Coach: Coaching the Grizzlies at the beginning, playing the bantam

Chapter 164 The mentality has completely collapsed! G1 won!

Magic offense, Turkoglu held the ball at the top of the arc to observe the Supersonics' position, and looked for an opportunity to pass Howard again.

Howard took a step to catch the ball, turned to the middle of Gasol's defense, threw his right hand and missed the basket, and the rebound was protected by Szczerbiak.

Lu Yong knew very well that Howard's most fatal shortcoming was rough offensive methods. He might be able to knock open opponents and stage dunks with plenty of physical fitness, but once Xiaoqiang's powerful lower body strength pushes him out of the penalty area, Howard's offensive efficiency will drop sharply, and he will never be able to play O'Neal's unparalleled domination of the penalty area.

Alston was going crazy during this period. The offensive end was only responsible for dribbling the ball across the half court, and then opened to watch Howard's singles play in the penalty area. This made him a little anxious, fearing that he would not have the opportunity to prove himself.

Szczerbiak grabbed the rebound from the backcourt and immediately launched a counterattack. "Martial Saint" Jackson took the lead and rushed to the frontcourt, pressing Pietrus with his body to receive a pass from his teammate.He took a step and wanted to dunk, but was pulled down by Pietrus behind him, fouled and got two free throws.

Pietrus is the defensive barrier of the Magic's outside line. He is good at single defense, strong upper body strength and good follow-up speed, making him an excellent defender in the swing position.Of course, this guy's brain is not very bright, and his sometimes too frizzy and rude personality also makes him often make brutal moves when defending, such as the foul in this round.

Being pulled from behind to the ground, "Martial Saint" Jackson got up and rushed up, looking behind him fiercely, and waved his hands only after finding out that it was Pietrus, his teammate from last season, always getting angry and fighting.

The two played for the Golden State Warriors last season, and they are teammates with a good relationship. If this foul was replaced by someone else, Jackson would have punched him twice.

At the free throw line, "Martial Saint" Jackson let out a sigh of relief, and made two free throws steadily, 7-4.

Alston couldn't stand the Magic's offense this round. He dribbled the ball through the half court and found a pick-and-roll to break through to the basket. The fancy dribbling action failed to shake the boss.

Durant shrank from the basket and grabbed a backcourt rebound, and the fans burst into applause.

Van Gundy stood on the sidelines and yelled at his neck, signaling Alston not to play a single ball, and try to give the ball to Howard according to the tactics, which made Alston even more depressed.

In the first few rounds, he was a ruthless dribbling machine. Just one shot tonight caused the head coach's dissatisfaction. Is this game still a mess?

Durant pushed the ball forward, unable to counterattack and had to fall into position.

Gasol Jr. pulled to the middle to cover Durant without the ball and successfully hoisted Howard out of the penalty area.

Durant used the pick-and-roll to break through from the right, changed direction in front of his body and easily swayed Lewis half of his body, and made a 60-degree pull-up jump shot from the right. 9 to 4.

Durant played Lewis so easily, there was almost no pressure.

But even so, Van Gundy still didn't dare to let another striker, Turkoglu, play against him, because the Turk moved slower and could rely on his brain to defend alone, but he was not as good as Lewis in terms of physical talent.

The Magic attacked, and Alston dribbled the ball across the half to Turkoglu. The latter strictly implemented tactics and looked for an opportunity to drop the ball to Howard.

Howard received the ball from a low position and hit it twice with his body, trying to turn around and get close to the basket, but was dragged down by Gasol Jr., who would rather send "Warcraft" to the free throw line than let him dunk.

Howard was fouled and sent to the free throw line under great pressure. He made two free throws against the boos and interference of the fans at the scene. The rebound was grabbed by Gasol Jr., 9 to 5.

For the next period of time, the Supersonics always kept the rhythm, defending Howard resolutely without double-teaming, focusing on consumption, and drawing fouls if they couldn't prevent it, sending Howard to free throws.

In Lu Yong's view, as long as the Magic can't make a three-pointer, Howard can hit the basket casually. His turnaround throw can't kill the game, and scoring 30 points tonight is not as powerful as the outside firepower.

After playing for more than 5 minutes in the opening game, Alston hadn't scored yet. After being provoked by the boss, he made 2 of 0 shots and his face turned into a pig's liver.

