The rest is just noise

Miller's lack of form didn't surprise Louis.

What matters to him is his potential and his bond with Wilson's UCLA teammates.

Wilson's absence seems to have affected his performance, which is not at his usual level.

Louis simply replaced Dale Ellis.

Although Ewing's defense was beaten by Sampson, his assisting defense covered the penalty area and gave Isiah Thomas two blocks in a single quarter.

After Ellis came on the court, it became difficult for the Celtics to defend the Knicks.

Ellis is undoubtedly the Knicks' anti-Kevin spearhead. Like Wilson, he performs brilliantly every time he plays against the Celtics.

Seeing Bird coming to defend him, he seemed to be stimulated by something and ran around the perimeter a lot.

In a single quarter, he made 3 of 4 shots and scored 8 points on both three-pointers.

"This guy Dale Ellis makes my heart tremble every time he gets the ball!" Heinsohn said after Ellis missed the only shot in the first quarter.

Thomas didn't seem to have a strong desire to attack. He was blocked twice by Ewing and received zero blocks in the first quarter.

Bird couldn't keep up with Ellis, couldn't return to the paint and couldn't guard the Knicks point guard. K.C Jones' use of him was awkward in every way.

Dennis Rodman's defense against him was very strong.

I don’t know if it’s because his back injury has not healed, but Bird was very embarrassed by Rodman.

A forward who is slightly shorter than him, but has dynamic talents that wrap him up in all directions, brings him more trouble than he imagined.

The Celtics' offense and defense were supported by Sampson alone, with 20 points and 6 rebounds in a single quarter.

30 to 26

The Celtics lead the Knicks by 4 points, but if they continue to play like this, Sampson will definitely not be able to sustain it. The consumption in the paint will be too great.

Louis predicted that the Celtics would play a short rotation in the second quarter as usual, but he was not sure whether they would replace Isiah Thomas, so he did not rush to replace it with a murderous pressing formation.

At the beginning of the second quarter, the Knicks' lineup changed to Stockton, Ellis, Wilson, Oakley and Song Tao.

Ewing was beaten very badly by Sampson, but his assist defense and rebound protection were impeccable.

However, Sampson's crazy offense caused him to commit two fouls in a single quarter.

So Louis had to take the risk of Song Tao being targeted and replace Ewing.

Louis only has one request for Song Tao, to protect the basket and eat the cake. If the Celtics shoot from inside and outside, let them shoot.

The Celtics replaced Bird, Harper and Laimbeer, allowing Thomas and Sampson to continue playing in the second quarter, paired with Danny Ainge, Reggie Jackson and Jim Peterson.

When it comes to the second team alone, the quality of the Knicks is a bit higher. The only weakness is the interior substitutes.

There is a clear gap between Song Tao and Peterson.

At the beginning of the second quarter, the Celtics asked Peterson to play Song Tao on his back.

Louis didn't give any instructions to flank Peterson, so Song Tao's teammates asked him to handle it himself.

He did a good job, keeping his foot firmly on the plate and not jumping around.

Peterson couldn't use his body to fight hard, nor could he shake up Song Tao's defense. In the end, he just dribbled in front of Song Tao and tried to go for a reverse layup, but was directly interfered with.

Peterson failed on offense and the rebound was successfully protected by the Knicks.

Stockton launched a counterattack, and Wilson, who had been holding back for a quarter, wanted to dunk over Bird, but the man was resting off the court.

He could only do the next best thing, use his body to resist Lewis's interference, and dunk the ball.

28 to 30

Catching up to 2 points seems pretty good?

Can you use lineup depth to make a big impact?

Isiah Thomas dribbled to the frontcourt, and Stockton's defense opened up a meter and a half.

This is totally not enough! In front of him, Thomas made two "bang bangs" and changed direction to dribble and shred Stockton's defense. He was not afraid of Song Tao's threat to protect the basket. He actually pushed against Song Tao and sought a confrontation first.

Restrict the opponent from jumping to block the shot, and then use the strength gained through confrontation to shoot the ball at will.

As soon as the ball was released, the referee blew the whistle again.

This kind of foul is one that can be called or not called. If the person defending like this is a star player, the referee will most likely not call him a foul. But Song Tao is just a small role, and whether he commits a foul or not depends on the referee.

Feeling.

"Damn it, you really don't want this game to have a little intensity?" Louie shouted, "There are millions of fans watching this game in front of the TV, and you just want them to see this kind of game?"

"Back off! Little Lu!"

Louis almost walked into the venue.

He had a heated argument with the referee and was not called a technical foul because Tomjanovich and Zhao Yuanzheng pulled him away in time.

"Those two bastards! A game with them is a fucking piece of shit!" Louis kept spewing obscenities.

