On May 17, the Thunder and Rockets game was held in the afternoon, but this time period would not have too high ratings in the United States. Most American families like to sit together to watch the game after 8 o'clock in the evening, and fans don't like to watch the game in the afternoon, so the ** point in the evening is the prime time. The league has always liked to arrange the game that attracts the most ratings at this time. So seeing that the Knicks basically start the game at this time, both at home and away games, you can see which team the league is most favored at the moment.

The Knicks players did not go to watch the Rockets and Thunder in the afternoon. Although the Thunder is their potential opponent in the finals, the Knicks still chose to focus on their own game first and watch the video of the game afterwards.

Wu Huang did not see Yao Ming's tragedy in this game. The little giants were almost in the front and back attacks between Ibaka and Perkins. Every time they touched the ball, they could see him finally squeezed to the penalty area line under Perkins' defense. However, Ibaka was already surrounded like a big spider at this time. In addition, the Thunder would also cooperate with the inside to shrink the defense. Yao Ming had no chance to make the next move, so he could only pass the ball as soon as possible, otherwise he would be entangled by Durant and Westbrook. At that time, it would be difficult for him to pass the ball.

Ibaka became the Thunder's internal and external defense link in the playoffs. He has the ability to release and assist defense in the top three in the league. The only one-on-one defense that is insufficient has reached the mid-level level of the league. However, even if it is not single defense, the two unique skills of release and assist defense alone are enough to compete with Howard and Chandler for the throne of the best defensive player.

The Oklahoma media were naturally very excited. They praised another Spaniard for playing in the NBA. Ibaka has top mobility on the defensive end. He is like a state-of-the-art air defense missile system when dealing with the breakthrough and attack of enemy outside players. He has the style of Garnett when he was young in actual combat.

Well... Espanyol is indeed good, but this evaluation is too big! Ibaka's performance this year is undeniable, but his height, wingspan, and even athletic ability are one level worse than the peak Wolf King. Not to mention that Garnett's ability to command teammates' defense is completely unavailable, and one-on-one defense is also much worse. Even in terms of coordination ability alone, he is half a piece of Garnett's.

If I really want to compare Ibaka with whom, then Josh Smith is still much the same.

Both of them are outrageously defensive players, good at assisting defense blocking, and extremely excellent air defense capabilities. However, Josh's offensive and single-defense capabilities are still much better than Ibaka, so Ibaka does not have the real All-Star strength. It can only be said that there are fewer and fewer forward players in recent years, which makes him particularly outstanding.

But no matter what level Ibaka has reached, at least today's Rockets are overwhelmed by this guy, especially this season, which likes to play in the first, first, fourth, and even all small lineups. Once Ibaka meets Ibaka, it will be considered as having a nemesis.

The most suitable Espanyol defense is a small lineup. Once the Rockets' outside players break through and hit the penalty area, they will definitely face his blocking threat, and their shooting rate will drop significantly. Moreover, after the attack fails, it is easy to be easily attacked by the third young master of Thunder, who is good at seizing counterattack opportunities, through quick counterattacks, it is easy to hit attack waves by the third young master of Thunder, who is good at seizing counterattacks.

The Rockets basically died in the Thunder's counterattack and fast attack in the first three games, and today is no exception.

Yao Ming saw his team lose resistance in the third quarter, and he inevitably had the idea of ​​his teammates being too weak. The fact is that when he met a strong team like the Thunder, the Rockets, who usually play well, suddenly became like the CBA level, which made him think of "What would happen if he played in the Knicks at this time?"

"No matter what, at least it won't be swept 4:0, right?" Yao Ming smiled bitterly. This was the first time he was swept in the playoffs, especially when the Thunder were so young, which also means that unless the Rockets can introduce one or two star-level players, they are destined to be unable to overcome the Thunder in the future.

After learning that the Rockets were swept by the Thunder, Wu Huang did not call Yao Ming, but sent a comforting text message.

Of course he knew that calling Yao Ming was too stupid at this time. If he was swept away, he would only be willing to listen to the comfort of his parents and girls. He would not be willing to listen to other people's calls, so he just sent a text message at this time.

"Guys, the Thunder have become the first team to advance. We must not fall behind too much. We will end the suspense of the game in the shortest time." Wu Huang is having dinner with his teammates in the hotel restaurant. The nine o'clock game allows them to eat at normal dinner time.

"I don't want to play the fifth game anymore." Gasol said in his heart. After playing a reduced season, of course, he can play one less game now.

