"Coach Henson, it's time for you to rest."

Carmel is always very quiet at night, and the biggest difference between the affluent area and the downtown area is actually this.

The quiet environment is more suitable for Henson to work and, of course, more suitable for Henson to recuperate.

At half past ten in the quiet evening, Henson's personal physician, Mr. Mars, reminded him that it was time to rest. At this time, the Chinese-American coach was studying the video of the Wizards' game.

As always, Henson's hubris and victory came not from luck, but from what he knew about his opponents.

After studying the Wizards' game footage, Henson was surprised to find that the team was actually stronger than one might think. The impact of young players and the consistency of veterans, combined with the ability to be fast and slow and defensively tenacious, have made the Wizards the best potential stock in the East.

Just when Henson was already interested in the Wizards and was ready to dig deeper, Mr. Mars arrived.

"Ah, time flies, I feel like we've only had dinner for a short time." Instead of resisting, Henson obediently closed the computer and leaned back in his chair to stretch.

"You've been working three hours straight, Coach Henson. I should have stopped you a long time ago, but I was too embarrassed to disturb you when I saw you working so hard. How? Working for three hours straight and still feeling like time flies? ”

"You know what? During the three months without basketball, I always felt like time was slowing down. It's only been three months since I've been out of action, but when I come back, I feel like I've been away for years. But since I was discharged from the hospital, time has suddenly changed quickly. I always felt like I was more than half a year away from my final season, and I still had a lot of time to enjoy basketball and enjoy the time with those bastards, but before I knew it, I ......"

Henson looked out the window, Carmel's night was so quiet that one couldn't help but think, "Before you know it, we've all reached the Eastern Conference semifinals." Time flies, Mars, like those three hours have just passed. Before I could react, it was time to be over. ”

"I don't know much about basketball, Coach Henson. But I've heard a saying that is right for you. The doctor smiled, and as Henson's personal physician, he was always happy to listen to Henson's whining. After all, mental health is also part of health.

"What?"

"As long as a player is remembered, he will never disappear or retire. I think the same applies to coaches. ”

Listening to Dr. Mars, Henson smiled slightly. Yes, as long as a person is remembered, he will never disappear and retire. And what I'm doing now is not to make people remember?

When the Pacers came out of the playoffs in a magical gesture, Henson. Joe's name will forever be left in the sky above the Banker's Life Arena.

"Thank you for the reminder, Mr. Mars. Now, it's time for me to rest. ”

"Good dreams, Coach Henson."

"Good night, Dr. Mars."

Henson had another calm and warm night at his villa in Carmel, but Marles knew that Henson, who was quiet off the field, was just preparing for the storm on the field.

※※※

May 1, 2014, Bankers Living Arena. Randy. Whitman looked around and returned to his hometown arena again, making him feel familiar and strange, warm and scary at the same time.

The Banker's Living Arena, no, it was called Market Square Arena at the time, but Randy. The beginning of Whitman's coaching career. From here, he broke into the NBA, worked his way up, then wandered around and eventually became an NBA head coach. There is no doubt that his hometown, where his career began, left a deep impression on him.

But again, Indianapolis right now is the last place the other 29 teams in the league want to come, not one. And among these 29 teams, naturally including the Washington Wizards led by Whitman.

Although on paper, the Pacers are undoubtedly stronger. However, Henson doesn't take any chances about this series because of his arrogance.

Most people thought that the Wizards were able to advance because they were lucky enough to run into a "half-paralyzed" bull. But in fact, the Wizards' lineup is not bad at all. There are four points that are enough to prove that Henson's worries are not unfounded.

First of all, the Wizards' style of play this year has become more mature and tacit, different from the previous single tactics formulated in order to mess up, Whitman brought his system to the Wizards this year, a team with a system, and it is undoubtedly a team with combat effectiveness.

Secondly, the Wizards can also be fast and slow in their style of play, and they can shrink freely. Henson's desire to control the rhythm is not easy.

Thirdly, John. Wall and Bradley. Beal is more mature, Wall is in the fourth year of his career, and last summer the Wizards signed Wall to a controversial contract extension with an early salary cap, and this season he has undoubtedly played a salary match while playing the best numbers of his career. Bradley. Beal has also grown rapidly, and he and Wall have formed a backcourt duo that carries the burden of offense, which is why the Bulls' defense is broken.

Fourth, such as the Brazilians. Experienced players such as Na and Ariza are as consistent as ever, and the Wizards' role players may not be among the top in the league, but in the playoffs, stable, solid role players can still keep them competitive.

