Chapter 350 The Contest of Endurance
Is Radmanovic stronger than Jones and Miller? Anyone with normal brains knows the answer to this question. Heat fans think it's just luck, while Knicks fans don't agree with this explanation. They think Tony Allen's answer in an interview may explain why a player like the ski man can perform very well in the Knicks, but Jones and Miller can't perform normally in the Heat?
"The pressure of being in the same team with Hugo is much greater than the pressure of playing with Hugo." This sounds a bit contradictory, but in fact it is not a conflict. Even if Wu Huang gets angry in the game, he will not complain about his teammates. He knows when he should take responsibility, when he should turn the blame, and who should turn the blame...
But in training, Wu Huang is famous for not being easy to get along with. He will ask his teammates to practice more, severely scold his teammates who perform poorly in the team training game, and even punish those who cause trouble off the court... Many of his things have exceeded the scope of the players, and they can be called the Knicks' biggest ball dominance, and are also called tyrants and dictators by many players in private. But only in the game, he can't hear his scolding, and he rarely hears criticizing his teammates in front of the media. These are the reasons why Knicks players are prone to perform in the game.
The favorite thing that Gallinari and other shooters most like is that as long as you don’t hesitate to receive the basketball and attacks that should be taken, you won’t be complained about whether to shoot in or not. At most, he will ask you to practice shooting after the game, but you will never get angry because someone is not accurate in shooting in the game.
Simply put, as long as you do everything you should do in the game, Wu Huang will think that you have fulfilled your responsibilities. As for whether you do it, there are many factors that can be interfered with, so the result is not within the scope of his criticism. At worst, after the end of the season, Wu Huang asks the team to trade a teammate who always misses, which is a problem with the player's ability.
Radmanovic and Green were not under pressure today. They shot when they received a pass from Wu Huang. Even if they couldn't make it, Wu Huang would give them a thumbs up and encourage them. This small detail is actually very important to the role players. Wu Huang was different from Jordan from the beginning. He didn't think other players would have the same abilities as him. Otherwise, how could he have such a great reputation and such a high status?
The three Heat giants are different, especially James has been dragged down by CBA teammates for so many years. His heart is so tired. This year he would rather be hostile to the whole world than join a giant lineup. His goal is only one championship!
But seeing that you have entered the Eastern Conference Finals, you have fallen into the vicious cycle of teammates again. But this time the fans don’t buy him any more. They will not care about the role players’ problems, and they will only think that you are a big three that breaks the balance. If you still can’t win the championship, it’s not these teammates’ garbage, but your own abilities.
These fans are not unaware that the Heat's current lineup is very deformed, but they just don't like the Big Three, especially James doesn't stay in Cleveland to create his own dynasty. Instead, they choose to hug the thighs that they never have before, which makes many people jump from James to James and become more and more eager to hope that James will never win a championship.
These people are not so much fans of a certain star, but rather they really like to see "challenges" and the satisfaction brought by the weak defeating the strong. Iverson, Carter, and Garnett are all such lone heroes. The Cavaliers led by James before are undoubtedly also in this ranks.
But now James, who defected to the Heat, is no longer in this ranks. Many people think that James is already afraid of challenges and is a coward. As the saying goes, he is not a good match for each other. They will naturally look for new spiritual sustenance. Because of James' series of immature behaviors, he changed his position to James and became James before leaving.
As long as James doesn't win the championship for a day, these people will feel a special pleasure in their hearts because they can prove that they are right. Those who are afraid of challenges and choose to be deserters to hug their thighs will never succeed.
Strictly speaking, Wu Huang is not a lone hero, but his two cores seem to be acceptable against the backdrop of the three giants. Moreover, Xiao Si is here to join the Knicks. Wu Huang belongs to the side who is being held on the thigh, which makes him accidentally become the spiritual sustenance of more fans. Who said that other stars are either ugly or ugly, and there is no sense of Wu Huang's substitution at all.
After the start of the second quarter, Wu Huang still had no rest and continued to lead the team to play. The Knicks lineup: Wu Huang, Iguodala, Garlinari, Evans, and O'Neal.
D'Antoni was forced to replace him in the first quarter. The advantage is that he can make efforts to catch up with points during rotation time. This lineup is basically the main force, so there is no need to worry about attack power.
