Carlisle was lamenting his bad luck, while Edison was extremely excited. Seeing that Carlisle had no intention of substituting, a whistle sounded throughout the audience. Although Edison did not speak, the players on the Magic Field were thinking
A sentence emerged, "Hit O'Neal for me."
So Hill and Martin attacked O'Neal like two mad dogs, and Diaw also leaned against O'Neal in the paint.
O'Neal also knew what situation he was in now and began to deliberately control his fouls.
He can control his own fouls, which sounds very professional, but in fact, to put it bluntly, he is "cowarded". When Hill and Martin lay up, he did not dare to block shots. Instead, he acted as a paper model of a real person, only playing a blocking role.
During the offense, he no longer turned over and hit hard, but ended with a back-turn jump shot. However, his jump shot was far inferior to Garnett's, and his shooting percentage was barely 40%.
O'Neal Jr. failed to defend, and the Pacers' defensive quality suddenly dropped a notch; the offense could not hit the basket, and the Pacers' offense lost another stable scoring point.
But this problem does not exist on the Magic side. Martin moves, Diaw supports, and Hill attacks with the ball. The three of them produce and sell in one stop. The Pacers' basket is as if it has doubled in size. They come in, score, and shoot.
How come?
Carlisle looked very anxious. In the end, he had no choice but to replace O'Neal. Such O'Neal was not much better than Austin Crosier.
But just when he decided to replace O'Neal Jr., there were changes on the court.
Hill has already scored 9 points in this game. He is the player who scored the most among the Magic substitutes. He also sent 3 assists. Because he had just played alone in the last round, he did not take the initiative to ask for the ball this time.
, Tony Allen did not give him the ball, but asked Diaw to organize the offense.
Although he didn't have the ball, Hill knew that he couldn't stand stupidly, but had to move. He saw that Diaw was standing very outside this time, almost reaching the top of the free throw line. And David Harry, who was guarding him, was standing very outside.
Sen, could only follow out. Now the Pacers only have O'Neal and Varejao on the inside, and everything they can see is empty.
So Hill accelerated, threw away James Jones who was guarding him, and began to slip toward the baseline. When he came to the three-second area of the baseline, Diaw also passed the ball to him from the base.
But David Harrison turned around very quickly, and because he was tall, had long legs and long steps, he reached the basket in one step, which cut off Hill's possibility of a direct layup.
But Hill was not in a hurry, and walked towards the basket with the ball. David Harrison had no choice now. The big man stepped sideways to guard against the small man. As long as the small man did not jump, the big man would not be able to keep up.
Hill slipped under the basket, came to the other end of the backboard, and made a backhand layup. This area happened to be O'Neal's defensive area. Before, O'Neal could say that he stood still on the outside and did not jump to defend. Now Hill is there
Inside the collision zone, O'Neal Jr. had no choice but to jump. Moreover, Hill made a backhand layup without looking at the basket. O'Neal Jr. thought he had a chance, so he slapped the backboard.
But the movement of Hill's hands is particularly good. He closes his arms and changes his hands, and at the same time turns his body half-turn, and then goes up. This movement is very smooth. It can be said that among all the players in the league now, he can do it so lightly in the air.
There were only two changes, except for Tracy McGrady and Hill. Although the movement was very light, Hill deliberately did not do it quickly. As a result, before his ball was released, O'Neal hit his shoulder.
"Beep~~" the whistle sounded again...
Although O'Neal Jr. hit Hill, he didn't do it intentionally. Hill's body was not unbalanced. He shook his right hand and sent the ball away.
Hill is a player who has a very good sense of space and is particularly good at handling the ball in small spaces. Now the distance between O'Neal's blocking hands and the backboard is only 30 centimeters, but Hill lets the ball slip through this gap.
He passed by, and then used the rebound as a teammate to cooperate, rebounding into the basket for 2+1. It can be said that Hill is the best in the league with his ability to use rebounds in a small space. Only Kobe can compare with him, and McGrady at his peak.
, even Iverson couldn't do this.
Hill was knocked first, and then he scored such a difficult goal. Naturally, he couldn't stabilize when he landed, and he stumbled forward two steps. Varejao quickly hugged him in front, but still
It was too late. The first time he landed, his right foot didn't step properly and twisted.
Hill reacted and felt that his right ankle was in excruciating pain and he did not dare to touch the ground. He supported Varejao and jumped twice on one leg.
Edison's heart skipped a beat when he saw it, thinking, "It's broken, it's injured." Aaron Nelson also quickly stood up, took out the spray he carried with him, and was ready to play at any time.
But Hill jumped a few times and then tried to land on his feet. He felt okay. Although it still hurt, it was no longer heartbreaking, so he gave a thumbs up to the Edison tree below to show that he was fine.
But Edison was still worried. After the free throw, he quickly replaced him with Wallace, and then asked Nelson to take him to the locker room.
