"The Knicks' Disappearance of Second Core!" The New York Times reported the first match of the Eastern Conference Finals with such a title the next day. They did not think that the Knicks lost on defense. The real reason for losing was the lack of a second attack point.

There is a proverb in the NBA that offense wins the game, while defense wins the championship. This sentence is reflected in the Pistons who defeated the Lakers F4, but they lost to the Spurs, whose defense is quite strong but whose offense is better. Therefore, defense is not everything, and balanced offense is the guarantee of winning. A strong offense can make up for the shortcomings of the defensive end, but only one core offense is definitely not enough to make up for the Knicks' poor defensive shortcomings.

The Bulls dynasty in the Jordan era had a famous iron triangle. Rodman sacrificed his former scoring ability, but the Bulls had two offensive fulcrums Jordan and Pippen. The Knicks are not strong enough in defense and have no other support point on the offensive end. Who else can stand up at critical moments?

Stoudemire scored 28 points and 12 rebounds in the first game, and Iguodala and Garlinari also had 16 points and 13 points, but they could not support the team's offense. When the score was anxious, fans often saw Hugo's first move into the enemy group, treating himself as a magnet to attract the Heat's defense and then passing, while the rest of the Knicks watched their leader fight one against two, or even one against three. Several times when Hugo passed the ball, but the ball was back in his hands.

Of course, the Heat's game is also an atypical victory. Examples of the three giants breaking out together are rare. When these three teams win 80+ points, it is a bit difficult to force the Knicks to win. The question is whether the defeat in this game can sound the alarm for other Knicks players?

If the Knicks want to win, Stoudemire must play more resolutely on the offensive end. He must play fiercely. Even if he cannot go deep into the enemy lineup like Hugo before dividing the ball, at least he must use his impact to cause large-scale damage to the Heat's inside. Only in this way can Iguodala and Gallinari find opportunities to play their offensive threats and reduce the defensive pressure on Hugo. This is his basic role in the second core.

Wu Huang also asked his teammates in the team the next day. He thought that Xiao Si was too cautious in the first game and did not play his own style.

Xiao Si's style is different from him. He can kill seven in and out in the crowd. This can only be achieved by relying on his first-class reaction speed and keen sense of space and opponents' position. Wu Huang can only see this ability similar to him in a few players such as Kobe, Paul and Parker, but no one among the Knicks players has such talent.

Stoudemire's style is directly lethal. He should use the same impact force as James and Wade to kill opponents head-on, but he must not learn Bosh's style of playing and float outside. If Wade and James had not created shooting opportunities for Bosh, how could that guy have so many shooting opportunities? But if Xiao Si expects Wu to create such scoring opportunities for him, there may be no problem when facing most teams, but it is not possible to face the Heat Big Three. If the Knicks want to defeat this team, they must have more offensive points, including Iguodala and Garlinari, they must show their true desperate spirit of the game. It is not enough to rely on Wu to break the formation alone in the Eastern Conference Finals.

Jeff Van Gundy believes that the Knicks should let the relatively healthy O'Neal come in handy. Although this 39-year-old guy no longer has the thrilling ability of the inside line as he had ten years ago, the Heat's inside line does not have Big Ben and Duncan. They don't even have big guys like Danpier. Joel Anthony is already their best low-post defender, but O'Neal's several offenses in the third quarter proved that he can still play one or two good goals when facing such an opponent. Why not let him go up and challenge the Heat's weak inside defense how much?

Secondly, O'Neal's greater role in the Knicks should be in the defense of the basket. James and Wade unscrupulously attacked the Knicks' basket area in the first game. Stoudemire and Garynerli did not have enough ability to guard the paint area for the inside P. The Knicks faced the repeated attacks of a medium tank and a light tank. Apart from O'Neal, the heavy tank, who else can take on the heavy responsibility of guarding the basket?

Knicks' assistant coach Mike Woodson provided D'Antoni with a statistic for Tony Allen and Iguodala against Wade and James respectively

First of all, Tony Allen vs. Wade. Before this round of the series, the two met 12 times in the regular season and 0 times in the playoffs.

