Link held the ball at the top of the arc for an attack. Tyronn Lue used a Randolph screen to pop out beyond the three-point line, but in the instant the opening appeared, Link didn't give him the ball. Instead, he passed it to Randolph, who was cutting without the ball. Kenyon Martin followed quickly, and although he didn't lose his defensive position, Randolph used his weight and strength to shoulder him aside. With a "swish," he hit another hook shot.
91 to 93. The Washington Wizards cut the deficit to just 2 points with 3 minutes and 1 second left in the game.
"Wow!"
"OMG!"
"That's Zach's 21st point tonight... Although Kenyon Martin tried hard to Block it, the weight gap between the two is truly quite large."
Kenny Smith said in the TNT Broadcast Booth.
"Yeah, although Zach made a beautiful shot, Link's pass also deserves credit. His look toward Tyronn Lue before the pass successfully deceived the Nets players on the court, and the Passing Speed was fast enough, which led to Zach Randolph getting a 1v1 opportunity under the basket." Although Barkley was suspected of hyping up Link, he was telling the truth.
Link's surgical Passing allowed Randolph to receive the ball without being immediately double-teamed by the opponent.
...
...
With 2 minutes and 49 seconds left, Jason Kidd and Kenyon Martin ran a high-post pick-and-roll. Link chose to go under the screen; although this gave Jason Kidd an opening, it could effectively delay his drive, a strategy Link used against Jason Kidd's unstable pull-up jumper. But at this time, on the other side, Kerry Kittles and Keith Van Horn ran a cross-screen. Kerry Kittles had a brief opening, and in just a split second, Jason Kidd whipped the ball out, and the latter's shot also went in.
91 to 95, the Nets lead by 4 points.
The pressure was back on the Washington Wizards.
Link held the ball at the top of the arc, and Randolph came up for a screen. Kidd fought through the screen to re-match with Link, who had just started his first step. A physical force exceeding that of a typical small guard came from Link's ball-protection side. Link quickly gritted his teeth and used his weight advantage to continue driving to the basket. Although his breakthrough Speed slowed down, his footsteps did not stop.
"Link's lower body strength is really strong," Kenny Smith couldn't help but remark in the TNT Broadcast Booth.
"Of course, Link's physical strength is among the strongest even if you put him at the small forward position," Charles Barkley laughed.
When he was about 8 feet from the basket, Link suddenly stopped, adjusted his steps, and switched from facing the basket to a post-up. His left shoulder leaned against Jason Kidd as he exerted sudden force, followed by a turnaround fadeaway. Although there were no fakes in this sequence, the movement was extremely smooth, and the rhythm and timing were handled perfectly. Even though the 193cm Kidd was a tall point guard, he was still a bit too small in front of Link. With a "swish," the fadeaway went in.
93 to 95, the Washington Wizards once again chased the deficit down to 2 points. Link's personal stats also reached 30 points, 12 assists, 6 rebounds, 2 Steals, and 1 Block.
2 minutes and 31 seconds left in the game.
Nets attack. Jason Kidd advanced with the ball and continued to run the pick-and-roll with Kenyon Martin, but this time no good opportunity was created. Kidd, who drove to the basket, had Link following him the whole time. For a player with top-tier basketball IQ like Kidd, if Link were a small guard, he would have gone up strong, but it was Link behind him—someone with a defensive coverage area far exceeding ordinary guards. Kidd still chose to pass the ball out.
At this moment, the Nets also exposed a "fatal" weakness: they lacked a go-to scorer for crunch time; no one from top to bottom had the ability to find a "hard solution." The ball finally ended up in Richard Jefferson's hands. He took one step on the drive and, without fully shaking off his defender, took a hurried shot. With a "thwack," he was met with a direct Block by Gerald Wallace.
Tyronn Lue secured the ball but lost the fast-break opportunity. The Washington Wizards fell back into a half-court set. Link used a screen again to drive with the ball, forcing his way brutally toward the basket. Jason Kidd gritted his teeth and used almost every ounce of strength he had, but he still couldn't stop Link's forward progress.
"This rookie... his ball-handling ability has improved by a huge margin compared to our regular season matchup," Kidd thought to himself.
