Nearly halfway through the first quarter, the Raptors kept the Pacers at bay. One of the main reasons for this is that Leonard makes it difficult for George to play on the defensive end.

I have to admit that Leonard is definitely the strongest outside defender in the active league, and Henson doesn't even need to add the word "one". In just five or six minutes, Leonard had already made George two turnovers and scored just four points.

At this point, it's the Raptors' offensive round. It was evident that the home fans were very enthusiastic, and they couldn't wait to see how their home team overcame the Eastern dominance.

Although the Pacers are missing Antetokounmpo as the main force in today's game, who cares? To win is to win.

Leonard used his breakthrough to attract Lopez and George's double pack, and Henson used a defensive strategy of front top and back cover against Leonard.

But Leonard didn't stupidly storm the basket and distributed the basketball to Ibaka, who was ambushed in the bottom right corner.

In order to adapt to today's small-ball era, Ibaka, who used to bombard the basket with athleticism, has now developed a long-range shot.

This season, Ibaka's three-point shooting rate is just 29.0%, which is clearly not up to par. But that's because, everybody knows that Ibaka is going to shoot threes, so Ibaka is shooting more and more threes in interference.

But if it's an open shot, Ibaka's three-point shooting percentage is still very impressive.

The basketball plummeted to the net, and Henson's bag did limit Leonard, but it also freed up the rest of the Raptors.

With three more points, Ibaka's goal gave the Raptors a seven-point lead over the Pacers! The Pacers are in a tough battle without Antetokounmpo, and so far, the Pacers have not had any way to contain the Raptors. Coach Henson has taken a timeout, but hopefully he will be able to turn the decay into magic this time. ”

Kevin. Harlan could see that Henson was also upset today, and the Chinese coach had his emotions written on his face.

Henson was really upset today because the Raptors were stronger than he expected. It seems that this year, the Raptors are indeed a big threat in the East.

But Henson was not distracted, and Henson had encountered much greater difficulties than this. It's just 7 points behind, which is not enough to worry about.

His mind was very clear at this point, and he knew exactly what to do next.

"It's a terrible day, but it's not over yet, and we can make it a better day." After the game, Henson first stabilized the morale of the players.

yes, it was a bad day. Henson hasn't had much rest since he was woken up by the team doctor at 4 a.m., spending the day in the hospital, the afternoon in the training gym, and the night when he encounters such a tricky game.

It would not be an exaggeration to say that this was Henson's worst day so far this season.

But as he told the players, they still have time to make this damn day "sunny".

"George, today you don't have Antetokounmpo's containment, so the offense will be tough. So in a minute, I'm going to have you to draw the defense and create scoring opportunities for your teammates. When we have enough points, you'll be able to get more space. ”

"I'm fine, sir." George knew what Henson meant by that, meaning that his shot would be split between his teammates later.

George is the star of the Pacers, but he is not a ball bully. He's not Kobe, and he doesn't care about sharing shots with his teammates.

"Very good, then in the next game, I need you to be the main attacker." Henson pointed to Siakam, the young man in the number 43 shirt who was a little surprised, but the look of surprise was only fleeting.

One thing that's clear to Siakam as a member of the Pacers is that you have to be ready at all times. Because you don't know if this Chinese coach will suddenly let you go up and shoot key shots, or suddenly let you be the offensive core like he just did.

"Go get the attention of the Raptors' defense, use everything you've learned. Come on, I'll give you a few tactics. ”

Hearing Henson's arrangement, Becky. Both Harmon and McMillan were a little surprised. The timeout is over and the players come out. Becky. Harmon immediately leaned into Henson's ear, and as an assistant coach, she couldn't turn a blind eye to Henson's decision.

"Are you crazy?. Anunoby is one of the best defensive players for the Raptors! Are you going to send Pascal to his death? ”

Becky. Harmon's worries are not unfounded, as Anunoby, a forward who once played at Indiana University, has established himself in the league on defense this season.

