NBA: Start by torturing Jordan and add points to upgrade

Rose jumped with all his might, his eyes already above the basket. After a noticeable hang time, the basketball, which Rose had just tucked behind his head, was swung wildly toward the basket.

"boom!"

After a loud bang, Rose scored 2 more points!
Barnes delivered a confident pass, and Rose naturally followed with a stylish dunk!

Such a high-post steal is a nightmare for the team that made the mistake. Their other players simply don't have time to react or get back on defense, and they can only watch as the opponent charges forward and finishes the play.

"My fault!" Crawford raised one hand and waved to his teammates, indicating that the goal was his fault.

If he could make some changes, his teammates definitely wouldn't blame him.

Unfortunately, this guy obviously won't change. Playing style isn't something you can just change or alter on a whim.

If he could change, Lin Tian wouldn't have gotten so excited when he saw this guy on the court playing point guard.

The feeling of being able to treat your opponent's strengths as absolute weaknesses and attack, target, and gang up on them is simply amazing!
Crawford dribbled the ball up the court again, this time Barnes was the one guarding him.

Barnes may not be as fast as Rose, but he has plenty of defensive experience, a great wingspan, and considerable height. Combined with his aggressive defensive style, he immediately closed in on Crawford once he crossed half-court.

Put it on your body!
Since it was the playoffs anyway, and since it was a home game, Barnes skillfully controlled the line of play. Although Crawford was almost knocked off his feet by Barnes's aggressive play, the referee just didn't blow the whistle!

It has to be said that experienced defenders are highly sought after!

If this kind of play happened during a regular season game, on an away game, or if the referee's touch was slightly more aggressive, or if Barnes made a foul, the referee would very likely call it.

But Barnes was caught between blowing and not blowing, and fiercely charged at Crawford.

After finally getting to the three-point line, Crawford tried his best to regroup and launch another attack, but unfortunately, every time he took a step back, Barnes would take two steps forward.

Just as he finally managed to shake off Barnes with his powerful dribbling skills, DeRozan's help defense arrived with lightning speed!

Another double-team! Another double-team at the top of the key!

"Ball! Ball!" This time, the rest of the Knicks team couldn't take it anymore.

Wallace, who was left behind by DeRozan, and Ariza on the other side both yelled at almost the same time, wanting Crawford to pass the ball.

Unfortunately, if the two hadn't shouted, Crawford might have been able to hold on a little longer. But the shout only made him more impatient, and he lowered his head, trying to force his way into the paint to get rid of the double defense.

Without realizing it, his movements became increasingly exaggerated.

"puff!"

Suddenly, there was a muffled thud, and Barnes, who was next to Crawford, fell to the ground. Crawford's raised elbow was so conspicuous.

Clearly, it was he who knocked Barnes down with an elbow!

Regardless of how much Barnes was acting or exaggerating, the referee didn't hesitate and blew the whistle quickly.

Offensive foul!

After Crawford came on, he made a series of fatal mistakes!

"Brad, do me a favor!" Seeing the referee blow the whistle, Lin Tian immediately said to Stevens beside him, "Help me chant ten times: God bless, and make sure that old geezer doesn't make a substitution."

"why?"

"Let's use the power of faith to help our team achieve victory!"

"What is that?" Stevens was stunned. He could understand what Lin Tian was saying, but he couldn't comprehend it.

"You believe in Jesus, right? You're close to Jesus, so pray for me and ask him to help us out. Don't let Old Nelson make a substitution. If we keep going like this for a few more rounds, we can take it down tonight!"

"Are you kidding me?!" Stevens was completely dumbfounded. What was this? Was it really necessary to ask my brother Su for help with something so simple?

"I rarely joke around, hurry up, hurry up! They might be changing personnel, hurry up and pray! You pray so much all the time, don't tell me you're not devout at all!"

"God! Punish this sinner before me! Send him to hell! Send him to hell!" Stevens finally began his prayer, but it was clearly not what Lin Tian wanted at all.

Of course, Stevens wasn't stupid; he just kept it to himself and didn't say it aloud.

"Substitution! Raymond, go and take that idiot off the field!" Old Nelson was no longer smiling; he dared not let Crawford continue on the field.

He knew Lin Tian too well. He knew very well that Crawford, having suffered two consecutive losses, would definitely lose his temper, and a tempered Crawford would be even less likely to pass the ball.

Lin Tian will continue to target Crawford on both offense and defense!

Don Nelson bet his future happiness on this: if he didn't make any substitutions, the Bobcats' next offensive possession would definitely be a one-on-one against Crawford!
"Didn't you pray for me?" Lin Tian turned around and glared at Stevens as soon as he saw Old Nelson being replaced. "Otherwise, why didn't God help?"

"I prayed!"

