Before the start of the playoffs, Wang Shuo officially confirmed the 13-man roster for the Hornets to play in this year's playoffs.

Veteran Battier and James Jones, who has become Curry's most loyal sidekick, were left out of the team's playoff roster by Wang Shuo.

This season, Battier's main task at the Hornets has been to coach the team's young players in practice.

Although Wang Shuo knew that Battier still had gas in his tank......

But why is the current talent of the Hornets front line already overflowing?

The same goes for Jones, who missed out on the Hornets playoff roster.

Although Jones shot 49.8% from three-point range this season in limited playing time during the regular season, the offensive Hornets are not short of Jones' dispensable output.

When Wang Shuo officially announced the Hornets' playoff roster, Battier and Jones both expressed their understanding of Wang's choice.

He also said that even if they miss the team's playoff squad, they will spare no effort to cheer on their teammates on the sidelines.

On the 19th, the first playoff game between the Hornets and the Celtics was played at the Charlotte Spectrum Center.

With this year being the first time the Hornets have made the playoffs since their inception, Charlotte's local fans made their enthusiasm felt by fans around the world as soon as they came on the night.

According to relevant statistics, the Hornets have the third highest attendance rate in the league this season.

For this data, even Jordan, who is convinced of Wang Shuo's coaching ability, can't believe that his good brother can really make this team, which has always ranked first in attendance since entering the league, complete a change in such a short period of time.

At this moment, Jordan's mood can definitely only be described as ecstatic.

Before Wang Shuo's crossing, the Hornets' team was worth about $3 billion.

What does this market capitalization mean?

It shows that Charlotte is indeed a city with great potential in the eyes of investors.

It's just that, in Wang Shuo's memory, the Hornets have never been able to fully explore the local market in Charlotte.

But what about this life?

It's true, even if you can't foresee the future......

At this moment, the vast majority of people in the market believe that the future market value of the Hornets will definitely be astronomical.

Because, this team under the leadership of Wang Shuo has such a promising future.

Therefore, as the owner of this team, how could Jordan still be able to hold back the excitement in his heart?

On the court, after the warm-up, the starting lineup of the Celtics and Hornets was officially revealed.

Celtics: Horford, Aldridge, Pierce, James, Teague.

Hornets: Garnett, Millsap, Leonard, Butler, Curry.

In this game, Wang Shuo made adjustments to the Hornets' starting lineup and directly put Paul into the bench lineup.

In this regard, before the game, basketball commentators from all over the world said with a surprised face: "If the coach of another team does this, then we must think he is crazy!" ”

After Paul successfully turned the tide this season, the world has long since become the indispensable point guard god of the Hornets.

However......

Without any injuries, can you believe that Wang Shuo directly pressed Paul to the bench tonight?

It's just that......

People may not believe it when they say it.

If it weren't for Curry's status at the moment, Wang Shuo would have put him on the bench and play the sixth man, which would have affected him to compete for the regular season MVP this season, and Wang Shuo even wanted to arrange Curry and Paul to play off the bench together in this game.

Why?

Because after analyzing the composition of the Celtics team with the assistant coaches, Wang Shuo and his assistant coaches agreed that the Celtics team is a team that lacks bench depth.

In the regular season, in order to solve this problem, Kerr's approach was to stagger the playing time of the main players and allow James to make full use of his ability to maintain the floor in the second team stage by staggering the peak travel.

Therefore, in Wang Shuo's view, as long as the Hornets can make good use of their own lineup thickness......

and the continued consumption of the physical strength of the Celtics' main players, no matter how many times the Hornets play this series, there is no possibility of losing.

In the center of the court, after the jump ball, the Hornets have the ball.

With Paul as the team's sixth man tonight, Garnett will play the role of the heart of the Hornets' playmaking in the starting stages.

At the peak of his career, Garnett has been one of the best playmaker power forwards in the NBA.

In the high post, after receiving the ball up, Garnett, who stuck Teague for Curry, directly teamed up with Curry to break through the Celtics' defense through a hand-to-hand cooperation.

In the NBA, many centers with strong rim protection tend to be deflated when facing Curry.

Because unlike other guards, because Curry's desire to shoot threes on the court is too strong, no matter how good your rim protection ability is, you have to adopt a defensive strategy of grabbing when delaying Curry for your teammates.

But this can be done......

Once Curry chooses to break through and breaks through your defense at the first opportunity, it will be difficult for you to keep up with Curry, no matter how fast you move laterally.

In this game, in Wang Shuo's view, if the Celtics want to defend Curry, they can only use James to counter Curry.

Because James has extremely strong athleticism during this period, he can reduce Curry's threat on the court by playing physical confrontation when defending Curry.

However, not to mention whether James is willing to follow Curry on the court for the whole game......

Even if he wanted to, Cole wouldn't do it.

