Chapter 403: Champion Team
The Orlando Magic tightened up their defense in the second half, which was the only thing Stan Van Gundy could do at halftime, facing the Suns' small lineup, unless Howard put wings, they couldn't solve the problem at the root of the problem, and could only hope that the players would play harder and tougher to reduce the Suns' shooting percentage from the outside.
But the second half, or the whole game, was Jasco Vysius' show time, and today Leon knew he was in great shape, so he was given a lot of playing time, and in the middle of the second half, he was substituted on the court, and the Suns started their small lineup again.
The European king's three-point touch on the outside can be said to be hot, and the Magic's guard line allows them to deal with two top three-pointers at the same time, which is really difficult. Needless to say, Nelson is physically strong enough and has good speed, but he can't keep up with his feet, and with him present, the Magic's outside offense is a bit lame.
Howard played a dominant performance on the inside today, he protected the backcourt rebounds well, and at the same time showed his power on offense, but the Magic always fell behind in the score, because relying on his scoring alone, there is no way to close the point difference, and more importantly, he has no way to give his teammates opportunities.
Leon didn't make any targeted arrangements for Howard tonight, just let Dio or Marion take turns to harass him one-on-one, not to wrap up, not to go around, and not to set any defensive traps for him, he can pick up the frontcourt rebound on the inside, and then hang the basket for a dunk, and then show off his well-developed biceps - his arms and biceps are about to surpass David Robinson.
But such a dunk is useless, the Suns' small lineup basically cuts off his connection with the outside, he has no way to create space for his teammates, and Rashad Lewis is his advantage when playing against other traditional teams, and the average No. 4 position is difficult to follow that far. But unfortunately, the person opposite him today is Marion, and Marion doesn't have to visit Howard, he just stares at Lewis, resulting in Lewis having few comfortable opportunities on the outside.
At the end of the third quarter, Jascovisius played with confidence, and after he and Dior blocked and dismantled, the Magic switched defenses, facing the wide Howard, who was like a door, Jascovisius was on continuous dribbles, a step back feint, and then broke through with his left hand from the baseline.
This kind of ball, Howard will not block, but let him go, and then follow behind to prepare a block, but I didn't expect Jasco Visius to be very cunning, he learned a trick from Nash, directly dribbling the ball and slipping under the basket, slipping to the other side, and then turning over and making a jump shot!
A 12-foot jumper from the baseline was Jascovitius' 30th point of the game, and three quarters onwards, his scoring was the highest of his career.
He high-fived Steve Nash after the goal, and there's no doubt that he learned a lot from Nash's smart, like-to-be-like senior, and more importantly, with the Phoenix Suns, he gained what he lacked most in the past — confidence and trust.
In terms of ability, he can't reach the level of Manu Ginobili, but he can help the team in the way he is good at, instead of sitting on the bench in the team with the title of European king, being called around by his teammates and not being taken seriously.
He felt the value of his existence, playing for a really strong team in the world's highest level of basketball, being a part of it, and working hard for the championship.
By the end of the third quarter, the Suns and Magic had become 89-75, and the Suns led the Magic by 14 points. This is the full-time score that the Boston Celtics have won against their opponents in the past, and now they are killing opponents with efficient offense.
In the fourth quarter, the Magic began their final struggle, they played a wave of 8:0 small climax at the beginning, narrowing the gap to only 6 points at once, Leon immediately paused, this time he did not hesitate to replace the offensive efficiency of the five small combination, and let Jasco Vysius take control, Nash assisted, as a result, Nash received an assist from Jasco Waisius, and hit two three-pointers in the bottom corner in a row!
This is the 16th three-pointer made by the Suns in this game, which has set a single-game three-point shooting record this season, and has expanded the difference to 12 points.
Van Gundy had no choice but to call a timeout to rearrange and adjust, but then Leon started to make a bad move, and he sent Turyaf to foul Howard and send Howard to the free throw line. Howard didn't disappoint at the free throw line, missing two free throws, and the Suns got the ball and began to push back.
The two guards pushed the counterattack and called a fast, Marion and Hill flew on both wings, although Hill was thirty-five, the speed was not slow at all, received Nash's accurate pass, and directly hit the basket and made an easy layup. His steps are still so big, one foot more than the average player, and the layup is so light that it is easy to put the ball in the basket.
This method came several times in a row, and the Magic couldn't bear it, and Turiaf was about to be punished, but he was on the court for fouls, and without him, it was not false for the Suns to play a small lineup, but if the Magic replaced Howard, then they really couldn't play.
But Van Gundy had no choice, at the free throw line, Howard was more and more nervous the more he missed the free throws, and the more nervous he was, the more he missed the free throws, and as a result, he was chased by the Suns and hit three counterattacks in a row, and the difference was almost 20 points.
For Leon's "shameless" move, Van Gundy really had no choice but to let Howard sit on the bench. As soon as Howard sat on the bench, the Magic's defense was even more finished, the frontcourt rebounds could not be protected, and Marion was constantly impacted, and the game slowly lost suspense.
The score was fixed at 115-101, and the Suns won the game on the home court of the Magic, taking Grant Hill's first win with Phoenix.
After the game, there were some boos from the room, and these boos were certainly not for Hill, but for Fox Leon, because his foul play in the fourth quarter was really shameless enough, but it also allowed them to safely pocket the victory, and the rest didn't matter.
Hill hugged the Magic team on the court, shook hands with Stan Van Gundy, and then spoke to reporters on the sidelines. Winning the game made him feel very comfortable, and he talked a lot with reporters, and it was clear that it was great to be able to play, play and win the game.
Then he walked back to the dressing room, and he almost made a mistake on the way because in the past he used to go back to the home dressing room, and today he is going away. When he came to the locker room, he found that the coach and his teammates were there, all of them were sitting together, not going to the shower, not going to physiotherapy, but waiting for him.
Nash took the lead, and everyone stepped forward to hug Hill, which Leon had requested, and it was a welcome welcome for the veteran to join, a belated ritual.
Finally, Leon gave Hill a hug and completed the ceremony, saying to Hill, "Welcome to the championship team." ”