The Eastern Conference Finals had begun.
In this ga, Rick Carlisle had returned Shaquille O’Neal to the starting lineup to partner with Zach Randolph.
minutes!
Just 5 minutes!
That was how long Shaquille O’Neal could now stand on the court in a single ga, and it was also the ti it took them to dismantle the Celtics.
There was no way around it, Shaquille O’Neal’s dominance over Kevin Garnett was comprehensive.
From on-court technical style to psychological pressure.
Let’s put it this way...
Kevin Garnett had just two words for Shaquille O’Neal:
Respectful awe!
Even before joining the league, he had thought about how not to match up with him. After entering the league, living under the shadow of Shaquille O’Neal at his pri, it was even more so...
Now Shaquille O’Neal was old.
But likewise, after a major injury, Kevin Garnett’s condition had also significantly declined.
One could tell from his reduced mobility on the defensive end.
Frankly, the Celtics’ defense this season was just everyone on the court playing like their lives depended on it.
In addition, it was about the whole team’s coordination.
But understanding and effort did not necessarily lead to effectiveness.
In the face of absolute suppression, these two things often proved to be of little impact.
Shaquille O’Neal had dealt a devastating blow to the Celtics’ inside ga.
As for the outside...
Su Wan enjoyed the treatnt originally given to Kobe.
As soon as he got the ball, Ray Allen would stick to him while Paul Pierce and Rajon Rondo ford a "triangle" with Allen, pressuring Su from behind.
But...
The main reason the Celtics could deal with Kobe:
In 2010, the Lakers’ outside lineup consisted of Artest and Fisher.
Of those, Artest was the only sowhat useful one; Fisher was soone the Celtics could easily ignore.
Su Wan’s outside partners were different, one was Chauncey Billups and the other was Afflalo.
Even if Afflalo was only a third-year player, his performance in shooting might not be steady in such a high-level ga, but Su Wan still had Billups!
That’s "Mr. Key".
The more critical the mont, the more he could respond.
This ga fully demonstrated this point.
By the end of the first half, Billups had already hit 3 three-point shots.
This scene directly excited the reporters from New York at courtside.
Why, you ask?
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Because they could already see Su Wan teaming up with Stephen Curry.
Among the three-point shots hit by Billups, which one couldn’t have been made by Stephen Curry!
Though he had just finished his rookie season, Stephen Curry had already perfectly showcased his three-point ability, ranking 7th in the league with 166 three-point shots.
The person ahead of him? None other than who the New Yorkers saw as his future "big bro":
Su Wan!
That was another reason why the Celtics’ defense didn’t work well.
Su Wan could catch the ball and complete a three-point shot in an instant.
Executing "triangle positioning" against him every round wasn’t very aningful.
The Celtics paid the price for this.
By the end of the first half, Su Wan had achieved 5 assists.
One can infer just how many tis the Celtics, in their attempts to target Su Wan’s ball possession, left his teammates unguarded.
But the tragic outco of their failed strategies was painful: the Pacers led by 11 points at halfti.
In the second half, Rick Carlisle once again brought Shaquille O’Neal to the floor, continuing to exert pressure inside.
Kevin Garnett and Perkins had perford very poorly throughout the first half.
The reason was that they were completely dejected by Shaquille O’Neal’s onslaught from the start, and even after he was substituted out, they couldn’t quickly adjust.
The end result was that even Marc Gasol, a second-year rookie, could have his way over them!
And the Pacers’ dominance in outside initiatives in the first half was also gained after securing the advantage inside.
So that’s why, right at the start of the second half, Rick Carlisle was so determined to continue with this strategy.
In the end, the ga finished with the Pacers beating the Celtics 119 to 100, a solid 19-point victory.
Don’t be fooled by the modest final score. From the beginning of the second half, the rhythm was firmly controlled by the Pacers, never allowing the gap to fall below 15 points.
This kind of "boiling the frog in warm water" victory sotis leaves the opponent without any spirit of resistance.
As the buzzer sounded, the Celtics’ "Three Giants" lowered their heads one after another.
Barkley, watching the three of them, seed to be reminded of the dissatisfaction from the later years of his own career: "Sotis it’s like this, fighting hard doesn’t necessarily bring a satisfactory result, but we must applaud the Boston Three Giants; at least, they ca together in ti for the Auburn Lane Cup and gave it one last shot."
Flying Pig’s biggest regret was not teaming up earlier when the opportunity ca, but waiting until there was only a tiny bit of gas left in his tank; and when he did choose to team up, he didn’t see clearly whether the others were supportive or not, picking those whose tanks were completely out of gas, "Dream" and "Glider".
The cara then turned to Shaquille O’Neal.
This old fellow was really lucky!
Just when his entire career seed unsalvageable, he t Su Wan; last season as a tactical core, directly turned the tides of his image, spent most of this season marking ti on the bench, and now facing Kevin Garnett and Perkins, whose styles he dominated, shone brightly, and post-ga received a wave of praises, being called the "secret weapon prepared specifically for the Celtics and the Lakers".
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