"Ewing? What's wrong? Hurt? Van Gundy asked anxiously. Pen "Fun" Pavilion www.biquge.info

"No," the assistant coach replied, "but Ewing felt some discomfort in his ankle, and the team doctor thought Ewing was overtired, so it was better to cut back his playing time in the second half and try to limit it to 10 minutes." ”

Van Gundy bit his lip, to be honest, Ewing's current competitive state is not particularly good, although he is still the team's scoring champion, rebounding king and blocking king this season, but there is no doubt that his state has declined very seriously, and the Knicks' interior hoarding is to cope with this situation, however, Ewing is for the Knicks, he can play, even as a mascot is more useful than him sitting on the court and watching.

The New York logo, leader, guardian, and a series of other titles only illustrate only one thing, Ewing is indispensable to the Knicks' spirit, and those who have a soul and those who do not have a soul are undoubtedly on two levels.

Van Gundy was helpless and said, "What does Ewing mean by himself? ”

The assistant coach hesitated and said, "He said he would rather fall on the court." ”

Van Gundy thought for a moment and said: "Give Ewing 12 minutes in the second half, it's time, he's going to go down no matter what the situation is, we've got an away win, there's no need to put the star in just for one game." ”

At the start of the second half, Ewing put a thick layer of protective gear on his feet.

The Knicks, who are eleven points behind, must fight back, and at this time it is clear that the advantages of an older team lie in, the starting line remains the same, the Knicks seem to be not behind, playing steadily, not rushing to score, but putting the first priority on defense.

The Pacers' two outside lines didn't play well today, struggling like a third-rate player, and only the occasional flash of inspiration made people think, "Oh, this is Reggie Miller (Chris Mullin)", and Schmitz, the third scoring point, was even worse, with less than ten minutes of playing time now, the traditional European center met the traditional American center, and Ewing dragged the painful leg to teach Schmitz a lesson.

Three minutes into the second half, Ewing had the chance to single Schmitz.

Ewing's body can almost fit two Schmitz, Ewing received the ball in the low post, he reached back with his right foot, inserted between Schmitz's feet, and hit it hard, Schmitz shook back. Ewing took the opportunity to bully half of his body again, slid his right foot back, stretched Schmitz away, turned to the face frame, and scored a heavy dunk.

Although Schmitz has been in the league for many years, his single defense ability has not improved much, and even a rookie like Mo Xi can reach a mutual explosion situation with him.

The Knicks found the right position this time and bullied Schmitz, although Bird had arranged a change of defense, but this time it was outrageous that Ewing saw that it was not Schmitz who was playing, and actually passed the ball back to Johnson in the high post despite the fact that he was already deep under the basket, and once again ate Schmitz with his back.

Schmitz almost gritted his teeth, and wanted to rush up and fight Ewing, did you play like this? But considering the physical disparity between the two sides, it is better to give up.

Johnson's singles are not so easy to deal with, Schmitz didn't think about defending at all, tried to pull his body back, and prayed that Johnson couldn't score, and he had a good rebound. It's a pity that Johnson's goal is not to score at all, and a large number of fouls on the Knicks' side will inevitably lead to a later defensive timidity, and it is easy to take out a breakup of the opponent as a good way to relieve pressure.

Johnson pushed Schmitz with his back and led the latter step by step to the inside, and Schmitz was uncomfortable with the top, so he had to step back with his strength. When he was about to get to the basket, Johnson suddenly stopped and turned to the wing, as if he was about to turn over and shoot, Schmitz hurriedly raised his hands high, but his feet did not move, just pretending to interfere with his vision.

Schmitz's defensive enthusiasm is no longer even seen by his teammates on the court.

Johnson looked at it, this is not going to work, just scoring is not my goal. Thinking about it, Johnson suddenly stepped forward again, did not make a shot, but just stretched the ball out from behind Schmitz, Schmitz subconsciously looked back, and saw Johnson scooping the ball back from Schmitz's arm and changing it to the other hand.

Schmitz was severely humiliated, and there was a little anger in his heart, and he saw Johnson slowly squatting in front of him and lifting the ball above his head, and he was about to jump, and he didn't know where a reckless breath came from, and he jumped up. When people go to the air, they suddenly feel that something is not good, and the secret passage is broken, broken.

At this time, Johnson hit Schmitz with a fit fit, carrying Schmitz on his shoulder, and picking the ball into the basket with a clever hand.

The whistle blows, Schmitz fouls.

This time, Schmitz committed four fouls and had to rest again, and by this time, his playing time barely reached ten minutes.

However, Schmitz's fate seemed to be a wake-up call for Bird, who did not develop any other tactics, but only ordered Mark Jackson to adopt his personal tactics and push with his back. At this time, the five-second rule has not yet been activated, and many good defenders are using this move, even ankle finishers like Iverson often use this move to push back.

Bird's task for Jackson is simple, don't care about anything else, play all the Knicks' point guard line, and in the fourth quarter, it will be difficult for the Knicks, who can't reach out on the defensive end, or may not have a point guard at all, to organize an effective offense and a good defensive chain.

Bird's move is not ruthless, the Knicks have enough inside, but the outside line is a little worse, and the rotation lineup on the guard line is only four, which seems to be enough, but when Houston and Sprewell play together, there is still someone to play as a small forward, and there is not much confidence at all.

Bird's calculations were successful, albeit with a slight drawback, which was that because Jackson had been making kills and reducing the percentage of the offense, the Knicks relied on defense to recover eight points in the quarter, limiting the Pacers to just 14 points.

It can be said that both sides are still very satisfied with the results they have achieved.

But a dark shadow had come behind the Knicks at some point.

Less than a minute into the fourth quarter, something shocking happened.

Reggie Miller missed a mid-range shot, and Ewing and Davis jumped up in unison to grab the rebound. Ewing used his excellent upper body strength to push away Davis and hold the rebound firmly in his arms.

But just when Ewing landed, he seemed to hear the sound of something cracking, and then, he found that he couldn't move, beads of sweat the size of beans flowed down his head, and a heart-rending pain surged up, Ewing only felt that his eyes were dark, he knew that it hurt, because his heart was dripping blood, he had to leave the game early, and he might not be able to play in the playoffs again.

The moment Ewing slowly fell, the people of the Knicks felt the earth shake, shaking the hearts of every New Yorker like an earthquake, and at that moment, even through the screen, the people of New York seemed to feel each other's grief.

At this time, Van Gundy was the most angry, he had used Ewing as carefully as possible, this big man had been riddled with injuries since he entered the league, and he was about to go to that stage to compete for the gold cup of his dreams, and he actually fell like this?

The team doctor stepped forward to check silently, his face was expressionless, Herb Williams carried Ewing back to the locker room, the team doctor did not say what Ewing's injury was, as an old man who has served the Knicks for many years, he knows what Ewing represents to the Knicks, not to mention that it is the best tranquilizer for these people.

Van Gundy's face was gloomy, but fortunately, at this time, the Knicks were only 3 points behind, as long as the Knicks can hold on, maybe they can steal another victory, but next, who should be replaced?

Van Gundy shook his head secretly, Dudley has graduated with six fouls, Johnson has five fouls, and Camby has five fouls, which are all more dangerous, and the Knicks' proud center group is actually only Mo Xi and Thomas at this time Only Mo Xi and Thomas can hold up the scene, at least before the last four minutes, the two must support the Knicks' interior offensive and defensive ends.