The Knicks' best sixth man has been very good in the playoffs, and Crawford knows that he will not stay with the Knicks next season, and the Knicks are very likely to trade him out in order to free up salary space in 2010. So this playoff is the best way for him to get a big contract, and only if he has a good performance in the playoffs, he can find a 10-million-level contract when his contract expires.

It's a pity that Crawford is limited by his personal ability, and the defensive end is only at the bottom of the league's mid-level at most, and he has enough flexibility, but the lack of strength and defensive skills, as well as the congenital lack of defensive awareness, affect his defensive ability, especially against players like Ray Allen, speed and awareness are the two main things, and the latter is precisely his biggest shortcoming.

Charles. Barkley said after Ray Allen's goal: "Crawford's contract was a team option in 2010 and there are a lot of teams interested in the best sixth man, and the Knicks could trade him this summer for interior players like Steve. Nash, and Bunny's compatriot Yao Ming. ”

Kenny. Smith laughed: "I don't think the Knicks need to trade the Sixth Man of the Year, they can sign Crawford on a Bird clause in 2010, and then empty the junk contract, sign two more All-Stars, and then the championship is just around the corner." ”

Charles. Barkley couldn't help but envy: "Under normal circumstances, under the NBA's salary cap and luxury tax restrictions, a team can get up to three All-Stars of the year of play, but if there is a perversion like the red rabbit, then the real F4 or even the Big Five can appear." ”

Kenny. Smith thought of an F4 that could appear for the Knicks. Equally excited: "Yes, the Knicks are not afraid of the luxury tax, and they have a chance to make a real F4. Even the Big Five, I think Gerald. Wallace and Jamal Crawford could well be counted as a half-giant. ”

Zhang Yu received the serve and began to dribble forward.

The Celtics didn't change on the offensive end, but the defensive end made a layout today.

Coach Rivers is a good coach, and the last half of the last game showed him the danger inside, so he hasn't been idle for the past two days. Thibodeau deduced together. Discuss how to deal with the Knicks' final half of the quarter.

One simulated the Knicks offense and the other simulated the Celtics defense, and the two worked together to guess D'Antoni's setup by seven or eight points.

So the first round. Zhang Yu was in trouble.

The Celtics reduced the pressure in the first two games, appropriately retracted the outside defense, and chose to actively give up a certain amount of outside defense and pressure on the ball to enhance their supplementary defense and co-defense intensity. Increase your team's ability to rotate and break the ball.

To put it simply. It is said that it has increased the defense of other players of the Knicks, and at the same time strengthened the steal of the Knicks' passes, and appropriately reduced the pressure on Zhang Yu. The Celtics coaching staff knows that their previous arrangement has been used for two consecutive games, and the Knicks coaching staff should have thought of a way to crack it, and if they can't make changes in time, they will definitely fall into passivity in the third game.

Thibodeau was an assistant coach for the Rockets and a shooting coach for Yao Ming. The Rockets' excellent defense is a great credit. Thibodeau was the head coach of the Rockets Summer League from the start of the 04-05 season. Thibodeau led the Rockets to a winning record in the Summer League for the second year in a row. In the 10 games he coached, the Rockets had a 10-0 record, and many teams in the league have long wanted to hire him as head coach.

The Celtics' excellent defensive system, which was almost single-handedly built by Thibodeau, has once again proven himself in the Green Shirts, and it is now certain that Thibodeau, who has been an assistant coach for 17 years, will become the head coach of a team after his contract with the Celtics expires.

Zhang Yu felt a lot less pressure on the outside than in the previous two games, so he tried to dribble and break through, but just got into the 18-foot range of the basket, and the resistance he encountered was immediately higher than the previous game.

"Is this a dog beating?"

Zhang Yu's poor vocabulary only thought of these four words, and then reacted, isn't this TMD scolding himself?

"It should be a turtle in an urn!"

Zhang Yu was surrounded by the Celtics on the flank, and a full three Green Shirts surrounded him, and the attack ended in a goal-conceded error.

D'Antoni frowned on the sidelines as the Celtics' defensive set-up changed, and they now relaxed their perimeter defense appropriately and shrunk the encirclement position to the high post.

"Can you use three points against them?"

Zhang Yu and D'Antoni both thought of this solution, the Celtics shrank the defense to a high position, and there were enough shooting openings outside the three-point line, even without any triangles, the Knicks could find a lot of three-point shooting opportunities on the outside. At this time, it is their three-point shooting ability that will be tested, and once the shot is accurate, the Knicks can shoot the Celtics alive!

