Adelman's brows on the sidelines furrowed tightly, and there were only two minutes left in the second quarter of the game, but the situation on the court did not change at all.

At 36:61, after entering the second quarter of the game, the Kings were not able to narrow the difference, but were stretched to 25 points by the opponent.

Compared with the first quarter, the second quarter of the Kings players have a recovery, they have scored 20 points in this quarter, however, they still have not been able to find the feel of shooting from the outside, in the second quarter, the Kings have 3 more shots outside the three-point line, but only 1 shot by Li Tian.

After realizing that his teammates were really bad in the game, Adelman put a special emphasis on positional defense and quick counterattacks at the start of the second quarter.

And this does give the Kings some offensive opportunities, which is why the Kings can still score 20 points in the past 10 minutes when the outside line is not open.

However, the Pelicans' offensive form today was just too good, as they shot 8-of-11 from beyond the three-point line, and many of them with the Kings defensively in place.

The starting five, including a player like Anthony Davis, who is not good at three-point shooting, was able to throw in threes, while Battery Ryan Anderson shot 4-of-5 from beyond the three-point line.

When the Pelicans were playing well from the outside, the Kings had to stretch their defense, which gave them more opportunities to attack on the inside.

In such a situation, even if the Kings were able to seize some opportunities to fight back, they were not able to stop the margin from widening.

At this time, it was the king's offense, and the Pelicans' retreat was very fast, which made the king, who was originally going to fight back, have to fall into a positional battle.

Evans controlled the ball to the halfcourt, after taking a look at the Pelicans' defense, he suddenly felt a headache, after seeing the king's poor shooting hand today, the Pelicans' five people all shrank, and at a glance the king's outside line was full of opportunities, but Evans didn't know where to pass the ball.

Signaling that Cousins was in the high post to receive the ball, Evans put the ball in Cousins' hands, and the three Kings players began to run aggressively at this time.

Li Tian, Evans, and Iguodala kept running across each other, trying to find opportunities to attack the basket directly, but they always couldn't succeed, except for Li Tian being followed more closely, the two players who defended Evans and Iguodala didn't run out at all, at most they just stopped after following the defense to the middle distance.

Seeing that the offensive time was ticking by, Evans ran again to Cousins' side to take the ball, and at the same time used Cousins' cover to shake off Holiday and cut to the basket.

Holiday was not in a hurry at this time, because under the basket, there were already three defenders standing at the moment, except for Gordon who was defending Li Tian on the outside, the other three teammates were near the restricted area.

Holiday was not unreasonable, Evans rushed into the three-second zone, the Pelicans' bag came immediately, and in desperation, Evans could only pass the ball to Iguodala who was in the open space outside the three-point line.

At this time, Iguodala was completely empty, and Aminu, who was defending him, did not even rush forward to defend, which made Iguodala have to choose to shoot.

However......

"Bang!"

"Damn, is this basket covered today?" After the basketball bounced out again, all the Kings players and coaches were muttering in their hearts at this time.

The box was packed with Pelicans players who allowed them to easily collect the rebounds, and all the Kings could do at this time was to quickly drop back.

After Holiday dribbled to the halfcourt, Anderson lifted the block, and Cousins was forced to pull to the high position.

Evans squeezed past Anderson to keep up with Holiday and Cousins also dodged a slight block, and after seeing that Evans was about to catch up again, he immediately rushed back towards Anderson.

But in such a little time, the basketball in Holiday has been passed back to Anderson.

And today's excellent outside shooting touch obviously made Anderson burst with confidence, although he saw that Cousins had rushed forward, but after receiving the ball, Anderson immediately jumped up and shot.

“SHI*TE！” Seeing this, Cousins raised his hand and rushed forward and swung towards Anderson.

"Tick!" "Bang!"

The two voices sounded almost at the same time, and Cousins' defense did miss Anderson's shot, but the referee's whistle also sounded at this time.

The batter fouled and Anderson made three free throws.

