Woody started the game with 3 of 3 shots.

Scared TNT's Kenny Smith, Barkley also reached out and rubbed his eyes, thinking that he hadn't woken up, or had seen it wrong, this was not the Heat No. 95, this was the Heat...... No, the Heat don't have any forward players who can shoot like that!

The cheers from the scene came one after another!

Woody hit the third mid-range shot, and the climax caused was no weaker than the shot he had just "forcibly confiscated" Artest in the air.

Because, this represents Woody's growth!

With Woody's ability, if he practices a stable mid-range, then the presence on the offensive end will inevitably go to the next level.

Not to mention them, Pat Riley, who was in the general manager's office at the moment, couldn't help but smile.

Whether or not he can practice a consistent shot is actually one of the many risks of choosing Woody.

It's one thing to have great potential, it's another thing to be able to realize it!

With those three shots alone, seriously, even if he loses tonight, Pat Riley will be happy with Woody.

Rick Carlisle called a timeout.

When Artest came off the field, he looked depressed.

Originally, before the start of this game, he really didn't take Woody seriously.

He has watched Woody's previous games, and he summed it up with one characteristic:

A "rough man" who plays with physical fitness!

With such a guy, Artest has absolute confidence to guard him down, and even "keep a clean sheet" on him.

As a result, he was caught off guard by Woody as soon as this game came up.

It's been a mess for a few rounds in a row.

He glanced at the reporters on the sidelines.

A piece of black pressing.

If it goes on like this tonight, even if he wins this game, he will be a laughing stock.

No way!

It can't go on like this!

You have to concentrate completely!

Rick Carlisle was about to adjust his tactics, but before he could speak, Artest interrupted first: "Rick, believe me, I will definitely be able to prevent this rookie!" ”

In fact, Carlisle has no intention of changing his defensive set-up for Woody.

He believed in Artest's ability, even if Woody's mid-range opening tonight was a little unusual, he still believed in Artest.

Even those "supergiant" level wing players have no good fruit to eat in the face of Artest, and he doesn't believe that Woody can really suppress Artest in the whole game.

However, Artest gave him a chance to PUA, no, so that he could tell Artest how much he trusted him: "Man, I absolutely believe in you, in my heart, you have always been the best defender in this league, no one can replace you!" ”

There is no one who does not like to hear such words, and the "beast" is no exception.

Look at Rick Carlisle's soft expression and more resolute eyes after Rick Carlisle said these words!

He's clearly a little more identified with Rick Carlisle, and not just tonight.

That's why Carlisle would say these things.

As an "alien monk", he is equivalent to "passively" squeezing out the "smiling assassin" before taking the position of head coach of the Pacers.

Thomas has had a huge impact on the players on this team.

Little O'Neill even thinks of him as his "reborn parent" and "stepfather" role.

Because of Thomas's trust, O'Neal Jr., who sat on the cold bench for several years with the Trail Blazers, became the top power forward in the league with the Pacers.

To eliminate Thomas' influence on this team bit by bit, Rick Carlisle must show his attitude:

I'm the same as Thomas, and I absolutely trust your abilities!

So much so that sometimes, even if he is a little impatient, he will insist that the Pacers players solve the problems on the court on their own.

However, this time his judgment of Artest is not for this reason, but absolute confidence in Artest's defensive ability.

In the first round of the restart, Artest also showed his defensive tanglehold ability to reassure Rick Carlisle.

Odom came up to cover twice, but couldn't get Woody to get away from Artest.

Obviously, Artest at this time can be regarded as a thorough demonstration of his ability.

Woody couldn't get around the opportunity to catch the ball, Wade simply forced a break through Tinsley, and used his height advantage to "play high" under the basket, but Foster predicted well, stuck to him all the way, straightened his arms, and completed the interference.

"Bang dang!"

The ball pops out of the frame.

O'Neal Jr. gradually gained experience against Odom, firmly stuck the position under the basket, and squeezed Odom behind him.

Odom saw that he couldn't stop little O'Neal, and when he was about to jump, he secretly tugged at his clothes and quickly let go of his hand.

The process was extremely short-lived, but O'Neal Jr.'s movements came to a noticeable standstill.

