Chapter 1568 1567. Unexpected Progress of the Game

What is more troublesome than expected is that the players on the Magic team know the Hawks very well!

In other words, in terms of targeting, the Hawks have focused on the Lakers and Japan since the beginning of the season.

The Magic have always regarded the Hawks as their biggest rival, or in other words... the considerations of other Eastern teams for the playoffs are prepared to meet the Hawks as the end.

All Eastern playoff teams regard the Hawks as the final imaginary enemy, especially the Magic.

These teams have thought of many tactics to deal with the Hawks, but they may not be used when they meet other teams, or they have not been used, or they have been used very rarely. When the Hawks studied them, they did not know that they had such tactics. Some of them are like the Nets, who have tactics but no players can play them effectively and are eliminated...

The Magic is the kind of opponent who is both capable and well prepared.

However, the Magic did not have a good way to deal with the Hawks' offense, and Liu Mang shot 3 of 4 from mid-range.

Although they were 4 points behind, the Magic had to attack first. The Hawks were not at a big disadvantage... However, in the first game of the series, Coach Kruger did not want to catch up slowly with a backward attitude. What if they capsized in the ditch and lost the first game? It would be worse than losing the first game away from the Bulls last year!

Rondo was really bad against Howard. Howard was one of the few inside players in this regular season who could make Rondo's average shooting percentage lower than 40% in four games. Rondo's best inside footwork was just restrained by Howard.

In the first half, if Liu Mang had not scored 6 points with 3 of 4 mid-range shots and passed a ball to McGrady and Kwame Brown, the score difference might have been much bigger. Howard was in the inside, and Rondo ignored Nelson after passing the ball.

"That tactic has not been used for a long time. Let's try it in the Eastern Conference Finals!"

...

After the timeout, the Hawks attacked.

The Hawks sent out a lineup of Liu Mang, Wade, McGrady, Marion, and Kwame Brown.

The Magic team has no plans to change players. Nelson made a good three-pointer today and will continue to stay on the court. The five starters will continue to fight.

"What happened to them?"

Rahim felt something was wrong!

Looking at the eagerness of the five opponents after they came on the court, although Rahim didn't know what the opponent was going to do, he must have had another weird idea!

Calling his teammates to be careful and not to be careless, Rahim took a step outside the three-second zone, ready to help Howard defend the basket and help other teammates defend the mid-range.

Rahim + Howard is the best defensive inside combination in the league. The circle around the three-second zone is their defensive coverage area. However... the Hawks played a standard offense after the timeout. Wade used McGrady's pick-and-roll to pass back to McGrady, who was separated, and McGrady missed a mid-range jump shot.

Howard used Rahim to block Liu Mang, took the defensive rebound, and passed it to Rahim.

"Am I overthinking?"

Rahim passed the ball to Nelson, which was a bit strange.

"Um...ha..."

At this time, there were continuous exclamations!

Rahim turned his head and saw Liu Mang dunking the ball into the basket with one hand!

Just now, after Rahim passed the ball, when Nelson was about to receive the ball, McGrady rushed up and pressed the whole court. Nelson was startled and didn't catch the ball steadily. McGrady was quick and slapped the ball out. Wade grabbed the ball and threw it to Liu Mang. Liu Mang took a step and jumped to dunk the ball into the basket!

It is true that Marion and Kwame Brown retreated, but the three outside players did not retreat. The Magic team did not expect this at all, leaving only Rahim and Nelson to advance in the backcourt, and they were directly intercepted by the backcourt!

All this happened in just over two seconds. Not to mention Rahim, Nelson, who was surrounded by McGrady and Wade, didn't know how the ball disappeared, and he was still sitting on the floor with McGrady!

Among the others, Marion, who retreated the fastest, had just retreated past the midline, and the attack here was over!

Just then, Marion and Kwame Brown continued to retreat.

Liu Mang and Wade pulled McGrady up. The three really retreated this time. Seeing the confused expressions of the Magic players, the Hawks civilian five-man team felt very happy!

The score became 15 to 17, a two-point difference, and the Magic players were a little confused...

"What happened?"

...

Soon the Magic knew what the Hawks had done.

Liu Mang, Wade, and McGrady, the three defensive stalwarts, formed a meat grinder defense on the outside!

No matter who has the ball, their choice is to use the closest one to press and defend.

It's very simple, very direct, and very rough defense, but it's such a simple, direct and rough defense that is quite unsolvable!

The three outside lines have confrontation, speed, and strong defensive ability!

McGrady, who has the weakest defense, has also been selected as the second defense, and focuses on defense. Even Carter has difficulty getting rid of these three one-on-one.

It's difficult for others to control the ball or even advance!