That round set the tone for the final two minutes of the first half, and in the final minute or so, the only point the Kings scored was Cousins' own foul on the inside, and then scored one point on one of two free throws, while the Pelicans hit another three-pointer by Holiday 10 seconds before halftime.

At 37:67, the first half of the game ended, and the difference between the two teams reached 30 points.

"The second half of the game has entered garbage time!"

"Looks like I'm going to have to leave early today."

…………

As the halftime whistle blew, Pelicans fans left their seats and chatted happily, and the team's huge lead of 28 points made them feel very relaxed as home fans.

Compared to the relaxed Pelicans fans, the whole Kings team is obviously not relaxed, and the players and members of the coaching staff enter the locker room with their faces not too good-looking.

Of course, there are also anomalies, and that is the head coach Adelman.

Once in the locker room, Adelman didn't look too ugly, didn't yell at the players, didn't even speak, didn't discuss anything with the assistant coach, just stayed quiet.

Such a scene made the atmosphere in the locker room weird, because all the Kings players thought that after half like this, Adelman would enter the locker room and say something, or set up a second-half counterattack strategy, but now, Adelman has done nothing.

At first, the Kings players thought that Adelman didn't think about what to say, or was thinking about the tactics of the second half, but after three minutes, Adelman still didn't make any moves.

"It looks like the coach has given up on this game." Many Kings players have such thoughts in their heads, and it is no wonder that they will think this way, when the team is so far behind, the coach does not arrange any tactics, and does not say any words of encouragement, except for giving up the game, they really can't think of why Adelman would do this.

With this in mind, the Kings players were no longer under pressure, and the atmosphere in the locker room suddenly became relaxed, and the players were only talking softly at first, and gradually, there was even some laughter.

Li Tian sat there, didn't talk to anyone, his eyes swept over Adelman from time to time, his eyes were full of doubts, 30 points behind at halftime, such a point difference is indeed very large, but after all, this is only half a game, and it is not time to give up the game, why would Adelman choose to do nothing?

Is Adelman really ready to give up? Li Tian doesn't think so, as a famous coach in the NBA, Adelman is extremely experienced, he should know very well that even if he is 30 points behind at halftime, it doesn't mean that the game is over, regardless of whether he can complete the reversal, but as a head coach, Adelman should not allow such a point difference after the whole game, Li Tian always feels that Adelman is brewing something.

Perhaps sensing Li Tian's gaze, Adelman's gaze swept over Li Tian meaningfully, which made Li Tian more and more convinced of his judgment.

Thinking of this, Li Tian withdrew his gaze and sat there quietly, knowing that if Adelman wanted to do something, he would definitely not wait until after halftime.

In this way, a third of the fifteen minutes of the intermission was passed, and Adelman, who had been seated, suddenly stood up with a serious expression.

"It's coming!" Seeing this scene, Li Tian realized that Adelman was finally about to start acting, and said secretly in his heart.

Adelman's standing figure immediately attracted the attention of some of the players, and when they found that Adelman's expression was extremely serious, they immediately stopped what they were doing and focused on the manager, and the rest of the players who were talking began to notice that something was wrong and also stopped talking.

"Say, why don't you keep talking?" Adelman's sudden roar startled the Kings players, and the locker room instantly became extremely quiet, and a pin drop could be heard.

"30 points! Trailing by 30 points at half-time, but look at what you're all doing, talking, laughing, whatever it is, if I had just come in here I'd think we're 30 points ahead. ”

"But what about the facts? You played like shit in the first half, and the shooting feel was left in the womb, and you only scored 37 points in the half, so that the guy on the opposite side scored 67 points in the two quarters, and someone laughed? ”

"Bastard! All thinking about the game ending quickly, it's just half time, half time you know? ”

"How many people just thought I was going to give up, and how many people had already given up in their hearts? They were able to lead us by 30 points at half-time, why can't we win them by 30 points or even 40 points in the second half? ”

………………

With Adelman's scolding, the Kings players lowered their heads one after another, and seeing this, Adelman stopped scolding.