He didn't jump enough, and watched Woody complete the "overtaking" next to him and protect the rebound.

He turned to the referee and complained.

But the referee's eyes have long been attracted by Woody and Artest.

At the moment when Woody grabbed the rebound, Artest stepped up like a plague bull, and Woody made him almost lose his position and had to dribble the ball first. But this is the "appetizer", after forcing Woody to "move in place", he still pushed and shoved hard, constantly destroying Woody's dribbling center of gravity, so that he could not get rid of it.

Woody felt his small movements and unceremoniously elbowed, but Artest showed his experience and held it with his own elbow. Seeing this, Woody half-turned around and changed his hand, and continued to exert his hard top.

Seeing this, Artest's temper also came up, and he took the initiative to exert his strength.

The smell of gunpowder filled the two men.

It also successfully attracted the attention of the referee.

Little O'Neal, who originally wanted to complain, looked at the posture of these two people and silently "closed the mic", if the scale of these two people's actions was AV, then the entanglement between him and Odom just now was not even a tertiary film.

Also complaining about a hammer.

Woody eventually protected the ball.

Turning his head, Artest's eyes were full of unwillingness.

In his opinion, it was almost enough to make Woody miss the dribble.

Let's be a little more ferocious!

That's what he thinks, and that's what he does!

Then the intensity of his confrontation escalated again, and just looking at his desperate stance, it is hard to imagine that this is a regular season game.

Barkley looked at his appearance and commented very vividly: "Artest's appearance makes me feel like he wants to swallow Woody in one bite!" ”

What he didn't know was that he spoke Artest's heart.

Although "The Beast" wanted to play a little more ferociously, he really didn't think about playing this game as if it were a playoffs.

But his appropriately increased defensive intensity couldn't completely crush Woody every time. - Woody didn't score during this time, but in Artest's opinion, the so-called crushing of the opponent is not to see if the opponent scores, but more importantly, whether he dares to resist!

Woody hasn't scored in this time, but his counter-attacking momentum is getting more and more ferocious!

The confrontation between the two men escalated.

How big is the scale?

A minute before the two sides replaced the starters on both sides in the first quarter, every confrontation between the two of them, the referees were so nervous that they didn't dare to come out, watching their arms and elbows fly, ready to blow the whistle at any time.

Their scale is already on the verge of a challenge whistle.

A little bigger, and the referees have to blow the whistle.

Even if the penalty is blown according to the standards of the playoffs, it is the same......

Damn the guys!

In the last 1 minute and 34 seconds of the first quarter, Artest was replaced by Rick Carlisle, and when he walked down the court, the audience on the sidelines booed, and he cursed in his heart.

The Huaxia rookie was unexpectedly tenacious, which made him feel that he had lost face.

Woody sat down on the bench and gasped for air.

Artest's confrontation was too fierce, and the result of his resistance was ......

Tired!

I'm so tired!

He only played one quarter, and the intensity of the confrontation made him feel that it was similar to playing three quarters in the past.

Is this the top wing of the league?

I'm still far from it!

This can also be seen from the data, after shooting 3 of 3 in the opening game, Woody made the next 3 shots, only to hit 1 ball, resulting in 2 free throws, but because the intensity of the confrontation was too great, he had no touch at all when he made free throws, and all the free throws were lost.

Only 2 points......

Whether this scale lasts for a whole time, whether it can hold it or not, Woody doesn't know for the time being, but there is one thing he can be sure of:

Even if you don't think about winning or losing, I'm afraid he won't be able to score 20 points in this game!

Looking back and analyzing the situation in the first quarter now, it seems that he did not provoke Artest, and took his trash talk and provocation as "deaf ears", which may be a better choice.

However, it may be possible to get a few more points that way.

But......

If you hide under the covers at night, you may not be able to sleep!

Woody is a man who can die standing up, but he can't live in a nest.

Especially when he stood on this court, he thought he was the absolute protagonist after the attack of "star disease".

So......

Regardless of whether you can win or not, you can't lose the momentum!

The main hit is a "If you want to fight, I will fight, who instigates whose grandson!" ”

Isn't playing a ball just a forced style?

