NBA: Start by torturing Jordan and add points to upgrade

In the second half of the first quarter, after both sides replaced their players with substitutes, the pace and efficiency of the game slowed down.

Especially Ward, he does not have the ability to push the ball and attack like Lin Tian, ​​so old Nelson paired him with Anthony, who has the strongest scoring ability in the team, and Barnes and Wallace, two blue-collar forwards.

As for this lineup, needless to say, just give the ball to Anthony and let him start.

If the opponent can defend, it will only take 3-4 minutes anyway. In addition, Ward almost never plays fast breaks and he is calm and steady. With him in control, the team's rhythm will inevitably drop rapidly. It's all a rigid positional battle organization.

If the tempo of the game is not fast enough, the opponent won't be able to catch up quickly or widen the score.

And if the opposing forwards can't hold Anthony down and are beaten thoroughly by him from inside out, then the Knicks can take advantage of this wave to continue to widen the score gap and let the team win more!
Tonight, Anthony encountered a huge dilemma.

Christie, who returned to the bench due to a decline in form, and Artest, who started, are both first-class defenders. These two guys can absolutely control the young Anthony with ease.

Because Anthony found it difficult to break through the defense of these two players, he only made 4 of 1 shots in the rest of the first quarter, and the Pacers successfully narrowed the score to within 10 points.

27: 36!

The two sides entered the second quarter with a 9-point difference.

In the second quarter, Nelson changed the lineup again. He used the most mobile lineup he could come up with!

Stoudemire plays at the 5th position, Josh Smith plays at the 4th position, Gerald Wallace plays at the 3rd position, and Lin Tian and Barnes team up in the backcourt.

This lineup basically consists of the five players on the Knicks who are the best at running, jumping and charging. The physical fitness of these five players is nothing short of monstrous!

In the first offense on the court, Lin Tian continued to play pick-and-roll with Stoudemire, but this time the ball was not given to Stoudemire. Instead, after the two of them blocked the ball, Lin Tian immediately threw the ball to Smith who was running to the basket.

Smith, who made his first regular season appearance in his career, jumped up with his arms stretched out as if he was going to reach for the moon. Then he held the basketball with both hands and slammed it into the basket with all his strength!
"boom!"

The loud bang seemed to open Pandora's box. In the next few minutes, the Knicks' offense completely exploded!
Not only were their scores skyrocketing, but what was even crazier was that they barely even played the ball on the ground.

Yes, almost their entire team was flying in the sky!
After grabbing the rebound, Lin Tian found Wallace who was running fast and made a precise long-distance pass over half court, assisting Wallace with an alley-oop slam dunk.

Lin Tian and Smith set a pick-and-roll, then found Stoudemire on the other side, assisting Stoudemire to once again split the Huashan Mountain with one hand!
Then Lin Tian and Stoudemire set a screen again. This time, after Stoudemire got the ball, he turned around and rushed into the inside, then jumped up and did another two-handed dunk!
Miller finally scored 2 points, but Lin Tian here started a pick-and-roll again. This time, the Pacers didn't dare to let Stoudemire go down easily, but they forgot that if Lin Tian's firepower erupted, it would be much more terrifying than Stoudemire's!

"boom!"

Immediately afterwards, there was another loud bang, and Lin Tian had once again rushed to the basket and slammed the ball into the basket with both hands.

The two sides played back and forth for 4 minutes. Almost every attack of the Knicks ended with a dunk or a layup. They relied on the terrifying threat of Lin Tian's pick-and-roll and the decisive and quick subconscious actions of other players to attack the inside again and again and ravage the basket.

The Pacers' inside combination was completely beaten into a sieve.

Carlisle saw that if the Knicks continued to play like this, the players would be completely excited, and it would be even more difficult to stop them at that time.

He could only call a timeout and then send out players who were good at defense, such as Artest and Christie.

But old Nelson also changed his lineup quickly.

Okur, Anthony and Jackson played together, and with Lin Tian and Stoudemire, the Knicks' starting players returned to the court again.

Once this lineup came on the scene, they indeed stopped playing in the air, but the three-dimensionality and layering of the Knicks' offense were fully revealed.

Anthony's mid-range shots, Okur and Jackson's three-pointers, Stoudemire's drives to the basket, and Lin Tian's nearly omnipotent offensive performance on the court. When this starting lineup returned to the court and unleashed all their offensive firepower, the Pacers completely lost their ability to resist.

Even if Carlisle took out his most defensive lineup, the Knicks' attack was too crazy.

Under their fierce and crazy offensive, the score between the two sides was basically widened at the end of the first half.

45: 67!