During the regular season, especially in the first half of the season, Link's handle was unstable when facing high-intensity contact during a drive. It was hard for him to be "one with the ball" like he was now. If the handle is unstable during contact, it's hard to maneuver and avoid a Steal immediately when a wing defender comes to double-team. But unfortunately, Link's turnaround Fadeaway Jumpshot didn't go in this time.
In the next nearly 2 minutes, both sides seemed to fall into a scoring drought, trading missed shots.
However, there was a difference in how the Washington Wizards and Nets missed. For the Nets, the whole team took turns missing; for the Washington Wizards, it was Link alone missing consecutive shots. Furthermore, even though neither side scored, the game was exceptionally intense.
Both sides were giving their all on defense. The physical contact and clashing of muscles made the fans' blood boil.
With 26 seconds left on the clock, Keith Van Horn missed an open Three-Point Shot from the corner, causing a wave of regretful sighs to echo through the Nets' home arena.
The score remained 93 to 95.
Although the Nets still held a 2-point lead, the possession was now in the Washington Wizards' hands.
"Get back on defense!"
"Get back!"
The Nets' floor general, Jason Kidd, and head coach Byron Scott both shouted loudly from the sidelines.
The fast-break scoring ability of the Washington Wizards' small-ball lineup, while slightly inferior to the Nets', was not far off and absolutely could not be underestimated.
The Nets players worked hard to get back on defense, which meant that when Link dribbled to the top of the three-point arc, he found the opponent completely set. At that moment, Hamilton suddenly cut from the left wing at a 45-degree angle. Jason Kidd glanced at him out of the corner of his eye, and after confirming his teammate hadn't lost his man, he naturally didn't need to help. At the same time, he refocused his defensive attention. But in the next instant, Jason Kidd was shocked to find that Link, at the top of the arc, had suddenly pulled up for a Three-Point Shot.
Jason Kidd jumped with all his might, but it was too late. With a "swish," he could only watch helplessly as the basketball traced a beautiful arc in the air...
"Oh, no!"
"Crazy!"
"This rookie is too crazy!"
"He had missed three consecutive shots before this attempt, but I didn't expect him to still dare to shoot like that..."
The Nets' home commentator's voice couldn't help but tremble.
"Swish!" As the crisp sound of the ball snapping the net echoed in the arena, the score changed to 96 to 95. The Washington Wizards had reclaimed the lead in the clutch.
After the shot, Link pulled his hands in front of his chest, attempting to show off his "Clutch Heart."
With 18 seconds left, the Nets, trailing by one, planned to go for a quick score. If they made it, they'd take the lead; if not, they'd use a foul strategy to gamble for one more possession. Kidd drove hard but was bothered by Link from behind and missed. Randolph secured the rebound, and Kenyon Martin immediately committed a foul. This foul not only sent Kenyon Martin to the bench with 6 fouls but also allowed Randolph to reach 24 points for the night with these two free throws.
98 to 95, a three-point gap. With no timeouts left, the Nets could only rush a shot. As Jason Kidd's final attempt resulted in an airball, the red light on the timer lit up.
The Washington Wizards narrowly secured the victory in Game 2.
...
...
Regarding player stats:
No one on the Nets scored over 20, but four players had 15+. Every starter except Kenyon Martin scored over 10, totaling six players including Kenyon Martin and bench guard Lucious Harris.
As for the Washington Wizards, the scoring was mainly concentrated on Link and Randolph.
Link had 33 points and Randolph had 24. Aside from those two, only Hamilton reached double digits with 12 points; everyone else scored in the single digits. Of course, this wasn't because Link was a ball hog, but because the Nets deliberately cut off the Passing lanes.
What the Nets didn't expect was that after Randolph moved to the Center position, he could single-handedly blow past Kenyon Martin.
Besides Link, what made Washington Wizards fans feel excited and proud was the "Clutch Heart" he showed in the final moments; after missing his previous three shots, he hit a Three-Point Shot from the top of the arc to directly take the lead.
There was also fellow first-year rookie Zach Randolph, who demolished Kenyon Martin in the low post.
(TN: Recs)