The Pelicans protected the rebounds, and the Hornets retreated very quickly, and they did a lot of work against the Pelicans.

The Pelicans' fast break didn't come out, but at this time the Pelicans were not in a hurry to play fast-paced, and it was obviously more beneficial for the Pelicans to play a slow pace today.

The Pelicans steadied themselves in the Hornets half, at which point Adrian Griffin said:

The Hornets didn't score any points on it, and the Pelicans were prepared for Henderson's defense. It is still very difficult for the Hornets to rely on their individual ability to score points. ”

Henderson didn't score either, and it did have a big impact on the Hornets' offense. In this way, the Hornets made a move except for McKekie, who didn't make a move.

The Pelicans are in the Hornets' half, and the offensive options are very different, the Hornets start attacking from the outside, but the Pelicans continue to attack from the inside.

Playing to open up space, the basketball still passed to Al Jefferson, who just made a hard top with Biyombo, and felt that he was not sure, so he took the ball and turned around, spying on the step, and got up and threw a mid-distance.

Al Jefferson's set of offensive moves is still very in place, opening up the space, Biyombo also has no way to take Al Jefferson, Al Jefferson turns and shoots.

"Huh!"

The Pelicans were 6-0 and had a six-point lead over the Hornets in the opening game.

The Hornets were beaten like this, and it was completely different from what they thought before the start of the game, today's game was not a fierce attack, only iron-blooded defense and an inside meat grinder, the game was ugly, and it was not in the rhythm of the Hornets at all.

The Hornets could only hit McKekey at this time, which was their only hope, so at this time the Hornets immediately called a McKekey tactic.

McKeggie, covered by his teammates, walked around the interior and finally got the basketball on the wing.

But McKekey only got the basketball on his side, and Li Feng immediately defended McKekey, and at the same time, Gasol, who was behind him, also blocked McKekey's breakthrough route. This style of defense is similar to that of Henderson.

McKekey saw this and immediately adopted the offensive style he does best.

Use your shoulders to push forward and push Li Feng hard. Try to open up some space and go straight to the jumper. But at this time, Li Feng stuck to McKeeki's body, and with McKeki's strength, he couldn't resist Li Feng at once.

McKekey can't push Li Feng up, there is no space, there is no way to shoot without space, McKekey was pushed in front of Li Feng, he could only choose to break through the frame to play.

But McKekey's breakthroughs were all forcible breakthroughs, not speed-type breakthroughs, he forcibly squeezed Li Feng in one step, and Li Feng's body was still not lost to McKeeky. McKekey was slightly delayed by Li Feng, and the space under the basket was blocked by Gasol.

Gasol blocked in front, Li Feng interfered on the side, and McKekey forced a layup but missed.

This time the Hornets are in big trouble, Henderson can miss, Kemba Walker can also miss, but once McKekey misses as the main scorer, the damage to the team's confidence is huge, and the Hornets did not hit a single ball in the first 2 minutes.

The Hornets were suddenly a little flustered. Because McKekey completely blew up the Pelicans' defense in the regular season before, but now it's so hard to play one, it completely makes people feel suffocated.

Today, the Pelicans' defense and tactics made the Hornets feel suffocated.

The Pelicans grabbed the rebound. With the ball or an unhurried offense, the Pelicans are determined to delay the tempo today.

In the Hornets' half, the Pelicans continued to hit the Hornets' interior, and Gasol forced Cordillezer under the basket.

Gasol has another bit of a strong ability to play under the basket. But it's not very strong, and now Cordilezer is also furious when he is defended by the Pelicans, and Cordilezer is stuck in the main position under the basket. Gasol misses a shot under the basket.

The Hornets finally succeeded in defending once, and the game became a defensive intensity.

Seeing that the match was about to turn into hand-to-hand combat, Kemba Walker immediately realized that he had to do something.

Kemba Walker came up at this time and immediately commanded his teammates to open up the space, and he once again turned his back to force a single shot to Knight.

But the pelicans won't be restrained! Once Kemba Walker's back attack came up, the Pelicans immediately wrapped up Kemba Walker, and Al Jefferson didn't care about Byowermbo behind him and directly wrapped Kemba Walker.

Kemba Walker is very experienced, and when he saw that the opportunity came, he immediately passed the ball to Biyombo, but this passing route, Li Feng kept watching, as soon as the basketball came out, Li Feng immediately rushed over, and a fish jumped and pointed the basketball into Gasol's arms.

The Pelicans once again disrupted the Hornets' offense, and the Hornets haven't made a single successful offense since the start of the season.

In this case, once the Hornets' opening offense is not played well, the morale will be greatly reduced.

Today's opening for the Pelicans, so that more than half of the goal was achieved.