The stats show that Anunoby is probably one of the best one-on-one defenders in the NBA today, with opponents scoring just 0.85 points per game under his defense.

Anunoby's first time as a starter was in charge of guarding James. Harden. Although Harden had a game-high 38 points, 11 assists and six rebounds in that game, he shot 8-of-25 and 3-of-11 from three-point range and handed in a season-high nine turnovers.

This shows how tough Anunoby's defense is. The Raptors often let Anunoby guard the opposing team's number one star, but instead of avoiding it, Henson let Siakam run head-on!

Of course, Henson knew that Anunoby had a few pounds and taels, and when that guy was playing at Indiana University, Henson began to pay attention to him.

But he still insisted on his decision-making, so the Chinese coach rushed to Becky. Harmon smiled, "Anunoby is indeed strong, but you should not underestimate Pascal's kid either. ”

yes, Pascal. Siakam, too, is not to be messed with! Only by crushing the opponent's strongest defensive point will the Raptors change their defensive strategy and Siakam will attract Leonard's attention.

And once he succeeded, Paul. George was completely liberated! When the time comes, the whole of Toronto will be bombarded with George's fire!

Being Becky. As Harmon and Henson spoke, there was a wave of boos on the pitch. The first and only female full-time assistant coach in NBA history looked up and saw that the margin had become five points.

Siakam scored.

"Pascal. Siakam, nice air relay. His athleticism was nothing short of breathtaking, and Brogdon passed straight from beyond the three-point line. Siakam, who cut inside, caught the basketball in the air and completed the dunk. I have to say that Anubino was a little careless just now. ”

Kevin. Harlan shouted, Siakam's off-ball move was indeed beautiful.

But he believes that this kind of ball will only appear once today. Because after this time, Anunoby will focus all his attention on Siakam.

The opening kick starts with an aerial relay to complete the attack, which is Henson's set-up. His purpose is also very simple, to give Siakam a lot of confidence.

That kid has no problem with his ability now, the problem is only psychological. Once full of confidence, Siakam is a superstar player!

Siakam's beautiful dunk boosted the morale of the Pacers, and normally the first offense after a timeout is successful boosts the morale of the players.

So then on the defensive end, everyone was playing with the Raptors. Kyle. Lowry borrowed the cover to break through and prepare for a layup, but unexpectedly, Oladipo riveted enough to stage a good show of chasing after him.

Originally, in terms of athleticism, Lowry did not have an advantage. In terms of height, Lowry is also 10 cm shorter than Oladipo. A two-point guard lineup is not something that any coach can use well.

At least in Henson's view, Nas, a rookie coach, has not mastered the essence of a two-point guard lineup.

The blocked basketball first hit the rebound hard, and then rebounded vigorously. Lopez couldn't do anything about the ball, but he jammed Ibaka and didn't let the Congolese jump.

So the basketball flew to the perimeter, and Paul. George jumped hard to grab the basketball before Leonard. However, due to the fierce confrontation with Leonard, George felt unstable in the air.

So, without waiting for him to land, he directly handed the ball to Siakam, who had already begun to run forward.

After passing the ball, George fell. But before he could get up, he heard a loud bang from the basket on the other side. The number 13 smiled, he knew his teammate had succeeded!

"Pascal. Siakam, a beautiful two-handed buckle! With two consecutive dunks, Siakam narrowed the gap to just 3 points! The Raptors have to be vigilant, they can't afford to give Siakam another chance to dunk like this! Positional warfare, the Raptors need to drag the game into positional warfare! ”

Nick. Nurse knew that, too, so when Siakam got his second dunk, he yelled on the sidelines, reminding his players not to give the Pacers a chance to fight back.

However, Henson is not flustered. Siakam's two transitions were just warm-ups, and if the Raptors thought they couldn't score if they dragged the game into a positional battle, they were mistaken!

With a head coach topping an All-Star, Henson believes his strategy can change the tide of the game.

Pascal. Siakam, it's time to start his show.