DeMarcus Cousins' single made the New York Knicks' offense chaotic.
However, fortunately, with Zhao Feiyang and others present, everything was under control. On the other hand, for the Philadelphia 76ers, Jimmy Butler's appearance did not help the team. He was completely blocked by Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons, who did not pass the ball to him at all.
This made Butler gradually become redundant on the court until the end of the third quarter, when the point difference between the two sides once again widened to double digits.
91 to 81.
The 76ers trailed by 10 points.
Seeing the game on the field playing out like this, Brown, the head coach of the 76ers, was also a little panicked. After thinking for a while, he decided to replace Simmons, who was in poor condition, so that Butler could play as a defender and dominate the offensive ball.
This move naturally aroused Simmons' dissatisfaction.
"Why?"
"Coach Brown, what does this mean?"
"Ben, don't think too much, I need you to take a break!"
After comforting Simmons, Coach Brown walked up to Embiid again. He pulled Embiid and told him, "Joel, I need you to get inside in the last quarter... You have to talk to Jimmy." Cooperate!"
"We can't lose this game! Let's see! So many fans outside the stadium are looking forward to a good result. If we lose the game, think about what kind of public opinion crisis we will encounter?"
Coach Brown's words forced Embiid to agree.
At the same time, on the Knicks' bench, Cousins was also pushed to the bench by head coach Thomas.
"Dwight, you replace DeMarcus!"
"Now we are in the lead, keep this advantage and defend well..."
Everyone shouted in response.
"clear."
call out.
The referee whistle sounded.
Players from both sides appear again.
Cousins looked unhappy after being put on the bench. Even if Coach Thomas wanted to take this opportunity to talk to him, he chose to refuse.
Howard couldn't help but be quite happy when he saw this scene. He even deliberately turned his head to look at Cousins when he walked on the court, and shook his head at Cousins with a sarcastic smile.
The 76ers serve.
Redick advanced with the ball and gave the ball directly to Butler after halftime.
Butler played Zach LaVine in a single, and the two faced each other. Butler took the ball and rushed into the basket. In the past, Embiid would not help him cover at all. This time, Embiid finally got the idea and stepped in when Butler encountered interference from the opponent.
Butler took advantage of the situation to get rid of the opponent, but Embiid's replacement also gave Howard, who was marking him, time to cover Butler.
Seeing Howard blocking the way forward, Butler decisively smashed the ball to the ground. The basketball bounced into Embiid's hands. Embiid took the ball into the basket and scored a dunk.
boom.
The ball went in.
The cooperation between the two also attracted cheers from the sidelines.
"Damn! I should have been beaten like this!"
"Jimmy's vision is very good! If he can cooperate well with Embiid, our strength will definitely be improved..."
"Please Joel, please stop shooting outside! Only by playing like this can he really have an impact on the team..."
The fans were talking a lot.
It was the Knicks' turn to fight back.
Zhao Feiyang advanced with the ball and was marked by Redick after halftime.
He did not choose to play in isolation, but passed the ball to LaVine, who was in a better position. LaVine shot a three-pointer from the bottom corner, but unfortunately failed to score.
Howard wanted to pick off the rebound, and Embiid behind him immediately rushed to his side. The two fought fiercely under the basket and jumped several times to compete for rebounds. Howard, who did not have the advantage in age, eventually lost to Embiid, allowing the other party to take away the ball.
Snapped.
Embiid picked off the rebound.
This time he threw the ball decisively. After throwing a long pass to Butler's hands, Butler ran directly with the ball.
boom.
A two-handed dunk and the ball was firmly smashed in.
The cooperation of the two once again aroused cheers from the fans in the audience.
The opponent's sudden counterattack also caught the Knicks off guard. By the time the Knicks reacted, the 76ers had already tied the score.
The game also entered the second half of the last quarter.
The 76ers finally replaced Simmons at this time, but Coach Brown only gave Simmons one task, and that was to let Simmons guard Zhao Feiyang desperately.
"Ben, you have a height advantage, I need you to keep an eye on him regardless of the ball rights..."
"If we can win the game, then you are definitely the biggest contributor..."
Although Simmons was somewhat reluctant, Butler's counterattack to tie the score was really powerful. Therefore, Simmons could only follow Coach Brown's arrangements.
call out.
After the 76ers made a substitution, the Knicks served.
Zhao Feiyang held the ball through half the court.
This time he was tagged by Simmons before he passed the midline. Simmons has always wanted to be in the limelight before, so he was not very serious on the defensive end at all. He mostly thought about how to perform on the offensive end.
Now that the ball is concentrated in Butler's hands, he can only concentrate on the defensive end.
Without interference from other aspects, Simmons clung to Zhao Feiyang like candy. Although the opponent's tall body was not that flexible, it made Zhao Feiyang extremely uncomfortable in the confrontation.
In order to avoid making mistakes, Zhao Feiyang had no choice but to transfer the ball away.
LaVine was also being stared at by Butler at this time. This guy's defensive attitude was even more exaggerated than Simmons's, and he refused to relax at all from beginning to end.
The ball had to fall into Adrian's hands.
Adrian played alone on the wing and seized the opportunity to rush towards the 76ers' basket. Unexpectedly, Embiid, who had been soft before, was much tougher this time. He not only blocked Howard in defense, but also interfered with Adrian's shot.
boom.
The basketball bounced out of the basket.
The rebound also fell into the hands of the 76ers.
The 76ers continued to fight back.
This time Embiid quickly passed to Butler. Butler transferred the ball to Simmons during the offense. Simmons chased up from behind, received the pass and rushed to the basket for a dunk.
boom.
The ball went in.
Seeing that the 76ers were gradually opening up the gap with the Knicks in score, coach Thomas finally became anxious. In less than 2 minutes in the last minute, he chose to replace Howard, who was always restrained, and sent Cousins to the court again.
However, what Coach Thomas didn't know was that it was this decision that completely ruined the Knicks' situation.
With 1 minute and 13 seconds left in the game, the Knicks finally recovered a little gap with Zhao Feiyang's three-pointer. Unexpectedly, after the 76ers counterattacked, Cousins made an unexpected mistake. He missed the defense. Bede caused the opponent to play a sneak attack.
The score difference widened again.
When the time was left with 41 seconds left, Cousins appeared again. The Knicks' offense failed to score. When scrambling for key rebounds, Cousins actually watched the basketball being taken away by the opponent's forward.
The opponent counterattacked with a fast break. This time Embiid stood outside the three-point line again, but the difference was that his three-pointer finally hit!
Uh-huh.
When this three-pointer fell into the basket, the score between the two sides was 109 to 102. The Knicks, who were 7 points behind, found it difficult to reverse the situation with only 27 seconds left in the game.