The force is gone, so let's still play a ball!

After a short break, Woody continued to engage with Artest in the second quarter.

His worries were not superfluous at all.

In the second quarter, under Artest's various tough confrontations, he only got 3 shots in total, and only hit 1 of them to get 2 points, and made 1 free throw, but only scored 3 points.

With those 8 points in the first quarter, he scored a total of 11 points in the first half, shooting 5-of-9 from the field and 1-of-4 from the free-throw line.

The shooting efficiency looks okay, but combined with the fragmented analysis of the game, you will find that only 2 of the last 6 shots are made.

For ordinary players, it is unqualified data, and for a "cake-eating" player like Woody, it is even more unqualified among unqualified.

In the second half, the physical energy was further depleted, and it was even more difficult for Woody to get a chance to shoot......

These 20 points......

I'm afraid I won't be able to get it!

At this time, Woody also understood why the system offered 30,000 achievement points as a reward.

This is clearly "stimulating consumption"!

Commonly known as "cutting leeks"!

I'm afraid that my 19,000 achievement points will grow hair in the corner, right?

But Woody can only complain about two sentences.

For this task, he basically planned to give up.

At the end of the first half, the Heat temporarily led by two points at 41-39.

The team has hope of winning!

If we can win this game, it will be a great help to improve the morale of the Heat team.

In December, they had a tough schedule!

The atmosphere of the entire Heat team on the training ground before the game was to hope for a "good start".

Woody didn't want to spoil the atmosphere on the team.

I don't want to be a puppet of the system either.

In order to complete the task, he forcibly brushed 20 points regardless of the situation.

You know, he just said on his "debut night" that he doesn't care about the data.

This is his character.

As a rookie, it is very troublesome for the character to collapse!

Most of all, he enjoys playing against Artest, which is the highest level of competition in the East, and playing a game like this will help him grow better.

Second, Artest's entanglement ability is very strong.

Even if Woody wants to score 20 points with more shots, I'm afraid it will be a very difficult thing!

Artest didn't give him a chance to catch the ball at all.

Again, how can there be so many opportunities for vacant seats?

If you are holding the ball and facing Artest, it will be even more "sheep into the tiger's mouth"!

"Man, keep the momentum going in the second half, and as long as we can keep our rebounds going, then we still have a good chance of winning this game!"

Stan van Gundy was pleased with Woody's performance in the first half.

The three mid-range shots in the main opening game are really powerful, and even if the scoring efficiency plummets later, he doesn't have too much harsh criticism. After all, it's Artest!

What's more, Artest is restricting him.

But Woody and Odom also restricted Artest!

In the first half, Artest only hit 3 goals from 9 shots.

The shooting percentage was 33.3%, which was 10% faster than usual!

Combined with 1-of-3 free throws, he scored only 7 points.

Artest averaged 19 points per game this season, the Pacers' second-leading scorer, behind O'Neal Jr., who averaged 20.5 points per game, and his inability to open up the game on the offensive end was one of the big reasons why the Pacers fell behind in the first half.

Another reason is rebounding.

O'Neal Jr.'s offense is actually very "offensive rebounding", and he can grab 2.5 offensive rebounds per game per game.

But in this game against the Heat, he didn't get a single rebound in the first half.

Woody, with the help of Odom and Grant, has grabbed 11 rebounds.

10 of them were backcourt rebounds.

The penalty area is well protected.

Limits O'Neill Jr.'s "secondary offensive" means.

And don't forget, the Heat's "anti-rebound" is also based on protecting rebounds.

Stan Van Gundy can definitely give him 82 points for his performance in the first half, and he will send the rest to Woody in the form of "666".

It's just too good to be true.

11 rebounds......

Only then did Woody notice that his rebounds had double-doubled.

He just cared about his performance on the offensive end of the pitch that was not satisfactory.

If you think about it, he did grab a lot of rebounds in the first half. But Woody didn't expect that he had grabbed 11 rebounds.

Wait a minute!

11 rebounds!

Woody had a vague feeling that he was grasping something.

Looking at his stats again, 11 points and 11 rebounds......

