Leon called a short timeout, and the main purpose of the short timeout was to give the players a time to adjust and cushion, while making substitutions. Leon didn't make any tactical adjustments, but just asked the players to stabilize the rhythm of the attack. With Antoine Walker unable to open, the Celtics' offense was a bit chaotic and couldn't find the backbone in the positional offense.

'Paul, you have to take responsibility for attacking and Antoine, using your experience and strategy, we have to play a little bit tougher at home. And our three-point must be opened, try the feeling of three-point shooting more, and don't dare to shoot because you are behind. Leon encouraged his players to try more three-pointers on offense, and the Celtics didn't shoot three-pointers in the first two games, and while Reed, Arenas and Pierce all made crucial three-pointers in the last game, the team's overall three-point shooting percentage wasn't ideal.

Since the first round against the 76ers, the Celtics' three-point shooting has been somewhat out of pace with the regular season, and the league's No. 1 three-point shooting and shooting have slipped in the playoffs. The playoffs have strengthened their defense, but the Celtics haven't found the most comfortable step on the offensive end.

This is also the price Leon pays after attaching importance to defense, once the player needs to divide more attention on the defensive end, then it is normal for the offensive end to make mistakes, and the three-point shot is an offensive method that pays great attention to the rhythm, once the game is broken by tough defense, continuous fouls, no matter how good the pitcher will lose his crosshairs in the game.

Leon believes that the Celtics can pass the 76ers without three points, and even fight to get past the Pistons, but there is absolutely no way to go further, and in the absence of a strong low post, if there is no three-point shot as an efficient weapon, the Celtics will not be able to move an inch.

It is said that defense wins championships, and Leon never recognizes this, and throughout NBA history, offensive teams have won more championships than defensive teams, and it is easier to build a dynasty. In Leon's eyes, the Celtics, who won 11 championships, are not a defensive team, but the Celtics, who won two championships in the 70s, are a defensive team through and through. That's why Bill Russell and Bob Cousy would support Leon's attacking style of play, which was not the case in the '60s.

The problem is that offense relies on something unpredictable called touch compared to defense, and defense doesn't deceive you in comparison, so Leon asked the whole team to start with defense in the playoffs and slowly find an offensive feel in the series.

The timeout ended quickly, at which point Leon waved his hand towards the end of the bench, and in the first quarter of the game, he pulled out the strange card - Wang Zhizhi.

Since the signing of Wang Zhizhi, Leon has cultivated him in the direction of a surprise soldier, so he doesn't care what role Wang Zhizhi plays in the Chinese national team, that is something that Wang Zhizhi needs to consider after returning to China. In the Celtics, Wang Zhizhi is like a kicker on a rugby team, he doesn't have many opportunities to play, but he can often give the team key help.

Leon knows Wang Zhizhi's characteristics very well, lack of physical fitness, poor strength, slow movement, and is almost useless in the NBA at this level except for excellent hand and ball sense. If you change to another coach, you can only make him a water cooler guardian, because his defense is really not up to par. Leon thinks that his feel and height are rare treasures, and no player of this height can be found in the current NBA to have such a feel.

Therefore, Leon's strengths and weaknesses are to ask Wang Zhizhi to practice long-distance jumpers hard, and his requirements for Wang Zhizhi's long-range shots are different from those of Reed, Arenas and others, asking him to only pursue accuracy, not the speed and angle of his shots. Anyway, he is tall, and he is not absolutely sure that he will not shoot on the court, so Wang Zhizhi's three-point shooting rate is as high as 62 percent, but the number of shots is insufficient to enter the rankings.

In the game against the 76ers, Wang Zhizhi did not get any chance to play, and Leon knew that since it was a secret weapon, it could not be used often, so that it would not work wonders, and in the end it would be lost by the opponent to figure out the routine.

Wang Zhizhi heard Leon's call, this time he was no longer as obsessed as before, first, he was used to Leon suddenly letting him play, and secondly, before the playoffs, Leon told him to always be ready to play, and to always maintain the temperature of shooting in his hands.

Wang Zhizhi took off his coat and walked onto the floor, this is his first time on the stage of the NBA playoffs, although he entered the playoffs with the Mavericks last season, he is unlikely to get a chance to play, he is a little nervous.

At this time, Wang Zhizhi didn't know that his teammate and opponent on the field, Yao Ming, was watching the game in front of the TV. He is higher than Wang Zhizhi and has a better performance on the field, but he is one step ahead of Wang Zhizhi in other aspects. entered the national team later than Wang Zhizhi, entered the CBA later, entered the NBA later, entered the playoffs later, and it is estimated that he will enter the second round and the divisional finals later......

