Basketball Legends: Strikers Are King

The Pacers scored two consecutive three-pointers to narrow the point difference. The home fans on the sidelines immediately cheered, hoping that the team could continue their efforts.

"There are three minutes left in the first half. Let's work hard. Isn't it a dream to tie the score?!"

"Yes, yes, Vogel is such a genius. Why did he come up with a three-forward lineup? The opponent was unable to fight back!"

While the fans were getting excited, they saw Hibbert and Dampier entangled under the basket, and the referee next to him immediately blew the whistle.

"What's going on?"

Qi Tian, ​​who was defending at the top of the arc, turned around and saw the situation under the basket. He quickly walked over with Granger George and separated the two.

It turned out that when Hibbert was defending Dampier and his opponent, he was annoyed by Dampier's little moves and gave his opponent a hard elbow.

"Dudu!"

For the conflict on the court, the referee was well prepared and decisively called Hibbert's technical foul to prevent the matter from getting serious.

After all, one of these two teams has a criminal record.

"It's okay, don't get in trouble."

Granger suppressed the helplessness in his heart, comforted Hibbert, and waited for Stackhouse to take the technical foul free throw before starting to defend.

This is the tuition that young players must pay to grow up.

Yes, you can be angry, but losing your temper at a critical moment when the team is chasing points will only sap the team's energy and give the opponent a chance.

Hibbert, who is currently in fourth grade, still doesn't understand this truth, and Granger can only hope that he can understand it soon.

It was still the Eagles' offense. Josh Smith knew that his opponent was tightly guarding him. After directly catching the ball inside to attract the defense, he passed it to Marvin Williams on the outside. Williams made a long three-pointer from the outside and scored.

"56-46."

The Eagles scored 4 points in one round, directly bringing the point difference to double digits.

The Pacers' efforts in the previous rounds were in vain.

"Give me!"

Granger stood up again, reached for the ball, singled out Williams, broke through in a different direction, and hit a layup;

Jeff Teague found Qitian's defensive weakness, started to accelerate, forced a break through the basket and scored a dunk.

"nta!"

The momentum of the Eagles gradually increased, and the fans on the sidelines even shouted slogans for the Eagles' playoffs to cheer them on.

Fortunately, the Pacers' defense was still there, and George Hibbert caused damage under the basket, successfully reducing the score again.

"58-54."

The Pacers narrowed the point difference to 4 points at halftime. What made the fans even more happy was that the team successfully limited Josh Smith, who performed well in the first quarter, allowing him to only score 3 points in a single quarter, and scored "only" in the first half.

16 points.

"It seems we still have the strength."

The two sides were almost back on the same starting line, and the mood of the Pacers fans on the sidelines immediately calmed down a lot.

After all, just looking at the first quarter, the Pacers' performance was almost the same as that of the Tanks.

"Keep working hard in the second half!"

They cheered for the Pacers who were returning to the locker room through the tunnel, and then took advantage of the rare halftime to either solve physical problems or focus on the halftime performance.

Eagles head coach Larry Drew is not a fool. During halftime, he said directly to the Eagles:

"The other party is guarding against Josh, we need to make changes!"

Teague's expression immediately became a little surprised.

Josh Smith is now the main offensive point of the Eagles. If you want to change it now...

Sure enough, Drew looked at Teague and said to him:

"In the second half of the game, it's up to you to control the ball."

Without waiting for Teague to nod, the head coach continued,

"To maximize Josh's offensive deterrence, pass the ball when you have the chance!"

"clear!"

Teague suppressed his excitement and expressed his loyalty to the head coach:

"I will definitely be able to help Josh and lead the team to victory!"

At the beginning of the second half of the game, both teams still had their main players on the field.

Of course, Vogel honestly replaced Collison as the point guard and did not continue to make adjustments. This disappointed fans who expected the Pacers to continue their five-major lineup.

Teague controlled the ball and advanced, breaking through and assisting Josh Smith to score a jumper. The Pacers also continued to chase points under the leadership of Granger, but George and Hibbert had poor touch and kept hitting the ball.

Fortunately, Granger accurately hit a three-pointer to help the team stop the bleeding.

George received a pass from Granger and hit a three-pointer, tying the score in one fell swoop.

"62-62."

Teague called for a pick-and-roll and broke through to Josh Smith in the corner. Josh saw the opportunity and directly shot the three-pointer that he has been obsessed with recently.

West tried his best to defend, but he could only watch the basketball pass through his fingertips and fly out.

"Whoosh!"

Accurate basketball shooting.

Josh became more courageous as he fought, and he also hit high jump shots steadily, helping the team regain the lead.

The Pacers also recovered somewhat, scoring points one after another, and the scores of the two teams gradually increased.

"Coach, the opponent's offense has become much smoother."

Brian Shaw was a little anxious, lowered his head and said to Vogel,

"They let Teague control the ball and freed up Josh to attack, which was really difficult."

Vogel nodded in agreement.

West had difficulty keeping up with Josh, which was the main reason why the Pacers had difficulty defending Josh's offense.

"I think it's better to let Granger keep an eye on Josh."

Brian Shaw came up with his own idea.

Vogel quickly rejected it.

"West also can't keep up with Marvin Williams. Letting Granger defend Josh will only waste Granger's energy."

In order to completely release the threat of Josh Smith on the front line, the Eagles paired him with Marvin Williams, who has shooting range and the ability to rush rebounds. For the Pacers, they need to defend two forwards with fast feet.

, this really hit West's seven inches.

"Or..."

Brian Shaw saw this and said,

"Replace West?"

Vogel glanced at the chief assistant coach and said nothing.

Just like Williams is to Josh, West's role on the court can also relieve Granger's pressure:

On offense, West, who has range, can open up the space, and on defense, he can match up with the opponent's power forward.

But if West is replaced as Brian Shaw said, no matter whether George or Qi Tian is on the field, neither George nor Qi Tian has the ability to defend the power forward. Then Granger can only be used to mark Josh, leaving more defensive pressure.

The light Williams is handed over to the small forward for defense.

Let the team boss who is at his peak work for the rookie?

After exhausting Vogel's knowledge base, he only knew that the Admiral once selflessly helped Duncan, but it was only in the ninth season of Admiral Robinson's career that he chose to give up power at the age of 35.

"Let's wait a little longer."

Vogel seemed to be talking to himself and said as if in reply.

Brian Xiao understood what he meant, lowered his head and stopped talking.