Playing well defensively and coming up offensively, the Pelicans continued their slow-paced offense.

It's just that this time it was Li Feng who attacked, Li Feng took the ball on the flank, and directly hit McKekey with his back.

McKee was very unhappy with Li Feng's defense before, and at this time he was also desperately defending against Li Feng.

Li Feng and McKeki have their own strengths and weaknesses in terms of physical elements, but they are different in the basketball realm, once Li Feng is dominated by McKekika here, seeing that the other party is also wrapped up by himself, Li Feng is Gasol who immediately passed the ball and pulled it out to the bottom line.

Gasol made a small mid-range shot from the bottom line, a simple hit.

At the beginning of the game, the Pelicans beat the Hornets an 8-0, but the Hornets still did not score, and the Pelicans kept fighting with the Wasps, and the Hornets were already in a quagmire.

At this time, Chuck Horford had nothing to say, but Adrian Griffin said happily: "The Pelicans have adopted the right tactics, and their defense is very team-oriented, and the defense of the whole team is very well designed, and they also gave the opponent a lot of physical pressure, taking advantage of the weakness of the Hornets' weak offensive ability on the inside.

The Hornets have not broken the Pelicans' defensive routine so far, which proves that the Pelicans' defense, as well as the tactics, are effective, and in the short term, the Hornets have no way to break this defensive tactic. ”

When Adrian Griffin said this, Chuck Horford finally couldn't bear it anymore and said:

"The Pelicans are just catching the Hornets off guard right now. I'm sure the Hornets can figure it out, they have a great point guard Kemba Walker, and that's going to be a problem. ”

When Chuck Horford and Adrian Griffin were arguing, Yang Yi on the domestic side was also happy and said:

"The Pelicans got off to a fantastic start, and more importantly, the Pelicans completely controlled the pace of the game, and the Pelicans made the game fast and the game slow, and the game slow. This is a real kind of domination. ”

The wasp was suppressed by the pelican into such a state, and the wasp had to say that there was no hurry. That's impossible.

The Hornets were in the Pelicans' half again, and they were already a little out of their mind, and McKeggie got the basketball near the three-point line.

After getting the ball, it was clearly sticking to Li Feng's body, he still forced a three-point shot, McKekey's three-point shot was thrown, but he didn't have the right head at all, and he hit the rebound very much.

Both McKekey and the Hornets were beaten in a bit of a hurry, and they were beaten out of order, when the Hornets were in a mess of mind.

Gasol grabbed the rebound and turned around and passed to Li Feng. Li Feng took the ball at this time and suddenly accelerated towards the half court of the Hornets.

Before, the Pelicans were slow-paced, but now once the pace is pulled up, the Hornets are first unprepared, and second, their mentality is chaotic. The Pelicans caught the Wasp on the gap. Li Feng took the ball and rushed to the half court of the Hornets at once.

On the Hornets side, when McKekey and Henderson came together to intercept Li Feng, Li Feng turned around and made a small ground pass, and the basketball went directly to Knight, who followed up, and Knight took the ball up and shot a three-pointer.

"Brush!"

Knight's three-pointer also hit. At this moment, the Wasp's heart was cold, and his offense couldn't be opened, and his defense couldn't be prevented. It's a low post, and it's a fast-break three-point game, and all the sharp wasps before the start of the game are gone.

The Hornets didn't score a single point in the first four minutes of the game today, and they were given 11 points by the Pelicans. This fact is simply brutal, and it seems to speak of the huge gap between the first record in the league and the ninth record in the East.

The wasps are now traumatized mentally and physically, so they have to call a timeout again.

And when the Pelicans called a timeout at this time, they were greeted by cheers from the audience.

Called a timeout, Steve Clifford mentally understood that today was in trouble, very trouble.

Both teams will definitely grasp each other's shortcomings and make adjustments, but there are few Pelicans like today, the first game was adjusted so big, so violently, directly targeting the Hornets' lifeline, this is the rhythm of the dead hand when it comes up, and there is no temptation at all.

It's very difficult to adjust on the pitch for this kind of fundamental adjustment, which requires at least a long adjustment period, but now the Hornets have to adjust, and if they don't adjust, the Hornets will die, and they will be slaughtered in the first half.

And the Hornets have to make means from the root of their own offense if they want to adjust, and the Hornets' offense has always relied on individual offense, which is why the Pelicans can calmly defend as a team. At this point, the Hornets have to change this offensive habit to break down the Pelicans' defense, but the Hornets have been playing like this for years, and it is possible for them to change it in tens of seconds?

The power of habit is so strong that although the Hornets have arranged the team's offense, the Hornets players are always unconsciously out of shape and return to their old ways in the actual execution process, so that the scoring efficiency of the Hornets is still extremely low.

