Madison Square Garden was full this year. Even if the team was at the bottom of the league back then, there were many fans who liked to go to the scene to feel the atmosphere. Now that the Knicks are playing well, they are immediately back to the enthusiasm of the Ewing, Sprewell, and Houston Trident days.

CCTV5 and TNT radio stations are broadcast live.

Before the start of the game, Zhang reasonably commented on the Hawks' lineup, and he thought that the Hawks had shortcomings in defense, that is, Mike? Bibby could end up dragging down this team.

TNT Commentary Kenny? Smith expressed the same sentiment as Mr. Zhang, but he also believed that Bibby's offense could help the Eagles.

Zhang said: "The reason why the Hawks are not tall this season but have the fourth best defensive efficiency in the league is because of the speed of the interior players, the ability to prevent blocking and pick-and-roll, and the rapid defense and rotation of the outside line. But Bibby's poor one-on-one defense, coupled with his slower pace as he gets older, will drag down the Hawks' defense, which was evident last season. And his organizational skills have also declined. ”

Indeed, in addition to his shooting ability, Bibby has been declining in all his stats, losing his speed in recent years, averaging 9 per game this season. 4 points 3. 6 assists. And this 9. Six of the four points came from three-point range, and he shot 44 from three-point range. 1% and can shoot two three-pointers per game.

It looks beautiful, but in fact Bibby's offensive ability with the ball has degraded to almost zero. And because of his age, he's become one of the worst point guards in the league. In the first few games, point guards from other teams can improve their performance by up to 20 percent against him.

Zhou Xuan's recent momentum is too strong, how much is another 20%? Eagles head coach Drew doesn't want to see it. When he arranged defensive tactics, he repeatedly emphasized that the players should make up for and assist Zhou Xuan in time, even if they let others shoot, they must not let Zhou Xuan open. Zhou Xuan has scored more than 20 points, and his team is almost invincible. This has been an important barometer for the team for several seasons.

Bibby himself knows that although he is not yet 33 years old, it will be difficult for him to get an extension from the Hawks after this season. He could only fight for honor against Zhou Xuan.

What made Bibi feel uneasy was that Zhou Xuan didn't look at him after he appeared, nor did he have any expression. Maybe he respects the veteran and doesn't provoke, or maybe he doesn't take him seriously at all.

With Woodson in the picture, the Knicks are aware of the Hawks' weaknesses, and D'Antoni said: "Chou, you can go head-to-head with Bibie, draw the ball and pass the ball, and cover the empty cut runs without the ball on either side. On the defensive end, Zhou also played opposite Bibi, and others should pay attention to switching defenses and not letting Horford make easy shots on the perimeter. ”

Both sides made their debuts. Knicks five: Zhou Xuan, Matthews, Gallinari, Anderson, Stoudamire. The Hawks' starting center, Al Horford, is average in height but has plenty of strength, and D'Antoni didn't send Pekovic to fight him.

The Eagles' starting five have remained the same. Bibby, Joe Johnson, Marvin? Williams, Josh? Smith, Al? Horford.

Stadamire jumped the ball and the game began.

Zhou Xuan controlled the ball to the front court, everyone pulled away, and he went head-to-head with Bibi in the first round. Matthews and Anderson went to the bottom corner, and Gallinari was on the side. If you want to wrap the clip, it can only be Marven? Williams on.

Zhou Xuan dribbled the ball to the left side and distanced himself from Marven, so that he could play alone with peace of mind. He took a small step to the left, swayed his shoulders slightly, and then dribbled under his crotch to change direction in the middle. Bibi kept up with this step, but everything was also expected by Zhou Xuan, who immediately pulled the ball up, strode and turned to the left side for a 60-degree dry pull-up jumper.

The reason for the use of dry pull is that Bibby is not as tall as him, and secondly, he is worried that Joe Johnson will come to help defend, so that he can send the ball to the bottom corner Matthews in the air in the high jump, and he is very well prepared. Bibby's side flap didn't reach. The most accurate position, Zhou Xuan is not afraid to seal his eyes and enter the net hollow. 2 to 0.

The Eagles attacked, center Horfendra went to the perimeter to cover Joe Johnson, Bibby passed the ball and waited for a three-point opportunity on the periphery, and Zhou Xuan's defensive task was relatively easy today. Joe Johnson broke through with the ball, and on the other side, Smith shook off Anderson with speed and ran backwards.

Joe Johnson passed, Smith received the ball and turned and stepped past Anderson, rushed into the basket in the middle, and scored with a one-handed smash. 2 to 2.

Smith won the dunk title, but he was never selected as an All-Star. Can his physicality be with LeBron? Compared to James, he just has poor shooting, and he is not easy to defend when he rushes.

The Knicks attacked, Zhou Xuan brought to the frontcourt and played Gallinari to block and dismantle, while Matthews relied on Stadamire to get rid of Joe Johnson and run to the left side of the line.

If you don't change the guard, Matthews has a chance to shoot, Smith defends it, and Stodameyer cuts to the basket. At this time, the eagle faced several problems. Horford didn't get to the basket, and Stoudamire singled Joe Johnson, which was misplaced. Back to the basket, Anderson is open on the perimeter. Zhou Xuan gave Gallinari, and playing Bibi was also misplaced.