Because as the "big baby" in Cole's heart, how could Cole be willing to let James suffer so much on the court?

You must know that in order to defend Curry, James's good brother Wade almost called the police after the game.

Wang Shuo's previous life, in fact, it is not difficult to find that most of the teams that Curry doesn't like to play often have a group of strong men on the front line.

Because as the most critical position on the basketball court, the ability of the guard players on both sides of the court is the key to determining a team's outside defense.

This Celtics, with Pierce and James on the court at the same time, is destined to give the Hornets a lot of opportunities to attack from the wing.

After all, the 36-year-old "truth" can no longer fight ......

He can't always keep up with the Hornets' high-speed passes.

For this ball, Garnett's position to cover Curry is very clever.

Because Garnett blocked Teague for Curry at the same time, he also blocked Pierce's defense route on this side.

Garnett knew exactly how much time it would take for Pierce to come over and help Teague defend.

Therefore, after he pointed out the assault route to Curry, Curry immediately got a sunny avenue directly into the Celtics' interior after winning the ball.

On the court, Horford, who had to chase Curry by himself, not only failed to prevent Curry, but also paid a foul for it.

And in the Spectrum Center, when Curry had the opportunity to play "two plus one" through free throws as soon as he came up, the Hornets fans on the scene also consciously chanted "MVP, MVP" for him.

On the sidelines, seeing this scene, Cole couldn't help frowning.

At this moment, Kerr isn't worried about Curry's scoring.

It was the foul that Horford picked up shortly after the opening game.

At the free-throw line, after Curriga hit a free throw, it was the Celtics' turn to attack.

The Hornets adopted a defensive strategy of using Butler to play against Pierce tonight and Leonard to guard James.

Pierce, who is getting older and more demonic, is a player with extremely high hard solving efficiency on the field, even in the later years of his career.

However, in front of Butler, who was always burning with fighting spirit, how could Pierce still have the physical strength he had at this moment...... Can you pick 20 or 30 times in a game?

High post, after his loyal dribble guard Teague dribbled the ball across the halfcourt, the always smart James quickly called Aldridge over to complete the block for him through his reasonable reading of the game.

Wang Shuo in his previous life, although many James believed that James had a problem reading the game.

But such an assessment is obviously somewhat biased.

Because who said that no matter what defense is held on the opposite side, calling a teammate to come over and make a wall is not a kind of reading of the game?

You know, in the NBA, not every player can be like playing a game, if you want your teammates to come over and block for you, you can let your teammates come over and block for you.

For example, the future Curry.

Before Wang Shuo crossed, not to mention that every time Curry asked Wiseman to come over to block him, it was equivalent to letting the other side come over to cover him......

Sometimes, you may even find that Wiseman is not always willing to come over and build a wall for Curry, even in the face of Curry's call.

On the field, after Aldridge and James blocked and dismantled, I saw James immediately pass the ball in the direction of Aldridge with a shot that peeked at Aldridge's running position and pretended that he didn't look at people and didn't look at people.

It's a pity that James couldn't fool Leonard about this goal.

Because when he deliberately twisted his head to the other side and pretended that he didn't observe his teammates' movements, even Leonard, who had always been expressionless, couldn't help but show a hint of surprise.

On the sidelines, when he saw Leonard reaching out to block James's pass from the sideline, Wang Shuo hated him for not having the habit of taking pictures at any time.

Because......

This is a "Black Surprised Face" meme contributed by Leonard!

God knows, when and month will Leonard's next appearance be on the court?

On the court, James, who failed to pass the ball to his teammates according to the established route, patted his chest and signaled to his teammates that he had not passed the ball well, and did not panic in any way.

At this moment, even without the crown, James has fully demonstrated to the world what it means to be a king.

It's just that as the first quarter of the game deepened......

Where does James still have the calmness and calmness before the game starts?

In the first half of the first quarter, Aldridge, who repeatedly missed opportunities, once again proved with his strength what it means to be a regular season superstar.

In this game, Wang Shuo didn't think about how to defend against Aldridge at all.

Because the height difference between Millsap and Aldridge determines that the counterpoint between the latter and the former is a natural set of misalignments.

In Wang Shuo's previous life, in the career records of Millsap and Aldridge, most of the time, Aldridge was indeed able to beat Millsap.

However, comparing the regular season and playoff records of these two, it is not difficult to find that as long as it comes to the playoffs, Aldridge's efficiency in front of Millsap will drop significantly.

On the court, looking at Aldridge, who can always score points for the Celtics with him in the regular season, James, who has sent him many wonderful passes in the game, doesn't understand, is Aldridge thinking that the cakes he made are not fragrant enough tonight?

The answer, of course, is not.

Because of the spit and the spit is complaining, you can't deny that James is indeed a player with a certain ability to make cakes.

It's just that James apparently forgot about ......