"So, you're an unfilial heretic? I, on behalf of God, expel you...you...um, what's this called again? Believers?"

"Jeff, can you tell me how I should curse that good-for-nothing Brad?"

"A curse?" Van Gundy looked at Lin Tian and said to him, "I curse you to have the same hairstyle as me before you turn 40!"

"FUXX! You bastard, you're so vicious!" Lin Tian exclaimed in shock, scratching his head before looking at Stevens and saying, "He's just as undevout as you, isn't he? He doesn't know God at all, does he?"

“Whether we’re close or not, I don’t know, but if it’s to punish you, this demon,” Stevens said directly, “I believe God would be happy to help! This is also a way to rid the people of a scourge!”

Stevens is no longer acting; he's no longer cooperating with Lin Tian.

That bastard is shameless!

"When we get back, I'll give you two bastards ten times the workload! Analyze all the videos of those eight Western Conference teams!" Lin Tian snorted. "If you don't do it, I'll fire you!"

The bickering between the three coaches also illustrates the current atmosphere within the Bobcats team.

Quite easy!

They all believed that the game was completely under their control and that their team could win easily!
After all, the team is leading by 11 points and still has possession of the ball. The opposing team's key players have already entered the game, while Yao Ming and DeRozan on their side are still resting on the bench!
A decisive advantage!

Soon, as the game resumed, Rose observed the situation and then initiated another pick-and-roll. After two consecutive passes, Stoudemire, who was supposed to be guarding Boozer, was once again disoriented and lost his defensive position, watching helplessly as Boozer easily made a layup.

13 points!
In the next few minutes, the two sides chased and fought for a 10-15 point difference, but neither side was able to gain the upper hand. With 8 minutes left in the fourth quarter, the gap between the two sides was still 12 points!
"Yao, Demar! It's your turn!" Lin Tian glanced at the time; he knew it was almost time.

It's time to launch the final offensive!
With the team's two top scorers both inside and outside the paint on the court, it means the Bobcats are about to launch an offensive and completely kill the game!

Back on the court, Yao Ming didn't pull out to the three-point line to call for the ball in the first possession. Instead, after discovering that he was being matched up against Stoudemire, he immediately rushed to the basket to box out and call for the ball!
If you, Stoudemire, are guarding me, what's the difference between that and no one guarding me?
Rose, of course, knew he had to exploit the Knicks' weaknesses. He lobbed the ball high to Yao Ming, who immediately backed down twice, then turned and faked a shot. Stoudemire immediately fell for it and jumped.

Then Yao Ming easily stepped past Stoudemire and made a layup, scoring another 2 points!
"Beautiful feint!" Miller and Jackson cheered almost simultaneously.

"This damn feint wouldn't even fool my grandma, how could Amare fall for it?" Old Nelson couldn't hold back any longer.

Although Yao Ming's feint and footwork were solid, they were as basic as they could possibly be.

Even if Stoudemire gets dunked on by him, how could he be so easily faked out? It's ridiculous!
After Yao Ming scored that basket, the Bobcats went on a roll, the whole team found their rhythm, and Boozer was particularly impressive, shutting down Stoudemire's layup one-on-one on the defensive end.

After receiving the ball, Rose launched another fast break, driving into the heart of the Knicks' defense and passing the ball to DeRozan who was following up. DeRozan caught the ball, took off, and slammed it home again!

With this fast break, the Bobcats' lead reached 15 points for the first time tonight!
The suspense of the match began to shrink rapidly as the momentum of both sides shifted.

The Knicks, of course, did not give up. They launched wave after wave of attacks on the Bobcats' defense!

Stoudemire had a successful dunk at the basket, Okur hit an open three-pointer, and Wallace made a low-post layup.

Unfortunately, they failed to mount a sustained offensive surge and were unable to stop the Bobcats' attacks on multiple occasions.

So although the score wasn't widened further and the Knicks kept chasing, the two teams were never able to effectively close the gap.

With just three minutes left in the game, the Bobcats pulled off an absolutely brilliant play!

After a pick-and-roll between Rose and Boozer at the top of the key, they quickly separated. Rose then quickly passed the ball to Boozer, who faked a move to draw the defense before passing it to DeRozan on the wing without looking. DeRozan passed the ball to Rose, who had already returned to the top of the key, without stopping it.

Rose then switched to Barnes on the other side, and Barnes quickly found Yao Ming standing in the corner without stopping.

When Yao Ming got the basketball, the Knicks' defense was completely dumbfounded. Forget about defense, there wasn't a single Knicks player within five meters of Yao Ming.

Yao Ming calmly aimed, even taking a deep breath, before raising his arm and throwing the basketball.

"Shh!"

With such an absolutely huge open space and enough time to adjust, it would be difficult for the ball not to go in!

