Chapter 158 D'Antoni realizes the happiness of a Zen master
On December 18, the Knicks played back-to-back games against the Los Angeles Clippers. This was their first game back at home. However, the first game back at home was a back-to-back game.
It has to be said that the Knicks' game arrangements this season are really terrible.
The Clippers' recent momentum is also very good. They have just defeated the Timberwolves to win two consecutive games, and today they meet the Knicks who are playing back-to-back games. They are bound to win this victory at the Knicks' home court.
Mike Dunleavy also knows that if the Clippers still lose this game despite having the right people and the right people, then it is estimated that not only the fans will not let him go when he returns to Los Angeles, but the team management will not let him go either.
At the beginning of this game, the Clippers put on an all-out offensive posture and gave the Knicks a 4:0 opening score.
After Chris Kaman received the pass, he attacked under the basket and then Marcus Camby grabbed a defensive rebound and handed it to Baron Davis for a layup.
In the interior, the combination of Chris Kaman and Marcus Camby is still quite intimidating.
The inside combination of the two of them also constantly impacted the Knicks' internal defense.
Because they were fighting back-to-back, Lian Dao didn't feel well at the beginning of the game and missed two consecutive outside shots.
As the Clippers showed their strength inside, the Clippers hit a 7-0 opening climax.
Immediately, Lian Dao also changed his strategy, reducing outside shots and rushing inside to cause damage.
Althornton couldn't stop Lian Dao's breakthrough. After Lian Dao went to the inside, he really attracted Marcus Camby. He gave up defending Millsap and turned to help defend Lian Dao who was heading inside.
When Riskaman stepped forward to cover up the defense, he quietly followed behind him and wanted to give Lian Dao a big hat.
But Lian Dao was already prepared and passed the ball directly to the open Millsap.
Millsap raised the knife and hit two points.
With Marcus Camby constantly missing players, the Knicks gradually narrowed the point difference until the end of the first quarter, when Millsap once again hit a three-pointer from the outside.
Finally, the first quarter ended with a 3-point lead at 23:20.
At the beginning of the second quarter, Lian Dao broke out completely. He took advantage of his height and speed to constantly get shooting opportunities from the outside, including pull-up three-pointers, step-back three-pointers, and dunks after breakthroughs.
Led the Knicks to an 8-0 shockwave in the second quarter.
The Clippers' Eric Gordon was completely locked up by Lian Dao in the second quarter. Danilo Gallinari made a shot from outside the corner three-point line with 2 minutes and 15 seconds left in the second quarter.
Score three-pointers.
Helping the Knicks lead 51:34 by 17 points, Mike Dunleavy was forced to call a timeout again.
Although the Clippers improved after returning from the timeout, they were still unable to close the score gap until Chris Kaman used an inside layup to regain two points in the last three seconds of the first half.
The Clippers ended the first half trailing by fifteen points, 42:57.
Lian Dao also relied on his outstanding performance in the second quarter. He made 8 of 13 shots in the first half and scored 21 points, 6 assists and 4 rebounds.
David Lee had 11 points and 5 rebounds, Millsap had 9 points and 8 rebounds, Wilson Chandler had 6 points, Gallinari had 5 points, and Milicic had 5 points.
After the start of the second half, Lian Dao also sat on the bench to rest because the Knicks were in the lead.
D'Antoni also discovered that letting Lian Dao play the entire first half and then take a break in the first half of the third quarter is currently the best way to rotate. Playing the full first half will help solve the problem of insufficient firepower on the bench, and it can also be used in the first half.
The score advantage was established on the spot.
Lian Dao rested in the first half of the third quarter to preserve a certain amount of energy for the decisive fourth quarter. Otherwise, the fourth quarter was likely to collapse directly. This is also the lesson D'Antoni learned after playing against the Lakers.
At this time, the Clippers' Thornton and Kaman continued to make jump shots to help the Clippers continue to close the score.
With 6 minutes and 35 seconds left in the third quarter, Eric Gordon hit a three-pointer from the outside. The score was 59:64. The Clippers were only 5 points behind the Knicks.
D'Antoni also replaced Lian Dao on the court at this time. After coming on, Lian Dao broke through and hit a layup, stabilizing the Knicks' situation.
