The ball fell into the hands of DeMarcus Cousins. If it were in the past, Cousins would definitely transfer the ball away immediately. But this time, he didn't do that. Instead, he held the ball through half the court.
"what's the situation?"
Knicks coach Norman Thomas stood up immediately on the sidelines.
Many players on the bench were also surprised.
The same goes for the Knicks players on the court.
When Zhao Feiyang saw Cousins doing this, he kept waving to pass it to him.
However, Cousins chose to ignore it all.
Perhaps his behavior caught the 76ers off guard. Therefore, when Cousins dribbled the ball across half court, the 76ers did not organize an effective defense against him.
Seeing Cousins rushing into the penalty area, J.J. Redick, the fastest runner, rushed to the basket to make up for it, but unfortunately he couldn't stop Cousins at all.
Cousins directly held the ball and jumped high, facing Redick with a dunk and smashing the ball into the basket.
boom.
The ball went in.
Cousins' one-stop dunk made all the fans at the scene exclaim.
"Look! This is my strength...I can score without relying on them..."
Cousins beat his chest and roared, becoming more determined in his thoughts.
Although Zhao Feiyang and other teammates were surprised, they didn't say anything when they saw Cousins scoring the goal. The head coach Thomas on the sidelines saw that the result was not bad, and had no intention of standing up to criticize Cousins, so he sat back on the team bench.
The ball fell into the hands of the 76ers again.
For the rest of the first quarter, the battle between the two sides remained very intense. Although the Knicks have always been strong, the 76ers have managed to hold on with their talent.
Therefore, by the time the first quarter was over, the score difference between the two sides did not widen much.
33 to 30.
The Knicks lead by 3 points.
Fast forward to the second quarter.
The 76ers finally sent Jimmy Butler this time.
He led the bench.
For the Knicks, Zach LaVine comes on, substitute Kevin Knox comes on the wing, and Dwight Howard moves into the fifth position.
call out.
The referee whistle sounded.
The Knicks serve.
Jeremy Lin advanced with the ball, and after halftime he gave the ball to LaVine. LaVine faced the 76ers substitute guard Korkmaz in a singles. The two faced each other, and LaVine shook the opponent away and rushed to the basket.
Just as he was about to reach the penalty area, striker Greg Monroe came up to defend.
LaVine didn't hit hard, and threw the ball into Howard's hands with an empty pass. After receiving the ball, Howard hit the basket and turned around for a dunk.
boom.
The ball went in.
It was the 76ers' turn to fight back.
No. 1 pick Markelle Fultz brought the ball across half court. Before he could finish observing the situation on the court, Butler on the wing came up to him and asked him for the ball.
Snapped.
Fultz gives the ball to Butler.
Butler singled out Knicks substitute forward Knox, and the two met each other. Butler just dribbled and feinted, then suddenly raised the basketball and jumped on the opponent's head.
Uh-huh.
A dry pull-up was delivered steadily to the basket.
The Knicks continued to fight back.
This time Jeremy Lin took a shot after halftime under the cover of LaVine, but unfortunately he failed to score the three-pointer.
The rebound fell out, and the 76ers' players at the basket didn't look very active, looking rather lazy when fighting for the rebound.
It was Butler who seized the opportunity to rush forward again, taking advantage of the gap when Howard was blocked by his teammates, and got the ball into his hands in the chaos.
When he was dribbling the basketball, he directly chose to dribble the ball and play in singles.
After rushing all the way across half court, Butler threw the ball out with a pull-up jumper, but the basketball missed and bounced out. Knox went up to fight for the rebound. As soon as he got the ball in his hands, Butler was already lunging at him.
Snapped.
Butler, who stole Knox, rushed to the basket and took another shot. Faced with the interference of another Knicks big man Vonleh, Butler used a pull rod to avoid the opponent's backhand and threw the ball into the basket.
boom.
The ball went in.
After coming on the scene, Butler almost took over most of the 76ers' offense. He was in good shape and helped the team score frequently.
The Knicks have performed stably, but compared to Butler, who is in positive form, their over-stability has become one of the reasons for falling behind.
Beep.
The halftime timer sounds.
The score between the two sides was 59 to 64.
The Knicks, who originally took the lead, were overtaken by the 76ers led by Butler during this quarter. The 5-point difference is not much, but for the 76ers who were previously lagging behind, this result obviously greatly boosted the team's morale.
Halftime passed quickly.
The third quarter comes.
This time the Knicks continue to send out their main lineup, and the same goes for the 76ers.
This time Butler was not replaced again. He played together with Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons.
call out.
The referee's whistle sounded and the 76ers served.
Simmons advanced with the ball and was guarded by Zhao Feiyang after halftime. Upon seeing this, Butler took the initiative to screen for Simmons, but Simmons did not appreciate it. Not only did he not take the opportunity to rush in, he also waved his hand to signal Butler to get out of the way.
"No!"
"I do not need!"
Simmons' words made Butler shake his head helplessly, then pulled away and stood on the wing.
After Butler got out of the way, Simmons took the ball and rushed inside. Not long after he rushed out, Adrian came up from the wing to double-team him. The sudden double-team disrupted Simmons' rhythm, and he passed the ball after hesitation.
He was about to pass it to Embiid inside, but as soon as he threw the basketball, LaVine came out from halfway and directly intercepted his pass.
Snapped.
After stealing the ball, LaVine ran wildly with the ball, with Simmons hot on his heels.
When he was approaching the basket area, LaVine made a back pass and threw the ball into the air. Just as Simmons reacted, Zhao Feiyang had already jumped up from behind to catch the ball and dunk.
boom.
The ball went in.
Simmons is once again in the background.
The 76ers continued to attack.
This time the ball came to Embiid smoothly, but Embiid received the ball from the outside. After getting the ball, he did not use his advantage to rush inside, but shot alone near the three-point line.
Snapped.
His shot bounced out of the basket again.
The rebound bounced out, and Embiid had no time to grab it from the outside. Cousins, who was in a dominant position, easily picked off the basketball.
"here."
Zhao Feiyang shouted to him again.
It looks like the Knicks can run a pretty good fast break.
However, Cousins did not pass the ball, so he still took the ball across the half court himself. This behavior simply confused the teammates on the court, and the head coach Thomas on the sidelines became solemn this time.
"What does DeMarcus want to do?"
"Were he and Embiid brought up by the same coach? Both guys are centers. One is always floating outside and shooting three-pointers, and the other has to dribble the ball through half court himself... I really I don’t understand…”
