The first quarter ended quickly, with the Pacers leading the Wizards by six points at 25:19, and in the final three minutes of the iron battle, both sides scored only two or three points from the free throw line.

Internode breaks.

'Everybody did well, just six points. It's really nice that you guys can disrupt the Pacers' two-man pick-and-roll intentions on your own, and it's great! Hu Qingniu praised.

"In the second quarter, we just have to bite the score tightly, the main players of the Pacers are already very tired, they only play the maximum eight-man rotation, let them consume their physical strength, we don't have to rush, we play the 10-man rotation."

After a pause and straightening out the order, Hu Qingniu continued.

"In order to better consume their physical strength, we have to speed up in the second quarter, Kwame, Jeffries, Jordan, Larry Hughes, Tyronn Lue, the five of you come on the court, give you five minutes, whether the ball goes in or not, they will be tired to death."

After Hu Qingniu finished speaking, he turned his head and asked Jordan.

"Michael, you're all right?"

"No problem, Coach!"

---

The second quarter soon began.

Brad and Artest were substituted, and the other three Pacers main players, Reggie Miller, Jermaine O'Neal, and Jamar Tinsley, remained on the court.

The Wizards were driven forward by Tyronn Lue with the ball quickly, and Tinsley didn't waste his energy, he waited at the top of the arc.

Tyronn Lue was fast, and it was only a matter of time for Tinsley to lose his target.

It turned out to be Jeffries' pick-and-roll, and Tyronn Lue went straight into the guts. O'Neal Jr. pounced, and Tyronn Luth made a decisive shot and opted for a small throw.

Hu Qingniu usually emphasizes that role players should not hesitate to shoot, and Tyronn Lue implements it well.

But the ball bounced twice on the basket and didn't go in.

“Good！ That's right, just hit it like that! ”

Hu Qingniu wasted no time in giving encouragement, as long as the tactical intent is executed, it is a good attack, rather than just looking at whether the ball is scored or not.

The tug-of-war lasted another two minutes, and Reggie Miller, O'Neal Jr., and Tinsley finally came off the pitch.

Brad Miller and Ron Artest returned to the court after a two-minute break, and it looked like the fine beads of sweat on their foreheads hadn't completely dried.

Miller and Artest are the Pacers' two gates, one inside and one outside.

Artest used his tenacious pressing and strong physique to keep most of the Wizards' fast offense at bay outside the three-point line, and their shooting percentage was not guaranteed.

And Jordan, it's not the time for him to exert his strength, at this time he just needs to act as an ordinary pitcher and assaulter, don't work too hard.

Another concern is that Artest's defensive style is too tough, and he will fight hard now, and Hu Qingniu is worried that Jordan will be injured.

The past of being hit by Atai's broken ribs is still vivid, and Jordan himself has lingering palpitations.

---

The Wizards' current lineup is quite well matched, and this was the Wizards' starting lineup for a while before the arrival of the four olds.

This lineup is characterized by the ability to shoot, a lot of offensive changes, and Kwame is guaranteed to rebound on the inside. The downside is that the defense is not good, so this lineup must be played fast.

Jordan, Larry Hughes, and Jeffries, three players with a good combination of sudden shots, 1+1+1 at this time is obviously more powerful than three.

There were plenty of chances, and while the grasp wasn't very high under the Pacers' gritty defense, the Wizards managed to recover some points in three minutes.

With seven minutes left to end the second quarter, the Wizards had already trailed by only three points, and Thomas was a little anxious and quickly called a timeout.

"Don't let up, in the face of a strong opponent, you can only move forward, take a step back, and we will become delicious food for the enemy! Whoever is more resilient will win this showdown! "Thomas's Chicken Soup for the Soul is doing well, and the Pacers are getting some momentum back.

Thomas waved his hand and was still the starting five.

At this time, Hu Qingniu also went to the starting five to deal with it, and the Wizards players were well rested in comparison.

But the beauty of basketball is that it's round, and anything can happen.

It stands to reason that the Wizards have slightly better strength on paper than the Pacers, and their physical reserves are much better.

But as soon as they got on the court, the Wizards were pressed and beaten by the Pacers.

At this time, Jordan's role increased, and Tim Hardaway handed him the ball 45 degrees to single-handedly face Miller as soon as he passed halftime. When Barkley was on the floor, Artest couldn't switch defenses with Miller, and the weight difference between the two sides was too great.

Miller stood eerily a meter inside the three-point line, with the obvious purpose of letting you shoot.

Jordan has made 0 of 5 long-range shots today, but he still didn't hesitate to shoot, and the killer's instinct is to miss 99 shots, and he will also shoot the 100th with confidence.

However, the reality was cruel, and Jordan took in the sixth beautiful note, which was a "clang" sound.

The rest of the Wizards were in the same trouble, and the Pacers shrank their defense, which would have saved a lot of energy.

Barkley and Tim Hardaway were both released, Tim Hardaway has long been infected by today's "Iron King" Jordan, although Barkley claims to have three-point ability, but in fact only 22% career shooting rate. Even if he gets one or two in it, he won't pay attention to it, not to mention that it's not easy to get one or two in it.

As a result, the Wizards team was inexplicably blown up again, and the gap has widened wider and wider.

Hu Qingniu had no choice but to hope that the players could bite the score and wait for the third quarter.

Miller shot against Jordan with impunity, and now he is in perfect condition, with extremely dexterous technical movements, and his whole body is full of the same rigor and rhythm.

"Well, that's all you can do, Jordan?" Miller spews trash talk after every shot, and he's a proven master of trash talk, and now he's trying to get Jordan out of his mind and destroy the Wizards' wholeness.

Because the Wizards have fallen behind a lot so far, they still play in an orderly manner and do not play blindly. The integrity of a team determines whether it is a strong team or not, and the Wizards have Hu Qingniu's tuning and the leadership of Big Brother in this regard, and they have done a very good job.

Although the Wizards did not lose their rhythm, the atmosphere was still very depressing, and it was not pleasant to be caught and beaten.

In this state and pressure, the physical strength paid is almost double, and after a while, Ewing will be out of breath, his size is the largest, but the speed is the slowest, so his physical exertion is also the most serious.

There is no choice but to replace it in advance, this time Shanghai Wood, he has a similar function to Ewing, although he does not attack, but it is still possible to pick up leaks. The similarity of the two can keep the Wizards' current lineup offense from being disrupted.

Time passed minute by minute, and the Wizards players were always playing under the bombardment of the Pacers, and their breathing became difficult.

"Tick! Backbite! “

Finally, the whistle blew, and with a steady rhythm, the Wizards were not efficient enough but always scored the ball.

At the end of the second quarter, the Wizards trailed by only 11 points, 41:52, which was still within acceptable range.

Hu Qingniu breathed a sigh of relief, don't look at the Pacers team is still alive, in fact, they have more playing time, and it is impossible to have less physical exertion. It's just that when I was leading just now, I was excited to get up, so I played smoothly.

Now at halftime, the Pacers are in the refrigerator, and the second half is the stage for the Wizards.