"Darko, I won't let you score more than 15 points in this game!" Okafor stood behind Milicic, and Milicic turned around and shot a jumper as if to prove his strength.
, but this shot was a little far from the position he was accustomed to turning around for a jump shot. The ball hit the edge of the basket and was directly received as a rebound by Blazek.
This was already Milicic's fourth shot. Only one of them happened to be determined by the referee to be a foul by Okafor. Only then did he get two free throw opportunities. If Milicic hadn't scored two points with free throws, Milicic would have missed two free throws.
The first quarter is going to be a blank.
After the Bobcats scored a counterattack, Rivers took Milicic off the court and replaced him with Mark Blount. Rivers said to the dejected Milicic: "I watched quietly from the court.
Let me know when you feel you are qualified to play."
In Milicic's impression, Rivers has always respected him and encouraged him, but this time he blamed him. Milicic also had resentment in his heart, but after he came off the field, the Celtics' offense reversed.
It was smoother until the end of the first quarter, when the Celtics led 27-18.
At the beginning of the second quarter, Rivers still did not send Milicic. Although Milicic was resentful, he was no longer so anxious. He carefully watched the movements on the field. Although Blount did not have his own height and talent,
However, he did not force the ball, but pulled out to create space for Jefferson, and at the same time responded to Payton and Jones' sudden points and made a mid-range shot.
Every ball the Celtics played was reasonable. Although Knight, Smith, Wallace, and Okafor were all masters of single defense, the ball kept passing through and they were unable to use their single defense capabilities at all.
In space, Okafor faced off against Mark Blount, and was even more embarrassed by Blount. If he didn't guard it, Blount's mid-range shot would still have a certain accuracy. If he guarded it, it wouldn't be worth it for such a role player.
.As for letting Brezek go out to defend, it is even more impractical. Brezek is a traditional big center and is not very good at movement.
With Blount in check, the Bobcats lost a strong defensive barrier inside. Tony Allen and Eddie Jones took turns attacking the Bobcats' basket, and Jefferson also seized several secondary offensive opportunities.
Although Payton does not have the sharp breakthroughs he did when he was young, his passing can always be turned into points, and the passing is a threat. The defender will ignore his personal offense when defending the pass, which also gives
Payton had some opportunities, and Milicic thought of this and stood up and said to Rivers: "Coach, I think I can play."
When the official timeout came in the second quarter, Rivers sent Milicic onto the court. After Milicic came on the field, he caught the ball and still tested the strength of Okafor behind him. He once again relied on two hits and then turned over and shot a jumper.
This time, the ball was passed directly to Al Jefferson under the basket. After receiving the ball, Jefferson squeezed Blazek behind him and succeeded in a layup.
"Darko, are you scared? I didn't expect you to be a coward! Weren't you very powerful before?" Okafor provoked in Milicic's ear.
"If you are not convinced, you can retaliate, or just shut up and stop chirping." Milicic did not say much to Okafor, and retaliated with provocation.
Although Okafor's offensive skills are not very good, most of his attacks are just to squeeze out of the basket to attack the basket or to grab offensive rebounds and then attack twice. However, he is still the boss of this new NBA team and the ball player.
The team focuses on cultivating super rookies. This reason was also considered when building the team. The players introduced are either veterans or potential players with little reputation. This is more conducive to cultivating Okafor.
Moreover, the Bobcats have a lot of time to practice, because they know that it is unrealistic to rely on this group of people to compete for the championship. Building superstars and then attracting big names through the draft and sufficient salary space are the key to building a team.
The correct route, so despite Okafor's poor offensive skills, Knight still passed the ball to him, and everyone watched Okafor single out Milicic.
Although Okafor has good strength, he is only slightly stronger than Milicic. Milicic cannot resist him, so how can he resist Milicic? In the competition for strength, he has no absolute advantage.
He was able to get to the basket and constantly tried to break through Milicic's defense. At this time, the referee blew the whistle and Okafor broke the rules. Okafor's steps just now were too fragmentary and unclean.
As a result, not only did the offense fail to create a chance, but it also gave the opponent the ball.
After Milicic got the ball again, he hit Okafor twice. Just as he was about to turn around and attack, Gerald Wallace rushed over, waiting to give Milicic a shot as he stood up to shoot.
Big hot pot.
But Milicic had already seen his intention. He passed Okafor and Wallace with a fake shot and passed the ball to Eddie Jones, who was open and unguarded. The ball was passed to Eddie Jones.
The strength in Jones' hands was very moderate. After receiving it, Jones made the next move - raised his hand and hit a three-pointer, and the ball flew steadily into the basket.
"Dakone changed his usual style of play today. He began to show his passing talent. This versatile European big man, is he going to tell others that he will become a superstar like Bird?" said the sidelines.
Heinsohn couldn't help but exclaimed after seeing Milicic's performance.
"His passing is more like Sabonis. He is different from Bird. His vision is broader, and he uses the passing method of a traditional European center. A young man with classic center skills, I can say with certainty,
There are definitely no more than 10 people in the league with more pure center skills than this kid. Even though it is a cliché, I still want to say, thank Detroit for the gift it gave us." Gorman praised Milicic even more.
While talking, Milicic blocked a reluctant shot from Okafor. Tony Allen grabbed the ball and handed it to Payton. The Celtics once again used Milicic as the axis. Milicic was
After receiving the ball on the left side of the basket, he turned around and chose to attack facing the basket. After facing Okafor's defense, he dribbled the ball twice and then his eyes drifted in the direction of Jefferson.
As soon as Cafu was distracted, Milicic had already rushed up and hit the basket from the left. Okafor was already out of position even if he wanted to defend. Milicic made an earth-shattering dunk across Okafor.
"Bang!" There was a loud sound after the dunk, which made the fans at the scene tremble, as if they were worried that the rim was damaged by Milicic's dunk, and then a tsunami of applause sounded from the North Shore Garden Arena.
.
"It's so ugly! Your poor performance..." Milicic looked at Okafor condescendingly and said.
