Chapter 426 The Battle of the Ancient Enemies
The Knicks' victory over the Spurs became the focus of the next day!
"Ah! The Knicks have become the overlord of the league", the New York Times expressed its surprise with such a title,
"Li Feng has become the finisher of all spells and records. Under the leadership of this iron-blooded captain, the Knicks took solid steps toward the road to defend the title. In a defensive and iron-blooded war, the Knicks once again used victory to tell the Spurs who is the overlord of the current league. At the same time, Li Feng also won in a direct conversation with Duncan. The strength shown by the New York Knicks this season is already the best in the league."
"Tyrannosaurus Rex smashes the steel cage", the Washington Post also expressed his praise for Li Feng's outstanding performance, "This is a great game. The two teams are like Mars colliding with the earth, playing a fascinating game. Among them, the showdown between Li Feng and Duncan is also the biggest highlight of the game. In the end, Li Feng won easily. His entire journey and 69 points and 32 points in a single quarter helped the team laugh to the end. Li Feng is already the well-deserved first in the league."
The Los Angeles Times said: "The Knicks won again, with their strength, there is a chance to defend the title. If even the Spurs can't stop them, which team can win."
"Basket World" magazine commented: "The New York Knicks are not in good shape this year, but they still maintain a complete victory. Li Feng's perfect performance supports the team. If Dragic adapts to the new team and Ross adapts to the new position, the Knicks will be unstoppable."
...
As they said, the Knicks' state was very ups and downs. After defeating the Spurs, the whole team was in a normal state and lost to the Wizards in the weak team. But then, the Knicks ended November with an eight-game winning streak. As December entered, they tied for the first place in the league with the Chicago Bulls with a record of 12 wins and 1 losses. At this time, the Bulls went to New York to challenge the Nets, and the Knicks flew to Miami to challenge the Miami Heat.
Miami is a warm city, and the city is filled with a warm atmosphere. The humid and warm air, the clear sun, the cold drinks on the street, and the girl in hot pants, all make people feel warm and even a little hot.
Before the game, the gunpowder smell was extremely strong. After forming the Big Three, the Heat have been one of the hottest teams in the league in the past two years and one of the most powerful teams. Because they have the monster LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Queen Chris Bosh in their lineup.
His performance on the court in the past two years can only be described as horror. James's current ability is very terrifying. In the Heat's lineup, he is simply asking for it.
The Knicks played well this season, and the Heat are not bad either. The Heat are now on the 3-game winning streak. The two teams that already have strong players and both have their own rising momentum will naturally attract the attention of fans.
So as soon as the Knicks arrived in Miami, it immediately caused an uproar. Media across the United States were watching the game.
Li Feng naturally knew that James was powerful, but now Li Feng was not afraid of the other party. Because James's helpers may not have his own teammates, and in general, Li Feng has never really lost to James.
With the attention of the whole United States, the media naturally hopes to see the confrontation between Li Feng and James. The relationship between these two people is very cold.
However, during the media interview, neither Li Feng nor James kept talking about his opponents, and only said that this was a battle between the teams.
Neither of them talks about each other. But once the game starts, can they really avoid each other?
Can they avoid each other in the hearts of the media and fans? No, both of them know this answer. But neither of them is willing to say it, because it will eventually be a long, invisible battle.
On the night of the game, TNT's most popular Charles Barkley and Kenny Smith came to the stadium and began to prepare for the broadcast early.
The Knicks also went to the stadium to do shooting training early, and the Heat were the same. When the players of the two teams were practicing shooting on the sidelines, teammates and friends who knew came over to say hello to each other.
James also came over to greet the Knicks' people. When Li Feng met James, the two looked more intimate and shook hands, but there was a hint of hostility between the eyebrows and eyes.
This is a natural alert, especially Li Feng is not an American yet, which provides a basis for this hostility.
The process was simple, but in silence, the game increased the importance of the two people's psychology. They both became clearer that the other party could not get by.
While the two teams were shooting, the game broadcast also began. Charles Barkley looked at Kenny Smith with a smile on the commentator's west and said:
"This is a contest between the Eastern Conference teams, which should have been a normal game. But now with so much attention, I want to ask the fans why this is?"
Kenny Smith was also happy to watch his old partner:
"The Heat have won three consecutive games now, and James is the best player last week. This season, James has scored three triple-doubles, scored more than 30 points in 8 games, and has been double-doubles in almost every game. His performance is terrifying."
"Where is Li Feng! He was the best player last month, leading the team to win eight consecutive victories. He staged a big reversal with the Spurs! So far, he has scored triple-double in 5 games, scored more than 30 points in 10 games, and scored more than 30 points in the Knicks almost won all the games.!"
