the Heat's substitute lineup played a second half of the quarter, which was first to rise and then fall, especially Stephen's appearance, which reversed the situation of the game from both offense and defense. Otherwise, their substitutes would continue to play like crazy, and then wait for the main players who have recovered their strength to play, and the Spurs would undoubtedly lose.

The gap of nearly 20 is not comparable to the gap of a few points. You have to score more points than the opponent and you have to defend against the opponent's score. Otherwise, if you just fight for offense or defense, you can't get closer to the score, so the Spurs will have to lose the home game.

You should know that in the seven-game four-winning system, every home game is very important. Needless to say, home-type teams like the Jazz and the Cavaliers. For most teams, home-game records are better than away games, and there are very few that come, and it can be said that there are basically none.

The influence of home court is multifaceted. First, players do not need to run around, especially without the fatigue of long-distance flights, nor do they need to sleep in unfamiliar hotels. Although players are already used to it, getting used to it does not mean they can rest well in the hotel. Even in a five-star hotel, they do not feel comfortable at home, at least they don’t need to endure the snoring of their teammates.

Second, it is due to the environmental impact. Half of the game in a year is at home, so I am naturally very familiar with everything at home. For other stadiums, at most two or at least once, I naturally cannot be familiar with it. In the matches that the opponent is familiar with but not familiar with, the away team will naturally suffer.

Of course, the cheers and encouragement factors of fans cannot be ignored at home games. When you go away, you have to show yourself in the boo. Although the basketball court is not as large as the football field, the booing of more than 20,000 people is still very impactful for players with poor psychological quality and weak will.

Especially when it comes to those stadiums with high attendance and fans are more dedicated to the game, such as Boston's North Shore Garden Stadium, Jazz's Delta Center Stadium, and Sacramento Kings' Arco Stadium, all of which are the league's terrifying home courts.

Of course, teams with terrifying home games have different away records. For example, the Houston Rockets' Toyota Center Arena basically has no home atmosphere, so the Rockets' home record is the same as the away record, and sometimes even plays better away than home games.

Because the Rockets' home court is too uneven, Rockets players would rather play in boo than play in a home court with only music and commentator voice. Instead of playing for some spectators who don't care about the game, they would rather enjoy the feeling of going against the fans.

Another advantage at home is the referee factor. There is no need to say much about this. Many people know that it is obvious that a foul was made, but the referee pretended not to see it. The player who was fouled said nothing, because everyone knows that this is the home court.

Of course, there are also things that target the home team players at home, but they rarely happen, so home games are particularly important, especially in important games such as the playoffs and even the finals. The Spurs clearly have home advantage, but if they lose them, they will lose to death.

So **Vict attached great importance to this game. In the fourth quarter, in addition to replacing the entire starting lineup for the previous step, he also issued instructions to the players, and the offensive tactics should be appropriately tilted towards Stephen. Stephen is in such a good state today, wouldn't it be a waste not to play this point?

The Heat did not change to start at the beginning of the fourth quarter. First, Pat Riley felt that O'Neal and Wade were not in a hurry to rest, and on the other hand, he felt that he had a six-point advantage. Although the Spurs must put all the starters, Pat Riley felt that he could support one or two, and he also replaced Shanton Anderson, a poor performance.

Pat Riley felt that the leading advantage should be able to hold on until his starting main player came on the court, but what he didn't expect was that as soon as the Spurs came on the court, because Stephen attacked the inside, the Heat's defense contracted to the inside, but Stephen suddenly passed the ball to Duncan, who flashed to the outside. After Duncan took the ball, he aimed the basket and threw the ball out directly. At this time, the fans all made a surprise sound.

Because Duncan's feet were both outside the three-point line, Duncan actually made a three-pointer, and what was even more surprising was that the ball was scored. It was not that Duncan had not made three-pointers in the game, but at that time, the team usually had a relatively large lead, or the game had already entered garbage time, so he would make a three-pointer bored to make the audience's smile.

