Chapter 283 Battle of Tianwang Mountain
[Second update]
On May 11, local time in the United States, the Amway Center Arena was full. (《》)
Magic fans arrived at the stadium early before the game started.
This game is the fifth match between the Magic and Celtics Eastern Conference semifinals. In the first four games, the two sides tied 2:2.
No one expected that after the Magic won two consecutive games at their home court, they did not steal a single victory at the North Shore Garden Arena.
In addition to the Magic and Celtics having started the semi-finals, the Chicago Bulls and Miami Heat have also eliminated their respective opponents and started their Eastern Conference semi-finals.
Now, the two teams have played three games, with a score of 2:1, and the Miami Heat is temporarily leading.
In the West, the Lakers, Grizzlies, Mavericks and Thunder advanced to the semi-finals.
After losing the first game, the Lakers finished three consecutive games. Although they lost another game later, in Game 6, due to Kobe's outstanding performance, they eliminated the New Orleans Hornets and advanced to the semi-finals.
The Spurs were not so lucky. After losing in the first game, they won one game and tied the score. But next, they lost two games in a row, although they won in the fifth game. But in the crucial sixth game, they lost to the Grizzlies and were tragically defeated by the Grizzlies Black Eight.
Therefore, the current matchup in the West is the Lakers vs. Mavericks and Thunder vs. Grizzlies.
And now, the Lakers lead the Mavericks 2:1, and the Thunder lead the Grizzlies 2:1.
And in yesterday's Bulls and Heats game, the league president awarded the trophy of the most valuable player in the regular season to Derek Ross.
This is no longer a secret, and the result was already out a few days ago.
Earlier, the winner of Best Manager also came out. He was Ortis Smith, the general manager of the Magic Team. It was because of his keen eyes that the Magic Team could make such great progress.
The best head coach, the league also awarded Stan Van Gundy of the Magic. The Magic won two awards in a row, and Wu Feng's previous best rookie, which was a proud look.
And there is another award, the sixth man, who won the Lakers' Lamar Odom.
…………
Before the game started, Wu Feng sat on the bench with some confusion and a white towel wrapped his whole head.
Wu Feng felt a little uneasy in his heart about the upcoming battle of Tianwang Mountain. No matter what kind of strong enemy he faced, Wu Feng had never had such an emotion. In his opinion, no matter what kind of team he was, he had his weaknesses. As long as he could grasp the opponent's weaknesses, the initiative in the game would be in his own hands.
But now, he was a little uneasy.
Stan Van Gundy gently patted Wu Feng on the shoulder. Although he had always been full of confidence in front of the media, the current situation of the team is indeed not optimistic. The latest chapter of the Temple
In the first four games, the two teams scored 2:2, which was not bad for the Magic.
But in the fourth game, the Magic actually injured two players in a row, namely veteran Nazel Mohamed and Chris Duhon.
These two players are the main substitutes of the Magic, one is Dwight Howard's substitute and the other is Wu Feng's substitute. Nazel Mohammed and Chris Du Hong are unable to play. For the Magic, the arrangement of the team in this game will undoubtedly be difficult.
However, the game has reached this point, and the Magic have no way out.
Wu Feng gently took off the towel and stretched his muscles easily. The previous uneasiness is gone now.
The Magic's starting lineup in this game is still the same as in the previous games, with center Dwight Howard, power forward Brandon Bass, small forward Gerald Wallace, shooting guard Vince Carter, and organizational defender Wu Feng.
The most clearest thing about the Magic's current situation is Doug Rivers.
He has been studying the Magic's style of playing in four games, and now he is almost clear about all the changes in the Magic's team.
The Magic lost two important substitutes all at once, which was fatal to the Magic.
With the starting lineup currently being used by the Magic, there will be a shortage on the Magic's bench.
Therefore, the task of the Celtics in this game is very simple. They only need to deal with the five players on the field. The victory is not far from the Celtics. Moreover, in his opinion, even if the five players on the Magic can always support the entire game, it is difficult for the Celtics to pose any threat.
However, Doug Rivers was not careless about this. A "Warcraft" has caused headaches for other teams, and the Magic are no longer a one-man team. Except for Dwight Howard, the existence of Wu Feng, Vince Carter and Gerald Wallace is a huge threat to any team.
Before playing, Dwight Howard and Wu Feng looked at each other and smiled. With the team's current state, the two have become the team's greatest hope and are destined to take on greater responsibilities in this game. However, both of them are strong-willed people, and they are the stronger players when faced with pressure, their fighting spirit becomes more and more high.
Seeing the smiles of the two, Stan Van Gundy calmed down: Yes, as long as these two people are there, the Magic team will still be the invincible Magic team.
The Magic took the lead in the ball, and in the first four games, the two teams tied.
