allendalepharm Chapter 566 Opening Game: A Fierce Smash on the Pistons! Everything I Lost...
Chapter 566 Opening Game: A Fierce Smash on the Pistons! Everything I Lost...
Chapter 566 Opening Game: A Fierce Attack on the Pistons! Everything I've lost, I'll take back!
"My God! Lin's dunk was so powerful?" Barkley exclaimed in surprise. "If I were only looking at the backboard, I would have thought it was Shaq who did it! Besides Shaq, is there anyone else in the league who can make such a commotion with a dunk?"
Kenny added, "The only reason we're talking about this is because the league significantly reinforced the basketball hoop after Shaq broke the rim twice. Otherwise, I think Lin would have become the first guard in history to break the rim with a dunk."
"He only weighs a little over 90 kilograms! How can he have such strength?"
Barkley said with lingering fear, "The entire basketball hoop almost collapsed! At that moment, I suddenly hated the league's efforts to reinforce the basketball hoops, otherwise we would have witnessed a guard pull the rim down right there in the act."
"His strength seems even more terrifying than before! After all, we can't just remember Lin as a basketball player; he's also a king of the 100-meter dash and a boxing champion who could pin Tyson to the ground like a punching bag."
Before the two could even exclaim in surprise, Lin Tian had already released the basket and started his defensive retreat.
The Knicks' first offensive play of the new season absolutely met the criteria of shocking everyone.
Lin Tian's opening basket of the game: a lightning-fast 7-second dunk that knocked down the newly crowned FMVP, nearly overturning the basket rack!
Many journalists have already prepared headlines in their minds, ready to publish their articles at any time.
In the next Pistons attack, Billups, who had just lost face, was determined to get back at the top. He needed to score to stabilize the situation and save face.
Yes, scoring is all that matters, it doesn't have to be spectacular.
Because Billups is very clear about his own abilities and playing style, if he tries to play a beautiful game, he will most likely not only fail, but also be defended beautifully by the opponent.
Pragmatism is his style!
Fortunately, the Knicks' defense is still a mess, so scoring a basket is not difficult at all.
Billups then came to the frontcourt, waved for Rasheed to come up and screen for him, and then he quickly drove forward, reaching the basket in the blink of an eye, and raised his hand to finish the attack with a layup.
He'd already thought of all the trash talk he could come up with.
"They're both worth 2 points, what's the difference?"
"Snapped!"
But the moment he released the basketball, he was greeted with a crisp sound!
Lin Tian, who had been following closely behind, arrived in a flash, leaped high, and slapped Billups' layup against the backboard.
Billups forgot one thing: the Knicks' defense was indeed a complete mess.
Four of their starting five players are defensive black holes and leaky sieves, their defense is practically nonexistent, but they have Lin Tian!
A true defensive player of the best.
Scoring against other Knicks players is indeed easy, but what about against Lin Tian?
Hehe... Lord Lin's defense hasn't been relaxed!
Especially when Lin Tian was clearly putting in extra effort, knowing that Billups would definitely try to find someone to come back, it became even more difficult to break through Lin Tian's defense.
In short: He brought shame upon himself!
Then Lin Tian caught the ball in mid-air, turned around quickly, and dribbled forward immediately.
The Pistons are indeed the best defensive team in the league. Even though it was just the beginning of the game and their leader had just been blocked, they did not lose their defensive discipline at all.
When Lin Tian dribbled the ball to the frontcourt, the Pistons players had already mostly set up their positions, leaving the Knicks with few open shots in the entire half.
But Lin Tian obviously wouldn't care about that.
If there are no flaws or gaps, then Lin Tian will create them himself!
With another simple acceleration, he easily passed Billups, and then as Billups approached, he suddenly pushed him away with a powerful shoulder thrust. After that, Lin Tian took a lateral step back to create distance and once again gained an open space.
"Whoosh!"
Lin Tian certainly wouldn't let this opportunity pass, and he had already made his shot before Hamilton's defense came up!
"Where are you?" Lin Tian shouted at Billups after scoring. "Is this all the FMVP is capable of?"
Billups didn't fall for Lin Tian's provocation at all. He dribbled the ball to the frontcourt again, but this time he didn't try to take on Lin Tian one-on-one. Instead, he called his teammates and started playing the Pistons' complicated tactics with them.