On the night when the Pacers' championship flag was raised, they were beaten by their opponents!
In fact, the Knicks didn't actually give them any intensity, nor did they give them any defense or confrontation.

The Knicks just run! Keep running!

After running, throw the ball. If you can’t throw it, rush into the inside and smash it. If you can’t smash it, let Lin Tian do it himself!
This seemingly very simple offensive system, under the guidance of Lin Tian's strong personal ability and the Knicks players' vigorous firepower, completely broke through the Pacers' position!
At the beginning of the third quarter, Carlisle was originally prepared to resist. He changed the starting lineup and replaced Ginobili with Christie. He hoped that Christie and Artest could put some pressure on Lin Tian together and let them curb Lin Tian's unscrupulous passing.

But, nothing works!
Nothing works.

These two old friends of Lin Tian were completely unable to restrain Lin Tian, ​​and the Knicks’ firepower was even more crazy in the third quarter!
At the beginning, Lin Tian made a difficult pull-up jump shot in the mid-range. Then Lin Tian passed the ball to Anthony and Okur outside the three-point line, assisting them to make a three-pointer each!
Although the Pacers also had players scoring during this period, they were far behind the Knicks in terms of scoring efficiency and speed.

Can't defend, can't attack.

This is the dilemma the Pacers face tonight, and it is also the dilemma that all teams in the league will face this season and even in the next few seasons.

How to defeat Lin Tian and his Knicks?

How to curb this team's firepower?
Should we try our best to chase and intercept them and block their attacks, or should we show an attitude and confidence that we are not inferior to them and give them a good fight?
It’s difficult, very difficult!

Although it was just one game, or even just half a game, the Knicks' game tonight was enough to give all the teams paying attention to them a headache.

What really killed the game was the last two minutes of the third quarter. The difference between the two sides had actually been maintained at around 20 points during this quarter. Even in the last two minutes of the third quarter, relying on the resilience accumulated by the team's continuous winning in the past few years, they narrowed the gap to 20 points!
Just one step away from entering the 10-point range, and at that time, the Pacers will be able to gain momentum!
It was at this time that Lin Tian stood up again.

他先是一次强杀篮下造成韦伯犯规的同时还打进2分，接着在2+1打成之后不到20秒的时间3分线外突施冷箭，将分差再次扩大到了26分！
Then, when Webber was making a desperate effort to single out Stoudemire under the basket and had already successfully tricked Stoudemire, Lin Tian suddenly appeared from the sky, slapped Webber's layup away, and once again led the team to launch a counterattack!

This time it was Anthony who completed the task.

Lin Tian carried the ball all the way to the Pacers' territory, and then made another pass without looking at anyone, his eyes fixed on Stoudemire on the left, but the basketball went from behind Lin Tian into Anthony's hands.

"boom!"

After another slam dunk, with only 1.2 seconds left in the third quarter, the gap between the two sides had widened to 28 points!
8: 0!

Lin Tian's 2 shots, 1 pass and a block completely dominated the Knicks' offensive frenzy. It was with this 8:0 wave that the Pacers couldn't do it no matter how much they wanted to continue to fight back or show their resilience.

The score difference is too big!
In the fourth quarter, Lin Tian, ​​Stoudemire and other main players played for 2-3 minutes in the middle of the quarter to stabilize the score difference again. After that, they extinguished the last offensive flame of the Pacers. After that, the main players of the Knicks left the court early.

The following games will become garbage time.

This evening, the Knicks made their first regular season appearance after their formation. Lin Tian personally defeated his former boss and led the team to an incredibly easy victory!

124: 99!

The final score difference between the two sides was fixed at 25 points!
In this era, a score of 99 is definitely above average, which proves that the Pacers' offense was actually pretty good today.

But the problem is that they were completely beaten and blasted by the Knicks!

They scored 99 points, but lost by a full 25 points!
Although Indiana raised the championship banner that night, it has to be said that they also officially began to move away from the next championship banner.

At least for the current group of people, they have no chance of winning a new championship!

When the reconstruction can be completed and another top star can be brought in to lead the team to win the championship, only God knows.

That night, the team's current leader Webber performed poorly, making only 17 of 5 shots, scoring only 15 points, 7 rebounds, 5 assists, and 3 turnovers.

That night, Webber was eaten alive by Stoudemire!
In addition to Webber, the Pacers' Parker, Ginobili, Howard and Miller all scored in double digits, but no one scored more than 20 points.

The fact that 5 players scored in double digits proved the balance and unity of this team, but the fact that no one scored more than 20 points also showed that this team lacked a true leader and offensive core!
Webber might have been able to do it seven years ago, but now, after returning from a knee injury, his athletic ability has declined significantly and his influence on the game is not as great as before.

