Y13 [EN]: Chapter 273

Having maintained their lead, the Dallas players looked grim as the quarter ended with a 3-point deficit. Oklahoma City was a team Dallas had faced in crucial moments since the previous year. They had easily defeated them 4 wins to 1 loss last season, but this season’s nail-biting match meant that Oklahoma City was not only desperate but had also made significant progress.

“…”

Coach Carlisle didn’t feel the need to add anything to the players. They hadn’t given up or listlessly let go of the game. In fact, they had expected to seize the victory in the 4th quarter if they held a slight lead until the 3rd quarter. But if things went as expected, it wouldn’t be sports.

[The Dallas Mavericks put all their best players on the court as soon as the 4th quarter began.]

[Today is not the day to worry about the starters’ stamina. It’s a game where they have to squeeze out every last bit of energy unless their legs are dragging.]

Youngjae, Terry, Marion, Nowitzki, Chandler. The best lineup that always finished the 4th quarter strong came out at the start of the 4th quarter, and Oklahoma City responded with Russell Westbrook, James Harden, Kevin Durant, Serge Ibaka, and Nick Collison.

[Dallas will have to hope for good jump shot accuracy again this time. That’s because most of the 4th quarter points come from Yoon, Terry, and Nowitzki’s scoring. As Nowitzki gets older, the proportion of face-up plays has decreased, so except for Yoon’s breakthrough drives, most of the scores are jump shots. On the other hand, Westbrook, Harden, and Durant of Oklahoma City have a fairly high proportion of drives to the basket. All three have considerable ability to draw free throws.]

Youngjae was well aware of that. That’s why how many open chances they created would ultimately determine their victory or defeat.

‘The beginning of the quarter is when the opponent is most likely to be off guard. Moreover, a tired opponent is bound to be a little less tense at that timing.’

Recalling Coach Carlisle’s words, Youngjae lowered his upper body, glaring at Westbrook, who was dribbling the ball with his right hand after crossing the half-court line.

Thud!

As expected, a rhythmic dribble. And Serge Ibaka’s screen. Youngjae turned back instead of going forward to avoid the screen and rushed back to Westbrook.

Squeak-!

[The crossover is skillful!]

[But Youngjae Yoon is really smart too! He lifts his heels in preparation for the crossover and freely shifts his center of gravity to chase Westbrook!]

Westbrook, who shook his center of gravity twice in the blink of an eye from right to left and then from left to right, sprinted like a track and field athlete as soon as he put his weight on the right. Youngjae also used quick and frequent side steps and back steps to catch up with Westbrook.

“Keuk!”

Looking at Westbrook, who was pushing with tremendous force as if he hadn’t rested for even 3 minutes, Youngjae was horrified. The destructive power of pushing with a solid body and strong force was beyond imagination.

[Russell Westbrook pushing hard to the high post!]

[He’s tracking well, but he’s being pushed back by his strength! Is Youngjae Yoon going to be blown past like this?! Or will he stick with it to the end!]

At that moment, Westbrook, seeing Serge Ibaka, who had set the screen, rolling and standing under the basket, glanced at Youngjae, stopped his running force with one right foot, and soared up. His ankle bent so much that he was worried it would break, and Youngjae calmly took a step forward and stretched out his right hand as he watched Westbrook suddenly jump up.

‘?!’

He was going to use a shot fake and give Ibaka a pass under the basket, but Youngjae wasn’t fooled. In addition, Ibaka’s position was ambiguous, and Tyson Chandler skillfully blocked Ibaka’s path, so Westbrook had no choice but to lean back and throw up a shot with his hand outstretched towards Youngjae, aiming for a foul, but the whistle was not blown.

Swish!

[Ah! Westbrook’s awkward shot! He tried to draw a foul, but the whistle isn’t blown because Yoon blocked it with textbook form!]

Thud!

[The ball hits the rim and falls, Tyson Chandler catches it easily!]

At the same time as Chandler’s rebound, Youngjae and Marion ran forward. As Dallas’ unique transition offense came out, Oklahoma City also hurriedly followed. Westbrook and Durant stuck close to Youngjae and Marion, and Youngjae lightly grabbed the outlet pass starting from Chandler and cleverly pushed Westbrook’s close mark with his left hand without slowing down.

[Youngjae Yoon and Shawn Marion crossing the half-court line in an instant!]

No matter how many times they faced each other, Westbrook’s physicality was monstrous. If Youngjae had to pick the most solid and strongest player among the current NBA guards, he would pick Westbrook one hundred out of one hundred times. But Youngjae was also a player who had reached the top in terms of technique instead of physicality.

