Paul rested, and Zhou Xuan also rested. They all need to conserve their stamina and make the last fight.

Today, Beverley defended Paul to share some of the pressure on Zhou Xuan. However, in the second half, he was mainly playmaker-oriented, and was tightly guarded, and only scored two points. Except for the opening period, he didn't play better than Paul.

Zhou Xuan relied on his skills to play, and when he was taken care of, in order to make a vacancy, he needed to spend more physical strength to make fake moves, which consumed a lot.

Pekovic came off the bench and finally came off the bench. At this point, Okafor went down to rest, and the Hornets replaced former Lakers backup center Mbemba. Mbenga got a championship ring with the Lakers this season, and relied on defense and blocks to get a base salary contract in the league, but he couldn't guard against a strong interior lineman.

Hornets perimeter Jack and Thorton continued to exert their power to help the Hornets bite the score.

On the sidelines, Hornets coach Monty said to Paul: "Chris, you have to cheer up at the last moment, I believe you can beat Zhou Xuan." You are more experienced than him, and you are not inferior to him in personal ability. ”

Is it really not to lose? Zhou Xuan's current skills are surprising, and he can make some unbelievable feints. Paul was less confident.

On the other side, D'Antoni asked Zhou Xuan: "We won't play fast attack for a while, attack the position, I will arrange pitchers around you to create singles opportunities for you, you must beat Paul." ”

"I won't let you down, I'm already aware of his weaknesses, I'm better than him." Zhou Xuan is colored.

"Where's the strength?" D'Antoni asked.

"Equilibrium. Where the Knicks are stronger than the Hornets is also balanced. ”

Hornets Okafor can't shoot, except for Paul, the starters are not good at organizing offense, and there are only two consistent three-point shooting points. On the other hand, the Knicks, everyone can shoot, and Gallinari and Stodameyer can also help Zhou Xuan share the pressure of attacking with the ball.

The Hornets went on a 6-0 run, and the Knicks called a timeout. D'Antoni arranged for only Pekovic to be kept on the inside, allowing Stoudamire to rest for a while, and Anderson at the No. 4 position. Gallinari, Matthews, and Zhou Xuan form the backcourt.

Pekovic went to the low post to attract the defense, did not have to be responsible for blocking and dismantling, the three pitchers were outside, and Zhou Xuan controlled the ball. At this time, the Knicks' blocking and pick-and-roll cooperation is very powerful, and the three big men can open up the space even more.

Zhou Xuan waved his hand, and Gallinari came up to cover and blocked Paul. He broke through on the right with the ball and faced Ariza. Ariza moved very fast and didn't let Zhou Xuan pass, and Paul bypassed Gallinari to help defend.

Zhou Xuan transferred the ball laterally, Gallinari received the ball and threw it, but West didn't catch up. Even if a pitcher misses a few shots, he has to boldly shoot the next shot when the opportunity arises, which is his job to score a three-point shot from the front. 87 to 86. The Knicks took a one-point lead, and Zhou Xuan had his ninth assist.

The Hornets attacked, Paul and West blocked, Zhou Xuan chased, Paul passed to West, and Gallinari on the side immediately let go of Ariza to make up for the defense, West transferred laterally, Ariza received the ball, and Gallinari pounced on Ariza again. Matthews only played Belinelli in the low post, with no rotations, and Ariza was the least dangerous of any player on the field.

"Tiezha" made a three-point shot, hit the iron again, and currently shot 1 of 4 three-pointers. The Rockets let him go, but they really couldn't stand his shooting percentage, and the perimeter couldn't attract defense. He played well with the Lakers because of the triangle offense, he was more of a defensive task, and he took few shots on the offensive end to ensure efficiency, averaging less than 10 points per game.

Pekovic grabbed the rebound in the backcourt, and the team fell into position. Zhou Xuan brought to the front court and observed the opponent's position, the Hornets seemed to have 32 joint defense, but in fact, they had been replaced by mixed defense.

Matthews made it to the bottom left corner, and Belinelli followed. West followed Anderson to 60 degrees to the right. Zhou Xuan first passed the ball to Anderson, and then covered without the ball with Gallinari in the middle, rushing to the bottom corner of the weak side on the right side, which was empty.

Ariza had to follow, and Gallinari in the middle faced Paul again, and Anderson hoisted the ball high into the middle from close range. Gallinari squeezed Paul to the left and turned to the left, and the players pulled away, and unless Belinelli let go of Matthews to wrap up, no one could quickly run to that position to help Paul.

Paul had his own defensive method, cutting the ball close to Gallinari the moment he turned, and didn't break it, but let Gallinari's shot lose its rhythm. The two had physical contact, and the referee did not blow for a foul. Gallinari held the basketball high above his head as Matthews made a 60-degree run to the left of the perimeter. On the bottom line, Zhou Xuan and Pekovic dodged Ariza in the low post on the right side without the ball and ran to the low post on the left side.

Gallinari passes the ball to Matthews, who in turn gives it to Zhou Xuan. Zhou Xuan turned to face the frame, Okafor defended it, while West retreated to resist Pekovic, and Ariza rotated to defend Anderson.

Zhou Xuan didn't pass, shook a little, moved the ball horizontally to 45 degrees, held the ball in his right hand, and moved close to his left hand. Okafor caught up on the side, and Zhou Xuan made a "worship Buddha" feint, changed to the bottom line, and successfully passed and burst into the basket. West made up for the defense, and Zhou Xuan jumped up in the air and half-turned to pass the ball from West's waist to Pekovic. West wanted to reach out and break the ball in the air, and almost twisted his body into a protruding disc in his waist.

