The Knicks stuck with their usual starting lineup. After Lin Yi won the opening tip, Paul set up the first possession.
The AT&T Center was rocking. The ho crowd brought maximum energy, knowing this could be the Spurs' final ga of the season in their building.
On the CCTV broadcast, Yu Jia turned to his partner. "Zhang, after Lin Yi dropped 66 in Ga 4, Spurs fans have been debating how to contain him. If you were Popovich, what adjustnts would you make?"
Zhang chuckled. "To be honest, I think Popovich has already tried just about everything. If Duncan were ten years younger, maybe they'd have more options. Right now, the Spurs pretty much have to match the Knicks shot for shot."
As if on cue, Lin Yi missed a fadeaway jumper on the first possession. The Spurs pushed the ball in transition.
Zhang added smoothly, "It was a reasonable isolation play, but as we all know, you can't make every shot."
Back ho in China, Lin Yi's fans were more than happy to listen to Zhang's comntary. In their eyes, no one called gas quite like he did.
The Spurs' first possession also ca up empty. Ginóbili forced a step-back jumper that clanked off the rim. Popovich clenched his jaw and stomped his foot on the sideline.
He had a complicated relationship with Manu — you had to give him freedom to create magic, but that sa freedom often led to these kinds of monts.
On the Knicks' second trip down the floor, Paul used a screen from Lin Yi, drove into the paint, and made a crafty layup off the glass while absorbing contact from Duncan.
2-0.
Yu Jia asked, "Paul has taken a lot of criticism this series. What do you see as the main issue with his play?"
Zhang Weiping replied calmly, "I think Paul's been fine. When you have a teammate like Lin Yi, sotis the simplest thing is just to get him the ball."
The Spurs ca back down. Ginóbili attacked again, drew a foul from Danny Green, but missed the layup. He made one of two free throws.
2-1.
Early in the ga, Green picked up two fouls in under two minutes, forcing D'Antoni to bring Klay Thompson in sooner than planned.
On the next Knicks possession, Paul and Klay ran a pick-and-roll. The Spurs switched, and Paul took advantage of Parker's slightly slower reaction. He blew by the smaller guard and found Lin Yi for an easy dunk.
4-2.
The Spurs ca back down the floor. Manu attacked the paint aggressively, but Klay contested the floater well, forcing a miss.
As Ginóbili landed, however, Klay's foot slipped awkwardly beneath him. He hit the floor and imdiately grabbed his ankle, grimacing in pain. The referee blew the whistle to stop play.
Lin Yi walked over quickly, concern written on his face. "You good? Maybe you should head back to the locker room and get it checked."
"I'm fine," Klay insisted, waving off the suggestion. With the team doctor's help, he rotated his ankle carefully. It was clearly sore, but he wasn't coming out.
The veteran Spurs players couldn't help but glance over with a hint of envy — young bodies really do recover faster.
Lin Yi patted Klay on the head. "You sure? Don't try to be a hero."
Klay nodded firmly. Deep down, his ankle still throbbed, but there was no chance he was leaving the ga.
If Lin Yi could play through that brutal fall in the Eastern Conference Finals, then a twisted ankle wasn't going to keep him on the bench. Lin Yi was his idol — he refused to show weakness.
D'Antoni checked on him briefly and decided to let him stay in.
The brief stoppage only added to the tension inside the AT&T Center. When play resud, the Knicks ran another pick-and-roll between Paul and Klay.
This ti, the Spurs' defensive communication broke down. Butler refused to switch, Parker hesitated, and Paul exploited the confusion with a sharp pass.
Klay caught it in rhythm and let it fly.
Swish.
7-2.
On TNT, Reggie Miller lit up. "That's what I'm talking about! Shooters have to shoot — especially in big monts. Huge confidence booster for Klay!"
Lin Yi couldn't help but smile as he ran back on defense. For a split second, the action between Paul and Klay looked exactly like the future Splash Brothers pick-and-rolls he rembered from Golden State. It was almost nostalgic.
As they retreated, Paul and Klay shared a quiet fist bump. The two players who had struggled the most throughout the Finals had clearly reached a silent agreent: tonight was their night to step up.
They were determined to show Lin Yi they could carry so of the load.
In truth, Lin Yi had never really been worried about Klay.
If he had been, the Knicks wouldn't have trusted him with such a major role in the first place. Klay's offense had been ice-cold through the first four gas of the Finals, but the advanced numbers told a different story. According to ESPN analytics, the Knicks had a strong positive net rating whenever he was on the floor. Even when his shots weren't falling, his hustle made him valuable.
