The game entered an official timeout, the score came to 11:11, and neither team had a high shooting percentage.
Back on the bench, Old Tang adjusted the strategy and said, "Sonny, indeed, they have come to double-team you, but our ball movement isn’t very good. Their loopholes aren’t as big as we imagined. We need to increase ball passing to consume and grind down the Celtics’ rotation, make them catch fire, make them expose weaknesses, OK! Let’s switch it up, add some high-position tactics."
Both sides began to strategize, on the other side, at the Celtics bench, Beelman still a bit slow-brained, still there double-teaming Ah Gan, quick rotation.
Duncan pointed out: "Michael might be gearing up, we have to pay attention to his defense."
"Yes, you’re right." Beelman nodded, his mind slowly clearing.
Gan Guoyang is indeed the defensive focus, there’s no doubt about it, but it must be recognized that this guy isn’t at his peak anymore, so it must be viewed reasonably and correctly.
From this season’s situation, the power of Ah Gan + Jordan combined is truly great, that’s what the team really needs to deal with.
Their endurance is limited, they cannot keep high-intensity cooperation and output all the time, so they must seize the advantage early on.
After the timeout, Duncan received the ball in the low post, Ilgauskas came over to screen for Duncan, yet another low-post screen.
Duncan made a small step, Big Z was desperate to block both Gan Guoyang and Yao Ming, Duncan seized the opportunity, stopped and jumped for a shot, and scored!
Gan Guoyang got a bit anxious and shouted at the referee, "Isn’t this a blocking foul? Is this how you screen?"
The referee said, "You can screen like that too. Besides, he didn’t move."
"He didn’t move, I was the one moving!"
Jordan and Gan Guoyang’s hand-off passing cooperation, their first screen tonight.
The result was that just as Jordan went up, he was shoved, and the referee called a foul, disrupting the Glory’s cooperation.
A smart choice, Nash’s main defensive value is actually his six foul opportunities.
Seeing Jordan might break through effortlessly towards the basket, Nash quickly came over and held him back.
Tonight the Celtics players played smartly and slyly, no longer like the reckless bunch they were back in the millennium.
Before the sideline throw-in, Gan Guoyang and Jordan discussed, making a plan.
"A, you come over from the weak side, B, if there’s no chance to catch the ball and shoot, take away the defense, I’ll pass inside. C, hand-off with me, give it to me, I’ll take the three-pointer. OK?"
"No problem, if you miss the three, I’ll get the offensive rebound, tell Yao to be alert, there will be a chance in the paint."
"Hey Da Yao! Come over..." Gan Guoyang called Yao Ming over and gave some more instructions.
In the previous two series, such scenes couldn’t even be seen, everyone playing normally, just pushing through hard was enough.
Now, every goal must be strived for perfection, Jordan and Gan Guoyang both feel, this certainly is a series where every goal decides the game’s victory or defeat.
The whistle blew, sideline throw-in, Gan Guoyang threw the ball, Jordan moved from the weak side towards the basket, had an opportunity for an alley-oop, but Pierce was closely followed, Jordan abandoned it.
He cut out, crossed with Andre Miller, Miller cut into the basket, Gan Guoyang seized this opportunity and lobbed it inside to Miller.
Miller pushed Nash aside, laid up and scored, took two points. Successful sideline ball tactic.
Even this tactic had two or three backups, within 5 seconds Gan Guoyang had to make the optimal judgment.
Miller had an advantage against Nash, and with Duncan not in the paint, if Ilgauskas came over, Miller could still pass to Yao Ming.
So this was a very good solution, the strategic confrontation between both sides had officially begun.