The Heat's second quarter rotation lineup: Bibby, Wade, Jones, James, Haslem.
Spoelstra didn't dare to let the main players rest. In addition to retaining the two giants, he also sent James to the fourth position and added a three-point shooter to increase the range.
After the start of the second quarter, James first made a mid-range shot, then assisted Jones to score a three-pointer, and the Heat tied the score to 29.
But then the Knicks' main players gradually regained their touch. Wu Huang first assisted Iguodala to cut into the basket and scored, and then made a layup in the penalty area and was slapped by James and rushed out with a palm... But what both of them did not expect was that the basketball was wrong and returned to Wu Huang's hand. The latter did not pause in his hand in a confused state, and directly passed the basketball from behind to Gallinari, who was empty on the outside. The Italian finally made a three-pointer for the third time, and the Knicks widened the gap to 5 points again.
"My assists are so great!" Emperor Wu was a little stupid. After playing for a while in the second quarter, his assists were almost ten. The ball passed from him today actually had a bonus effect!?
The Knicks' counterattack came very suddenly. After the second quarter, with the cheers of fans on the scene, Wu Huang quickly assisted O'Neal to score at the basket. Even Reggie Evans hit a close jump shot from the penalty area line under his breakthrough pass.
The Heat hurriedly called out a timeout and wanted to interrupt the Knicks' offensive feeling, but after the timeout, Wu Huang assisted O'Neal again to cause a foul at the basket. Although he did not get an assist this time, O'Neal made one of two free throws and helped the team turn the score into 34:29. The Knicks expanded the lead to 10 points at 8 minutes and 09 seconds in the second quarter.
Emperor Wu can only laugh at this moment. His score was still a pitiful two points, but the number of assists had become 11 times. This is the first time he encountered such a performance. He has never been content to pass the ball to his teammates for so long. He has only made one move in the second quarter and was given a bloody hat by James. His shooting percentage of 1 of 5 shots in the game looks a bit miserable!
Spoelstra finally began to instruct the players to double-team Wu Huang from the midfield, but this time it was not for defending his score, but for defending his assist. This was the first time Wu Huang forced his opponent to double-team himself with assists. The fans in Madison Garden shouted "mvp" again!
Even if Wu Huang scored badly, he was still the protagonist of the whole game and the player who was the most threatening to the Knicks.
James' performance today is actually not inferior to Wu Huang, but not only did the Knicks fans ignore him, except for Miami fans and his own fans, most of the commentators around the world are praising Wu Huang's performance at this moment, and neutral fans are also paying attention to Wu Huang Huang. This partiality makes Wu Huang's fans a little embarrassed.
The Gorillas may have felt the injustice themselves. Two minutes later, the Heat called out a timeout again. This adjustment finally worked. Wu Huang's magic failed to continue to maintain. The Knicks players repeatedly missed the Heat's press. On the offensive end, the Heat's role players finally showed a little presence. Chamos and Jones each hit a three-pointer. Not long after, Wade dunked Garlinari after stealing, and then James broke into the crowd and made a layup.
At 4 minutes and 35 seconds in the second quarter, the Heat finally narrowed the gap to 2 points with 41:43.
James' expression was a bit ferocious. At this time, the gorilla had already entered a violent state. He scored 20 points in less than half. This performance finally made the fans start to turn their attention to him.
The problem with the Knicks was that the long-range shooting was not stable enough. Spoelstra paused two timeouts and then brought the Knicks's just hot touch back to its original form. Wu Huang took the lead in it. His sixth shot missed again. Then Gallinari and Smith's shots hit one iron one after another. Iguodala finally paid a foul on the defensive end to block James' dunk, but he got the punishment of three fouls. This was the first brother who was in a foul crisis in two consecutive games.
After Tony Allen's substitution, he was even more unable to contribute long-range output. D'Antoni began to worry about whether to replace the substitutes? However, it is not his coaching characteristic to easily replace the main players with substitutes. Eight-man rotation is the rotation method he is good at. He will not easily trust these substitutes unless he has to, even if they have performed well in the first quarter.
