"See for yourselves what you're doing."

Stevens on the sidelines was the focus of the audience at this time, he slapped the technical statistics table in his hand hard, and scolded angrily: "The opponent's number one star has been played, and you are playing worse than before, where do you deserve to be in the Eastern Conference Finals?" Would you like to look like a strong team in the East? ”

The microphone on the sidelines recorded Stevens' anger, which of course was not heard by the audience in front of the television, who could only guess what he was saying by Stevens, who was dancing and talking all over his face.

And from Stevens's anger, you can also see how good the Knicks played in the third quarter, they did not lose the game when they lost Roy, but gritted their teeth and pressed the score closer, which is something that all New York fans did not expect.

Derrick Rose was undoubtedly the biggest contributor to the New York Knicks' third-quarter chase of points. In the third quarter, he seemed to go back to five years ago, back to the 2010-2011 season, back to his prime, and he used lightning breaks again and again to disrupt the Celtics' restricted area.

Owen can't stop Rose at all, both of them are good at breakthroughs, but they have their own strengths, Ross is fast, Owen is invincible, and the duel between the two will be a draw. After Stephens switched to Bradley to defend Rose, Rose played the role of ammunition transmitter again, and his assists benefited Porzingis, Arthur, and Lee Yigan outside shooters, and the Knicks' outside line was all opened for a while.

Throughout the third quarter, Rose contributed a staggering 12 points and 6 assists, resulting in 29 points, while the Knicks scored only 35 points in the third quarter.

With a fringe man leading a group of mid-to-mid-league players to 35 points, Stevens' anger is understandable.

Although Rose is fierce, he is no longer the MVP of the year, he played the entire third quarter, and his physical strength is at the end of his strength, and now he has to sit obediently on the bench to catch his breath and rest.

At the beginning of the fourth quarter, facing the menacing Celtics with a deep bench lineup, the Knicks were beaten by the opponent with a 6:0 small climax as soon as they came up.

There is no way, Vujacic can't prevent Owen at all, let alone let the team bite the score.

Seeing that something was wrong, Hornacek immediately called a timeout.

A timeout is a timeout, but what can Hornacek do? Roy, the team's best playmaker, is in treatment, the second-best point guard Rose has just played the full 12 minutes of the game and is still in CD (cooldown), and now the No. 1 player on the court is the aging Vujacic, but he has clearly been beaten by Kyrie Irving.

There is no way, the team simply can't find a fourth player who can play the number one position, and if you can't control the ball, then winning is a fantasy.

Hornacek turned his head to consult his old comrade-in-arms and legendary point guard Stockton, but Stockton could only scratch his head helplessly, he couldn't let me go up and play.

Hornacek hesitated, he played so well in the third quarter, he saw a glimmer of victory, and now he suddenly seemed to be back in the past. If you still want to win, then you have to withstand at least the first four minutes of the fourth quarter, and if you can withstand it, then you still have a chance, if you can't stand it......

Hornacek didn't think about it anymore, and although the outcome of the game seemed to be a foregone conclusion after the loss of Roy, he wasn't willing to lose at home, he wasn't willing to lose at Christmas, and if possible, he really wanted to win every game he commanded.

Give it a go or sit back? In the end, Hornacek made a bold substitution, Rose returned to the court, and Huo Shuai had to fight the Celtics to the death......

Hornacek's substitution was indeed quite bold, counting the time between the third and fourth quarters, Rose only sat on the court for about 4 minutes, and now letting him play is tantamount to killing the chicken.

If a team is like a car, the point guard is the engine of the team, and he is responsible for driving the speed of the team. And once the team's engine has a problem, then the car will inevitably not run.

Everyone understands this truth, but when it comes to making a decision, it is so difficult, and Hornacek's substitution is undoubtedly a bit of a gamble, no, he is gambling, he is gambling on his luck.

Hornacek's substitution was indeed a bit impulsive, and even the four gods in the live broadcast room felt that his gamble was not considered.

