basketball court controller

Chapter 23
The Atlanta Hawks, the second opponent at home in this wave, are not underdogs that can be fooled casually.

There are members of the "Dream Team Two" outside, the All-Star Steve Smith, and Dikembe Mutombo inside.

Both teams are very tough defensive teams, but the Heat's offense is stronger in addition to defense. The Heat also won the game 88:78.

On the 12th, the Heat continued their suffocating defense and won the Toronto Raptors again at 83:73.

On the 15th, the Heat beat the blind New Jersey Nets 102:76.

On the 17th, the Heat beat the Washington Wizards at 94:85, and finally won five consecutive home games.

On the 18th, the Heat came to Atlanta. Facing the avenging Eagles, the two teams played very hard. In the end, Zhang Chen took absolute control and won the key steal, assisting Tim Hardaway to win the game with 86:85 The home team won six consecutive victories.

Three days later, the Heat lost to the Indiana Pacers again 89:94 after returning home, and their record became 20 wins and 4 losses.

On March 3, the Heat flew away to challenge the Utah Jazz in the Western Conference. This was another hard battle.

When it comes to the Jazz, one has to say "black and white". Now the 36-year-old "postman" Karl Malone and the 37-year-old historical "assist king" and "steal king" John Stockton are still very efficient. In particular, Karl Malone, as in previous years, continues to hang in the prominent position of the regular season MVP.

These two have stayed in the Jazz for more than ten years and won countless honors, but they are guys who have never won a championship. They want to go crazy if they want to win the NBA championship. The last two seasons finals have sadly made the background of the Bulls. Now Jordan has retired again, the Bulls are gone, revenge, whoever cares about him, as long as he wins the championship.

In addition to these two, the Jazz's starting shooting guard is the 36-year-old "Dead Light Gun", Jeff Hornacek, who is still very accurate when he is young, and the small forward is a defensive player. -Russell, the center position is a white player with a blue collar than P-J-Brown, "Big Pyrenees" Greg Ostertag.

The Heat and the Jazz are actually somewhat similar. Both teams have tough defenses, and both teams have a devil-like muscular guy inside, but because of the different attributes of No. 1 Tim Hardaway and John Stockton, The offense of the two teams still has different characteristics.

Since the two teams belong to the East and West, Pat Riley did not give a death order, but Zhang Chen was still very excited. The Jazz with Stockton and Malone can be said to be a sign, whether it is Jay Lee Sloan's pick-and-roll tactic is still the Jazz team, and he wants to see it.

It's just that the two big guys can't be him in the matchup, even if they are in the matchup, it's not easy to handle. Malone is tall, strong and muscular, so he can't defend, and Stockton can't defend if he doesn't shoot.

As a result, Zhang Chen faced Byron Russell after playing. He was slightly stronger than him in height and strength. Although he felt that the player who had been in the background at critical moments many times might be the same as the Jazz, he had a bit of mental quality, but Obviously this player is a good strength defender.

In the beginning, Zhang Chen didn’t have many chances. The two teams belonged to players who couldn’t defend each other. Stockton couldn’t stop Tim Hardaway from shooting, and Tim Hardaway couldn’t stop Stockton from shooting. Mourning and Ma Long didn't face each other directly, and they could blast the opponent's other inside line, but even if they defended each other, they still couldn't escape the situation of mutual explosion. Neither of them was very tall inside, and they could both hit The distance and the basket are really difficult to deal with.

But contrary to individual defense, these two overall defenses have done a good job of restricting each other, because the role players of the two teams play somewhat similarly, especially the Jazz, who mainly focus on open shots and actively create opportunities. The ability of the team is not strong, but on the Heat's side, because of Tim Hardaway's aggressive style of play, the attacks of role players are almost all abolished.

The situation caused by this situation is that the scores of the two teams are relatively entangled, and the scores are not very high.

Jazz head coach Jerry Sloan didn't feel anything wrong, but Pat Riley made adjustments, slightly advancing Zhang Chen's holding time.

In fact, in terms of tactical details, Pat Riley has been adjusting, and Mashburn has recovered well. It is estimated that he will come back in a while, and there will be some changes in the lineup and tactics by then.

It is no problem for Zhang Chen to defend Byron Russell, who mainly focuses on positioning shots. If he can also play offensively, the situation will be different immediately.

Byron Russell also likes that kind of close-to-hand defense. After Zhang Chen received the ball with his back turned to him, he obviously felt the strength of the opponent.

If a player without the ability to hold the ball has no choice at this time, but Zhang Chen is not afraid of this kind of close defense. Of course, he is not afraid of others letting him go. With the strength of his opponent, he took advantage of the situation and turned around with a big stride, wiping out most of his body in one go.