"They won't have the chance to come to New York again!" David Xi's expression was quite fierce, but Emperor Wu secretly complained that it was the negative effect of being ugly.

Two hours later, the players of the two teams who participated in the pre-match press conference returned to their respective locker rooms, but compared to the Knicks who were still talking and laughing, the Pacers' locker room seemed too quiet before the game.

Although Danny Granger did his core responsibilities in the locker room to encourage his teammates, his passionless expression and tone made this motivation seem to be of little effect, and maybe even lower his confidence.

Larry Bird also came to the locker room soon after. He had not been to his team's locker room before the first three games. He was worried that his arrival would put unnecessary pressure on these players. Larry Bird was very clear about his position in these young players, but these things would turn into heavy pressure during the game, especially when they were not as strong as their opponents.

But today is different. Although Larry Bird does not expect the team to turn defeat into victory, he does not want to see his team swept by the Knicks for two consecutive years. This will make him very embarrassed in front of his friends. How can he make fun of Michael's bad team in the future?

As soon as Larry Bird showed up in the locker room, some Pacers players immediately subconsciously lowered their heads, and they did not dare to look up and look at Bird. Big Bird's natural gloomy eyes made him feel a little scared among these young players. Bird has the kind of face that is not angry and self-righteous, and it is easy for people to feel fear based on his face. Therefore, his accumulated power is very deep in the Pacers.

"From your eyes, I see weakness and incompetence!" Larry Bird was not here to encourage them. He always had a harsh style. Therefore, seeing these players dare not look up at him, I felt even more angry. "You are all soft-boys, that yellow-skinned guy has been kicking your ass, but when I saw you not resisting, I took off your pants instead."

Larry Bird's training will not actually have any effect, but it will easily make the players even more in a state. In fact, like Jordan, he is not very good at managing the team. Whenever the Pacers are in trouble, Bird will always criticize the players for being soft and the coach is incompetent. This stick-like management method is very debatable.

In contrast, the Heat, which has been in trouble in the past two years, every time Spoelstra loses and is controversial, Riley always comes out to support the young coach at the first time. These are two situations worth comparing.

The Knicks didn't know that Larry Bird helped them today. Before the game, Big Bird not only smeared the player's saliva in the locker room, but also the young head coach Vogel did not avoid it. He was also criticized by Bird for being too weak.

Larry Bird didn't go to the locker room to scold these players, but he couldn't stand his players showing a coward, and finally couldn't help it, and then an outbreak came in the locker room!

This is also a common problem among legendary superstars. These guys always demand young players according to their own standards. Bird has never been afraid of anyone back then, so he doesn't like this situation of being timid before the battle. He really feels that even if there is a chance 0:3, most people don't think the Pacers still have a chance.

After Wu Huang appeared, he saw Pacers players like eggplant hit by frost. These guys seemed to have been tortured by several female ***ers. They were all listless and looked listless.

"What's wrong with these guys?" Of course, Wu Huang could not guess that they were criticized by Larry Bird for more than ten minutes in the locker room. Especially Granger, who was criticized several times, was angry and ashamed at this moment. He already felt that he was likely to be traded next season. After even looking up at the Knicks players, he felt the urge to go to this team to hug his thighs. At least this would prevent him from losing so badly.

The Knicks said they were not interested. More than 10 million main players were too expensive. This guy should stay with the Pacers to continue suppressing Paul George.

However, at the beginning of the game, Bird's pre-game lecture seemed to have some effect. As soon as the Pacers started, the offensive was thrilling. Although they seemed to be throwing around and mostly acted unreasonably, this way of throwing the pot caught the Knicks off guard for a while. So Granger made a three-pointer outside and Hibert made a two-pointer inside. Under the leadership of the two, the Pacers directly hit the Knicks 15-5 at the beginning.

Emperor Wu felt that the pace was not right. He was a little confused about why he fell behind ten thousand at once?

The Pacers players were even more confused. They couldn't understand why they were just 10 in a mess of fighting?

Larry Bird finally laughed in the private room. He felt that his lecture had worked and thought that this generation of players was all his filthy bones, and he would not be able to get it if he didn't scold him hard.

"First be steady. They are lucky to start the game. We should not be confused. We will find an opportunity to fight back. If we don't have the opportunity, we will chase them one by one." Wu Huang ordered the player after the timeout. D'Antoni on the side felt very embarrassed. Who is the head coach here?

