Chapter 1048 Singles Tang Is Online (Fourth Update!)
At the beginning of the second quarter, both sides were the main players with substitutes.
The Pelicans are led by Walker and Davis, plus Brogdon, Siakam and Harrell.
For the Mavericks, Holiday and Jokic lead the team, plus Barea, Dwight Powell and Nowitzki.
As soon as he came back in the second quarter, Walker faced Nowitzki's turning top shot and scored.
He really took what Parker learned and put it to use.
But looking back, Nowitzki caught Barea's breakaway ball and made a mid-range jumper.
Davis hit Nowitzki in the low post and was double-teamed by Powell. He quickly released the ball. Siakam received the ball and dunked with one hand to boost the team's morale.
But in the next round, Holiday took a pass from Jokic and scored 2+1 on Brogdon.
The situation on the field was anxious, very anxious.
The Mavericks are really underrated.
Morey previously said in front of the media that the Rockets have found the lineup that best suits them this season.
But now it seems that the Mavericks are the team that best fits this sentence.
The changes brought by Holiday and Jokic on both offense and defense are really visible to the naked eye.
And after experiencing consecutive championships, their psychological quality is stronger than at the same time in history.
This win-win deal really brings a good opponent to the Pelicans.
The fans at the scene were very excited, and Xiao Hua was also filled with joy.
Over the past month or so, he had been like a drowning man.
Under the continuous pressure from the owners of each team, I feel like I am almost out of breath.
Now this performance from the Mavericks is like that life-saving straw that he can finally grab and surface to breathe.
Stevens paced the sidelines.
Although he was prepared beforehand, the Mavericks were still stronger than he expected.
After playing on the court for a while and the score was still deadlocked, he got up and called Tang Tian and Butler up.
Brogdon, Tang Tian, Butler, Siakam, Davis.
This is a lineup he used against the Rockets, especially an S+ defense.
After Carlisle saw this, he also changed players and replaced Conley, Harris, and Embiid.
Conley, Holiday, Powell, Harris, Embiid.
This is hard against hard!
Embiid's inside attack was double-teamed, giving Harris a chance. Tang Tian assisted in the defense and interfered.
Davis protected the defensive rebound and Brogdon advanced to the frontcourt.
Tang Tian broke through and was double-teamed, giving Butler a chance to score, but Powell's defense came quickly.
Butler gave the ball to Davis again, but the latter's shot under the basket was interfered by Embiid and failed to score!
The two teams had an offensive battle before, but this section invariably switched to a defensive battle!
Although the methods are different, the results are the same.
As analyzed by Buckley, they are evenly matched!
Before the two sides switched to this lineup, the score on the court was 41 to 38.
After playing for more than three minutes, the score on the court was still 41 to 38!
Comparing tactics and strategies, Carlisle is not afraid of Stevens!
Stevens hesitated on the sidelines for a while, turned around, called Walker up, and then made a 1 gesture to Tang Tian.
For the first time this season, he's going to make big moves.
No matter how the game goes, if the Mavericks can push the Pelicans to this point, it can be considered a success.
The so-called 1 is the No. 1 tactic, which has been commonly used by the Pelicans in the past few years.
To put it bluntly, it was Tang Tian's singles strategy.
Because the Pelicans have a strong lineup this season, Walker and Davis actually play pick-and-roll more often.
Tang Tian only needs to take over when the team fails to score, or perform at critical moments.
This is why his highest score this season has not exceeded 40 points.
Because there is no need for it.
But now the Mavericks have forced the Pelicans to do just that.
This stalemate is definitely not a good thing for the Pelicans.
Tang Tian understood.
In fact, he had wanted to fight for a long time.
The previous three days have been spent on adapting to the new training, and now it’s time to put it into practice.
Speaking of which, he was not tall before time travel, only a little under 1.78 meters. According to basketball standards, he was a standard short guard.
When I usually play, I basically play guard style, dribbling, controlling the ball, shooting, etc.
That's why he became the godfather of basketball in his last life.
Now I have traveled through time and become a player, but I cannot stop the heart of a defender.
In the past, because his skill level was not high, he rarely showed off his breakthroughs. Basically, he would speed up to pass the opponent, and then choose an attack method.
Even if he breaks into the paint, it is still a shot after a strong confrontation.
But now that I have the Butterfly Step in my hand, it’s like having hundreds of dollars in my pocket. My confidence and energy are different.
Walker advanced to the frontcourt with the ball, gave the ball to Tang Tian, and then signaled the two sides to open up for Tang Tian to play singles.
Holiday, who defends Tang Tian, is a former teammate and the Pelicans' strongest defensive player.
Tang Tian glanced at Holiday.
Sorry, Zhu.
One changes direction to the right, and then pulls the ball sharply to the left.
The biggest difference compared to dribbling low before was that Tang Tian no longer had to deliberately lower his center of gravity.
Because he can feel that even if he stands upright, the ball can be firmly controlled by him.
Holiday's focus was obviously mobilized.
This is change.
Big men who can dribble are very popular in the NBA, such as Webber and McGrady in the past. The most representative among current players are Griffin and Durant.
Both of them are difficult to defend in singles with the ball. In addition to their own offensive threats, they are tall and can change direction greatly when breaking through.
Most people don't dare to strike easily. If they lose their defensive position, they will only be punished.
But if you don't take action, it's also easy to lose your defensive position, because the opponent changes direction drastically, and if you don't keep up, the breakthrough will only be a matter of time.
Therefore, Holiday could only mobilize his body's center of gravity to follow Tang Tian's rhythm.
At this moment, Tang Tian made a move to collect the ball.
Holiday pounced out after seeing it. As Tang Tian's former teammate, he knew how accurate Tang Tian's pull-up was.
But the moment he pounced, Tang Tian suddenly made a quick low-body cross-step to break through on the right side, completely passing him!
There was an uproar.
This pair of rhythm and control of the ball is simply amazing.
Even though they knew that Tang Tian was very strong, it was simply unbelievable for a 2.03 meter tall man to perform this action.
Tang Tian passed Holiday and then went straight to the basket, and Embiid came out to help defend.
The two were half a step away from meeting each other.
But at this moment, Tang Tian suddenly slowed down and then accelerated, changing direction in front of his body, and directly passed Embiid!
This time, even the players on and off the court on both sides were stunned.
This damn thing...isn't it fake!
"boom!"
With a muffled sound, Tang Tian passed Holiday and Embiid and smashed the ball into the basket with one hand.
It really couldn't be truer.
There was a commotion at the scene, and the Pelicans bench was in an uproar.
Stevens was even more smiley.
He didn't know how Tang Tian had such strong ball control skills.
The only explanation is that after being targeted by the Warriors and Cavaliers last season, he worked hard on this skill during the offseason.
In fact, Tang Tian is indeed doing this, and there were similar news reports during the offseason.
Because the Pelicans have not wanted Tang Tian in singles before, it is reasonable to wait until now.
But this is such a surprise to him, the Pelicans, and even Pelicans fans!