From the first quarter to the second quarter, the two sides entered a stalemate, and neither side could pull the score apart. Leon helped the Celtics turn the tide after using the strange card of Wang Zhizhi, and they went from falling behind by four points at the beginning to gradually overtaking and always holding down the Pistons. However, Wang Zhizhi's role was still limited, partial, Leon replaced him a few minutes after the start of the second quarter, and never sent him on the court again in the first half.

Two baskets to score, plus a free throw, only took about 6 minutes, Wang Zhizhi delivered a halftime answer of 5 points and 2 rebounds in his playoff debut, which was generally not bad. However, he didn't hit a three-pointer, which was a concern for Leon, and the team still couldn't make more shots from beyond the three-point line. At halftime, the score was 49:48, with Celtic leading by one point, which was quite close to the half-time score in the previous game.

"Threes, we have to throw more threes and avoid getting into hand-to-hand fights and grappling with opponents, although we are not afraid to get into tough positional battles with opponents, we are always ready. But tearing apart the opponent's defense with a three-pointer would be the most effective and significant way to break them down. You can try to shoot some three-pointers on the counterattack instead of having to go to the basket, even though the success rate of the layup is high enough. Remember, don't forget the feeling of shooting, find them, find them in the game. At halftime, Leon reminded the players in the locker room to increase their three-point shots and try to find the three-point feel as much as possible.

But Leon himself is not very bottom-up, the Pistons' defense is very targeted, Carlisle in the last game after suffering Wallace's loss against Walker, he resolutely no longer let Wallace against Walker, even if Wang Zhizhi scored continuously, Carlisle did not allow Wallace to be distracted, he asked Wallace to return to his familiar assistant defense position, and wandered around the periphery of the three-second zone in a wide range.

Ben Wallace's presence allows the Pistons' perimeter players to defend themselves with confidence, and can boldly expand the defensive circle so that they will not be broken by the Celtics in the mid-range position. As early as the first game, Leon thought about how to put the shorter center forward of No. 3 on the bench, and he almost did it in the second, but Carlisle adjusted so quickly that he had to play his next card.

At the beginning of the second half, Leon, who had returned to the sidelines, sat on the bench, took a sip of water and began to wait patiently.

At halftime, Leon thought about bringing on Chris Anderson to deal with Ben Wallace, just like Dennis Rodman did in last year's semifinals, fighting for frontcourt rebounds with all his might, and using trash talk and passion to influence Wallace and the Pistons. Leon even considered whether to make an off-market move.

However, such thoughts were quickly suppressed by Leon, who, like Auerbach, could do anything to win, but he also knew what was important. In the regular season, against the Lakers, a pure bench lineup, with this trick can be described as a weak victory over the strong Jedi counterattack, although it was criticized, it is also a good story in the future; Now, the Celtics have the upper hand, and if they still use off-the-board moves, not only will they be ugly, but worse, they may provoke the anger of the entire Pistons team, and instead put the team at a disadvantage.

So Leon decided to wait, to wait for the best moment, and that moment will be the one that will decide the trend of the match.

Although Leon emphasized the three-point shot in the midfield, the Celtics did not fundamentally change their offensive formation, and after Arenas tried two quick three-point shots on the counterattack, the team still returned to the old way of relying on Pierce's singles for positional offense. The second fast attack can be said to be handy in the regular season, because the opposing teams rarely make targeted arrangements for each other, you play yours and I play mine, and the feeling of the game is very important.

As soon as the defensive intensity of the playoffs increases, especially Arenas himself has consumed a lot of energy in defense, and it is difficult to be comfortable in the offense, and it is natural to rely on the single ability of core players at this time.

"Gilbert needs to adjust a bit, it looks like it's still too much of a burden on him to put on too many defensive tasks." Leon thought to himself as he looked at Arenas, who had to return to defense with a look of frustration after two three-point misses. He hoped Arenas could contribute more on the defensive end before the series, and his defense against Iverson in the first round was simply not enough. But it seems that it is really not that easy to maintain a high level of intensity on both offensive and defensive ends like Kobe, Jordan or Stockton.