Pekovic took a step to catch the ball and jumped up and scored with a one-handed ball. Zhou Xuan had his tenth personal assist and cut two doubles again. 89 to 86.

Yang Jian said: "Zhou Xuan may have to pick up the top five goals again, and I find that he has significantly increased the number of breakthrough passes and open passes this season. And most of his behind-the-back passes are close-range, not risky for the sake of excitement. ”

Su Qun said: "Paul got the ball, will he return one?" ”

Paul couldn't find a sense today. He is very smart, and he knows what the Hornets lineup lacks, no strong low-post offense, no accurate outside shooting, such a lineup, even if it makes the playoffs, it will only go through the motions and not win the championship. But Zhou Xuan left the Warriors, and when he arrived at the Knicks, he had a group of outstanding teammates, why was he so lucky?

If Paul asked, Zhou Xuan would tell him, "Because my teammates were all picked by me, I can't help it if my character is good." ”

Paul broke through with the ball, was sandwiched by Gallinari and Zhou Xuan, and passed the ball to Ariza, this kind of ball may be replaced by Kobe Bryant may choose to attack by himself, but Paul will not do such a thankless thing. Ariza hesitated to catch the ball from the outside. Consecutive missed shots affected his confidence. He took a step inside the three-point line, and Gallinari caught up with him. Ariza had no choice but to pass the ball to West again. The latter singled out Anderson in the low post, leaned back a step, turned around and stepped back to shoot the ball in the middle. 89 to 88.

Zhou Xuan took the ball to the front court and passed it to Anderson, and ran to the bottom corner of the weak side without the ball cover, which was a conspiracy, in order to create a misplaced opportunity, and the Hornets couldn't prevent it at all. Ariza followed Zhou Xuan, and Anderson passed to Gallinari.

Gallinari didn't make any extra moves in the frame, pulled it up and shot, and hit another three-pointer. 92 to 88. He shot 3 of 6 three-pointers in this game, ensuring half of the shooting percentage.

Barkley sighed: "Today, the Knicks used Paul as an offensive breakthrough and achieved good results, not running and shooting, but on big man pitchers, Anderson and Gallinari are both 208CM tall, and they are good at shooting, Paul is misplaced to prevent them from being under a lot of pressure." ”

Smith said: "If you say D'Antoni will run, people who don't understand tactics can stop. The Knicks had a great positional battle. ”

The Hornets attacked, Paul and Okafor blocked and dismantled the weak side, dodged Gallinari, Matthews retreated to chase and formed a bag with Pekovic. Paul passed to Belinelli, who dodged Zhou Xuan's block and shot wide from the outside. As the team's chief shooter, he was heavily guarded today, and his shooting percentage was also very low, shooting 1 of 4 from three-point range, Pekovic took the backcourt rebound, and the Knicks were on the fast break. Gallinari gave Zhou Xuan a single pick-up to Belinelli in the frontcourt.

Zhou Xuan dribbled the ball under his crotch and took a step to the right, holding the ball in his right hand and approaching with his left hand.

Zhou Xuan dribbled back under his crotch, grabbed the shot outside the three-point line on the right side, and added a back. Belinelli didn't cover it, and he relied on his height advantage to interfere with the ball successfully. Zhou Xuan threw a big shot, but luck was on the Knicks' side, and the 70-degree three-point shot actually hit the board into the frame. 95 to 88. Zhou Xuan scored 18 points.

In the next leg, the Hornets home fans shouted Paul's name.

His teammates couldn't shoot, so Paul decided to go single, breaking through to the left after consecutive crotch dribbles on the perimeter, and then dribbling to the middle for a pull-up jumper. He broke through by changing speeds, Zhou Xuan was shaken, and the side cover was not in time. It's a pity that Paul is very irresolute today, only 9 shots so far, his hand is a little cold, and his jump shot is missed.

The rebound was again picked up by Pekovic.

Knicks positional battle, Zhou Xuan passed the ball to Gallinari, ran to the baseline without ball cover, Gallinari wanted to give Zhou Xuan was blocked from the passing route, and he passed to Anderson.

Anderson passed to Matthews, who ran from the left to the line, and then ran to the middle, Pekovic also mentioned near the free throw line, and the two covered Zhou Xuan together, and came to a typical closing cooperation for the Cavaliers.

Pekovic has a strong physique and would probably be able to dominate in rugby or indiscriminate fighting, and he's a good fit for this two-block game. Zhou Xuan ran out of the perimeter, and Matthews passed the ball to the middle. Ariza and Paul were blocked.

Zhou Xuan turned around and scored three points in the front of the vacancy, as easy as practice, and the ball went into the net hollow! 98 to 88. 21st individual score.

Barkley said: "The Hornets are dangerous, they've been disjointed offensively during this time, Paul hasn't scored, he's not assisted, and once he's passing the ball, it's hard to get it back. The Knicks always let the Hornets shoot from people who can't shoot well. ”

Smith commented: "It's West's single again, Anderson interferes well, the ball is deflected. The rebound was picked up by Pekovic, who only had to stand under the basket and defend. Okafor's scoring ability has deteriorated compared to before. Only 10 per game. 3-pointers, 56% free throw shooting, lower than Howard, 5-of-10 free throws today. ”

The Knicks hit a counterattack, and Matthews forced a basketball in the face of Belinelli. 100 to 88. Hornets coach Monty was forced to call another timeout. The Knicks attacked in a wild wave, and the score had been pulled away.