At the same time, in the third quarter, Lian Dao also continued to attack the inside, attracting Chris Kaman and Marcus Camby to double-team, thus passing the ball to David Lee and Millsap.
At 5 minutes and 05 seconds, David Li received a pass from Lian Dao and hit a mid-range jumper.
At 4 minutes and 25 seconds, Millsap received a pass from Lian Dao outside the three-point line and hit three open shots.
At 3 minutes and 10 seconds, Wilson Chandler cut inside the basket and received a pass from Lian Dao for a layup.
After returning, Lian Dao directly revitalized the entire Knicks lineup. Although Mike Dunleavy kept yelling at the sidelines, making angrily gestures on the sidelines, and even called two timeouts in the middle, it still didn't help.
And D'Antoni sat on the bench like an old monk in trance, with a smile on his face, as if he had transformed into a Zen master at this moment. At this moment, he seemed to realize the joy of the Zen master Phil Jackson coaching the Bulls and Lakers.
At the end of the third quarter, the Knicks led by 15 points, 84:69.
The players on the Clippers bench were a little confused. We seemed to have played the third quarter, but we didn’t seem to have played...
Could it be said that the more you do, the more mistakes you make?
By the fourth quarter, Marcus Camby turned out to be the biggest colander in the Clippers' defense.
In order to block shots and rebound, he kept missing people in the paint.
This made Mike Dunleavy, who really couldn't stand it, take him off and replace him with Craig Smith.
In fact, Marcus Camby was also a tough guy who lost his teeth and swallowed blood back then. He was the last pillar of the New York Knicks' interior line and an important figure in the Knicks' top eight. However, Marcus Camby was not included in the league's annual defensive lineup that year.
Scambi's name.
In the 2003-04 season, Marcus Camby was the hardest-working man in the Denver Nuggets. He used his thin body to carry countless fouls and blocked backcourt rebounds, covering the then immature Nene and Melo, pushing the Denver Nuggets forward.
In the playoffs, his name was still missing from the league's annual defensive team.
As a result, he gradually changed his playing style and became a cunning, cautious, data-oriented insider.
As a result, in the 2004-06 season, he was continuously selected to the second defensive team of the year - even though he only played 56 games in the 2005-06 season, he was still the block leader that year and automatically qualified for a walk.
Marcus Camby, who has tasted the sweetness, no longer believes in his belief that defense comes first. Since I can get more honors and a bigger contract by brushing up data, why should I do some dirty work?
Therefore, in the two seasons of 2006-08, he ushered in a bumper harvest. He was twice named the first defensive team of the year and the Defensive Player of the Year in the 2006-07 season.
In those two seasons, the Nuggets ranked among the top five in the league in points allowed per game.
The world will not praise you because you blocked your opponent perfectly. Instead, it will scream that you dominate the field when it sees you grab 15 rebounds. It will scream that you guard the penalty area when it sees you block 5 shots.
Therefore, it is common for him to intercept every opportunity to block shots or grab rebounds like a hunting dog, pile up gorgeous statistics, and miss his opponent's inside line.
The reason why he can still serve as a starter at the age of 35 and earn a salary of more than 7 million is because after he has passed the age, he has a deep understanding of health maintenance. He has changed from the spirit of using a bamboo pole to kill his opponents when he was young.
As slippery as an old gambler.
It's like you are responsible for your offense, I am responsible for blocking shots and grabbing rebounds, and everyone has their own energy.
Of course, many older people may not understand Marcus Camby's style.
However, such a person does not have the right to vote for the Defensive Player of the Year, let alone be responsible for paying Camby's salary or signing a new contract - of course Camby himself is well aware of this.
Therefore, sometimes it is not that Marcus Camby was this kind of person when he first entered the league, but that the format of the league forced him to become this kind of person.
Although there was some improvement after Craig Smith was replaced, the Clippers also suffered a serious loss of rebounds due to Craig Smith's lack of height.
Under Millsap's iron-blooded defense, Craig Smith was also restricted and didn't have much chance to take action.
Unable to reverse their decline, the Clippers eventually lost to the New York Knicks by 20 points, 90:110.
Mike Dunleavy looked at Lian Dao, who was high-fiving his teammates to celebrate the victory, with complicated eyes. He knew that from today on, his coaching career with the Clippers had completely entered a countdown.