Most of the rounds of the positional battle were to watch Howard attack under the basket, and Alstom could only follow back and forth, completely losing the joy of reaching the finals with the team.

Although Francis didn't play much, he was in a very happy mood.

It is his task to keep a close eye on Alston in the finals. If neither of them score, the Sonics will benefit the most after all.

In the next round, Als ignored the tactics after halftime and chose to break through with the ball to single out Francis.

He was going crazy for more than five minutes, and now he only has the basket in his eyes, and if he doesn't play twice, he will go crazy sooner or later.

Alston dribbled the ball continuously under the crotch at 45 degrees on the right side, adjusted his footsteps and changed direction in the middle, and suddenly stopped at the free throw line for a jump shot.

He couldn't get rid of Francis completely, and could only rely on rhythm to avoid the block, which was a bit far-fetched.

Francis took off with all his strength to interfere, blocked his sight with his hands, and the ball went out of the basket.

Howard showed his physical advantage. First, Gasol jumped up and grabbed the rebound, and made a second offensive dunk. Bang! 13 to 10.

It was too late for Gasol to foul the ball. Howard played too fast and had amazing athleticism.

Director Zhang sighed: "After the opening, Howard scored all the team's points tonight. It seems that the Supersonic's single-defense tactic failed, but in fact, the strategy of not double-teaming was very well implemented. The Magic can only score through Howard, and the offensive efficiency is good. However, the Supersonics have more scorers. All five starters have scored, and the cooperation is even sharper."

Yu Jia said with a smile: "Howard's personal ability is indeed very strong, but the strength of one person can't beat the whole team after all. If the Magic doesn't play outside, this game will be dangerous."

Supersonic attack, Francis dribbled the ball halfway and pretended to observe his teammates, until Gasol Jr. came up to pick and roll, he suddenly accelerated under his feet and caught Alstom by surprise.

The Sonics' offense in the first few rounds has always revolved around Durant. Francis's task is to dribble the ball in addition to defense.

Francis went to the right to speed up suddenly, leaped high with one step, and took advantage of Howard's being pulled out of the penalty area to violently dunk the basketball with one hand!

"boom!"

15:10.

After landing, Francis let out a loud roar, and cast a provocative look at Alston, which made Alston even more depressed.

The person who was provoked before the game has not scored a point so far, but Francis has already scored 4 points. Alstom's face is hot, and he is ashamed to throw home.

Magic's offense, Alston kept the ball in the middle and used feints, a series of dazzling street ball moves were useless, and suddenly made a three-pointer with one move.

Francis also didn't react to the ball. He didn't have time to take off, so he could only slightly interfere with it with his hand.

It's a pity that Alston's nerve knife's attributes fell ill again. He missed the basket with a three-pointer at the top of the arc, and the rebound was picked up by Szczerbiak.

Durant received the pass from the backcourt, and the Sonics counterattacked again this round.

Lewis' poor single-defense efficiency couldn't catch up with Adu at all, and he didn't even have time to pull people when he retreated, so he could only watch Durant rushing forward.

Seeing this, Pietrus let go of Jackson decisively, and the weak side defense tried to use a foul to prevent him from counterattacking for a dunk.

Durant took three steps and didn't choose to pass the ball. He ran into Pietrus' help defense in the air. Before he lost his balance, he pushed the ball lightly with his left hand. He wiped the board from close range and scored a layup. At the same time, the sideline referee whistled and scored a 2+1 layup!

After falling to the ground, Durant clenched his fists and enjoyed the cheers of the fans.

When he stood on the free throw line, there was a uniform voice from the audience around him, and the voice of "MVP" ran through the audience, and the atmosphere of the finals was pushed to a climax.

"Shh!"

With the clear sound of the basketball hitting the net, Durant steadily made an extra free throw, 18 to 10, and Stan Van Gundy, who looked constipated, had no choice but to request a timeout.

The Magic had to make adjustments. Howard alone couldn't win the game alone. Van Gundy scratched his head anxiously with a sad face.

Half a quarter into the game, the Magic haven't hit a three-pointer today. This situation is very rare, and even Van Gundy doesn't know how to adjust.

In desperation, Van Gundy could only instill chicken soup into the players, use words to encourage the players to cheer up, and said a lot of nonsense.

The timeout ended and neither team made any substitutions.

