Basketball Dragon

Chapter 83 The Opponent That Must Be Beaten

"It's all nonsense, the team has no problem at all." Facing the reporter's question, the team manager Isiah Thomas replied righteously.

"Infighting, how is that possible? It's April, and now we're all thinking about hitting the playoffs." Li Hai's face was full of sincerity in front of the reporters.

In fact, the Knicks were really not peaceful during the confrontation training these two days. Coach Herb Williams was also taken aback. Before the training, Li Hai had a quarrel with others, and was yelled at by his teammates as a rookie.

Fortunately, Li Hai later admitted that he was a rookie, and accepted the punishment without complaint. On the contrary, the internal atmosphere changed a little because of the two fights.

Li Hai was also angry. Coach Williams couldn't control those players at all. The Knicks' defense has been getting worse and worse recently. If they can't even make it to the playoffs, he will definitely not be reconciled.

Losing his temper is just a way of venting. In fact, if he performed better in these games, he wouldn't be so miserable.

He's come a long way this season, but he's not yet at the point of dominating the game.

After losing his temper and complaining to his girlfriend on the phone at night, Li Hai also sobered up a lot. The Knicks' lineup changes frequently, and the interior has never been high. If the players are not active, it will really stop here.

On April 4, they played against the New Jersey Nets at home.

The Nets have been miserable during this period. Richard Jefferson has been struggling since he ruptured the ligament in his left wrist. Like the Knicks, they are struggling for tickets to the playoffs.

Because of Richard Jefferson's injury, the Nets moved Vince Carter from the 2 to the 3.

At the beginning of the game, the Nets won the jump ball and took the lead in attacking.

Kidd dribbled the ball to the 45-degree three-point line, and then directly gave it to Carter who was facing the basket.

Carter caught the ball sideways, made a tentative step towards Li Hai, and then stepped directly to Li Hai's side, pulled it up, and hit a two-pointer.

Simple movements rely entirely on physical fitness and shooting accuracy.

This is a bit similar to his cousin McGrady, when Li Hai reached out to interfere, he was already a little slow.

The Knicks' first shot was made by Crawford. His shooting was simpler than Carter's. He shot the ball as soon as he received the pass. He didn't think about other things at all, and he made a three-pointer.

For a player like Crawford, the team will be worried if they are accurate. When they are not accurate, only the Knicks will feel cold.

The Nets' second offense was handed over to Carter. They had a hard time during this time. Nets head coach Lawrence Frank also let Carter take more responsibility for the offense.

This season, the Nets traded Carter to make him the team's strongest offensive force.

With the basketball in Carter's hand, he drew half a circle in front of Li Hai with his arm, and then squeezed to Li Hai's side, rushing to the side of the defender or making a sudden stop jump shot by physical contact, which is very bad defense.

But Li Hai has the experience of the first ball, this time he jumped up a little earlier, half court, and there are defenders behind him after being passed.

Li Hai stopped in front of Carter with his Wuwu arms in his arms. The basketball drew an arc in the air and hit the rim in a flash.

The Knicks took off the rebound, and Li Hai caught the ball from the side and accelerated straight to the baseline. Carter stopped him, but he didn't expect Li Hai's speed to be so fast. He was squeezed by Li Hai with one step. Nenad Kostic's foul, 2+1.

After being dunked in front of him by a rookie, Carter felt a little embarrassed and wanted to get back his face.

Li Hai's brown sugar-style defense did not give the opponent a chance to dunk, which made Carter very upset.

Like most of the time, the Knicks played well on the outside and average on the inside. Fortunately, the Nets were not good on the inside. The Knicks led by 5 points in the first quarter.

But the good times didn't last long, and the Nets' substitute insider Clifford Robinson performed vigorously, leading the bench to chase the score back.

By the end of halftime, the Nets led by 1 point instead.

As the difficult brothers in the East and the direct opponents entering the playoffs, both teams want to win this game.

During the midfield, the head coaches of both sides also constantly heated up the players.

"Brothers, Carter left it to me, and that's all I said." Li Hai said seriously.

Marbury said with a smile: "I will score more points than Kidd anyway, cheer me up, we can't lose a game to win this month, you know."

In the past few years, due to some reasons, Marbury has not liked motivating his teammates. This season, because of the arrival of Li Hai, he also showed the momentum of being the boss.

At the beginning of the second half, Marbury also showed his skills, and the first ball went inside and made a foul.

When it was the Nets' turn to attack, Carter ran without the ball and took advantage of the cover of his teammates to get a chance to shoot. Li Hai rushed up and jumped up to interfere, but Carter let him lean on him, and the referee's whistle sounded immediately. up.

After the intermission, Carter obviously didn't intend to get angry with Li Hai, a "junior". He adjusted his mentality, and regarded Li Hai as a real opponent, and competed on the premise that the team won.

Li Hai was not to be outdone, he also used his teammates to cover, slipped the bottom line to get a shot, and scored 2 points with a decisive shot.

Then Kidd and Crawford missed shots respectively, and the Nets got a fast break opportunity. Carter caused another foul by Li Hai, "Boy, you won't be able to guard me from now on."

"Yeah, I don't ask too much, just win the game."

After the adjustment, Carter was more Li Hai. Fortunately, Li Hai didn't foul in the first half, and he wouldn't be affected too much by the foul in the third quarter.

It would be nice to be able to fight Carter on both ends of the floor, but the Knicks aren't his team yet.

What Li Hai needs to do most now is to limit Carter and help the team win.

He suppressed the desire to compete with the strong, and kept making physical contact with Carter, making the other party tireless.

Defense is not something that can be solved in one or two rounds, Li Hai keeps reminding himself to concentrate.

Marbury's shooting rate in this quarter was good, and Li Hai didn't need to be distracted.

He is already very familiar with the current offensive routines of the Nets. In addition to fast breaks, he usually lets Carter run without the ball to catch the ball, or directly pass his hands.

Just when Carter slipped to the baseline again, Li Hai accelerated to go around Kostic, who was blocking the man. The basketball player Jacqui Vaughn subconsciously passed the ball to the ground before he had time to react.

As soon as Li Hai stretched out his long arms, he intercepted the ball, pushed it forward, and then ran wildly.

(End of this chapter)