From South China Tiger to NBA King

The Celtics attacked, Jianghu dribbled to the frontcourt, handed the ball to Leonard at the top of the arc, and went to the top of the right arc.

As soon as Leonard got the ball, the whole court was immediately booed. Leonard didn't seem to be affected in any way, and he naturally held the ball to beat Aldridge who came over.

He took a step forward with the ball and was forced to stop by Aldridge in the mid-range position. The continuous fake moves did not affect Aldridge. Finally, he chose to take a hasty shot and the basketball hit the back frame.

It is absolutely false to say that Leonard was not affected. If he were normal, he would not be so impatient. At least if he had no chance, he would pass the ball back to Jianghu and let Jianghu handle the ball again.

The Spurs attacked, the players made several passes, and the ball was passed to the hands of the inside core Aldridge.

The Spurs always attack around Aldridge at the beginning of this season. Derrick White and Irving are no less efficient than Aldridge in scoring, but head coach Popovich almost never considers letting them play the main offense at the beginning.

Without him, the offensive destructive power of inside players is much stronger than that of ordinary outside players. Of course, Jianghu does not count.

This time Gasol defended his left shoulder and blocked the middle. Aldridge chose to turn his right shoulder toward the baseline and shoot a straight-arm jumper.

This is one of Aldridge's special skills. He has been in the basketball world for so long, relying on his straight-arm jump shot, which is rare among inside players. His basic skills are very solid. He can distance himself from the defensive players with just one turn, and also leads If he leans back a little, unless he is a pervert with a height and wingspan like Wen Banyama, most people can't touch him, let alone block the shot.

However, Aldridge's shooting touch was not good today. Under Gasol's interference, the mid-range shot once again missed the basket.

Irving cut in from the center, rushed to grab the offensive rebound, and scored two points with a close shot in the second attack.

Celtics 5-2 Spurs.

Irving has indeed changed a lot. This kind of enthusiasm to rush for rebounds was hard to see in Irving in the Cavaliers and Celtics in the past, but in the Spurs, this kind of scene is basically seen in every game. happened.

The world doesn't know what kind of ecstasy Popovich poured into Irving to make such a man who is infinitely obsessed with ball-handling offense hand over the ball and actively fight for offensive rebounds.

The Celtics have always had problems with their interior defense. Even with the arrival of Marc Gasol, the problem has not been completely solved, but it has gotten much better, with more changes and more offensive routines.

Stevens didn't think there was anything wrong with this round. He applauded Gasol a few times on the sidelines and thought he defended well.

In the Celtics position battle, the players were spread out. Marc Gasol dealt the card at the top of the arc. Jianghu started running on the left side. Under Horford's cover, he ran to the right corner without the ball.

Gasol dribbled the ball in the middle and took a step forward, then immediately threw the ball to Jianghu with one hand. The timing of the pass to Jianghu was just right.

Jiang Hu turned around and glanced around and knew that Gay was too slow to catch him and could not block him, while Aldridge failed to defend him at the basket.Jiang Hu caught the ball and made a three-point jumper. Guy jumped up and tried his best to interfere, but to no avail, the ball went in.

Celtics 8-2 Spurs.

The arrival of Marc Gasol not only changed the Celtics' defensive capabilities, but also changed their offense. He can organize with the ball, so that Jianghu does not have to face huge defensive pressure from opponents all the time. The fight became easier.

Zhang Weiping also became excited when he saw Jiang Hu scoring goals.

"Jianghu scored 8 points in a row right from the start. This game seems to be really going to explode."

Yu Jia smiled and said: "To be honest, Guy would have been unable to guard him if he hadn't double-teamed him. The old man would have been a little angry."

The Spurs are not a team known for their iron-blooded defense. Even in 03-05 when their defensive ability was at its peak, the Spurs were only relatively balanced on offense and defense. They were never the best defensive team in the league, or that of Popovich. The team just can't guard against superstars. This has always been a common problem.

Popovich became uneasy when he saw Jianghu scoring consecutively. This reminded him of the Western Conference in the 00s. The bald man wearing a purple and gold jersey was also so difficult and unreasonable.

Popovich stood on the sidelines full of energy and roared loudly, allowing the wing players to double-team him. Other positions relied on defensive rotations, and Aldridge continued to guard the basket.

Popovich was a very creative coach when he was young. He carried forward the shark-cutting tactics, including small-ball tactics. Popovich was also the best in the league in the two years of 13-14, better than his opponent. The Filipino was much better.

However, after Duncan retired, Popovich's creativity disappeared. Maybe it was because he couldn't see the hope of winning the championship, or maybe he was not clear-headed as he got older. Popovich began to immerse himself in the glory of the past. Now he has It's hard to see him coming up with new tactics.

With such a coach leading the team, the Spurs will certainly not have much creativity at all.This is the reason why Jianghu was very surprised that after Irving joined, his data not only did not decline but increased.

In Jianghu's imagination, Irving should have all kinds of discomforts and unaccustomed to it under Popovich. Unexpectedly, he has such good adaptability. Not only is he not unaccustomed, but he is as comfortable as a duck in water.