Wade's 12 regular season data: 27.4 points, 4.8 rebounds, 7.2 assists, 1.8 steals, 1.1 blocks, with a shooting percentage of 51.4%, and a three-point shooting percentage of 29.9%.

Let’s take a look at Iguodala vs. Wade. Before this round of the series, the two met 22 times in the regular season and 0 times in the playoffs.

Wade's 22 regular season data: 24.8 points, 5.6 rebounds, 6.5 assists, 2.0 steals, 1.3 blocks, with a shooting percentage of 47.2%, and a three-point shooting percentage of 28.1%.

This set of data can be explained intuitively, that is, Tony Allen's defense of Wade is far less effective than Iguodala, who is almost the same level in limiting Wade's score and shooting percentage.

The second set of data provided by Michael Woodson is the matchup record of Iguodala vs. James. The two met 15 times in the regular season and 0 times in the playoffs.

James' average number of data in the past 15 regular season games: 26.8 points, 7.6 rebounds, 7.1 assists and 1.9 steals, shooting percentage of 50.2% and three-point shooting percentage of 30.2%.

Tony Allen has never played against James, but this set of data can still explain one problem, that is, the number one player did not perform well when facing James, and he could not limit James' scoring and shooting percentage. At this stage, James is definitely not limited by physical fitness, but Wade, whose athletic ability has begun to decline, can be limited by his stronger body.

D'Antoni also discovered this problem through the first game. Tony Allen defended Wade very passively. The latter used his body that was far stronger than him to press Allen to fight. Even if the latter's death entanglement was entangled, it could not withstand Wade's one force to reduce ten times.

But what if I changed to Iguodala? The latter is also proficient in close-fits defense and is not inferior to Wade's ability to confront him. The younger number one seems to be more suitable for Wade.

Then who will James leave to defend?

Michael Woodson did not directly answer this question, he handed D'Antoni the third set of data, which is the counterpart information of all James' playoffs.

2006

First round: James 36+8+6,51%+38%; Caron Butler 19+11+3+2,42%+21%.

Second round: James 27+8+6,44%+28%; Prince 18+5+3,45%+60%.

2007

First round: James 28+9+8+2, 43%+27%; Jamison 32+10, 48%+35%.

Second round: James 25+7+9, 43%+31%; Richard Jefferson 18+6+2, 48%+33%.

Eastern Conference Finals: James 26+9+9+3, 45%+36%; Prince 9+6+5, 24%+17%.

Final: James 22+7+7, 36%+20%; Bowen 6+5, 30%+39%.

2008

First round: James 30+10+8, 48%+29%; Caron Butler 19+6+4+2, 46%+24%.

Second round: James 27+6+8+2,36%+%; Pierce 19+5+4,40%+33%.

2009

First round: James 32+11+8+2,52%+33%; Mageti 10+4+2,45%+35%.

Second round: James 34+8+6+3, 50%+40%; Pierce 18+5+4+1, 42%+36%.

Eastern Conference Finals: James 39+8+8,49%+30%; Tekoglu 17+6+7,39%+39%.

Mike Woodson's data can illustrate a few points: First of all, James is not afraid of most defensive players who are praised for their physical fitness. Gibbon Prince cannot successfully restrict him in the playoffs twice against James. Mageti, who is similar to Iguodala's physical fitness, cannot use his terrifying upper body muscles to influence James. The rest of Pierce, Jefferson and Butler are all strong players with very strong physical fitness in the No. 3 position, but they also cannot get benefits from James. As James, who is the first in the No. 3 position in the No. 3 position, anyone who wants to rely on his body to limit him has failed.

But one person succeeded. In so many rounds of playoffs, the only one who caused James's data to drop sharply was Uncle Bao San, who weighed less than 210 pounds. You should know that Bowen was 35 years old, but such an elderly swingman still relied on his historically-level defensive skills and awareness to make James experience a nightmare final. Although the defense of the Spurs provided strong support for Bowen that year, have other teams not provided support to these people who defended James?

So Woodson means, why not let Tony Allen try it? Although this is a bit whimsical and doesn't sound very reliable, countless people, including Iguodala, have tried it. To prevent James, you must not rely on your body, but you must rely on consciousness and skills, as well as the support of the whole team.