Webber is now obviously unable to take on the tasks and responsibilities of being the head coach of a team.

至于尼克斯那边，小斯拿下全队最高的26分8篮板，安东尼也有22分5篮板3助攻入账，替补上来的史密斯打出生涯完美首秀，5投5中奉献了5次精彩绝伦的空中轰炸。

In addition, Okur made 3 three-pointers and scored 3 points, and Jackson also scored 11 points!
Finally, there is the team leader, Lin Tian, ​​who only scored 21 points, but grabbed 11 rebounds, made 21 assists and had only 3 turnovers!

The same thing: Lin Tian completely revitalized the team by himself!

With 21+21 data, he became the first player in the history of the Knicks to score 20+20 in his debut after joining the team!

Tonight, Lin Tian did not show the omnipotence, flying and scoring skills of the previous seasons, but his versatility remained the same. The way he shared, organized and ran the team once again reminded everyone: he is not just a scorer, his main job is to organize!
"It was an amazing game!" After the game, Barkley praised: "The Knicks seemed to not need any running-in, they got into the state directly! I think Lin has also met the head coach who is most suitable for him in a sense!"

"This crazy offense of old Nelson allows Lin to play recklessly, allows him to freely display his talents, and allows him to run as much as he wants!"

"Even though Lin was the assists leader for many years in the Pacers and was widely recognized as the best point guard in the league, he was not able to fully unleash his passing ability due to the team's lineup."

"He has to attack more and take more shots on his own, but in the Knicks, there are plenty of offensive geniuses and people who can put the basketball into the basket. Here, Lin just needs to do what he wants to do most!"

Kenny continued: "If the previous Pacers had a historic offense and excellent defense, and were a well-balanced team, then this Knicks team might be the other extreme."

"A super offensive team with extreme offense and terrifying scoring ability that can destroy all the opponent's lines just by attacking!"

"Of course, this is just one game. Whether the Knicks can continue this state, whether they can maintain this offensive level and play this destructive offensive firepower every game day will be an important basis for where they can go this season."

"After this game, one thing that can be seen is that this Knicks team has no defense at all and is not prepared to defend at all! Even if they have Lin, the best defensive player, they are not prepared to defend."

"Just rely on offense to destroy all opponents! This style is quite consistent with old Nelson's philosophy."

Barkley smiled and said, "So, I think in the next season, as long as the team is not too bad, they can score some nice points against the Knicks. Even if my five grandmothers form a team, they can score 100 points against them!"

"Oh, no disrespect to the Pacers, I love Indiana, but their performance tonight was really bad. Chris needs to reflect on himself. He needs to think about how he can support this team and how to stand up when the team needs him."

"In the past few years, he has forgotten how to be the face of a team. He needs to regain that feeling and become a leader again."

"His performance tonight was too bad! He can't lead the team to continue its glory by just passing and assisting!"

While the two commentators were expressing their feelings, Lin Tian had already walked up to his former teammates, hugged and waved to them one by one.

Lin Tian chatted a lot with everyone and gave many people some small suggestions.

For example, let Parker play more aggressively and be more decisive when breaking through, let Ginobili be more confident, and pass the ball when there is an opportunity. At the same time, let Webber be more confident and work hard to get back to his former self.

There's no way around it. We were all old brothers. Even if we're not in the same team now, I still have to give him the advice he needs.

However, one thing that was beyond Lin Tian's expectations was that when everyone was in a good mood and greeted Lin Tian with a smile and chatted, Artest, who was originally the most noisy and noisy, greeted Lin Tian sullenly and left.

Lin Tian wanted to call him, but this guy didn't give Lin Tian face. Even after Lin Tian called him twice, he didn't turn back, but left the stadium directly.

Seeing that this guy was angry, Lin Tian thought about it for a moment and understood why he was so unhappy.

这个晚上的阿泰斯特出场26分钟，6次出手只命中2球，总共只拿下5分3篮板2抢断。不管是出手次数、上场时间还是数据，他都比去年要差。

And it's not even a little bit worse.

The team's second-highest scorer who charged forward beside Lin Tian last year obviously did not play well in the first game of this year's season.

"Rick, Ron he..." Lin Tian couldn't help but chose to ask Carlisle actively.

"He was a little upset because we had to play a completely new strategy this season, and because you were not there, we had to use more complex and rigorous tactics and play styles to get open shots and better shooting opportunities."

