On the evening of May 8, 1999, at Madison Square Garden, New York fans got to see Larry Brown's ability to adjust his tactics.

Jeff Van Gundy's defensive system for the Knicks is to apply local pressure and rotate quickly on the weak side.

At the same time, he inherited Pat Riley's defensive philosophy, and the bald young coach also likes to lead the defense with guards in the playoffs and press the opponent's offensive rhythm.

This defensive system once pressed the senior Bulls to rely on dunks alone, whether it was Pippen or Harper on the weak side, they couldn't respond.

And in this year's playoffs, Larry Brown relied on Iverson's off-ball ability, and the opening was to constantly move the ball to the weak side and continuously mobilize the Knicks' defense.

With 6:44 left in the first quarter, the 76ers attacked, and Eric Snow was led by Lee Yo before halftime.

Forced to slow down, sideways to the top of the arc, Matt Geiger and Theo Latliff on the inside covered each other in the paint area, up and down, Eric Snow saw Iverson make an arc and immediately completed a horizontal pass.

Starting from the right near baseline position, Iverson cut on the line again, came to the left wing to receive the ball, and noticed that Alan Houston, who was chasing the defense, still put his left hand, and after shaking, he put the ball with his left hand and crossed to break through.

The speed was extremely fast, Iverson cut in from the left 45 degrees, Alan Houston on his side kept sliding, and at the same time, on the Knicks' side, the defense began to shrink inside.

Ewing almost let go of Matt Geiger at his side and quickly slid to the bottom left of the basket.

Oakley followed suit and moved to the paint, while keeping the opposing Theo Latliv behind him, ready to protect the rebound.

Lee Yow at the top of the arc is also paying attention to the position of Eric Snow on his side, and Larry Johnson is also ready to squeeze in the interior at this time, letting go of George Lynch on his side.

In an instant, the Knicks completed a partial pressing defense, and the diminutive Iverson almost couldn't see the basket, but he knew his teammates were open at this time.

When he came to the basket, Iverson did not panic, but quickly threw the ball to the bottom right corner according to the tactical requirements.

George Lynch had already started to move without the ball, received a pass from Iverson, and did not hesitate, and immediately jumped outside the three-point line!

"Huh!" Three-point shot hollow into the net!

On the 76ers bench, the atmosphere group cheered loudly, was suppressed for half the quarter, and finally made a three-pointer.

At 12:16, the difference was reduced to 4 points.

“Let's go Knicks！ Let's go Knicks！ Let's go Knicks！ ”

The DJ didn't care about the 76ers' goal and continued to cheer loudly, and soon, Madison Square Garden sounded a huge cheer.

Iverson only felt that the game was getting duller and duller, and the Knicks' pressing defense made it difficult for them to score

Eric Snow also led the defense of Lee Woo at the beginning, but as in the regular season, the Knicks did not pursue speed when they fell into the position.

Advancing steadily, Li You simply circled the ball behind his back, and came to the top of the arc against the opponent's defense.

Ewing was on the three-point line, and after Lee Woo completed the crotch change, Eric Snow stuck to the defense and struggled to squeeze through the cover.

At the same time, Matt Geiger, who was following the defense, immediately slid to the left, cooperated with his teammates, and broke through to Li You on the right side with a big delay.

At the same time as the opponent's big man moved his footsteps, Ewing quickly went down, and Li You also suddenly accelerated, and without waiting for the opponent to completely wrap up, he came to the right flank, and immediately jumped up and threw the ball behind his head.

The basketball flew past Matt Geiger's fingertips in an instant.

"Oh!"

The cheers in the arena rose again, and Ewing went down to the paint area to catch the ball, faced Theo Latrive's help defense, and with his height advantage, he got close to the basket and easily completed the throw!

"Huh!" The two-point ball hollows into the net.

Eric Snow and Matt Geiger looked at each other and both felt like they were playing as the coach had asked them to do.

Larry Brown on the sidelines kept yelling, reminding the two to be quicker.

"It's a great assist, Lee's pace is getting better and better, and this year he's significantly slower than the previous two seasons and seems to be more confident."

Looking at Li You, who continued to lead the defense, on the NBC commentary bench, Bob Costas couldn't help but admire.

Doug Collins also seems to remember the rookie Lee You he met when he coached the Pistons:

"It's absolutely confident, Lee knows he can break through the 76ers' defense, and he's in complete control of the game at the moment."

When the two were still discussing the 76ers' defensive strategy, on the right wing, Iverson received the ball and immediately accelerated with the ball in his right hand.

Blocking area on the right side, sudden stop, quick crotch dribble, switch to the left hand and immediately close the ball, top the block in Alan Houston, mid-range jumper!

"Bang!"

The long rebound ball popped up, Li You contracted in time, closed the rebound in the left elbow area of the free throw line, and rushed to get the ball!

Larry Johnson sprinted forward with his head down the middle, and Alan Houston noticed Iverson running straight to Lee and also made a quick run to the bottom left corner.

