The Basketball Court Swordsman

On January 21st, it was a high-profile day for fans across the league. Although today is just an ordinary regular season game day, a suspense that affects thousands of people is very likely to be solved today.

Who can stop the walkers?

"The Grizzlies have a record of 26 wins and 13 losses so far. I know that such a record is not worth mentioning compared to the Pacers. But then again, looking at the entire league, which team can match the record Are the Pacers on the same level? So, let’s leave the record aside. As we all know, the Grizzlies rank first in the league in defensive efficiency. Any team that encounters them will never want to play smooth offense, even the Oklahoma City Thunder No. So I think the Grizzlies will very likely be the team that stops the Pacers."

"The Grizzlies have always been very low-key. Unknowingly, they have stabilized in the fourth place in the West. This team is one of the most underrated teams this season, even in the face of the defending champions. The defense is also strong enough."

"It's time for the league's painstaking advertising for the Pacers to come to an end, because tonight, the team that stops the Pacers will appear!

Before today's game, most fans are very optimistic that the Grizzlies can stop the Pacers' winning streak. After all, when a team wins too many games, they will unknowingly become enemies of the whole people. So now, the Pacers may be the only local fans who are looking forward to winning.

The popularity of the Grizzlies has never been so high, and their games have never been more concerned. But the Grizzlies players know very well that competitive sports is not the one who has more fans.

Strength is everything.

Henson took the players into the field one hour before the start of the game to warm up. Since the Pacers are playing at home, and the opponents of this game are hard bones, Henson asked the players to warm up early. Prepare for the tough fight. However, what was unexpected was that when the Pacers players came out, the Grizzlies seemed to have soaked the training vest!

"Come so early? It seems that the Memphis people didn't intend to let us easily get the 17th straight game." Henson was also taken aback when he entered the field. The visiting team players entered the field so early to warm up. Things are really rare.

"The Grizzlies are ambitious this season. They will not just be satisfied with fourth in the West. So, these guys will do their best to win all games, including the defending champion. Henson, how did you win the Grizzlies last season? ?" Stevens retracted his gaze, and his eyes fell on Henson.

"Last season? Last season, I played inside and used West and Horford to knock on the Grizzlies' defense. But this season they can't do that anymore, they must have responded early. Moreover, the progress of the Grizzlies players, It's not small either." Henson pouted. With the old experience of last season, this game was useless.

Gasol Jr. has grown into a top center, Zach Randolph will no longer be arrogant, Tony Allen and Mike Conley are more mature than last season, and Rudy Gay also knows what it means. Restraint, he will never think of himself as a superstar and make random shots twenty times a night.

Their defense is solid and half of the season, Henson hasn't seen any team that can defeat the Grizzlies with a normal attack. Of course, this refers to a normal offense. If a player suddenly has a sudden convulsion, how to make a shot, of course it does not count.

After all, Henson cannot put his winning capital on luck. Whether the Pacer will suddenly feel convulsions today is something he cannot predict. And betting on unpredictable things is inherently stupid.

The whole game started from the warm-up stage, revealing a serious breath. The players on both sides did not hug or high-five, and the coaches of the two teams did not shake hands before the game. Both sides only did their own things in their respective halves and had nothing to do before the game started.

"Today, the air in the Bankers' Life Arena is extremely heavy." Reggie Miller also joked about this unusual atmosphere.

Even when interviewed by reporters before the game, Henson also put away his usual rebellious attitude.

"The Grizzlies' defense is very strong, we will seize all the gaps available for attack, and strive to play an efficient offense!" Henson's serious look made Miller uncomfortable.

After hearing Henson's remarks in the interview, Grizzlies coach Lionel Hollins smiled disdainfully.

He can guarantee that that is the worst lie Henson has ever told in his life! Because there is no team, dare to use offense to disintegrate the Grizzlies!

Hollins is certainly not blindly confident. So far this season, the Grizzlies have averaged 44.4% field goal percentage, 34.5% three-point field goal percentage, 42.7 rebounds, 20.9 assist points, and 93.4 points per game in the regular season. It seems that the Grizzlies' offense is simply not popular. But even so, the offensive mediocre Grizzlies can still be ranked fourth in the highly competitive West, where the Lakers can't mix in F4. This shows how strong their defense is!