After several seasons of running-in, the Hawks worked together very tacitly, with Joe Johnson rushing to Anderson and Horford blocking Stoudamire. But at this time, Zhou Xuan didn't pass, accelerated past Marven after dribbling under his crotch, jumped into the basket from the right side, and made a layup without waiting for Horford to turn around. 4 to 2.

Marvin is 206CM tall, and his potential seems to have always existed in the legend, with a good speed and arm span and jumping, and the all-round ability of the No. 3 and No. 4 positions. He is too thin on the inside, and not fast enough on the outside. The ball-handling offense is not as good as Jamison, and the three-point shot is not as good as Lewis and Lowe Deng. As the leader of Deron and Paul, the backbone of the Hawks swing team, Marvin can only average 10 per game this season. 4 points 4. 8 rebounds.

Zhou Xuan has long known that Smith is good at breaking through defensive guards, so he chose Marven's side to block and dismantle, even if the breakthrough fails, passing to Gallinari to face Bibi Gan's jump shot is also a good opportunity.

The Hawks attacked, Bibby passed the ball to Joe Johnson, who gave Smith a three-point shot, the Knicks counterattacked, the Hawks players defended very quickly, and Gallinari forced a layup that could not score.

"Striking iron" became the keynote of the opening. After Zhou Xuan scored two goals, he broke through the Eagles and began to compress, he passed out of the perimeter, and the outside players relied on the rotation to interfere with the shooting. Other Knicks players are not very good at playmaking, as long as the defensive focus is on one side, the ball cannot be passed when the other side player is empty.

Gallinari also has no advantage over Marvin. Marven has no obvious specialty, his characteristics are that he can do everything and is not good at anything. Against tall strikers, he defended well. Matthews and Joe Johnson are similar in size, and neither can help the other. Only Zhou Xuan has an advantage, and the opponent takes special care.

The Hawks' offense isn't very good either, and the landing battle is a simple pick-and-roll after Joe Johnson, Horford's offense, or Smith's singles, and there are not many changes.

"The Hawks have been very successful defensively, the Knicks haven't been on a defensive team since the start of the season, the offense is more fierce than the Warriors of the previous season, and today their shooting percentage is finally not as scary and the game is a bit dull," Barkley said. ”

Smith smiled: "By reducing the number of offensive rounds and the opponent to fight defense, it is the rhythm of the Hawks to win, their joint defense is very good, and the defense of the fast break can also go back, this year the Eastern team has risen, at least the top six are not worse than the Western playoff teams." ”

The Knicks are number one, and the second-place team is also a surprise, the Chicago Bulls, another dark horse. Three, four, and five Magic, Hawks, and Celtics are all defensive teams. This season, the eastern team and the western team did not suffer as much as before, and even had a slight advantage.

The situation remained unchanged in the second half of the first quarter, with both sides fighting hard defensively. The Hawks have obvious weaknesses, with only two three-point shooters, Joe Johnson and Bibby, such a lineup is afraid of joint defense, once they are targeted, the three big men shrink the defense, and the Hawks can only use mid-range jumpers to attack. Several people today have average pitching hands.

When the NBA implemented joint defense, many people opposed it, because they were afraid that this situation would occur, and those who were good at breaking through and those who attacked in the low post would suffer, and the three-point shooters would become sweets.

In the last two minutes, the Knicks made substitutions, Douglas and Zhou Xuan formed a double guard, and Pekovic was replaced on the inside. The Eagles also brought on Jamal? Crawford, replaced Bibby. The offense of both teams improved slightly, and the Knicks led by two points at 23-21 in the first quarter.

At the beginning of the second quarter, Zhou Xuan went down to rest. Send Azubuuk and Fields two swingmen, and Evans at No. 4. The Hawks were replaced by Pachuglia, Teague and Powell, and Smith continued to bring in the bench.

The Knicks had one less shooting spot inside and were stuck in a compression defense, and the Hawks Crawford hit two three-pointers in a row to overtake the score. Teague also showed good strength, breaking through very sharp, and Powell also threw in a mid-range shot after blocking and dismantling.

The difference gradually widened, D'Antoni did not call a timeout, but only took a substitution, Anderson came on, replacing Evans. Evans, who could only grab rebounds, played too one-dimensional, and this substitution stabilized the situation.

At the 6-minute mark, both sides switched to the main force. Horford switched to power forward and partnered Pachulia, with Smith resting. The Knicks made an attempt to switch to double guard, trying to use the speed of Zhou Xuan and Douglas to break down the opponent's defense.

Pachulia wasn't fast, but Pekovic couldn't get involved in the fast break, and the 4-4 Hawks didn't lose. The fast-break strategy didn't help the Knicks recover their disadvantage.

Crawford felt very good today, Zhou Xuan tried his best to defend, forcing him to only jump shots, and still couldn't stop him from scoring. He is a little taller than Zhou Xuan, with outstanding bounce, and a high shot point, which is difficult to block. As a result, he hit three three-pointers in a single quarter and scored 15 points.

Recently, last week's guards were suppressed, and Crawford unexpectedly raised his eyebrows in front of Zhou Xuan by shooting. Relying on his outburst, the Hawks ended the first half with a 55-45 lead.

Everyone in the Knicks realized that the Hawks were really hard to deal with.