Pick Westbrook

Chapter 238 Let go of killing

Chapter 238 Let go of killing

Westbrook ushered in the playoffs for the first time, bombing the basket with 6 of 5 shots in a single quarter, and at the same time walked to the free throw line 4 times, making consecutive fouls by Anthony and Stoudemire.

Kenny Smith couldn't help reminding excitedly: "Westbrook was the double MVP last season, and Curry is the league's scoring leader this season."

"When a team has a combination of MVP + scoring leader, you should know that it is very difficult to defend them."

Barkley was extremely sincere at this time, and he didn't agree with what his old partner said.

Westbrook's impact is indeed shocking, but it is not impossible to defend.

Although he won the double MVP last season, strictly speaking, Westbrook is not yet at the level of a league superstar.

If you want to defend Westbrook, there are always some ways.

It's just that Curry, the league's scoring leader this season, really has a tendency to evolve towards a superstar.

"His three-point shot is really scary."

Throughout the playoffs until now, Curry's role on the offensive end has been ignored by most people.

Many of the Bucks' offenses are based on Curry's off-the-ball running. Although not every ball of the opponent has become the end point of the offensive end, every ball has an inseparable relationship with him.

Barkley looked at the court at this time.

"Because of Curry, Westbrook is difficult to guard, and because of Westbrook, Curry, who is already difficult to guard, is even more difficult to guard."

"Coupled with Cousins, Yi Jianlian, Artest, Villanueva, Tracy McGrady, Jermaine O'Neal and many other powerful players, the Bucks have a fully mature offensive system."

"One link after another, this team seems to have been built three years ago."

What's even more commendable is that the Bucks' current team financial situation is still extremely ample, and they still have the ability to keep the lineup intact in the next few seasons.

Thinking of this, Barkley suddenly felt a twinge in his heart, and inexplicably thought of the words Dynasty Team.

"Westbrook, George Hill, Dragic, Curry, Cousins."

"The Bucks' lineup and team building goals seem to have been working hard in a certain direction."

"Could it be that they really want to become a dynastic team like the OK Lakers, the Bulls with 6 crowns or the legendary Celtics?!"

The game continued in the second quarter.

He lost to the Bucks in the rotation for two consecutive games before. In order to keep up with the offensive firepower of the Bucks' rotation tonight, D'Antoni deliberately placed Anthony at this time to end the game.

Anthony led the rotation into the game.

Not surprisingly, the Knicks' offense with this lineup will be entirely on Anthony.

And Li Lai had already predicted such a lineup arrangement after seeing the Knicks replace Anthony early in the first quarter.

So he prepared a gluttonous meal for Anthony at this time.

Point guard Dragic, shooting guard Danny Green, small forward Artest, power forward Jermaine O'Neal and center Yi Jianlian.

Danny Green and Artest will double-team Anthony, and O'Neal and Yi Jianlian will be more involved in defense to help fill the defensive loopholes left by Danny Green and Artest .

As for Dragic on the outermost perimeter, he only needs to defend the three-point shooting of outside players and participate more in rotation defense. As for the problem of protecting the inner line, it is completely left to his teammates to deal with.

After this defensive arrangement, Anthony's offensive efficiency has a huge problem.

In fact, Anthony is indeed a master of one-on-one singles, just look at Artest's efficiency when defending him alone.

Even Artest, who got DPOY by single defense, has difficulty restricting the opponent.

So in one-on-one singles, Anthony is as good as Kobe.

It's just that Anthony is obviously not as good as Kobe in one-on-two or one-on-three singles under extremely high-intensity defensive pressure.

This is why Tyronn Lue has always suggested that Li Lai double-team Anthony.

And Li Lai's purpose in the double-team defensive task assigned to Danny Green and Artest is also very clear.

You can give Anthony a chance to shoot, but you must make the opponent shoot awkwardly.

Under the extremely unnatural shooting position, Anthony's efficiency will be further reduced.

In addition, special attention should be paid to the fact that Anthony must not be given the opportunity to easily break through and enter the inside line, because the opponent's shot at the point of entering the inside line is very lethal.

With this offensive method, even those top inside players in the league would find it difficult to defend against the restricted area.

I have to say that Anthony, who has gained weight, is really a low-post offensive killer.

