In the second quarter, both sides sent substitutes to compete, and the SuperSonics fell at a disadvantage.
George Karl did not use the faster and shorter point guard Mookie Norris, allowing Snow and Nate McMillan to partner on the outside. Schrempf was a small forward, and Harrington and Terry Cummings were on the inside.
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This lineup seemed quite reasonable, but it turned out that it couldn't guard against the Hornets' offense, and the team couldn't hit the fast break when it attacked.
After the Hornets had rested for a while, Burgess broke through sharply and sent out assists one after another. Defenders who are not as fast will have a harder time defending Burgess, who is particularly flexible.
Center Matt Geiger and veteran shooting guard Ricky Pierce also performed well. Both have some scoring ability and can attack with the ball.
Second-round pick Malik Rose also got a chance to play, and his performance was quite satisfactory and he was very brave on defense.
Rose is an underrated rookie, a power forward who is 201cm tall and weighs 113kg. He has a solid physical advantage in the confrontation with Cummings. In a parallel world, he won two championships with the Spurs and is an important rotation for the team.
Substitute.
The Sonics' offense relies entirely on Schrempf, and the rest of the team has poor touch.
Five minutes later, Pierce hit a three-pointer against his old club, helping the Hornets overtake the score.
As soon as Yang Jian returned to the court, the SuperSonics immediately regained the initiative. Yang Jian attracted double-teams and continuously assisted his teammates to score. Kemp cut to the basket and drew Mason's third foul.
George Karl discussed with assistant coach Bob Weiss on the sidelines while watching the game. They were still not very satisfied with the players' performance in the second quarter. They also thought of a way to change it, and let Yang Jian and Payton play at a staggered time.
Payton was asked to take a rest in the second half of the first quarter, and Snow and Yang Jian partnered on the outside. During training, Snow was very good at passing the ball to Yang Jian, and was familiar with his running positions and some ideas. He could also open up space to catch and shoot.
Quick attack.
Payton and Schrempf led the bench together in the second quarter. The two have worked together for many years and have a tacit understanding. Schrempf can hold the ball in singles, while Payton can play pick-and-roll breakthroughs and initiate fast breaks, ensuring that there are two players on the court.
A point of attack with the ball.
Another adjustment method is that Yang Jian does not rest and continues to play in the second quarter. The SuperSonics played this way in the Finals last season. This trick is the most powerful and there is no solution. Yang Jian has good physical strength and can fight against the opponent without taking a rest.
The substitute lineup has a huge advantage.
Yang Jian only played 3 minutes, and Hornets coach Dave Cowens quickly sent Bogues off to rest.
Whether facing Yang Jian or Payton on the court, Bogues is an out-and-out defensive sloth. He has no other way to defend except gambling and stealing. When encountering a counterattack, he is easily squeezed away by his opponent for an easy layup.
The SuperSonics' four rotating guards are all over 1.9 meters tall, and they are all heavy guards that cannot be guarded by Bogues. The media said that Bogues is good at defense. There are indeed good times when he is against a group of people who are 180cm tall.
When paired with speedy guards on the left and right, he can perform well.
Bogues' career with the Hornets has basically come to an end. If the team wants to achieve results, they must trade him and replace him with a normal-sized point guard to start. Bogues' playing on the court is more of a gimmick and a regular season fun.
, playoff gg.
Backup point guard Goldwire is not much better, and the Hornets' poor single defense at the 1 position cannot be made up for.
Yang simply scored another 11 points and 3 assists in the quarter and 36 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists in the half. In addition, in order to defend him, Goldwire had already committed three fouls.
The SuperSonics led 69 to 59 at halftime. The Hornets recovered some points and performed well with 28 points in a single quarter.
In the third quarter, the Hornets players continued to strengthen their defense against Yang Jian. As soon as he caught the ball, they immediately double-teamed him. They would rather leave others open to take shots and lose the game than let him easily play alone.
Under constant physical confrontation and tight defense with small movements, Yang Jian's touch dropped, and he made 1 of 5 shots from beyond the three-point line. In this quarter, he made 2 of 8 shots and 2 of 2 free throws, scoring only 7 points.
Kemp's condition was even worse, and he missed many open mid-range shots. When Mason was guarding the pick-and-roll, Kemp would catch the ball and hit the basket and face Divac's defense, so he didn't take advantage of the penalty area.
Moreover, Kemp didn't even move the ball well, and made four turnovers in a single quarter. When he passed the ball to his teammates from the outside, he was either inaccurate or failed to observe the opponent's position, and was intercepted and counterattacked.