"But Ron is not very adaptable. He doesn't like running complicated tactics and can't remember them very well. He just likes to hold the ball and play one-on-one, but this will destroy the style of play that is more suitable for us."

"Or let me put it more bluntly. When you were here, he was the team's second-in-command, and the opponent wouldn't put too much energy on him. But now Ron has to face the opponent's number one defensive expert."

"His strength cannot support his previous style of playing alone and outside the system."

At this point, Carlisle sighed and said, "We have all been spoiled by you. When you were around, the game was always simple and easy. But now that you are gone, we have to start all over again. It was only now that I realized how difficult the game was!"

"There is no other way. Let's start from the beginning, step by step. I hope Ron can hold on and get his feeling back."

Seeing that Carlisle was obviously a little older and his head was becoming even balder, Lin Tian didn't say much.

The pressure on this person seems to be quite great.

There is no way, because the Pacers are without Lin Tian now.
With Lin Tian, ​​the team can continue to challenge the record of consecutive championships, and even the goal can be set at the Celtics' eighth consecutive championship.

But now, he has to find a way to get the team back into gear, identify a new core, determine a new style of play, adapt to games without Lin Tian, ​​and then get the team into the playoffs.

From the perspective of goals, there is a huge difference.

Well...of course, the Pacers' external message is that they will continue to strive for the championship.

As for whether everyone believes it or not, whether they have the ability to do so, and how far they are from the championship, they have to shout like this.

As for Lin Tian, ​​he decided to call Artest to see if he could get his old friend to adjust his mentality. Only in this way could he continue to help the Pacers move forward.

At the very least, it can prevent Artest from being treated as a cancer and being kicked out of the team again.

But...

Bye.

Lin Tian made three consecutive shots and Artest was killed.

Knowing that Artest didn't want to talk, Lin Tian had no choice. The team had to leave Indiana overnight and return to New York to prepare for the next game.

Lin Tian could only send a text message to Artest, saying that he supported him and would always stand by his side, and that if he needed anything, he could talk to him anytime.

Apart from that, Lin Tian couldn't help him much.

One can only hope that the Pacers don’t have any internal strife.

They are all old buddies who played basketball together. Although they are not together anymore, Lin Tian really hopes that they are living well.

In the next half month, the Knicks traveled around and fought continuously. Until November 2004, 11, the Knicks played a total of 17 games and achieved an excellent record of 11 wins and 8 losses!

Their performance in these 11 games was just as everyone expected.

Their offense is indeed the best in the league, and they have indeed displayed unparalleled firepower!

In the 8 winning games, they scored more than 115 points in all of them, ranking first in the league!

At the same time, their dunks and assists in each game are also ranked first in the league! Their number of possessions, offensive efficiency and other data are also ranked first in the league!

But of course, with such a crazy pace and fierce attack, the consequence is that they have the highest number of turnovers and the highest number of points lost in the league.

In 11 games, they lost more than 10 points in games, and the only game where they did not lose more than points was the first game against the Pacers.

In other words, they lost more than 10 points in consecutive games.

If this data were on another team, it would be at the bottom of the league and at the level of competing for the No. 05 pick in .

But now, the Knicks have managed to reach second place in the Eastern Conference with a record of 8 wins and 3 losses!

Of course, they have their own problems, and they are quite obvious.

That's the feel on defense and offense.

Once they lose touch and opponents start to shrink the inside line frantically, hindering Stoudemire and others from attacking the basket, the Knicks' offense will immediately encounter problems.

For example, the three games they lost were almost cut from the same mold.

In three games, the Knicks scored less than 100 points in two games, and the reason for not scoring more than 100 points was the same.

The shooting from beyond the 3-point line was poor, and the opponent retreated inside to defend the basket. Stoudemire and others suffered a severe blow in their attack on the basket, and it was difficult for them to continue to break through the opponent's defense. The entire team's offense could only rely on the singles and shooting of Lin Tian and Anthony.

After the mobile offense turned into a positional duel, the Knicks' offensive rhythm and efficiency were naturally greatly reduced!
At this point, their defensive habits, defensive willingness and defensive ability were not enough to help them hold on to the game with defense, nor could they rely on defense to recover.

Under such a vicious cycle of losing on both offense and defense, the Knicks will naturally lose the game!
In the first 11 games of November, the Knicks played a historic performance on both offense and defense.

The offense is historically good, and the defense is historically bad!
But fortunately, they have a greater advantage on the offensive end, so they were able to win 8 games.

However, this extremely unbalanced state of offense and defense has also made many people no longer optimistic about their prospects of winning the championship.

Such a team is gorgeous, passionate, and always makes it to the stage of top 10 goals. It will definitely occupy a good position in the playoffs.