Although the Knicks don’t have the last condition now, Tony Allen’s defensive skills and consciousness are almost the best in their team. Wu Huang may be better in consciousness, while Iguodala is in better health, but the one who combines the three best is Tony Allen. Using the strategy of small to defend against big may not be ineffective. At least you can try it.

D'Antoni was also a little moved at first, but later he became more disliked by Woodson. He always felt that this guy had wanted to usurp his power for a long time. Don't be a fool of him with such a whimsical idea, right? Once the experiment fails, the media will not scold Woodson as an assistant coach, and his head coach will take the blame.

In the second game, the Knicks will definitely change the lineup, but whether to replace O'Neal with another role and whether to let Tony Allen defend James, Xiao Wang felt that there was no need for this.

D'Antoni believes that the real reason for the Knicks to lose in the first game was not themselves. The culprit should be that the Heat are in good condition, which is the key!

The three giants scored 81 points together, which is a special situation that cannot be achieved once in ten games. The Heat performed well in this game. But even so, the Knicks almost turned around and won the game. In the next game, the Heat will not have such good luck. He has no reason to change his tactics urgently because of an atypical failure. The Knicks do not need to change much now. The second game is just a slight change.

On May 17, just before the first match between the Mavericks and the Thunder, the media was still hyping up the first match between the Knicks and the Heat. Of course, the focus of their reports was the small theater before the game between the two teams, including many sarcastic sarcastic sarcastic sarcastic sarcastic sarcastic sarcastic sarcastic sarcastic sarcastic sarcastic sarcastic sarcastic sarcastic sarcastic sarcastic sarcastic sarcastic sarcastic sarcastic sarcastic sarcastic sarcastic sarcastic sarcastic sarcastic sarcastic sarcastic sarcastic sarcastic sarcastic sarcastic sarcastic sarcastic sarcastic sarcastic sarcastic sar

The Mavericks are still the same, and the media has always been not optimistic about them. From the initial prediction of eliminating the Rockets 4:3 to the second round, to the Lakers 2:4, even though the Dallas finally advanced with a sweep, the media still did not optimistic about them as usual. These guys still predicted before the game that the Thunder would eliminate the Mavericks 4:3 or 4:2 to enter the finals.

However, the Dallas, who are used to being looked down upon, finally defeated the Thunder 121:112 at home with Nowitzki's super stable and efficient performance and the amazing performance of a number of bench bandits, won the lead in seven games. At the same time, Nowitz also set five records in the basic game.

First of all, Nowitz scored 48 points in the basic game to set a record for individual scores in the league in this year's playoffs, and these 48 points are also the second highest in Nowitzki's career playoffs. He previously set a single-game record of 50 points in the 2006 Western Conference Finals and the Suns.

It is worth mentioning that with Nowitzki making two free throws 19 seconds before the end of this game, Nowitzki rewrites the new record in NBA history. His performance in 24 free throws in this game rewrites the previous record of 21 free throws in the playoffs set by Paul Pierce. Not only that, 24 free throws also tied Nowitzki's record of single free throws in the playoffs. His 13 free throws in a single quarter also tied Michael Jordan's record of 13 free throws in a single quarter.

In addition, with 48 points in this game, he has surpassed Sam Jones in the total score list of the playoffs and rose to 21st in NBA history.

However, in the Mavericks' victory today, Nowitzki is certainly the number one hero, but it cannot be ignored that it was Barria's magical performance in the first half of the second quarter that allowed the Mavericks to reverse the decline. His 12 points in a row in the fourth quarter completely disrupted the entire Thunder's defense with one person's power, which helped the Mavericks set the tone of victory. Undoubtedly, this night belongs to Nowitzki, Terry, who made 5 of 10 shots in three-pointers, and also to Dallas's "magic boy" Barria!

Emperor Wu also took the time to watch this game. After seeing Terry's "drawing fan" three-pointer and the breakthrough of the small Barriana who looked at the defense as if nothing was needed, like a sharp blade to stab the opponent's heart, he immediately scolded his second, third and fourth head in his heart.

The Knicks' first defeat was because they lacked such a key supporting role. The three bastards were fully capable of playing Terry and Barrea, and even better than them, but in the face of the strong defense of the Big Three, they were shamelessly cowardly.