Playing pick-and-roll is even more unreliable. Howard's pick-and-roll is equivalent to sending his teammates into double-teaming, and it is the kind of double-teaming without passing angles. The Magic team has no choice. Howard has no talent for pick-and-roll and no awareness at all. They can't be trained for several years.

Rahim goes to pick-and-roll... Marion switches to guard and there is no difference.

The Hawks' style of play is very clear, allowing opponents to see their tactics at a glance, but you just can't deal with it!

This time, the Magic players confirmed that Wade was really healthy. This guy who played 23-4 minutes per game, got 10 points, 3-4 rebounds and 2-3 assists, is the defensive core of the Hawks' lineup!

Four of the five players in the Hawks' lineup are hard-working, active and selfless... The key is that they are all strong in defense! There is only one unique player, the kind who doesn't care about anything and just throws it in the counterattack...

But that guy is a four-time MVP and a four-time Finals MVP!

10 to 2!

After the first official timeout, the Hawks played a wave of 10 to 2! The score was suddenly made 23 to 19, from 4 points behind to 4 points ahead!

From the first meat grinder defensive counterattack with McGrady steals, Wade passes, and Liu Mang dunks, the Magic team was confused. Except for Howard's tip-in to score two points, no one else scored successfully. In two and a half minutes, the Magic only scored two points!

Magic head coach Skiles didn't react until he was 4 points behind, then he remembered to call a timeout.

"This is a bit too strong!" The Kara team looked at the other side's civilian five-man team and felt that things were a bit beyond their imagination: "Did they not use their full strength against the Bulls?"

...

When playing against the Bulls, the Hawks certainly used their full strength, but it was not suitable to use civilian tactics against the Bulls. Garnett and Ben Wallace are both good pick-and-roll players, Hinrich is steady in ball control, and James and Wade's pressure defense is not effective against the trio of Parker, Leonard, and Duncan. The Hawks' pressure defense against Hinrich + Luol Deng + Garnett is unlikely to have a good effect.

But although the Hawks' preparations in the first half of the game were not as clear as those of the Magic, they also found some places that could be used.

On the outside of the Magic, except for Carter, the other two had no advantage against any of Liu Mang, Wade, and McGrady!

The problem with this tactic is that it consumes a lot of physical energy. It is not worth it to play against the Nets, and it is useless against the Bulls... When it came to the Magic, they became the first opponent of the Hawks to use this tactic in the playoffs...

Liu Mang did not expect that he would give the opponent the illusion that "the opponent did not use his full strength before."

This did not affect the Magic's fighting spirit and fighting spirit. Liu Mang did not know that the other side was thinking this way, but it did have some impact on the game.

After another long timeout, the Magic played even harder!

Originally, at least in the first half, the head coaches of the two teams were ready to test the strength of the other side, but Coach Kruger suddenly wanted to try the "civilian tactics", which made the players of the Magic team feel deeply threatened and directly brought the rhythm of the game into a decisive battle!

The Hawks were also inexplicably involved in a decisive battle...

In the second quarter, the confrontation was played like the fourth quarter, and they started to fight and confront each other.

After the first half, the Hawks led by 7 points from 30 to 23 in the first quarter, and only led by 8 points at 51 to 43 at the end of the half! The offensive efficiency of both teams in the second quarter was extremely low!

...

During the halftime break, the Hawks' locker room was full of complaints.

"Are the Magic crazy? They started playing like this in the first quarter? Do they think they are the Bulls?" Jason Terry, who played 0 out of 4 in 7 minutes, complained.

As Jason Terry said, in the long 48-minute game, if the strength gap between the two sides is not big, one or two good shots and one or two good defenses will have little impact on the overall situation.

Except for the Bulls, a team that focuses on defense, most teams are testing the opponent in the first half or even the first three quarters of the game, thinking of a tactic that is most suitable for defeating the opponent to play the key moment, just like the series between the Jazz and the Lakers. As long as the score difference is not pulled too far, the Lakers will have a way to deal with the Jazz in the fourth quarter.

The reason why the Bulls and the former Spurs and Pistons give opponents a headache is because of this.

Coach Kruger heard the complaints of the players. He didn't know why the opponent wanted to enter the decisive battle state in advance, but it was obviously beneficial to the Hawks!

The Magic used Carter as the core of the ball control to hold the ball to promote the organization of the offense and avoid the pressure defense of the Hawks on the outside. For Carter, the task has increased and the consumption has become greater.

The most important thing is that the Magic team started to fight for defense, and it seems to have forgotten the core play of the twin towers and three shots, which is definitely a greater burden for their main players.

Since the opponent had dug a hole for himself, Coach Kruger saw that the opponent had already jumped in, so of course he had to cover it with a shovel of dirt!