To sum up the Grizzlies game in one sentence is: "It doesn't matter if I score or not, but I will never let you score easily!"

So this time, Henson made a big talk in front of the media and failed to fool Hollins.

At 7:30 in the evening, the starting players from both sides officially stepped onto the court and the game officially started. People are speculating whether Henson will change formation and replace him with a few surprise soldiers. Some people are also discussing whether Henson can use some subtle offensive tactics to knock on the Grizzlies' defense. After all, when playing in the Nets, the dazzling internal cutting tactics developed by Henson are indeed very exciting.

But after the game started, people discovered that the Pacers hadn't made any changes at all. Paul, George, Green, West and Horford, as soon as these five starters came up, they showed a determination to fight the Grizzlies to the end!

On the first goal of the opening game, Rudy Gay took advantage of the screen to take a mid-range shot and was interrupted by Horford who changed defense in time and missed the shot.

On the Pacers side, the offense is also not going well. Paul broke through the ball and George flicked a shot from the three-point line to get to the hoop. Against most defensive players, this trick can work wonders. Because George is a catcher and shooter, many defensive players will think of blocking George's shots and be falsely activated.

But Tony Allen didn't. He seemed to see through all of George's thoughts, and used his strong body to block George roughly!

"Death entanglement!" Reggie Miller exclaimed. The term "death entanglement" has been used more and more on Leonard this season, but in fact, when the word was born, it was used To describe Tony Allen!

The tactic was not successful, and George had to hand the ball back to Paul. Paul asked for several screens, but did not get the desired effect. In desperation, Paul had to break through the penalty area with the ball.

The Grizzlies’ defense contracted very quickly. Paul was surrounded by slender arms. As a passing master, he couldn’t even find a pass in this situation!

In the end, Paul had to bite the bullet and force a layup. However, as a result of this, the Pacers' first attack also ended in failure!

"Too tight, the Grizzlies' defense is really suffocating!"

After the first back and forth, neither side could score a goal. Considering the defensive level of both sides are not weak, this is actually not a good surprise.

But no one thought that the situation where the two sides had not scored continued for a full 4 minutes!

"Marc Gasol leaped hard, although he failed to block the block, he still interfered with Horford's mid-range shot! The European Fortress once again protected the basket!"

"Danny Green played very hard, Rudy Gay missed a layup under intense confrontation!"

"Mike Conley tried a long three-pointer, but Paul did not give him a chance. The Grizzlies' offense failed again!"

"West turned over to shoot a jumper. Unfortunately, Randolph put too much pressure on him."

Whether the two sides played well or not, they turned their backs on their backs. Reggie Miller's explanation was dry, but he looked up...the score was still 0-0.

On the offensive end, Henson kept everything simple. Because he knows very well that in front of the Grizzlies defense, complex tactics are impossible to succeed. A simple offense. If you can score, you can advance, and if you can't score, you will fall. This allows the Pacers players to maximize their physical fitness on the defensive end.

Do you want to defend? Let's defend it! I can't score, and you can't even think about it!

It wasn't until eight minutes passed in the first quarter that Paul George made a beautiful cut and layup and finally broke the scoring drought on the court. After this ball, Lionel Hollins called the game to stop. When the game was called to stop, the score was a weird 2-0.

Score a goal and call a timeout? If the football match can be suspended, it will probably be the rhythm today.

Hollins didn't expect that a team would dare to defend against the Grizzlies! Isn't Thibodeau's fate enough to explain the problem? He wanted to see who could grind to death first!

At the same time, Jeff Van Gundy was also a little puzzled in the commentary.

"I can't believe that Coach Henson's strategy is to defend against defense. Not all teams in this league can rely on defense to the last minute like the Grizzlies."

"Why not?" Just after Van Gundy finished speaking, Reggie Miller took over the right to speak. "The Grizzlies are the league's best defensive efficiency team. The second place is the Pacers. "

The Pacers star looked at Henson who was arranging tactics, and committed the following. Isn't this what the guy is good at!