Basketball Legends: Strikers Are King

"Isn't it true? We were leading just now, weren't we?"

The changes in the situation left the Pacers fans on the sidelines a little at a loss.

"It's okay, we have Paul and Qi, we can definitely recover him!"

A fan's words awakened the fans who came to the home court to support the Pacers, and they all nodded in agreement.

After all, in the previous games against the Spurs and Hawks, it was only George and Qi Tian who turned the tide to win.

"That's right, we have two strikers. If we take turns to use them, we can regain the advantage. Oh no, just equalize the score."

The sudden change in the situation has made the fans' demands no lower.

In the second quarter of the game, the Raptors were not careless and kept DeRozan on the court, paired with Lucas III, Kleiza, Amir Johnson and Ed Davis to form a starting lineup with four substitutes.

The Pacers are much more direct. Although Vogel has various shortcomings, he still has advantages in rotation. He directly leaves George and Qitian on the court, paired with Augustin, Hansbrough and Mahinmi.

Come on stage.

Augustin's ability is indeed not as good as the departed Collison, but he still has the basic skills of a point guard like organizing offense. He used the pick-and-roll to break through and distribute the ball to Mahinmi for a layup.

"29-23."

The Pacers stubbornly narrowed the point difference to 6 points.

"It's okay, I'll come!"

Qi Tian waved his hand and asked George to chase Kleiza on the front line, while he stood in front of DeRozan.

George, who had made an agreement long ago, knew that Qi Tian was doing this to allow him to focus more on the offensive end.

"good!"

George agreed and went to chase Kleiza, but he still put part of his energy into helping Qitian defend.

DeRozan finally didn't have to face George. He wanted to show off, so he tested one after another, and then accelerated his breakthrough.

But Qi Tian quickly moved sideways to stop him, preventing him from rushing forward.

"Um?"

DeRozan's idea of ​​using brute force to cause a sudden attack was abandoned after his physical confrontation with Qi Tian.

Qi Tian smiled slightly and didn't care.

His defense and physical fitness are indeed not strong, but that is compared with George. In fact, Qi Tian's defense has reached the upper level of the league, but there is a gap between Green, Battier, and George who have outstanding defense.

That's all.

DeRozan made several breakthroughs to no avail, so he had no choice but to pass the ball to Kleiza, who caught the ball and shot, making a steady hit.

"31-23."

George could not tolerate his opponent's wantonness. He ran quickly, received the pass from Augustine, and made a long three-point shot from the outside.

"31-26."

"good!"

The Pacers actually chased the score difference to 5 points. The score difference that could be tied in these two or three rounds made the Pacers fans present scream and cheer for George.

"Thank you everyone!"

George, who has a crazy personality, immediately looked around and waved to the fans, which caused the fans to cheer louder.

Kleiza couldn't bear it anymore and gave George an elbow while running. Unfortunately, the referee caught this action and directly whistled a technical foul. Augustin hit the extra penalty and narrowed the score again.

"Substitute!"

Coach Casey's reaction was quicker than fans expected. He directly replaced Lucas III and DeRozan with Calderon and Rose Jr.

"Yo, the Raptors gave up?"

Seeing that the Raptors replaced head coach DeRozan, Pacers fans were overjoyed and ridiculed.

Only some more stable fans did not relax. Although DeRozan left the game, Calderon, who performed outstandingly in the first quarter, was present, so there was no guarantee that there would be no accidents.

Vogel also responded quickly and replaced Hansbrough with West.

"Protect the rebound and play steadily!"

West came on the stage and gave a few words of advice to his teammates. He didn't think he would lose today, but he still had to be careful.

Next, the Pacers increased their defensive intensity and prevented several waves of attacks from their opponents. However, Augustin, George, and even Qi Tian who grabbed offensive rebounds failed to score. The two sides failed to break the scoring drought for one minute.

Calderon's experience came into play again. He found Amir Johnson under the basket, assisted his teammates to score, and then assisted Rose Jr. to make a three-pointer.

"36-27."

What happened next in the second quarter was a bit cruel for Pacers fans. Calderon sent three assists in a row, opening the point difference to double digits in one fell swoop.

Although Augustin hit a three-pointer, West scored in a single inside, and Qi Tian scored 2+1, the midfield buzzer sounded and the Pacers were still 10 points behind their opponents 36-46.

George put in an incredible quarter, and by the end of the second quarter, his shooting numbers went from 1-for-2 to 1-for-5, and he only scored 3 points in the second quarter.

The Pacers head coach was furious in the locker room and was very dissatisfied with the team's performance. He changed his strategy for the first half and said to everyone:

"In the second half, let the inside take more shots, and guard DeRozan and Calderon on the outside. I don't want them to continue their performance in the first half!"

Vogel is worthy of being a defensive coach, and the team's tactical changes in the third quarter were indeed very effective.

Under the focused defense of George and others, DeRozan and Calderon lost their magic in the third quarter. DeRozan made 0 of 3 shots and only scored 4 points on free throws, while Calderon only scored 3 points.

2 assists.

However, West and Hibbert, the insiders who had high hopes for Vogel, failed to live up to the coach's trust. West, who has always been stable, only scored 4 points on free throws in the third quarter, while Hibbert made 2 of 5 shots.

Got 4 points.

In the third quarter, the Pacers were united, scoring 23 points in a single quarter, and tenaciously recovered 1 point...

"69-58."

Looking at the somewhat embarrassed team members, Vogel could hardly control himself and scratched his head ungracefully.

He knew that both Granger and George in the team were prone to convulsions and could seamlessly switch between super gods and super ghosts, but he did not expect that the rest of the team would be like this too. The team's overall shooting rate was even guaranteed to be 40%.

No, the current Pacers can't even find a more stable player!

"Fight defensively!"

Vogel decided to go all out and continue to increase the pressure in the fourth quarter, allowing the players to focus all their energy on defense. After all, this is the rhythm they are most familiar with.

In the fourth quarter, the Pacers gave it a try and actually defended their opponents, making 1 of 15 shots and only scoring 5 points!

But this is not a comfort to the home Pacers fans, because their home team, the Indiana Pacers, only scored 14 points in the fourth quarter and lost to their opponents 72-74 in the end!

It was not that they had no chance. In the last minute, Qi Tian's jump shot narrowed the point difference to 2 points, and Amir Johnson's three-pointer gave them a chance.

But then, West struck, grabbed an offensive rebound, and struck again;

George grabbed the offensive rebound and hit a three-pointer;

Grabbing an offensive rebound again, Hill made a jump shot;

George grabbed the offensive rebound and struck again.

In the last 20 seconds, under the gaze of Pacers fans, it finally returned to zero. The emotion in their hearts was not despair, but a desire to laugh.

What's going on here?