"Click...... "The entire Pacers' locker room was exceptionally quiet, except for Jim O'Brien's footsteps, only the breathing of the other players remained, and it was already a very difficult game for them.......

At halftime, the Nuggets led the Pacers by 14 points, 55-41. Inspired by a three-pointer at the end of the first quarter, the Pacers fought back at the beginning of the second quarter, but unfortunately, the cold hand made their comeback unsuccessful.

After losing by a full 15 points in the first quarter, and fighting hard in the second quarter to turn 15 points into 14 points, the Pacers' defensive holes allow the Nuggets to always find the most suitable offensive point, and then use their most powerful offense to directly penetrate the Pacers' defense.

Zhang Kong sat in front of his wardrobe, he was tired in the first half of the game, and he did not rest for even a minute in 24 minutes.

The entire first half was running back and forth, supplementing the inside line, supplementing the outside, supplementing the No. 1 position, the No. 3 position, the No. 4 position, the No. 5 position, all the positions on the Pacers court, except for the No. 2 position where Zhang Kong was standing, all the remaining positions needed to be supplemented.

And Zhang Kong still needs to attack on the offensive end, even if it is the opponent's head coach, George Karl can't help but be slightly moved when he looks at Zhang Kong's style of play, the Pacers face the Nuggets, which is in a disadvantageous situation across the board, if the hand is still there.

That's easy to do, you can play against the Nuggets, with Murphy's three-point cannon, coupled with Granger's accurate jump shot, the Pacers can't say that they don't have a chance, football is round, basketball is also round, naturally any game can be played.

But now, the Pacers' hand has dropped below freezing, and if it weren't for Zhang Kong's strings, the game might have been over long ago.

But even so, now that the Pacers are at halftime, they are still 14 points behind the Nuggets, and the second half is not easy to play.

Zhang Kong played half the court and has already scored 10 points, 3 assists and 4 blocks, but this does not mean anything, the team is too far behind, looking at the situation in front of him, Zhang Kong doesn't know what to say now, it is the responsibility of the head coach to boost morale.

Jim O'Brien is not a big coach in the NBA, but he has a lot of coaching experience, having served as an assistant coach in six different colleges, as well as a head coach in two colleges, as well as an assistant coach with the Knicks and Boston Celtics, and a head coach with the Philadelphia 76ers...... Now as the head coach of the Pacers, when it comes to age, the 58-year-old Jim O'Brien is not young, but he has not made any big waves in the league, and his coaching at the Pacers has also made the Sensible Club not very satisfied, if the Pacers are still like this this year, maybe this is his last year with Larry Bird in the Pacers, so they need to complete self-redemption.

Looking at the players in the locker room, Jim O'Brien didn't know what to say, at the beginning of the game, all the players were full of fighting spirit, but as the hand became cooler and colder, the shot could not be shot, the confidence was hit, the more the shot could not be made, the more confidence was hit, so a vicious circle was formed, the players kept wanting to attack, but the iron kept hitting, and the self-confidence continued to lose, if it wasn't for the empty whistle three-point at the end of the first quarter, the Pacers might have collapsed in the second quarterBut even if the Pacers don't collapse now, it's almost like they're about to lose the game.

Everyone has no fighting spirit anymore, even Jim O'Brien, he knows what to say now, but when the words come to his mouth, he doesn't know how to open his mouth, this is really a headache, he can only helplessly knock on the tactical board, waiting for the time to pass minute by minute.

"I've only signed a one-year contract with the team!" Just when everyone felt that they were about to give up this game, a voice suddenly sounded in the locker room, and when they heard this voice, everyone turned their eyes to Zhang Kong in the distance.

"I said that I only signed a one-year contract with the team, that is, this year, I am tied to the fate of the coach and the general manager, if I can't make the playoffs this year, I have to leave, the coach is estimated to leave the Pacers, and the general manager may also be fired! You may be thinking, what does this have to do with us? But I want to say, you're wrong, and it's all about you! Zhang Kong, who has never been very good at words, suddenly spoke, which was really a little surprising, and everyone in the locker room was looking at Zhang Kong.

At this time, it seems that it has nothing to do with boosting morale, and the more you say this, the more decadent it feels.

