God's hand behind the scenes

Chapter 195 Christmas War ([-])

At the beginning of the game, Chang Wei found that it was reasonable for him to have concerns about O'Neal. When he jumped the ball, he overwhelmed Mutombo to help the Pacers get the first wave of offensive possessions.This also made Chang Wei deeply moved. It seems that there are still many great people at the turn of the century. Even if he has a powerful and unscientific system in his head, he can't let the players crush their opponents.

The Pacers' starting point guard is Best, who averaged 12.3 points and 5.7 assists per game this season. The key is that he is only 28 years old this year, so head coach Thomas let him handle the ball, and Miller turned into a catch-and-shoot shooter.This made Iverson have to go up to match Best. Averaging double figures per game is not fun. If there is a wave of explosions, wouldn't he be beaten like a pig's head?In fact, Thomas didn't expect Brown to double-team Miller, and the blunders reduced Miller's pressure.

Rose asked Best for the ball from outside the wing three-point line. As the team's leading scorer, he dismissed Lynch's marking.It's not that the two have never played against each other last season, but every time Lynch was completely suppressed by Rose, at least the 76ers were completely defeated on the front line, so Rose didn't think much about it, and was ready to directly fight Lynch one-on-one after receiving the ball.

Although Lynch has been positioned as the team's flank defensive gate, he is still learning, but at least Rose has felt his progress.Unlike last season when he was one-on-one, Rose obviously felt that Lynch's movements were more agile, and his ability to predict was also very good. Whenever he was about to turn around and break through, Lynch always appeared just right in his path In the first place, if Rose hadn't stopped in time, he would have dribbled the ball and hit someone.

But Rose didn't give up. He turned his back and prepared to crush from near the free throw line to the basket. This is his strength.After Rose adopted a post-up single, Lynch had no choice but to grit his teeth and hold on, but was constantly pushed back by his opponent.After a few back-up singles, Rose made a very stretched turnaround jump shot, and the ball crashed into the basket.

This is not the Pacers' usual style of play, but it looks quite effective. Brown's face is a bit ugly, but he will not blame the players for his performance in one or two rounds, not to mention that this is not Lynch's mistake. , he was just caught by Rose's weakness, and he would score a goal in all likelihood if he were replaced by other similar players.

The 76ers didn't take this conceded goal seriously. Snow controlled the ball and went directly to the frontcourt. Instead of passing the ball to Iverson, he rushed with the ball.Although Miller, who was in charge of marking him, had rich experience, his legs and feet were not very flexible. Snow passed the line of defense almost without encountering any resistance. Mutombo, the latter's powerful two-handed dunk directly ignited the enthusiasm of the fans in the audience.

Although Snow's position is shooting guard, he is more like the organizer of the team than Iverson, which is the fundamental reason why Chang Wei gave him passing training.The pass just now is undoubtedly the result of special training. Although Mutombo's ability to find a gap in the interior is the key, Snow passed through O'Neal's ground pass and directly penetrated the Pacers. defense.

The Pacers are one of the top ten defensive teams in the league this season. They almost always rely on defense to win when their offensive firepower is mediocre. However, in this game, the 76ers obviously did not take their proud iron wall seriously. The ball and crotch passes are readily available, and gaps seem to be everywhere. The Pacers' defensive system has been completely sieved.

The soul of the team, Miller, was also made miserable by Snow. Not only did he have to endure the opponent's jellyfish-like defense on the offensive end, but he also had to face the opponent's simple but very effective breakthroughs on the defensive end.Although he also thought about using some small actions to provoke Snow, but compared to Iverson, Snow's character is more calm, and he was not affected by Miller at all.

Now the only two who can help the Pacers increase their points are Rose and O'Neal.The former constantly plays back-up singles in the middle distance and then turns around for jump shots, or slips from the bottom line for layups, while the latter constantly tries to use footwork and physical fitness to score under the basket, occasionally being interfered by Mutombo, but Most of the time, he can still send the ball steadily to the basket.

In stark contrast to the Pacers, the offense of the 76ers can be regarded as a flood of mercury. They can pass the ball to more people, and they can finish more people, and they continue to take cold shots and hit three-pointers from the outside. The Pacers have no way defense.Especially Lewis, the Pacers' power forward Crosher couldn't defend at all, because O'Neal alone was not enough to guard the basket, and his own moving speed was relatively slow, so he could only watch Lewis constantly Outside shot.

At the end of the first quarter, the 76ers scored 38 points. This score is not something that any team can achieve even ten years later.At the same time, they also limited the Pacers to 26 points, thanks to the crazy running and switching defenses of the players on the court, and the strong one-on-one defensive ability of some of their players.

Fortunately, the Pacers' bench lineup is not bad. Al Harrington, the 1998th pick in the first round in 25, served as the scoring arrow of the bench lineup very well, playing steadily and constantly scoring points.Mason intends to defend Harrington, but his height is obviously at a disadvantage. Although Harrington does not have the three-point shooting ability like Lewis, his mid-range shooting is still very reliable, which also makes Mason scratch his head and try his best. I couldn't help it, and even paid for a thug foul.

Brown didn't find a good way to limit Harrington, so he could only ask the substitutes to strengthen their offensive firepower and try to make up for the lost points on the offensive end.It's a pity that Reid didn't feel very good in this game. If it weren't for Hill fighting for rebounds inside and constantly returning missed shots, Brown couldn't help but switch to the starting lineup in advance.

Even so, when Brown switched to the starting lineup with 7 minutes and 23 seconds left in the second quarter, the difference between the two sides was only 8 points.However, Brown didn't care too much. In his opinion, the recovery of the point difference was only temporary. With the hot state of the 76ers' starting lineup, it would be a piece of cake to re-open the point difference to double digits.

Originally, Thomas didn't want to let Miller play, because the latter's performance in the first quarter was very average, but he is the undisputed core player of the team, so Thomas can only continue to let him play, all he can do now is to pray for a miracle appear.

(End of this chapter)