Compared with the Hornets, Daigo has full psychological and tactical preparation for this kind of hand-to-hand combat, so the Pelicans' offense is still stable, and the defense is still ruthless.

At the end of the first quarter, the Pelicans bloodied the Hornets 21-8.

At the end of the first quarter, the Hornets completely extinguished the fire and were beaten like this, and the only one who the Hornets could hold up psychologically was Kemba Walker.

Because in fact, Henderson and McKekey are both players who play downwind, and neither of them has a strong ability to go against the wind.

The Hornets were defeated at the beginning and had no ability to resist at all, and the Hornets did encounter great difficulties psychologically.

At this time, Chuck Horford was also dull: "The result of the game was quite unexpected, and I think the Hornets are still not ready. ”

When Chuck Horford said this, Adrian Griffin said:

"But I think the Pelicans are very well prepared. So far, it has perfectly targeted all aspects of the Hornets, and judging from the current situation, as long as the Pelicans themselves do not make major mistakes, the Pelicans will win today. ”

Unexpected. This time Chuck Horford didn't say anything back.

On the domestic side, Yang Yi was also more pleased and said:

"The Pelicans basically won the game today because now the Pelicans have dominated the rhythm of the game. And most crucially, the Pelicans have seized the main way to subdue the Hornets, and as long as the Pelicans' defense is maintained, the Hornets have no chance of winning. ”

Yang Yi said this a bit too categorically, and the Yu family on the side also expressed doubts:

"The Hornets are a killer! Don't they have a chance after that? ”

Yang Yi pondered for a moment at this time before saying, "The Wasp is indeed a strong team!" But the Hornets are also a very characteristic team. When the Hornets are strong, it is when their offense is opened, and when the Hornets' offense cannot be opened, especially if they are not fast for a long time, all aspects of the Hornets will be affected. ”

"So, the Hornets really need to use offense to drive the whole team. Now once the Pelicans fully defend, the Hornets' grade is directly reduced. To play the Hornets, you must grasp the key link of defense. ”

When the Hornets returned to the court in the second quarter, there was actually only one thing they could count on, which was to see if the Pelicans' defense was loose, and once the Pelicans' defense was loose, the Hornets took the opportunity to play a wave and break the shackles.

But today, the Pelicans came up in the second quarter, and it was clearly not aimed at not letting the Hornets score, the Pelicans were just to prevent the Wasps from dying. Not allowing the Hornets to come up comfortably, the Pelicans' defensive intensity has not decreased, but has become stronger, not giving the Hornets any chance. It's purely to find awkwardness for the wasps, and not to make the wasps happy at any time and place.

This kind of bad battle against the wind ball is definitely not what the Hornets are good at, and the Hornets are getting worse and worse in the second quarter. The Pelicans came to the game and took pleasure in defense, and the first half ended with the Pelicans leading the Hornets by 20 points.

The score difference is getting bigger and bigger. The Pelicans are getting cooler and cooler, and the Hornets are getting more and more depressed.

In the second half of the game, the Hornets could only count on the Pelicans to slack off first, but the Pelicans did not make this mistake, so the Hornets were pressed by the Pelicans from the beginning, from the first half to the second half, from the opening to the end, the Hornets were not tempered by the Pelicans at all.

At the end of the game, the Pelicans beat the Hornets by 24 points to beat the Hornets 98-74, and slaughtered the Hornets.

After playing the Hornets, there are not many games left in this season, the Pelicans lost two games because they stabilized the first place in the West and the first place in the league, and lost two games, and the last game, the regular season finale, the Pelicans' opponent was the Grizzlies.

Van Gundy can't be hidden in this game, as the Grizzlies are also strong this year and a potential obstacle for the Pelicans in the playoffs.

The Pelicans' starting lineup was steady, with point guard Knight, scoring guard Roten, small forward Li Feng, power forward Al Jefferson, and center Pau Gasol.

The Pelicans' starting lineup is not sharp, but it is stable, and the run-in time is also long, and it can cope with various situations.

Compared to the Pelicans, the Grizzlies have a lineup of point guard Conley, scoring guard Tony Allen, small forward Jeff Green, power forward Zach Randolph, and center Mark Gasol.

The Grizzlies are also one of the few team basketball teams in the league where everyone has sacrifices, everyone has a clear division of labor, just do one or two things they are good at, and leave the rest to their teammates. This kind of team is bound to be very united, because everyone is kneaded into the whole team by the coach as a part, and this kind of team is bound to do well, because they always prioritize efficiency.

But as a player, or as a star, there are definitely huge limitations in this kind of team.

At the beginning of the game, Gasol lost to his younger brother Gasol Jr. as a matter of course, and Mark Gasol pointed the basketball to his teammate's side, and shouted at Gasol, which made Gasol a little uncomfortable, but he didn't expect the other party to be so excited.

