Basketball Dragon

Chapter 82 Difficulties
On March 3, the Knicks ushered in the Boston Celtics who came to challenge at home.

The Celtics didn't start this season well, but after replacing Antoine Walker, who was once called the "twin star" of the Celtics with Paul Pierce in the middle of the season, the record has gradually improved. It's third in the East.

The Knicks, who had only won four games, ranked eighth in the Eastern Conference, and their position was still a little uncertain.

Except for the Miami Heat and Detroit Pistons, the teams in the Eastern Conference this season are far ahead, and the records of nine teams including the Knicks are relatively close. The format of the playoffs is still unclear.

The situation in the West is clearer. The Phoenix Suns, San Antonio Spurs, Dallas Mavericks, and Seattle Supersonics all have a relatively large lead. The Houston Rockets and Sacramento Kings are also relatively safe in the playoffs. , Four teams only.

But although the Celtics are stronger now, the Knicks are not without a fight.

The Celtics' scoring ability inside is good, but their defensive ability is worse than before the trade. Antoine Walker's defense at the 4th position has always been a weakness. This is the Knicks' opportunity.

In this game, Kurt Thomas was originally absent due to his body, and the only player who could play a center was also unable to play. He thought it would be a difficult start, but Crawford hit consecutive three-pointers and the Knicks took the lead at the beginning of the game.

Tim Thomas' defense is not good, and Antoine Walker almost keeps taking long shots, but his accuracy is not very good, which drags down the Celtics a bit.

This is also the reason why the Celtics sent him away in the first place. His style of play is not suitable to be the core figure of the team, but this time, Antoine Walker instinctively thought that he was still the same as before, and he didn't care about his shots. Good times are good, bad times are bad.

After playing for a few minutes, Pierce didn't catch the ball like this, and was taken care of by Li Hai's hand-to-hand defense, and his mood suddenly became very uncomfortable.

Pierce is also a very powerful player at the small forward position. When it came time to attack, Li Hai stopped confronting the opponent. After receiving the ball, he directly rushed Pierce head-on with speed.

Pierce was squeezed to the side by Li Hai's change of direction, and cut across with one palm, hitting Li Hai's arm from top to bottom, and the referee's whistle sounded in time.

Then when the Celtics attacked, Pierce wanted to get the ball, and rushed towards Li Hai.

Seeing that Li Hai didn't lose his position, Pierce turned around and sat towards Li Hai. When he squeezed inside, he made two fake movements of turning around in a row. Unlike most players when he hits back, Pierce made fake movements and also Squeezing in.

After two or three consecutive hits, Pierce was near the three-second zone, and the defense player under the basket rushed over. Pierce completely leaned on Li Hai to complete the turn, and picked the basketball into the basket from under Li Hai's arm.

This seemingly complicated offensive method was smooth and smooth in Pierce's hands. He didn't get rid of the defenders, and didn't jump too high. He completely got rid of Li Hai's interference and scored two points.

This made Li Hai very excited, and he enjoyed this feeling of confrontation very much.

In the attack, he ran more diligently. Pierce's speed was not very fast. Li Hai must use his strengths. After receiving the ball again, he relied on his speed to force a breakthrough.

Pierce judged the route of Li Hai this time, and moved in front of Li Hai ahead of time.

Seeing that he was about to hit him, Li Hai slammed on the brakes, leaned forward and raised his arms to shoot.

The knee feels a lot of burden, and the usual physical training and youth are reflected here.

Li Hai made an emergency stop for a jumper, Pierce's arm was not able to retract in time, and he fouled again.

Li Hai made two free throws, but Pierce was replaced early because of a foul.

Ricky Davis, who replaced him, was also a ruthless character. He was also the boss before the Cavaliers selected James. The starter is the kind of player who is more difficult to integrate into the tactical system.

He came up to face Li Hai and shot, but in the end he continued to hit the iron under the continuous interference.

In the first quarter, the Knicks led by 9 points, thanks to Crawford's four-for-four three-pointers.

In the second quarter, the Celtics, who entered the rotation lineup, played vigorously. Several of their rookies this year have good combat capabilities, and their substitutes are very powerful.

However, their strong offense and weak defense brought them trouble. When Li Hai led the team to play off the bench, he scored 10 points in a row to further expand the lead of the Knicks.

By the second half, the Celtics felt a little frustrated with others.

In the absence of Kurt Thomas, Malik Rose and Maurice Taylor have shown some energy and kept the Knicks in the lead on the boards.

At 107:82, it was relatively easy to win this game, which made the team management have some ideas about Kurt Thomas.

Kurt Thomas was in a sluggish state after he switched to the 5th position, and the conflict with Marbury has never been resolved. Unlike a young player like Li Hai, neither of them intends to take the initiative to bow their heads, and they have not communicated much.

In the next back-to-back away games, Kurt Thomas returned to the team, but the team started a losing streak.

First, against the Supersonics, Ray Allen scored 40+10 three-pointers at the buzzer and dragged the Knicks into overtime. After the overtime started, Li Hai took the initiative to defend against Ray Allen. As a result, Lewis faced Tim- Thomas made consecutive hits, and Li Hai was very depressed.

Then when they played back-to-back against the Blazers, the inside line was blown out again and suffered a losing streak.

By playing against the Warriors, Troy Murphy scored 20+20, and Baron Davis, who became the starter, showed his power, and the Knicks lost again.

In the last game in March, the Knicks played away against the Lakers.

In this game, the Knicks' defense was in a mess, and Li Hai was in a sluggish state, suffering from fouls and not scoring in double figures.

Originally, he was looking forward to defending Kobe again, but unfortunately he would be defeated by his opponent if he didn't do well on the court. Before he could defend Kobe, he was fouled by Butler and brought off the field.

With only a dozen games left in the regular season, the Knicks fell out of the top eight in the Eastern Conference.

In the second day's training, Li Hai swears because of the team's defensive problems, causing several teammates to be unhappy.

For some reason, this matter was heard by the media reporters, and they immediately found out the old account of Li Hai and Marbury's disagreement and started to stir up speculation.

Players play big names, have conflicts, and make the coach resign. The Knicks really can't do it, and the media looks like they are afraid that the world will not be chaotic.

(End of this chapter)