If we can crush the league’s top offensive team with ironclad defense, it will certainly be a great aid to his plan.
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Leading 1-0 on the road and seizing ho-court advantage, the Knicks Team dominated the start of the East Final.
However, the Knicks Team failed to directly defeat the Magic Team in one go. After leading 1-0 on the road, they couldn’t continue winning in Ga 2, and the Magic Team tied the series 109-102.
Back at ho, the Knicks Team won both gas, leading 3-1. But in Ga 5, when the Magic Team returned ho, they scored a convincing 112-97 victory, dragging the series to Ga 6.
A day later, the Knicks Team was overwheld by the Magic Team’s fierce firepower at ho, trailing 66-49 by 17 points at halfti!
The Magic Team’s coach didn’t make the sa mistake as the Pacers’ coach. Brian Hill clearly understood his team’s strengths. Throughout the series, he focused solely on enhancing offensive power and breaking the Knicks Team’s defense, without even considering competing defensively with the Knicks Team, knowing they couldn’t win.
The Knicks Team’s defense included Christie on second defense, Zhang Yang on first defense, Ewing on second defense, and Oakley at a near-defensive team level. No team relying solely on defense could outperform the Knicks Team, not even the Bulls with Pippen and Jordan.
In Gas 3 and 4, Brian Hill realized they couldn’t avoid the sharp drop in shooting performance caused by the opponent’s relentless physical play in the late ga. The shooting recovery seen in Ga 2 was a rare exception.
So in Ga 5, he changed his strategy, disregarded this issue, and focused on attacking fiercely while the shooting touch was hot!
They needed to widen the score gap to make it insurmountable during the opponent’s advantageous stage!
They won Ga 5, and tonight, his strategy succeeded again, leading by 17 points at halfti. Brian Hill seed to see them completing a 1-3 coback on their ho court...
Then, in the third quarter, Zhang Yang shot 10 for 7, including 4 of 5 from three-point range and 3 of 3 free throws, scoring 21 points!
With Zhang Yang leading, the Knicks Team outscored the Magic Team 33-19 in the quarter...
Trailing by 3 points, 82-85, the Knicks Team closed the gap!
Both Brian Hill and O’Neal on the court were dumbfounded, especially during the few possessions after the official tiout in the third quarter when Zhang Yang hit three three-pointers, one mid-range shot, and made both free throws from a foul, single-handedly pulling off a 13-5 run. They watched helplessly as the previously double-digit gap quickly shrunk to a single digit...
In the final quarter, the Magic Team collapsed, and the Knicks Team delivered a 25-15 quarter score!
Scoring 9 points in the first quarter, 5 in the second, 21 in the third, and 8 in the final, Zhang Yang recorded 43 points and 5 assists in the ga, leading the Knicks Team to a significant 17-point coback, defeating the Magic Team 107-100, and advancing to the Finals with a 4-2 series win!
With the Magic Team held to just 34 points in the half, the strong reversal helped the Knicks Team advance. With the help of Charles Dolan, public opinion was steered in the direction Big Bird wanted.
The concept of ’defense first’ began to truly gain popularity.
The day after the Knicks Team eliminated the Magic Team, on May 29, the Western Conference Finals also concluded.
The Rockets achieved their third consecutive underdog victory, defeating the Spurs 4-2 in the Western Conference Finals. David Robinson, like Ewing in last season’s Finals, was totally outplayed by Olajuwon.
The Rockets, who had been on a ’coback’ journey, were now highly favored to win the championship, with everyone eager to witness the birth of a miracle.
At the press conference after eliminating the Spurs, Tom Janovich coined the famous phrase: "Don’t underestimate the heart of a champion."
Big Bird responded in an interview: "Thanks to Rudy for inspiring my players."
The tiline reached June 3, with the Knicks Team facing off against the Rockets in the Finals for the second consecutive year, but this ti starting at the Knicks Team’s ho court.
This Finals was completely different from last season.
Last season, the Rockets almost had no chance to counterattack, as Olajuwon didn’t have even one barely comparable teammate to Zhang Yang. This year he has ’the league’s third-best shooting guard’ Drexler!
The ga opened with both teams locked in a stalemate battle, with both sides evenly matched.
In fact, the Rockets’ performance shouldn’t have been so poor; they also had a winning rate equivalent to a 55-win team earlier in the season. But after acquiring Drexler through mid-season trade, it took a considerable ti to sh, which caused a severe drop in their performance, ending with only 47 wins.
If you only consider the final 10 gas where the Rockets improved from a 39-33 record to 47-35, it wouldn’t be surprising that the Rockets managed to pull off underdog victories throughout the Western Conference playoffs, as their performance in the last 10 gas was even better than the league-leading Spurs.
The Knicks Team trailed by 1 point at 23-24 in the first quarter, but led 21-19 in the second, taking a 1-point lead at halfti. In the third quarter, they extended their lead to 3 points by outscoring the Rockets 27-25... with 11 minutes and 55 seconds left in the final quarter, Drexler made a pull-up mid-range shot, tying the score at 95-95!
The final quarter score was 27-24!
Olajuwon nearly teared up. Last year at this ti, he could also lead his team in a back-and-forth battle with the opponent in the first half, but in the second half, Zhang Yang exhausted their periter players with his stamina and started scoring at will, leaving him helpless.
Now, he finally had a teammate who could hold his own against Zhang Yang! Scoring 9 points in the third quarter and 8 in the final, Drexler poured in 17 points in the second half!
Just as the Rockets were ready to head to overti, during the tiout, Ewing and Oakley set screens at the free-throw line, while Zhang Yang moved along the baseline to the basket and then sprinted to the arc. Using Ewing and Oakley to shake off the trailing Cassell, he received a pass from Doug Christie, who was holding the ball on the side, spun, and hit a three-pointer cleanly!
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