Amid the media spotlight and the eager anticipation of the fans, players from both teams took to the field.

Today, the Knicks fielded a new starting lineup: point guard Rose, shooting guard Roy, small forward Arthur, power forward Porzingis and center Noah, and the three new brutalists to the team, Fared, Crowder and Brown all sat on the bench.

The Hawks, for their part, fielded their strongest five-man duo, point guard Schroder, shooting guard Bazemore, small forward Korver, power forward Millsap and center Howard.

In general, the two sides have a very similar configuration, the point guards are good at attacking the unconventional No. 1 position (Ross and Schroder), the shooting guards are all physical and skilled all-round scorers (Roy and Bazemore), the small forwards have a set of outside shots (Arthur and Korver), the power forwards are extremely versatile (Porzingis and Millsap), and the centers are also biased, both are strong defensive and weak offensive big guys, and both have won the league's best defensive players (Noah and Howard).

As soon as Brin and Fraser introduced Howard, the Hawks' No. 8 rookie, he walked over to greet the Knicks with a smile on his face.

Dwight Howard, who is one of the few optimists in the league and one of the most criticized players for wasting talent. Howard, nicknamed "The Monster", was hailed as an absolute superstar comparable to "Big Dream" Olajuwon in his early years, and could be replaced by LeBron James. But with his undisciplined and emotionally unstable life in recent years, Howard's stats and situation have deteriorated.

He has moved from team to team in five years, from the Magic to the Lakers, from the Lakers to the Rockets, and this year to his new club, the Hawks. He fell out with Kobe Bryant in five years, had a red face with Harden, and as for the management of the Magic, Lakers, and Rockets, he was also scolded by him.

Being traded all year round, changing teams all year round can only show one problem, Howard has a problem, Howard has a big problem, maybe it's his life habits, maybe it's his temper and character, or maybe it's his training attitude. In short, Howard is no longer the omnipotent "monster" he was back then.

The game is the only measure of a player's effort, and although Howard won the jump ball against Noah, his first offense was out of the ordinary: clumsy pace, awkward turns, stiff shots, and Howard's first turn-and-throw threw out a three-shot outside the basket with Noah's interference.

"Hahaha." The fans laughed, but Howard didn't care, he even stuck his tongue out at the camera.

Seeing this, Roy can understand why Kobe and Harden didn't like Howard back then, and if he put such a guy next to him who treats the game as a game and just wants to play happy basketball, he must not be able to stand it.

But while Howard's offense has degenerated into high school, his defensive deterrence remains, and the Knicks' first offense also misses, with Roy shooting wide in front of Howard's terrifying reach and bounce.

It's a pity that this guy's talent is a pity, a master duel, you can know how many pounds and taels the opponent is as soon as you take the pulse, for Howard, Roy really feels a pity. This arm span, this bouncing, this speed, this agility, if you practice well, then Howard will really not be inferior to "Big Shark" O'Neal.

But there is no regret medicine in the world. The Eagles' first point was scored by power forward Millsap, who scored two points for the Hawks with a solid mid-range shot.

Now if you compare him with Howard, it is really two extremes: Howard is the NBA draft champion, the much-anticipated superstar successor, who was favored by the team in every way when he debuted, and had a smooth journey, but in the second half of his career, he went from bad to worse due to his own reasons. And Millsap is only an inconspicuous player in the second round (47th), and he is likely to be among the crowd, but he started from the bench step by step, steadily improved, and finally broke out in the second half of his career and became an All-Star.

Yes, Millsap has no talent, all he has is hard work, so in the end, he counterattacked the talented Howard and became the Hawks' current leading scorer and de facto team boss.

Of course, when it comes to top-notch and hard-working players, the Knicks also have a pair on their side — Derrick Rose and Porzingis. Their connection immediately saved the Knicks two points, Rose flicked the ball into the air, the ball spared Millsap, who had just scored, and Porzingis took the ball and smashed it into the basket. Two extremely talented players scored in a simple way.

So, talent is just as important as hard work, right?

It's hard to say, sometimes it's hardworking and sometimes it's talent.

The first four minutes of the game were undoubtedly for hard-working players, and after Porzingis scored two points for the Knicks and opened the scoring, the Knicks suddenly fell into a scoring drought.