Wu Feng protected his request and calmly caught it, and then he dribbled the ball and quickly advanced towards the Celtics' half.
Just after halftime, Ray Allen had appeared in front of him. The Magic's current state has greatly increased the Celtics' chances of winning, but they did not take it lightly. They devoted more energy to defending Wu Feng and Dwight Howard in the inside.
During the tactical arrangement before the game, Doug Rivers repeatedly emphasized only one sentence: no matter what the situation is, as long as the ball is in the hands of Wu Feng and Dwight Howard, the players on the field will have to attack the two of them regardless of the consequences. They are willing to give some empty spaces to other players, and they cannot give the two people any room to breathe.
Wu Feng did not stick to the ball at all and quickly passed the ball out.
Rajon Rondo did not expect Wu Feng to start so quickly, and quickly set up a defensive posture within the three-point line. His eyes stared at Wu Feng tightly, not daring to slack off at all.
With a "creaking", Wu Feng's body started at high speed, and stopped a step outside the three-point line. His toes and the floor instantly made a fierce friction sound without stopping. He jumped up, raised the ball high, and gently pushed his hands, and the ball quickly flew out of his fingers.
"Swish", the ball was caught in the net. After landing, Wu Feng clenched his right fist, paused hard in front of his chest, and roared "Ah".
Rajon Rondo shook his head helplessly.
"Good ball." Yu Jia and Yang Yi couldn't help but cheer in the studio of the imperial court.
Although the Celtics are seriously aging, they actually switched quickly on offense and defense.
After Wu Feng succeeded, the ball was quickly passed out. Except for Rajon Rondo, who took the ball and fell behind, the other players quickly penetrated into the Magic's half-court like a tide. The penetration speed made the Magic's players returning to defense dwarfed. Rajon Rondo's ball flew out quickly before the half-court.
With his outstanding overall view, he saw the players who were not defending around Paul Pierce at once. The ball was delivered to him immediately. The latter took two steps lightly and threw the ball high before Dwight Howard defended. The ball passed through Dwight Howard's high right hand, and the ball easily entered the net.
Wu Feng cleverly slipped through the baseline, then received a pass from Gerald Wallace, and scored another 2 points on the layup.
After scoring 4 points in the beginning, Wu Feng showed a strong score**.
Stan Van Gundy looked at Wu Feng's performance with relief. After this playoff training, Wu Feng's grasp of the game's degree has become more and more mature.
After three days of rest, the Celtics' physical strength has basically recovered.
In this game, the Celtics did not insist on the usual defense as the foundation, but were both offense and defense. The offense was centered on Rajon Rondo, Ray Allen and Paul Pierce, and the defense was left to Kevin Garnett and Jermaine O'Neal.
Under the mobilization of Rajon Rondo, the Celtics scored a 7-2 small **.
In the first quarter, the Magic's offense made Stan Van Gundy a little dissatisfied.
Not only did Vince Carter and Gerald Wallace lose the touch of the first two games, but even the "Warcraft" in the inside line also made a series of irons.
If it weren't for Wu Feng and Brandon Bass' consecutive raids, they would probably be more than double digits before the first quarter ended.
When the first quarter was 4 minutes and 30 seconds, the Magic were 7 points behind the Celtics with 13:20.
Then, Rajon Rondo assisted Ray Allen to hit a three-pointer, and the Celtics quickly changed the score to 23:13, leading the Magic 10 points.
Stan Van Gundy called a timeout helplessly, and was extremely disappointed, which calmed down his head and realized that his yelling just now was not only helpless, but also made the players at a loss.
"This game is the most difficult game we encountered in the playoffs. If the game is like this, I have to bear the main responsibility. But now it is not a matter of who is responsible. Anyway, the game is the first quarter, and we have enough time to make up for the mistakes. For the Celtics team, I don't need to say more. After four games, everyone has a personal feeling about them. So, I hope everyone will work hard together to win this battle of Tianwang Mountain."
Stan Van Gundy's tactical arrangement is very simple, which is to run quickly, run across a large scale, use speed to drive the attack, use an offense that does not care about the consequences, and take a bold move as long as there is an opportunity.
Taking advantage of this timeout, the Celtics' lineup made some adjustments. Deronti West replaced Ray Allen, Marquis Daniels replaced Paul Pierce. The two players who came out of the field performed well just now. Doug Rivers replaced them with enough rest time to ensure that the entire game has enough impact.
Stan Van Gundy looked at the Celtics' players with jealousy. After playing for so long, he should have made some adjustments to the lineup. In addition to ensuring the players' physical strength, if a lineup is played on the court for too long, the opponent will gradually find a way to deal with it. However, after scanning the players on the bench, he still suppressed the impulse in his heart. Now the score has been pulled apart by his opponent so much. If he is unstable at this time, there is no need to continue the following game.