It's hard for the team to win the title. What he brings to the team is a will to compete.

Conley took the ball, and the Grizzlies opened with a high post strategy, Conley held the ball at the top of the arc alone, Jeff Green quickly slipped the baseline, and the remaining three players stood in a row at the free throw line.

The Grizzlies are a very shot-oriented starting game, because the goal of this tactic is to open the low post, whether it's three players pulling up or Jeff Green's off-ball. There is only one goal to clear the space under the basket.

The so-called sound is striking, I pull the high position and slip the bottom line are fake, and it is only true when I pull the basket.

Sure enough, the Pelicans' attention shifted slightly to the upper line, and Tony Allen suddenly turned his ass and rushed under the basket.

Conley caught the timing just right, threw the basketball into it with a counter-tune, Tony Allen took the ball and raised his hand under the basket to make a feint, deceiving the Pelicans two players, at this time Randolph outside followed up from behind, and Tony Allen passed the ball to Randolph. Randolph scored two points with an easy throw.

At the beginning, the Grizzlies played a very team offense, the team's style of play was clear, the tactical execution was strong, and the finishing ability was no problem, which completely reflected the Grizzlies' overall fighting style.

The Grizzlies took the lead, and when the Pelicans came over with the ball, Knight was only past halftime, and the Celtic Fever took the initiative to put pressure on the Pelicans on defense first.

Conley mentioned that the outside was pressing Knight, while Tony Allen on this side interfered with Li Feng's catch. In this way, Knight has no way to pass the basketball to Li Feng according to his habit, and can only pass the ball to Al Jefferson who pulls out.

Al Jefferson took the ball with Tony Allen coming to defend, and the flexibility of this step was much worse, and Al Jefferson dribbled to the side and threw a shot into the middle distance.

The Pelicans didn't complete their offensive mission in the opening game. The Grizzlies' defensive strategy is also clear in this round.

The Grizzlies' defense is to contain Li Feng, prevent the Pelicans from moving smoothly as a whole, and let Al Jefferson play alone.

The Grizzlies also understand that you have to defend the Pelicans. inevitably had to give up part of the position, and in the end, the Grizzlies chose to give up Al Jefferson and stop the Pelicans' team run and Li Feng's touch.

Li Feng also raised his eyes. I understood what the grizzly bear was thinking. He immediately went over to communicate with Roten and offered to defend Tony Allen.

Sure enough, the Grizzlies really opened today to Tony Allen, the team came over and pulled away the free throw line to the top of the arc, Conley passed the ball to Tony Allen, Tony Allen took the ball and wanted to attack, but when he looked up, Li Feng was already standing in a defensive position.

Tony Allen doesn't jump high or fast, but he has a strong confrontation ability and strength, these characteristics are very similar to Anthony, and the only way to defend this kind of player is to use a lot of high-intensity physical confrontation.

Li Feng immediately stuck to it at this time, making physical contact with Tony Allen, Tony Allen came over and collided with Li Feng violently, and then stepped back and jumped.

In the usual state, Tony Allen hit this time, at least to get a stable space.

But when he hit Li Feng's body, Tony Allen stumbled a little at his feet and lost his balance, and then shot Tony Allen and missed.

Li Feng keenly noticed that the Grizzlies had a focus on Tony Allen at the beginning, and personally came over to snipe Tony Allen, so Tony Allen missed.

As a result, both teams were not very efficient in attack at the beginning, which was not a good start.

Kenny Smith, who was on the sidelines, said:

"It looks like we're going to get into a defensive battle today, and both teams started with a lot of emphasis on defense, especially on the Grizzlies side, and this closing game can be said to be the playoffs."

"It's true, but if you want to beat the Pelicans, you must start with defense, after all, now the Pelicans' offense is very sharp, and the Grizzlies need to curb the Pelicans from doing whatever they want on the offensive end."

Barkley believes that it is necessary and necessary for the Grizzlies to start with defense.

This is indeed the idea of the Grizzlies, who discovered when they observed the Pelicans before the game that the new Pelicans are extremely aggressive, and if the Pelicans play the offense smoothly, no one can stop them.

So the first thing the Grizzlies did today was to do a good job of defense, and doing a good job of defense is also the true nature of the Grizzlies.

The Grizzlies wanted to do a good job defensively, but after the Pelicans won the rebound in the backcourt, they immediately made a quick offensive and defensive transition, chasing the Grizzlies' ass and killing them.

Fast break is also the Pelicans' offensive weapon, for this Grizzlies are also prepared, they retreat quickly and maintain a very good formation, the Grizzlies can be said to only lack a super core, if Randolph can play the level of the previous two years, even the championship is not impossible. (To be continued......)