After a round of testing each other, the Eagles took the lead.

The Hawks sacrificed their offensive and defensive routines that they have honed in recent years, and the slightly young Knicks team on the court couldn't adapt to it all of a sudden.

The Eagles' defensive formation was airtight, and the five Eagles players on the court were as tightly knit as a precision instrument. That's what Budenhozer has done with the team for more than three years, and in fact it's one of the best things he learned from Popovich.

The essence of this defensive strategy learned from European basketball is that it requires an interior pillar (Duncan of the Spurs, Horford and Howard of the Hawks), as well as a group of role players who can execute tactically.

The Hawks' players were undoubtedly able to execute this tactic perfectly, and almost all of them were selected by Budenhozer according to the Spurs' personnel criteria (Budenhozer, like Popovich, was also the team's president and had the power to select players). Except for Howard, the other four players on the court are all players who are not high draft picks, but work extremely hard and know how to play team basketball.

Yes, hard work makes up for it, and the Eagles' excellent defensive ability is based on the wisdom of Budenhozer and the diligence of all the players on the team.

Facing a group of hardworking and dedicated team players can be a real headache. Roy spotted the problem right away, as every time he moved on the ball to the near three-point line, he was immediately caught by the opponent's two closest players, and when he chose to move the ball, the opponent's rotation defense was always one step ahead of him.

To break this tight defense like a machine, it takes absolute tacit cooperation, or super star individual ability, the former such as the Golden State Warriors, the latter such as LeBron James, anyway, the current Knicks team lacks these two weapons. The newly formed team is not to mention tacit cooperation, it is already good if it can not make mistakes, and as for individual ability, Roy is far from reaching James's ability to rush into the opponent's penalty area with a roar of pulling his chest hair.

It turns out that as long as Roy is blocked, more than 70% of the Knicks' offense will basically be paralyzed. But Roy really can't help the Hawks' efficient joint defense, it is even tougher and changeable than the "old Coach K" set of joint defense, and the only thing the Knicks can do now is to gamble on the outside, and the result can be imagined.

Under the Hawks' relentless defensive pressure, the Knicks scored a measly five points in the first four minutes, which made Hornacek embarrassed, and he called a timeout in the game.

"It looks like the reformed, young Knicks are in big trouble in the opening game, they face one of the best defensive teams in the league, and how to break down the opponent's joint defense looks like it's going to be a headache for head coach Hornacek for a while."

"Yes, this Hawks team is probably tougher overall defensively than the Boston Celtics and Cleveland Cavaliers that the Knicks have faced before, they have excellent defensive discipline, they rotate fairly quickly, and it's clear that they do a pretty good job of training."

"Speaking of tactical literacy, I have to mention the head coach of the Eagles, Budenhozer, who was the best coach in the league last year and was quite successful in coaching the Eagles. Looking at the game on the field, you can't believe that the current Hawks team is missing two main players, Al (Horford) and Jeff (Teague). As it turns out, the Eagles rely on a tactical system rather than star ability, and they are the true representatives of team basketball. ”

"Mike, what you said is so good, I really envy the Eagles for having such a good coach. Jeff (Hornacek), it's up to you now. ”

Look at mine? At this time, Hornacek was quickly drawing tactics on the tactical board. He is very helpless, the Knicks' current conventional tactics are only star singles (X**D tactics), and he has not practiced any run-and-shoot tactics and blocking tactics for a long time, and they are completely half-baked.

And like the Spurs, the Hawks don't give you a chance to get up at all, they're good at landing positions, running tactics, passing the ball to open space and then shooting. It takes at least one to two years of long-term training to develop a tacit understanding to crack such an insider, and it is too difficult for Hornacek, who has only been in charge for more than three months, to deal with the Eagles' style of play.

The conventional style of play seems to be unworkable, and you have to use some different means to surprise it, Huo Shuai glanced at the bench, and several substitutes were gearing up and eager to try.

"Kenneth (Farid), can you play the number three (small forward)?"

Hornacek suddenly had a strange idea, and he was ready to go against the rules, and when asked if he could play small forward, Farid looked confused.

"I played the number three position in high school, so I guess I can."

"Very good, we're going to change the way we play."