The Knicks' last two opponents were the Indiana Pacers and the Miami Heat, because the Pacers suffered strong resistance from the Knicks and Grizzlies in succession, swallowing two consecutive defeats, and the Knicks came from behind, leaving only one win gap with the Pacers. Pen @ fun @ pavilion wWw. ｂｉｑUｇE。 ｉｎｆｏ

In the closing stage of the regular season, in addition to the strategic rotation of each team, the selection of the first round opponent of the playoffs is also a problem that the head coach needs to consider, after all, the NBA does have teams with similar style of play, just like the Rockets in the Yao Mai era and the Jazz during the Delon period, and the regular season record is also one of the reference factors, after all, it will cause psychological pressure on the players and the head coach.

If he could, Wang Zhuo would never want to meet the Cavaliers in the first round, although he encountered a change of coach, but the strength of this Cavaliers team is still not something that the Knicks can compete with.

The last win over the Pistons gave the Knicks the last ticket to the playoffs, and if they can beat the Pacers again, based on the regular season records between the two sides, the Knicks can jump to the seventh place in the East and successfully avoid the Cavaliers in the first round, of course, the head coach of the Pacers Vogel has the same idea.

Whoever can fight for the seventh spot will probably go further in the playoffs, so this encounter is once again a situation where Mars collides with Earth.

Wang Zhuo's original intention was to train the bench in the next two games and let the main players take a break, judging from the current situation, the rest can only be a luxury, but the main players have no complaints, because reaching the playoffs has been considered a success for the Knicks, and now they have the opportunity to go further, so why not fight hard.

It's like a siege war, where the Knicks want to take the city and the walkers have to defend the gates, and the end result is a battle of corpses and blood.

The game was played on April 10, New York time, at the Pacers' home bankers living arena (formerly the Conceco arena), stepping into the stadium, fans wearing Pacers jerseys were all over the corner, Wang Zhuo blinked his eyes, trying to adapt to the yellow theme of the bankers living arena.

The starting lineup of the Knicks remains the same, still Porzingis, Anthony, O'Quinn, Afflaro and Grant, Vogel has changed the starting lineup in a targeted manner, Ellis, Paul George, George Hill, Masimmy and Lavoy Allen, the purpose is obvious, with the best twin-tower tactics, to reproduce the suffocating defense, to contain the Knicks' running and bombing.

Vogel's tactical thinking had an immediate effect, and the Knicks' offense was fragmented, scoring only 40 points in the first half, most of which relied on individual ability, which was fatal to the Knicks, who finished the first half by 6 points behind the Pacers.

The atmosphere in the locker room was a little dull, and the players looked at Wang Zhuo, hoping that he could come up with a clever plan, but Wang Zhuo didn't say anything, his face was relaxed, and it seemed that the laggard was the Pacers, not the Knicks.

In fact, the difference of 6 points is almost negligible, for the Knicks, who are good at offense, Wang Zhuo did not pay attention to the problem that could be solved by just two three-pointers, and he already had a way to deal with it.

At the beginning of the second half of the game, the lineups of the two sides did not make any adjustments, the game went on in a step-by-step manner for 3 minutes, the difference between the points was neither narrowed, nor further opened, and then the Pacers attacked, Paul George missed a three-point jumper, Mashinmi grabbed the board out of bounds, and Wang Zhuo signaled the referee to pause.

"Cameron, you can rest!"

On the bench, Wang Zhuo said something that shocked all the players, including Anthony.

You must know that if it weren't for Anthony's explosion in the first half, I'm afraid that the point difference on the field would definitely be more than 10 points, and in their opinion, replacing Anthony now is tantamount to giving up the game in advance.

Anthony moved his lips and wanted to refute, but remembering the oath he had made in front of Wang Zhuo, he gritted his teeth, did not open his mouth, put on a long shirt, sat on the chair with his butt, and said nothing.

Wang Zhuo continued to remove Porzingis and replaced it with Derrick Williams and Calderon, so that the Knicks became Afflalo, O'Quinn, Grant, Calderon and Williams, almost a pure bench lineup.

Vogel understood Wang Zhuo's purpose for calling a timeout, but he didn't expect him to send a group of substitute players, and he couldn't figure out what Wang Zhuo wanted to do for a while, but he was sure that Wang Zhuo was by no means disarmed and surrendered in advance.

The Knicks then served the ball in the backcourt, with Grant holding the ball on the right side of the top of the circle over halftime, Calderon standing on the left side of the top of the circle, O'Quinn standing near the free throw line, and Afflaro and Williams standing outside the three-point line at a 45-degree angle on the left and right sides to form a 2-1-2 position.

Grant passed the ball to O'Quinn and then cut in through O'Quinn to the bottom left corner, where Calderon did the same, running to the right corner without the ball, while Afflaro and Williams simultaneously ran to the top of the circle to where Grant and Calderon were in their original positions.

"How is that possible?"

Vogel was familiar with the situation in front of him, and after a moment, it dawned on him that the Knicks were using the Princeton tactics that Adelman was best at, and he couldn't help but be surprised, after all, this kind of tactics of running back, cutting in the air, and running without the ball would make the Pacers, who were not very mobile, suffer a lot.

Sure enough, when O'Quinn passed the ball to Afflaro, Masimmi next to him was slightly stunned, O'Quinn had quickly cut into the basket, Afflalo threw high, and O'Quinn dunked with both hands.

Wang Zhuo has repeatedly pondered Princeton's tactical play, and has also tried to use it in the game, but at that time it was only a prototype and had not been perfected, so Wang Zhuo did not use it in actual combat.

Princeton itself is a civilian system, without a strong superstar, what is needed is a center with passing ability and a strong projection ability of players, the accumulation of battlefield training methods and run-and-gun tactics, the projection ability of Knicks players is completely fine, O'Quinn's passing ability has also been recognized by Wang Zhuo, and it is still improving, in the end, this civilian system is gradually taking shape under Wang Zhuo's training, and finally shines in this key matchup.

Relying on the power of the bench lineup, the point difference on the court was quickly smoothed out, Wang Zhuo knew that Princeton could only play a surprise effect, if it was used for a long time, the gap in the strength of the substitute players would be exposed, so when Vogel called a timeout to find a way to crack Princeton, he replaced Anthony and Porzingis, regained the run-and-gun tactics, and in the crucial third quarter, a wave overtook the score and widened to 10 points.

Relying on the steady play in the fourth quarter, the Knicks maintained their advantage until the end of the final whistle, and the yellow jerseys in the fan box of the Bankers Living Arena were completely solidified, and they were unwilling to accept the reality that the team was reversed.

However, it was all a foregone conclusion, and the Knicks relied on a dramatic victory to kick the Pacers behind them and successfully jumped to seventh place in the East.