"Jeff (Hornacek) made a bad choice. He should understand that Rose is already the only reliable point guard for the Knicks at the moment, and I don't think he should gamble on the outcome of a game with Rose at this time, if Rose is injured again, it will have too much impact on the Knicks' next games. ”

"Mike, do you think you'd rather give up this game than keep the team intact? Then the morale of the team will drop to the bottom very quickly, and we should know what happens if the players only think about their own interests. ”

"Having said that, I'm not pouring cold water, it's just that according to the current situation, the situation of the Knicks is really not good, we all know that Roy's current situation is unknown, and Rose has not recovered for a long time, this kind of game may not be suitable for him to overload, what do you think? Jeff (Van Gundy). ”

Brin's question is the right one again, as one of the NBA's most stubborn coaches, Jeff Van Gundy's paranoia in employing people is at the level of his grandfather. When he was in charge of the Houston Rockets, which had Yao Ming and Maddy, he was heavily criticized by fans (especially Chinese fans) for his lack of key players. You must know that the Rockets at that time were strong, not to mention being able to put out two sets of lineups, but it was still possible to have a big rotation. But Van Gundy, who has a brain tendon, only likes to play with the eight-man rotation he approves, and everyone knows the result, the Rockets, who won 22 consecutive wins in the regular season, have suffered a large number of injuries in the playoffs, Yao Ming and Maddy have fallen one after another, and the Rockets have also stopped in the first round of the playoffs (lost to the old enemy Utah Jazz).

So Brin's question actually has a point.

If it was Van Gundy, what would he do?

Jeff Van Gundy gave the answer after a second of contemplation.

"If I were the head coach of the Knicks, I would probably make that decision. Maybe it's the instinct of a manager, no one wants to accept defeat easily, even if it seems absolutely impossible to win. If I were a person who is prone to compromise and give up, I wouldn't have witnessed the 'Maddie moment' coming, and I wouldn't have been able to experience the joy of 22 consecutive wins, which should be the stubbornness of being a coach. ”

Yes, Van Gundy called Hornacek's gamble stubbornness, and stubbornness generally comes at a price.

Derrick Rose's return to the court did not bring fundamental changes to the Knicks, and Rose, who could not break through and kill the basket with all his strength, had a limited role, and the positional organization was his weakness.

The Knicks' offense was once again in a state of disorder, and the Celtics took the opportunity to slam the score, and the score was further stretched.

With five minutes left in the fourth quarter, the Celtics had an 18-point lead at 114-96.

It all seems to be over, Rose has exhausted his strength, Porzingis has run out of touch, and the Knicks are almost running out of ammunition. Seeing that time was running out and the main force was tired, Hornacek could only accept the fact of defeat. After a timeout, the Knicks' main players were all off the court, and the game went into garbage time.

Hornacek had no choice but to admit defeat, and the fans saw that the Knicks were gone, and gradually died down, the cheering stopped, the shaking placard board was gone, and some disheartened fans even chose to leave the game early.

Everything seems to be coming to an end, and the live broadcast room has begun to discuss the Knicks' future games, and the photographer is ready to shoot "All Beings" after hurriedly sweeping the audience. On the Celtics' side, Irving, Horford, Bradley and other leaders will all be off the court, and they will talk and laugh on the sidelines.

With 5 minutes to go, the game is already in garbage time.

There was a haze over the Madison Garden Arena.

Just when everyone was preparing for defeat, I don't know who was the first to shout "Roy is back", which caused another commotion.

Is Roy back? Roy is back!

It was really a thunderclap on the ground, and the Madison Garden Square Arena, which was already like a pool of stagnant water, suddenly burst into an uproar.

Roy is really back, and Roy on the big screen is also watching the big screen, and Roy can't help frowning when he sees the dazzling score.

Roy is really back, and his sudden appearance not only causes a commotion in the audience, but also startles Hornacek, who is already calm.

"Why are you back?" Almost every teammate and coach who saw Roy was asking this question, and it was simply impossible.

Roy pulled his body, still looking cold, "Needless to say, of course it's to win." ”