Pacers coach Larry Bird was particularly low-key during the press conference to eliminate the Heat, saying, "We're going to try to make things for the Raptors and find a way to beat them." Pen? Interesting? Pavilion wWw. ｂiquge。 ｉｎfo”

The reporter asked: "Jerry Young has won the best coach this season, what do you think?" ”

Bird replied: "He's a young man with a lot of personality, leading a group of talented players, and the Raptors have a record-breaking record, and that's why he's going to be in the red. ”

Bird's tone is a little sour, as an NBA coach, who doesn't want to win the award of best coach in a row? This record was set by the youngest coach, and all the coaches felt a little uncomfortable in their hearts.

In any case, Yang Rui walked in front of everyone in the shortest time.

On May 21, the first game of the Eastern Conference Finals was held in Toronto.

CCTV5 broadcast the game live, Sun Zhengping introduced: "The Raptors are now also the home of the league's devils, and the atmosphere in the arena is already very hot before the game starts. ”

Zhang Li smiled: "Yang Rui only took two seasons to build the team into a championship team, the Raptors are the number one favorite, and their pressure comes from the fact that after the season, many players are free agents. ”

Everyone felt that the Raptors were struggling to keep their roster intact and that it was a sad thing for the Canadian team.

Before the start of the game, Carter accepted the MVP trophy and gave a speech, thanking his teammates and coaches for making the Raptors more powerful at home.

Yang Rui took the opportunity to emphasize tactics on the sidelines. Brad went to cover outside the three-point line, helped Vince catch the ball, attracted the defense, and if it wasn't for Schmitz to defend it, he passed to Jermaine and opened up the opportunity to shoot. If Schmitz comes out, Vince jumps or plays with the ball. ”

The Raptors starters remain the same: Billups, Christie, Carter, O'Neal Jr., Miller.

The Pacers are also regular starters: Mark Jackson, Reggie Miller, Jalen Rose, Dale Davis, Rick Schmitz.

O'Neal Jr. jumped the ball and the game began.

Carter received the ball in the half, Rose immediately got close, Carter covered with his back and waited for Brad Miller to cover, only one step to the left, and Davis defended it.

At this time, Rose is not the moving background board that was cut by Kobe Bryant with 81 points in the future, and he is excellent both offensively and defensively.

Bird put the team's best defenders in the team to focus on Carter, and he dribbled a little space and hit the ground to pass to O'Neal Jr., who was on his left side with his back to the ball.

Schmitz defended, O'Neal Jr. leaned on him with his back at 45 degrees, shook his left shoulder lightly, turned quickly to the bottom line, passed the opponent in one step, pulled the ball into the basket and shot strongly.

Schmitz raised his arms sideways, and before he could jump up, O'Neal Jr. hit the board and scored. 2 to 0.

The Pacers attacked, the Raptors marked, and Brad Miller on the inside withstood Schmitz. As the team's third point of attack, Schmitz's 224CM height advantage is obvious, and it is difficult to block when he enters the penalty area.

Schmitz has the ability to shoot in the middle, but his thin body is destined to be weak, weighing only 113 kilograms, and he can't squeeze Brad Miller. He pulled out to cover, Rose broke through with the ball, Brad Miller changed the defense in time, interfered along the line of the penalty area, and Carter also dodged the cover to chase and form a bag.

Rose distributed the ball to Schmitz, and O'Neal Jr. made up for the defense in the corner position and let Davis empty.

Schmitz passed, Davis hesitated in the vacant position and didn't shoot, waiting for Reggie Miller to run to answer and pass out.

When a player on the pitch has poor scoring ability, it's easy to miss a chance. Davis was low on the offensive end, averaging just eight shots per game and going into the playoffs, dropping to 6.6.

Reggie Miller was entangled by Christie and couldn't get a good shot to pass the ball again.

Until almost 24 seconds were gone, Jackson singled out Billups, missed a pull-up jumper, and the rebound was grabbed by O'Neal Jr.

