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Although the Knicks kept playing against the Celtics in the first half, the Celtics fans on the scene still had hope for the team.
They don't think it's because the Celtics are getting old. The Celtics are a slow-starting team. It's normal for them to be out of shape at the beginning of the season. As the season starts, the Big Three will gradually regain their status.
Therefore, although the Celtics fans at the scene saw that the team was behind, they did not feel too much frustration. They still sat firmly on the stools. During the intermission, they should buy water and go to the toilet. Going to the bathroom, the disappointment and anger can't be seen on their faces.
What the Knicks fans lack is this kind of calmness. When the team falls behind, the Knicks fans are more impatient. It can be seen that the reason why a wealthy family is called a wealthy family is not only reflected in the players, but also in the fans.
Therefore, the Knicks still have a long way to go.
The 20-point lead in the first half made all the Knicks players start to swell up. The rhythm of the entire first half was firmly in the hands of the Knicks. Even Lian Dao didn't feel that there would be too much splash on the opposite side.
In the case of a big lead, many players will feel proud and complacent. In reality, there should not be many players who can maintain a calm attitude even in the lead.
However, the difference between old players and young players is that old players have suffered too much because of their pride and complacency, so they will be more cautious psychologically.
At the same time, they know how to stabilize the situation when there is a headwind, just like the Celtics now.
After the start of the second half, Lian Dao hit a three-pointer after he came on the court, and the start was very good. Although Pierce still can't limit Lian Dao's performance, after the last season and this season, he has also begun to adapt to Lian Dao's offensive style, so Lian Dao's scoring is far less easy than last season.
Lian Dao scored a three-pointer at the beginning of the second half, which made all the Knicks players feel that they had a chance to win. Then, he blocked the Celtics' offense on the defensive end.
After Stoudemire picked off the rebound, he handed the ball to Lian Dao. Lian Dao didn't stop here, and directly passed the ball to Millsap who was on the fast break.
Here the Celtics returned to defense very quickly, and seeing Millsap's fast break, they quickly shrunk to the basket.
Millsap's three-pointers have improved rapidly this summer. When he saw the opponent let him three-pointers, he stopped outside the three-point line and pulled out his shot.
However, Millsap ignored his shooting talent. His three-pointers were developed in the past one or two years, so when encountering high confrontation, he was very unstable and stopped three-pointers. Saying is not a good choice.
"Bang!"
Sure enough, the basketball hit the rim and jumped high.
At this time, Garnett, who had just arrived, took advantage of the rebound and passed the ball to Rondo. The Celtics made one of the few fast breaks.
Moreover, the end of their fast break this time is the same as the Knicks. After Ray Allen got rid of Tony Allen with the help of his teammates' pick-and-roll, he got an open opportunity and made a shot from outside the three-point line. There was thunderous cheers.
The Knicks didn't pay much attention to this shot, and the players on the court still played according to the team's rhythm.
Although he was playing according to the rhythm of the first half, his state was obviously not as serious as the first half, especially the consecutive missed shots.
The Celtics are indeed a group of old goblins. They seized this opportunity and played a wave of 8:0.
Seeing that the Celtics were about to start, D'Antoni hurriedly called a timeout.
This timeout is critical, and the Knicks now urgently need to stabilize the situation.
Lian Dao thought that D'Antoni would choose to strengthen the defense at this time, but D'Antoni still insisted on attacking, playing fast breaks, and consuming the opponent's physical energy.
Lian Dao opened his mouth and wanted to say something, but seeing that D'Antoni had already laid out his tactics, he couldn't say anything more.
And the reality is indeed as what Lian Dao thought, Lian Dao passed the ball to open players in double-teams many times, but he still missed one after another, and this further strengthened the Celtics' commitment to Lian Dao. In between, Lian Dao seemed to have returned to the feeling of the Eastern Conference Finals.
His teammates didn't feel good, and Lian Dao fell into a single battle again, but the double-teaming also caused Lian Dao's physical fitness to decline very quickly, and his hit rate also dropped sharply.
Halfway through the third quarter, Lian Dao couldn't bear it anymore and called a timeout.
Now the score is 74:66.
The score was recovered by the Celtics by 12 points in half a quarter.
Back on the bench, Lian Dao also directly proposed to play defensive tactics and take advantage of the Knicks' defensive advantages. At this time, all the players nodded, even the assistant coach Mike Woodson nodded.
In fact, not only Lian Dao, but even Woodson wanted to propose a change in tactics and defense. The best point of the Knicks this season is the balance of offense and defense. Even if there is a problem with the offense, the defense can limit the opponent.
However, D'Antoni is too fancy about offense, even Woodson can't say anything.
At this time, when Lian Dao proposed to defend, Woodson couldn't help nodding, but D'Antoni's face was not very good-looking. He felt that Lian Dao had overstepped his authority.
In fact, Lian Dao also put forward his own opinions last season, but D'Antoni agreed at the time. There was no way, the entire Knicks was only Lian Dao's thigh at that time; he knew how far the Knicks went last season Much depends not on him, but on Lian Dao.
The addition of Stoudemire this season made him feel that he has the right to speak, so in terms of tactical arrangements, he does not want to accommodate Lian Dao.
However, he didn't expect that all the players on the team nodded in agreement with Lian Dao's opinion, and what made him even more unexpected was that Stoudemire would stand by Lian Dao's side.
In fact, this is also Stoudemire's experience as the second master. He knows whose team the Knicks belong to. James Dolan can replace D'Antoni, but it is absolutely impossible to replace a player who can hit 40 per game in the playoffs. +'s superstar, and this superstar is also a cash cow for the New York Knicks.
This league is originally dominated by stars, unless it can leave a mark on a team like Jerry Sloan and Popovich, and stick to it.
But obviously D'Antoni does not belong to such a coach, and he doesn't even have a single honor that he can get.
Moreover, D'Antoni overestimated the relationship between himself and Stoudemire. The two have worked together in the Suns for so long, but in the end they are still empty-handed. Compared with D'Antoni, he is more willing to believe in single-core Lian Dao, who led the team to the Eastern Conference Finals, because he knows D'Antoni's level too well.
D'Antoni also discovered at this time that it turned out that Sr. came to the Knicks not for himself, but for Lian Dao.
In the Knicks, Lian Dao still had the final say, which made D'Antoni feel full of disappointment, so he could only agree to the defensive tactics proposed by Lian Dao, but the inner barrier had already arisen.
After the Knicks team turned to defense, the Celtics' outside line also immediately misfired.
Moreover, allowing Stoudemire to return to the fourth position, Cousins replaced Millsap as the fifth position.
The Celtics' inside line was under the attack of these two people, and they made mistakes again and again for a while.
The Knicks no longer choose to play fast break, but slow down the pace, and pay more attention to efficiency on the offensive end.
Lian Dao and Stoudemire continued to play pick-and-roll cooperation. As long as Lian Dao entered the inside line, as long as the opponent double-teamed, Lian Dao passed to Stoudemire who was going down. After Stoudemire came to the basket, his offensive efficiency began to gradually increase.
At this time, the Knicks took over the rhythm of the game again, and their lead gradually expanded.
At the end of the third quarter, the Knicks re-established a 16-point lead.
At the beginning of the fourth quarter, everyone's touch gradually recovered. At this time, D'Antoni rearranged his offensive tactics. The Knicks did not waste their fiery touch in the fourth quarter. The first half of the fourth quarter was led by Lian Dao , played a wave of 12:7, extending the lead to 21 points in one fell swoop.
Celtics coach Rivers also saw the lack of recovery in this game at this time, so he replaced the starting lineup and announced his surrender.