Kemp's contribution was that Mason got to the free throw line for two fouls and made all 4 free throws. Mason was in foul trouble for five fouls and did not dare to make any big moves on defense.
The rest of the SuperSonics were also in bad shape, scoring only 17 points in a single quarter, which was relatively rare. The Hornets scored 24 points, narrowing the point difference between the two teams. 86 to 83.
Zhang Lili said: "Yang Jian has already scored 41 points. He did not play well in the third quarter and had no assists. I think the coach can consider letting Kemp take a rest at this time. His condition today is really poor."
Sun Zhengping said: "If Kemp had performed better, Yang Jian would have already scored 4,010 in the third quarter. Kemp's inability to make open shots will hurt morale."
Zhang Liji said with a smile: "Yang Jian is almost 4,010 now. He grabbed 9 rebounds in the three quarters. Kemp ruined his chance of getting a big triple-double."
In the last quarter, George Karl made a bold change, allowing Sam Perkins and Terry Cummings, who are good at shooting, to partner inside. Payton was also taken off to rest on the outside and replaced by Snow.
The coach's tactical intention is obvious, which is to resolutely hand the ball to Yang Jian to attack, and the point guard is responsible for dribbling the ball through half court. Payton's touch is not good today. He may be able to find his condition after taking a rest.
The Hornets fielded their first starter, and Bogues returned to the court again.
The Hornets attacked first, and Yang Jian no longer defended the point guard, letting Snow face Burgess, while he faced Dell Curry, who had made 4 three-pointers. Previously, Yang Jian let Burgess stay two meters away to guard the breakout shot.
, now the team doesn’t have much of a lead, he can’t play like this anymore.
Boggs hit a three-pointer in the second quarter, and the rest of the time he focused on breakthroughs. Now that he has no good shot opportunities, he didn't make a strong breakthrough when facing Snow, and passed the ball to Mason.
Mason provided support from the high post, dribbling the ball to the left and waiting for Divac to drop down low. Divac hit Perkins with his back, took a step forward, turned around and hooked the ball in the middle, and scored .86 to 85.
The score difference narrowed to only one point, and the home fans became excited and cheered loudly for the home team. When the SuperSonics attacked, the fans shouted for defense.
Yang Jian ran from the left baseline to the right without the ball, and Perkins blocked Curry for him. At this time, Cummings moved to a high position to attract the defense, and the others also moved away.
Snow easily passed the ball to the right corner with his height advantage. Yang Jian got the ball on the weak side, making it difficult to double-team. George Karl's arrangement was very targeted, and Cummings was sent in just for jump shots.
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Yang Jian feinted with the ball and moved laterally to 45 degrees. If he didn't double-team, he could beat Curry alone. Mason came up to double-team like he did in the third quarter, and Yang Jian took advantage of the situation and passed the ball to the middle.
Cummings caught the ball and shot, but Divac did not cover up. Perkins was wide open in the left corner. At this time, if the center was covering up, Cummings would pass the ball to the bottom corner and there would be a big gap.
High mid-range shots are Cummings' specialty, and the ball went hollow into the net. 88 to 85.
Zhang Lili shouted: "Good goal! Yang Jian sent out his sixth assist. If it's not easy to score, you can assist. Try to get a super triple-double."
Sun Zhengping said: "The SuperSonics' defense will definitely be worse now, they just focus on offense."
Boggs forced a breakthrough, but Snow defended well and caught up to the baseline. Boggs had no chance to pass the ball to Mason in the middle. Mason feinted and relied on Cummings to force a breakthrough to the basket, attracting Perkins to cover up.
Then the ball was passed to Divac, who easily threw the ball and scored. 88 to 87.
Zhang Lili said: "This is Mason's 9th assist. He has already scored 14 points, 10 rebounds and 9 assists, almost a triple-double. This player performed very well today. When Boggs rested, he took on the organizational tasks.
He also worked very hard on defense.”
Sun Zhengping said: "He is more comprehensive, and he is definitely far behind Yang Jian."
Snow brought the ball to the frontcourt, and the players spread out again, exactly the same routine as before. Yang Jian ran to the right baseline to get the ball, but Mason still had to double-team him. If he didn't double-team, he wouldn't be able to defend him.
Yang Jian made the exact same choice as before and passed the ball to the center again. Cummings caught the ball and hit another one. 90 to 87.
Mason's brows furrowed. If the Sonics can always make shots from the middle, he can't keep double-teaming like this.