When the Knicks accelerated across the halfcourt, Eric Snow had just delayed Lee Yoo on the right wing, and when he saw Iverson pounce at this time, he immediately felt that he was going to suffer.

didn't have time to communicate at all, and the two saw Li You on the right flank jumping up and throwing the ball again, and the basketball flew straight to the bottom left corner.

Move the ball widely, Alan Houston receives the ball in the bottom corner, no one in front of him, adjust it, and shoot with ease!

"Huh!" Three-point shot hollow into the net!

At 12:21, the margin was instantly nine points, and Larry Brown called a timeout.

“Wow！”

The New York fans began to cheer loudly, and the game was as easy as expected.

In the first half of the game, Lee Yoo handed out four assists, the 76ers' defense was broken through, and Larry Brown had an ugly face, and he couldn't accept that the player didn't play as planned.

Larry Brown pulled his face, drew twice on the tactical board, stared at Iverson and said loudly:

"Retreat and align in time! Don't forget about your defenders, I don't want to see them fight back easily! ”

Knowing that he had made a mistake, Iverson nodded depressedly, and the atmosphere group was silent, the gap was bigger than they imagined.

After the timeout, Eric Snow continued to act as a dealer, and Iverson flanked the left side and put the ball with his left hand to break through and finally drift to the left block to make a jumper.

Iverson thumped his chest after the goal, but found that everyone in the Knicks did not react, and Li You received the ball on the bottom line and made the same tactical gesture again.

When Ewing moved to the front court, he simply stopped outside the three-point line, and Matt Geiger saw that most of the Knicks were concentrated in the left half, and immediately reminded Eric Snow, who was leading the defense:

"Eric, squeeze through the cover!"

Eric Snow, who didn't observe the situation on the court at all, was too late when he heard the reminder from his teammates, and Li You quickly pushed the ball to change direction, grabbed the ball with his left hand, and immediately pressed his shoulder to break through.

Sliding to the right, Eric Snow crashed into Ewing and instantly lost his defensive position.

Matt Geiger was forced to make a big delay, and before he could lower his center of gravity, he was staggered by Lee You's push again.

Lee Woo passed between the two, grabbed the ball with his right hand, went straight to the basket in the middle, and noticed Theo Latrive on the left near the baseline as he went, and immediately feigned a pass.

Subconsciously stopped, Theo Ratliff finally watched Li You break through to the basket and easily complete the one-handed split!

The breakthrough dunk instantly ignited the atmosphere of the scene, and Spike Lee on the sidelines stood up and cheered with the fans!

"With a continuous change of direction in front of the body, Lee's combination ball is so good! Maybe Iverson could play a little bit more pick-and-roll. ”

On the commentary bench, Doug Collins felt that the game was going to be cool and began to analyze the strengths of the 76ers

As the game progressed, dealer Eric Snow gradually lost his role, and Iverson began to hold the ball a lot, constantly playing the No. 5 position.

Unlike the 76ers' defensive strategy, Ewing quickly retracted the basket and squatted to defend when he encountered a pick-and-roll, completely letting go of Iverson's three-pointer and long two-pointer.

Every time the 76ers attack, Li You follows Eric Snow on the side, and he doesn't have to defend himself, just be ready to help defend at any time.

Thanks to the Knicks' defensive system, Lee Woo's consumption on the defensive end has been minimal.

Seeing Iverson break through Alan Houston again and hit a mid-range jumper from the free-throw line, Jeff Van Gundy on the sidelines made only one gesture to stick to the defensive strategy.

After the opening 76ers moved the ball gradually disappeared, Larry Brown was a little anxious and shouted to the players to play tactics.

In the last round, Alan Houston just broke through the blocking area on the left wing of the bukkake, and it seemed that he heard the coach's shouting, and on the right wing, Iverson used Matt Geiger's blocking to get rid of Alan Houston's pursuit of defense, and he stopped sharply outside the three-point line and immediately jumped and shot!

"Bang!"

After hitting consecutive shots, he hit the iron again, and the long rebound was collected by Li You in the paint area.

With the ball in his left hand, Lee Woo accelerated and the 76ers quickly retreated.

Eric Snow didn't choose to stick to the defense this time, but quickly returned to the half-court and shouted to his teammates to complete the defensive alignment.

After Li You advanced to the top of the arc, he stepped forward to lead the defense, Ewing and Oakley both dragged behind, and Li You went straight to the basket against the defense.

In the paint area, while Eric Snow gave a physical confrontation, his hands kept moving, and Li You, who was holding the ball in his right hand, suddenly wrapped the ball around his crotch with one hand at this time, instantly changing the rhythm of the breakthrough.

Scooping the ball again with his right hand and leaning on the opponent to the basket, Eric Snow struggled to jump up to block, Li You threw the ball to the rebound, and then the two fell to the ground together

"Squeak!"

"Bang!"

The whistle blows and the ball goes in, and the basketball hits the high board and falls into the hoop.