The Pacers' O'Neal committed five fouls this time, and Carlisle had no reason to keep him on the court, so he quickly replaced him.
Without O'Neal, the Pacers' two inside players, David Harrison and Austin Crosier, are not good enough and move very slowly. Harris is better, at least he has the strength and is not afraid of collisions, while Austin is a piece of shit.
Flesh, it slid away as soon as external force came into contact.
So although there was no Hill, Wallace and Tony Allen once again took on the task of breaking through and kept hitting the basket.
Carlisle knew that he couldn't prevent the opponent's breakthrough and couldn't defend the basket, but he didn't dare to arrange a zone defense because Martin and Diaw were also very good at three-point shooting, and Varejao and Wallace were rebounding on their own side.
Nor does it have an advantage.
At the end of the third quarter, 56-71, the Magic led by 15 points. This was the last time Miller showed his power and made two consecutive three-pointers. Otherwise, the gap would be even greater.
During the break in the third quarter, Nelson and Hill returned to the court again. "How was it?" Edison was very concerned.
"It was twisted, no bones were broken, but there was internal bleeding. I can't play again in this game and need to recover for 2 days." Nelson gave Edison reassurance.
Hill's role in the Magic is obvious to all. If you compare the Magic to a car, Nash is the engine, Howard is the chassis, Josh is the tires, and Hill is a tank of nitrogen and oxygen, which can provide the team with vitality at critical moments.
A speed boost.
"It's okay. Grant, you have a good rest. The game will be left to us." Hill was very optimistic. He took an ice pack and pressed it on his foot, as if nothing was wrong. After listening to Edison's words, he didn't care, but
He waved his hand casually. For someone like him, this was nothing. In his eyes, it didn’t count as an injury without surgery, and it didn’t count as an accident without crutches.
Although there was an unexpected incident like Hill's, the situation of the game was completely in the hands of the Magic.
With O'Neal's defense before, Josh has been restrained and unable to use his hands and feet. Now that O'Neal can't play, he can let go. Whether the Pacers let David Harrison or Austin defend him, he can
They can rely on their own athletic ability to get rid of them, take the ball and slam dunk in two steps. There is nothing these two can do. The only feasible way to stop them is to foul. And now the Magic don't need Josh to rush inside alone, they have Nash.
Cooperate with him...
Josh and Nash took advantage of the time when O'Neal was unable to play. The two of them bombarded the Pacers' basket like crazy. Every time Josh dunked, he was so powerful that he wanted to pull the basket off.
The fans at the Pacers' home court were also fascinated by it. Although they would boo the away team every time afterward, they would still be amazed when the dunk was delivered.
Without the inside cover, Captain Jack and Old Miller were like rootless duckweeds on the outside. They could score one or two goals, but they couldn't last long. By the time the game reached the last 5 minutes, the Magic already led 65-84.
19 points.
Little O'Neal did not change the situation on the court after he came on the court. After all, he was still worried about committing another foul, so he was like carrying a turtle shell and did not dare to make moves. In fact, this is also the biggest problem of Little O'Neal. In fact, your body
In terms of technical ability, O'Neal Jr. is definitely not much worse than Garnett. His shooting may not be as accurate as the Wolf King, but he is a greater threat at the basket.
But his psychological quality is not good enough, he is not confident enough, he does not have the domineering attitude to give up, and he cannot stand up at critical moments. If Duncan and Kobe get 5 fouls like this, he will never care. They should be banned.
If you block a block, block it. Block if you need to block. You can't tell the difference between a 5th foul and a 1st foul.
But O'Neal Jr. couldn't do this, so when the Pacers were facing a headwind in the fourth quarter, they still looked at the old Miller and his three-pointers. This was outrageous.
Now it is precisely because of the existence of old Miller that although the Magic takes great initiative on the scene, they still dare not take it lightly. If someone is not careful and someone has a Miller moment, it will be embarrassing.
.
In the end, 82-95, the Magic took away a victory in Indianapolis without any danger.
After the game, Edison took the initiative to go to Miller to shake hands. After all, this was his original idol. But Miller did not give Edison any face. Facing his extended hand, he just patted it casually, showing no even the most basic respect.
No.
This made Edison very unhappy. After all, his concept was still the traditional Chinese concept of "you give me a foot, and I will give you a foot." Nash saw Edison's look, snickered, and then said, "Don't worry, he's a guy."
That's what he is like, his personality is so bad. It's fine when he wins, but he doesn't give face to anyone who loses. He's very unqualified."
Edison shook his head after hearing this, "Anyway, he also has the capital to be arrogant, but it's a pity that after struggling all his life, he didn't get a ring in the end."
"Yeah, I don't know if I will follow his path in the future." Nash is also 30 years old. He doesn't know how long he can play in the future, so he is full of emotion.
"Don't worry, I guarantee you can get the ring in magic."