Sure enough, his speed is still slightly better, but if this person is fast enough, his achievements should be higher.

At this time, there were four big men crowded inside the inside line, and it was impossible to go in for a layup. Zhang Chen made a sudden stop and pulled back to make a mid-range shot. He still had a good grasp of the mid-range distance of this kind of face frame, and it was a 2-[-] shot easily. point.

Byron Russell was crazy when he was young. After becoming the background emperor, his temper became more and more bad, especially if he dared to shoot in front of him. Give another try and see if I won't destroy you."

"Is that so? I'm a very bad person. I can't see the defense when I'm afraid, especially the kind of defense that doesn't have a sense of presence." up.

"Then try it." Byron Russell's eyes seemed to bite someone.

Zhang Chen shrugged, turned around and walked towards the team's half court, "You can vote for one if you have the ability. If you just want to win, you can just find a talk show host to play."

Byron-Russell was so angry that he started to run aggressively, wanting to reciprocate, but Zhang Chen couldn't leave him at all. Unfortunately, this guy's tactical status in the team is not as high as Zhang Chen's. If he can't get a chance, Stowe Keton wouldn't pass the ball to him.

Unlike those core players who just open their mouths and ask for the ball.

There was no way to get back on the offensive end, and the defensive end started to get serious. As long as halftime passed, his hands never left Zhang Chen's body.

Zhang Chen really wasn't afraid of this move. He was a bit weak in strength, but it didn't affect his performance.

He also learned a little bit about Tim Hardaway's dribbling. It is not easy to use against defenders with a low center of gravity, but he can still play against defenders who are taller than him.

The speed is fast and the strength is not too different. After receiving the ball, turning around, Zhang Chen squeezed through twice, Byron Russell followed quickly, and Zhang Chen pulled back again.

The greater the weight, the greater the inertia. Byron Russell gritted his teeth to follow up but couldn't come back with great strength. Watching Zhang Chen's 2 points into the frame, he punched his thigh depressedly.

Just like in offense, the only players who can trouble Zhang Chen in defense are those players with superb physical talents. Byron Russell is obviously a little bit worse.

With Zhang Chen's opening up, the initiative gradually came to the Heat's side. His physical fitness made his shot selection closer to the basket than Tim Hardaway's, and it was more reasonable.

The Jazz's change did not appear until the second half, that is, Karl Malone's personal offense increased.

Not to mention, on the defensive end, neither P-J-Brown nor Mourning has much restrictions on Malone. P-J-Brown is not enough weight, and Mourning has no obvious advantage in height.

In offense, although Mourning can interact with Malone, but the efficiency is a bit worse. The Heat don't have Stockton's passing master, whether it is Tim Hardaway or Zhang Chen or Terry- Porter couldn't even come up with this kind of just-right pass.

And if Mourning were to forcefully fight, the success rate would obviously not be that high.

If Tim Hardaway and Zhang Chen are allowed to attack from the outside, they will definitely not be as stable as the inside. After Hardaway increased his long-range shots due to age and injuries, he has been a little convulsive, while Zhang Chen and Byron-La After fighting for so long, Searle's physical strength has also declined, which is the side effect of fighting against an opponent who is stronger than him.

In this way, the advantage began to tilt towards the Jazz again, but the score was still quite tangled. This was also because the two teams were relatively close in strength. If one side had a slight advantage, the score would not be particularly obvious. Changes, but the chances of victory are greatly increased.

At this point, it's actually about the Heat's restrictions on Malone.

But the Heat really don't have a particularly useful method. The only way is to pinch Malone and choke the other players and put Stockton in the mid-range shot, but this is also to see him eat. Malone hits the same thing.

It doesn't feel good to just watch the opponent's performance.

If there was no special plan at the beginning, now that the time has come to the last 5 minutes, the score is 73:74 behind by one point, Pat Riley has an idea and wants to win.

The Heat often emphasize defense when fighting tough battles, and Pat Riley's plan is to strangle Malone.

Let Dan Marley guard Byron Russell, Tim Hardaway guard Jeff Hornacek, and Zhang Chen takes it out. If Malone goes up and picks Stockton, he will delay Malone, at the same time P-J-Brown brought it up. If Malone wants to play low, Zhang Chen must immediately go to flank with P-J-Brown.

As for Stockton, as long as he doesn't break through, let him go. At most, Zhang Chen uses his height and movement to have a little influence in front of him.

Mourning, on the other hand, is ready for all kinds of defense at any time, and he will make up for any attack on the basket.

The Heat's insiders are all athletic. When they use this defensive posture, no matter how strong the insiders are, they will be affected. Zhang Chen finally had the opportunity to face the terrifying Jazz at the last moment of the game. It's a duo.

(End of this chapter)