"Li Feng and James, both of them are absolutely strong players in the league. The number one person in the league is strongly promoted by James, but they were swept by Li Feng in the playoffs for two consecutive years. Now the number one person has become Li Feng. So this should be a battle of old enemies! These should be the reason why fans pay attention to this game. Of course, there is another reason, that is, the grudge between the Knicks and the Heat has been continuing that year."
Kenny Smith was still happy when she said this, but Charles Barkley smiled and pointed Smith and said:
"It seems you've done a lot of homework!"
"No, I can do it all at will!"
Kenny Smith didn't admit it at all, just laughing aside.
Barkley also had no choice but to use his old partner, so he said:
"If you believe in you, there will be ghosts! You guy."
While Barkley and Smith were talking and laughing, the American Airlines Center had already begun the appearance ceremony.
When it was Li Feng's turn to play, there was a lot of booing, and after introducing the Knicks, it was the Heat's turn to play. The Heat are now in Miami, James is also a god-like existence in the Heat. This city belongs to James. The largest billboard next to the road to Miami is James, and Wade has become a thing of the past.
So at this time, the Heat were extremely welcome. Every Heat player appeared and cheered them. When James finally appeared, the entire American Airlines Center was almost in a state of madness.
In terms of status in the hearts of fans, James has been in charge for so many years and is a fan of his own country. He is indeed much more influential than Li Feng.
Li Feng stood together with a group of young people from the Knicks and whispered to the players around him:
"Our little emperor is indeed extraordinary in appearance! But I think I am much better than him because my teammates are better than his teammates."
After Li Feng said this, the Knicks' young men looked at Li Feng differently. Because the Heat and the Heat borrowed his halo by James' side and were very famous in the league. Now Li Feng bluntly said that his teammates are better, and the Knicks and the young men were very comfortable. They were also very confident and their fighting spirit came with it.
"We will have a good fight with them today!"
After Li Feng said this, his eyes swept across the faces of all his teammates, and a group of young people in the Knicks became more enthusiastic.
After James threw magnesium powder, the starting rosters of the two teams also came out, and the Knicks have basically stabilized their starting lineup.
Point guard Dragic, shooting guard Ross, small forward Li Feng, power forward Monroe, center Cousins.
The Heat's starting lineup is point guard Chalmos, shooting guard Wade, small forward LeBron James, power forward Haslem, and center Bosh.
The Heat have been making great strides in the East with this lineup, but looking back at this lineup, they are in great debts.
The time for the game was up, and with the whistle of the referee, the centers of the two teams entered the center circle and the game began.
As soon as the whistle sounded, Cousins relied on his youth and strength to click the basketball on the Knicks.
Dragic took the ball and pressed up toward the Knicks. Now Li Feng gradually handed over the task of organizing the offense to Dragic, and he tried to minimize the dribbling and pushing forward.
The ball was very handsome, and he was under his crotch and shouted at his teammates, but there was also a problem with the ball. He was unable to run without the ball and get a better offensive opportunity with the cooperation of his teammates.
Li Feng let Dragic get the ball more, and he can fully utilize his offensive ability.
The Knicks are now increasingly clear about what their advantages are. Dragic is about to pass the basketball to Cousins, who is inside. The Knicks will start from the inside first.
The Heat were prepared before the game and knew that the Knicks' strongest part was the thickness of the inside line. So at this time, Bosh tried his best to push Cousins outward. Although Bosh is soft now, the game is just beginning to get enough energy. Cousins can't take advantage of Bosh at this time.
Bosh temporarily stabilized Cousins, and Monroe was also entangled with Haslem. In this way, the Knicks could not even play the inside at the beginning of the game.
Just when Coach Spoelstra, who attaches great importance to defense, showed a satisfied smile, Li Feng used his teammate's cover to suddenly go around from one side.
When the Knicks made a low post attack, Li Feng hid behind and was ready to attack at any time. Now Li Feng ran out all of a sudden, and it was too late for the Heat to go over.
Li Feng took the ball and cut into the Heat's basket from the middle. At this time, the Heat's defense was far less than that of the media reports.
After Li Feng came up like this, Wade could only reach out and use a foul on Li Feng. Li Feng took the opportunity to shoot, which could be regarded as cheating on a foul.
Li Feng made both free throws steadily, which was equivalent to succeeding in the offense. The Knicks played very layered at the beginning, and the two insiders were first placed in front to make the main attack. When the Heat's attention was attracted here, Li Feng immediately rushed out from the slash, which naturally made a profit from the Heat.
After the Knicks scored, they immediately retreated. The Heat played completely differently from the Knicks when they came.
James' tactics during the Heat were extremely simple, or simple. The team's playing style was basically James' breakthrough, the other four people were waiting to shoot, or James attracted defense to one side, and then the players on the other side performed two singles.
