The strongest champion puzzle

Chapter 41 The Not Difficult Eastern Expedition

The first stop of the Eastern Expedition was the Celtics, Garnett was one year older, Pierce was another year older, Ray Allen left, and now the Celtics' record can only be said to be so-so.

There is no orthodox center in their starting lineup, the old guy has a half-blue collar, and the two teams are very similar.

However, the Spurs are still a little younger, and Jason Terry, who the Celtics bought to replace Ray Allen in the summer, is also an old guy.

Zhang Xiaotian, as the only seed in the third position, became the starter without any dispute.

What he has to face is Paul Pierce, a famous figure in this position, but the opponent is 35 years old and no longer young.

Zhang Xiaotian is still very excited. Pierce is now considered a top three position. He said that his age is only compared with when he was young, which is roughly equivalent to Duncan's state.

At the beginning of the game, the Spurs first launched an offense from the inside. Garnett's degradation was obviously more serious than Duncan's, and the defensive threat was not as good as before.

The Celtics made consecutive shots from the outside, and Terry's touch was very good.

Zhang Xiaotian quickly felt how powerful Pierce is. Like Artest, even though he is older, his strength is still very good. Zhang Xiaotian stares very tightly when he is off the ball, but the opponent still takes a simple step back after receiving the ball to open up the space and make a hit. scored two points.

Pierce is actually the type Zhang Xiaotian is willing to face. He suffers the most from defending fast players, because he is not fast enough to keep up with his usual methods of physical confrontation.

Although he was scored by the opponent, Zhang Xiaotian was not discouraged. He also imagined killing all directions, just like the night when he scored 44 points, but that was a special case. He knew very well that he was only a supporting role in a strong team like the Spurs.

Whether playing as the main player or as a substitute, he has to put his mentality on and try his best to help the team. He is not a superstar.

What he can do at this time is try to contain Pierce as much as possible, not just on defense.

Pierce's defense may be good, but he didn't put his mind on Zhang Xiaotian completely. The momentary glory doesn't mean anything. An old world like him doesn't care that Zhang Xiaotian goes crazy once.

Zhang Xiaotian doesn't care either, the opponent's trash talk is because he cares about him, the opponent ignores him or even ignores him, and he can also use him. When attacking, he keeps running without the ball, which gave him a few open opportunities to win. 6 points.

Pierce also only scored 6 points. Whether he is famous or not, it depends on everyone's performance on the court. Zhang Xiaotian is full of fighting spirit.

In the first quarter, the main players of both sides felt good. They scored 30:27 and the Spurs took the lead.

In the second quarter, the substitutes of both sides showed their power.

The Spurs have been a bit tangled inside, but it also depends on who they are compared with. The current Celtics are no match for the Spurs inside, especially the substitute.

Whether it is Dior or Splitter, the rotation time has been smooth.

Although the Celtics' chief substitute Jeff Green also has height, he prefers to shoot outside.

The score has never been pulled, but the Spurs have always been the one in control.

In the third quarter, Celtics point guard Rajon Rondo began to show off.

It has to be said that Rondo is better than Parker in terms of organizational ability.

At the beginning of the second half, Rondo made several quick passes to the inside. Garnett easily scored to help the team chase 6 points in a row.

But Duncan immediately fought back, and Parker's touch was also good, and he didn't let the opponent overtake.

Zhang Xiaotian has been entangled with Pierce, but still let the opponent find a chance to hit a three-pointer, because defense is not a matter of one person in many cases, and so is offense. In the system, a screen can solve many problems.

Rondo passed the ball as soon as he was out of space, and Zhang Xiaotian could only sigh in awe.

In fact, the most troublesome thing is not Pierce looking for cover, but the subtle fake moves of the opponent.

Pierce's shot point is not high, it can be said that it is a bit sloppy, and because of this, Pierce's shot preparation time is much less than those of others, Zhang Xiaotian can't accurately judge whether the opponent is a fake shot.

Just a little bit past the third quarter, Zhang Xiaotian received his third foul and had to rest first.

When he was off the field, the Spurs were three guards, but they didn't suffer.

During the rotation period, Gary Neal and Splitter suddenly showed their strength, and the Spurs suddenly expanded their lead to more than 10 points.

In the last quarter, Zhang Xiaotian played with Pierce.

With the blessing of skills, Zhang Xiaotian was even more unscrupulous in physical confrontation with Pierce when he was off the ball.

And Pierce, who played longer than Zhang Xiaotian, seemed a little tired. Terry, who was hot in the first half, lost his previous firepower, and the Celtics seemed to lose their vitality all of a sudden.

Rajon Rondo started to go it alone. After the disintegration of the Celtics' Big Three, Rondo has been regarded as the core of the team's future, and the distribution of ball rights will surpass Pierce.

However, Parker really couldn't handle Rondo a little bit, and was fouled by the opponent's breakthrough twice.

But Rondo also has a big disadvantage, that is, his shooting is not very accurate. If he is not worried about his passing, he would not be able to be attacked by him repeatedly.

In addition, this is already the last quarter, so Rondo can't beat the sky.

With only 2 minutes left in the game, Zhang Xiaotian hit a three-pointer to help the team expand the lead to more than 10 points, and there was no suspense about the outcome of the game.

最终马刺112:100拿下对手，张小天14分5篮板3助攻完成任务。

He was very happy to win the game, but Pierce only tried a three-pointer at the end of the final quarter, and he didn't make a hit and didn't continue, making him feel like he had punched cotton.

Originally, Zhang Xiaotian planned to have a good fight with Pierce at the last moment, but the other party didn't respond.

Duncan 20+15 vertical and horizontal inside, rubbing Garnett of the same age on the ground, Zhang Xiaotian can only say that it is good to hug his thigh.

He also figured it out, decided not to care about statistics, not to think about playing against famous players, honestly help the team win, and honestly take the benefits of the system

Zhang Xiaotian's performance in the past few games has been quite satisfactory, he has neither skyrocketed as some fans hoped, nor disappeared as Heizi expected.

It was the fans who cared more about his performance than him, and there was already an uproar on the Internet. The trigger was the statement he said in an interview that day that he didn't care about the statistics and only cared about the outcome.

Fans headed by Zhang Yihu and Le Tianyou will support it, thinking that this is the attitude that professional players should have, and the Spurs' good start record is proof.

Another group of fans thought that Zhang Xiaotian was just covering up. He was a marginal player who was obviously not good enough, but he found a reason for his superiority.

Yang Feiyu is busy these days for credits, Zhang Xiaotian is bored in the away game, and seeing the heated quarrel between the two sides, he couldn't help but use social media accounts to apply to join the circles of both sides, and peek at the screen while exercising in the hotel.

(End of this chapter)