If pri Shane Battier was the gold standard of 3-and-D wings and Trevor Ariza was a rare two-way talent, he hoped Klay Thompson would quickly beco the king of that archetype.
Tonight, sothing special was happening between Paul and Klay. Their pick-and-rolls had the sa rhythm and flow Lin Yi rembered from the future Splash Brothers era. Paul's playmaking was at its best, while Klay's shooting touch finally began to return.
After the Spurs hit a scoring drought early, Lin Yi feasted on easy lobs and transition buckets. With the Knicks leading 13-4, Popovich was forced to call a tiout.
The old coach had tried everything he could think of, but nothing seed to be working. Even during the Shaq-Kobe Lakers era, Popovich had never felt quite this helpless. The devastating loss in Ga 4 had clearly broken sothing in the Spurs. The veterans sat quietly on the bench as the AT&T Center grew noticeably quieter.
After the tiout, Duncan powered through Chandler for a tough bank shot, cutting the lead to 13-6.
On the Knicks' next possession, Paul spotted Klay wide open in the right corner. The Spurs' defense was so focused on Lin Yi that Klay was left completely unattended. He rose and fired.
Swish!
16-6.
Klay had his second three-pointer of the night. The Knicks were making their intentions clear — they wanted to end this series tonight.
Back in New York, fans at Madison Square Garden watched with a mix of excitent and nerves. While they would love to celebrate at ho, most simply wanted their team to finish the job in San Antonio and return as champions.
. .
But the Spurs weren't done yet.
Ginóbili answered with a tough step-back three.
Swish!
16-9.
Lin Yi shook his head with a slight smile. No matter how bleak things looked, Manu always found a way to fight back. It reminded him of LeBron Jas — so players simply refused to break, no matter the circumstances.
As the Knicks ca down the floor again, Paul looked to pass to Lin Yi. At that exact mont, Klay flashed into the passing lane, intercepting the ball from his own teammate. Without hesitation, he turned and launched another three.
Swish!
The arena fell silent. Lin Yi froze for a second, staring in disbelief. The Spurs players looked equally stunned.
Klay wasn't asking for permission tonight.
After knocking down the three, Klay turned toward the broadcast booth and pointed directly at his father, Mitchell. The ssage was loud and clear: See that? Your son's got it tonight.
In the TNT booth, Mitchell couldn't contain himself. "Klay Thompson! Three straight threes! The Spurs seem to have forgotten this young man, who once dropped 60 points in three quarters!"
The AT&T Center fell deathly quiet.
Popovich imdiately called another tiout.
On the Knicks bench, Lin Yi smiled and rubbed Klay's head. "Stealing it from your own teammate? I love it. As long as it goes in, it's a good play."
There was no need for complicated offensive sches tonight. When the hot hand arrives, you ride it. Klay was in one of those zones where every shot felt effortless.
For the first ti in the series, Lin Yi felt slightly upstaged in his own ga.
And honestly? He didn't mind one bit.
It's about ti, he thought with a chuckle. Let soone else carry the load for a change. I'm getting 'old'.
. .
Out of the tiout, Parker attacked aggressively, squeezing past help defense for a layup.
19-11.
On the Knicks' next possession, Paul and Klay ran another pick-and-roll. Paul used a slick hesitation move to freeze Parker, then slipped a no-look pass toward the corner as Butler hesitated. Lin Yi set a firm screen on Butler, and Klay caught the ball in perfect rhythm.
Swish!
22-11.
Klay had just hit his fourth three-pointer of the first quarter.
On the CCTV broadcast, Yu Jia said with genuine emotion, "After four gas of waiting, Klay Thompson has finally arrived."
Director Zhang nodded. "The Knicks clearly want to finish this series tonight. These four threes have completely shifted the montum."
According to ESPN stats, the Knicks were undefeated this season in any ga where Klay made four or more three-pointers.
As Lin Yi ran back on defense, he glanced at his teammates and shook his head with a smile. "The single-ga Finals three-point record… we're not breaking that tonight, are we?"
He was more than happy to sit back and enjoy being carried for once.
. . .
. .
.
By the end of the first quarter, after Klay drained his fifth three-pointer, the Knicks led 38-22 — a commanding 16-point advantage heading into the second quarter.
D'Antoni, determined to close out the series in Ga 5, kept Lin Yi, Paul, and Klay in the ga to start the second. Yao Ming and Danny Green anchored the frontcourt.
Lin Yi had no objections to the heavy minutes. None of them wanted to give the Spurs any room to breathe. They could rest all sumr once the job was done.
On the Spurs bench, Popovich glanced up at the five championship banners hanging from the rafters. In every previous trip to the Finals, the Spurs had co away with the title. This sixth appearance looked destined to end that perfect record.