The referees ignored Louis' anger, knowing it was part of the pressure.

But this is the Garden, the home court of the Celtics, and a home whistle is a given.

The reason why Paul Mihazak and Strome have such a bad reputation in the NBA is that they can do whatever they want without interference.

After Louis lost his temper, he still had to figure out how to deal with the Celtics' offensive.

It seems that the variable lies with Ellis and Wilson.

It's a pity that Ellis's compatibility conflicts with most off-ball players.

Louis cannot expect Ellis and Wilson to suddenly play a 1+1>2 effect in front of the strongest team in the league. Therefore, the two of them must perform their duties according to their own strengths. This is also Louis' arrangement.

In order to allow Ellis to play freely without Wilson being affected, Louis arranged a two- and three-strong and weak-side formation.

Wilson and Oakley are on the weak side, Ellis and Stockton, and Song Tao on the strong side.

The Celtics used Lewis to defend Wilson and Ainge to defend Ellis.

That Angie... Louis was standing on the sidelines. He saw Angie's little moves and trash talk that deliberately aroused Ellis' anger better than anyone else.

Ellis' chance didn't come through, and Wilson received the ball from the weak side.

Lewis defends alone, and his athletic ability is amazing.

Wilson chose Lewis' left-hand side.

This is a problem for Lewis on the defensive end. He is used to blocking the strong side and giving up the weak side.

"This kind of defense is not feasible in front of Benj." As soon as Zhao Yuanzheng finished speaking, Wilson entered the penalty area and encountered Sampson's help.

"good chance!"

Louis saw Oakley unguarded at the free throw line, which was Wilson's plan.

This is part of the tactic and is also Wilson's usual routine for attacking with the ball.

When Wilson turned back to pass the ball to Oakley, he saw Lewis who had blocked the ball path. This scene showed a lot. The Celtics are not only powerful, not only the Big Three, but also the immediate combat effectiveness of other players.

With tacit cooperation, this defensive rotation would not be possible without hard work.

Wilson's ball passed into the arms of Lewis.

The Celtics completed the counterattack, 35 to 28.

"John, you are in charge of the tactics!" Louis shouted, "Benj, don't be affected, your mission is to attack. If Ralph helps defend, you have to find a way to pass the ball to the outside and start over!"

This is Stockton's weakness that Nelson tested. His shooting is not prepared for the fleeting opening.

The Celtics took advantage of this weakness very casually.

They dared to give Stockton space and force him to shoot.

Obviously Stockton has an outside shooting percentage of 35%, but the space given to Stockton by the opponent becomes larger and larger as the game progresses.

Stockton knew that if he couldn't find a way to seize the opportunity given to him by the Celtics, N.UCLA's offense would become deformed, like a disabled person who has lost his feet and needs a wheelchair to move.

Suddenly, Stockton gave up his reserve and took the open space given to him by the Celtics.

"boom!"

"It's not his rhythm." Louis shook his head.

"Be careful of their counterattack!" Tomjanovich stood up and shouted.

Just being careful is useless, failing to score a three-pointer will result in long rebounds.

Thomas jumped up to grab the rebound, and Sampson walked down the middle as if he had just come on the court.

The two giants responsible for supporting the transition period for Bird completed an alley-oop collaboration in the Knicks' frontcourt that made the Garden go crazy.

37 to 28

The score difference between the two sides came to 9 points.

Louis breathed out. He wanted to give Stockton a little more time, but if he misses again or chooses to give up challenging the Celtics' defense, his value on the court will not be as good as Hornacek.

What to do? Giving players trust is the basis of coaching. Stockton is a member of this year's second team, two consecutive All-Stars, and the leader of the N.UCLA system. Without him, the Knicks' offensive system will be extremely difficult to develop.

.

Louis hesitated for more than ten seconds, and then saw Stockton giving up shooting and not dealing cards from the outside, but choosing a style of play that didn't seem to suit him.

breakthrough!

He decided to use a breakthrough to resolve the current dilemma, but he thought the Celtics' defense was too simple.

Sampson's deadly assist defense covered Stockton's head with one hand, and blocked the possibility of passing the ball to the left corner with the other hand. Ellis did not get rid of Anji, and his ball was passed to Song Tao who failed.

Song Tao took a deep breath. Facing the best center in the world, he had a chance to dunk.

Stockton was still able to play his role and used his personal abilities to create opportunities.

However, the nervous Song Tao had an uncontrollable fear of Sampson. As a result, he did not get up to dunk the ball directly after receiving the ball. Instead, he placed the ball on the ground and patted the ball before trying again.

It was the step of putting the ball on the ground, slapping it, then picking it up and jumping up that gave Sampson enough time to react and gave him a big hit.

"F***!"

Louis ran to the technical table and said: "I want to time out!"