Turning his head and glancing at Clay Lee, Reggie Miller, who was standing with his hands on his hips, mocked, and saw Oakley made two free throws and quickly ran to the front court.
At this time, the Knicks once again became a three-guard team, with Kurt Thomas and Oakley in the interior.
Rik Smits hit another hook shot from the right low post, and Kurt Thomas' defense didn't play much of a role.
Looking back, Sprewell dribbled the ball across half court, Alan Houston quickly slipped across the baseline from left to right, and Lee cut across from right to left.
Quickly coming to the left wing, Lee twisted his body to receive the ball, facing Derrick McKey who switched defense, and immediately crossed his left foot after releasing the ball with his left hand.
Derrick McKey desperately slid to the right back, blocking the bottom line with all his strength, seeing Lee Gyro Step, Mark Jackson saw the opportunity and immediately slid to the paint area to double-team.
However, Lee turned too fast, and Mark Jackson's assist defense was half a beat slower, and he failed to close the door.
He watched Lee switch to his right hand and then make a layup in the paint area!
After scoring, Lee opened his hands, made a gliding gesture, and quickly ran back to half court.
"Boo!"
He accelerated at full speed, turned around sharply after the physical confrontation, his movements did not deform, and his shot was still stable.
Larry Bird on the sidelines frowned and quickly reminded loudly:
"Don't let him break through to the paint easily!"
The booing was too loud, but Mark Jackson also understood what the coach meant.
According to the game plan, it was time to foul fiercely.
With two big men with mid-range jump shot ability on the court, the Knicks completely opened up the offensive space in the interior.
Oakley and Kurt stood in the elbow area every time they attacked.
Sprewell did not steal the show at this time, and played the tactics honestly.
Rik Smits completely blew up the Knicks' interior, but Sprewell also did not have many opportunities to chase Reggie Miller.
Every attack was initiated by Lee's cross-cutting on the top line.
This time, Reggie Miller was not focused on the defensive end, and Alan Houston, who slipped to the right blocking area at the baseline, suddenly ran back and cut into the basket, easily getting rid of the defense.
Sprewell threw the ball to the upper right side of the basket, and Alan Houston scooped the ball in the air and easily made a layup!
"Ah!!"
Both offense and defense performed well.
After completing the assist, Sprewell also beat his chest angrily and roared to encourage himself.
48:36, with 2 minutes and 32 seconds left in the first half, the score difference still did not narrow.
Seeing that the Pacers were attacking again, Rik Smits received the ball in the left blocking area, Bob Costas could not help but suggest:
"Coach Larry Bird should consider speeding up and increasing Miller's offensive opportunities. Falling behind by double digits at halftime should not be in their game plan."
Doug Collins immediately shook his head and said firmly:
"There is nothing wrong with resolutely implementing the game strategy, but they can't limit the Knicks' scoring."
Standing on the free throw line again, Rik Smits made two free throws and had already scored most of the points in this quarter.
There was not much time left in the half, and Sprewell also began to slow down the pace.
Facing the defense of Jaylen Rose, he dribbled steadily across the half court.
Mark Jackson also cut across the line.
This time, he flexibly squeezed through the double screen in the elbow area.
When Lee received the ball on the right wing, he was again closely guarded by the opponent.
He kept cutting the ball, and Mark Jackson almost hung on Lee.
Seeing such a body search defense, Jeff Van Gundy on the sidelines kept complaining:
"This is all a foul. Look at his right hand!"
Lee just kept the ball firmly on the right side of his body, and at the same time, his left foot quickly tested forward to the right.
Taking advantage of the moment when Mark Jackson slightly moved back, Lee quickly released the ball with his right hand, and immediately stepped back while dribbling the ball on the spot, and quickly jumped out from the right wing!
"Swish!" The three-pointer went into the net!
From receiving the ball to shooting, it took less than 3 seconds.
Mark Jackson stood still and was unable to make any defensive reaction at all.
The Pacers fans in the stadium were completely silent, watching the people on the Knicks bench cheering and shouting.
Reggie Miller responded with a three-pointer after receiving the ball.
On the defensive end, Rik Smits retreated to the basket and helped defend against Lee.
As a result, Oakley, who was left open, easily hit a mid-range jumper in the right elbow area.
Before the end of the first half, Sprewell's quick advance to the basket was fouled again.
Head coach Larry Bird on the sidelines looked unhappy.
The game plan seemed to have failed completely.
At 57:42, watching the Knicks team return to the player tunnel with laughter and chatter, the Pacers fans were helpless and furious, and could only follow suit.
