The Basketball Court Swordsman

The Pacers' first offense was particularly easy, and the Celtics' defense felt that it was not playoff-level at all.

Henson urged the players to be stable offensively, and the players did. After a series of transmissions, Paul George, who was inside the basket, received a pass from Brogdon and dunked easily.

Marcus Morris is always a swingman number three or four, and his ability to protect the frame is limited. Seeing George rushing in, Morris simply gave up the resistance. Anyway, even if he resisted, he could only make one unnecessary foul on his back.

The ease of offense by the Pacers surprised Henson. It stands to reason that Jaylen Brown should not be so weak, he should be more aggressive on the defensive end.

After all, Jaylen Brown has always been considered a defensive champion. In the playoffs last season, he even said, "No matter who you defend, no one will scare me."

But who knows what happened to Jaylen Brown today, George only used a back run to get rid of the strong No. 7 green shirts.

Maybe it is the bad dressing room atmosphere that upsets Jaylen Brin?

"Focus, focus!" Stevens clapped his hands vigorously from the sidelines, he didn't care what the Celtics locker room was like now. All he knows is that he came to Indianapolis to win!

Irving naturally came with this purpose, so the Celtics' first offense began with Irving's singles with the ball.

The former Thomas and the current Irving are not traditional point guards. Both are good at scoring, and even Irving is a better and more talented attacker in Angie's mouth. However, there is still a huge difference between the two. In addition to the height difference, the two attack methods are also different.

Although both are point guards who need to hold the ball in hand, the Celtics are a team that is willing to pass the ball when Thomas is in charge.

After the breakthrough, Thomas can score, create fouls, and send the ball to his teammates in the outside space. Through fast transmission, he can find shot opportunities. Such a fast pace is what the Celtics like. Stevens is also good at play.

However, most of the Celtics this season scored points through constant singles, and the gap between them can be seen from the passing data. Although Irving's assist data is slightly better, Thomas is much higher than Irving in both the number of passes and the number of passes received by his teammates.

As a result, the Celtics' offense has become simpler than before. Moreover, other people can no longer get too many performance opportunities.

The same is true for the Celtics' first offense today. Kelly Irving and Horford played a simple hand-to-hand cover tactic, and "Uncle Drew" used this to break into the penalty area.

But the Pacers changed their defenses very quickly. Irving had just rushed out and found that Antetokounmpo had lunged at him with teeth and claws. Owen wanted to pass the ball, but saw Brogdon pounce on Marcus Morris. The Pacers changed defense very decisively without any hesitation.

Reluctantly, Irving had to choose an emergency stop jumper under Antetokounmpo's defense. But even so, Irving's shooting was seriously disrupted.

For fans who only watch the highlights, Owen's gorgeous breakthrough moves that fooled his opponents are impressive. But for everyone who watches the game, Irving's almost unbelievable shooting options are really staggering.

Under the interference of Antetokounmpo's fingertips, Irving's emergency stop jumper shot out. Stevens closed his eyes in disappointment. He was even used to Kelly Irving's performance.

"Damn it!" Irving gritted his teeth unwillingly, and the attack just now made him miss his time in Cleveland so much.

By James' side, no team dares to defend him like this. Because all opponents must put their defensive focus on James, Irving himself can get a lot of easy singles opportunities.

But now it's different. The Celtics don't have James, and Irving is the James of this team. Therefore, those defenses that should have appeared on James turned to Irving.

In the face of such a huge defensive pressure, Owen's offensive efficiency has plummeted this season. And Antetokounmpo's timely replenishment of Irving just now is just the tip of the iceberg of the dilemma of the season.

In the Cleveland Cavaliers, people say that Irving has a strong offensive power and is a good leader. Even Owen himself thinks so.

But when I came to Celtic Owen, I discovered that the teammate he most disliked at the beginning seemed to be the best.

In Milwaukee, Budenhorse may not have a player who can contain Irving's offense. But in Indianapolis, there are many such players.

"Go on, you guys did a good job. Keep playing like this and I believe we can win the game in less than 48 minutes." Henson crossed the sidelines, but the pace was easy.

According to Henson's tactical arrangement, the Pacers once again dragged the offense into position. Owen wanted to push quickly, but was blocked by Brogdon. This once little-known second-round show has undoubtedly filled the gap left by Paul very well this season.