. .
Early in the second quarter, the Spurs missed another shot. Lin Yi grabbed the rebound and pushed the ball in transition. He gave Klay a quick look on the break. Klay stopped short as Lin Yi drew the defense, then received the pass.
The first attempt clanged off the rim, but Paul grabbed the offensive rebound and kicked it back out to Klay.
Swish!
Klay's sixth three of the night. The lead grew to 41-22.
Lin Yi could only shake his head with a wry smile. All six of Klay's threes had co off passes from Paul. The ones Lin Yi had thrown at him earlier? Bricks. He couldn't help but feel a little targeted.
Traitor, he thought, half-joking.
. .
As the deficit continued to grow, Duncan walked over to Popovich. The two shared a silent understanding. Popovich let out a deep sigh and nodded.
If they were going down, they would go down swinging.
But tonight simply wasn't their night.
After Duncan checked back in, the Knicks ca down and ran a smooth play. Paul used a screen from Yao Ming, faked a drive, and delivered a slick behind-the-back pass. Yao caught it at the top of the arc and knocked down a three-pointer without jumping.
Swish!
44-22.
The lead had ballooned to 22 points with ten minutes still left in the second quarter.
The Spurs fought back with their starters on the floor, but the Knicks' offense was clicking on all cylinders. Before halfti, Klay knocked down his seventh three-pointer of the ga.
The score read 69-40 at the break.
The AT&T Center had grown noticeably quieter. Though the ho fans continued to cheer, the reality of the situation had settled over the building. This series was slipping away.
On the TNT broadcast, Barkley and Kenny Smith had already moved on to discussing the Finals MVP.
Both agreed that Lin Yi was the clear choice. Even Shaq, who had been playfully feuding with Lin Yi, stayed quiet on the subject. With the way Lin Yi had perford throughout the Finals, there was simply no debate.
With one more championship, O'Neal couldn't help but feel that Lin Yi was closing in on Jordan's legacy. Everywhere you looked, the basketball world was singing Lin Yi's praises. As the self-proclaid number one Lin Yi critic, Shaq was starting to realize his job was only going to get harder.
. . .
The final suspense of the 2012-13 season ended tonight in San Antonio.
In the third quarter, Klay Thompson caught fire once again, knocking down two more three-pointers. He finished the ga with nine threes on 9-of-12 shooting — a new NBA Finals single-ga record.
As the lead continued to grow, Lin Yi returned to the bench to rest and could only shake his head with a smile. "Four gas of struggling, and now he explodes like this? The basketball gods must really like him."
When Klay was eventually substituted out, a portion of the Spurs fans actually gave him a respectful round of applause. His performance tonight had been nothing short of remarkable.
Klay walked off the court with a big, proud grin. It had been a dream year — his first All-Star selection, winning the Three-Point Contest, earning Sixth Man of the Year, and now a championship with a Finals record to boot. In his eyes, none of it would have happened without Lin Yi.
He glanced toward the broadcast booth and pointed at his father again, then shot a quick, provocative look toward Steph Curry sitting courtside. The ssage was clear: I've got one more ring than you, and the Finals three-point record too.
The friendly rivalry between Klay and Curry was only just beginning.
. .
As the ga entered garbage ti, the outco was no longer in doubt.
On the CCTV broadcast, Yu Jia said with feeling, "After waiting four gas, Klay Thompson finally showed up in a big way tonight."
Zhang Weiping nodded. "His developnt with the Knicks over the past two years has been incredible. Many people now consider him the best shooter in the league... behind Lin Yi of course."
On the bench, Lin Yi patted Paul on the back. In this decisive Ga 5, Paul had delivered a strong performance with 12 points and 17 assists. He had finally embraced his role as the elite facilitator the team needed in the Finals.
Even in victory, the Knicks remained respectful. This was still the Spurs' ho floor, and they didn't celebrate wildly on the sideline.
In the fourth quarter, the expressions on the Spurs bench told the whole story. Duncan sat quietly with his chin resting on his hand, lost in thought. Ginóbili kept a faint smile on his face, but the disappointnt in his eyes was unmistakable. Parker leaned tiredly against Jimmy Butler, while Butler clenched his fist in frustration.
Popovich stood silently. He didn't approach D'Antoni to congratulate him — not out of disrespect, but simply because right now, he didn't feel like it.
Final score: 127-96.
The New York Knicks had defeated the San Antonio Spurs 4-1 in the 2012-13 NBA Finals.
Tonight belonged to New York. Tonight belonged to the Knicks.
. . .
Alternate Title: 2012-13 NBA Champions – New York Knicks.
. . .
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