Basketball Legends: Strikers Are King

Hibbert's offense seemed clumsy in front of Gasol and was defended by his opponent. Fortunately, West also defended Randolph's offense and successfully received a pass from Augustin on the fast break to help the team tie the score.

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Gay singled out the ball, and then the Grizzlies defended the Pacers' attack. Conley assisted Gay to score.

Qi Tian fired from outside the three-point line and hit the first three-pointer. The score between the two sides continued to rise.

Augustin received the pass and hit a three-pointer, and the Pacers actually took the lead.

"6-10."

"Come on, cavalry team!"

Pacers fans cheered for the team.

But the Grizzlies quickly showed their strength. Randolph and Gasol grabbed consecutive offensive rebounds, and Gay scored with a jumper. Then Gasol and Randolph passed inside and scored a layup to help the ball.

The team equalized the score.

"Give me!"

Qi Tian quickly passed the ball to George in the bottom corner. George faced Gay's defense and made a strong three-pointer.

"Whoosh!"

Basketball hollow hit.

"10-13."

"OK!"

"Too accurate!"

Somehow, the Pacers hit all three of their three-point attempts today.

The Pacers fans cheered, but the coaching staff on the sidelines were a little uneasy.

The team feels good today, which is a good thing, but if it can't open the score even when it feels good...

Halfway through the first quarter, the two teams gradually replaced substitutes. Hansbrough received a pass from Qi Tian and made a layup to help the team maintain the lead.

"15-19."

But in the last three minutes, the Grizzlies relied on Randolph and Gasol to take turns to play, and they just frustrate the Pacers' offense continuously, and they evened the score by scoring piecemeal.

"19-19."

In the first quarter, the two teams were tied and neither scored more than 20 points, which was enough to show their defensive strength.

"That's not good!"

Brian Shaw looked at the players and said to the head coach with some concern,

"In the first quarter of the game, we made 3 of 6 three-pointers and were not able to complete the lead. If we feel better later..."

The Pacers' three-point shooting percentage this season is 34.7%. Although there is a possibility of a explosive game, Brian Shaw feels that it will not be today.

Vogel sighed and pointed out a problem that Brian Shaw had not noticed:

"The problem is not only external, but also internal."

The inside line composed of Gasol and Randolph can completely block the attacks of Hibbert and West. Under the deterrence of the two of them, West and Hibbert don't even have a chance to make a move.

The most important thing is that the Grizzlies' twin towers are much stronger than the Pacers.

Hibbert West needs time to rest, but Randolph does not. Even when Gasol comes off the court to rest, he can play as the center and fight with the Pacers' substitutes.

There is at least one tower on the inside at all times, plus Conley, Tony Allen and Gay on the outside. This is the guarantee of the Grizzlies' high-intensity defense for 48 minutes.

"unless……"

Brian Shaw whispered,

"Someone can disrupt the Grizzlies' defense and force them to change their defensive formation."

Naturally, he was thinking of his former team's Kobe Bryant.

Vogel sighed again.

If every team had someone like this, the Grizzlies wouldn't be such a headache for other teams.

Vogel believes that even if Granger is here now, he may not be able to become such a person.

George has to look at his condition today. As for Qi Tian?

Vogel looked at Tony Allen, who was resting on the bench, and sighed again.

This is someone who can limit Durant, and he can defend him all over the place. I'm afraid it won't be a problem.

In the second quarter of the game, the Pacers directly replaced the full substitute lineup of Ben Hansbrough, Stephenson, Sam Young, Hansbrough and Mahinmi.

After all, it is the regular season, and it is also a task to take advantage of the opportunity to tap the team's potential strength. Vogel plans to see if, besides Augustin and Qi Tian, ​​there are any players on the Pacers' bench who can stand out.

Grizzlies head coach Hollins had no such idea and directly replaced Randolph and Conley with Ellington, Arthur and Speights.

The two forwards on the Grizzlies frontline who were over 2 meters in height suddenly crowded the interior of the stadium. The advantage of having more people inside was that Hansbrough and Mahinmi made consecutive mistakes. The Grizzlies succeeded in consecutive attacks. At the beginning of the second quarter

The advantage was expanded in two minutes.

"25-19."

Vogel was shocked and raised his hand to make a substitution.

Fortunately, things quickly turned around.

That's why the Grizzlies' offense is so constipated.

Speights and Randolph worked hard inside, and the Grizzlies' scoring drought lasted for two minutes. Mahinmi took the opportunity to score to help the team stop the bleeding.

But the gap between him and Randolph was too big. Turning around, Randolph scored 2+1, widening the point difference again.

"Substitute!"

Vogel replaced West, George and Qi Tian.

Hollins also replaced Gay.

"Whoosh!"

Not long after Qi Tian came on the court, he hit another three-pointer to help the team chase points.

"30-26."

"Huh~"

Returning to his own half, he let out a long breath.

So tired!

Qi Tian only felt that playing this half of the game against the Grizzlies was more tiring than playing the entire game before.

The Grizzlies defense is almost indistinguishable from the Magic with Howard:

Squatting inside and sweeping outside, forcing you to break through and face Randolph head-on.

Randolph Gasol is indeed inferior to Howard in terms of athletic ability, and the defensive area is relatively small. However, in order to make up for this, the Grizzlies forced three players who are over 206 centimeters tall. The degree of congestion in the paint is comparable to that of the Magic.

Too many.

Every time Qitian George makes a breakthrough, it's as uncomfortable as going to grab something on Black Friday.

If there is an inside position dedicated to defending breakthroughs, it is much easier to defend on the outside. You just need to follow the opponent closely and prevent him from having an open opportunity.

If it weren't for the fact that their offense could only rely on hard work inside and was inefficient, the Grizzlies would have topped the league long ago.

"It's better to fire from outside!"

Qi Tian looked at his teammates and quickly brought it up to set a pick-and-roll for Augustin. Augustin moved to receive the pass from George and fired from the outside.

"35-31."

But the Grizzlies were unmoved at all and still relied on the inside. Gasol made a wonderful pass to Gay, causing George to foul and go to the free throw line.

Gay made two free throws and George hit a three-pointer to chase points again;

Gasol made a hard pass inside and succeeded in a layup. George caused a foul and made two free throws;

Conley made a mistake and Qi Tian scored a jumper after receiving a pass from Augustine, helping the Pacers catch up to 1 point.

Randolph grabbed Gay's rebound and made a tip-in, maintaining the point difference.

"41-38."

"Huh~~"

The Pacers fans on the sidelines and in front of the TV all let out a sigh of relief, but there was nowhere to vent the frustration in their hearts.

"too……"

Hu Yingzhe thought for a long time before he came up with a suitable adjective.

"Too classic."

After 24 minutes, the shooting percentage of both teams was less than 40%. The score even hinted at today's winner. It would be difficult for the whole game to score more than 100 points.

The Grizzlies' Gay, Randolph and Gasol scored more than half of the team's points. They took 27 shots and only one was a three-pointer. However, the Pacers just couldn't guard against such an almost obvious attack.