It was late April when he returned to the court, during which the Knicks' veterans were up and down due to the dense schedule, injuries continued, and the team's record was hovering outside the top eight in the East, for which Van Gundy pulled out a few more hairs. Pen % fun % Pavilion www.biquge.info

In fact, Mo Xi has returned to the team at the end of March, but Van Gundy has not given him a good face, although he is a coach who is good at getting along with players, but don't forget, he studied under Pat Riley, is a pure iron coach, there is such a player who was hospitalized due to alcoholism, if it weren't for the lack of people, he would definitely cut the opponent.

Even so, Mo Xi stayed out of the list of twelve for a long time before he had to be put back on the roster due to Ewing's injury.

And the attitude of the rest of the team towards Mo Xi is also a little ambiguous. Ewing has a bit of a hatred of iron, Camby feels that there is one less serious competitor, and "Big Mom" Johnson and Sprewell feel that they have another drinking buddy.

On April 28, the Knicks traveled to Atlanta to play the Hawks. For the current Knicks, they can't afford to lose any game, and they are still one of the contenders for a playoff spot. In addition to the Heat, Pacers, and Magic in the East, even the Hawks, who are far ahead of other teams, to the Hornets, there are still great variables, and the outcome of a game will turn the situation upside down, especially the 76ers, Bucks, Knicks, and Hornets. These four teams will battle for the final three playoff spots in just a few days, and the biggest win difference between them is just two games, which was after the Knicks beat the Hornets back-to-back.

Van Gundy looked at these interior players under him, except for Mo Xi, almost all of them are pure blue-collar players, although the opponent's interior line is also considered pure blue-collar, but it is Mutombo, and it can't be compared with the interior players on his side.

In the end, Van Gundy put Chris Dudley in the starting position. Chris Dudley is an out-and-out rebounding maniac, and in the years he was on the Nets, he caused trouble for the Knicks many times, and think about it, as a white player, in the face of the combination of Ewing and Oakley, he can still often take a dozen or nearly twenty rebounds, which has to be said to be a miracle. Although it is really not offensive ability.

Van Gundy adjusted, pushed open the door to the visiting dressing room, and said in as relaxed a tone as possible: "Okay lads, let's warm up." ”

The Knicks greeted each other and walked out one by one. When he arrived at Mo Xi, Van Gundy frowned, wanting to say something, but held back.

The Hawks have done a great job this season, and despite not having a superstar, they have a steely defense under the guidance of Lenny Wilkens, who have limited opponents to under 96 points for four consecutive seasons, and because they lack the kind of players who can decide the game with one shot, Wilkens has created a simple but extremely practical set of tactics for the Hawks.

(Speaking of Wilkens, first of all, I have to mention some digressions, this is the prototype of the slam dunk master Nakato Shin, who is also a point guard who doubled as a coach when he was a player, was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1988, the 50th National Congress in 96, the first 1,000-win coach in the NBA, the coach of Dream Three, the top 10 coaches in history, the person who created team basketball in the real sense, and the person who was lit a cigar by Auerbach himself.) ）

Like many of the biggest coaches, Wilkens' team has a very personal touch to him.

In the jump ball session, Mutombo pressed Dudley and jumped the ball.

The Eagles' offense is slow, and it makes you feel drowsy at first glance, but if you do close your eyes, but when you open them, you will find that your team is ten points behind before you know it.

Mo Xi sees this living scene now. In the opening four minutes, the Knicks were beaten 7-0. You know, this is a civil war in the east, and in the east, which is advertised as an iron-blooded defense, it is very rare to be scored 7 points in four minutes.

Van Gundy's face was very ugly, but there was nothing he could do, he was always just a young marshal, facing the head of the Qiansheng sect, no one would believe him if he was not nervous.

Finally, the Knicks scored their first goal.

Alan Houston took advantage of Kurt Thomas's cover, let Steve Smith, took Larry Johnson's hand-handed pass, and hit a solid shot.

Finally got a point, and the whole Knicks seemed to breathe a sigh of relief, but then, it made Van Gundy's face change again and again.

As if to see the Knicks' slackness, Murch-Blaylock made a long pass straight to the front court and found Mutombo, who thundered on the ground and dunked under the basket, causing a burst of cheers from the audience.

The next round made Van Gundy grit his teeth, but he was helpless.

Mutombo really has a kind of one-man magic power when standing on the inside, and the Knicks won the lottery in the face of this African mountain without exception gave up the interior offense, even Larry Johnson, who is unconvinced, and the guy who doesn't care about the ground does not dare to impact the basket defended by Mutombo, and all the Knicks' scores are actually obtained by jump shots.