Is Sir's lethality not as good as Nowitzki? Iguodala's breakthrough threat is not as strong as Barria? Is Gallinari's three-point shooting technique not as good as Terry?

The answer is obviously not the case. Emperor Wu felt that these guys were too used to relying on him. It was time to ask them to play to their true level and let themselves hold back their thighs.

The Knicks' second game was held on the 18th. Before the New York Times, it was said that Wu Huang delivered a passionate speech on the team the day before the game, hoping to encourage the whole team to pick up their fighting spirit.

On the day of the game, a reporter interviewed Gallinari about this issue. After the Italian knew what was going on, he secretly complained in his heart: "For a bullshit speech, the boss scolded us all!" Of course, he definitely couldn't say that in front of others, but nodded and said seriously: "We need this kind of speech. He said 'We must stand up and play our basketball'. Hugo is very good at this. He knows when to stand up and speak and convey a message to his teammates. His speech is very motivating, and it's like listening to Martin Luther King's speech."

Martin Luther died miserably. After hearing Garynalli's words, Emperor Wu thought that this guy was scolding him in a different way, right? He did scold these guys yesterday. He wouldn't do this last year. At that time, his status was not high enough, and scolding his teammates could easily backfire. But now it's different. He is the new MVP, the Knicks's core leader, and he has even become a representative figure of the city. Now using this kind of scolding and blame is far more effective than bullshit speeches.

There is an old saying in China that kindness does not support soldiers, and righteousness does not make money. That is to say, people who are kind and ruthless cannot lead soldiers or fight wars. This sentence is the same when put on the basketball court. Those indecisive leaders are definitely not good leaders. It is even more difficult for a leader who is still shaking at a critical moment to turn the tide. Therefore, when it is time to criticize, you must criticize and when it is time to scold!

Nowitzki played no better this year than in 2006, and even he himself thought so, but the only change that the Germans and five years ago was his leadership temperament, which was obviously stronger, both internally and externally.

If Emperor Wu is ruthless, how can he subdue a rebellious star like Xiao Si? How can he convince a young man like Garlinari? And how can he listen to his seniors like O'Neal, and those old players? In the news, those scenes such as eating with soldiers are used to show off. In reality, "people" are humble, and being arrogant is the common feature of everyone. As a superior, one must have enough majesty, and being respected and even feared, so that the military order can be as good as a mountain.

Emperor Wu will never be friends with his teammates. He only needs these people to obey him, but he will not be too ruthless to them. Being kind and powerful is the king. To maintain his majesty, he is too harsh to his teammates, and even bullying his teammates is also unwise. Emperor Wu has always felt that there must be a comparison in everything he does. Why is this slutty guy particularly excited every time he is better to Gallina? This is the effect of having a strict comparison with him before. How can he know how hard-earned it is to "sweet"? So before giving a sweet date, he must find a way to slap him first.

The second match of the Eastern Conference Finals is definitely a game that cannot be afforded for the Knicks. If they go to Miami with a score of 0:2, no matter how strong they are in the away game, it is difficult to guarantee victory. The entire Eastern Conference Finals will be tilted towards the Heat. Even if they are swept, it is no longer impossible. They must win this game.

In the first game, the Big Three scored 81 points, obviously not a reflection of the Heat's true level. Many people know that their winning mode is not complicated. The first thing that is to bear is that the Big Three must perform at a normal level, and all three people are indispensable. Today, the Knicks are going to limit the Big Three to perform at a normal level.

"Don't mention warm-up again. It's not a glorious thing to me, but it can't be a shame. If someone wants to use this to influence me, it can only be a dream." Wu Huang found that Miami media wanted to do something about warm-up at the press conference before the game, and expressed his disgust impatiently. At the same time, he refused to answer any questions from the previous game and said: "We are not entangled in the defeat in the previous game. The interesting thing about the NBA series is that the defeated side can take targeted remedial measures to make corresponding adjustments to the problems that occurred in the previous round. So it seems that the two teams are always playing, but in essence, the mentality, tactics and states of both sides in each game are different. Today we will appear in Madison Garden with a brand new look, and there is no need to mention the previous game."