However, it is worth mentioning that Popovich did have two tools in setting up the defensive system. With Irving and Forbes, two average defensive outsiders, and Aldridge, an insider who is good at scoring, Popovich actually passed Regional flanking, a small number of defense changes, and a large number of assisting defensive tactics have allowed the Spurs' defensive efficiency to remain fifth in the league. I have to say that this is definitely not something ordinary people can do. Popovich can be beaten by many people. I think he is a coach on the same level as Phil Jackson. What he has in his belly is definitely not comparable to that of a idiot like Rivers.

Facing such a Spurs, it is not easy for Jianghu to score points.Next, in addition to Rudy Gay's single defense, he will also face the double-teaming of Aldridge and Forbes in the positional battle.

These two guys have average physical fitness, but their defense is not bad either. They are definitely not the kind of players who watch Jiang Hu lay up. If they really can't defend, they will definitely commit heavy fouls.

Under such conditions, Jianghu would be a fool if he forced a shot or broke through. He immediately changed his strategy and distributed the ball after attracting double-teams, mainly passing it to Leonard and Danny Green.

Jianghu took the ball and hit the basket, attracting Aldridge's defense and passed the ball to the left baseline. Danny Green caught the ball and shot.

When Gay goes out to defend Jianghu, there will be holes in the Spurs' bottom line, because he originally defended the power forward many times, but now he is asked to defend a defender. Aldridge has to cover the breakthrough player, and no one cares about the weak side. Danny Green.

Gay is too far away to cover the position, and even a super defensive player can't do it, not to mention that he is just a player who is not good at defense.

Jianghu still had a way to score. In the counterattack, Huguey was not as fast as him, so he suffered two fouls and sent him free throws.

There was also a ball where Gay relied on a screen to get rid of the ball and missed a shot. Jianghu got a misplaced offensive opportunity and directly threw Aldridge off the fast break. He caught the ball and dunked the ball and scored.

Under the tight defense of his opponents, Jianghu still scored 14 points and 4 assists in the first quarter, leading the Celtics to a 36-25 lead over the Spurs.

回到老东家首发的丹尼·格林的表现同样抢眼，打了8分钟，单节5投4中，三分球2中2，得到10分1篮板1助攻。

Leonard, on the other hand, played very mediocrely. He made only 7 of 2 shots and only scored 2 points and 5 rebounds. He wasted several excellent passes from Jianghu.

欧文第一节基本都在给队友传球，自己只出手了4次，4投3中拿到8分3助攻。

Popovich stood on the sidelines holding his waist and shaking his head. He called a timeout to adjust his defense to no avail.If the Celtics blossom more, Spurs players can't double-team Danny Green. That's just a pitcher. Double-teaming him is a waste of resources.

The Celtics players are very relaxed on the defensive end. Their individual defensive abilities are good. When one of them is playing alone with the ball, they don't need to double-team. They just stand aside and watch the excitement to recover their strength.Jianghu also played very easily. Guy didn't dare to fight after two fights against him. He knew very well that with his singles ability, he couldn't get any advantage in front of Jianghu, so why should he ask for trouble? .

When Jiang Hu came off the field, he couldn't help but complain in his heart that Popovich was indeed old. Facing the new era of the league, it was obvious that there were no new ideas.

However, after the start of the second quarter, the Spurs quickly gained the upper hand.

Patty Mills is a super sixth man with excellent touch and hit two consecutive three-pointers from the outside.

This kind of player whose main offensive method is shooting is purely dependent on the weather. When the touch is good, he feels stronger than Curry. If the touch is not good, he will stop.

Two-time champion and two-time All-Star Pau Gasol also came up to play. When Stevens saw Pau Gasol come out, he immediately brought up Marc Gasol who had just gone down to rest for 3 minutes. .

Seeing the Gasol brothers frantically blocking positions in the paint and constantly fighting hand-to-hand, the audience was also excited. No matter who scored the goal, the audience gave warm applause.

On the Celtics' side, the offense of the bench lineup was extremely unsmooth.

Stevens did not let rookie point guard SGA play directly, leaving Jaylen Brown and Caruso to serve as outsiders.As a result, the team fell into the rhythm of positional warfare that the opponent was accustomed to, and could not push the fast break.

Neither of them is a player at the point guard position, and neither has the ability to lead the team on his own. The players in other positions are not fast either. The two big men in the post, Marc Gasol and Aron Baynes, are partnered. The war cannot create space.

Neither of the two insiders is a very accurate player from outside the three-point line. After covering the screen, they can release outside the penalty area. Gasol failed to make two shots from outside the three-point line. Instead, Irving continuously beat him into counterattacks.

Stevens will not try this configuration again in the future. In order to ensure the offense, he still has to let Jiang Hu or Leonard lead the substitutes, or send Horford and Baynes to partner. His offense is excellent and he is a threat from the outside. He has a solid mid-range shot and the ability to pass the ball.

The good news is that although the Celtics don't have a superstar inside, the four players Horford, Gasol, Baynes, and Theis each have their own characteristics and can make a difference on the court.