What makes Van Gundy feel even more excessive is that in this game, Wilkens seems to have given up the concept of team basketball, and the point guard dribbles for nearly ten seconds after half court, and then he constantly makes the ball inside, sometimes hitting the basket from the wing, and the rhythm is extremely slow.

The lack of Ewing's young interior Knicks almost single-handedly crushed made Van Gundy miss Charles Oakley even more.

Steve Smith used Mutombo's cover to force the inside, and almost without thinking, he crashed into Dudley under the basket, and his strong body supported him to complete a hand-to-hand fight with Dudley in the air, causing the opponent to foul.

It's bad, Van Gundy secretly said that it was not good, and Dudley committed two crimes.

Fortunately, at this time, the first quarter is already halfway through, and according to the normal rotation, it is time to make a substitution. Van Gundy hurriedly called a timeout and replaced Sprewell with Dudley. Kurt Thomas mentions center and Larry Johnson fills in to the big front. As a last resort, Van Gundy forced a small lineup in an attempt to speed up the tempo so as not to fall into the hands of the Eagles.

The effect of Sprewell's appearance on the court was immediate, and the Knicks immediately clung to the score. By the end of the first quarter, the Knicks were 17:25, trailing by eight points.

Van Gundy seems to have found a winning formula. Indeed, the Hawks' players are generally larger and slower, with only small point guard Murge Blaylock being the fastest on the team.

In the second quarter, Sprewell led the young bench lineup to the game, and the entire second quarter almost became Sprewell's one-man game, with 17 points in a single quarter, making the Knicks only 2 points behind at 39:41 at halftime.

Van Gundy happily returned to the locker room.

However, throughout the first half, Mo Xi still failed to get a chance to play. This disappointed Mo Liyu and the others who came from afar.

In the locker room, Van Gundy slapped the tactical board excitedly and said loudly: "We played a wonderful second quarter, that's it, don't be dragged into the rhythm of the opponent, we can be a little faster in the second half, don't be afraid of losing position when defending, boldly pressing, even if it is passed, it's okay, pay attention to the defense inside, and don't let them move the ball smoothly." ”

Then, Van Gundy looked at a few more insiders and said to them: "Don't you feel in the first half, the other side feels that you left Ewing as a bunch of small crickets that are not worth mentioning, constantly attacking your defense zone and killing you, but I don't see your counterattack, I hope you can be tougher in the future." ”

After saying that, Van Gundy carefully laid out a few more tactics. Through the first half of the meeting, they seemed to be very close to victory, but the opponent was the Eagles led by Wilkens.

Halftime was fleeting.

At the start of the second half, Van Gundy's face, which was still slightly happy, suddenly became cloudy again.

In the first half, Van Gundy deliberately put Sprewell in the starting lineup to speed up the tempo and also improve the defensive intensity on the outside, however, the strategy of veteran coach Wilkens pressed the Knicks to the ground.

"Now Wilkens brings you the Atlanta brand meat grinder, the knife is powerful, the quality and quantity are guaranteed, and the freshness is guaranteed, and it is absolutely strong." The on-site commentary ridiculed this current picture.

As soon as the second half began, the Eagles instantly soared several defensive intensities, making people feel as if they had come to the finals.

It's been a long time since the Knicks had a good shot, and the team's shooting percentage has plummeted.

Of course, driven by the Hawks, the Knicks' defensive intensity has also increased several times in an instant, after all, most of these people on the court are known for their defense, and the two sides are entangled and inseparable.

What worries Van Gundy even more is that the opponent relies on the home court advantage to recklessly attack the basket and constantly cause damage.

At the end of the third quarter, the two sides played an 8-11 in the quarter, and at least nine of the Hawks' 11 points were scored by free throws.

The Knicks were still behind, and some beads of sweat appeared on Van Gundy's forehead.

Sure enough, in the fourth quarter, at the beginning of the Knicks had another foul, Dudley awkwardly holding the ball and watching Van Gundy there, he had five fouls after Thomas.

Van Gundy was annoyed for a while, looked behind him, and finally made up his mind and said, "Mo, play." ”

There is no embarrassment of playing for the first time, nor much excitement, nor the idea of cutting 30+30 in those bizarre comeback battles. Mo Xi calmly walked onto the court, back to the place that brought him so much fun.

Van Gundy didn't specifically explain what Mo Xi should do, but Mo Xi knew very well that he would win the game.