D'Antoni made some changes on the defensive end today. They did not have a single focus on the defensive end in the last game. Today, the Knicks were preparing to let Bosh off to gather forces to attack Wade and James. Although Bosh scored 29 points in the last game, it looked beautiful, but his finger injury may affect his shooting efficiency today. At the same time, if the Knicks can allow Wade and James to reduce their shooting percentage under double-team, they may be able to suppress the Heat's offense.

In terms of specific matchups, D'Antoni only took part of Mike Woodson's suggestion. Today he was going to let Igudara return to the second position to face Wade, but he did not accept the ridiculous suggestion of letting Tony Allen defend James. So when the Knicks announced the roster, O'Neal and Tony Allen looked unhappy. Neither of them was on the roster today.

D'Antoni sent out a set of rosters: Wu Huang, Igudala, Garlinari, Evans, and S. He plans to use Evans' fierce confrontation and a large number of off-set draws to interfere with James and Wade's breakthroughs. At the same time, this guy's fierce rebounding ability can also help the Knicks improve their disadvantage in the last game in the competition for rebounds.

Jeff Van Gundy commented before the game started: "The Knicks are not short of excellent blue-collar insiders this season, but they seem to be in the embarrassment of only seeking quantity but lacking quality Evans, Turiaf, and Collins are all special players who are proficient in a certain aspect. They may be very useful in the regular season and when dealing with specific opponents, but they are difficult to take on major responsibilities when facing star players with comprehensive abilities."

Mark Jackson said: "I think the Heat are not as good as the Knicks in this regard. They don't even have a few special players like this. If the Big Three can't always guarantee excellent performance in the last game, it's probably not as easy as the Heat want to win, and I'm not optimistic that they can shoot three arrows in every game."

The Heat's lineup has not changed today. Bosh was diagnosed with a slight fracture at the end of the middle finger of his right hand, but fortunately he is a left-handed player. He still appears after bringing a fixed splint today.

The Miami people's defensive strategy today still mainly adheres to two points: the first is wheel battle. Whether it is Chamos or Bibi's top defense, Bosh will assist in defense at any time in the middle line, and James and Wade will come to double-team from time to time; the second is to stop Wu Huang's pass and try to make him enter the rhythm of a single fight. In this regard, Wu Huang's response is also very simple, that is, to go deep into the hinterland to attract opponents' double-teams to create opportunities for his teammates. Today he is preparing to strengthen his off-ball running and offense on the weak side, and at the same time increase the number of times Sir and Iguodala attack with the ball. He hopes that his teammates can play at the same level as Terry and Barria in the Western Mavericks today.

After the game started, the Heat rushed towards Emperor Wu with three axes at the beginning, while Emperor Wu asked his teammates to gather on the other side. He wanted to see if the Heat was still pestering him. If there were always many people around him, he would pass the ball and enter the play mode, hoping to hold his thighs. If there were few people around him, he would take the ball and attack by himself as a lone hero. This style of play became simpler than the previous game.

The Knicks' style of playing is somewhat imitating the Mavericks' offensive strategy. Nowitzki simplifies the complex this year, basically just one move for Golden Roosters and three-pointers. Once the Thunder doubles, the Mavericks will let other players attack from the weak side; if not doubles, Nowitzki will have a lot of tricks. As long as the whole team is in good condition, he can score the ball. Although the Mavericks' strategy is simple, he is not afraid of any opponents.

The Heat chose to continue besieging Wu Emperor at the beginning, but Sir Si was extremely determined to face Bosh with a finger injury on the opposite side. Some fans vaguely saw the invincible little bully in the 2004-05 season facing the Spurs series. Sir Si made great power in the first quarter and handed over an amazing data of 5 shots. He scored 14 points on Bosh in a single quarter. The Knicks relied on Sir Si's magical performance in the first quarter to lead the Heat 28:25.

In the second quarter, Spoelstra did not dare to let Stanley get a singles chance, so the Heat had to start allocating some of their troops to take care of Stoudemire.

