basketball player

Chapter 669 Chapter 667: An increasingly powerful opponent

Norman Powell, Henson admitted, he didn't know the name until his first game against the Raptors this season.

He studied Powell the first time he played against the Raptors, but he didn't think such an ordinary role player would cause any trouble for the Pacers.

As everyone knows, it was such an inconspicuous little character who killed Henson himself yesterday.

Indeed, he is not the highest scorer on the Raptors, the highest scorer is Leonard.

Likewise, he's not the Raptors' best plus-minus, the best being Serge Ibaka.

However, Norman Powell was the sharpest knife, piercing Henson's heart.

The loss of this game, in addition to making Henson feel extremely annoyed, also made him realize his situation this season.

From the East, he will have to play every step of the way.Because those teams that are staring at him may end his victory at any time.Even if he had defeated them.

The battle against the Raptors can only be regarded as an appetizer. Henson knows very well that the difficulty of the game in January will only continue to increase!

After the battle with the Raptors, the Pacers beat the Cavaliers by 21 points in the away game.But the victory in this game will not make Henson feel too happy, after all, the Cavaliers this season is a lottery team.The defending champions beat a lottery team, and that's nothing to celebrate.

Henson has already put his attention on the next game against the Celtics in Boston.

Earlier this season, the Pacers also defeated the Celtics, and won very easily.As long as Kelly Irving is dead, the Celtics' offense is basically paralyzed in half.

But after more than half of the season, the Boston Celtics are much more mature than they were at the beginning of the season.So this matchup in Boston put Henson in a tough fight again.

At this time, the game has reached the 5th minute of the third quarter, and the Pacers only lead the Celtics by 1 point.

Stevens returned to his old business today, playing the ultimate team offense, Kelly Irving restrained his shots, and actually did the work of a traditional point guard!
This time is the same, Irving held the ball from beyond the three-point line and called for a pick-and-roll, and Horford and Marcus Morris put up a double screen.

According to the experience of the last match, Irving will definitely kill the penalty area and then make a fancy layup.While winning people's attention, the basketball is steadily scored.

But today, Owen didn't do that.With the lessons from last time and Stevens' reminder, Irving is very clear that there are defensive traps waiting for him at the basket.If he made a layup rashly, it would just fall into the hands of the Pacers.

So, after he rushed halfway to attract the defense, he passed the ball suddenly and distributed the ball to Marcus Morris.

The latter made a decisive shot from outside the three-point line. Because George went to defend Irving, he failed to block Morris' jumper in the first place.

In this way, the Celtics hit another three-pointer.Irving scored his 6th assist in the game. So far, Irving's personal score is only 7 points.However, Henson felt that he was more threatening than before.

"Beautiful breakthrough points, Kelly Irving continues to use the pass to cause trouble for the Pacers. Coach Stevens' tactics are very clear and very efficient. Now, the Celtics lead by 2 points. This game has been very anxious from the beginning."

Mike Breen shook his head, January was really a huge test for the Pacers.

Meanwhile, Henson sat on the bench with a deadpan face.With Norman Powell's "offensive power", Henson is used to encountering surprises in such games.

Irving suddenly started to organize the offense instead of scoring. Are you surprised?A surprise, but Henson had already expected a surprise.

Therefore, he did not panic, nor was he overwhelmed, but calmly analyzed the situation.

The Stevens guy uses Irving as Thomas Jr., the purpose is to activate the offense of the whole team and avoid the situation where Irving attacks alone.

But Irving's organizational ability is still a bit behind that of Thomas Jr. at his peak.Henson believes that as long as he can contain Irving's passing route and switch defenses quickly, he should be able to contain the Celtics' scoring momentum.

For a moment, Henson almost couldn't help but bring the ultimate lineup on the field.After all, Celtics center and Henson's favorite Al Horford is not the kind of big mac inside.Marcus Morris, a power forward, also plays more towards the third position.Use the ultimate lineup to deal with the Celtics, and the inside will not suffer.

But in the end, Henson vetoed the plan.Now, it's not time to fight with your life.

So, in the last 3 minutes of the third quarter, Henson sent a small lineup of Antetokounmpo + Oladipo + George + Siakam + PJ Tucker.

Although this lineup is a small lineup, it is not "small" at all.In terms of height, the Pacers are not at a disadvantage.And the most powerful part of this lineup is that five players can basically achieve unlimited defense changes.While changing defenses infinitely, it can also guarantee efficiency.

Using the overall defense to contain the Celtics' overall offense is Henson's strategy.

Once this lineup came out, the effect was really good.Oladipo pestered Irving with his extreme aggression and kept him from handling the ball easily.The other four can actually stare at their matchup and not give them a chance to catch the ball easily.

In the last 3 minutes of the third quarter, the Celtics' offensive efficiency began to decline.

In the middle of the fourth quarter, the Pacers completed a lead.At the end of the fourth quarter, the Celtics couldn't find an offensive point for a while.

Henson has always believed in a law: it is no problem to play team basketball in regular time, but there must be an offensive strength at critical moments.Otherwise, the team's offense will only be extremely chaotic at critical moments.

Today, Stevens' Celtics just couldn't find an offensive strength at the critical moment.

Irving didn't have a main attack throughout the game, and he couldn't break out all of a sudden.And Morris, Horford and even Tatum, facing Henson's unlimited defensive lineup, the one-on-one efficiency is very average,
Stevens naturally knows that there must be an offensive strength at the last moment, but sometimes there are some things that the head coach will not be able to succeed without knowing it.

On the Pacers side, Paul George stood up and made the final decision at a critical moment.In the end, Henson's team came out victorious in Boston.

125 to 123, if there is one more round, Henson will not know who is the final winner.

In the whole game, 7 Celtics scored in double figures, and 3 of them scored 20.It is no exaggeration to say that this is one of the best games the Celtics have played so far this season.

However, the defending champion finally relied on Henson's timely adjustment and the outstanding performance of the players to carry it down.Of course, such a victory also made the Pacers lose a layer of skin.

"You almost killed me, Brad." Henson looked exhausted as he shook Stevens' hand after the game.This game really consumed a lot of his energy.

"It's a pity that you are the one who won in the end, Henson. Stay, you can still rule the league for a long time." Stevens sighed. He had tried his best, but he was still defeated.

Ever since he was on his own, he didn't seem to have beaten Henson very well.There are so many coaches in the league, only Henson is a hurdle that Stevens cannot overcome.

Who would have thought that the little assistant coach who came to Butler University to ask him for advice could achieve such a terrifying achievement in the NBA.

"Forget it, I've made up my mind to go, Brad. I hope this year's Eastern Conference finals...you can make the appointment."

After shaking hands, Henson looked around.Boston Celtics, North Shore Garden.Early in the season, he didn't have to struggle to win here.But now, he was extremely tired.His players are equally exhausted.

Everyone is improving as the season progresses.It is no longer so easy to defeat a powerful enemy.The last season was, of course, the hardest.

After the game, Henson dragged his tired body to the press conference.However, the exhaustion from this narrow victory had not yet dissipated, and Henson was overwhelmed by another problem.

"Coach Henson, Jimmy Butler claimed that he will definitely win at the Bankers Life Arena this time. What do you think of this? Do you think you can still suppress him after he joins the Philadelphia 76ers?"

Henson didn't answer, but rubbed his face wearily.That guy Jimmy Butler is crazy to win at Bankers Life Arena.

The game against the 76ers will definitely be more difficult than today.

One wave is not flat, and another wave rises again.

(End of this chapter)