After a rather complicated series of runs, Hamilton got the ball in the mid-range and was about to shoot when he suddenly saw Houston's large hand reaching out to him.
"Snapped!"
With another crisp sound, the ball in Hamilton's hands was snatched away by Houston. Anthony, who was nearby, grabbed the ball and then passed it to Lin Tian, who was already making a fast break down the court.
Anthony's pass was quite cunning; the basketball just barely cleared Billups' fingertips and landed in Lin Tian's hands. Lin Tian sprinted to the Pistons' three-point line and then suddenly stopped, pulled up, and launched a three-pointer!
"Whoosh!"
After another shot, Lin Tian got off to a blazing start, making all three of his shots to score 7 points!
The Pistons haven't scored a single point yet!
It could be said that the Pistons themselves didn't play clearly enough. On the first offensive possession, they let Billups go one-on-one with Lin Tian, and on the second possession, Hamilton's off-ball movement met Houston, the current master of off-ball movement.
Houston's aging limbs and knees that have undergone multiple major repairs... well, let's just say there are three things he can't defend against in this league.
Don't defend against those who are fast, strong, or have good rhythm.
Of these three types, one is that he can't keep up, another is that he can't withstand the pressure, and the third is that he's easily fooled and tricked into committing a foul.
In other words, there are very few players in this league who can defend Houston! He is the team's absolute defensive liability 95% of the time.
There are only two types of defenses he can defend against.
One type is a complete offensive liability who can't attack at all, and the other is Hamilton.
Houston knew Hamilton all too well his off-ball movement, his catch-and-shoot strategy, and the timing of his catch, pass, shot, and drive.
It's possible that Hamilton watched Houston game videos to find the rhythm and methods of positioning when he was in school.
So Houston immediately slapped Hamilton away from the basketball.
Nothing more than a prediction!
He just felt that Hamilton would receive the ball in this spot and shoot from this spot; he was even waiting there for Hamilton to come over!
But whatever the reason, the Pistons were hit with a 7-0 run at the start of the game, and the Palace of Auburn Hills fell silent once again.
Then Billups came to the frontcourt again, and after another round of movement, the ball was passed to Rasheed. The big man took a step back after receiving the ball, and only after stepping back beyond the three-point line did he confidently shoot a three-pointer!
"Bang!"
Unfortunately, the Pistons seemed to be too excited about tonight's championship flag-raising ceremony, so their shooting touch was really bad. Rasheed had a wide-open shot, but the ball just didn't go in!
Lin Tian grabbed the rebound once again as he rushed into the paint, and then he dribbled the ball up the court at high speed once more!
This time, Billups and Hamilton were fully focused, trying to block Lin Tian's path and slow him down. But Lin Tian was unmoved and charged all the way to the Pistons' basket despite being double-teamed.
Instead of shooting himself, Lin Tian suddenly made a behind-the-back pass with one hand, passing the ball to Stoudemire who was following up.
After receiving the ball, Stoudemire ignored Ben Wallace's swaggering stance on the edge of the paint and didn't attack the paint. Instead, he pulled up and cleanly made a mid-range shot for two points!
"Still living in last season? I've evolved!" Stoudemire was just as excited after scoring, waving his right shooting hand as if he had just hit the game-winner.
"Stay calm, don't rush! Everyone stay calm!" Billups clapped his hands forcefully, reminding all his teammates to calm down and stay composed.
"We've scored the next goal! Let's stabilize the situation, rely on our defense, and once their shooting touch cools down, we'll be able to catch up!"
After Billups finished speaking, he waved to signal Ben Wallace to serve, and then dribbled the ball to the frontcourt.
After several attempts by multiple players on the team failed to find the net, Billups passed the ball to Artest, allowing him to isolate and attack Anthony on the wing!
This has become a staple of the Pistons' strategy: when the team's offense stalls and the whole team is in poor form, that's when Artest, who is still largely outside the system, goes for one-on-one plays.
Of course, Artest's one-on-one plays can sometimes give the team a glimmer of hope and a chance to win, but at other times they can drag the team into the abyss.