Well?

Woody reacted, 20 points and 10 rebounds are considered "20 plus 10", so 10 points and 20 rebounds, is it also "20 plus 10"?

He also specially opened the system panel, re-glanced at the requirements of the task, and made sure that it only wrote "20 plus 10", and did not stipulate that it was 20 points and 10 rebounds.

Working with Odom in the first half, he felt like he had a career-high number of rebounds tonight, and getting his first 20 rebounds in a single game of his rookie season shouldn't be a problem.

Anyway, if Woody is not mistaken, he can grab 22 rebounds in the first half to maintain the efficiency of the first half.

What's more, Stan Van Gundy's requirement for him is to protect the rebounds.

Turns out that this is the right way to open the task, right?

Woody suddenly felt that he was wrong about the system.

Apparently the system was telling him in this way that the Heat wanted to win this game, and he should.

This system ......

People are still weird!

Not only did he give him achievement points, but he also wanted to help him win this difficult battle!

System: Pull it down, you're going to burn my CPU again!

The probability of completing the task suddenly increased, and Woody's whole person was much more excited.

Now he has no desire to score.

Of course, in order to firmly bind Artest's eyes to himself, Woody's running position on the offensive end can be described by a certain brand's advertising slogan: never stop.

Moreover, Woody, who is no longer entangled in whether he can make a move, is very free and easy at this time.

Even if he doesn't catch the ball for the entire 24 seconds, it doesn't matter.

His strategy on the offensive end focuses on attracting and containing, and then after his teammates make a shot, he predicts the trajectory of the basketball and completes the rebound.

Artest also discovered this after a few rounds of running along.

But there's really nothing he can do with Woody.

You said don't run with him, Woody's three consecutive mid-range shots at the beginning are vivid.

But if you run with him......

He is 13kg heavier than Woody, and his physical exertion rate must be faster than Woody's for such a non-stop movement.

What's even more annoying is that he has no effect on Woody when it comes to rushing for rebounds.

Against Woody, the advantage is strength and counterpoint, that is, the ability to fight.

Rushing to grab rebounds mainly depends on the judgment of rebounds, movement ability, explosiveness and bounce.

In these four aspects, he is almost the difference between "second-rate" and "top-notch" compared to Woody.

That's where O'Neal Jr. struggles, Odom can interfere with his jump very well, but Artest can't stop Woody from rushing to the basket in the first place.

It's still those three shots!

It's so critical!

Watching halfway through the third quarter, Woody's rebounding count quickly increased to 15. Rick Carlisle couldn't help but think of the image of Woody shrugging his shoulders at him.

At the same time, he's a little nostalgic for Brad Miller, who left this summer.

The 2.11-meter-tall "Big White Bear" averages 8.3 rebounds per game.

Foster was on the bench for Miller last season.

Compared to Miller, Foster's ability to grab the rebounds is weaker, averaging only 7 rebounds per game.

What's more, after Miller's departure, Foster didn't have a qualified replacement.

He can't always be on the pitch to share the pressure for O'Neal Jr.

Especially tonight, when O'Neal Jr. was very limited and needed another person to step up to protect the rebound, it was even more obvious that the Pacers lacked strength to protect the rebounding ball inside.

Well, Foster can't replace the rebounding aspect.

Miller's departure took away a portion of the Pacers' interior playmaking ability.

Tinsley is not a traditional No. 1 position and does not have the ability to organize tandem.

Last season, the Pacers mainly relied on O'Neal Jr. and Miller.

That's the style of the team that Rick Carlisle prefers.

It's not just a blue-collar as a board-grabber, or an offensive finish. Rick Carlisle likes to use interior players as a response point.

That's one of the things Pacers management values about him.

thought that with his tutelage, O'Neal Jr. could go one step further and make up for the part of Miller's departure in strategy.

As a result, it now seems that even if the Pacers' offense is indeed more fluid, it is indeed more solid to have two interior lines that can respond than just one interior line.

The Heat can protect rebounds, and for this team, there is a foundation for launching "anti-counter tactics".

Coupled with Woody's containment of Artest, the Pacers are missing a "defensive arrow" on the outside.