In important games, Duncan would not do this at all, because three-pointers are not his strength after all, and he rarely shoots in mid-range shots, let alone three-pointers. However, since he made a shot, there was no need to say anything. The audience burst into laughter, but it made **Vic smile bitterly.

Too many things that violate tactics have happened today. **Vic is used to it, just playing a game that does not belong to the Spurs. He just smiled bitterly. For the Heat, this three-pointer is very hurtful. Could it be that God doesn't bless him today? Why can even Duncan make a three-pointer?

Especially when the game started with a three-pointer, it was a three-pointer. Even if it was not Duncan's shot, it was enough to hit people, not to mention that it was the most unlikely person who shot three-pointers, which immediately narrowed the gap to only three-pointers.

For a time, the Spurs were encouraged by this three-pointer and were very imposing. Unfortunately, Michael Finley made a defensive mistake in defense, and James Posey easily got rid of the defense, hit a two-pointer on the three-point line, and widened the gap to five points.

There was a problem with the Spurs' offense. Because **Vic made the tactics tilt towards Stephen, Stephen was used to wandering on the edge of the tactical system. He was really not used to passing the ball into his hands. He just ran over the basket, but Tony Parker passed the ball to the basket. Although Mo Ning caught the ball, the unexpected ball surprised him a little. The ball was not caught firmly and was hit by Stephen who rushed back.

The ball rolled to the ground. Stephen relied on his quick reaction and rushed to the ground when the ball rolled out of the sideline, he fell to the ground and saved the ball back, and still gave Michael Finley to the downward move. After Meier Finley caught the ball, he raised his hand and threw the ball into the basket.

The Heat's substitute lineup resisted the Spurs' pursuit from behind at this time, and Gary Payton made this extremely critical three-pointer from the three-point line. However, looking back, Michael Finley, the Spurs' side, played again and made a shot outside the three-point line, continuing to maintain the pressure of chasing the Heat.

The Heat's attack finally failed, which was a good opportunity for the Spurs to catch up with the points, but Tony Parker was too eager to recover the score difference at this time. He took a little bit of a chance, but the ball went out of the basket. Fortunately, the rebound was taken down by Nestrovic, and the ball was still in the hands of the Spurs.

At this time, Stephen once again broke through the inside line. James Posey kept guarding him tightly, and Mo Ning was standing one meter away. As he was about to come over to block the shot, Stephen was rushing left and right, holding the ball and keeping swaying there, trying to cause the opponent's foul while attacking.

Sure enough, the opportunity came. After several consecutive times, James Posey's defense was empty. Stephen accelerated and blocked him behind him. Facing Mo Ning, he rushed straight towards him. Mo Ning stood firmly and stood steadily outside the reasonable collision zone waiting for Stephen to come. However, Stephen reached the position in front of him, and suddenly stopped strangely, took a step back, and just ran into James Posey.

When the two people collided, Stephen took action at the same time. Although his body seemed to have lost balance, Stephen's hand was still raised high in the air, aimed steadily at the basket frame, and threw the ball out with a trembling hand. As the ball flew into the basket frame, Stephen finally landed on the ground with peace of mind.

Since Stephen was sandwiched between Mourning and James Posey, the referee could not see clearly what happened between them, but there was no doubt that Stephen was hit, so he gave Mourning a foul on the spot and sent Stephen to the free throw line again.

This free throw is very important. If Stephen makes a free throw, the Spurs will equalize the score for the first time in the second half. If they miss, they will have to continue the next round of the game and defend against the attacking hits. Therefore, Stephen also attaches great importance to this free throw, and the SBC Center Stadium was unpredictably quiet at this time, quietly without any sound.

Stephen did not have any psychological pressure, but Stephen didn't want to miss it, so when the free throw was shot, Stephen looked very serious and the preparation time was a little longer than usual. When he saw the ball fly into the basket, Stephen breathed a long sigh. At this time, the Heat also called a timeout. It was time for the main player to play.
Chapter completed!