Up Oladipo and down Paul, boldly playing the No. 5 position with Antetokounmpo......

Henson's rotation has left most people scratching their heads, including Jim. O'brien.

Many people have a mental inertia that what they don't understand is wrong. But in reality, it's just that their level is not enough.

All we know is that Stevens brought Thomas Jr. back to life, and Stevens brought the Celtics back to life. But how to be reborn from the fire, how to rejuvenate, how many people can say?

Henson can, the reason why Thomas Jr. came to the Celtics is because Stevens used the second ball-handler to free Thomas Jr.

Before joining the Celtics, Thomas Jr. was sticky. As soon as the ball sticks, it is easy to be defended by the opponent.

But now, with the combination of off-ball and ball-handling, Thomas Jr. is elusive. This is also the reason why Thomas Jr. can score a terrible 28.9 points per game with a height of 1.75 meters!

What is the concept of 28.9 points per game? Take Maddie in the 03-04 season as an example. That year, Maddy's average of 28.0 points per game was enough to earn him the league's leading scorer. Of course, you have to be clear, Tracy. McGrady is more than 1.75 meters tall.

But now, that will certainly change when Henson blocks Celtic's second point of possession and forces Thomas Jr. to single.

"Thomas Jr. alone can't play at the level of a scorer like Maddie. After all, the hardware is there. This is Henson answering Becky. Hamon was puzzled when he said it.

On his first attack after returning from a timeout, Oladipo punished Thomas Jr. with his impact. Thomas Jr. is strong and stable, and his strength is not in line with his "mini" height.

But none of that was a problem for Oladipo, who was good at breaking through and fighting hard, as he used his pace and strong body to wipe into the box. When he lays up, Thomas Jr.'s height injury is infinitely magnified, and he can't complete blocks and interference at all.

In this way, Oladipo easily completed the offense, and the Pacers also narrowed the game deficit to 2 points.

An attack followed, as Henson said. When Thomas Jr. was forced to "stick to the ball" again, his power was not so great.

Antetokounmpo stuck to Horford like kraft candy, leaving him with no chance to connect to the ball. Let Horford run and fight. Antetokounmpo's piece of "kraft candy" stuck to the "teeth" can't be torn off.

Unable to get support from Horford, Thomas Jr. had to single Oladipo.

Don't look at Oladipo as a stunned young man who relies on the basket like Westbrook, but on the defensive end, Oladipo is much more committed than Westbrook.

In Henson's view, Oladipo and Jimmy. Butler, too, is a guard who has a chance to be named to the All-Defensive Team. Such a defender is more than enough to defend Thomas Jr., who is isolated and helpless.

Thomas Jr. tried to break Oladipo with his change of rhythm on the ball, but Oladipo was unmoved. When Thomas Jr. runs with the ball, Oladipo can use his strong body to stop him.

In the end, Thomas Jr., like Oladipo in the previous round, chose to force a layup without completely getting rid of the defense. But it's a pity that Oladipo gave Thomas Jr. a defensive height that Thomas Jr. can't match.

"The layup didn't go in, and the Pacers' defense was unexpectedly successful! Jim, what do you think of the Pacers' defense this round? According to you, Henson's substitutions shouldn't work. The host of the ESPN live broadcast room deliberately made things difficult for O'Brien, after all, he couldn't stand this guy who would only sit on the sidelines and instructor.

"Uh...... An attack doesn't mean much. Basketball is like that, you can't be lucky on every offense. ”

O'Brien prevaricated this time, but with more than three minutes left in the game, how many times can he prevaricate?

Thomas Jr. missed a layup, and Antetokounmpo jumped high to protect the defensive rebound. As it turns out, Henson won't have any rebounding difficulties even if he plays Antetokounmpo directly to the No. 5 position.

Seeing that his defensive strategy had paid off, Henson slightly hooked the corners of his mouth. As long as the defensive problem is solved, the Pacers basically win half the game!

Offensive? Henson doesn't have to worry about the offense at all. Because of the Pacers' offensive talent, it is very terrifying.

After the offense passed, Antetokounmpo used a fake shot to break through the defensive line set up by Horford. Although Horford is very fast in the center, his speed is obviously not enough compared to Antetokounmpo.

Antetokounmpo lifted the basketball firmly into the frame. At this point, the Pacers equalized. And there are only three minutes left until the end of the game.

"Get the ball moving, get moving!" Stevens yelled anxiously on the sidelines, and his anxious appearance frightened Jim even more. O'Brien broke out in a cold sweat.

Because if Stevens is nervous, doesn't that mean Henson's tactics and substitutions really work?