Reggie Miller's thin stature became a breakthrough for the Heat.

Several "defensive counterattacks", the Pacers have returned to the defense in place, but the rushing Heat team still caught Reggie Miller and completed the "forced fast break".

At the end of the third quarter, the Heat led 66-60, and the margin came to more than six points.

Wade was the Heat's top scorer in the third quarter, scoring 10 points.

"Anti-Counter Tactics" and Woody are the direct beneficiaries of containing Artest.

Woody shot 1 of 2, completely abandoning the offensive end, and was full of firepower on the defensive end, grabbing 6 rebounds in a single quarter. Foster, in particular, was resting off the pitch and only had O'Neill Jr. on the pitch. He grabbed three rebounds in a row, including two offensive rebounds.

One of the goals he scored was the "second offense" under the basket.

The data came to 13 points and 17 boards.

There are still 3 rebounds left to complete the task of "20 plus 10".

Rick Carlisle adjusted his strategy in the fourth quarter, keeping Al Harrington off the bench on the floor.

This is a player who "plays offense over defense" and prefers to play alone, which is incompatible with the entire Pacers' system. Therefore, Rick Carlisle coached him according to his aptitude and put him in the position of "sixth man on the team".

It's a great choice!

Not only did Ellington become the team's No. 3 scorer, but the Pacers' firepower became more ferocious.

The team also had a strong period in the game.

The Pacers have extended their advantage in the past, often in the bench rotation.

Tonight is an exception......

Wade and Caron Butler's scoring ability is only better than Harrington's.

But Rick Carlisle can't help it.

O'Neal Jr. tonight was really a bit overwhelmed on both ends of the floor.

On the rebounding side, he needs to deal with Woody and Odom.

On the offensive end, Artest struggled with his performances, making him the team's only option every time the team needed to score.

The pressure is high.

O'Neal Jr.'s stats so far have been very good, with 19 points and 9 rebounds, and the fourth quarter has just begun, so it shouldn't be too much of a problem for him to score a "20 plus 10" that exceeds his season average in this game.

But just to this extent, it's still not enough.

Rick Carlisle put Harrington to immediate effect. Harrington came up and hit the shot.

It was only in the next round that Odom faced his defense and also scored with a mid-range shot to complete the response.

Well......

Taking Foster, O'Neal Jr. was moved to the number five position.

With Artest pinned down by Woody, the Pacers flanks are the equivalent of Harrington and Reggie Miller.

As for this line of defense, it cannot be said that there is none, only that it cannot be seen.

The Pacers basically have to return how many points they score with Harrington.

And the Pacers are actually a team that relies on defense to win.

Otherwise, this guy doesn't fit in with the Pacers' starting lineup!

At 4 minutes and 35 seconds in the fourth quarter, Rick Carlisle saw that the difference could not be narrowed, changed his move again, and put Harrington off the court again.

Trying to press the Heat rookies by increasing the defensive intensity.

The effect is still noticeable.

But the Pacers can guard against the Heat, and the Heat can also guard against the Pacers.

Stan Van Gundy doesn't know how to be flexible, just look at the Pacers' stats at the moment to know who this team is in C tonight.

O'Neal Jr. became a key target for the Heat.

"It's done!"

Woody had a much easier time grabbing the rebound during this period, and at 6:13 of the fourth quarter, he officially grabbed his 20th rebound of the night.

"20 plus 10" achieved!

Reggie Miller hit a 3-pointer in the final five minutes to cut the deficit to three.

Almost became a "key hero".

His play from beyond the three-point line in this game was not ideal.

The Heat's interior defense is too fast, plus there are no obvious holes in the entire outside defense:

Wade, Jones and Woody all have a good sense of supplementation.

The 38-year-old Reggie Miller, who is averaging only 10 points per game this season, is responsible for containing firepower from the outside.

If this role can't be played, then he is basically in a stealth state on the offensive end!

But this three-pointer proves his role.

He is still the "bullet" that stabilizes the morale of the army at the most critical moment of this team.

It's just that after hitting this three-pointer, his next shot didn't continue.

The difference of 3 points is not big, but a little bit of time is lost, and no matter how small the difference is, it is enough to become fatal.