So far, in the two links of the three-threat offense, the sudden and shot have been clearly defended, and the pass in the last link does not require the Bucks to invest too much defensive energy.

Because Anthony has never been a top passer, the Knicks' role players have not been a master of explosive scoring.

So defending Anthony's pass is the most important thing.

Only 3 minutes into the second quarter, Anthony had an upset start with 4 of 1.

Under the double-team restrictions of Danny Green and Artest, he no longer had an easy chance to score.

The most important thing is that Jermaine O'Neal has been helping to defend near the free throw line, which basically eliminated the possibility of Anthony holding the ball and hitting the basket.

He couldn't make a shot and had no chance to reach the basket. Anthony, who failed to attack consecutively, could only choose to pass the ball out.

And the teammates did not bring surprises to Anthony. If it should be lost, it should make a mistake.

The Bucks played a wave of 12:4 offensive high slots.

On a stage like the playoffs, such a small high slot is enough to kill a team.

D'Antoni reacted instantly, and quickly took the team's brain Billups onto the court, hoping to reduce the defensive pressure Anthony encountered on the offensive end.

It's just that the Bucks also made adjustments and substitutions at this time.

Westbrook replaced Dragic, and Artest was replaced with Tracy McGrady.

"The Bucks coaching staff is very clear that once Billups is on the court, it is very unrealistic to completely limit Anthony."

"So they changed their tactics on the court at this time, from defending Anthony to focusing on their own offense."

"It is worth mentioning that McGrady's performance in this round of the series can only be said to be quite satisfactory."

"Because the overall offense of the Bucks is so smooth, he seems to rarely have the opportunity to fight one-on-one."

"But even so, McGrady has averaged 9 points, 4 rebounds and 1 assist per game so far in the series, shooting 48% from the field and 39% from the three-point range."

Kenny Smith has seen a lot of McGrady's wonderful performances in the regular season this season. He knows that McGrady's repeated back injuries have basically recovered in the Bucks.

This is McGrady recovering from a back injury.

Even though he is 32 years old, McGrady is at least a player above the league average when looking at the offensive end alone.

It's just that the coaching staff of the Bucks seems to be too cautious in using McGrady. In addition, the series between the Bucks and the Knicks played very smoothly, so McGrady doesn't play many roles in the one-on-one offensive end.

Barkley nodded, and he has also been paying attention to McGrady's performance.

Because McGrady didn't seem to be fully fired on the offensive end in this round of the series, he couldn't help but have the same idea as Knicks coach D'Antoni.

"The Knicks probably failed to force the strongest Bucks at all."

on the field.

Billups led the team to play a wave of 10:2 high slots in this quarter, closing the point difference between the two teams to single digits.

This narrowing of the point difference also gave great hope to the fans at Madison Square Garden.

Spike Lee was very excited in the audience, looking arrogantly at the Bucks coaching bench and shouting: "Go back to the country, Milwaukee bastards."

The momentum of the fans at the scene put a lot of pressure on the Bucks players at this time.

Coupled with the gradual erosion of the team's leading advantage, the players have gradually shown signs of inattention and low morale on the court.

Tyronn Lue looked at Li Lai nervously and said: "Billups is in a hot state tonight. He has sent 4 assists in a row and scored 8 points himself."

"His explosion was unexpected. If we let him continue to play like this, maybe the lead will really be taken back by the Knicks."

"If this game is won by the Knicks tonight, it will be a big score of 2:1."

"The next game will be home to the Knicks."

While Tai Lunlu was speaking, an extremely serious voice sounded.

"no problem!"

Li Lai borrowed what O'Neal said in the last game, and he was very sure.

Although the Knicks showed a very good offensive state in this quarter, Billups' sudden outburst also refreshed Li Lai's understanding of the 35-year-old veteran, but.

There's no way the Knicks can play this well all the time, because even the Bucks can't do that.

Second half of the game.

The scene on the court gave Li Lai a heavy blow, and it turned out that he made a mistake.

After Billups broke out in the second quarter, he really failed to continue his fiery touch, but Stoudemire scored consecutive mid-range shots in the third quarter.

Then he relied on his fiery mid-range shooting touch to threaten, forcing Cousins ​​and Yi Jianlian of the Bucks to choose more forward defensive positions many times when defending him.

