After the confession failed, I went to the NBA to play and lose weight

Chapter 233 Easy 20
After the intermission, the third quarter began quickly.

The Magic did not disappoint the commentator and the fans. In the third minute of this quarter, Nelson, who had committed four fouls, left the field early due to foul trouble.

They have tried this lineup many times in the regular season, and they have achieved good results. Because the team has Turkoglu, the real tactical playmaker, and Li Chengming, who gradually developed organizational attributes at the end of the regular season, Except that Nelson's breakthrough cannot be replaced, it can basically completely replace his role on the court.

In the same way, Nelson couldn't match the increased offensive threat after Li Chengming came on the field.

It is because the size of the outside line increases and the movement slows down. There will be some problems on the defensive end, especially the wing defense.

So at this time, Li Chengming usually appears in the third position. In this way, although Lewis is average in single defense, he can be used as an important part of the rotation to fill the position. He can keep up without obvious loopholes, and Howard will help behind him.

This is also the time when Howard is most tested. As a head star, he has to do all kinds of dirty work on the defensive end, which is really difficult for him.

Of course, as long as he doesn't run into Huo's tactics, Howard can also make great positive contributions on the offensive end. After all, athletic talent and upper body strength are there. If he doesn't encounter a few insiders, most of the insiders in the league can't recruit him. .

Then in the next 6 minutes, a wave instigated by Li Chengming and Turkoglu directly evened the difference at 16:8.

During this process, Li Chengming and Turkoglu were in charge of attacking in tandem, Howard was in charge of consolidating the defense, division of labor and cooperation performed their duties, while the Eagles were completely confused, even the head coach Mike Woodson was in charge of the Magic. When the score was tied here, I almost forgot to call a timeout, but the assistant reminded me.

Since Woodson coached the Eagles in 04, he has grown up with this youth team. From the initial 13 wins to now will be squeezed into the playoffs, he is of course credited.

However, the Eagles' winning percentage this season is less than 45%, which means that they have a chance to enter the playoffs in the East. Their strength is not a playoff team.

In terms of offense, they have problems. Woodson himself is a defensive coach. Except for Joe Johnson, there is no stable scorer in the team. Others have limited shooting. The confrontation at the playoff level It is even more difficult to make a difference.

And the Eagles can reach the Eastern Conference playoffs this season by relying on their offensive efficiency in the middle and lower reaches, relying on defense. There are a group of high-quality defensive champions.

Especially on the front line, the rotation defense of Smith, Williams and others is excellent. If they are facing the Celtics who mainly attack from the flanks, maybe they can perform better.

But what they are facing is the Magic team that can compete for the first insider combination in active service. Howard, Li Chengming, and Lewis can match up with each other at will, and they can explode amazing energy in one aspect of offense or defense.

To put it simply, the Eagles' inside line was blown up this time. Horford looked at scoring efficiency, but he couldn't guard anyone at all, and he couldn't hit anyone at critical moments; Williams and Smith could only use fouls. To stop Li Chengming and Turkoglu's attack.

It wasn't that they defended well in the first half. It was the Magic's own offensive strategy that had a problem. In fact, they didn't need to rely on outside three-pointers. Sometimes more inside offense is needed.

Regardless of whether it was the singles that cleared the weak side and the low post, or the kill that broke through the basket, Li Chengming and Turkoglu seized the opportunity in time.

Their offense opened up and drove other teammates.

Although Woodson called a timeout to re-arrange, but at this time the Magic team had already played momentum, so after the timeout came back, Li Chengming and Howard continued to play, Bogans received the two points and did not waste any more opportunities, hit two goals After three points, the point difference quickly widened to double digits.

After the fourth quarter, the Eagles never recovered.

At the end of the game, the Magic got a good start to the playoffs at home with 107:93.

李成名全场出战30分钟整，14投9中，罚球6中4，砍下22分7篮板4助攻。

魔术队表现最出色的是特科格鲁，他出场37分钟，20中12，罚球10中10砍下36分8篮板11助攻的漂亮数据，也顺利拿下了第一个主场的MVP。

Still at the Amway Center in Orlando three days later, the Magic made another victory 103:85, leading the series 2-0.

In this game, the Magic led from the beginning to the end, without giving the opponent the slightest chance, and it also made people feel the huge gap between the two teams.

The most obvious place is inside. This time Howard broke out, scoring 31 points, 23 rebounds, 2 steals and 4 blocks, becoming the number one contributor to the Magic's victory.

Li Chengming only played 26 minutes and his touch was mediocre. He scored 13 points, 5 rebounds and 15 assists in 4 of 7, but he completed 4 steals and contributed a lot of brilliant pictures on the defensive end.

The Eagles' offense was blocked, especially when the outside shooting was unfavorable. It was an extreme torture to enter the inside and encounter Howard's defense.

4 blocked shots are far from showing Howard's deterrence in the penalty area, at least in these two games against the Hawks, Howard's performance on the defensive end makes people only think of the word DPOY, saying that he alone supported the Magic's defensive system Not too much.

Regardless of whether the Magic are leading or trailing, they can rely on successful defense to play beautiful fast breaks many times. This must be Howard's first effort.

After this game, everyone realized that the Magic team still continued their strength in the regular season in the playoffs. It may be difficult for them to overturn the playoffs that everyone expected before, at least it will not happen. Here at the Eagles.

Of course, the home field advantage in the playoffs is still quite obvious, not only in the more familiar arena and basket, but also the increase and DEBUFF brought by the cheers and boos of the home fans who are the sixth man on the sidelines, and Some invisible preferential treatment on the penalty scale.

For example, the Magic team, which is not very popular with referees in the second half of the regular season, the whistle in these two games is obviously much better than in the regular season, which is also an important factor for their inside to play.

Of course, it does not mean that Li Chengming and Howard rely on the whistle, but that the referee is willing to give the whistle. When the penalty is tight, the defensive scale of the opposite side will also be affected accordingly. There will be no various fouls. Li Chengming and the others lost their touch.

But going to the away game and the Eagles' home game, the advantages are exchanged, but it's hard to say.

So the Eagles are not without a chance, and their next two home games will also determine the trend of the entire series.

Half a hundred miles away, the Magic can only be said to have won half of the victory at this time, at least one victory in two away games, and then return to the home court to be safe, otherwise, the further the delay, the more variables will be. getting bigger.

The third game is still three days later, and it will be played at the Philips Arena in Atlanta, the home of the Eagles.

As expected, the Hawks came back home aggressively, leading the Magic by as much as 32 points at 20:12 in the first quarter. Josh Smith, who performed poorly in the first two games, returned to the home court and finally recovered his form. He scored 10 points in a single quarter. Johnson and Horford and others also performed well.

The defense played by the Eagles is the key to their advantage today. Of course, as previously worried, the penalty in this game is obviously biased towards the Eagles, even better than the home whistle of the Magic in the first two games. .

Li Chengming made two offensive fouls, and Howard also became the target of the opponent's focus. Under such circumstances, the "strength" of the Eagles' defense has naturally improved compared to the previous two games, and the Eagles players are more daring to defend.

Li Chengming also understands why the playoffs will be different from the regular season, because in addition to the ups and downs of the players of the two teams, there will be some artificial difficulties created by the outside world.

Although there is no problem from the perspective of the rules, the rules that can be transferred by human will are not stable and unique, which is a big problem in itself.

But in this place, even if it is an unspoken rule, it must be obeyed. It is impossible for a truly powerful person to be defeated because of this.

(End of this chapter)