Wu Feng gently wiped the sweat from his forehead, and Nazel Mohammed's absence made the Magic's inside line seem stretched.
Wu Feng knew very well that he wanted to change his previous style of playing and blindly look for three-pointers on the outside. Now it seems unlikely. The two Celtics defending balls are like maggots with bones. As soon as the ball reaches his hands, they will immediately appear beside him, leaving no gap for him.
The ball was quickly handed to Dwight Howard. Dwight Howard dribbled with his right hand, focusing his strength on his left shoulder, constantly pressing against Kevin Garnett behind him, and approaching the basket step by step. Kevin Garnett was in an amazing state today. Facing the fierce "World Beast" he fought today, his performance was very tenacious in the confrontation, firmly guarding the small area under the basket.
As time passed by little by little, Dwight Howard knew that if this continued, he might not be able to get a bargain. Taking advantage of the opportunity to exert force, the ball was quickly handed over to the outside.
In everyone's eyes, Dwight Howard's next move must be to push Kevin Garnett away and hit one-handed button.
But what was unexpected was that Dwight Howard actually passed the ball out.
Wu Feng naturally would not wait for the opportunity to be lost.
Wu Tian took the initiative to receive the pass, and then jumped up and took action very consistently.
After landing, Wu Feng let out a long sigh. In the past few minutes of the game, he saw the opponent tie the score and overtake, and the scores of both sides became bigger and bigger, but he was unable to succeed on the outside. He felt very frustrated. This goal greatly exclaimed a sigh of relief in his heart.
Under the organization of Rajon Rondo, the Celtics' offensive mercury was pouring out. The players on the court could play a role, and the blooming of multiple points made it difficult for the Magic to defend.
The Magic team only relies on Wu Feng's personal score to bite the score tightly.
In the end, the Magic ended the first quarter with a score of 21-30.
"Teacher Yang, from the first quarter of the game, the Magic is very dangerous today. What do you think about this? In your opinion, how can the Magic team get rid of the current adverse situation?" Yu Jia turned around and asked.
"The Celtics' offense tonight was very good, and in fact, this was expected. After all, while they have the Big Three, Rondo has the assist king this season. Therefore, it is normal to play such a smooth attack. It is unexpected that the Magic's offense has problems tonight. Perhaps it is because of the physical problems that experienced the first four high-intensity games, which caused the feel of poor hands. But I believe that in the second quarter, the Magic will change the status quo." Yang Yi commented.
The second quarter started soon, and the Celtics had the first offensive opportunity.
Rajon Rondo quickly brought the ball over the midfield. When he swept his eyes to his teammates, Gerald Wallace had quickly appeared beside him, and the target was the ball in his hand.
Rajon Rondo was not worried, but just turned around and flashed his steal.
Kevin Garnettla reached the free throw line and then Rajon Rondo broke through the baseline and passed the ball quickly to Ray Allen on the weak side.
Fortunately, Wu Feng's defense was very timely. Before he took the ball, Wu Feng's ghostly figure appeared in front of him. The amazing explosive power made Wu Feng come from behind and gently touch the basketball with his fingertips. Although it was not a very shocking block, this little force was enough to make the ball's flight trajectory change slightly.
"Clang", the basketball hit the basket's neck, and Gerald Wallace grabbed the defensive rebound.
Gerald Wallace's right wing three-pointer missed, Dwight Howard was stuck behind Kevin Garnett at this moment, watching Shaq O'Neal take the rebound, and a long pass was handed to Rajon Rondo, who was in the midfield. At this time, the closest Magic player was Gerald Wallace. At his speed, he could only watch Rajon Rondo stand out and easily make a layup.
The ball sent by Gerald Wallace was almost cut off by Lei Allen. Fortunately, Wu Feng had an absolute advantage in speed and hit the ball first, but he was also shocked and sweated.
After gently touching the ball in his hand, Wu Feng told himself in his heart that the critical moment had arrived and the gap between the two teams had widened to 11 points.
However, the 11-point difference is not what Wu Feng is worried about. What he is worried about is the morale of the Magic.
The incomplete lineup at this moment is not enough confidence before the game. After suffering consecutive blows, Wu Feng didn't know how much fighting spirit the other players still had. If the morale was really lost, he would not be able to save the team's defeat by just having the ability to do so.
Slowly passing the ball through the half, Rajon Rondo and Ray Allen appeared in front of him one after another. This time Wu Feng did not rush to break through or pass the ball.
As Wu Feng kept wandering on the outside, the two defensive players of the Celtics had to keep following his pace, and the entire Amway Center Arena focused on Wu Feng.
Wu Feng's outstanding performance in the previous few games impressed them. When the Celtics took the absolute initiative on the field, they also wanted to see what Wu Feng's performance would be.
Because Wu Feng is their hero.
Chapter completed!