Although age is the main reason, and it has nothing to do with Yao Ming's own ability, for him who has been watching Wang Zhizhi's back move forward, this will be another pimple in his heart. Originally, he and the Houston Rockets also had a chance to make the playoffs, but in the end they fell behind the Suns by one win, finishing ninth in the West and missing out on the playoffs, and Yao Ming also lost to the Suns' Stadamyre in the Rookie of the Year selection.

Wang Zhizhi didn't know this, he went to the field with some apprehension, but he quickly calmed down, he was already familiar with the field, familiar with the fans here shouting "chichi", Leon still considered letting him play in the third game, and he would obviously be easier to adapt to at home.

After two offenses and defenses, neither side scored, Wang Zhizhi came back and ran twice, but the third time, when PJ Brown blocked Billups' layup and the Celtics had a chance to counterattack, things started to change.

When Walker is on the floor, he will quickly interject to occupy the most important position at the top of the arc - the free throw line, while Wang Zhizhi will not, he will play on the left and right wings with Reed, so that it is a V-shaped rapid counter-attacking formation, which is a tactical formation that Leon has practiced repeatedly in training but has used less, because Leon believes that Arenas does not have the ability to distribute the ball in a V-shaped two-wing formation.

But this time Arenas didn't need to think too much, he directly distributed the ball to Wang Zhizhi, Wang Zhizhi did not shoot directly, but handed it to Paul Pierce who cut into the middle, Prince who originally looked at Wang Zhizhi immediately turned around to visit Pierce, but Pierce jumped and turned around for a return pass, giving Wang Zhizhi who was in the big vacancy!

Completely empty, Wang Zhizhi received the ball and made a slow three-point shot!

An arc that was too high, and the ball smashed into the front of the basket with a slightly less force. "F-uck......" Leon on the sidelines snorted, he sent Wang Zhizhi on the court to make him shoot such an empty three-pointer, if he can't throw three points, it will become a defensive black hole on the court. Fortunately, the Pistons don't have a strong player at the power forward position, and he is not worried that Prince has the ability to completely blow up Wang Zhizhi.

If the Celtics can't shoot three-pointers from the outside, then sorry, they're going to keep shrinking their defense, making it harder for Pierce and Arenas to break through. This is the case with offense, there can be no disconnect between inside and outside, whether it is a failure to advance or a failure to advance, it will bring about a vicious circle.

Leon was sweating on the sidelines, and the next few attacks were struggling on both sides, and the score of 14:10 was maintained for three and a half minutes, and both sides fell into a scoring drought. Wang Zhizhi's three points are really a pity.

But Leon still has to trust him, because Wang Zhizhi doesn't just shoot threes.

The Pistons' offense was also really stretched, and they had to pin their hopes on Billups' single against Arenas, Billups kept advancing in the low post, the Celtics were determined not to pinch the shot, Billups missed a step-back jumper, and this time Wang Zhizhi got the rebound.

At this time, the Pistons suddenly used a full-court 1-2-2 tight defense, and wrapped Arenas in advance, not giving him a chance to receive the ball. Wang Zhizhi grabbed the ball in the backcourt and didn't know who to pass it to for a while, because everyone was pressed to defend.

"What are you afraid of, pass half the game by yourself!" Leon yelled on the sidelines.

Wang Zhizhi didn't hesitate any longer, he immediately quickly dribbled across the half court, and passed the ball to Arenas at the moment when Prince came up to intercept, and then Wang Zhizhi rushed inside!

Cracking the 1-2-2 defense, which has been practiced countless times in the Celtics' practice, is the best option to quickly cut inside after the interior strategy, because they will only have one man under the basket!

At this time, it was too late for the rest of the Pistons to change the formation, Arenas took a few more steps and directly hoisted the ball to Wang Zhizhi, Wang Zhizhi first shook off Wallace who stepped forward to make up for the defense after receiving the ball, and then made a beautiful rebound! The scoring drought has finally been broken! After three minutes of silence, the North Shore Garden erupted in cheers again.

Rick Carlisle touched his nose on the sidelines, he obviously didn't expect that Wang Zhizhi was not only a fixed-point three-pointer, but also a player with a lot of tactical reading ability, and it seemed that he underestimated this strange card in Leon's hand. Carlisle opened with the strange card of Prince, which obviously disrupted the rhythm of Leon and Walker, and Walker's form in this game was indeed a little unstable, Prince really played a role.

After Wang Zhizhi came on the court, Prince was a little hesitant in the face of Wang Zhizhi, it was not cost-effective to defend it with all his might like Walker, and he could score goals again if he let him go, which was really a trouble. Prince was inexperienced and clearly didn't know what to do.

"It's your turn to play your cards this time, see how many cards you have left......" Leon looked at Carlisle, calculating in his mind what other tricks were on both sides, anyway, Leon still had a lot of hole cards in his hand. (To be continued.) )