The Magic players still pass the ball to Howard in the low post for singles, pass the ball out if they attract double-teams, and single-handedly under the basket if they cannot attract double-teams.

Lu Yong sat on the sidelines and smiled, not surprised by the trend of tonight's game.He understands the "one-star four-shot" style of play better than anyone else. As long as the core players can't attract double-teams, they will be proper star singles in the end.

Whether it is the Cavaliers led by James 3.0, the Rockets led by James Harden, or the Magic headed by "Warcraft" Howard, there are flaws in the attacking system around the stars.

Without a second-in-command like Irving who stood up and gave a fatal blow at a critical moment, pure "one-star shooting" is doomed to fail to win the championship.

Even though Gasol soon received his second personal foul and ended up resting, Lu Yong still didn't panic, waved his hand to signal Noah to come on the field, and continued to consume Howard's physical strength with wheel battles.

Howard's free throws are bad enough, and his shooting percentage is barely maintained at 50%. It is very cost-effective to send him to the free throw line, and there is no need to worry about being "one point rain" to kill the game.

After the first quarter of the game, 33 to 24, the Sonics led by 9 points.

Durant's 10 points in a single quarter was the team's highest, and the SuperSonics blossomed inside and outside, playing a typical team basketball.

魔术球星霍华德8投6中，罚球6中3，砍下15分5篮板1盖帽，命中率75%。

Howard's performance in the first quarter was impeccable, but the team's outside line was not strong. Only Turkoglu hit a three-pointer, and the others made 6 of 0 shots.

Alstom scored 5 points in 1 of 2 shots. Several one-on-one singles were wasted opportunities, and his performance was not as good as Francis.

The head coaches of the two teams fought wits and courage, and made many substitutions and adjustments in the second half of the first quarter. In the end, the Supersonics with a better lineup had the upper hand.

In the second quarter, Durant rested, and Lu Yong sent Dragic, Neal, Batum, Teletovic and Noah.

Magic Five: Alston, Tyronn Lue, Courtney Lee, Tony Batty, Gortat.

Alston stayed on the field with a substitute, and Howard went off to rest.

Van Gundy is a coach who is good at arranging defense. The offensive tactics he arranged for the Magic are very simple. Alston launches the offense with the ball, which is the first offensive point in the second quarter.The role players moved away according to the tactics, looking for opportunities to score.

Alston became excited after his debut and tried to prove himself. The only regret was that Francis was not on the court.

After halftime, Alston broke through with the ball, singled out Dragic one-on-one and went deep inside, opened up space with a half-stop, and made an emergency stop jump shot.

"boom!"

However, Alston is doomed to be unlucky tonight. This jump shot without too much interference still misses, and the ball hits the neck of the basket and bounces out of the basket.

Noah protected the backcourt rebound to instigate a counterattack and passed it to Batum to attract a supplementary defense. The former hit the ground and passed it to Dragic who followed up on the other side. The latter dragged the ball with one hand and wiped the board for a layup. 35 to 24.

The home fans stood up and cheered loudly, and Alstom was going crazy.

On the offensive end, he made a shot and was scored by the opponent player. This is simply a shameful ridicule.

Lu Yong sat on the sidelines and smiled happily. Alston was so unlucky today that even the goddess of luck would not stand behind him.

What was even more exaggerated was that when Alston dribbled the ball across half court this round, Lu Yong frantically double-teamed him. Before he even made the three-point line, he was blocked by two burly men and had to transfer the ball to Courtney Lee on the weak side.

The finals did not double-team the No. [-] center in the Eastern Conference Howard, but turned around and arranged for players to double-team Alstom.
The most damning thing is that Courtney Lee caught the ball and hit an open three-pointer. Alston was so angry that he wanted to rush up and give him two big ears.

It doesn't matter if you can't get the scoring data, is it so difficult to get an assist now?

If he continues to play at this pace, he will definitely not be able to prove himself tonight, and he will probably be ridiculed by the fans after the game.

The Supersonics attacked, and Teletovic got rid of the defense with a screen, and caught the ball at 45 degrees on the right side and made a strong three-pointer.

This is Teletovic's playing rhythm. Although he didn't score, the opportunity has come out. It can only be said that the hand feels almost.

The Magic attacked, and Als was double-teamed through the half court, and the ball was passed to power forward Tony Batty and missed the shot.

