Basketball Dragon

Chapter 232
Before going to the away game, Li Hai swears in front of the media reporters, his words are sonorous and powerful.

Now no one will say that he is too much, because the Knicks have this strength this season.

The Wizards really don't have a good way to face the Knicks. It's hard for a smart woman to cook without rice, not to mention their coach Eddie Jordan can only come and go with those tricks.

The Knicks already guessed before the game started that the Wizards returning to the home court will definitely increase the playing time of powerful players, and take advantage of the home court advantage to fight against the Knicks.

However, this trick didn't work against the Knicks at all. Now Jarvis Hayes, who is mainly defending Li Hai, can't keep up with Li Hai's pace.

They really couldn't find a better defensive player than Butler. Deshawn Stevenson was pretty good at defending the perimeter, but he couldn't stand up to Li Hai's strength.

Li Hai cannot be restricted, and the Knicks' offense is much smoother.

Neither the outside nor the inside can compete with the Knicks. Not to mention that the outside world is not optimistic, even the Wizards themselves are not confident.

Jamison played well at home and scored 30+10, but his help to the team was limited.

At 108:92, the Knicks took the match point strongly and did not give the opponent any chance.

Li Hai scored 31 points against Jamison in the third quarter of this game.

The Knicks are making great strides, but now the attention of the outside world is not on their relatively strong and weak games, not even in the East.

The battle in the Western Conference was fierce. The Lakers and Jazz both pulled back one game, and the Warriors won another game to lead the Mavericks again, which surprised most people.

On the Knicks' training ground, Li Hai meticulously took the lead in completing all trainings.

The Knicks are stronger this year, but their strength has also been exposed, Li Hai is still a little worried.

Fortunately, he has the support of several core players. Otherwise, it would be a thankless task to still be entangled in the details of training when the team won a big victory.

"I think you are a little more cautious. Our strength is not afraid of any team." Marbury said.

Li Hai sighed: "If you have the strength to win the championship, you will not be satisfied if you only win the runner-up. There are still a few teams in the league that are difficult to deal with. Not to mention the West, even the East, we have to be more careful. It has nothing to do with confidence, I want the team to win more."

Marbury immediately understood Li Hai's thoughts. The championship is really a good thing. After winning the championship, their backs became straighter in front of many players in the league. If they can defend the championship, their status will also be greatly improved. promote.

Qian Marbury has already made a lot of money, isn't he just pursuing this status now?

For Li Hai, he recognized him more and more. It was hard to imagine that this was a player who had just entered the league for three years. Many guys who had been in the league all their lives did not have this kind of awareness. If he was young, he would definitely not be able to understand.

But as long as the core players reach an agreement, it doesn't matter if other players understand it or not. They will set an example and ask others to do the same.

Their coach, Larry Brown, also understood Li Hai's thoughts, "Defending the title is several times more difficult than winning the title. You all have to be mentally prepared for a hard fight."

On April 4, the fourth game between the Knicks and the Wizards continued at the Wizards' home court.

Even if the Wizards agree that they are not as good as the Knicks, they don't want to be swept away.

At the beginning of the game, Jamison, as the sole core of the team, also showed the attitude he should have, hitting several long shots in a row at the beginning.

The thing he does best is shoot the ball, and it makes perfect sense for him to do so.

While strengthening the defense, the Knicks started playing from the inside. Eddie Curry's performance in the past few games is not very good, but it is still no problem to crush the inside of the Wizards, especially when the opening game is full of energy.

Jamieson's attack range is large, and the Knicks want to keep an eye on him. Many times, they will selectively let go of the Wizards' other points. If the Wizards can score other points at this time, the Knicks will be in some trouble.

However, the rest of the Wizards couldn't help Jamison at all. Stevenson even made zero shots in six shots, which led to the Knicks being able to double-team Jamison unscrupulously.

After Jamison's attack was limited, the Knicks took the opportunity to overtake the score.

Li Hai directly broke through to the basket, and the Wizards players couldn't stop him at all.

Seeing that the Wizards were about to be unstoppable, a surprise soldier appeared on their bench, that is Lithuanian insider Darius Sangueira.

The Knicks' internal defensive problems were still exposed. Darius Sangueira felt good in this game, but the Knicks couldn't defend the inside for a while.

The Lithuanian player stayed on the court until the end of the half, and the Wizards also led the Knicks by 2 points in the half for the first time.

During the intermission, Larry Brown was also very dissatisfied, "Do you think it doesn't matter if you lose a game, then you are very wrong. You can lose a game today, but tomorrow you will feel that it is okay to come back next season." question."

"The coach is right, we want to win the series, and today is the day." Li Hai stood up and supported.

At the beginning of the third quarter, the Knicks' offense became more aggressive.

The Wizards also made targeted adjustments to ensure that there are two big men on the field at any time. In addition to Darius Sangueira, second-year rookie Andrey Blatche also performed well.

They seem to have found a way to win the game, which is to let the big man attack the inside, and Jamison is used as an outside turret.

Maybe this method is good, but not every team will be effective.

Seeing the opponent's accumulation of big men, the Knicks simply replaced Eddie Curry to speed up. The Wizards were not as fast as the Knicks, and now they can't keep up.

The Knicks played quick counterattacks in a row, breaking the stalemate in the last few minutes of the third quarter.

In the critical fourth quarter, the Knicks, who had continued their style of play, could no longer stop them. They began to try three-pointers constantly, hoping for a miracle.

But something like a miracle requires strength as a basis. The Knicks saw the opponent's plan and strengthened the defense outside the three-point line, allowing the Wizards to try to hit all three-pointers.

At 99:88, the Knicks showed their power in the second half and simply won the first round of the playoffs.

Of the four Eastern Conference duels, all three were straightforward. Except for the Knicks, the Pistons defeated the Nets 4:0, and the Cavaliers also defeated the Heat 4:0. They will be opponents in the Eastern Conference semifinals.

The Knicks, on the other hand, have to wait for the winner between the Bulls and the Raptors. The Bulls have now won the match point 3:1. If nothing else, their opponent will be the Bulls.

The Western Spurs, the Suns, and the surprising Warriors also won the match point one after another. Only the Rockets and the Jazz fought hard to reach 2:2, and after the first round, the real fierce start of the playoffs began.

(End of this chapter)