The Pacers have played a total of 13 games this season, and if you look closely, when the Pacers take the lead in the first three quarters, they have a 100% win rate!

The Pacers are a defense-oriented team, but they have a lot of individual ability, which leads to a lot of offensive points for the team, so if you want to beat the Pacers, it is better to lead in the first three quarters, otherwise the result is worrying.

Now that the Pacers have taken the lead, D'Antoni is naturally full of worries, and with the Pacers' stability, it will be difficult for them to turn the game around in the final quarter.

On top of that, due to the serious lack of run-in, the Nuggets' defense is not tight, and they can easily be beaten into a sieve by the opponent. This is very fatal when chasing points, and it is not easy to narrow the score difference, but the opponent is easily caught up, and it is easy to hit morale.

However, that doesn't mean they don't have a chance.

At this time, D'Antoni turned his head and asked Chi Liang, who was resting, "Chi Liang, how do you feel?"

'Rookie' D'Antoni, who has extremely little coaching experience and relies heavily on the individual abilities of his players. Due to Chi Liang's excellent performance, whenever he faces a difficult situation, D'Antoni will think of him first.

Of course, this is also related to Ji Liang's title of 'King of the Fourth Quarter', because the fourth quarter of the game is about to begin.

"Don't worry, Coach!"

Ji Liang didn't say much, but he also had hidden worries in his heart, even if he was full of firepower, it was still very difficult to defeat the 'old and strong' Pacers.

With Chi Liang's answer, D'Antoni was relieved and began to lay out tactics.

At the start of the fourth quarter, the team that wins the first jump ball will automatically get the right to serve in the fourth quarter of the game according to the jump ball rules.

Therefore, the Pacers took the lead in serving, and Jackson dribbled the basketball steadily, his pace was still very slow, and he almost got stuck in time to pass half the court.

Unlike the young Nuggets, the Pacers' main lineup is seriously aging, and they are not as good as the Nuggets in terms of physical fitness, so they rarely launch fast breaks, mainly slow-paced, and reduce the physical wear and tear to a minimum.

When Jackson was in possession of the ball, Billups took the initiative to grab and harass Jackson wantonly, and his small actions made the thief 6 not give him a chance to control the ball easily.

Jackson was helpless and had to pass the ball to Miller.

At a 45° angle on the right side, Miller received the ball with both hands and lifted the ball up, staring at the basket with a determined look and a posture ready to shoot.

Chi Liang didn't move, just raised his right hand, didn't even stand on tiptoe, and now he was in a state of dynamic vision, and his reaction was raised to the limit.

If Miller shoots with the momentum, he will be able to react as quickly as possible and interfere as soon as possible.

Miller didn't shoot, but immediately retracted the basketball and tried to break to the side with the ball.

In an instant, Ji Liang used sliding steps to block the direction of Miller's breakthrough, and made a posture of pulling the ball with his right hand.

Miller hurriedly pulled the basketball and was almost stealed by Ji Liang, so he had to hold the ball with both hands in a hurry.

In this case, Miller was left with only two options, either force the shot or pass the ball to his teammates.

Miller opted for a pass and wanted to get the ball to Mullin on the other side.

Syllable~

At the moment of Miller's pass, Chi Liang immediately reacted, leaned forward to the right side, and hit the basketball with his fingertips, instantly changing the flight trajectory of the basketball.

Seeing that the basketball was about to fly towards the sideline, Fortson, who was closest to him, flew to save the ball, barely threw the ball to Billups, and then slammed it to the ground.

The Pacers were quick to defend and saw that there were no fast break opportunities, so Billups had to slow down the tempo and wait for his teammates to return.

Fortson was uninjured and quickly ran to the front.

At the first time, Billups passed the ball to Chi Liang, and it was at this time that Mullin immediately left Stich and wrapped Chi Liang with Miller.

Before the start of the fourth quarter, Larry Bird told him that no matter what, he must guard against Chi Liang.

Before the game, Larry Bird watched the video of Ji Liang specifically, and he was well aware of Ji Liang's strength in the fourth quarter.

According to Bird's judgment, Chi Liang, who is in a normal state, will be at the All-Star level if he dies. But as long as it comes to the fourth quarter, Chi Liang's play is often comparable to that of a superstar in hot form.

A superstar in hot form can rewrite the game on his own, and Bird knows that very well, because he was once a superstar!

In this case, Bird would rather choose the bag and hope that Chi Liang will share the ball than Chi Liang to play.

Unfortunately, Bird's worries became a reality, outside the three-point line, Ji Liang did not pass, but faced the two who pounced, leaned back slightly, and shot a three-point shot.

Swish~

75:69

After Ji Liang hit a three-pointer, the difference narrowed to 6 points.

In the 1979-80 season, the NBA officially introduced the three-point shot, which was not valued by players and coaches at the time, who thought it was just a way to entertain the audience and use it to win.

Even now, there are still many coaches who stick to the rules, they focus on interior and defense, and the half-court positional battle is the mainstay, and the tactics are relatively mixed, and it is difficult to have the fast-paced, conversion and three-point tactics and systems like later generations.

In the current NBA, the most important three-point shot is Larry Bird, who himself has won three consecutive three-point contests, and then look at Miller, Mullin and Perkins, all of whom are good three-point shooters, and even historical three-point shooters.

Chi Liang knows very well that with the reform of the league and the shift from slow to fast-paced, one day the three-point shot will become a scoring weapon for all teams, and it will also completely change the tactical concept of basketball.

Therefore, Chi Liang did not underestimate the three-point shot, but spent a lot of time practicing every day, even if it was alternating between cold and summer, he never stopped, so as to maintain a strong shooting rate.

"Run, run for me, don't let them run out of the empty seats!"

After the transition, D'Antoni stood on the sidelines and shouted at the players.

Compared to the Pacers, D'Antoni is well aware of the Nuggets' strength, which is that they are young and represent more physical fitness.

Under D'Antoni's command, the Nuggets began to press the defense, with everyone clinging to their defenders and secretly using offensive defensive moves to threaten the safety of the opponent's ball or prevent the opponent from receiving the ball, making it more difficult to receive the ball and attack.

At the same time, the offensive team's ball carrier is pressed or trapped, hoping to cause the opponent to miss the dribble or pass.

Even when the defense is pressing, the Nuggets' defensive strategy is still man-to-man, with Billups clinging to Jackson with the ball, and the others staring at opposing players and not giving them any chances.

Under Billups' close defense, Jackson increased the pressure and had to dribble sideways while observing the situation on the court.