In these two rounds, Alstom didn't even have an offensive chance. He originally thought that it was time for him to perform in the second quarter, but in the end he still couldn't get rid of the fate of a tool man. He could only pass the ball to his teammates after halftime.

Stan Van Gundy saw that the situation was wrong and took the initiative to adjust the lineup.

Howard and other main players were replaced, and Alstom, who had not scored a point, was replaced and sat on the bench sullenly.

"Warcraft" re-dominated the penalty area as soon as he came up, scoring singles under the basket for two consecutive rounds, and deserved the title of the No. [-] center in the East.

Seeing this, Lu Yong didn't dare to make a big deal, replaced Noah, sent Gasol Jr., and continued to use the "meat shield" to defend, consuming Howard's physical strength.

The Sonics strictly guarded against outside attacks. Gasol Jr. soon received his fourth personal foul. Noah's butt was still hot, and he went to the court again to fight Howard.

When the Supersonics have two All-Star centers, not to mention "Warcraft" Howard, even Yao Ming can't get any benefits. This is the confidence that the depth of the lineup brings to Lu Yong.

纵使霍华德半场就砍下24分9篮板2盖帽的数据，罚球11中6，魔术还是落后超音速两位数的分差。

Alston had only 4 points, 1 rebound and 1 assist in the half, his mentality completely collapsed, and his reappearance in the second half of the second quarter was poor, and he couldn't even grasp the open opportunities.

57 to 43, the Sonics led by 14 points at halftime.

Durant's performance was not explosive, but he played steadily on the offensive end, scoring 18 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists and 1 steal, and his efficiency was stable.

During the intermission, Director Zhang said: "The Supersonics' defensive tactics are too successful. Let Howard play alone under the basket, and strictly guard the Magic outside. It is very uncomfortable to play the Magic like this. Except for Howard, everyone else is performing. They can't play at the level they should have."

Yu Jia said with a smile: "Shuai Lu really has a lot of ideas in his head. The first thought of other teams facing the Magic is to limit Howard's scoring, but he simply let Howard play singles without even double-teaming. This idea is a bit bold, but I have to say that the effect is surprisingly good."

Director Zhang added: "The key is that the players at the center position of the Supersonics are very capable. Both Noah and Gasol can compete with Howard. If other teams use the same routine, it may not be effective."

In the second half, it was Gasol who started the game. He was fouled four times but didn't panic at all. His defensive actions were the same as before, and he was not afraid of leaving the field with six fouls.

In the words of head coach Lu Yong, the defensive end let go of the defense, the six fouls left the field and the All-Star Noah was holding on, afraid of a woolen thread!

The Magic tried a few long-range three-point shots against the defense, but the effect was not good, and the shooting rate was not as good as allowing Howard to play singles under the basket. This is a worry for Stan Van Gundy.

The Supersonic's defensive tactics are too straightforward. Howard storms the basket without double-teaming, guards against the outside line, and sends him free throws if he can't stand it.

The key problem still comes from the offensive end. The Sonics players can always find good shots through continuous running and moving the ball. The team's offense is smooth and much more brutal than the Magic.

After 7 minutes, Howard's physical strength dropped significantly. In the first half, he wasted too much physical energy by using his body to force him. At this moment, he even slowed down to defend the pick-and-roll, and the negative effect of the ball hitting the basket began to show.

86 to 67, the Magic trailed the Supersonics by 19 points in three quarters, and the morale of the team fell to the bottom. Even Howard, who scored 30+ points, was on the verge of collapse.

In the final quarter, the Magic's starting lineup continued to play.

Van Gundy knows that if he wants to win, he can only reuse stars. If the point difference continues to widen, he will never have to come back as a starter.

It's a pity that the trick of reusing stars is not limited to Van Gundy, and Lu Yong also does it with ease.

Durant, "Martial Saint" Jackson, and Szczerbiak continued to play. The other two were Neil and Noah, and the point difference was always hovering beyond 15 points.

The Magic dug too much in the first three quarters, and trying to even out the nearly 20-point difference in a single quarter is tantamount to nonsense.

As Durant made a chasing three-pointer in the fast-break counterattack, the morale of the Magic was completely disintegrated, and the players had no intention of fighting again.

Van Gundy stood on the sidelines with a dazed face, and didn't call a timeout, because he knew that the team would lose today.

　It's been raining for two consecutive days, and it's going to leak this day!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)