There's nothing he can do; that's just his ability. He's not some top-tier star who can dominate in one-on-one situations.
His singles skills are only useful sometimes.
"Bang! Bang! Bang!"
As they were talking, Artest and Anthony began their head-on confrontation!
Artest put all his effort into it and rammed into Anthony three times in a row! If this were last season, Anthony would probably have been pushed to the basket by Artest.
This time, however, Anthony only took two steps back in total across three attempts! His strength has increased significantly this summer.
Moreover, Anthony's poor defense is completely different from the poor defense caused by physical limitations, such as Houston and Okur.
Carmelo Anthony's physical gifts are more than enough to make him one of the league's top defenders, but his problem is that he doesn't know how to defend and doesn't like to defend. His defensive positioning, skills, and control over defensive details such as blocking, stealing, and delaying are all quite poor.
But when he wants to defend and is willing to defend, if he encounters an opponent who goes head-to-head with him and wants to see who is tougher, he can contribute some pretty brilliant defensive plays by relying on his physical talent.
For example, right now.
Artest couldn't really budge him!
Just as Artest was about to make two more moves, until he pushed into the three-second zone, Lin Tian appeared once again!
He miraculously appeared in front of Artest, pulled out the ball that Artest was dribbling, and then Lin Tian turned around again and launched an attack!
This time, the Pistons' defense against him was even more aggressive. Hamilton and Billups were in front, and Artest was behind. As Lin Tian advanced, he kept an eye on the situation in the frontcourt. Even though the three opposing players were surrounding him, he didn't seem anxious or nervous at all.
Lin Tian only stopped when he dribbled the basketball to the vicinity of the free throw line. Without giving anyone a chance to double-team him, he passed the ball to the other side with a bounce pass.
Allan Houston doesn't need to adjust after receiving the ball; he just pulls up and shoots from mid-range!
"Whoosh!"
It's still working!
The difference in shooting percentage between the two sides is stark at this point in the game.
Knicks: 100%!
Pistons: 0%!
Next, even Billups got a little annoyed. This time, he once again chose to attack personally. He drove past Lin Tian to the mid-range, then suddenly turned back and used Rasheed's screen to pull up at the top of the arc for a long-range two-point shot.
"Bang!"
After another crisp crack, everyone tonight believed that God had stolen all the Pistons' touch.
Because the Knicks' defense is really not worth mentioning. They only have a few moments when their defense is okay, but the rest of the time, it's terrible!
But the Pistons just couldn't score when their opponents' defense was so poor!
This time, the basketball was caught by Lin Tian, who quickly turned around and retreated. After glancing at it, he suddenly swung it with one arm, and the basketball was in Anthony's hands in the blink of an eye.
After receiving the ball, Anthony did not perform the fancy moves he had been quite fond of in the first two years of his career, such as crossovers and between-the-legs dribbles. Instead, he suddenly stopped two steps inside the three-point line, then pulled up and shot!
"Whoosh!"
You can still get in!
The Knicks' entire team was incredibly hot tonight!
In the next round, this situation of one side scoring wildly while the other side couldn't score was finally broken.
Rasheed's mid-range straight-arm shot still missed, but this time Ben Wallace finally got into position and put the ball into the basket.
The Pistons broke their losing streak!
And then, Okur's three-pointer failed to respond, and after the ball bounced off the rim, the Knicks' shooting percentage was no longer 100%.
Although Okur missed the shot, Lin Tian rushed into the paint and sped out before Ben Wallace could grab the rebound, slapping the ball out to the outside. However, this time the target wasn't Okur, who had just missed, because his angle was bad.
Carmelo Anthony received the ball this time!
After receiving the ball, Anthony had no Pistons players guarding him, so what else is there to say?
With a swift stroke, the three-pointer is scored!
"Whoosh!"
The Knicks' incredible shooting streak seems to have no end in sight!
Their madness lasted throughout the entire first quarter!
It wasn't just the starting players who were accurate; even the substitutes were incredibly accurate tonight!
Even at the end of the first quarter, the gap between the two sides had reached 30 points!
51: 21!
The defending champion Pistons were outscored by the Knicks by 51 points!
This team is known as the one with the strongest defense in league history, but when they faced the Knicks, they couldn't put up a single fight.
