Before the big battle began, Duncan called to wish Zhou Xuan a smooth victory, and Zhou Xuan could only encourage him to work hard next year, anyway, he was still young.

Yao Ming also supported the Knicks in an interview. "I don't think Zhou Xuan will give the championship to anyone again, whether it is experience or overall strength, the Knicks are stronger than the Thunder. It's going to be a perfect season for him. ”

Buckley, Malone, O'Neal, Ewing and other basketball celebrities have all predicted the game, and they are all optimistic about the Knicks.

Payton is specifically optimistic about Zhou Xuan winning the Finals MVP, and he doesn't think that the Thunder has anything to do with the supersonic back then. Reggie Miller, the god pitcher who fought the Knicks for many years, also supported the Knicks, believing that it was time for them to win the championship.

Jeff Van Gundy said: "I can't think of what the Thunder have to do to win a championship, and they only have Durant in one position. Ibaka may also be able to play in the No.4 position, but the attack is average and the advantage is not great. I think the Knicks will win the game in five or six games. ”

The Chinese media is unanimously optimistic about the Knicks winning the championship, saying that if the Knicks bring in another star after the season, it may be the beginning of a dynasty.

In the dressing room, D'Antoni asked: "Our goal is simple, to win this game and get off to a good start. Do you have faith? ”

"Yes!"

Simple requirements, no psychological pressure on the players, to ensure that they can play better. D'Antoni has experience in the finals and knows that it is useless to talk about it, and the finals are all about fighting, and everyone knows it.

Brooks' mobilization was interesting, and he had Fisher give a speech in the locker room to overturn the importance of experience.

Fisher exclaimed: "I'm not a young representative, I can play in various teams, and a lot of people say it's because of my experience. As for the so-called veteran experience in the league, I don't think you need to pay too much attention to it. If you want to win, you just have to do your best. Looking at physical strength, looking at the body, young people definitely have an advantage over veterans. That's right, youth is the Thunder's greatest strength, not weakness. Let's talk about Shackle's (O'Neal) 2006 Finals, he was in the league for 13 years, participated in five Finals, and as a result, he only scored five points in the second game, seven turnovers in the third game, and had a three-second offense. At that time, it was the third-year player Wade who let the Heat pass! If experience is really such a decisive factor, the Spurs, Mavericks, and Lakers, the favorites with both strength and experience, will not be eliminated early, and how can we become the upstarts in the championship ranks? ”

Fisher paused for a moment and then said: "We have to prove that we don't have to go through the finals in this game, we can win!" ”

"We can win!" The crowd shouted together.

Brooks is satisfied, and Fisher said those words can give the young players more confidence. In fact, this is the experience of veterans, and it is not an excuse for old guys to rely on the old and sell the old. Of course, exercise is also destined to support each other with technology and body, and if you can't run fast, you don't have physical strength, and no experience is in vain.

When the players from both sides played, the home fans shouted and cheered wildly, and the Thunder did not show timidity and held their heads high. And as soon as Zhou Xuan appeared, the atmosphere brought to a peak.

The camera close-up was given to Zhou Xuan, who maintained his usual expressionless face. Then the camera was shown to his parents, next to him sat Charrow Moretz and his gay fourth brother, and in the front row there were "Iron Man" Robert Downey Jr. and "Captain America" Evans, which was very lively.

The first game of the series, which was broadcast live on radio stations around the world, was slightly less watched than last season's Chinese derby, mainly because there was a perception that the two sides were not equal in strength and that it might not be the same if the Spurs reached the final.

During the warm-up, Zhou Xuan practiced three points, and did not say hello to Thunder acquaintances, and talking too much at this time would weaken the momentum of the building.

The Knicks started five: Zhou Xuan, Leonard, Battier, Gallinari, Chandler.

Thunder Five: Westbrook, Sephorosa, Durant, Ibaka, Perkins.

Before the start of the fight, Coach Brooks realized what it means to "never get tired of cheating". The starting lineup of the Knicks is different from what Zhou Xuan said in an interview, Chandler, Battier and others are obviously trying to strengthen defense, but what Zhou Xuan revealed is to fight offensively.

At the start of the game, Chandler jumped to a win over Ibaka.

Zhou Xuan held the ball over the half, and Westbrook defended. All four of the Knicks are more than two meters tall and have no second playmaking point, so they didn't let Sephorosa misplace to defend in the opening game.

The Thunder coaching staff also worked hard to study the Knicks, although Leonard is a rookie, his strength is not bad, especially in the low post, he is good at relying on his height advantage to attack with his back, so that the No. 1 position will prevent him from being porous.

TO THE FRONTCOURT, CHANDLER PULLED OUT A HIGH BLOCK, AND THE OTHER THREE ALL STOOD ON THE OUTSIDE TO ATTRACT THE DEFENSE, AND CHANDLER'S 216CM HEIGHT BLOCKED WESTBROOK SOLIDLY.

Ibaka changed defense, Zhou Xuan took the ball to the right side, turned his head to look at the middle, and the ball passed to Gallinari in the bottom right corner. He looked at Chandler's position in the middle, and the king cut inside the moment he passed.

Gallinari catches the ball on the baseline and drumbles through with the ball. As a big man with a height of 208CM, his speed is slow in the front line, but he is much faster than Perkins, the meat shield on the inside, and he has opened up the distance in one step.

