After the Christmas Day game, the Magic returned to Orlando for a day's rest before embarking on a three-game road trip.
On December 27th, when they played the Bucks in an away game, Iguodala still failed to play, and Tony Allen took his place. Although the Magic did not have the most complete lineup, the strength gap between the two teams was still very obvious, and Tony Allen was all
Pressed on Reid. As a result, the Bucks' leading scorer only made 6 of 19 shots, barely passing the 30% mark, and did not have a single three-pointer. In the end, he only scored 15 points.
The tragedy of the Bucks is that Reid is not a superstar, but they have and only have one Reid. The others are all soybean men, each of whom can talk for three minutes.
In the end, the Magic won 112-101, an 11-point advantage on the road.
After beating the Bucks, the Magic once again encountered the Knicks, who had entered a collapse rhythm.
The Knicks are different from the Bucks. The Bucks have only one Reed who is not good enough, while the Knicks have many good players, but it can only be seen on paper, and it is still unreliable in real life.
108-96, the Magic won another solid victory, beating the Knicks three times in a row this season.
Winning against the Knicks this season is not news. They currently have the second-to-last record in the league. Although the season only started 2 months ago, more than 20 teams in the league have beaten the Knicks. Those who have not won are just because of the schedule.
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After this game, Magic players still made headlines in various media.
Madison Garden Square, the home of the Knicks, can be said to be the mecca of the NBA. It can be said that it has witnessed the development of the NBA and even American basketball. Playing on this court can no longer be called playing. Everything must be in harmony with this stadium.
A great match for the arena, otherwise, you just deserve to be swept into the garbage dump - this is the difference between heaven and earth. In this arena, there is no golden mean. It is no wonder that although Jordan declined the Knicks' trade invitation,
But I still have to admit that "playing in this arena always makes me tremble." Even if you can't be in the Knicks, you still hope that one day you can play your own heroic moment on this court.
.From this perspective, Madison Square Garden Arena has almost become the public home court of the NBA. As big as the heart is, the stage is as big as it is. And sometimes, as big as the stage is, the heart is also as big as it is. Here, everyone
Every NBA player hopes to become the focus of the world in a game. Therefore, conquering this field has become the ideal and goal of countless stars, and Miller, Jordan and others have already put it into action.
And the person who once again put on a wonderful performance in this game is none other than veteran Hardaway, who was kicked out by the Knicks last season.
Hardaway's performance this time has many unexpected factors. First of all, his appearance was an accident.
At the 7th minute of the first quarter, the score between the two teams was 14-15, which was very tight. However, during a defense, Brandon Roy was elbowed in the ribs by Francis. The boss didn't mean it.
Yes, it was just a combined action to break through, but this action actually caused serious damage to Roy.
Everyone knows that human ribs are not actually strong, hence the term "weak ribs". When Francis hit him with an elbow, Roy's vision went dark, he covered his chest and fell to the ground with his butt.
When the Magic players saw their brother fell to the ground, they immediately surrounded him. Although the Knicks competed for the boss in the game, they also had to compete for the leader in the fight, so the two sides immediately started pushing and shoving. Therefore, they had a bad relationship with the Magic before.
Marbury and the young and energetic Howard were the most active, while Francis, who was involved, was pushed to the back.
Because the two people had no conflicts or signs of friction before, and three referees and courtside staff quickly rushed into the court and pulled the players from both sides apart, there was no scene of a group fight. It can only be described as a scene.
A little out of control.
However, in order to teach the players a lesson, the referee first gave Howard and Marbury a technical foul. Then three referees came to the fourth official's position to discuss Marbury's action just now.
At this time, Nelson entered the court and helped Roy back to the locker room. The New York fans were of high quality. When the players on both sides were pushing and shoving, they yelled at the Magic, but when the fight was over, they became quiet and even
Fans near the tunnel also gave Roy applause as a blessing.
At this time, the big screen also began to repeatedly play the slow motion of the physical contact between Francis and Roy. Everyone could see clearly that the two people had no unnecessary movements, but the swing of Boss Fu's arm was too big, and it hit Roy's head.
Ribs on fork.
Seeing this, the referee on duty also had some concerns, and finally gave Boss Fu a flagrant foul. Although it was unintentional, this action was dangerous.
Whether it was intentional or not, when the young Magic players saw one of their own being beaten down, they naturally felt unbalanced and saw flames coming out of their heads.
Edison knew very well that David Stern had been cracking down on court violence in the past two years. He did not want his players to touch this penalty area, so to be safe, he did not replace Roy with Wallace and Martin, but asked veteran Hardaway
It does not matter how much contribution he can make from a competitive perspective. The key is to use his experience to stabilize the team's mood during this special incident. At the same time, he also took down Howard, who had just suffered a t, and sent Varejao.
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In order to protect the players, Larry Brown also substituted Fulton and Marbury. In this case, the Knicks became Jamal Crawford's team.
After Hardaway came on the court, he didn't actually plan to do anything. He also knew Edison's purpose of letting him play, so he just planned to hold on for a few minutes. But the plan couldn't keep up with the change, and the fun began with his first touch of the ball.