“Wow！！”

After Lee was picked up by Alan Houston and Larry Johnson, the New York fans in attendance stood up and cheered, while Iverson was pulled aside by Larry Brown and kept whispering.

With 2:02 left in the first quarter, the 76ers replaced Larry Hughes with Eric Snow as Lee Yow stepped to the free throw line.

Jeff Van Gundy waved his hand, and Sprewell, Kurt Thomas, and Ben Wallace also rotated into the game.

Seeing Li Youjia hit a free throw, the score came to 20:30, and on the commentary bench, Bob Costas said helplessly:

"It seems that Iverson's pick-and-roll offense has not changed the Knicks' defensive strategy."

Doug Collins smiled awkwardly as the 76ers averaged 7.4 shots per game from beyond the three-point line in the regular season, averaging 2.0 shots per game, the league's bottom.

This kind of three-point production is simply not enough to change the defense

Larry Brown's admonition worked, and Iverson started passing again.

When Li You defended, he only let go of the defensive breakthrough and let go of Iverson's left hand.

In the final two minutes, the 76ers, whose style of play became reasonable, instead fell into a scoring drought, Matt Geiger spat under the basket, and Larry Hughes Bangbang hit the iron.

By the end of the first quarter, the score was fixed at 22:33 and the Knicks had an 11-point lead.

At Madison Square Garden, fans at the scene began to celebrate the victory in advance.

Sprewell, who returned to the bench, was a little embarrassed, and after coming on the court, he served as the main attacker, and the result was a 3-0, and finally relied on Ben Wallace's second attack to score points

"There's no need to care about the hit percentage, anyway, we're leading by double digits, so just keep shooting."

Li You, who played the first quarter, returned to the bench, replenished his water, and comforted Sprewell, who was a nerve knife, by the way.

Jeff Van Gundy didn't care about shooting and limited his opponent's scoring to 22 points, and he has achieved his goal:

"Keep rushing for rebounds in the frontcourt, don't give them easy scores, Ben, pay attention to the defensive position, don't overdo it!"

The bald young marshal drew on the tactics board and signaled Ben Wallace to retreat to the defense as well.

Li You has changed into a training uniform at this time, and the 76ers have no three-point shots, as long as the team does not make mistakes, the double-digit lead can easily be maintained until halftime.

In the first quarter, Li You made 2 of 4 and 3 of 3 free throws, cutting 7 points, 2 rebounds and 5 assists, while Iverson on the opposite side made 4 of 7 and 2 of 2 free throws, and got 10 points, 1 rebound and 1 assist.

Looking at the technical statistics, Doug Collins in the commentary seat sighed:

"When Lee and Iverson entered the league, they chose different paths."

"It's hard to gauge whether Iverson's change was the right one, but Coach Larry Brown has really built a system for Iverson this season."

Bob Costas saw that Larry Johnson was still there on the Knicks' side, and Iverson was not resting, and suddenly sighed:

"The two teams play a little similarly, but the difference is that Lee is more efficient offensively."

The 76ers chose a short rotation to continue the "four to one" tactic, while the Knicks continued the regular season rotation, and Sprewell was still the main attacker.

"Madman" had an average shooting touch in this game, and in the face of Larry Hughes, a first-year rookie, he began to rush to the basket, and the whistle kept blowing.

Larry Brown was so anxious that he kept complaining to the referee, but to no avail.

Iverson's shooting touch declined, and he also slammed into the basket, and the 76ers' opening tactical play completely collapsed.

As was the case in the regular season, Lee Woo came on as a substitute with 2:46 left in the half.

Larry Brown was also not walking around the sidelines, looking serious and sitting quietly on the bench.

The first half ended quickly, and at 42:56, the Knicks had a 14-point lead.

On the NBC commentary bench, both knew that the game was basically over, and Doug Collins could only encourage him at this time:

"The 76ers are in the playoffs for the first time since rebuilding, and playing like this is something that I believe Philadelphia fans can accept."

Bob Costas glanced at the technical stats and noticed that Sprewell was 2-of-9 from the field and 6-of-6 from the free-throw line to score 10 points, and immediately quipped:

"An All-Star guard plays the sixth man, and only the Knicks in the league have that extravagant roster."

"I think Glenfield, the general manager, deserves the best manager award in the league."

“.”

In the Knicks locker room, everyone was talking and laughing, and although Sprewell was not satisfied with his performance, he also showed a smile at this time.

Lee Woo was smiling and encouraging Ben Wallace, and "Little Ben" received three fouls in the half:

"Don't care about the number of fouls, be deterrent in defense, just like Charles, be fierce!"

Ben Wallace couldn't help nodding, and since his hair had grown a little longer, he had already brought a headband by this time:

"I know, in the next game, they don't want to come to the basket easily!"

Thank you for your subscription and support.

Modified some content, and the big chapter will be restored at noon tomorrow~

In the first round, I didn't write too much~

(End of chapter)