Grab Curry at the start

Chapter 318 The Powerless Magic
Before the decisive battle, Nowitzki went down to rest for a while, and the Mavericks used a small lineup.

It may be that it is difficult to restrain the Timberwolves, so they simply attack directly.

In the 2 minutes without Nowitzki, Carter played very well, and the Mavericks bit the score.

But when Nowitzki came up, he replaced Carter.

The Mavericks are still used to using their most familiar backcourt lineup, Kidd and Terry at critical moments.

Then for the inside line, they finally chose the more flexible White.

The fifth position of the Mavericks has been a disaster this season. It is not surprising that coach Carlisle finally chose anyone.

But to be honest, their arrangement is not as good as Nowitzki's five-player lineup.

After all, if Nowitzki hits five, the Timberwolves will definitely have to replace Milicic. Now the Mavericks have little flexibility in the interior, and it is difficult to score without rebounds.

But the Mavericks made such a choice, and Zhang Sixin could only reluctantly target it.

Nothing else, Love can still play in the paint, but at the last moment the paint is not so safe, just call DeRozan to play Terry.

Anyway, everyone is used to it, how many times did they play in the playoffs last season.

Mavericks coach Carlisle hopes that players can defend, and inside players are ready to help defend at any time.

However, there is a gap between ideal and reality, and they really can't prevent it.

DeRozan hit consecutive two-pointers, and the Timberwolves always maintained the lead.

In fact, they didn't lead by much, but the Mavericks just couldn't catch up.

Among them, Nowitzki made two forced shots, but missed.

In fact, Nowitzki's efficiency has not been high until the end of the game, and now he has not adjusted after taking a break.

When the time entered the last minute, Paul George hit a key three-pointer, and the morale of the Mavericks suddenly slumped.

There was not much time, and the point difference widened instead, making it impossible to fight at all.

Then Nowitzki finally hit a ball, but the Mavericks are gone.

They also made a foul tactic, but with Terry's next three-pointer, the Mavericks also acquiesced in the failure of the game.

On the second day of the game, the Knicks came to visit.

The Knicks lineup this season is really not bad. Anthony and Stoudemire's forward attack combination, and the introduction of defensive insider Chandler in the summer, logically speaking, they can play casually in the East.

However, the Knicks did a stupid thing, they didn't sign a guard.

Either they didn't sign at all, or they brought in two semi-useless old men, the bearded Davis and Mike Bibby, who couldn't support D'Antoni's running and bombing at all, and they didn't know what the Knicks' management was thinking.

Moreover, older players have more injuries.

This season's schedule is intensive, and Anthony and Stoudemire cannot fully maintain their health, so the Knicks, who are obviously strong and powerful, cannot make it to the top eight in the Eastern Conference.

It turns out that in history, they had Lin Crazy appearing and pulling the team, but now Jeremy Lin is playing in the Timberwolves, and the Knicks are completely lifeless.

In this game, both Anthony and Stoudemire were unable to play, and the Timberwolves naturally took their opponents lightly.

Because they can't play, the Timberwolves can beat opponents in every position. Even Chandler, facing the Timberwolves' powerful inside line, can't show his defensive strength.

Two days later, the Timberwolves on the road finally ran into some trouble.

The Magic feels pretty good now, and they can be regarded as the second echelon of the Eastern Conference. In the past few seasons, they have basically been in similar positions.

They didn't have any major lineup changes in the summer, but the young players are actually pretty good, just not as prominent as the Heat and the Bulls.

If there is no injury behind Howard, the Magic should not be so miserable this season.

The Magic ended up with nothing and lost Howard. In addition to the fact that the lineup can't always get better, head coach Van Gundy's set of tactics that have never changed for thousands of years must also be blamed.

The whole league knows how they want to play, let alone compete for the championship, they can't even get out of the Eastern Conference.

Because their style is too unstable, and it is too easy to be targeted in the system of playing multiple games with the same opponent in a row, and the team boss Howard will also be upset.

This season, they still can't guarantee that the team's most efficient players will take more shots. Howard's departure is actually a matter of time, which will also affect their morale.

This season, the Magic put Anderson on the starting lineup. In fact, it's a bit like when Lewis was there, the fourth position of the high fort.

Outside, Nelson, Richardson, and Turkoglu can all shoot three-pointers.

The sixth man, Redick, is also a pitcher. I feel that the Magic have matched the lineup to the extreme to the extent they can, but it's just that they can't win the playoffs. No matter how good the match is, it's useless.

The Magic should have changed the head coach to try other routines before. Obviously they don't have the courage.

But for the Timberwolves, the magic set is not so easy to solve.

In fact, it's not the opponent's offense. The Timberwolves still have a way to defend the three-pointer. The key is Warcraft's containment of the Timberwolves' inside line.

With him around, even if Love can match Anderson in terms of strength, it will be difficult to find a good opportunity.

Anderson can defend. Although the defense is not good, Love can still do it under the interference from the outside.

Howard's defense system also limits DeRozan's breakthrough.

Of course, Howard can't play well against the Timberwolves' inside strength. He will play like a blue-collar player who can only defend, so the two sides played inextricably in the first quarter.

The rotation period is a time when both sides can change their tactics.

The Timberwolves' bench lineup performed fairly well, and they restricted Redick very tightly, but a bit of an accident happened. The Magic's little man Earl Clark played very well when no one was paying attention.

He uses the mid-range to solve the problem, which happens to be a relatively weak link in the Timberwolves' defense.

With this X factor, the Magic took the lead in the first half.

"Don't worry too much about him, defending against magic is defending against three-pointers." Zhang Sixin said.

The Timberwolves have a good defense against three-pointers, but it is impossible to completely lock up a team like the Magic that relies on three-pointers for food. Anderson and Turkoglu both made hits.

Players are taller, and sometimes it is easier to find shots from the outside.

Among the main players of the Magic, after all, there are only a few who do not shoot three-pointers.

During the intermission, the Timberwolves coaching staff also analyzed in detail the opponent's three-point shots in the first half to provide data support for the defense in the second half.

Defense is actually the same as offense. It is often a matter of paying attention to details.

To do a good job in a certain aspect of defense is not something that can be done with chicken soup. They need a lot of practice, a lot of observation, and a lot of reminders.

"In the second half, let's turn the score over," Zhang Sixin said.

(End of this chapter)