The Basketball Court Swordsman

With an annual salary of 3.38 million, Brook Lopez stays behind as a Pacer.

When the contract was signed, people said the Pacers made a lot of money. The media have expressed that they do not know what method Henson used to keep Fudge Lopez behind.

However, Henson was useless in any way. Brook Lopez is willing to renew the Pacers with a minimum salary because he has not received offers from other teams at all.

Yes, in this era of small balls, traditional big centers are indeed not so popular, and they are often not the first choice for the team to strengthen. All teams in this era like big men who are versatile, athletic and able to run as fast as a guard.

But it is clear that Brook Lopez is not a member of that type of center.

Therefore, it was not Henson who took advantage, but Henson continued to start with a center that almost the entire league disliked, and it also produced good results.

Especially today, Brook Lopez's role is fully reflected.

At this point, the fourth quarter has been played for three minutes, Henson called a timeout.

The Raptors’ offense caused great trouble to the Pacers. Although Henson did not put all the defensive focus on Leonard today, the Raptors’ substitute once again stood up and helped the team through. Difficulty.

Fred Van Fleet, Henson will never forget the name. Not to mention that this guy's previous performance was to make the media, even Henson thought it was a joke.

In the first game of the series, Henson had seen some high-level data from the Raptors. Leonard, the Raptors' highest-scoring player, scored 31 points, but his plus-minus score was -4.

In other words, in the 42 minutes Leonard was on the field, the team lost 4 points.

For those with high positive and negative values, there are, Van Fleet, who has been unable to find a three-pointer in many games, has a positive and negative value of +5.

But what about Van Fleet's true performance? He made 1 of 6 shots and only scored 6 points including free throws.

So does the positive and negative mean that Van Fleet's performance must be better than Leonard? Really not necessarily. Therefore, Henson is not superstitious about these high-level data. Whether a player is good or bad is just a reference, performance is king.

And Van Fleet's most praised place by the media is precisely his high-level data!

Why didn't you mention Jeremy Lin when Nass? Because of his high-level data. Why can Van Fleet get the full training of the Raptors? Because of his high-level data. How can this guy get a chance to play so badly? High-level data.

High-level data seems to be Van Fleet's life-saving straw, and his high-level data is always very beautiful. This is why Henson thinks Van Fleet is a joke.

No matter how beautiful a player's high-level statistics are, but it can't help the team win, what use is it?

But in the last two games, Henson admitted that Van Vleet slapped him in the face. The last game was 5 of 6 shots and scored 14 points, allowing the Pacers to lose a game. And today, when the Raptors were in crisis, Van Vleet came out to disrupt the situation, allowing Leonard's team to slow down.

His efficient scoring and clear-thinking pass revitalized the Raptors' offense. Most importantly, his three-pointers can always pull the Raptors back from the edge of the cliff at critical moments.

Without Van Fleet, the Pacers might now have a double-digit lead. Unfortunately, because of that guy, Henson must call a timeout after three minutes of playing in the fourth quarter. Because if you sit back and watch, the Raptors will get the score back.

"Good job, good job, you guys are very strong." Henson greeted the players from the sidelines to sit down and then took out the tactical board.

At this point, the Raptors are only 6 points behind the Pacers. For Henson, this is a very dangerous point difference. At this moment, he does not allow any danger or accident to happen. If the Raptors pull twice at home, the consequences would be disastrous.

The playoffs are not only about strength and stars, but also a momentum. The Clippers can use their unyielding momentum to overturn the Warriors twice, and the Nuggets can use their unyielding momentum to play four overtime with the Blazers. Naturally, if the Raptors win another game, they will also use their momentum to win the next game.

Henson can't let the opposing team play momentum, for him this is a must-win game. So the 6-point gap made Henson uneasy.

Just past the third quarter, the Raptors once again made a beautiful defense against George and Antetokounmpo. Nas resolutely used Leonard to defend George alone, and then used a group of strong men led by Ibaka to block Antetokounmpo in the penalty area.

At the beginning, George and Antetokounmpo can continue to score in this situation. But the game has been played until now, when the two have begun to get tired, their scoring efficiency naturally began to decline.

Therefore, Henson needs a stable third person to stand up. Lopez looked at Henson expectantly, and indeed, Henson also looked at him!

Oladi Bourdon should have been the best choice, but his three-point shooting rate today really doesn't reassure Henson. If Oladipo hits the ball with the ball, the inside line is already overcrowded, and he can only end up like Antetokounmpo.

Therefore, Henson chose to continue to trust Lopez at this critical moment and trust the white center with an annual salary of only 3.38 million.

Brook Lopez performed very well today, having scored 16 points and 7 rebounds in three quarters.

You know, in this game, Lopez averaged only 8.3 points and 4.7 rebounds per game in the playoffs. His performance can only be described in general. In the last round of the Pacers vs. Celtics series, Lopez only scored 22 points in four games.

Since Henson and Lopez talked yesterday, Lopez's performance today has been excellent. He wanted to defeat Gasol, and wanted to help Henson win.

However, Lopez has always been immersed for too long, Nas does not believe that this white center can kill the game. It's as if Henson would not believe that Gasol can kill the game now.

That being the case, Henson used Lopez to kill the game to show him.

"Brook, you played well in the first three quarters, and I am proud of you. Now is the crucial fourth quarter. Whether we can win the final victory or not depends on the last 12 minutes... No, the last 9 Minutes of performance. In the last few minutes, I need you to be the main attacker. Do you think you can do it?"

When Henson chose Lopez to be the main attacker in the final quarter, the rest of the Pacers were not surprised. Did Henson do similar things less? The more unexpected the opponent is, the more Henson likes to use it. Moreover, it always works.

Henson wanted to see if Van Fleet could kill the game or Lopez, who had been on the battlefield for many years, could kill the game. In the last six minutes, let the former All-Star center regain glory.

"Stick to your defensive strategy and block Paul George and Antetokounmpo. I know that the Pacers may still have a lot of players to play. But this is the playoffs, this is the star stage! I believe, After blocking the two stars of the Pacers, we are sure to win the final victory. No matter who the Pacers scores, they cannot be attracted by him. Block George and Antetokounmpo, block them! "

On the other side, Nick Nas is still emphasizing the defense against George and Antetokounmpo. He firmly believes that the Pacers can kill the two of them today.

Oladipo didn't feel good, and Kuzma, Tucker, Bogda Lodge and other players were in very general condition today. As for Brook Lopez, who performed well today? Nas has never taken care of it.

He believes that Henson is completely imitating his own tactics, allowing the big inside to lay an advantage by surprise, just like he asked Gasol to do the last game.

But laying an advantage does not mean killing the game. Lopez can't kill the game, and Henson can't let a guy with an annual salary of only $3.38 million kill the game.

Maybe in the regular season, Henson will do this, and Henson will end the game with some usually humble players. For example, he once allowed Rose to score 50 points in a single game, once made Siakam the hero of the end game, and even let a rookie like Kyle Kuzma take a lethal goal.

But that was the regular season. Even if he lost the regular season, Henson didn't have to worry. This is the playoffs, the Eastern Conference finals, and the fourth terrible game!

If the Pacers lose, the Raptors can equalize the total score. Therefore, Nas concluded that Henson did not dare to take risks, he did not have the guts!

Barefoot people are not afraid to wear shoes, and Nas knows how much pressure Henson is carrying. For Henson, as long as he does not win the championship, the last year of his career is a failure. Therefore, Henson will not joke about his honor.

With these in mind, Nick Nas confidently pushed his players onto the court.

The land of the north is inviolable!