unfinished glory

Chapter 204 Advancement
After tying the score to 1:2, the confidence of the Suns also came back. They believed that they had the ability to win the fourth game and overtake by a big score.

Injuries and the team's poor record in the past two years have made Stoudemire a bit more mature, and his words are not as arrogant as before.But when it was time to stand up and cheer for his teammates, he was unambiguous.

After winning the third game, Stoudemire vowed in front of the media that he would lead the team to victory in the series.

Li Chongxiao said very calmly that the Grizzlies are a newly formed team and never expect to sweep the opponent. As long as they win this round of the series, there is no difference between 4:0 and 4:3.

A rest day in Phoenix, and then started the second away game.The two sides played three games, from unfamiliar to familiar, it is difficult to play well.

But this game was reversed from the previous one. Shortly after the opening, the visiting team took the initiative and took the lead.

Created chaos in the first game, acted as a spectator in the second game, became the background in the third game, and now in the fourth game, the Grizzlies players finally got over the initial excitement and tension, became mature, and suddenly I can play.

In the regular season, their familiar passing and cutting cooperation and internal and external transfer offenses have returned. Li Chongxiao scored three goals in the opening game, opening the situation for the team, and then watched his teammates perform.

The Grizzlies patiently pass the ball to ensure that the offensive players in each round are in a reasonable position to shoot.Such a smooth style of play naturally brings about a high hit rate.

The Suns' offense today is actually not bad, they have scored goals all the time, but the team's speed has been slowed down, and the number of offensive rounds is not enough.

Carlisle knows that opponents cannot prevent death, and he does not ask players to limit the number of points and low shooting percentage of the Suns.The defensive tactics he deployed in the first quarter were aimed at slowing down the pace of the Suns. They did not require double-teaming and could allow opponents to score, but they could not lose their position or allow opponents to run.

The Grizzlies gave the Suns the opportunity to play one-on-one, but prevented them from playing fast attack.This style of play is somewhat similar to the Spurs' tactics back then, with the purpose of slowing down the Suns' offensive rhythm.

However, the Spurs pay more attention to defense and rely on defense to win; while the Grizzlies' defense cannot reach the level of the Spurs, they also have to take offense.

However, it is obviously impossible to play against the Suns. It is necessary to have your own offensive routine, otherwise once you fall into the offensive frenzy of the Suns, it is easy to be led by the nose by the opponent.

As an academic coach, Carlisle still has a way of training tactics and players.During the pre-match training, he didn't ask Conley to have Kidd's ability now, good at controlling the rhythm of the court, can be fast or slow.

His current request is very simple, that is, to slow down, even if he holds the ball for half the court and turns around in circles, it will take 16 seconds before he is allowed to attack.If Conley can't do it, let Li Chongxiao handle the ball.

Fortunately, Conley made mistakes in the first game and accumulated some experience.He knew that he didn't have the ability to let the team run according to his own will, so he listened to the coach's arrangement with peace of mind and let himself do whatever he wanted.

In the beginning, he simply dribbled the ball and took time, and only handed the ball to Li Chongxiao or Gasol when it was almost time.

Later in the second quarter, Li Chongxiao took control of the ball for a few rounds, taught by precepts and deeds, and Conley gradually became enlightened.Delaying time is just the easiest way to slow down the offensive tempo, and it is a skill to delay all fast breaks into positional warfare.

When Li Chongxiao is in control of the ball, he receives, passes and dribbles steadily, and does not give the opponent a chance to steal + fast break.Don't rush forward in the offense, wait for your teammates to grab a rebound when they fall under the basket, and then shoot.This ensures that the shot is missed in time, and the Suns will not be denied a fast break opportunity.

At the same time, Li Chongxiao also reduced the frequency of three-point shots to reduce the probability of long rebounds.In short, they are doing everything they can to prevent the Suns from speeding up their offense.

The effect of this style of play is immediate, and the Suns, who can't run, are much easier for the Grizzlies.

They are no match for defense, and they are still no match for positional warfare and offense.The more the Suns played, the more awkward they became, and the more they played, the more they looked like an old people's team.