In fact, Adelman was not angry at all, the reason why the difference in this game was so big after halftime, the poor feel of the players on the King's side and the Pelicans' offensive performance was the main factor, in fact, Adelman knew very well that in terms of technique and tactics, the Kings players did not make too many mistakes, and many times they had already played opportunities, but they just missed.

With such a huge point difference, it is not easy to recover it in the second half, and in addition to the technical and tactical arrangements, the most important thing is to stimulate the fighting spirit of the Kings players.

The Kings team had a poor record and didn't have many tough battles, but after this season's adjustments, the improvement in the record has left the team with a strong sense of satisfaction, which in Adelman's opinion is dangerous, and to change the atmosphere in the locker room, it will take a few tough games.

In Adelman's view, this game is just right, although the difference is very large, but the opponent's strength is not too strong, the opponent's hot hand in the first half he does not think can be extended to the second half, his team still has a chance, but the premise is that the Kings players have a strong desire to win and bring enough pressure to the Pelicans on the defensive end.

However, Adelman also knows that his players did not have much of a problem on the pitch in the first half, so it is difficult for him to motivate his players even if he wants to.

So at this time, he chose to remain silent, and his silence made the Kings players mistakenly think that they were going to give up the game, and finally gave Adelman a reason to be angry.

Adelman's plan proved to be successful, and after his wild shouting, the locker room suddenly became tense.

In the first half, his side couldn't shoot in the vacant position because of his bad hand, but the opponent's hand was hot and he couldn't prevent it, the Kings players had long been holding their breath in their hearts, and now they were yelled at by Adelman, and the Kings' players seemed to be holding a fire in their hearts.

"Defend! In the second half, we started from the defense, didn't they feel good, then they didn't even have a chance to shoot......"

Seeing that the heat was almost over, Adelman picked up the tactics board and began to lay out the tactics for the second half, while he focused on defense.

The Pelicans felt too good in the first half, after a half-time break, if his team strengthens its defense, Adelman does not believe that the opponent can still maintain such a high shooting rate, and once the opponent's shooting rate comes down, the King's opportunity will come, and he is still very confident in his team's counterattack ability.

"Be careful to keep the pressure on the defensive end, don't give the opponent a chance to take a shot calmly, and then take every opportunity to play a counterattack, in the third quarter, I want to see their low shooting percentage, if someone who is not active in defense gives them a chance to score easily......"

"For the next ten games, he won't get a minute of playing time!"

In the end, Adelman's voice suddenly raised, and every King player tightened up after hearing this, and they could hear it, Adelman was going to move seriously. Sitting on the cold bench for ten games, which they would not want to do as the main rotation players anyway.

Seeing the reaction of the Kings players, Adelman was very satisfied, and continued to yell: "All go warm up and get your damn touch back!" ”

After Adelman yelled this, the Kings players rushed to the locker room as if they were on fire in their butts.

"Boss, your method has worked, and these boys are holding their breath in their hearts."

After all the players left the locker room, Elson Turner, the head assistant coach who knew Adelman well, said to Adelman.

Adelman's serious expression disappeared on his face, and he nodded slightly: "This is what I want to see, we need to let these little guys learn not to give up in adversity, let's go, prepare for the second half of the game, those guys on the other side may not be too comfortable next." ”

'Yes, we need some tough fights for our team. Speaking of this, Turner hesitated for a moment before continuing: "Boss, do you think the team can still turn this game around?" ”

Adelman glanced at Turner and didn't answer directly, but asked rhetorically, "Why not?" ”

With that, Adelman walked out of the locker room first.

Turner shrugged his shoulders and muttered as he walked out of the locker room, "Okay, let's see if these lads are tenacious." ”

…………

Because of the delay in the locker room, the warm-up time of the Kings players was not too long, and the second half of the game began quickly, and the Kings took the lead.

Maybe it's because the team is too ahead, or maybe it's because a lot of people have not had time to come back when they go to buy food, and the position on the sidelines is still very empty, plus the difference between the two teams is too big, and most of the fans are chatting very easily, making the game look very informal.

