The Pacers' team doctor and physical trainer still have two brushes, and every second of halftime was made full of them, and several of the team's main players have more or less recovered their strength. But Carlisle is still a little worried, he doesn't know how the Pistons will deal with his team in the second half, and the difference between the playoffs and the regular season is still too big.

Carlisle was not wrong, the Pistons players were still fierce at the beginning of the second half, and Brown deliberately replaced Prince with Wade, once again playing the three-guard strategy. The three-guard may seem to reduce the Pistons' defensive intensity, but it maximizes Brown's requirement to exhaust the Pacers' players in the shortest amount of time, so that they can't keep up with themselves on both ends of the floor, and losing is a natural thing.

The three guards of Billups, Hamilton and Wade set off a whirlwind on the court, and the transition offense was in full swing, and what made the Pacers feel even more devastating was that Thomas and Big Ben were not much slower. In fact, the Pistons rarely play like this in the regular season, but now that it is the playoffs, it is necessary to sacrifice this trick if they want to beat their opponents as soon as possible.

Although Artest felt the pressure on the offensive end, he was never able to help the team close the gap, because the Pacers now rely on him for all their outside defense, and he has to face three excellent guards who are worthy of the Hall of Fame. He was embarrassed to find that no matter who he chose to defend, he would pay a price, and even if he could defend one of them, the other two players were not vegetarians, and even O'Neal Jr., who was protecting the basket under the basket, could not do anything about them.

The scores on both sides are rising, but the difference is quite clear. The Pistons' cross-cutting coordination is very familiar, Wade and Hamilton's running and mid-range shots make the opponent unguardable, and after blocking and dismantling, whether it is Big Ben's down the frame or Thomas popping up to catch the ball and shoot three-pointers, it is very threatening. The Pacers basically had to rely on Artest's singles and Miller's strong shots to score, and they couldn't guarantee efficiency, and O'Neal Jr., another main scorer, did little under Big Ben's defense.

That's the way most teams in the league are doing, they only need to maintain one or two stars, and other role players may have occasional outbursts, but most of the game still depends on the stars. The Pistons are a different kind of team, they don't have the top stars in the league like the Spurs and Lakers, but they can win games with a strong offensive and defensive team, and in a way, they are the most special team in the league.

However, this peculiarity made Carlisle very nervous, and the course of the game was completely different from what he had expected. Moreover, the Pistons' three-guard lineup directly took the rhythm of the game away, and the little physical strength that the Pacers players recovered at halftime was quickly exhausted, and even O'Neal Jr. couldn't hold it this time, leaving only the talented Artest who could still do his best to complete the coach's tactical intentions in every round, but he was just one person.

In the third quarter, the Pistons scored six more points than the Pacers, and although it didn't seem like much, it really stretched the difference between the two sides to double digits. However, the whole team of the Pacers did not lose confidence, after all, it was not yet 20 points, in fact, even if the point difference was stretched by the Pistons to more than 20 points, they would try to see if there was any hope of a reversal in the final quarter.

Although Artest and O'Neal Jr. are the current stars of the Pacers, at such a critical moment, it is still Miller who is the first to stand up. The veteran decisively took over the team's attack. He ran as hard as he could, not giving up a chance to catch and shoot, and with his encouragement, the Pacers' game intensified, narrowing the margin to single digits less than three minutes into the fourth quarter.

But Chang Wei saw very clearly off the court, Miller was already at the end of his crossbow, he was obviously gritting his teeth and looking for opportunities on the court, and as long as it was a free throw or something else, as long as he could stand still, he would definitely not move his foot. Judging from the way he often panted on his knees, it was clear that his physical strength had reached a limit.

Carlisle also saw that Miller couldn't hold on, but now he was only one breath away from tying the score, and replacing Miller at this time was likely to be more than worth the loss. However, when he saw Miller being continuously stealed on the outside because of lack of physical strength, he couldn't help but sigh, it would be impossible not to replace him at this time, or let him play again at the last moment!

After Miller was replaced, he sat in his chair and gasped for air, and the staff handed over a large towel, which he used to cover his head, and only the violent rise and fall of his chest made people feel his previous exhaustion. In fact, Miller has long decided to retire at the end of this season, but as a normal NBA player, he also hopes that he can get a championship ring. Reaching the Eastern Conference Finals again this year undoubtedly made him excited, but the reality is so cruel.

Without Miller's containment from the outside, the Pacers' offense became more and more sluggish, and they could only rely on the individual abilities of Artest and O'Neal Jr. to score. The Pistons players are not in a hurry, although they also hope to beat the opponent to death with a stick, but now it seems that it is obviously impossible, it is better to grind off the opponent's sharpness little by little, and by the way, further widen the point difference.

By the time Miller reappeared with 4:27 left in the fourth quarter, the margin was back in double digits. Miller has been in a lot of situations like this in his career, and he has tried countless times to help the team through difficult situations, but this time he has been unable to turn back, and it is a difficult opponent to beat.

Although Miller still hit two three-pointers under the cover of his teammates, it was to no avail, and the Pacers still lost 87-95 on the road, regrettably losing Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals. While the vast majority of teams don't do as well on the road as they do at home, it's good for the Pacers to win one or two games on the road, which will make it more likely that they will make it out of the East. But now they have a bad opening, which looks like a bad omen no matter how you look at it.

On the Pistons' side, Brown and Chang Wei were relieved, they didn't expect to solve the most threatening three-point shooter on the opposing team so easily, if they can continue to play like this in the next games, advancing to the finals is just around the corner.