There are pros and cons to the Celtics' shrinking defence, the upside is that their mid-range and interior defense are more solid, and as long as Zhang Yu breaks through, he will be more tightly packed. The disadvantage is that once the opponent blasts away from beyond the three-point line, it will be in a dilemma.

The Knicks made frequent shots from beyond the three-point line in the first quarter, and the score was 24-24, and the two teams were tied.

In the first quarter, the Knicks shot well from outside the three-point line in the first quarter, and three of their six jumpers from 18 feet out, plus they fought several fast-break counterattacks, and the Celtics were evenly matched in the first quarter.

Zhang Yu got 6 points, 2 rebounds and 2 assists in the first quarter, Crawford scored 7 points, Wallace scored 5 points, and the Knicks shot three muskets outside, and they all played their normal level today.

"That's not enough, just relying on outside shooting, it's like relying on the sky to eat, luck can only help them for a while, there are three quarters left, there is always bad luck or when the hand feels cold, you must strengthen the breakthrough!"

Zhang Yu knows what problems his team encounters, it is difficult to win even a game in the playoffs by relying on outside shooting, but it is really difficult for him to break through to the basket and score by himself.

In the second quarter, the Knicks players usually feel the most accurate quarter of the game, so Zhang Yu, Crawford, Wallace and small potatoes, these four muskets broke out together, the firepower was so ferocious, the Celtics' defense couldn't bear it, and the Knicks used three points and long-range shots to break through the defense.

At halftime, the score was 56:50, the first time the Knicks had led that much at halftime.

The home atmosphere at Madison Square Garden was particularly strong today, and the home fans cheered wildly, allowing the Knicks to score 32 points in a single quarter, which was the highest score in a single quarter of the series for the Knicks.

At the end of the first half, for the Knicks, Zhang Yu had 15 points, 3 rebounds and 3 assists, Crawford 12 points, Wallace 12 points and 5 rebounds, Nate Robinson 6 points, David Lee 5 points, and Kenyon Martin 4 points.

The top scorer for the Celtics was Kevin. Garnett, the Wolves had 13 points and 6 rebounds, Pierce 10 points, Ray Allen 9 points, Rondo 8 points and 5 assists, and Big Baby 6 points.

At halftime, D'Antoni did not have the slightest joy of leading in the locker room, and the team was so accurate in the second quarter that it was likely to overdraft the character of the entire game in advance. The Yankees don't have the word "character", they call it luck, the luck of a game is limited, and in the second half, after their team fell in the body, they just expected to die ugly.

"David, step up your offense on the inside, we need to score in the paint."

In the locker room, the mustache told the players to have a chance to play more inside in the second half, and David Lee and Kenyon Martin's blocking and pick-and-roll cooperation must be playful, just like in the regular season, walking on one leg alone can't go to the end.

The two teams fought again in the second half, Zhang Yu dribbled forward, and the Knicks did not change the starting lineup in the second half, which was still the same: Zhang Yu, Crawford, Wallace, Kenyon Martin, David Lee.

The Knicks regular season is often David Brown. Lee and Kenyon. Martin takes turns with outside players, especially Zhang Yu, to play blocking and dismantling, which is also the best way for the mustache to play, and the blocking and dismantling coordination is one of the sharpest weapons to pinch and die.

But the New Yorkers have used that kind of coordination less often in the playoffs, especially in this series. Martin faced Garnett's defense, and after covering it, this attack pattern was basically not a threat. The Green Shirts have two tall and strong interior combinations of Garnett and Perkins under the basket, and Kenyon who doesn't have the ability to shoot from mid-range. Martin is in a very awkward position, his attack lacks variety, making it very easy for defenders to judge, Perkins to the basket, dare to jump and kill you!

Once again, the veteran regretted that he hadn't honed his mid-range shooting, and that his two finals were limited by his opponents because of his single attack.

D'Antoni made an adjustment to this, with the team's pick-and-roll coordinated by David Lee, who took cover and pulled down the wings in the middle distance. At this time, Kenyon Martin cut to the basket at the same time, waiting for the opportunity to catch the ball and dunk, which has a greater effect of mobilizing the Celtics' interior defense, regardless of whether Kenyon Martin is useless or not, just so that the opponent can't focus on Zhang Yu and David Lee.

In this way, after Zhang Yu breaks through with the help of the pick-and-roll, he has four options, he can pass David Lee to the mid-range, Kenyon Martin to the air relay, his own mid-range shot, or to the outside of Crawford and Wallace.

The playoffs are all about change, and the more teams change and the more points they can choose, the more they can't be prevented. Even Kobe Bryant and James can be targeted in the playoffs for the whole game, and the Flyer Jordan can't win the championship without the support of Pippen and Rodman, which fully illustrates the truth of three gangs of a good man. (To be continued......)