The Whip of the God of Basketball

The situation of the game began to quietly reverse after Paul Pierce's dunk. The boosted Celtics blocked the 76ers' attack on the next two defensive plays and hit a three-pointer in the ensuing counterattack - from Michael Reed. The score was close and Larry Brown called a timeout before Leon.

Leon looked at the sweaty players sitting on the bench and drinking gulps of water. He knew that the intensity of the playoffs was completely different from that of the regular season, and physical exertion might increase by 30%. During the training the day before yesterday, Leon focused on physical fitness training and defensive training in order to warm up the players in advance. Because the previous rotation gave the Celtics' main players too much rest time, everyone's bones were a little loose.

Therefore, at the beginning of this game, Leon could clearly feel that the players had not adapted to the playoffs, and everyone was playing a little tight. Before the game, Leon told the players that if they feel they are not in shape yet, they should start from the inside. The closer they are to the basket, the greater their confidence will be. Of course, Leon didn't mean to let the team start from the inside, force the 76ers to shrink the defense, and then drive the outside. He knew that the Celtics' low-post attack ability could not change the 76ers' defensive strategy.

Larry Brown's tactical guess about the Celtics was wrong. In fact, Leon's real strategy started with defense. He asked Arenas to face Iverson alone, and the whole team gradually worked together to strangle other players. Players, no matter how strong Iverson is, there is no way he can defeat the Celtics alone. The reason is very simple, because at this time, the 76ers are no longer the 2001 team where Iverson attacked alone and defended as a whole team. They began to take the path of offensive and defensive balance. Once other players are unable to provide support on the offensive end, Then Iverson's disadvantage on the defensive end will be magnified. Players like Van Horn and Coleman will not be able to help the team by other means besides scoring.

"Pay attention to the people around you, not just your opponent, but also your teammates and the people your teammates are playing against. We have to focus our defensive attention on the center and the left side. Remember the left side. Side. Everyone knows that Iverson will break through from the right, but let's not block the right, but pay attention to the left, and don't give them the opportunity to make three-pointers from the wing and rush for offensive rebounds! They will not always have good Feel the touch, consume them, remember to consume them, we have better physical strength and home court advantage. Keep all this in mind, do you understand!?" Leon seized the opportunity of the timeout to instill his ideas into the players, and in the season In the postgame, he will not chat with the players for a few words like he did in the regular season, and then let everyone have a good rest and let the game pass by.

The timeout ended quickly, and the 76ers chose to make a substitution, replacing Van Horn and replacing him with Aaron McGee. Obviously, the Browns were not confident enough about Van Horn's defense. After Van Horn showed some brilliance on the offensive end in the opening game, they still took him down and instead used the defensive hero McGee. The Browns were still quite afraid of Paul Pierce. , the 76ers were shot through by "Truth" last year. He averaged 30 points per game in the series and threw 40 three-pointers with Walker.

This year, Brown knows that Pierce has become the true leader of the Celtics. Seeing Iverson scoring consecutively in the first quarter, Pierce must stand up.

But the game did not seem to go into the offensive duel between Pierce and Iverson as Larry Brown wanted. Brown's defensive formation against Pierce did not work. On the contrary, the Celtics seemed to be focusing on defending against the 76ers. , the physical confrontation between the two sides was quite fierce. This made Brown very confused. He thought he would usher in a storm-like attack from the Celtics in the first half. This is also a state that the home team often appears at the beginning of the playoffs. With the advantage of home court, the high morale was used to take the lead, while the away team had to catch up hard.

Larry Brown was already prepared to fall into a hard chase in the first game, but he did not expect that the Celtics did not use their offensive sharpness at all, but instead focused on defense and consumption. This made Brown was quite worried.

But the players on the field would not have such a feeling, especially Iverson. He felt that he was in a hot state. Although Gilbert Arenas defended very hard, the gap between him and Iverson in terms of experience and ability was still there. It's a bit big, and the Celtics don't seem to care about his breakthrough on Youlu. He can unscrupulously use his speed to tear apart the Celtics defense and score points on the right side.