"There is a saying in our China, called a son of heaven and a courtier, to put it simply, under the leadership of Larry Bird and the coach, we will appear in the league with such a lineup, and if the coach is replaced by someone else, it is estimated that this lineup will come to an end, and it will be impossible for any of you to be sure that you have the right to start...... Especially Danny, don't be surprised, Danny, I think you already know that the team's top brass are unhappy with your performance! You're a lot like Iguodala of the 76ers, you can be a good player, but you can't be the commander of a team! If it weren't for Larry Bird who has been helping you with the thunder, maybe your position as the boss of the team would have been lost a long time ago, I'm not alarmist, and I don't care what you think of me and the team, I just need you to get out and get your lost fighting spirit back! It doesn't matter if you lose a game, but in order to make the playoffs, I need you to be a brave fighter and brave to face any enemy! Zhang Kong didn't say so much after he came to the team, and everyone didn't care about what Zhang Kong said at first, because in their impression, it had nothing to do with their position, but when Zhang Kong said that if they changed coaches, their position would be lost, their brows furrowed, especially Danny Granger, because he knew that the team's top management had wanted to sell him, but it didn't work out.

This season is not an ordinary season, nor is it a simple season, but a season of self-redemption for the Pacers, Larry Bird has to prove that his recruitment is not wrong, Jim O'Brien has to prove that his tactics are not wrong, Danny Granger has to prove that he has the temperament of a leader, if they can't prove this, then they will only face termination and trade, hearing Zhang Kong's words, the whole locker room is silent again, everyone is thinking about the problem in their own minds.

The current Pacers are not in a state of infighting, nor is it a time to fight for dominance, and if the team is really ready to rebuild and purge the whole team, 90 percent of them will be affected, and this is a scenario they don't want to see at all.

After the break, the Pacers still didn't say anything, but in the players' tunnel, Zhang Kong saw their eyes, which were a pair of eyes burning with fighting spirit, they could lose this game, but they couldn't lose the faith.

At the beginning of the third quarter, Nuggets coach George Carr felt that the Pacers in front of him were different from the first half, the second half just began, the Pacers' offense was extremely sharp, they no longer waited for an opportunity on the outside, let Zhang Kong break through the ball, but everyone began to attack with the ball, just like TJ Ford, who just broke into the interior at the beginning, And the successful jump shot, although he is still not on the right path with Zhang Kong, but he knows that if he wants to suppress Zhang Kong, it is impossible to rely on his previous methods, it doesn't matter if he doesn't pass the empty ball, but you need to throw the ball in, as long as you can score, no one will blame you.

In addition to TJ Ford, Granger also burst out of his due leadership temperament, followed Nene with nonsense, broke the ball of Nene alive or dead, and then handed a long pass to Zhang Kong, Zhang Kong was not greedy, but directly handed a back pass to TJ Ford's hand who had run to the position, the latter received the ball, scored directly on the layup, and at the beginning of the second half, TJ Ford scored four points in a row.

The difference between the two sides was instantly narrowed to ten points, and George Carr saw the change in the Pacers and didn't say much.

With a direct wave of his hand, the team's lineup changed again, since the offensive method of the interior line is no longer effective.

There is no need for him to hang himself from a tree, with a wave of George Karl's big hand, the Nuggets' offensive focus has changed directly from the inside to the outside, and Anthony has directly become the team's outside attacker, when it comes to Anthony's offensive ability, everyone has nothing to say, looking at Granger in front of him, Anthony did not bother too much to successfully break through his defense.

Straight inside, and at this time, TJ Ford, who came over to make up the defense, could only pull Anthony, although Anthony did not score, but he deceived the foul, this is the way the Nuggets play, when the team is at a low ebb, they always have someone to stand up.

That is, their free throw percentage is quite poor today...... However, in addition to the onslaught at the beginning, the Pacers' hand gradually cooled down, but although it was cold, they had successfully awakened their fighting spirit.

Since the outside line can't hit the inside line, and if the inside line can't hit, you have to interfere with the opponent, so that the opponent can't hit the ball!

In the third quarter, the Pacers played a 32-26 single-quarter score, and the 14-point gap before the first quarter became 8 points...... Ten minutes later, the Pacers still had a chance, and as the bell rang for the end of the third quarter, both sides retreated to the bench.

(To be continued)