This year, the league introduced a new rule that made Jackson very uncomfortable, and that was the "5-second violation of carrying the basket".

In Yang Rui's previous life, legend has it that Barkley used his big hips to arch a defender to the basket in the first 23 seconds, and then used the 24th second to shoot easily under the basket. Therefore, many people believe that the NBA introduced this rule specifically to limit Barkley, or that Barkley forced the league to make this rule, so the "5-second violation of the basket" was named the "Barkley Rule".

But in fact, it was Jackson, who was also good at back-to-back offense, that really caused the "5-second violation to the basket". Because Jackson often singled out the opposing guard for more than 15 seconds in the offense, resulting in an extremely boring game, the NBA officially decided to introduce new rules, the official abbreviation is the "Mark Jackson Rule".

Even if he was allowed to arch his back casually, Billups would not eat this set, he was stronger and taller.

Billups slowly dribbled to the front court and passed to Miller, who was pulled outside the three-point line, who passed to O'Neal Jr., who was 70 degrees to the left and one step inside the three-point line.

O'Neal Jr. received the ball and shook it for a moment, seeing that Schmitz was far away, and he made a direct dry pull-up jumper from 17 feet away. He dodged the block and the ball hollowed into the net. 4 to 0.

Yang Rui hates long-distance mid-range shots, but O'Neal Jr. has no problem with playing him like this, he can force Schmitz to defend and not shoot, and his teammates may also grab the rebound in the front court.

In the next round, the Pacers also opened up the situation, Jackson and Schmitz played a block and split the ball to the middle, and Schmitts faced Billups and scored in the middle of the shot. 4 to 2.

The Raptors attacked, and after Carter attracted the defense, the ball was handed to O'Neal Jr., who asked for the ball with his back on the left side.

He leaned his back against Schmitz, shook his left shoulder slightly, turned to the baseline, and once again relied on speed to break through, jumped up in two steps, and scored with both hands. 6 to 2.

The fans applauded together, and the goal was very domineering!

The Pacers attacked, Rose caught the ball by covering the air, passed Brad Miller, and scored a layup. 6 to 4.

The Raptors attacked, and the ball was still passed to O'Neal Jr., this time he received the ball on the left side of the frame, dangled far from the basket, stepped back with his left foot, and made a jump shot to avoid Schmitz's block and hit again. 8 to 4.

O'Neal Jr. scored 8 points in a row, just like Yang Rui predicted before the game, one-on-one Schmitz couldn't guard him.

Many people say that O'Neal Jr. is soft, but in fact, he is strong in heads-up regardless of the frame or back, and the defender is slow or short, he is a big killer on the offensive end, and this type of player is very powerful.

In Yang Rui's previous life, in the 14-year Rockets VS Trail Blazers playoffs, Aldridge averaged 37.3 points, 12 rebounds and 2.7 assists per game, beating the Rockets forward group. The Pacers let Schmitts defend O'Neal Jr., purely looking for death.

Bird realized this and sent Schmitz to guard against Brad Miller. In this way, Carter can also hold the ball in the middle to block and dismantle, whether it is a breakthrough or a pull-up jump shot, it will test Schmitz's lateral speed.

The two sides were dominated by heads-up, with the Pacers attacking Rose and Miller, and after five and a half minutes, the Raptors led 18-10 and Bird called a timeout.

O'Neal Jr. had 10 points and three rebounds. Thibodeau and D'Antoni are ready to go back and write their impressions of the game, and heads-up is also a science, and Yang Rui's tactical arrangement has obvious results.

Zhang Li said with a smile: "In the NBA, anyone with the surname O'Neal is not simple, O'Neal Jr. suspended the Pacers by his personal ability." ”

Sun Zhengping said lightly: "Maddie hasn't played yet, if the Pacers can't take the lead in the starters, it will be difficult to win, and the Raptors bench is recognized as the strongest in the league." ”

Bird's first adjustment was to replace Schmitz and replace Austin Crohill, a white power forward who is 208cm tall and can shoot three-pointers, and changed the lineup.