However, the Kings players took it very seriously at this time, and after Evans dribbled to the halfcourt, he found that the Pelicans' defense was a little lax, and immediately dribbled and rushed inside.

The Pelicans' players were not timely in their defense, and it was extremely rare for the Kings players to get such a one-on-one opportunity when attacking the basket, and Evans was directly squeezing Holiday to force a layup.

However, luck still didn't seem to be on the King's side, and after the basketball hit the rebound, it bounced off the basket again.

The ball returned to the Pelicans' hands, after coming to the half, the Pelicans obviously felt that the King's defense was improved compared to the first half, everyone was tightly held by the King's players, and when the ball returned to Holiday again, the dribble turned outside the three-point line for 6 or 7 seconds, but Holiday was stunned and did not find a chance to pass.

After Anderson ran outside the three-point line, Holiday put the ball in Anderson's hands to transition, but soon Anderson found it difficult to get the ball back into Holiday hands, Cousins directly stuck to Anderson's side after receiving the ball, and Evans was also close to Holiday in the opposite position, not giving the Pelicans starting point guard a chance to receive the ball.

Seeing that the offensive time was decreasing a little, Anderson had no choice but to shoot the ball from outside the three-point line against Cousins.

"Bang!" Cousins' defense apparently put Anderson under enough pressure as the ball slammed into the basket and bounced high on the neck, and Jason Thompson and Iguodala immediately got stuck inside ready to grab the rebound.

"Coax!" However, immediately after, the scene was completely drowned out by cheers, and the bounced basketball slammed into the front of the rebound, and actually fell into the basket, and the Pelicans hit another lucky three-point shot.

The Kings finally found out that even luck seemed to be on the opposing side, and they attacked again, Jason Thompson was whistled for a covering foul, and in turn, although they defended the Pelicans' first-round offense, Cousins hit the ball out of bounds when they were scrambling for a rebound. Got another offensive opportunity, Gordon on the Pelicans' side, under Li Tian's defense, shot once again and hit the basket and rolled into the basket, another balloon.

"Tick!"

Adelman called a timeout when Cousins missed a shot and was whistled for a foul on Thompson defending Anthony Davis on the other end.

At 37:74, Davis hit both free throws, and the difference had widened to 37 points at this time.

However, as if he didn't see that the margin had been widened to a figure that looked completely impossible to reverse, Adelman called out a brief call, replaced Jason Thompson, who was on the back of four fouls, with Middleton, and then shouted with a tactical board:

"Very good! The defense just now did a very good job, they relied on luck to hit two goals, however, Lady Luck will not be on their side all the time. DeMarcus, you defend Anthony Davis, Andre, stick to the opposing big man pitcher and don't make his shot too comfortable. ”

"Rebound! Players close to the basket must take care to protect the rebound and then take the opportunity to counterattack! ”

"Give me the strongest energy, if you can't do it, we have enough people on the team, I don't mind having one of you sit on the bench for ten or twenty games!"

In the end, Adelman once again roared coldly, so that the Kings players did not dare to relax in the slightest.

Adelman used a big and four small lineup, with Cousins playing against Anthony Davis, who was closer to the basket, and Iguodala going against Ryan Anderson.

The Kings' adjustment didn't attract the attention of the Pelicans, who were now leading too much, and on the sidelines, some fans who had just returned to the audience were laughing and shouting:

"Oh, I was just a few minutes late, 37 points ahead, ha, we scored twice as many points as each other."

"It seems that I made a mistake by choosing to come back, and there is nothing to see in the garbage time that follows."

…………

Amid the laughter of Pelican fans, the game resumed.

The Kings' offense, after Adelman's cynicism and threat, despite the 37-point pit in front of the Kings players, to be exact, a sinkhole, the five people on the court were still scrappy!

It's just that the whole Pelicans team and fans don't realize what will happen next.

(PS: The two-in-one chapter, the foreshadowing is complete, and the climax is coming!) ）