After this shot, the gap between the two sides has reached 17 points!

The body language displayed by the Knicks players after making that shot clearly conveyed their frustration and disappointment.

Although they are still playing, in essence, the vast majority of people on this team do not believe that the team can still win.

Of course, Don Nelson could see the players' disappointment, and he quickly called a timeout, still wanting to put up a fight and make some adjustments.

"We can win!"

"I can't be the only one who believes we can still win, can I?"

In a daze, old Nelson seemed to hear an extremely familiar voice.

It's Lin Tian!
These are speeches that Lin Tian delivered repeatedly in dire straits over the past few years.

This kid never seems to have given any passionate speeches that get people's blood pumping or make their eyes bloodshot. He always seems to effortlessly boost the team's morale with a few words and laughs, get everyone to give their all, and then create miracles to win the game.

During those years, Nelson really thought coaching was an incredibly easy job.

Unfortunately, the team doesn't have that kind of person anymore!

Old Nelson sighed, glancing at Stoudemire, who was now dejected and showed no intention of stepping up to boost the team's morale. He knew that he still had to rely on himself.

"Alright guys, listen to me. This match isn't over yet! As long as you don't give up, the match isn't over! But if you give up now, the match will really be over in the next second!"

"We won!" On the other side, Lin Tian looked at his players with ease and said, "The Knicks played well. I thought I could have said this 20 minutes ago, but I didn't expect it to take so long."

"But it's not a big problem. Tonight, let's celebrate and party!"

"Wow! Hooray!" All the players cheered and raised their arms in unison when they heard Lin Tian's words! A coach who could encourage his players to go to a nightclub and have fun at this time was absolutely unique to Lin Tian!

“Lin, the playoffs have only just begun, it’s not time for them to let their guard down.” Van Gundy, who always valued discipline, frowned. He clearly had a problem with Lin Tian’s behavior.

"Okay Jeff, relax a bit! That's how I am when I play. Even if we don't let them go, they'll still sneak over. So it's better to let them relax!"

"And I assure you that for tomorrow afternoon's training, not a single one of them will be late, not a single one will show up with a hangover, not a single one will be in bad shape because of tonight's partying, and not a single one of them will go out to play tomorrow night! They'll behave themselves tomorrow night!"

Can you guarantee that?

After Lin Tian finished speaking, he looked at everyone on the team and asked them to make a promise to Van Gundy.

"We promise! Jeff, we promise!"

"What if I don't want to?" Van Gundy's expression remained tense.

“Then we won’t go. If any of them dare to sneak out tonight, no matter who it is, including Derrick and Yao, anyone who dares to go out and sneak out without Jeff’s permission, I guarantee I’ll DNP them in the following games! I promise, and I mean it!”

"Jeff, your opinion is very important!"

"Let's win first!" Lin Tian had already given them plenty of face and a way out. Although Van Gundy was an old-fashioned man, he wasn't the kind of stubborn person who lacked emotional intelligence.

He snorted and turned to sit in his chair.

Lin Tian knew when to stop, so he immediately changed the subject, saying, "Alright, go ahead. In the last two minutes of the match, keep your spirits up and play your best! No one should let their guard down, and no one should think about slacking off or just going through the motions!"

"If the Knicks go on a run before the game ends, what kind of offensive surge can boost their morale?"

"Then, not just tonight, but throughout the entire playoffs, you all need to stay put! Understand?"

"understand!"

"Very well, then go, go and kill them!"

"understand!"

With Lin Tian's roar, the entire Knicks team was filled with high morale, everyone was brave and ready to fight, to step onto the court and end the game, to end the Knicks!
It must be said that in terms of coaching ability and tactical versatility, Don Nelson and Lin Tian are probably in the same league.

But if we only consider boosting morale and getting players to give their all in the game, then Lin Tian is definitely a cut above Nelson!
Looking across the entire league, perhaps only Phil Jackson, that old fox, can rival Lin Tian in boosting morale, unlocking player potential, and getting stars to play their hardest.

In the final two minutes, the Knicks posed absolutely no threat to the Bobcats, putting up two more attempts before failing to close the gap.

With 100 seconds left in the game, Don Nelson knew things were hopeless. He sighed, waved his hand to call the final timeout, and substituted all his key players.

Old Nelson surrendered.

That's all for tonight.

But judging from Old Nelson's expression and his constantly shifting eyes, he hadn't given up at all, nor was he discouraged in the slightest.

The old man was already planning how to defeat the Bobcats and how to break their highly targeted tactics in the next game.

With his tactical reserves and rich experience, Don Nelson may have declined in his on-court adaptability due to his age, but if given time to go back and prepare, his ability to prepare for games and formulate game plans should not be underestimated. He is definitely top-notch in the league!

The second game of the series will definitely be a fight! (End of Chapter)