The Knicks players took the order one after another. They were indeed a little panicked, but Wu Huang's calmness made them stabilize their mentality. They really didn't have to take it seriously. They just needed to find an opportunity to fight a wave of offensives and they would be reinvigorated.

Although Xiao Wangzi was so angry that she was in her heart, the team would not easily collapse with the backbone like Wu Huang.

After the timeout, the Knicks immediately launched a counterattack. At this time, the Pacers replaced several substitutes to change their defensive mobility, but it was useless. Granger and Paul George made consecutive mistakes, and Hibert made 0 of 3 shots under double teaming. If the referee hadn't shown mercy, he boasted several fouls of the Knicks, allowing the Pacers players to go to the free throw line and scored a few points. It was estimated that they were really killed by the Knicks in a wave of offensive.

Vogel then replaced Collison, but there was no chance of a loss. This man made 0 of 2 shots under Wu Huang's defense. After the Knicks stopped, they not only scored continuously on the offensive end, but also showed strong strength on the defensive end. Especially after Wu Huang's best team, after playing hard to defend, George Hill and Collison were unable to score on him, no matter who was there, it was difficult for George Hill and Collison to score points on him.

After entering the rotation time in the first quarter, the Pacers became increasingly unfavorable. Gallinari and Monroe, on the Knicks, got hot as soon as they got up. The two of them helped Wu Huang to get three assists.

"I won't go on the first half." This is what Wu Huang said to D'Antoni after the first quarter. His physical condition has been praised for a long rest in the first round. In addition, he has not tasted the meaty smell in the away game these days. Not to mention playing the first half, even if he plays for 48 minutes and adds two overtime games today, it will not be a problem.

So Wu Huang planned to stay on the court so much today until he was sure that the Knicks won the game.

Of course, D'Antoni didn't dare to refuse to follow. In fact, he had planned so in his heart, but he was raised up by Emperor Wu first, which made him very embarrassed.

The Pacers started to double-team Wu Huang from the second half of the first quarter. Bird's pre-match talk played some role again. The Pacers players finally treated Wu Huang as the enemy who killed his father to defend, and used all the best to push and pull the elbow. But the result was that Wu Huang got 5 free throw opportunities in the first quarter. This was the referee's home court, if it was replaced by the Knicks' home court, the Holy Master would have killed them with free throws.

The Indiana people relied on a mad dog-like spirit to fight the Knicks today. However, in addition to causing the Knicks to be uncomfortable at the beginning, New York players have found a way to deal with it as the game progresses. They found that the Pacers players' madness is more like the red-eyed Bulls. Although they run tirelessly, they are enough to play on the offensive end, and have a great intensity on the defensive end, but they often lack the use of rationality and tactics. This is just blindly rushing and hitting, and it is more like the last madness of a person who is in desperate situation before his death.

The Knicks no longer play fast since the second quarter. They are not slowing down this season. You can do it as you want to be crazy, but we won’t be crazy with you. We are going to play success rate now.

Starting from the second quarter, the Knicks have conducted more and more offensive passes, and rarely shoot within three passes. Each attack must turn the basketball around the hands of five people, fully mobilizing Pacers like crazy bulls, and at the same time looking for easier shooting opportunities to increase the success rate of each attack.

Emperor Wu's idea is very clear. As long as he continues to use position attacks to get points for a period of time, the Pacers players will become more impulsive and chaotic today. At that time, they will change the rhythm and fight for a defensive counterattack for a while. Using offense and defense conversion to attack the Pacers' active but seemingly chaotic game rhythm, they will definitely achieve twice the result with half the effort.

In the middle of the second quarter, the Knicks seized such an opportunity. Wu Huang led the Knicks to grind the Pacers in the positional battle for a long time, and suddenly changed the rhythm and launched a counterattack. He used the Pacers' quick conversion opportunity to miss the shot for several consecutive rounds to hit a fast transition opportunity in the first two seasons.

The change in rhythm of the Knicks quickly disrupted the Pacers' defense. After Wu Huang used his personal ability to score 4 points in a row, he assisted Iguodala and David West to dunk. The Knicks scored an 8:0 attack wave and instantly made the score difference reach 16 points.

Larry Bird looked at the score that was instantly pulled apart, and was so angry that he cursed "waste" in the private room and smashed the red wine glass on his hand.

At this moment, Larry Bird is as familiar with the pace as the Pacers on the field. Isn’t this the rhythm taken away by another wave of flow? (To be continued.)
Chapter completed!