At halftime, D'Antoni's chicken soup didn't help, and the Suns didn't have much energy in the second half.

No matter how the home audience cheered, the Suns still couldn't step on the accelerator of this old car.In this rhythm of the game, the Grizzlies are naturally better.

Li Chongxiao played this game very easily. He hit a few shots in each quarter and scored 40 points casually. The Grizzlies kept their lead until the end.

……

Returning to Memphis with an away win, the Grizzlies took a 3-1 lead and half a foot into the second round of the playoffs.

Judging from these four games, the Grizzlies are clearly a team half a notch above.The one game they lost was entirely due to poor form, and the three games they won, regardless of the wind or headwind, showed their real hard power.

If you are a more arrogant star, you may already be impatient to start thinking about your opponent in the next round.But Li Chongxiao still said very modestly that no one knows the final result until the last moment.

What he thought in his heart, what he said was the same, that is, he didn't think about promotion, winning the championship and other messy things, and only focused on the next game.

If he was still in the Spurs, he would naturally have to think further, but the Grizzlies hadn't even won a game in the playoffs, so he couldn't help thinking about it.

Before the start of the season, he boasted in front of Grizzlies owner Heisley and general manager West that he wanted to lead the team to the second round, but he didn't want to overturn the gutter and finally slap himself in the face.It's better to do something good and send the Suns home as soon as possible, so that they die early and survive early.

So this game Li Chongxiao played more conservatively than the previous game. From the beginning, he passed the ball frequently, wanting to drive his teammates to attack together.

The teammates were also very upbeat. With the expectation of the second round of the playoffs, they made all the goals that should be scored, and they played against the Suns.

The Suns are at the bottom of the boat today. There is still hope to win, and they will go home if they lose.They ran as hard as they could and played fast breaks when they got the chance.

In the first half, the two teams came and went on the field, and played very well.Li Chongxiao fished in troubled waters and scored 12 points and 11 assists.The number of assists created his own halftime record and also broke the Grizzlies team history record.

The on-site announcer who recorded the Grizzlies shouldn't have said it, but in order to please Li Chongxiao, he still took advantage of the break to ask everyone to congratulate Li Chongxiao.

Li Chongxiao was dumbfounded when he heard it, and he couldn't laugh or cry.But the tidy "MVP" voice at the scene also diluted his embarrassment.

In the second half, there was still a stalemate between the two teams. The coaches of the two teams did not dare to make random changes for fear of causing bad consequences.

The tactics of the Grizzlies first changed, and Li Chongxiao couldn't hold back anymore.After playing more than half a quarter of the game, seeing that the team has been leading by five or six points, the score cannot be opened, and the tug-of-war continues.

Not wanting to leave the decisive battle until the last moment, he chose to go it alone.

Super long three-pointers, dry pull-ups, strong shots, breakthrough layups, Li Chongxiao, who disappeared for two games, is back.A wave of quick hits successfully suppressed the Suns.

Individually scored 18 points and led the team to a 12-point lead at the end of the third quarter.

In the fourth quarter, Li Chongxiao was still on the court. He continued the firepower of the previous quarter and led the Grizzlies to continue to expand the point difference.

By the time he scored his 45th point, the Grizzlies had led by 21 points.At this time, Li Chongxiao slowed down and began to control the rhythm.

The Suns rushed to catch up, but the Grizzlies not only sniped desperately in defense, but also kept the time very low in offense, wishing to play every round for 24 seconds.

When there was not much left in the game, the Suns' general situation was over, and they were unwilling to replace all the main players in advance and admitted defeat.

The Grizzlies fans suppressed their emotions from the beginning, and when Li Chongxiao expanded his lead, they wanted to celebrate but were afraid to celebrate.After all, there are many lessons learned, such as the Magic and the Lakers at 3:1, and the Rockets at 2:0 away.

But now the victory is decided, they are only 2 minutes away from the second round of the playoffs, so everyone's emotions are vented.

The audience at the scene all stood up, singing and dancing, like a festival, celebrating the first time the Grizzlies entered the second round of the playoffs in history.

　I have to drink again tonight, my brain hurts!
　　
　
(End of this chapter)