Such a defensive position allowed Stoudemire to hit the basket and dunk many times with his flexible feet after the mid-range shot.

The Knicks once again played a wave of 18:10 offensive small high slots.

The offensive small high slot of two consecutive quarters finally helped the Knicks overtake the score in the third quarter.

90: 92.

"The pressure is now entirely on the Bucks."

"In tonight's game, the Knicks' Anthony + Stoudemire + Billups broke out collectively. With the state of the three, there must be no team in the league that can match them."

Barkley finally watched with great interest.

For two consecutive games, the performance of the Knicks on the court has never been at the same level as the Bucks.

Barkley even thought that the Knicks might be swept out by the Bucks.

However, judging from the process of this game, the Knicks, both the coaching staff and the players on the field, really want to work hard to win tonight's game.

"Especially Billups and Stoudemire."

"In tonight's game, the sudden outbreak of the two is the root cause of the Knicks overtaking the Bucks."

CCTV commentary desk.

Su Qun nodded and praised the Knicks one after another.

In his opinion, the current Knicks can be regarded as a top three team in the league in luxury tax.

In the previous two games, they even played like a second-tier team.

Yu Jia said: "Now the pressure comes directly to the Bucks. If they can't win tonight's game, then the big score will come to 2:1."

"With this score, everything is hard to say."

Madison Square Garden.

Bucks players bench.

The players were sitting on the bench panting and looking nervous.

They never expected that the Knicks, who had been arbitrarily manipulated by the Bucks in the first two games, would suddenly play such a strong offense.

Tyronn Lue handed over the tactical board to Li Lai, and all the players looked at Li Lai at this time.

They believe that the coach will definitely find a solution to the Knicks, and the Bucks still have a chance to win tonight's game.

Li Lai was smiling at this moment.

The 13-game winning streak at the end of the regular season gave the team a lot of confidence. In the first two games of the playoffs, the Bucks will be considered the most likely to play badly against the Knicks.

The Bucks showed their extremely strong state and strength during this period, and it also surprised those commentators and fans who have been underestimating the Bucks.

They're still the defending champions.

However, from Li Lai's point of view, the team has gone too smoothly during this period, which has caused the players' confidence to inflate too much. Even Li Lai himself had the idea of ​​looking down on the Knicks just now.

Yes, the Bucks are indeed better than the Knicks, even now Li Lai is still willing to say such words.

It's just that on the stage of the playoffs, any team can create miracles, and there are many pictures of the next game in the history of the entire NBA.

Even black eight miracles and black seven miracles are not uncommon.

So in the playoffs, anything can happen!

Just like tonight's game, the Knicks have kept their heat from the second quarter until now.

Curry couldn't help saying at this time: "Coach, let me hold the ball."

Artest saw that Li Lai hadn't drawn a tactic on the tactical board, and he thought that the coach didn't think of any good solution to the Knicks at this time.

So I said: "I can use fouls and great physical confrontation to limit Anthony, and we will definitely win tonight's game."

Tracy McGrady, who had a miserable career in his career, was not used to talking much after coming to the Bucks.

He just performed the tasks assigned to him by Li Lai over and over again. Occasionally, when there were only Iverson and O'Neill, he would open up the conversation and say a few more words.

In order to be able to win the first championship trophy in his career, McGrady has been tense all season.

But at this time tonight, when the team was facing difficulties, McGrady stood up with firm eyes and said: "Coach, I can play."

"My back injury is completely healed."

As early as the end of the regular season, Li Lai had already received news from the team doctor.

McGrady has fully recovered from his back injury.

This is a physical condition that McGrady failed to achieve in the first two seasons.

So obviously, McGrady is the best McGrady in two years.

Li Lai has been looking forward to the appearance of McGrady in this state, which is why he has been cautious in using McGrady this season.

After all, when it comes to the bayonet game in the playoffs, the performance and experience of veterans are crucial.

Li Lai solemnly closed the tactical board. At this moment, he looked at all the players in front of him who were clenching their teeth and wanted to help the team win the game and said.

"The Knicks are respectable opponents because they put us in the lane."

"Now it's time for us to show them what the Bucks can do when they go all out."

"remember!"

"Tonight, I want the world to remember our Bucks."

"So, let me go!"

(End of this chapter)