[Here we go! Youngjae Yoon penetrating to the end!]

The moment Youngjae reached the top of the key, Kevin Durant, along with Westbrook, who was following him, let go of Shawn Marion and rushed towards Youngjae. Durant blocked Youngjae’s path in an instant, probably thinking that Youngjae was much more dangerous in the offensive situation, so he slowly stepped back rather than stepping forward to prepare for the breakthrough.

[Oh! He’s caught in a double team!]

At that moment, Youngjae performed a crossover to the right to break through Durant blocking his path. Westbrook was fooled by Youngjae’s smooth crossover, but he quickly narrowed the distance because he reacted so quickly, and Durant also prepared for the breakthrough by slowly stepping back rather than stepping forward, thinking that Youngjae would attempt a breakthrough.

Thwack!

The left foot stepping to the right after the crossover. And the right hand receiving the bouncing ball. At that moment, Youngjae swung his right hand with all his might without a second’s hesitation.

Thump!

[Bounce pass!! From there, through that small gap!!!]

Marion, who was rushing into the paint like a flood, stretched out his hand as if he was sure that Youngjae’s fluid bounce pass would come. The accurate bounce pass that didn’t disappoint was sucked into Marion’s hand, and as soon as he received the ball, Marion jumped towards the rim.

Kwaaang!!!!

Beeeep-!

[BAANG!!!!]

[Shawn Marion’s Matrix one-handed slam! He even gets a foul on Kevin Durant, who tried to block it unreasonably, creating an and-one!!!]

As soon as Marion came down from the rim, he ruffled Youngjae’s hair, and Youngjae also patted Marion’s back with his left hand, unable to contain the thrill of making a difficult play.

Swish-

[He safely makes the free throw, and the score is tied again at 91 to 91! The Dallas Mavericks are tying the game!]

[Today, Youngjae Yoon is shown to be a perfect Fedex. The pass is as accurate as 택배 (taekbae) delivery! – Korean for package delivery service]

Thanks to Youngjae’s 택배 delivery pass, the game was tied, and from then on, it was a perfect seesaw game. If Dallas succeeded in an attack, Oklahoma City somehow succeeded, and if they hit a 3-pointer, they responded with a 3-point play, and if they defended, they also blocked the attack with defense.

The 20,000 spectators, who filled the stadium for the two teams’ fierce match, were nervously focused on the game as if walking on thin ice.

“Hoo…”

Youngjae glanced at the remaining time.

[Now there are only 40 seconds left! The score is 114 to 114! The fierce battle continues with the score tied!]

A short time where the game could almost end if they exchanged one attack each. Youngjae felt that he was rapidly getting tired from coordinating the attack and facing Westbrook without resting even once in the 4th quarter. The game was so fierce that he wouldn’t be able to catch his breath properly now if there hadn’t been timeouts or breaks during free throws.

“Faster!!!”

Youngjae, who was on the verge of collapsing from exhaustion, looked desperate as he raised his voice and coordinated the attack. The pressure that the end of the Semi-Conference Final depended on this last minute was truly great.

[Youngjae Yoon stopping at the top, this is a scene that highlights his concentration to succeed in this attack, right?]

It wasn’t the time to actively utilize Marion or Chandler. In the end, one of himself, Terry, or Nowitzki had to solve it in the clutch.

“…”

In the end, he had to go back into that dense post once again. Westbrook was not an easy opponent to create a gap with just simple steps.

Thud!

[Dirk Nowitzki’s screen, Youngjae Yoon going over!]

Westbrook was caught. He intentionally changed direction to go through where Terry was lingering, and as Westbrook was passed as Youngjae intended, James Harden turned to block Youngjae.

‘Go!’

At that moment, Terry went deeper to the side, and Youngjae passed the ball to Terry, who was unmarked, avoiding Harden’s check.

[WONDERFUL PASS!!!! Y13 TO J.E.T!!!]

[Jason Terry 3 points!!!]

Terry soared up, and at that moment, Ibaka, who was in the paint, hurriedly ran out and jumped up late.

Tick!

The ball touched his fingertips. But that wasn’t important.

Thump thump thump!!!!

Beeeep!!!

[Serge Ibaka! Dangerous play!]

[He can’t control his speed and gets tangled up with Jason Terry, who shot the ball!]

Terry was hit by the giant Ibaka and fell backward, and he was lying on the court and couldn’t get up properly. Ibaka also looked stiff, as if he didn’t expect to collide so hard, and was lying on the floor.

“You 개새끼 (gae-sae-ggi) bastard!!” [Korean slang, literally “dog-son”, a strong insult]

As expected, Chandler took the lead and shouted at Ibaka. It was good to do his best to block, but he jumped so dangerously that he was about to press down on his opponent.