In the last 2 minutes, Artest looked at the 2-point difference and was anxious.

In the face of Odom, he chose to force his way through, only to be caught by Woody in time.

The two tacitly reached out their hands, forcing Artest to protect the ball in his hands, and was about to shout "timeout" when Woody's hand was already stirred in. By the time Artest found out, Woody's hands were even on the ball.

It's time for a scrum......

Seeing that he was about to make a mistake at the critical moment, Artest suddenly burst out with a force, grabbed the ball and threw it fiercely, while pressing Woody with his own arm, trying to snatch back the control of the ball through brute force.

But Woody thought so too, and the two men pressed almost simultaneously and at the same time pressed each other's shoulders. It's like two bulls on top of it.

Artest felt this resistance, and his already irritable heart became even more impatient.

Facing the various emotions of Woody's embarrassment tonight, as well as the fact that he has not been able to suppress Woody after the game, but because of his never-ending running, he has to devote himself to it, and the depression that cannot help his teammates completely explode as before.

As his emotions got out of control, his movements became a little more dangerous.

More force was thrown out of him, and with a force in his waist, he actually planned to throw Woody out of the whole person.

But at the moment when he exerted his strength, Woody suddenly "withdrew the stool", he couldn't hold back, his strength was indeed inferior to Artest, but as soon as he let go of his two hands, Artest, who suddenly exerted his strength, fell back involuntarily, his body was completely unbalanced, and at the same time as he fell to the ground, the ball also flew to the audience with his raised hand.

The recoil is high......

Artest, who fell to the ground, rolled several times.

This scene directly gave the audience in the entire arena a quiet look, and then ......

Hilarious!

No way, it's just hilarious!

Everyone on the Pacers rushed to support Artest, who was rolling on the ground for two and a half laps.

Artest, who finally stopped his body, got up as soon as he got up, and rushed towards Woody.

He doesn't have to watch the replay, he knows how "clown" he just was.

The humiliation made him instinctively want to throw a punch at Woody.

No one on the Pacers dared to stop them.

The players on the court of the Heat team immediately surrounded Woody in a circle, and even Woody's teammates off the court rushed up to protect Woody.

The one at the front was Wade.

It's just that he miscalculated Artest's strength and was pushed aside.

The eyes are confused, and even the cheeks are confused.

But the next second Artest "cleared" the first "obstacle", he felt a huge force rushing towards his chest. Before his body could instinctively exert force, his whole body was pushed to the ground again.

He was met with a pair of cold eyes.

Hands-on people......

It's Woody!

Pushing Artest down, Woody looked condescendingly at Artest who was sitting on the ground, and his expression gradually became fierce.

Broken!

Seeing that Woody was on the "front line", Stan Van Gundy was not calm.

He immediately wanted to rush towards the field, and kept urging the referee next to him to hurry up and stop him.

didn't wait for him to rush over with the referee who was leaning on him, but an unexpected scene happened on the field:

Artest, who was overthrown, did not become more angry at Woody's eyes, and rushed forward again, but obediently shrank up after being slapped coldly like a grinning and pretending to be fierce dog.

He......

Retreat!

This......

Not only are the Heat stunned!

Even Artest's own teammates were stunned.

Not only were the Pacers stunned, but Woody was also stunned.

No......

That's it!

Just push it and coax it?

Woody really didn't expect that this Artest turned out to be a "barking dog"?

No wonder Ben Wallace doesn't look down on him.

The referee also stopped at this time, and hit 30 boards on each side, and Woody and Artest both received technical fouls.

Just as the scene was about to burst into boos, the referee seemed to remember that this was the home court of the Heat, and at the same time, Artest made the first move, so he added a technical foul to Artest.

Two technical fouls in a row, Artest was ejected!

The Heat fans at the scene let out loud boos as he left the court.

A bottle of mineral water flew behind him and almost hit him.

You can see the anger of Miami people!

As soon as he left the court, the Pacers were completely on the losing side.

In the final two minutes, the Heat regained the deficit by seven points and defeated the Pacers 88-81 to win their first win of December.

(End of chapter)