Looking at his shooting percentage of 1 of 6 shots, Wu Huang really didn't dare to shoot anymore. He played until the last 1 minute and 20 seconds of the first half before he scored his seventh goal in the game, but he still failed to hit it!
"Did I laugh at Durant's three-pointer 0 for 8 shots a few days ago?" Wu Huang had already vaguely seen the little schoolbag's ridicule. This guy would "smile" of course because he saw Wu Huang's pitiful shooting percentage. As for the pain, it was because his team was about to be eliminated 1:3. Even if Wu Huang also shot 0 for 8 shots today, as long as the Knicks won at home, no one would laugh at him after the game. At most, he would make fun of him.
Before the end of the midfield, Wu Huang assisted Monroe to score two points at the basket, but in fact, the Knicks' rookie center performed very poorly today. He has only scored 4 points and 3 rebounds so far, but has 3 fouls and 2 turnovers.
James scored two points through mid-range shots again in his last offense, and the score in the first half was fixed at 49:54, and the Knicks were five points behind the Heat in half.
Wu Huang continued his magical performance in assists. After playing in the first half, he still only had 2 points, but had weird data of 4 rebounds and 13 assists. If the team's feel was not reduced again in the second half of the second quarter, he would have a chance to get more assists.
However, even 13 assists broke his career record. Before that, Wu Huang's half-time assist record was 8, and today it increased the record by as many as five, only 2 times away from the 15 assists record in the half-time maintained by Magic Johnson and Dock Rivers.
The data of other Knicks players is relatively flat, including S.'s performance today is also relatively weak, with only 9 points and 5 rebounds in the first half. Other players: O'Neal's 8 points and 4 rebounds, and Radmanovic's 12 points and 2 rebounds.
No one expected that in this game, the man in the skiing team would make 4 of 5 three-pointers in the first half, and became the player with the highest scoring score in the Knicks team, which made Wu Huang a little embarrassed.
For the Heat, James scored a game-high 25 points, 6 rebounds and 2 assists in the first half, Wade scored 13 points, 4 rebounds and 4 assists, and Bosh scored 8 points and 6 rebounds.
Miami players looked at Radmanovic at this moment with a bad look. If it weren't for this water dispenser, the Heat would have been twice ahead of the Knicks, but now they are only 5 points ahead. This is not a safe score. Such an advantage may be smeared in just one blink of an eye.
Jeff Van Gundy commented at the half-time, saying: "Hugo's pass today has a kind of magic. The NBA history of NBA playoff single assist record is 24 times. This record is maintained by Magic Johnson and Stockton. Although Hugo's 13 assists in the half-time failed to break the playoff half-time assist record, he still has the opportunity to hit the full assist record."
Mark Jackson said: "The Heat players did not have too many excited expressions when they returned to the player's channel. A 5-point lead was not enough to relax them. Looking back at this time, the Heat's performance on the defensive end today is actually very average. They missed many shooting opportunities for the Knicks players. If the latter can regain the feel at a certain time in the second half, for example, like in the first half of the second quarter, the leading side will soon reverse."
After returning to the locker room, Wu Huang encouraged his teammates: "Don't be nervous. They just rely on luck to lead us a few points. We have created enough opportunities in the first half. As long as we continue to maintain this offensive rhythm, we only need to wait for the touch to come back. That is the moment for us to counterattack."
Although the Knicks players responded to the boss's speech, they were very motivated and didn't seem to be very energetic. Including Wu Huang, he was a little embarrassed. When he saw his teammates responded, he climbed onto the chair and asked the masseur to massage himself.
After the first half, the Knicks players became even more tired. When a person was physically and mentally exhausted, they could not just raise the spirit just by trying to raise the spirit.
As soon as Emperor Wu climbed into the chair, he buried his head. There was no rest in the first half, making him want to crawl and watch his teammates finish the next game.
The Heat's locker room is similar. As soon as James returns to the locker room, he actually has the urge to stand up again. Don't think that scoring 25 points in the first half is an easy job. Even if his physical strength is amazing, the energy consumed by his big body is not comparable to that of ordinary players. At this moment, James doubts whether he can continue to play like this and finally whether he can hold on until the end of the game.
At this time, it was actually a contest of willpower between the players on both sides.
Chapter completed!