Legendary star

Chapter 676 Sharp Blade
"Shaq's anticipation is very good, but his bullet speed and jump height are obviously not as good as Jermaine's."

It can be seen from the jump ball after the opening game that Shaq O'Neal has a strong desire to win today, but the time is not forgiving. Even though the 34-year-old Shaq O'Neal tried his best, he was still in the jump ball Lost to the young and strong Jermaine O'Neal.

Jermaine O'Neal succeeded in jumping the ball, and Tony Allen, who got the ball in the backcourt, accelerated directly. For a team with a big center like Shaq O'Neal, the overall speed of advancing and retreating will inevitably be affected, so the Pacers Choosing to speed up today is also a strategy to deal with the Heat.

Shaq O'Neal's slow retreat does not mean that other Heat players also retreated slowly. Just after Tony Allen handed the basketball to Meng Xu who had reached the frontcourt through a long pass, Dwyane Wayne De and Jason Williams had already blocked Meng Xu's only path, playing two in the frontcourt. After observing the surrounding situation from the corner of his eye, Meng Xu gave up the plan of fast break, Of course, this is also the arrangement of the head coach Rick Carlisle before the game. If he can play fast break, he will play fast break. If there is no chance, he will wait for the teammates behind him to catch up.

"These bastards." Shaq O'Neal, who had already run to the basket, was about to stand still and slow down when he saw Jermaine O'Neal, who was facing him, running towards the top of the arc. The latter wants to pull Shaq O'Neal out through the pick-and-roll. As we all know, what Shaq-O'Neal hates the most is defending the pick-and-roll.

Although he was very reluctant in his heart, Shaq O'Neal followed Jermaine O'Neal and pulled out. After Shaq O'Neal was taken away from the basket, Tony Allen took advantage of the situation and cut straight to the basket. Maine O'Neal completed the pick-and-roll with Meng Xu, a hanging pass, and Tony Allen hung on the basket.

"You can really sit still." Pat Riley, who was standing on the sidelines just now, not only did not respond after Tony Allen's dunk, but also retreated directly to the bench and sat down. Ke Lier felt a little bit guilty in his heart. He didn't know if the big back was pretending to be calm, or he really had some back tricks, so that he didn't worry about his various tactics against Shaquille O'Neal at all.

"Rick, I always feel that something is wrong." As the game continued to advance, the Pacers always firmly occupied the advantage on the field, and the strategy of consuming O'Neal was also implemented very smoothly. Ke O'Neal was already sweating profusely and out of breath. If this continues, O'Neal's physical fitness will not be able to persist in the fourth quarter. However, everything is going so smoothly, but Lester Conor feels a little Strange, the big backed head on the opposite side was too quiet, didn't he have any countermeasures at all?

"I also have this feeling, but I don't know where the problem will be." In recent seasons, the Eastern Conference teams that Rick Carlisle and his team have studied the most are the Pistons and the Heat, so after meeting the Heat in the Eastern Conference Finals , Rick Carlisle came up with a long-prepared plan to deal with the Heat. It stands to reason that an old fox like Pat Riley would not have imagined that he would formulate a strategy to consume O'Neal. There are no restrictive measures, even though O'Neal is slipping around on the field, but Pat Riley is still sitting on the sidelines as if nothing has happened. This situation is really weird.

Because Rick Carlisle's strategy was to consume O'Neal to the greatest extent, although the Pacers firmly grasped the situation on the field, at the end of the first half, the point difference between the two sides was not that big, 45 41, the Pacers only lead the Heat by 4 points.

After the end of the first half, O'Neal's physical fitness really went wrong. O'Neal's various physical functions are no longer at their peak. Playing 40 minutes in a game is already the limit. In the best state, it's okay to play at full capacity. You can play for about 30 minutes, and you still have to paddle on the defensive end. In today's game, on the defensive end, the Pacers kept using pick-and-roll tactics to consume O'Neal's physical strength. The player's two insiders, Jermaine O'Neal and NN-Hilario, played in turns. The high-intensity confrontation and alternate running back and forth made O'Neal, who had only played for 18 minutes, already a little physically exhausted.

O'Neal is exhausted, and even if he barely stays on the court, he can't make much contribution to the team. Therefore, according to Rick Carlisle's vision, O'Neal will sit on the sidelines for most of the third quarter and rest for the fourth quarter. The Heat, who have accumulated physical strength without a backbone, will inevitably be taken away by the Pacers.

Therefore, after the start of the third quarter, Rick Carlisle dispatched all the main lineup, ready to reap the game ahead of schedule, and for the Heat, Pat Riley seemed to have expected that the Pacers would do this, so the Heat All the main players except O'Neill were also dispatched.

"Well." As soon as the game started, Rick Carlisle noticed something strange. The whole first half revolved around O'Neal playing Dwyane Wade without the ball, and he attacked with the ball at the beginning of the third quarter Now, although as the Heat's second-in-command, Wade has unlimited firepower and the power to attack independently when O'Neal is not on the court, but Rick Carlisle still instinctively felt that something was wrong.

"Create damage?" In the first round, Dwyane Wade hugged the basketball and rushed to the basket guarded by Jermaine O'Neal. The NBA has issued some rules for restricting defensive actions in the past two seasons. Many defensive actions that could be used before will be called fouls this season, and many common fouls will become malicious fouls this season. These changes have caused a sharp increase in the number of free throws made by outside players, especially Dehuai. Peripheral players like Dwyane Wade who mainly focus on breakthroughs have become beneficiaries of the new rules, so after seeing the Heat's first offense in the third quarter, Dwyane Wade went directly to the basket. Looking for Jermaine O'Neal, Rick Carlisle frowned. Jermaine O'Neal has fouled three times now, and if he fouls, he has to end the game.

"Good job, Dwyane." Pat Riley, who sat quietly on the bench throughout the first half, stood on the sidelines after the start of the third quarter, when Pat Riley Seeing that Dwyane Wade rushed to the basket and successfully caused a defensive foul by Jermaine O'Neal, after hitting the Pacers with a 2+1, Pat Riley, who had been silent for most of the game, applauded, While applauding Dwyane Wade who is walking towards the free throw line.

Taking advantage of Dwyane Wade's free throw, Rick Carlisle replaced Jermaine O'Neal with Mutombo who had already fouled four times. Te - Riley's routine, O'Neal is just a cover, Wade is the sharp knife in the hands of Pat Riley.

(End of this chapter)