Basketball Legends: Strikers Are King

"It doesn't feel right."

The Pacers fans off the court suddenly reacted,

"Howard played less than 8 minutes, but we only tied with our opponents."

He and his companions looked at each other in confusion.

"If Howard plays..."

Vogel in the locker room had similar thoughts. He looked down at the halftime statistics.

Howard only scored 6 points on 3 of 4 shots. After he came off the court, the Pacers immediately strengthened their defense against Turkoglu and achieved results.

Turkoglu made 1 of 5 three-pointers and only scored 5 points. On the contrary, Ryan Anderson, who the team did not pay much attention to, made 3 of 3 three-pointers and scored the Magic's highest 11 points.

For the Pacers, Hibbert and Granger scored 12 points, 6 rebounds and 2 assists, and 10 points, 2 rebounds and 3 assists respectively.

Is anyone behaving like a war criminal?

Vogel searched but found nothing.

You know, the Pacers made 19 of 40 shots in the half, with a shooting percentage of 47.5%, 2 of 3 three-pointers, and 5 of 5 free throws, with a 100% three-point shooting rate.

"What exactly went wrong?"

Vogel was silent.

If the person he is asking this question is Qi Tian, ​​then Qi Tian can tell him that it is a question of three points.

The Magic made 5 of 15 three-pointers, hitting 3 more three-pointers than the Pacers, which is a 9-point difference. They overall shot 17 of 40, and their shooting percentage was also quite high.

The power of the three-point shot was demonstrated by the Magic.

"In the second half, we need to strengthen our defense inside."

Vogel shook his head, threw away the unanswered questions, and began to exhort the team members,

"Especially Howard, he didn't have much playing time in the first half due to foul trouble. He will be cautious when defending in the second half. This is our opportunity."

He looked at George and Granger and said:

"When necessary, attack the inside more often to cause him to foul."

George and Granger nodded and followed the coach's instructions.

Qi Tian, ​​who was sitting in the corner, blinked and said nothing.

A few years from now, the scene of the game will definitely be two sides shooting three-pointers;

But now, even if the opponent's three-pointers are much more obvious, the unaware Pacers will still choose to attack the inside.

This is not necessarily wrong. After all, the Pacers rely on defense to build a team. The only players on the back line and even on the forward line who can stably shoot more than 35% in three-point shooting are Collison, Hill, George and Granger.

There are four people, and the one with the most three-point production is Granger, who averages two three-pointers per game.

He originally shot less, and his shooting rate was not stable enough. It’s no wonder Vogel didn’t plan to choose three-point shooting as a response.

At the end of the halftime break, the two teams returned to the court again.

Naturally, both teams switched to the starting lineup, and what made Pacers fans feel heavy was naturally that Howard, who had no chance to perform in the first half, was waiting for the Magic to show his prowess in the second half.

Granger broke through and found Hibbert under the basket. Hibbert received the ball without giving Howard a chance and forced a dunk.

"45-47."

Is this the number one center forward?

Hibbert glanced at Howard next to him provocatively, turned around and left.

Feeling the opponent's provocation, Howard almost asked for the ball to play alone. Fortunately, he learned enough lessons in the first half. Howard suppressed his temper and stepped forward to help Nelson pick and roll.

Collison saw his opponent move sideways to break through, and was about to follow up to defend when he bumped into Howard.

"Oh, this looks like a wall."

Collison's shoulder hurt and he could only try his best to avoid the defense.

Nelson made an open three-pointer directly.

"clang!"

The basketball jumped out of the basket and immediately became a mass under the basket.

Seeing Granger's little move when grabbing a rebound, the referee immediately blew the whistle and awarded the ball to the Magic.

"Defend!"

"Defend!"

The score became entangled, and the Pacers fans on the sidelines immediately shouted to support the team.

Richardson took the pass from Howard and quickly broke through to the outside. Seeing that George in front of him didn't come close to him, he forced a three-point jumper.

"clang!"

Under his confident gaze, the basketball jumped out of the frame and was captured by Hibbert.

"Quick attack!"

Relying on the speed of George and Granger on the front line, the Pacers, who love fast breaks, met their opponents. The Magic quickly retreated and tried their best to follow their opponents.

Especially Howard at the center position, his running speed is not inferior to Collison, and he actually came to the Magic half court at the same time as his opponent.

"No chance."

Seeing Howard running back to guard the basket, Collison, standing at the top of the arc, was preparing to wait for his teammates before attacking the basket.

"Give me!"

Paul George ran quickly, got rid of Anderson, ran to the open space and reached for the ball.

Confidently, he took the ball and took a long three-point shot.

"clang!"

"Tsk."

Seeing the basketball bounce out of the hoop and being collected by Turkoglu, George curled his lips helplessly.

The Pacers play fast, and the Magic choose to play slow.

Nelson held the ball from the outside, and Howard came up to pick and roll. After he broke through, he handed it to Richardson on the other side.

Richardson feinted a shot, tricked George, and then made an emergency jump shot.

"clang!"

The ironclad atmosphere seems to have spread to the Magic.

But Ryan Anderson rarely grabbed an offensive rebound and directly tipped the ball in.

"47-47."

Granger was finally ready to stand up. He reached out to his teammates for the ball, and then hit Ryan Anderson alone.

The slow-footed Ryan Anderson was no match for him, and Granger easily changed his direction and passed him.

Turkoglu, who was next to him, saw Granger break through and immediately came up to him. He waited for Granger to lay up and immediately jumped up to try to block the shot.

In the passionate collision, the two fell to the ground one after another.

"Dudu!"

After all, Turkoglu was not Howard. The referee next to him immediately blew the whistle and called him a shooting foul.

"Two free throws!"

Granger made two free throws to help the team take the lead again.

Nelson took advantage of Howard's pick-and-roll breakthrough and handed Turkoglu to the basket.

West quickly stepped forward to defend and blocked the opponent's lower plate.

"Give me!"

Just when Turkoglu was about to take action, he heard Howard's voice, and he reflexively passed the ball immediately.

Howard picked up his speed, jumped high after receiving the pass, and wanted to dunk.

"Humph, you're overthinking it."

Hibbert also jumped up and collided passionately with his opponent.

"Uh-huh!"

Howard smiled disdainfully, and after colliding with his opponent, he forcibly dunked the basketball in his hand into the basket!

Hibbert was completely knocked away by his opponent and fell to the ground.

Violent buckle!

"bang!"

The Magic fans on the sidelines were ignited by Howard's wonderful dunk and immediately exploded. They waved their banners wildly to cheer for the home team.

“49-49.”