Paul Pierce, who had a scoring battle with Allen Iverson in the playoffs last year, became extremely precious about his shooting opportunities. The entire Celtics played tepidly, using coordination and tactics, and they were rigid and completely lacking in the regular season. At that time, the offensive posture was like fire.

However, they were quite fierce on the defensive end. Several fouls made the court very smelly. Moreover, except for Iverson, the entire 76ers team made very little scoring contribution. They had no touch and no way to score. Tactically support Iverson. Derek Coleman no longer has the talent he had ten years ago, and he played quite awkwardly in front of P.J. Brown.

At the end of the first half, the two sides were tied at 48:48, which was quite a low score. The Celtics' scoring was quite average, with Pierce, the top scorer, only scoring 8 points. For the 76ers, Iverson stood out, scoring 22 points, accounting for almost half of the team's scores.

During the intermission, when the camera showed Larry Brown, his brows were furrowed, while Fox Leon still had an indifferent look on his face, as if everything was under his control.

……………………

"Can I take more shots in the second half?" Paul Pierce asked Leon in the locker room at halftime. Before the game, Leon asked Pierce to restrain his impulse to take shots in the first half, so he only scored 8 points and took 6 shots in the entire first half.

Leon nodded, and then said to everyone: "Everyone did a great job in the first half. I know our playing style is different from usual. We had many better offensive opportunities. We could have completely beaten our opponents." Lie down, but we are cautious and restrained, because this is only the first half. The long-distance race has only completed half of the race, and exerting force too early will only cause us to consume too much. In the second half, everyone, let go of your restraints , attack them hard at the North Shore Garden Arena!"

As Leon spoke, he banged on the tactical whiteboard. He did not assign any tactics to the players during the halftime break, but only asked them to attack with all their strength in the second half.

For a team like the 76ers, it may not be a good thing to take most of the lead too early. They are good at relying on defense and Iverson's sharp knife to fight attrition when they are falling behind.

However, Leon's appearance of being confident of victory was just a bluff, and he was unsure about this rhythm and strategy, because the changes in playing style and consumption on the defensive end would not only wear out the opponent's offensive feeling, but also wear out The feel of your own team. If the Celtics get used to this rhythm and cannot attack in the second half, struggling with the 76ers until the final stage, Leon will not be sure of the outcome of the game.

If his strategy goes wrong, he will be largely responsible for Celtic's home defeat. Now, Leon has pinned his hopes on Paul Pierce.

Pierce was already eager to try. He faced McGee's entanglement throughout the first half, and then focused on rebounds and assists. He didn't even take a three-pointer. This was obviously not normal. He could feel it. There is too much energy accumulated in the body. The relaxation he left in his body during the previous month's rest has been washed away by the high-intensity game throughout the first half. Now he just wants to use goals to destroy his opponents.

When the second half of the game started, it seemed that even the fans at the North Shore Garden Arena felt that the Celtics' explosion was coming. The atmosphere in the audience reached its peak in an instant. The fans in the audience began to wave white towels, and the white clouds filled the air. Start lingering on 16 championship banners.

The 76ers players also seemed to feel that the atmosphere at the beginning of the second half was not right. The entire Celtics team was no longer dull as it was in the first half, and seemed to be full of murderous intent. Their head coach Fox-Leon no longer sat on the bench with his chin in front of the game like he did in the first half, but stood on the sidelines, his left hand naturally drooping, and his right hand gently placed on his stomach, which made people feel uncomfortable. Angry and self-defeating.

In comparison, Larry Brown, wearing round glasses, kept shouting at the players to remind them of some points of attention, but he seemed a little nervous.

In the Celtics' first attack in the second half, Paul Pierce received the ball on the right side and faced Van Horn. He passed Van Horn in one step, and then broke through from the baseline to the basket. Facing Coleman, he couldn't help but A passable defense, a two-handed dunk! Scored the Celtics' first point of the second half!

Paul Pierce started to explode.