The defensive pressure around Wu Huang was still quite large, but he saw clearly that the James-Week combination was only a deterrent effect at this time, and Bosh was tightly involved by Xiao Si. His defense was much less than the previous game. So when Chamos and Bibi defended him alone, as long as James and Wade assisted on the left, he would break to the right, which would definitely prevent the assisting people from following. In the end, he was actually a one-on-one situation. In short, no matter how famous the players who came to assist the defense were, Wu Huang just needed to find the players who were on the top defense. As long as his teammates threatened enough, he would not suffer such a siege defense like in the first game. In the end, it was still necessary for his teammates to be able to play easily.

The Heat's last game allowed Wu Huang to experience the excellence of the league's top defense. It is a consensus in the whole league to minimize their mistakes and counterattacks from the Big Three against each other. D'Antoni learned the lessons of the first game today, and the Knicks' offense is more concise and effective today. Their "single-core offensive tactics" have brought great trouble to the Heat's defense.

This so-called "single core" refers to the single attack in which Wu Huang and Xiao Si fight each other. In the first half, the two rarely play pick-and-roll together. Instead, they try to stay away as far as possible to form a horn-like momentum, attacking the Heat from the left and right sides. Iguodala always appears at the top of the arc and the middle as the two's turn points.

As long as the Knicks' two strongest ball-holding points can open their offensive modes on both wings, they actually don't need to deliberately connect. Such an advantage of "single-core" offense over "multi-core" reflects that the team's passes are not so complicated, and the mistakes are reduced accordingly. The quality of the Heat's counterattack has decreased, and the supporting roles can unite to fight for offensive rebounds. Evans grabbed 9 rebounds in the first half, including 3 offensive rebounds. The substitution of the beard has also achieved results.

In addition to earning 12 points and 2 assists in the first half, Emperor Wu also scored 5 rebounds. This style of play reduced his support task. Although it greatly reduced the number of assists, in contrast, he faced less defenses, and also made the defensive positions of Heat players too far apart and it was difficult to support each other.

Zhan Wei and the other two were almost forcibly separated by the Knicks' offense on the defensive end today. Bosh was unable to support Sir Jr.'s strong performance. The Knicks successfully broke the Heat's "giant-style" defense on the offensive end, leading the Heat ten-thousandth 55:45 in the first half.

On the defensive end, the Knicks' team change today also had a certain effect. Iguodala only allowed Wade to score 10 points in the first half, which was already a very successful defense. Wade, who put all the preparations in advance, finally felt passive when facing Iguodala today.

If it were the Flash at its heyday two years ago, with its peak speed, it wouldn't be too scared of Igudara. Wade was truly invincible at that time. But this year, Wade has begun to feel the aging of his knees. His speed is not as fast as in previous years, which allows Iguodara to keep up with him.

Once the magic weapon of speed is lost, Wade will have to face the disadvantage of his height and naturally has no advantages on the offensive end. His ability to confront Iguodala cannot gain any advantage. With his skills, he still has some gap with Kobe.

James is in the Cavaliers' feeling that he is alone today. When Bosh was trapped by a finger injury and could not break out like the first game, and Wade was also trapped in a fight with Iguodala, the Heat were left with James as the ace. None of the others were reliable. The biggest weakness of the Miami people was exposed again. In addition to the normal performance of the Big Three, there must be x-factor characters standing up, but none of Chamos, Bibby, Haslem, Jones and others have the ability to act as this x-factor.

But look at the Knicks from the other hand. When Wu Huang and Xiao Si were able to perform normally and successfully attract opponents to their main defensive experience, there were too many players in their team who were able to become x-factor, so many that they could not count a single finger.

In the third quarter, James and Bosh scored one after another. The Heat caught the score difference in a blink of an eye to only 5 points, and it seemed that they were about to launch a counterattack. But they never expected that Garlinari suddenly got angry, first made a three-pointer, then broke through James and made a layup, scoring 5 points in a row to hide the Heat's murderous aura invisible.

In fact, Garlinari had a very eye-catching performance in the first quarter. In the first half, he scored two three-pointers, but they were all very important. If James did not focus on Garlinari and always wanted to support his teammates, it would be easy for the Italians to stab him from the side.

The key point that really determines the outcome of this game occurred at the end of the third quarter. The Heat have been relying on James' personal attack in the second half and the intermittent scoring of the other two giants, but this tone was completely dispersed by Wu Huang with his precise shooting skills at the end of the third quarter.
Chapter completed!