No matter how you play, the Heat is based on James, so when playing against the Heat during this period, as long as you find a way to suppress James or make James unable to contact his teammates, your chances of winning will increase greatly. Of course, if James gets angry by himself, there is no way to score continuously.
When the Heat came over this round, the basketball went to James first. James went to the outside of the three-point line to attract defense, and then immediately passed the ball to Bosh who was in the low position. Bosh had to try to play Cousins singles at this time.
Bosh and Cousins didn't have much fight before, so Bosh deliberately tried the other party.
He moved backwards with the ball, and it was indeed impossible to move the opponent. Bosh immediately turned over and jumped. He didn't expect that Cousins was good in defense and immediately came over to interfere. Bosh missed the attack at low post.
Seeing that Bosh couldn't beat Cousins, Spolstra and James were a little unhappy.
They had watched Cousins' videos before the game, and knew that this was a point that would be difficult to contain once it was played. Today, they saw Bosh falling in the confrontation. They knew that the inside line would inevitably be unable to be protected today.
The Knicks pushed forward for the second time. Let's start from the inside first. Aren't the Heat heavily defending Cousins!
The Knicks started playing from Cousins. The Knicks came up and played against Cousins, which immediately attracted the defense to Cousins.
Seeing that almost four of the Heat were on the strong side of the court, Cousins immediately returned the basketball to Dragic.
At this time, Li Feng went up to give Ross a cross cover and sent Ross to the open space at the bottom line. Dragic passed the ball to Ross at this time. Ross got the ball and scored two points for the second time.
At the beginning of the game, the Knicks played 4-0, and it seemed that the Heat's defense could not stop the Knicks' offense.
At this time, Kenny Smith said:
"The Knicks' offense in the opening few rounds today is more layered. Once they can't open on one side, they will immediately move to the other side. At this point, the Heat are not doing well, and they are not doing well."
Kenny Smith is a bit wrong with the Heat. The Heat naturally want to play better, but the Heat only has one operating core, and cannot combine inside and outside, nor can they transfer the strength and weakness. It is almost impossible to play more layered.
The Heat played again, but it was relatively simple. Chalmos came to control the ball, and James immediately used a cover to receive the basketball at 45 degrees.
James' basketball breakthrough towards the Knicks' basket horizontally, which is a trick of the Heat. In the past, the Heat had a high success rate with this move, but this time James broke through, Li Feng immediately came up to delay James. At the same time, Monroe, behind Li Feng, also came up to help defend with a flexible step.
The Knicks' defense does not look fierce, but it is very dense and orderly, and has strong restrictions on breakthroughs.
Who is LeBron James? Although he is the emperor who is praised, he is still talented.
He immediately dribbled the ball towards the outside of the three-point line, pulled the Knicks' defense away and attacked again.
James was so patient that the Knicks could only re-arrange the defense. At this moment, James immediately called Bosh's high cover.
James came over Bosh with the ball and wanted to break through at a high position. This move was the Heat's signature attack. How could the Knicks not be prepared before? Just when James broke through, the Knicks two players suddenly went out to swim James together.
When James got up to pass the ball at this time, Monroe immediately pulled back to break Bosh's catch route.
The Knicks' defense is very fast and targeted, and they are prepared for the Heat's offensive routines.
So as soon as James threw the ball out, Monroe clicked the basketball. Although Monroe didn't break the basketball into his hand, he pointed the basketball out of the bounds, Monroe destroyed the Heat's attack this time.
In this way, it not only weakened the Heat's time, but also destroyed the Heat's rhythm. The Heat's kick-off time was not much, so Wade forced a three-pointer, but failed.
The Heat made such forced and unreasonable shooting, and the Knicks' defensive goal was basically achieved.
The Knicks got a backcourt rebound and immediately advanced quickly. Because the Knicks were young, even with two big inside players, their speed was very fast. They were even faster than the Heat. Cousins ran to the Heat's halftime one step earlier and finally got the position ahead of Bosh.
At this time, Dragic passed the ball decisively, and Cousins turned around and hooked it. Because his position was too deep, Bosh had no choice. Cousins and the Knicks finally completed a low-post attack. In this way, the Knicks played 6-0 at the beginning, which was a good start for the Knicks, but it gave the Heat a considerable blow.
Regarding this game, Spoelstra and James used to express their unspecified treatment to the media, but now there is a slight disturbance on the court. Spoelstra did not stand on the sideline and shouted a timeout immediately. It can be seen that Spoelstra attaches different importance to this game than what he said in front of the media. (To be continued, please search for Astronomy, the novel is better, updated and faster!
Chapter completed!