Chapter 194

Most of the third quarter had passed, and both Phil Jackson and John Kuester intended to replace their starting players with bench players to keep fighting. After the timeout, both teams switched to their bench players, leaving only one or two starters on the court. The game continued smoothly, but toward the end of the third quarter, a major altercation broke out, resulting in four players being ejected immediately. With 2 minutes and 21 seconds left in the third quarter, Lakers’ Steve Blake charged toward the basket, and James Posey stepped forward to block him. However, Posey’s defense appeared to be a foul—he pushed Blake hard, sending him over the baseline. Fueled by this unfair treatment, Blake became extremely angry. He got up and rushed at Posey, the two trading insults face to face. As the referee tried to calm them down, Matt Barnes, known for his rebellious behavior, quickly ran over and elbowed Posey. Posey was already annoyed by Barnes’ lackluster performance, and this elbow only made him angrier. Just as the two were about to fight, their teammates and the referee rushed in to stop them. Posey pointed at Barnes and spat out a series of harsh words, while Barnes grew even angrier—he even pushed the Lakers’ assistant coach holding him down to the ground. After reviewing the video replay, the referee ejected the four players directly involved in the altercation: James Posey, Matt Barnes, Steve Blake, and Tyler Hansbrough. Just as the on-court chaos subsided, another fight broke out outside—the court. A Lakers fan rushed down from the stands trying to attack the Pistons’ bench, but security personnel at the edge of the court controlled the fan and carried him off the court. After these two incidents, the two teams played even more fiercely, with intense tension in the air. Yet to the fans, it was exhilarating, as they wanted to see exciting games. Chapter 426: Beast! Beast! 95:87—The Pistons led by eight points after three quarters, with Zhou Yi scoring 33 points across those three quarters, including 19 in the third quarter, the highest single-quarter score of his playoff career. Soon, the fourth quarter began.