As you can see from the first-round game against the Bulls, while Thibodeau's team has shown amazing willpower and toughness as always, the Wizards can still rely on consistent play to knock them out of the playoffs.

Therefore, in the pre-match interview, Henson bluntly said, "This round of the series will not be as easy as everyone thinks, and the teams that can reach the division semifinals are not easy to mess with." ”

And Whitman did not let his players give up the pursuit of victory from the beginning, after watching what happened to the Eagles in the first round, Whitman's goal was very clear - to keep their dignity!

Even if the defending champion wants to climb over the corpse of the Wizards, he will have to go through an uphill battle!

However, it is for this reason that Henson urged his players before the game: "Do your best and chase me from the very beginning of the game!" A truly strong team doesn't play with their opponents, but must do everything in their power to kill them! It's respect for the other person, and it's also respect for yourself. So when I got on the court, everyone cheered me up! It's the playoffs, and there's no lamb to the slaughter! ”

At half past seven in the evening, the first matchup of the Eastern Conference semifinals officially began. The sudden rise of the Wizards has brought a hint of surprise to the Eastern Side. But it's clear that the excited young people don't want the surprise to end there.

The first goal of the opening game, John. Wall broke through Paul's defense with his fast break, and then hit a pull-up jumper before Horford's interference came up, giving the Wizards the first point in the Eastern Conference Finals!

In away games, a good start is extremely important. Wall's pull-up jump shot undoubtedly gave the Wizards the confidence of the whole team. They were still a little nervous, but they quickly relaxed.

And in defense, Randy. Whitman, for his part, decided to strike first. He didn't want to be led by the nose by Henson, but wanted to take control of the game.

So he opened the game with full-court pressing, and Wall actively wrapped around Paul, almost causing a service ball error.

After the Pacers stumbled through halfcourt with George on the ball, Leonard, who returned to the starting lineup, missed a mid-range jumper and allowed the Wizards to get a backcourt rebound to launch a counterattack.

Counter speed, which is also one of the skills that the Wizards rely on to survive. After all, with Wall, one of the fastest guards in the league, the Wizards' counterattack is never slow.

Wall scurried across the half, within. A beautiful long pass to the champion's hand. Wall received the ball and scored a one-handed dunk, 4-0! At the beginning, the Wizards actually beat the Pacers 4-0! And one of the offenses, the Wizards still played with a quick counterattack.

Immediately after that, George missed a three-point shot from outside the three-point line, and it could be seen that Whitman had done a lot of special things against the Pacers at the three-point line and in the three-second zone, as if he wanted to drive the Pacers' offense to the middle range.

Reporter George's shot hits the iron, and the Wizards get another chance to fight back!

This time Wall couldn't get up to speed because he was very uncomfortable being limited by Paul's tough defense. Although he didn't launch a fast attack directly, he seized the opportunity after dribbling past half court, and quickly got on the ball to deliver "ammunition" to Bradley, who was also following up. Bill's hand.

Beal's three-point shooting percentage this season is a terrifying 40.2 percent, and it's no exaggeration to say he's one of the most accurate three-point shooters in the league.

And this opportunity to shoot and chase three points in the counterattack is Bill's favorite! He catches the basketball, stops with both feet, aims at the basket and shoots! His arms are like a tight instrument, always calculating the most perfect parabola.

"Brush!"

Beal's chasing three points exploded a "white wave", 7-0, Wall and Beal's "backcourt double guns", undoubtedly gave the defending champion a dismount.

"Don't relax! We're just getting started! Believe in yourself, believe in yourself! "Seeing the players score, Randy. Whitman couldn't help but start yelling into the arena.

He knew that a small opening advantage wasn't enough, and that it would be easy for the Pacers to recover seven points. But he just wants to tell his players that no matter how strong the Pacers are, they won't give up on the idea of winning.

This series is a series that fights for dignity! Win or lose, Whitman has to show the strength of the Wizards.

"It seems that Washingtonians are not as easily disarmed and surrendered as Budenhozer." Vogel said, turning his head to look at Henson.

At this time, Henson also stood up from the bench. He could see that Whitman was going to do his best to block the three-point line and the three-second zone, and then use the vitality of the "backcourt double shots" to counterattack.

After some serious consideration, Henson decided to call a halt for the next round. Whitman wants to give me a chance at the middle distance? Okay, then I'll kill the race in the middle distance!

The defending champion never feels pity for his opponent's toughness.