Leading by 15 points at halftime, the game was no longer suspenseful, and Doug Collins no longer commented on the tactical issues of both sides:
"Sprewell played very well tonight. He controlled the offensive rhythm of the Knicks very well in this quarter."
Playing the entire second quarter, Sprewell scored 4 of 7 shots and 2 of 2 free throws.
He scored 10 points in a single quarter and also sent out 3 assists.
Bob Costas looked at Lee's data and couldn't help sighing:
"A new era two-way guard, Lee who focuses on offense is hard to be restricted!"
6 of 11 in the first half, 2 of 5 from beyond the three-point line, 4 of 5 free throws, 18 points, 2 rebounds and 4 assists.
Some fierce "black foot" defense also affected Lee's shooting.
The two chatted nonsense in the commentary booth, and no one mentioned the defense.
Everyone is the same standard.
Reggie Miller couldn't shoot a three-pointer in the face of Sprewell's fierce defense.
After the start of the second half, the Pacers did not change the offensive rhythm, and still tried to slow down the defense and rely on counterattacks to complete the pursuit.
Like Jeff Van Gundy, Larry Bird made a game strategy before the game and insisted on it.
But as the game progressed, seeing Mark Jackson's cross pass on the line was intercepted by Lee, Larry Bird couldn't help but hold his forehead.
In the frontcourt, 1 vs. 0, Lee quickly rushed across half court after stealing the ball and easily made a one handed slam dunk!
"Wow!"
On the Knicks bench, the atmosphere group cheered loudly, and Larry Johnson also grinned.
His shooting touch was very good tonight.
The Pacers, who wanted to speed up, could not find a main attacker at this time.
Rik Smits was constantly defended by Ben Wallace, and only received one foul in the first half.
"Little Ben" let go, making it difficult for the "The Dunking Dutchman" to receive the ball.
After Mark Jackson made a mistake in the inside line, he became more cautious in handling the ball.
The chain reaction brought about was that the Pacers' offense was constipated.
Mark Jackson had no choice but to receive a pot jump shot from outside the three-point line, and the three-pointer at the top of the arc was missed.
The long rebound also fell into Lee's hands.
A tactical foul was committed at the first time, and Mark Jackson ran back to the half court depressed.
The players did implement the game plan, and the Knicks did not have too many transition offenses.
Lee, Larry Johnson, and Alan Houston took turns to play singles quickly, and after the iron shot, there was another fierce grab under the basket.
Seeing this situation, Larry Bird simply returned to the bench and stopped directing the team.
The score was 26:22 in a single quarter.
Even with the free throws, the slow offensive rhythm made the Pacers lose 83:64 in a single quarter, and the game completely lost suspense.
In the early part of the fourth quarter, the Pacers wanted to fight hard, making the lineup smaller and trying to speed up.
Sprewell's fierce defense made Reggie Miller lose his touch, and there was not much he could do except commit a foul.
In the commentary booth, Bob Costas saw that the defensive moves of both sides' shooters were getting bigger and bigger, and there was no room for them to fall.
It was difficult to comment, so he changed the topic again:
"Doug, do you think there is a problem with the game strategy formulated by coach Larry Bird tonight?"
Doug Collins raised his eyebrows and commented on this topic:
"The game plan is formulated in advance, and it usually doesn't change too much in a game."
"Larry Johnson broke out tonight, and coach Van Gundy shortened Sprewell's playing time. This is the key to the Knicks' victory."
"Of course, Lee's efficient offense is still the biggest guarantee for the Knicks."
The Pacers, whose height has dropped, also had problems with rim protection at this time.
For two consecutive rounds, Lee sneaked a shot and turned around to crush and break through to score quickly.
In the end, Antonio Davis couldn't hold it anymore.
He didn't wait for Lee to come to the paint area and fouled directly when he came over to help defend.
Less than half a quarter of the game, it had entered the penalty state.
Larry Bird knew that the game was over, and while Lee was shooting free throws, he waved his hand and simply replaced the atmosphere group.
With 6 minutes and 42 seconds left in the game, the Pacers called off the game.
After playing for another two minutes, Jeff Van Gundy also replaced the main lineup.
The game time was running out, and the bald young coach was completely relieved.
Assistant coach Thibodeau was in a good mood.
Looking at Van Gundy who returned to the bench, he whispered:
"Reduce pick-and-rolls, increase screens, and a lot of one-on-ones. We bet right!"
Jeff Van Gundy smiled and nodded, looking towards the Pacers bench, feeling quite proud.
Reggie Miller, who returned to the bench, changed into his training clothes and looked straight at everyone on the court.
3 of 11, 3 of 7 from beyond the three-point line, 4 of 4 free throws, 13 points, 2 rebounds, 1 assist, and 3 turnovers.