Ibaka was going to guard the basket and followed Chandler back to the interior. Gallinari made a 45-degree pullup jump shot and hit the board. 2 to 0.

The Thunder attacked, Battier defended Durant, Gallinari defended Ibaka in the low post, the two were of similar height, and Ibaka did not have the ability to eat hard at weight.

Durant received the ball from the outside, and Battier followed closely. Durant holds the ball with both hands, turns around and comes to a "big loop", which is his trick to cheat fouls, as long as the opponent stretches his arm, hits and throws the ball forward, the referee will blow the whistle. Battier has a lot of experience, how can he be easily fooled? Seeing Durant flick his arms, he immediately raised his arms and gently withdrew back, keeping a distance, which can not only interfere with the shot, but also not be easy to pass.

Durant stepped forward and made a jumper, Battier immediately jumped up to seal his eyes, the ball bounced out of the frame, and the rebound was grabbed by Chandler.

From the Grizzlies to the Rockets, from the Rockets back to the Grizzlies, and from the Grizzlies to the Knicks, defense is a constant label for Battier. In the regular season, he used the eye-sealing method to reduce Durant's efficiency.

The Knicks attacked, Zhou Xuan passed the ball to Battier first, and then got rid of Westbrook with Chandler without the ball to cover the ball, and after attracting Ibaka's defense on the right side, he passed the ball to Gallinari in the low post.

Gallinari dribbled with his back, took the ball and quickly turned to the middle to make a backward jumper, dodging Perkins to block the ball. 4 to 0.

Brooks knew he was in trouble. In the opening game, it was Gallinari who was the main attacker, and what Zhou Xuan did was to draw Ibaka aside. Perkins struggled to limit Gallinari's breakaway, and there was a gap in mobility between the two. Perkins is an excellent low-post defender, he is good at hand-to-hand combat with centers like Howard and Bynum, and as a blue-collar interior lineman, Perkins has the advantage of weight and strength, as well as the strength to fight fiercely. Other than that, there is no advantage. He is only 205cm tall and barefoot, or even lower, and when he encounters a small forward like Gallinari, he suddenly falls behind.

The Thunder attacked, Westbrook and Ibaka blocked, Gallinari changed defenses, and Zhou Xuan did not chase the defense, but circled Ibaka to prevent him from receiving the ball in the high post.

If Ibaka cuts inside and hands it to Chandler, Perkins goes out to shoot, and the Knicks will only be happy.

Westbrook saw the Knicks' formation shrink, dribbled under the crotch and stepped back to shoot a jumper, the ball bounced out of the frame, and Gallinari grabbed the rebound in the backcourt. He and Chandler played one against Perkins under the basket, and the rebounding advantage was also obvious.

The Knicks continued the positional battle, and Zhou Xuan went to the front court to pass to Battier. Battier hoisted to the right low post Gallinari, and this time it was Ibaka who defended Gallinari. Zhou Xuan and Chandler covered without the ball in the middle, ran towards the bottom right corner, and formed a triangle with Battier and Gallinari.

Gallinari protected the ball with his back, saw that Zhou Xuan got rid of Westbrook, and immediately sent the ball over, Zhou Xuan received the ball and turned to face the frame, and without waiting for Perkins to pounce, he shot a 45-degree jumper and hit the board. 6 to 0.

The Thunder attacked, and the Knicks still resolutely defended one.

When discussing tactics, Woodson proposed that the Thunder lacked scorers, even if the three less combined scored 70 points and limited the scores of others to single digits, the Thunder scored more than 100, and the Knicks could defend themselves against three less, strictly guard against others, and wait until they couldn't prevent it and then wrap it up, slowly grinding the opponent to death.

Durant singled out Battier and made a 60-degree pull-up jump shot on the right side, but Battier failed to seal his eye this time and the ball went in. 6 to 2.

The Knicks are still positional offense, very slow, and rely on cover to misplace singles. Zhou Xuan faced Perkins, the weak side stepped back and missed the jumper, Chandler rushed to grab the rebound in the frontcourt, and dunked the basketball with both hands. 8 to 2.

Five minutes later, the Knicks were firmly in control at 14-6 and Brooks called a timeout.

Van Gundy said: "The Knicks took advantage of the Thunder's weakness and it was all positional offense. The Thunder want to break fast but the efficiency is not high, and compared with Zhou Xuan, Westbrook is still a little worse in controlling the tempo. ”

"Magic" Johnson said: "The Thunder didn't protect the rebounding ball well, conceding two frontcourt rebounds. Chandler had an advantage over Perkins, who was so poor at rebounding that he didn't grab a single one. ”

Van Gundy laughed: "It's mainly because the Knicks pulled Perkins out of the interior, and with his athleticism, it's hard to rush to grab rebounds when he gets out of the basket." ”

On the CCTV5 side, Su Qun said: "Just look at the opening paragraph, the Knicks are team basketball, there are a lot of blocking, dismantling and air cutting, and the Thunder rely more on the personal ability of Sibu and Durant, if you continue to play like this, I think the Knicks will win." ”

Yang Jian said: "It's not easy to say, the Spurs also had an advantage in playing the Thunder at the beginning, and they are full of tenacity, but the Knicks definitely have a better chance of winning." Zhou Xuan doesn't seem to have started to exert his strength yet. The best performance in this period was Gallinari, who scored 6 points and 2 rebounds. ”

At the end of the timeout, the Thunder made the first substitution, and Harden came on.