The media is not optimistic about the Celtics' interior defense, but Stevens is very satisfied with the lineup configuration. He even feels that with Gasol, if he meets James in the finals, he can try the Pacers' method of dealing with James. , let’s see if we can bring Gasol back to his peak and become Hibbert that year.

The Celtics' starting players returned to the court and immediately stabilized the situation, widening the point difference again.

Jianghu's shooting touch was not good in this quarter. Three of his shots from outside the three-point line missed the basket. He was always double-teamed and blocked from breaking through. He only scored 4 points with mid-range jump shots.

However, because of his unique skills, he can still score points no matter how tight the double-teaming is.

Jianghu plays pick-and-rolls with teammates inside, and after a quick start, he makes a one-step pull-up jump shot inside the three-point line. His speed combined with his passing skills make him almost the fastest first step in the league, which makes him the fastest in the league. He always creates chances.

This style of play is both simple and effective. As long as Jianghu's inside players switch to defense slower when he breaks away from the defense, he can hit a time-lag jumper.

With strong explosive power and fast shooting speed, they can easily get shooting opportunities if they play this way. The difference is that few can guarantee a long two-point shooting percentage.If a player's shooting percentage is only 40% or even less than 40%, it is not an opportunity but a blacksmith's feast.

Leonard performed well in this quarter, and the Celtics ended the first half with a 65-57 lead.

江湖半场比赛在被大量包夹得砍下18分3篮板7助攻，碾压无人包夹也才13分2篮板4助攻的欧文。

Of course, no one puts the two on the same level, but Jianghu himself is unwilling to score lower than Irving.

第二节单节砍下12分的伦纳德，半场也是13投7中，拿到了17分6篮板1助攻。

Zhang Weiping commented on the game and said: "The Spurs' defense is very tight. Popovich should have done a lot of analysis on the characteristics of Jianghu's offense. So basically Jianghu positions will be double-teamed as soon as they get the ball. Their defense speed is also very high when they defend against counterattacks." Very fast, but even if the response was like this, Jianghu still scored 18 points, and the Celtics still took the lead."

Yu Jia said: "In the final analysis, today's game is still the rhythm of the Celtics, and the Spurs can only be forced to attack. After Jianghu attracts double-teams, it is easy for teammates to get chances to make more shots. Irving's passing ability is compared to Jianghu is worse, many opportunities are opportunities for Jianghu, but for Irving, he either can't see them, or he can't pass them on."

Zhang Weiping smiled and said: "Of course, they are not on the same level. Jiang Hu is a legend who won the MVP at the age of 19. When did Irving win the MVP to be qualified for comparison? Otherwise, others will not compare him with Jiang Hu. .”

"Jiang Hu is the most difficult player to guard in the league this season. He is both the scorer and assists leader, and the team's record is still first in the league. This is not something that just anyone can do."

Yu Jia laughed and said: "I remember Yao Ming said in an interview that Jiang Hu's personal ability is no worse than Kobe Bryant at his peak. He may even be stronger at his peak. Maybe his strength can really reach the level of Jordan."

Zhang Weiping shook his head: "No, I think Peak Jianghu is stronger than Peak Jordan!!"

At the beginning of the second half, both sides made substitution adjustments.

Stevens sent Caruso to strengthen the defense. The tactic was that Jianghu and Caruso double-teamed Irving wildly in the backcourt. If a mistake was made, they would immediately counterattack decisively.

Although Caruso has no shooting range, he is tall and strong, has strong mobility, is good at defense and rebounding, and has a certain ability to block shots.

Stevens can not only limit the Spurs' offense, but also make quick transitions between offense and defense, which is very targeted.

The Spurs' offense is mainly launched from Irving, and Irving usually doesn't exert force in the first quarter and starts to exert force in the second three quarters. Stevens is very insidious. If you don't exert force when he exerts force for you, then what do you want? When you exert your strength, I will stop you from exerting it. It doesn't matter how disgusting you are, as long as it is good for victory.

He doesn't care if Irving played under him in the past. The past was the past and the present is the present.

Stevens explained: When the positional battle attracts double-teams from the outside, other players should boldly catch the ball and attack the basket, try to draw fouls and rush for offensive rebounds.

Stevens believes: Popovich's defensive system can only defend those ordinary players. Facing unreasonable superstars and stupid fools, there is nothing worthy of praise.

Although the Celtics are not a reckless team, they are not unable to play like this. The Celtics have never lacked talent.

Leonard is the protagonist on the court in this quarter. When cutting and catching the ball, the opponent can only use fouls to stop his face-to-face attack.If you don't catch him as soon as possible, he will be dunked when he rushes.

The most exciting scene of this game occurred 3 minutes after the start of this quarter. Leonard received a pass from Jianghu from the free throw line, jumped up, hit Aldridge with a one-handed smash and scored, causing Ade's Foul 2+1.

This goal will definitely be the best goal of the game. Aldridge raised his arms to cover up the defense, and finally fell to the ground helplessly.

Because Leonard's arms are too long and his hands are extremely big, he can hold the basketball firmly. He has already touched the basketball, but he can't knock it away.

After the dunk, Leonard roared at the Spurs home audience. Jianghu swore that this was the first time he saw the word "ferocious" on Leonard's face. (End of chapter)