In the ensuing round, Avery . Bradley replaced Horford as the Celtics' second point of possession, freeing Thomas into an off-ball offense.

But Paul. George's outstretched arms forced the defense, but Bradley couldn't even pass the ball.

Bradley is 1.88 meters tall, which is already a bit of a disadvantage in the second position. What's more, George, who defended him, was 2.06 meters tall!

With George's height and reach, Bradley couldn't see Thomas Jr.'s running position at all.

In desperation, Avery had no choice but to pass the ball to Jalen, who was closest to him. Brown. It's a pity, Danny. Green's defense against Brown didn't hurt either.

Brown's ability to impact the basket is remarkable, but his shooting is really inconsistent. With Green's interference, Jalen. Brown's pull-up jumper ended up in iron. The Celtics' offense failed again, and they fell into a scoring drought!

This time, the "Great General of India" Paul. George personally stepped out for Jalen. Brown demonstrated the correct way to open the pull-up jump shot.

In the middle of the fast march, George suddenly pulled up a jump shot and hit Jalen. Brown was caught off guard. By the time Brown reached out to interfere, George had already finished shooting.

With 2:28 left in the game, the Pacers took the lead. Stevens is well aware that at such a critical moment when there is little time left in the game, even a one-point lead can be extremely fatal.

So, he called out the game to stop, eager to interrupt the Pacers' rhythm. But Henson picked up the tactical board unhurriedly, and he was confident that Stevens would not be able to come up with other tricks after Thomas Jr. was completely frozen.

Freezing the core of any team is equivalent to stepping out of a cliff.

"The Celtics were stopped, and it looked like Coach Henson's substitutions had a very noticeable effect. They freeze the El. Horford, thus making it difficult for the Celtics to function on the offensive end. Jim. Coach O'Brien, you said that Coach Henson's tactical accomplishment is much worse than Stevens. But it's clear that Stevens' Celtics are now very dangerous. Henson's substitution at the last timeout completely changed the game. ”

"......" O'Brien was speechless, originally he just felt a little embarrassed that he had been disrespected. But now, the whole world knows that he is ashamed.

His indiscriminate analysis made all the fans who followed this game experience his ignorance.

O'Brien is a veteran coach, but not all veteran coaches have embraced the modern basketball way of thinking as Popovich does.

So when Henson pushed Antetokounmpo to the center position and replaced Paul, a traditional point guard, with Oladipo, O'Brien couldn't understand.

But the truth is that in modern basketball, the boundaries between position and position on the basketball court are gradually blurring.

Seeing that O'Brien could no longer pick up the right to speak, ESPN's host also stopped his malicious troubles.

Now, he just wants to watch the game with a clean ear.

※※※

After returning from this timeout, Stevens simply used Swedish striker Jonas. Jerebko replaces Jalen. Brown, bolstered the Celtics' offensive firepower on the perimeter.

But the relationship between Horford and Thomas Jr., Stevens has no way to solve it. Henson guessed right, when Thomas Jr. was frozen, even the clever Stevens couldn't have reacted quickly on the spot.

The Celtics' offense is still fragmented, and there is no connection between Horford and Thomas Jr., who will be forced into difficult singles.

Horford also tried a few times to sit in the low post to challenge his former little brother Antetokounmpo, but all of them failed. Now the only people who can deal with Antetokounmpo on the inside may be inside behemoths like O'Neal and Yao Ming.

But if the league has such an interior behemoth, the Warriors will not be able to drag the league into the era of small ball.

Until the end of the game, Stevens' Celtics did not turn the tide again. They held out for 44 minutes before being utterly defeated in the final four minutes by a timeout and substitution by Henson.

105-99, the smallest margin of the Pacers won this season. But no matter what the point difference was, the Pacers still won.

At the end of the game, Henson let out a big breath and slumped on the bench. It was 48 minutes of wits with Stevens, but it was extremely exhausting.

Now, he can start his trip to Salt Lake City in peace.

As for Jim. O'Brien...... In the subsequent game summary session, this guy never spoke out again. He wished the fans had forgotten him, he couldn't afford to lose this man.

When a special guest on a basketball show says the exact opposite of the game itself, the embarrassment can be felt even through the screen.

O'Brien shook his head helplessly, he wouldn't pester Henson anymore, and he didn't want to wade into any more troubled waters.

Because Henson is right, not all managers fail as much as he does. Not all managers are easily beaten by his former assistant coaches.

"Jim. O'Brien wants to be respected? In the world of the NBA, respect is earned with one's own hands. In the interview at the end of the game, Henson looked at the camera with a tired smile.