As long as Nash is on the court, the Magic's V-shaped offense is a repertoire. After Nash and Brand played a pick-and-roll, Brand was blocked by Nate Robinson, and his follow-up speed was a little slower, so Nash did not
The pass to the basket was sent to Hardaway in the corner.
Crawford, who was defending Penny, was still the dribbler who only knew how to attack and not know how to defend. So after Hardaway got the ball, he gained a lot of space, and the position and intensity of Nash's delivery of the ball were just right.
After Hardaway caught the ball, he raised his arm. The muscles felt very smooth, so he took action directly.
With a "swish" sound, Hardaway, who touched the ball for the first time on the field, scored 3 points.
However, this ball did not attract the attention of the Knicks or even the Magic, because as mentioned before, this is a typical offensive routine of the Magic.
But the Magic repeated it again, and Nash scored again. Hardaway caught the ball in the corner and shot again, and hit again.
Now Larry Brown was unhappy, but his dissatisfaction was mainly focused on Crawford. He felt that the biggest responsibility for these two goals was his lax personal defense, so the old coach stood on the sidelines and shouted at Crawford.
Drink and point.
Crawford, who was hit twice in a row, felt that he was losing face, so he secretly made up his mind that he would never be so lax next time and must keep up to create pressure for Pence.
Coincidentally, when it was the Magic's turn to attack again, Brand still didn't get a good chance inside, and Nash's shooting angle was blocked by Curry. He had no choice but to send the ball to Hada again.
In powerful hands.
After Hardaway received the ball this time, Crawford immediately pounced on him. However, Hardaway changed his routine this time. When he saw that Crawford had jumped up, he did not make a move. He just nodded and followed.
A pull made Crawford pass away from him, and then Hardaway began to slide down the baseline. Crawford's attack was too fierce, and Hardaway's swing was very determined, so it only took a blink of an eye for the penny to come.
When they got to the basket, it was too late for Curry and Taylor to react. Pence made a backhand layup and scored his 8th point. In fact, even if Curry and Taylor reacted, Hardaway would not have the defensive attitude of the two.
be affected in any way.
Although Curry is not very active when defending, he is very active in serving. As soon as Hardaway's ball landed, he got it from the sidelines and served. Because the ball was served too fast, the Knicks' rookie point guard
Guard Nate Robinson still had time to react, but he didn't catch the ball firmly. By coincidence, Hardaway, who was returning to defense, just ran into that position.
Hardaway looked at it and said, "What's wrong, brother, you are assisting me, so I can't live up to your kindness." So Hardaway picked up the ball and shot directly, hitting again.
After the goal was scored, the New York fans were instantly quiet. Four big words echoed in their minds - "Miller Moment." That year, Reggie Miller also made consecutive three-pointers and added a steal to make NBA history.
The most legendary comeback. And now, although the game is still in the first quarter, Hardaway seems to be doing the same thing as Miller.
But Larry Brown, who was a witness to Miller's moment, knew that although the plots were similar, the essence was completely different. Miller was able to stage a classic back then mainly because of his unremitting efforts, but now it is purely because of the Knicks' own
A mistake. So the coach did not apply for a timeout, but just made a gesture of pressing down with both hands to ask the players to stabilize and not make any more mistakes.
But after Hardaway entered, he instantly felt like a different person. His body was in particularly good condition, and his breathing seemed to have a bonus. So Hardaway, who was full of confidence, gave Nash a gesture and applied.
Play alone next round.
For this kind of request, especially when the player was in good condition, Nash had no reason to refuse, so he really gave him the ball again.
As mentioned earlier, Crawford was the one who defended Hardaway. He was the best singles player in the past, not to mention his offense. However, his defense was not flattering. He had to be physical, active but not aggressive, and had to anticipate.
No prediction.
Hardaway also played in street ball, and was famous for breaking through rhythm changes at that time, so he made a shoulder fake and passed Crawford and then went directly to the basket. And guarding the Knicks basket was Shark Ku.
, sometimes his defense is really not as good as the model, at least the model can't commit fouls.
Hardaway swayed again, and then after the two people made contact in the air, Hardaway made a backhook with his back to the basket and sent the ball into the basket, making a 2+1.
At this time, Roy, who had been examined and massaged, had returned to the venue. After all, the impact just now was a head-on collision and there were no other soft tissue problems. Although the pain was severe at the time, the actual damage was very small.
But now that Hardaway is in good condition, Edison is too embarrassed to replace him, so he simply lets the veteran continue to play.
But who knew that Hardaway would play with more and more energy, three-pointers, breakthroughs, fadeaways, emergency stops, and even a reflexive dunk when he got up? Time seemed to be turned back to 10 years ago for him.
At the end of the game, Hardaway made 19 of 23 shots, including 9 of 10 three-pointers, plus 5 free throws. He scored a game-high 52 points, showing his strength against Jordan. And 52 points
This score also became the highest score scored by an active player in Madison, so reporters began to speculate on what happened to Hardaway.
However, Hardaway himself was very indifferent to watching. At the post-game press conference, he said that he was still just an ordinary member of the team and would not ask Edison for anything because of a good performance. He just wanted to play in a down-to-earth manner now.
, striving to achieve results in the playoffs. However, Hardaway was still very happy to have become Madison's first player, and he kept his mouth closed throughout the entire interview.
