Basketball Dragon

Chapter 106
The Knicks played smoothly in the first quarter, and Eddie Curry also made strong plays twice. They showed off both inside and outside, and firmly suppressed the Celtics.

Li Hai, in particular, felt sharper, and he was not at a disadvantage in the duel with Pierce.

When it was time for the rotation, Crawford was not polite when he came on the court, making consecutive shots.

The Knicks have shown a strong level of offense, but the worrying defense is still troublesome.

Still only Li Hai's personal defense is impressive, and the defensive awareness of players in other positions is still a bit weaker. Even Antonio Davis, a former top blue-collar, is far from the toughness at his peak due to his age. defense.

After halftime, the two sides were evenly matched, and the Knicks only won by 3 points.

Head coach Larry Brown was dissatisfied with the defense in the first half. Unlike the Knicks' previous coaches, he said a few harsh words during the intermission.

During these days of training, the Knicks have paid a lot of attention to defense. Under the request of the head coach, the defense in the second half has improved.

But most players haven't adapted to this defensive rhythm. The defense has improved a bit, but the offense has immediately stagnated.

This is also related to the fact that the team is still running in, and the internal and external cooperation is a bit awkward.

In order to allow the new players to quickly integrate into the team, Li Hai also specially made a few shots, but the effect was not very good.

Crawford, who turned into the team's sixth man, also felt a little bad, which caused the Knicks' small advantage to completely spit out in the third quarter, from leading by 3 points to falling behind by 3 points.

Regarding this situation, Li Hai's experience is also somewhat lacking, but he will definitely not allow the team to fail easily.

This year's rookie player Nate Robinson also got the opportunity to play in rotation, and his performance is remarkable. The substitute Matt Barnes on the front line is also quite satisfactory. The other rookies probably don't have the opportunity to switch to the game so quickly because of their anxiety. up.

In contrast, the Celtics' rookies this season appear to be worse.

However, the two teams are very tight in terms of score. Li Hai's status is a bit different this season. Larry Brown doesn't intend to let him carry it to death, but the Celtics let Pierce and Ricky Davis on the court. He spent a lot of time on the court, and he assumed that he was bound to win this game.

When Li Hai was replaced, the Knicks were already 5 points behind.

Although 5 points are not many, the Knicks appear to be very passive in the current scene.

Li Hai didn't care about anything else, he went up to ask for the ball, Pierce put most of his energy on offense, and naturally he was weaker on defense, after Li Hai caught the ball, he made a gesture of back hitting, and suddenly turned around Swiping inside, it was too late for the defending team to come over, so they just pulled subconsciously.

One-handed buckle, 2+1, Li Hai's whole person's aura is different.

He proved himself last season, entered the national team in summer, and spared no expense to hire trainers to train hard. This season, his confidence and combat effectiveness have been greatly improved.

Pierce wanted to fight back, but under Li Hai's strong defense, he hit the iron.

Doc Rivers let Pierce play for a long time. As the first game of the regular season, Pierce's physical strength has declined a bit.

During the Knicks' counterattack, Li Hai broke through again, causing a foul by Riff LaFrentz.

Now that Li Hai has temporarily lost his tactics, he uses his personal ability to take over the game.

Larry Brown frowned, but he didn't say anything. Li Hai was the only team that could satisfy him in the previous game. Now Li Hai has to rely on his personal ability to decide the game at a critical moment, which is understandable.

Pierce was limited by Li Hai's defense, and the Celtics did not panic. The focus of offense immediately shifted to Ricky Davis.

Quentin Richardson's offense broke out in the Suns last year, but his defense dropped a notch. Now that he has come to the Knicks, his defense has not improved much, and he has not been able to limit Ricky Davis.

However, Li Hai didn't care about the opponent's changes at all. He slid to the bottom line, threw off Pierce, turned around to catch the ball, and made a shot.

Li Hai scored consecutive points and directly forced the Celtics to call a timeout.

Doug Rivers had no choice but to attack as long as he held the ball within the three-point line.

But after returning to the court, the Knicks' first attack made the Celtics' new defensive strategy a display. The moment Li Hai broke through and was flanked, he just threw the basketball in his hand to the basket, and Eddie Curry was done. dunk.

To deal with Li Hai, it's okay to have someone blocking him inside. If he directly pinches him, he will definitely be able to find a gap to pass the ball.

Pierce was going well before, but he didn't expect that Li Hai would suddenly explode at the last moment. In order to save face, Pierce took out all the offensive methods and finally got a free throw, but he didn't expect that the confrontation with Li Hai was too fierce. Even missed a free throw.

There are only a little more than 2 minutes left in the time, but the Celtics have gone from leading by 5 points to now trailing by 4 points.

At this time, the Knicks had replaced the familiar three in the backcourt from last season, and Larry Brown chose to put Crawford on the court at the last time.

When the other party was staring at Li Hai, Marbury and Crawford had a simple cooperation, and Crawford scored a goal.

Now the Celtics are in a difficult situation. The Knicks' three players in the backcourt all have a sense of shooting, which is difficult for any team in the league to restrain.

However, when he relaxed, Crawford passed another pass to Li Hai, and Li Hai raised his sword from outside the three-point line.

Riff LaFrentz also hit a three-pointer, which gave the Celtics a little hope, but time was running out. With a gap of 6 points, if the Knicks could not prevent this attack, the game would be over. The coffin is settled.

Marbury held the ball to control the time. After half of the offensive time was exhausted, he passed it to Li Hai who came up to catch the ball. Larry Brown asked Marbury to organize well. At the beginning, he didn't intend to confront the head coach, and this time the tactics were implemented more resolutely.

After receiving the ball, Li Hai faced Pierce in front of him, made a tentative step, and then suddenly started to press into the three-point line and pull up to shoot.

Pierce only had time to extend his hand symbolically before turning his head to see the basketball fall into the hoop.

With a gap of 8 points, LaFrentz went to the outside to try a three-pointer again, but this time he missed it.

The final score was fixed at 100:94, and the Knicks got off to a good start.

In this game, the five Knicks scored in double figures, which was a rare thing last season, and their attack points have increased again.

The superstar demeanor that Li Hai displayed at the last moment made Knicks fans even more delighted.

(End of this chapter)