Compared with the game in G3, there was almost no change, and it was still difficult to finish in the paint.
Rik Smits also showed a depressed expression, 8 of 13, 9 of 9 free throws, 25 points, 5 rebounds, and 2 turnovers.
Getting the highest score in the team but feeling useless, the "The Dunking Dutchman" began to doubt the tactical problem.
The bench was particularly quiet, and the fans of the Pacers in the stadium continued to spit foul language.
There was no timeout, no free throws, and the game went very fast in the last 4 minutes.
In the end, the full score was fixed at 107:86, and the Knicks won a big victory over their opponents, and the series score became 2:2.
At the press conference after the game, the New York media in the audience praised Jeff Van Gundy and turned back into a wise and powerful championship coach.
"Jeff, can you talk about how the team adjusted?"
Without doubts, Jeff Van Gundy smiled again, showing a calm look, and answered confidently:
"No need to adjust, I just handed the game to the players, and we will always stick to this game strategy!"
"Lee and Larry Johnson gave a response tonight, this is how we play!"
Playing 38 minutes, 12 of 22 shots, 3 of 7 from beyond the three-point line, 7 of 8 free throws, 34 points, 4 rebounds, 8 assists, 2 steals and 1 turnover, Clay Lee once again scored the highest score of the game.
Playing 37 minutes, 9 of 17 shots, 2 of 5 from beyond the three-point line, 5 of 6 free throws, 25 points, 8 rebounds, 1 steal, 1 turnover, Larry Johnson played the best performance of the series.
Jeff Van Gundy was completely clear, and he was just short of saying that we rely on stars to play one-on-one.
The Pacers' team reporters were speechless when they heard such words, and their stars could not swing.
Since the Spurs had already entered the finals, there was no game on June 8th.
Most of the columns in the paper media were praising the Knicks:
"Van Gundy showed the style of a championship coach!"
"Larry Bird's stupid stubbornness cost the Pacers a comeback!"
"Reggie Miller is a Maria Trench away from MVP."
Flying back to New York overnight, Lee looked at the newspaper in his Manhattan apartment the next morning and shook his head in boredom.
In addition to looking at the data and the win or loss, the fence-sitters don't think too much about the game content, and most of the articles have little substance.
Mark Bartelstein and the staff of Nike delivered shoes to Lee early in the morning.
While eating breakfast, they complained:
"The quality of the columns in these newspapers has declined greatly. Many authors have jumped to Yahoo Sports. The portal websites are indeed rich."
The sports channel founded by Yahoo in 1997 has been paving the way for the past two years with the help of US dollars, and the content has been getting better and better.
"Lee, the stocks you bought are all rising. These investors are simply crazy. I don't believe that those ideas can be turned into US dollars!"
"Maybe you can sell them after waiting for a while!"
Mark Bartelstein simply reminded Lee.
Lee, who tried hard to get information every day, still couldn't remember the specific time of the Internet bubble:
"I will pay attention. Oh! The new color is so beautiful!"
Nike's staff saw and heard Lee's praise, and immediately introduced proudly:
"The colorful color, except that it is a little heavy, this pair of shoes has no disadvantages. Lee, we all hope that you can make it to the finals!"
"."
On the evening of June 9, the decisive battle of the Eastern Conference Finals officially began.
During the more than one day of rest, New York fans were not idle.
Many of them spontaneously held up whiteboards:
"Fuck! Miller!"
Compared to the restrained shouting of the Pacers fans, everyone at Madison Square Garden started to fuck up after the game started.
Spike Lee did not go to the away game.
He did not sit down after the game started.
He played all the time until the referee issued a warning, and then he breathed a sigh of relief.
Kicking someone when they are down has always been the favorite of New York fans.
Last year, Michael Jordan was unlucky, and this year it was the turn of an old friend Reggie Miller.
Rik Smits, who performed bravely in the last game, had a bad touch after the start and missed many shots.
Perhaps they lost the rhythm of the game in the shouting, the Pacers were fast and slow, and there was no consensus on the court, and the Knicks scored easily in succession.
By the end of the first quarter, the score was fixed at 14:28, and Madison Square Garden was completely boiling.
Larry Bird naturally noticed the problem with the rhythm of the game.
The two timeouts did not have much effect.
The noisy scene also made it impossible for the players to hear his shouts.
On the NBC commentary booth, Doug Collins also noticed the Pacers' hesitation.
At this time, he could only sigh:
"The playoffs are the stage for superstars. In the later stages of the series, it is a competition between stars."
The noisy scene made Bob Costas on the side raise his voice:
"Coach Van Gundy's point of view is correct. Leave the game to the players. The Knicks have already taken the lead!"
"."
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