Why Aldridge's team has been swept every year since it entered the league.

Moreover, what worries James more than Aldridge's iron on the court is ......

In this game, less than four minutes into the game, Horford received his second foul of the game.

In his past and present lives, you must never question James' ability to tell at a glance who is the thigh next to him.

Don't look at the fact that since he was traded to Boston, Aldridge has become James's "good brother" almost immediately.

But in fact......

Horford, a "colleague", is the anchor of the Celtics' interior line in James's mind.

On the sidelines, Kerr also panicked about Horford's foul crisis early on the night.

In order to survive Horford's absence, Kerr was forced to change the lineup, with Aldridge in the interior, James in the No. 4 position, and Jordan Crawford to partner Teague in the backcourt.

In Wang Shuo's previous life, although he was far less famous than another Crawford, Jordan Crawford was also an outside player with a certain ability to grab points.

It's just that this buddy's defense can only be described as the air in Lay's potato chips.

Also, if it's just bad defensive habits, forget it......

Best of all, Crawford is also a player who likes to play a gambling style of defense on the field.

In the NBA, if you can have Iverson's scoring ability and status......

Even if you like to play aggressively on the field, your teammates will take the initiative to wipe your butt when you are defending.

In terms of Crawford's ability and "younger brotherhood......

How can he get a superstar of James' caliber to help him defend?

In the second half of the first quarter, after Horford temporarily withdrew due to a foul crisis, Wang Shuo decisively offered his trump card:

- The God of Point Guard, Chris Paul

In the center of the spectrum, although Paul was off the bench tonight, the fans in the stadium cheered him no less than Curry when he played.

And unlike many superstars who feel a little uncomfortable when they are assigned to play as a substitute, it is ......

At this moment, Paul's heart was not only not the slightest bit unhappy, but even ......

Before going on the field, he also beat his chest to Wang Shuo with a loyal face.

In a basketball game, what happened to playing as a substitute?

Who said superstars can't play on the bench?

For Paul, who had never even touched the floor of the second round in his life, he had only one thought at this moment:

That is to ride the red rabbit horse, hold the Fang Tian painting halberd, and behead LeBron James under the horse before the pot of hot tea that Wang Shuo just brewed cools down!

On the court, as soon as he got on the court, after using the rhythm to shake off Teague, Paul ignited the atmosphere in the center of the spectrum with a dry three-pointer.

At the same time, in the CCTV studio, after a long sigh, Yang Yi also sighed in disbelief: "This is Chris Paul, as long as he is on the court, the Hornets will immediately become another team!"

Although people are saying that this Hornets is Stephen Curry's team.

But I don't think anyone would doubt Paul's role in this Wasp! ”

Then, coming back, James was ready to assault the Hornets inside.

However, on the front foot, James had just started with the ball.

In the next second, under Paul's reminder, the on-site referee immediately blew James for a walking violation.

Seeing this, James can be described as aggrieved.

But Paul didn't even give him a chance to be wronged, so he shouted at him: "When I first learned basketball, I knew it was a violation of the law when you did it just now."

Why, didn't anyone teach you the rules of basketball when you were learning basketball, LeBron? ”

On the sidelines, Wang Shuo, who saw this scene, felt that Paul was worthy of the Paul in his memory.

Although at the critical moment, you can't put all your hope in Paul.

But when it comes to heavy blows, I never give up because of that so-called brotherhood.

In the second half of the first quarter, with Paul's appearance, the Hornets quickly pulled away the score.

And when James, who wanted to be a "god killer" before the game, found out that at the end of the first quarter of the game......

The Celtics were already 20-34 behind......

At this moment, James's face was also full of anxiety.

Fortunately, James, who was replaced by Kerr in advance in the first quarter, still had enough time to lead the Celtics to complete the comeback in this game.

In the second half of the regular season this season, James played amazing performances on the court many times with staggered travel.

Therefore, James is well aware that the moment is far from despair.

Spectrum Center, after the intermission, in the second quarter, the Celtics were led by James.

And what about the Wasp?

I saw the Hornets here, under the leadership of Curry, who was replaced by Wang Shuo in advance in the first quarter, and Paul, who only appeared in the second half of the first quarter......

Clay, Middleton, Kirilenko lined up.

In this quarter, Wang Shuo, who was very dissatisfied with the Hornets scoring only 34 points in the first quarter tonight, did not plan to continue to compete with the Celtics for defense.

On the sidelines, after receiving a box of ice cream from Coach Lu, Wang Shuo just wanted to see how the Celtics could keep up with the Hornets when they entered the rotation tonight......

That attack that doesn't go undefended!

In Wang Shuo's opinion.

James led the Celtics to kill the Hornets in this section.

If you don't have that ability.

Excuse me......

After this section, he Wang Shuo should seriously think about the opponent of the Hornets in the next round.

……