After the start of the fourth quarter, the first thing that surprised McMillan was that Dunleavy used the substitute combination of Milicic and PJ Tucker in the interior.
The combination of Bonner and Milicic in the first half made Dunleavy realize that these two white and slow inside players cannot be on the court at the same time.
Although Bonner can open up space on offense, such a combination suffers too much on defense.
Compared to the really slow Red Mamba, Milicic's mobility is acceptable after losing weight in the summer.
Tucker is sent to enhance the team's control on long rebounds. Tucker's enthusiasm for fighting is sufficient.
This inside combination really achieved good results after a period of time at the beginning of the fourth quarter.
Tucker's height is a disadvantage, but as long as Ade is not positioned, other forwards can't be said to be able to stabilize him.
Even if Cunningham tried to beat Tucker in the low post, Milicic was still waiting behind him.
Milicic is a real tower, with a real height of 2.13 meters, he stands out from the crowd on the court.
The second thing that surprised McMillan was that Deng let Curry come on the court and play shooting guard.
In the first half, Harden and Curry did not cooperate very well. The two were always pushing for the ball.
In the fourth quarter, Dunleavy asked Curry to replace Baron Davis and asked Curry to play the second position.
The ball was completely in the hands of James Harden, and Curry began to use his running position to shuttle inside and outside again.
The team's stagnant offense began to flow again, and once again there were three to four options for one offensive tactic.
As soon as Curry came up in the fourth quarter, he used the screen to find an open space in the bottom corner, received a pass from Harden and hit a three-pointer.
Then, Batum's three-pointer missed, Tucker got the rebound and handed the ball to Harden immediately.
Harden once again hit the ground to Curry. Curry dribbled away from the defender, went around, and seemed to be about to shoot a mid-range jumper.
Suddenly, with a flick of his wrist, he passed the ball to Milicic who was cutting through the air. Milicic easily scored two points with a one-handed dunk.
The Blazers still played their positions meticulously, and Oberto's low attack was blocked by Milicic.
The Clippers launched a counterattack again. Harden pretended to pass the ball, suddenly accelerated to the basket, jumped high, and dunked with both hands!
The Clippers stopped the Trail Blazers 7-0 at the beginning of the fourth quarter. In just two minutes, the point difference was reduced to 3 points.
At the end of the timeout, Harden and Curry high-fived each other, and the two went to the bench to discuss it.
"Is it better if I hold the ball?"
"Not necessarily. I asked you to do it today. You can change it next time."
"No problem, how about changing later?"
"It still doesn't work. Let's wait until we win this one."
Min Congda was sitting behind the two of them. After hearing this, he thought to himself: "You two are still out of breath? You just played two minutes of good ball in the fourth quarter, and you forgot how bad you were guarded in the middle? Then you made mistakes one after another. ?Little fat boy, how many times have you made mistakes? Five times, right?"
Seeing the Blazers getting closer, Min Congda remained calm.
Having watched too many football games, he knew that the course of the game was like a wave, with ups and downs.
Especially in the regular season encounters, the two sides are in a turn-based system. It is very normal for me to be weak for a while and to be strong for a while.
"McMillan was still too careless and was tricked by Lao Deng. Our two backcourts are very good at creating offensive opportunities. We must exert high pressure on them at all times and cannot relax our defensive attention."
"Look at you guys, you're so careless when you're 10 points ahead. If you don't go to the main force early, the Clippers will be out of time, right?"
Curry got enough rest in the third quarter, and Harden came off the bench and was originally in good physical condition.
The Clippers have an 11-man rotation tonight, and it is the first game of the season. Everyone is very physical.
The game continued after the timeout, with McMillan Miller and Roy returning to the court early.
The two players in the Clippers' backcourt really scored points quickly, and their 10-point advantage was gone in the blink of an eye.
The Blazers' strategy is still to stabilize, stabilize the situation, stabilize the situation.
Lao Deng watched Ade come on the court and replaced Tucker at the same time, allowing Randolph to return to the court.
Milicic continues to play the center position, and Marciano can get more rest time.
It was obvious that Lao Deng wanted to test Milicic's quality.
After all, this is the insider that the general manager signed back at a high price in the summer.
Even if you think it's unreliable as a head coach, you still have to give it a try, right?
If it is really unreliable, performance on the field will speak for itself, even if you sign it at a high price, you have to find a way to get rid of it.
Lao Deng still understands this bit of worldliness, so he let Milicic beat him more in the first game.
After Milicic gained trust, his performance on the field was really good.
The main thing is that he puts down his burden and doesn't think about showing off his offensive skills.
Instead, focus on defense, focus on getting in position to grab rebounds, and focus on covering.
Let Randolph worry about the offensive end, he doesn't want to try it.
Ade tried to hit Randolph in the low position, turned inside and hit a hook shot with his right hand.
Milicic was blocked from the flank!
Milicic's tall figure and extremely long arms successfully blocked Ade's shot.
The ball was in Curry's hands. Curry advanced to observe, and suddenly made a high pass to the basket.
Harden jumped high, made an alley-oop, and dunked with both hands!
Harden landed with his arms raised and roared after scoring.
How long has it been since Staples Center received such an exciting alley-oop dunk?
Randolph and Xiaojia are both top performers. If you ask them to play stewardess, they won't be able to do it.
Although Curry is known as the Clippers dunk king, he has not yet demonstrated his dunking ability in actual combat.
Balang is getting older, and Ricky has changed his mind and stopped playing.
Now comes Harden, who dunks twice in a row, igniting the atmosphere at home.
Young people have good physical strength, can afford to play, can play, and know how to play.
The score difference was only 1 point, and the Clippers' backcourt offensive talent was amazing.
It was Roy who stood out for the Trail Blazers at this moment, re-stabilizing the situation with a mid-range shot from the top of the arc.
However, the Clippers' offense began to get into shape, and it was difficult for the Trail Blazers to completely suppress the Clippers.
Dunleavy once again used his three-guard lineup in the middle and late fourth quarter.
Harden, Curry, Baron Davis, interior lineman Randolph and Gasol.
This is a combination with strong attack power and the best coordination.
Harden replaced the previous Gordon, and his defense has declined, but his offensive flexibility is stronger.
The Blazers can't find a defensive focus.
When Curry received a pass from Harden at the top of the arc and hit a three-pointer.
The score between the two sides became 97:97, a tie!
The Clippers were suppressed by the Trail Blazers for the entire game and tied the score with 2 minutes left in the game.
The game entered the final decisive stage, and Min Congda was in a relatively stable mood.
He knows there will be twists and turns in this game, because the Clippers are already good.
"Damn, the Clippers made 15 turnovers tonight. I'm still optimistic about the Trail Blazers. Roy, you have to work harder and don't have any accidents!"
At the critical moment of the game, you are afraid of accidents.
But the accident still happened.
The third thing that surprised McMillan, which was actually not too surprising, was that the referee started to exert force.
(End of chapter)
