Chapter Eighty-Eight: Déjà vu: The Return of the Knicks (Part II)
Riley had to call a timeout immediately when PJ Brown had five fouls on his back to ease the emotions of the players at this time, in this round of the series, the weaknesses of the Heat's interior line can be said to be exposed, there are only three or two people available, if Brown is off the court, let Thorton go up? It's better to really let Mourning face the Knicks' fierce interior group alone, not to mention that at this time, the Knicks' second interior veteran is resting off the court, Riley can imagine that as long as the management of Miami does not give Van Gundy a million to make him back, then it is inevitable that the Knicks will replace the two and attack the interior line next. However, Riley was one www.biquge.info of the management, and of course he knew that Miami did not give Van Gundy that one million. The Heat's situation is precarious.
Pat Riley forced himself to compose himself, called his players, and said mainly to PJ Brown: "Remember, you have to be careful, don't do any more unnecessary fouls, you only have one chance to foul, take it, at least you have to hold out until the last minute." ”
Riley knows that he is a bit of a strongman, in the face of such a powerful impact from the Knicks, PJ Brown is an important barrier on the inside, if you want him to pay attention to fouls, it is better to let him not defend, this is not the way of basketball of the Heat.
The degree of this can only be grasped by PJ Brown himself.
At the end of the timeout, the Knicks really made a substitution, as Riley expected, the Knicks' interior two elders played together, but to his surprise, Houston also went off, although Houston did not perform well in this game, but after all, he was the most sure point of the Knicks' outside line, let him go at this time......
Riley hurriedly searched for the Knicks' personnel on the court, and sure enough, the 30 was still on the court, and Mo Xi did not end up.
Van Gundy temporarily changed his thinking, leaving the more lethal ink on the field, and Sima Zhao's heart is well known to passers-by. And he didn't have enough, so he directly changed the position of Ewing and Ewing, so that Ewing directly faced PJ Brown, from the offensive end to the defensive end, and put pressure on the opponent everywhere.
Catching a weakness and chasing after it is also a more prominent aspect of Van Gundy's coaching ability.
The Heat took the lead in attacking, and it was still Mourning's individual singles, but this time there were some small changes.
Mo Ning no longer attacks in the face frame, but begins to sit and fight Mo Xi, in fact, Mo Ning's way is a little bit of his own short attack on the other's strengths, although he is more flexible than Mo Xi, but the first element of back attack is always strength and tonnage, many people think that Da Meng's footsteps are exquisite, but in fact, Da Meng's strength and weight are also outstanding, and few centers can directly compete with him.
Mo Ning received the ball at the waist and began to sit and play Mo Xi, only two or three hits, his brows furrowed, he found that he really couldn't beat Mo Xi, although the two may be equal in strength, but this kind of back-to-back confrontation, weight and height are also part of it, at this time he is actually completely at a disadvantage, fortunately, Mo Ning's true intention is not here.
After playing twice, Mo Ning suddenly retreated, turned around as if he was going to step back and shoot directly, Mo Xi was very decisive, whether you were a feint or not, paste it first, but resolutely did not leave you room to start, but he never expected that Mo Ning actually passed the ball directly. Hardaway slipped directly to the baseline, Ward did not react in time in the back and was exploited, and Hardaway received the ball and went straight to the basket.
The Heat's offense has changed, and Mourning is no longer the end point of the offense, but the starting point of the offense.
However, the core problem that the Heat are facing now is still unresolved, and that is how PJ Brown will deal with himself.
The Knicks' next offense is not very efficient, but without exception it is very direct, PJ-Brown will play wherever he goes, just stare at the foul on you, PJ-Brown is extremely angry, with his temper, how can this be endured, I believe that if it was placed at another time, he would have already slapped out at this moment, hitting whoever counts, and those who don't hit it will be counted as you pick it up, but now, it is the seventh game that determines life and death!
PJ-Brown endured again and again, and the defensive action and intensity naturally followed, and the Knicks' offensive efficiency increased, and gradually pressed the Heat back, steadily holding the Heat by two points.
Pat Riley frowned when he looked off the court, PJ Brown struggled to play, he was also uncomfortable to watch, he knew that PJ Brown was already doing his best at the moment, but, as long as it lasted until the last minute, it didn't matter if Brown was fouled, Riley planned to directly sacrifice the last resort, force a small lineup, and at the last moment, use speed to break the Knicks.
It's a pity that he thinks too highly of Brown, and under the indiscriminate bombardment of the Knicks, Brown still got hit in the end.
Johnson and Ewing made a pick-and-roll, Brown switched to Johnson, Johnson was already a little out of breath at this time, but his eyes were bright, and he found an opportunity.
At this moment, Larry Johnson seems to have returned to the time when he was in the Hornets, and at that time, the only person who could wrestle his wrist with him was probably the flying fat pig.
Johnson suddenly picked up, stepped on Brown's side and began to push inside.
Johnson burst out with the strength of his whole body, and Brown was caught off guard, but Johnson's strength did not gush out all at once, but gradually dispersed like a rising tide, surging up, and Brown was taken directly to the basket.
Pat Riley stood up straight from the bench and he had realized something was wrong!
Johnson sticks in front of Brown and makes a forced shot.
At this moment, PJ Brown is very calm, he knows that this foul is inevitable if there is no accident, but in order to reduce the loss, Brown's eyes shine, and Brown directly hugged Johnson, as if trying to put him down.
But Johnson was especially weak like the usual guys he was fiddling with at will, and after sensing the opponent's intentions, Johnson poured the ball directly into the opponent's face, broke free, and only staggered a little when he retreated.
The referee immediately blew the whistle and signaled for a foul on Brown.
PJ Brown, in this life-and-death battle between the Knicks and the Heat, finally withdrew early, leaving a lifelong regret.
Pat Riley replaced the small lineup he arranged in advance, but it just so happened that it was not just because of negligence or how, in short, the Knicks did not make any adjustments, although the Heat used speed to force an impact on the Knicks, but under the huge height gap, the Heat simply could not stop the Knicks from directly chiseling the inside line of play, within a minute, the Knicks scored six points in a row on the inside, the Heat could no longer hold on, and began to collapse a little, but, Alonzo Mourning's pride allowed him not to allow himself to surrender, and at the end of the game, Mourning faced the entire Knicks alone when the Heat almost gave up resistance, and even used foul tactics, but Mourning received nothing but applause from the audience and tears of encouragement.
The Knicks, the Knicks are the Knicks again, and the Knicks have once again defeated their old rivals and headed to the stage of the Eastern Conference Finals, this time with another old rival, the Indiana Pacers.