Leon also knows that point guard is the position with the lowest return on defensive investment, but the team with a strong point guard in both rounds has been in the opposite position, and the opponent most likely to face in the Eastern Conference Finals has the strongest point guard in the league, so Leon has to put high demands on Arenas' defense.

Leon was thinking that Arenas suddenly made a steal of Billups in defense, a brilliant takeout, not relying on speed, but relying on judgment, even if the ball is as steady as Billups, his dribbling is still regular, there are still flaws to be found.

After breaking the ball, Arenas held the ball and advanced quickly, there was no one in front of him, no teammates and no opponents, Michael Reid ran at the same level as him, Reid did not move forward, but spread out to the side like wings, when Reid reached 45 degrees to the left, Arenas who rushed into the three-second zone made a turn pass, Reid almost started to jump when the ball had not touched, and then received the ball, flicked his arm, and the trebuchet started.

"Huh!" Three points into the net! The Celtics finally made a three-pointer, a knife-like three-pointer! The three-point tie was broken in the third quarter, and at 55:50, the Celtics stretched the deficit to five points, which was a gap for Carlisle that had to be responded to and adjusted, and he immediately called a short timeout.

Leon knew that the time should have come, if his judgment of Carlisle was not wrong.

……………………

Carlisle saw Billups cut off by Arenas, followed by a three-point shot from the Celtics, and he immediately called a timeout in a cautious manner. Throughout the series, Carlisle had set his primary goal against the Celtics - to contain the Celtics' three-point shot.

In the regular season, the Celtics' terrible three-point shooting often became the key to their victory, and the same offensive success, there were a few more points than the opponent, and in the end, it was reflected in the total points, which was the difference between the victory. If the Celtics have a powerful low-post monster, the Pistons will be overwhelmed by the weakness of the power forward position. Carlisle was very worried that Walker would become this role, and in the last game he showed strong attacking power and strong offensive will, and this time Carlisle also started with Prince with a try-and-see mentality, but he didn't expect it to have a good effect.

It's not that Prince's defense is strong, but Walker's inconsistent play and inability to be resolute to the end, which makes him less powerful in the face of the defensive line formed by Prince and Wallace.

Now watching Arenas increase his three-point shots, the Celtics as a whole are trying to improve their three-point shooting percentage, while the Pistons' own offense is somewhat stagnant because of the continuous expansion of defense and physical consumption. Billups had been holding Arenas at bay, but he was also tired.

Carlisle gestured to Atkins, a backup point guard sitting on the floor, and motioned for him to get ready to play. But instead of replacing Billups, he replaced Hamilton.

Carlisle's heart is contradictory, on the one hand, Atkins' play is a normal rotation, although Atkins is a point guard like Billups, but because Hamilton, Prince or Robinson lack offensive organization ability, so changing Atkins and Billups to play dual point guards can well alleviate the team's outside ball transmission problem. Now that the team is lackluster offensively, it would be a good adjustment to switch to Atkins in normal time.

On the other hand, the Celtics' three-point shooting is showing signs of momentum, and Atkins' defense is not good, whether he is put against Arenas or Reed, Atkins' height and speed will suffer.

The hesitation lasted only 0.1 seconds, but Carlisle still didn't change his mind, and Atkins had already taken off his tracksuit and was ready to play. For a coach, changing the established rotation rhythm is a big risk, after a season of run-in rotation time and personnel, players already have a good feeling of the game, easy replacement requires players to have a good ability to adjust, and before the game has been specially arranged.

Carlisle was still conservative.

And when Leon saw Atkins get up from the bench, he knew it was time to make a move! In the third quarter, he tried to decide the winner in this quarter! (To be continued.) )