Of course, the Pistons had a terrible shooting night, missing many open shots.
But the more important reason is: they really can't stop the Knicks!
In last season's Eastern Conference Finals, the Pistons were able to completely shut down the Knicks, except for Lin Tian, by relying on their strong physical confrontation, aggressive style and experience.
But tonight, at least in the first quarter, the Pistons were completely unable to stop the Knicks' offense.
"Their offensive versatility is incredible! From the paint to the three-point line, from catch-and-shoot to drive to the basket, from pick-and-roll to drive and dish—the Knicks have every offensive style and type you can imagine!"
During the break, Barkley remarked, "They're basically a giant arsenal right now! If last season's Knicks had a lot of weaknesses, well, this season's Knicks, well, this season's Knicks, their weaknesses haven't actually changed."
"They still don't play defense, they still only play offense. The Pistons got at least 10 open shots in the first quarter, but they couldn't capitalize on them, and they only made a small fraction of them."
"But the Knicks, they are too good at seizing opportunities! If it were last season, you could have many ways to stop them, using defense, height and physicality to make their offense less effective."
"But tonight, the Pistons couldn't do it!"
Kenny added, "But of course, it's only the first game, only the first quarter of the first game. It's perfectly normal for players to have some outstanding performances and showcase the results of their hard work in the summer. This is not necessarily the norm for the Knicks this season."
"But there's no denying that this year's Knicks are stronger! This year, they will officially become one of the strongest contenders for the championship!"
As the two were talking, the second quarter began. The Pistons were trailing too far behind, and Brown, unwilling to ruin his championship night, chose to go all in. He only let Artest and Billups rest temporarily, and brought on Wells and Arroyo as substitutes.
The remaining three players will remain in the starting lineup.
Being down by 30 points in the first quarter was simply unbelievable for Brown. He was really at a loss. Apart from letting his starters play a little longer and trying to catch up with the Knicks' bench as many points as possible, he really didn't know what else he could do.
The Knicks' momentum in the first quarter was simply too strong.
Scary!
In the second quarter, the Knicks were quite arrogant. With a 30-point lead, they fielded a lineup of five reserves: Ward, Barnes, Wallace, Smith, and Muhammad.
It's a straight five-up, five-down move, all about arrogance.
This lineup made Brown a little happy.
If you dare to underestimate me, I'll make you pay the price!
The first quarter ended like this because we were not in good form and you were in too good form. In the following games, as long as we get back into form and you decline, even if the score difference is as high as 30 points, it is not entirely impossible to turn the game around!
Brown's comeback dream lasted for about 6 minutes.
In the first three minutes of the second quarter, thanks to the firepower brought by Wells coming off the bench and the power of the Pistons' two Wallaces in the paint, the Pistons went on a 7-2 run, successfully narrowing the gap to 5 points.
Then Larry Brown continued his efforts, taking advantage of the team's good form, and brought in Billups and McDyess, while removing Ben Wallace and Arroyo, aiming to further strengthen the team's offense!
"Five minutes!" Brown was really determined this time, shouting, "Within five minutes, I want to cut the deficit to within 20 points, and that's our goal for the first half of the second quarter!"
No sooner had Brown finished speaking than the basketball was back in Rasheed's hands. The Knicks' defense was still nonexistent. Facing an open shot, he didn't hesitate and made another three-pointer, rapidly narrowing the gap between the two sides.
Although the Knicks' bench players started to respond and score, they were unable to extend the lead to more than 25 points.
Halfway through the second quarter, with six minutes remaining, Don Nelson finally stopped pretending.
The five key players stood up at the same time and walked onto the field.
It's been another rollercoaster of emotions.
At this point, the score difference between the two sides was exactly 20 points!
The Pistons closed the gap to 10 points in just half a quarter.
"You old geezer." Brown couldn't help but curse at Nelson's contemptuous and disdainful rotation, "I'm going to beat you guys tonight and show you what happens when you underestimate me!"
The disdain that Brown felt was certainly felt by the Pistons' key players as well!
The Pistons have now switched back to their full starting lineup, and the second wave of clashes between the two teams' pure starters has officially begun!
(End of this chapter)