Basketball Legends: Strikers Are King

George hit a three-pointer, and Mahinmi grabbed the offensive rebound under the basket and then made a tip-in.

"25-22."

After the first quarter, the Pacers only led their opponents by 3 points.

The faces of coaches Vogel and Larry Drew of the two teams were very solemn. They both knew that today's game would not be won by relying on the performance of a certain quarter or one person, but must rely on the efforts of the entire team.

The Pacers' offense played smoothly. West scored 12 points on 5 of 7 shots, leading the team;

The defense was also very good. Horford only scored 3 points on 1 of 4 shots. Korver's three consecutive three-point attempts ended in failure, and the score was ruined.

But they still couldn't open up the score. The reason was that the new Eagles king Josh Smith was full of firepower. He scored 9 points on 4 of 5 shots in the first quarter.

"We need to strengthen our outside shots and do a good job in internal defense."

Vogel began to harangue the players.

Against a team with an average lineup, it is indeed difficult to defend. They have no particularly outstanding offensive weaknesses. The Pacers do not dare to leave anyone open. If they cannot defend one-on-one, they can only selectively defend them.

Arrange and kill the opponent's strong points.

As everyone knows, the Eagles on the opposite side are also worried about setting up defense.

Hibbert is tall and has long arms, and Zaza Pachulia can match him due to his tonnage;

West's offense and defense are full, and Horford can at best compete with him;

Josh has a bit of an advantage compared to George, and coupled with Qi Tian, ​​who is more comprehensive than Korver, but his outside shooting cannot be underestimated, their advantage is not obvious;

George Hill, the combo guard opposite Teague, is not a weak player either.

After comparison, it was discovered that the lineup configurations of the two teams were so similar that the Eagles didn't know how to arrange them on defense.

Regardless of how the coaches of the two teams arranged their defense, the second quarter of the game started quickly, with both teams fielding their second lineups.

The pacers are Augustine, Stephenson, Qi Tian, ​​Hansbrough and Mahinmi;

The Eagles are Harris, Williams, Stevenson, Ivan Johnson and Anthony Tolliver.

The Pacers have full confidence in their bench because they have Qi Tian;

And the same goes for the Hawks, because they have Lou Williams.

Soon to be Sixth Man of the Year but not yet Sixth Man of the Year, Lou Williams has quickly proven why he should be.

Just 15 seconds into the second quarter, he received a pass from Harris and hit a three-pointer from the outside.

"25-25."

Qi Tian wanted to retaliate and passed the ball to Augustin on the outside, but Augustin made a three-pointer and the Eagles took the opportunity to assist Ivan Johnson to score inside from Stevenson.

Vogel frowned slightly.

Then Mahinmi, who received the ball inside, also made a turnover. Lu Wei made a sudden score and assisted Stevenson in hitting a three-pointer.

"25-30."

Just one and a half minutes into the second quarter, the Eagles took the lead.

"Atlanta, charge!"

The Eagles fans on the sidelines immediately shouted and cheered them on.

After Tolliver stole the basketball from Hansbrough, their shouts became even louder.

The Hawks immediately started a fast break, and Tolliver faced Hansbrough for a layup, but he quickly jumped up and grabbed the offensive rebound.

Just when he was about to make a tip-in and the Eagles fans were eager to cheer, Qi Tian jumped out from behind his opponent and nailed the basketball to the backboard with a slap.

"clang!"

The basketball hit the backboard hard, bounced out and was picked up by Stephenson.

"nice shot!"

Pacers fans cheered.

Stephenson dribbled the ball forward to start a fast break, and Mahinmi caught the ball and hit a layup. His loud shout also attracted the attention of the referee.

"Dudu!"

The referee pointed at Ivan Johnson, indicating that it was a defensive foul on his part.

2+1!

"ok!!"

Everyone on the bench stood up, waving towels and cheering for new aid Mahinmi.

"Huh~"

Mahinmi walked to the free throw line, exhaled slightly, and shot the extra free throw.

"clang!"

Something happened that raised the blood pressure of Pacers fans, so we’ll impose additional penalties!

But Qi Tian quickly stood out from the fight. He jumped up to grab the rebound and quickly passed the ball to Augustin from the outside.

Augustin also showed a strong offensive sense, quickly passing the ball to Hansbrough in the high position, and Hansbrough took the shot confidently.

"clang!"

Blacksmithing again?!

Vogel's brows were already frowning tightly.

Since West arrived, he has become more and more angry with this white power forward. It stands to reason that if you are a starting power forward and you are replaced on the bench, as long as you have the ball, aren't you going to kill everyone?

But Hansbrough couldn't help it. He saw who was being bullied by whom. This time it was better. Who was the opposite Ivan Johnson?

As an undrafted player in 2007, he played in the NBDL, Korean League and CBA, but was cut by the Double Stars before coming to the NBA. He could only get a one-year contract offer of 960,000 yuan.

If you are facing such an inside man who is shorter than you, you can still be beaten by your opponent. Is it worthy of your status as a first-round pick?

Hansbrough then proved it with his own performance:

He is really sorry for his identity.

Ivan Johnson grabbed rebounds one after another, and even Lou Williams was able to grab offensive rebounds over his head.

If Hansbrough hadn't scored 2 points inside, Vogel would have just wanted to replace him.

But it was of no use. After Augustin and Qi Tian missed three-pointers one after another, the Eagles extended their lead to double digits with Ivan Johnson's 5 points and Harris' 2 points.

"29-39."

Although less than 5 minutes passed in the second quarter, Vogel could only replace Hill and Hibbert to strengthen the offense.

The Eagles also replaced Teague and Pachulia as a response, and then replaced Josh Smith, who was full of energy.

Hibbert scored inside to help the team stabilize the situation. After Teague hit the iron, Stephenson, who got the rebound, advanced with the ball and passed the ball to Qi Tian outside the three-point line. Qi Tian hit the first three-pointer of the game.

point.

"34-39."

"The opponent is indeed very strong!"

The originally wide point difference was caught up by the Pacers, and Eagles fans also felt the difficulty of their opponents.

After missing Joe Johnson, the Hawks' offense can only rely on Josh Smith, but Josh Smith's offense is somewhat lackluster except for breakthrough dunks.

In the case of high defensive intensity, without a stable scorer, opponents will naturally catch up with them.

Sure enough, although Horford and Teague scored 7 points in a row to widen the point difference again, Hill and Hibbert also responded with 7 points in a row, firmly maintaining a 4-point point difference.

"41-45."

Teague hit a three-pointer, George took off the rebound, dribbled to the frontcourt, and directly found Qi Tian who was ambushing outside the three-point line.

Qi Tian swayed past Korver, took a step sideways, and shot a three-point jumper.

"Whoosh!"

Basketball hollow hit.

"44-45."

The point difference is only 1 point.