But when it comes to the conference finals and above, facing the opponent's tight defense and targeted strategies, the Knicks, who only attack, will no longer have an advantage!
But for the Knicks, they are not considering that at the moment.

Everyone on the team had a blast playing! The fans also had a blast watching the game!
Tickets for the Knicks' home games are selling like hot cakes, and Dolan even wants to raise the price of home game tickets a little bit!

It's so popular.

Introducing Lin Tian is indeed a huge profit!
Just as the Knicks were jubilant and the whole team was extremely excited and in high spirits, something happened on the Pacers side.

On November 2004, 11, the Pacers, who had a poor record in their first 18 games with only 10 wins and 3 losses, came to Detroit to challenge the Detroit Pistons, who were currently ranked first in the league.

There was nothing much to say about the first three quarters of this game. Facing the Pacers who eliminated them last year and created the first black eight miracle after the first round 7-game 4-win system was implemented, the Detroit people didn't care about Lin Tian's absence.

beat! Fight to death!
They used their solid defense and fierce physical confrontation, making it extremely difficult for the Pacers!
In this extreme physical confrontation, Artest was the only one on the Pacers team who could hold on. Only this guy, who was originally incompatible with the team's tactics, used his toughness and ferocity to carve out a bloody path for the team.

In the first three quarters, the two sides were tied at 56:63, with the Pistons temporarily leading by 7 points.

On the Pacers side, Artest scored a team-high 20 points and was the only player on the team to score in double digits. This was also his highest score this season!
Artest is definitely very proud tonight!
But apart from him, the other players of the Pacers performed really badly!
In the fourth quarter, a rather discordant scene suddenly occurred during the game.

During a post-up play, Big Ben passed Webber in one step, and when he was about to make a layup, Artest, who came to assist in defense, suddenly stepped forward and pushed Big Ben.

Big Ben immediately fell to the ground, his whole body lying sideways on the ground.

Artest's flagrant foul came extremely suddenly, but considering that the physical confrontation between the players on both sides was quite large and the movements were not small throughout the night, Artest's sudden move was not something that was too difficult to understand.

But when has Daben ever become someone who can suffer a loss?

The guy suddenly jumped up from the floor and rushed towards Artest. Then he raised his hands and was about to push Artest, but suddenly pulled his hands back.

Instead, there is the head.

Ben butted his head against Artest's forehead and yelled at him, "If it weren't for Lin, if it weren't for the fact that you have a good relationship with him and have played basketball with him, I would knock you to the technical table right now!"

"I didn't kill you because of Lin! If it weren't for Lin, I would have sent you straight to the hospital with that blow just now!" Artest refused to give in and yelled back at Ben with his head held high.

"If you have the guts, come to the ring with me. If you have the guts, let's have a good fight!"

"What's wrong, Ben? Do you need help?" While Artest and Big Ben were arguing, Rasheed, Billups, Wells and Hamilton had rushed over at some point and surrounded Artest.

As for the Pacers players?
Christie and Webber are on the court at the moment, and the other two are Parker and Ginobili.

Firstly, these four guys didn't expect the situation to develop so quickly, with five people surrounding Artest. Secondly, they were not the tough and ruthless types.

So for a moment, they didn't even react and weren't able to support their friends right away.

Seeing himself surrounded by five people, Artest knew what it meant to be a brave man, so he very cleverly pushed Hamilton in front of him again, then fought and retreated, arguing with the five people all the way, and retreated to the technical table near the midfield.

At this point, several players from the Pacers finally reacted and rushed to Artest to offer his support. At the same time, all the referees also arrived and stepped between the two groups to prevent the situation from escalating further.

In an instant, dozens of people surrounded the scene and the whole scene was in chaos.

But Artest was surprisingly calm at this moment, or rather, surprisingly lost and disheartened.

If Lin were here, he would never let me suffer the humiliation I have today!

I would have beaten their grandsons a long time ago!

Instead of having to fight five people at once and be surrounded and scolded by everyone.

Artest felt a wave of loss, and after the situation was controlled by the referee, he did not continue to stay on the court, and did not even wait for the referee to announce the result.

Instead, he walked straight to the player tunnel and left the field early.

At this time, if Bird or Miller followed the team to Detroit, it would not be a problem, everything would be easy, and both of them could handle Artest.

But these two did not follow the team to the away game. Although Carlisle wanted to persuade them, the game was still going on and he really couldn't spare the time.

After the game is over, after the game is over, I will definitely have a good chat with Artest.

But Carlisle obviously could not have imagined that his waiting would lead to something terrible. (End of this chapter)