Chapter 456: Strong Promotion
The 76ers have been one of the league's leading offensive teams during Brown's tenure, even when they added Mutombo and then Bale. For them, winning is about getting more points than their opponents, not letting them score less than themselves. This style of play also made it easy for the team to absorb a large number of fans.
But this is both their strength and their weakness. It's true that the 76ers' offense is strong enough to break down most teams' defenses, but when they do get caught on the court, there's basically nothing else they can do. It's the kind of situation that they're struggling to score every time and they're at a loss for the Pistons.
Whether it's Hill on the inside, Durham Porter or Bell on the outside, they have done their best on the defensive end, but the Pistons' offense is not something that a few defenders can prevent, they are a more team spirit than the 76ers, even if no one on the team scores more than 20 points, they can still kill on the offensive end.
The 76ers had nothing to do with the Pistons, and they trailed by 14 points again at halftime, 44-58. If it was a surprise to only get 40+ at half in the first game, then only 40+ at half in the second game means that the team is in trouble, and such a performance is undoubtedly unqualified for a top offensive team in the league.
To make matters worse, the 76ers players were severely physically depleted, especially several of the main players who played more than 20 minutes in the first half, and they were a little unstable when they came off the court. In stark contrast to them are the Pistons players, who walk into the tunnel with a smile and a few players even thinking about each other. Although this has a lot to do with the fact that the Pistons are all soldiers, Chang Wei has always attached great importance to their physical training, and he and Brown have teamed up to build the Pistons into an army!
The time at halftime is not enough for the 76ers players to recover their strength, since Chang Wei left with Brown, although the new trainer also emphasizes physical fitness, but the effect is far less good than Chang Wei, and it is reasonable to suffer. O'Brien didn't have a good idea, he could only desperately encourage his players, trying to mentally motivate them to forget their fatigue.
However, the gap in hard power cannot be bridged by chicken soup, and after the start of the second half, the Pistons played another wave of small climaxes. Billups clearly saw that the opponent was a little weak, and decisively brought up the speed at both ends of the offensive and defensive ends, which made the 76ers even more unbearable, and because of physical reasons, the shooting rate dropped very significantly, and the score between the two sides was further stretched.
After three quarters, the Pistons had already led by more than 25 points, turning the final quarter into garbage time. O'Brien gritted his teeth and still left the main lineup on the field, trying to see if he could complete the reversal. However, he obviously thinks too much, and the Pistons' bench lineup is not vegetarian, although this reduces the pressure on the 76ers on the offensive end, but they can't prevent the Pistons' offense. Arenas could have played against Wade, but for the 76ers, a close match is a failure.
The Pistons still won the game easily, and the final score was 102-88, which was because they released water in the last two minutes of the fourth quarter, allowing the 76ers to narrow the gap to within 15 points. But that didn't help, and the 76ers had to return to Philadelphia from a 2-0 deficit in the hope of holding on to their next two home games. However, in Chang Wei's view, the 76ers are just dying, and now that the Pistons are in full swing, it is entirely possible for them to sweep the opponent 4-0.
Chang Wei is not without purpose, this season's Pistons' away record is also not bad, winning both games in the regular season away to Philadelphia, for them the league's first center arena is not a devil's home. And the big losses in two consecutive games are obviously a heavy blow to the morale of the 76ers, although they still have the possibility of fighting at home, but the Pistons have proven that their overall strength is far above the 76ers, as long as they don't make mistakes, there is no problem.
However, the 76ers didn't plan to rest on their laurels, and they quickly got into shape in their first home game, opening the game on a 12-4 run, their best performance of the series so far. However, falling behind by nearly double digits did not panic the Pistons players, who did not even change their pace of play and continued to follow their style. It also allowed them to gradually catch up with the score, trailing only 31-33 at the end of the first quarter.
The confident 76ers were looking to open up in the second quarter, but they were met by a red-hot Wade, who scored 15 points on 7-of-10 shooting and dished out four assists to help the Pistons go 32-25 in the quarter and take the lead at halftime. In the second half, the physical advantage of the Pistons players gradually became apparent, and little by little the difference was widened, which made the 76ers players feel extremely desperate. Reid and Iverson helped the team score piecemeal, but it was only a drop in the bucket because they couldn't keep Hamilton from having enough stamina to run around.
In the end, the Pistons continued their winning streak on the road, with a score of 95-90. Although the margin was not large, it was very frustrating for the whole 76ers, who had the best start of the series and failed to win against their opponents, and they didn't know what to do to win. After this game, the Pistons have already got the match point for this series, and one more win will advance.
Perhaps in Game 3, the 76ers struggled to win the championship at the start of Game 4, with the Pistons taking a double-digit lead at the start of the game and stretching the margin to more than 20 points at halftime. At halftime, many 76ers fans left the court early, they didn't want to see their team suffer a massacre, in fact, they left the game correctly, the final score between the two sides was 100-72, and the huge difference of 28 points made the 76ers fans who stayed to hold their ground cry bitterly, they didn't expect the team to be swept by the opponent in the second round.
Watching the 76ers players walk into the players' tunnel with a lonely face, Chang Wei's face sank like water, although he still had a little pity in his heart, but he soon put away this little thought. In the NBA, every matchup is a matter of life and death, and the Pistons have no reason to release the water now, and if they want to win the championship indisputably, it is undoubtedly the best way to stay strong against any team, which is also conducive to the players to build confidence in game after game.