“This is too much?! They should give a flagrant for this!!”

From the bench, coaches and players had already run out to check if Terry, who had fallen, was okay. He staggered and got up, but Coach Carlisle’s head became complicated as he had difficulty standing properly, perhaps because of the impact on his back at the moment of falling.

Beeeep!

The referee, who calmed the players, ended the situation with a shooting foul. Chandler and Nowitzki continuously protested, and even Coach Carlisle 격렬하게 (gyeokryeolhage) protested [Korean: vehemently]. In the end, the three referees decided to review the video. It was a situation where video review was possible, and it was such an important point.

The three referees gathered on the sideline of the half-court for video review. In the end, the result reached again after the three referees reviewed the video and agreed was no flagrant foul. It was a difficult result to accept from Dallas’s point of view, although the foul calls were stingy because it was the playoffs and it was clutch time. It may have been even more so because they were a team that was 평소 (pyeongso) usually 못 받기로 (mot batgiro) famous for not getting foul calls like Memphis. [Korean: usually known for not receiving]

[It’s 단호하네요 (danhohha-neyo) firm. I 예상했습니다 (yesanghaet-seumnida) expected that a flagrant foul could be called because it was a slightly 심한 (simhan) severe foul.] [Korean: It’s firm. I expected]

[I think it’s 케이스 바이 케이스 (ke-i-seu ba-i ke-i-seu) case by case. It may be 억울할 (eogulhal) unfair, but it can be 이해는 (ihaeneun) understood even if it is 치부해도 (chibuhaedo) regarded as a personal shooting foul because there was no 고의성 (go-ui-seong) intentionality. But it’s a 큰 타격 (keun tayeok) big blow for Dallas. Today, Jason Terry 자랑했는데 (jaranghaenneunde) boasted 초고감도 (chogogamdo) super-sensitive shooting with 32 points and 7/10 3-pointers.] [Korean: case by case, unfair, understood, regarded, intentionality, big blow, boasted, super-sensitive]

In the end, Terry could only sit on the bench during Oklahoma City’s timeout after making only 2 of the 3 free throws at the free throw line.

[The score is 116 to 114. There are 28 seconds left. It’s a 정말 피가 말리는 (jeongmal piga mallineun) really nerve-wracking game!]

[That’s right. Serge Ibaka’s defense was dangerous, but 우선 (useon) first, the situation is 종료되고 (jonglyo-doego) ended with a shooting foul, and Coach Carlisle 투입합니다 (tuiphamnida) puts Jason Kidd in instead of Jason Terry. It’s a 타이밍 (taiming) timing where they have to defend anyway, so Kidd can 충분히 (chungbunhi) do his part.] [Korean: really nerve-wracking, first, ended, puts in, timing, sufficiently]

Coach Carlisle, who was 고민하던 (gomin-hadeon) between Barea and Kidd until the end, 투입했다 (tuiphaetda) put Kidd in because he had to 우선시하다 (useonsihada) prioritize defense. This was because it had to be said that it was impossible to defend Westbrook if Barea was 투입할 (tuiphal) deployed. [Korean: deliberating, put in, prioritize, deployed]

============================ 작품 후기 Author’s Note ============================

★ Thank you to those who 선작 (seonjak) pre-selected, 추천 (chucheon) recommended, 코멘 (komen) commented, and gave 쿠폰 (kupon) coupons!! [Korean: pre-selected, recommended, commented, coupons]

＠ I hope everyone had a good Christmas ^^

＠ It is said that they tend not to give flagrants in the playoffs. It is said that 일반 (ilban) normal shooting fouls tend to be 불리는 (bulrineun) called less often than usual during clutch time. [Korean: normal, called]

오마리온님 Omarion/// Thank you for your 코멘 (komen) comments as always. Have a good weekend ^^. [Korean: comments]

사라질영혼님 Disappearing Soul/// Thank you for pointing that out. I fixed it. Two guys who should be watching the small forward are on the bench;;;

Han512, 위티드 Wited, 파이넨시아님 Financia/// Did you all have a good Christmas ㅎㅎ

anguqwhdk/// It’s still 2~3 years before McGee comes ㅋㅋ. It’s not in the plan yet.

McGee is too expensive to bring in for the time being ㅋㅋ It’s an annual 11 million contract until 2014 or 15.

흑월화야 Black Moon Flower/// It was hard in the morning because it was Sunday ㅠ.ㅠ Have a chapter for dessert after lunch ^^

인간이란사람이란 Human is Human/// That’s right. 콩진 Baylor Ong… His jersey number is also 22.