Although Brogdon's organizational and defensive abilities are not as good as Paul's, at least he did not let the Pacers' one-position defense completely collapse.

Irving was only delayed for a few seconds and found that the Pacers' defense had completely fallen into place. Stevens couldn't help but want to applaud when he was on the court. Henson's team, tactical execution ability was really extraordinary.

A team with excellent individual defense capabilities and a very disciplined defense is naturally very tight.

The Celtics are still the same. Henson's favorite center, Horford, has taken a high post. It can be seen that Stevens also uses Horford as a point guard.

Originally, Stevens wanted to use Hayward, his proud college protégé, as the ball forward. But unexpectedly, Hayward's state after returning from injury was disappointing.

Henson knows Horford very well. This guy has a strong ability to read games, and his passing ability is also top among centers. But he is always a center forward, not good at completing those ghostly passes.

Therefore, Henson's strategy is very simple-blocking the passing route.

Horford Heights raised the basketball, only to find that he had no goal to pass. In front of Owen, were Brogdon's long arms. Jason Tatum is obsessed with singles this season, and his off-the-ball running always misses opportunities under Oladipo's active defense. It is not easy for George to defend Jaylen Brown, and Marcus Morris can't get rid of Antetokounmpo's "spider arm".

The most taboo thing on the offensive end is not smooth, which will affect the rhythm of the entire attack.

Horford was stuck on the perimeter for a long time and couldn't make the ball, which undoubtedly greatly affected the Celtics' offensive rhythm.

In the end, Horford could only bite the bullet and break through with the ball. If you don't have a chance, then create opportunities and use breakthrough points to find gaps. These are what Henson taught him.

Horford slammed Lopez into the penalty area, and Horford did have an advantage in the footsteps.

Sure enough, Horford's breakthrough worked. Seeing that Lopez was about to be passed, George came to make up for it. So Jaylen Brin was leaked out.

Horford did not hesitate, and flicked his arm flexibly, sending the basketball to Jaylen Brown.

Jaylen Brown made 35% of his 3-pointers in the playoffs this season, which is not too bad. But Brown's biggest problem is that his shooting stability from beyond the three-point line is not as good as last season. After all, in the playoffs of last season, his three-pointer percentage was as high as 39%. This is also the reason why the Celtics were able to reach the Eastern Conference finals last year after losing Irving and Hayward.

When it is accurate, Brown can be said to be very accurate. But when inaccurate, Brown's three-pointer will become better than nothing.

Henson explained that Jaylen Brown can make several shots in the previous offenses to see how he feels. So George just did it.

Brown received the basketball and made a decisive shot in the face of a big open opportunity!

The arc of the basketball is so high that it looks like a goal is going to be scored.

But shots outside the three-point line, and then small deviations, will have a great impact on the final accuracy.

Brown's three-pointer hit the right side of the rim and then bounced vigorously. Missed a three-pointer, and still a morale-damaging open missed three-pointer!

Horford got stuck, but no one in the Celtics could rush back to grab offensive rebounds.

In this way, Horford watched as Antetokounmpo picked up the basketball and quickly launched a fast break!

The Celtics retired quickly, especially Jaylen Brown, who hoped to use a successful defense to make up for his mistake of missing an open three-pointer.

Last season, Jaylen Brown played two very defensive games against the Pacers. In those two games, Jaylen Brown made Antetokounmpo's offense very embarrassing.

But now, the gap between the two has widened. Antetokounmpo faced Jaylen Brown and only used an elegant European step dunk to get rid of the defense.

Antetokounmpo is no longer the stunner who can only rampage, he is a hot candidate for MVP this season.

"What are you doing? Be serious!" Irving yelled at Jaylen Brown dissatisfiedly.

Brown looked at Owen and said nothing. He is a rookie, and Owen has been famous in the league for a long time, he knows he has no right to speak.

But does it mean that you don’t care if you don’t refute it? I'm afraid not. Sometimes conflicts in the dressing room slowly accumulate in this way and then suddenly erupt.

Seeing the Celtics suffering from internal and external troubles, Henson couldn't help sighing regretfully. He was also worried that the Celtics would remember who they were and what their goals were when facing a strong opponent, but now, this team has lost even more.

That being the case... Henson gestured to the players, and all five on the court understood.

Henson is about to open the score. In this kind of competition, there is no need to delay until the end to decide the outcome.