The change in DeMarcus Cousins is obvious.
After scoring a goal, Cousins' previous "lone wolf" behavior almost disappeared. Although the relationship between him and Dwight Howard was still cold, there were no more quarrels or conflicts.
Especially after Howard was interviewed by coach Norman Thomas, the antagonism between the two parties became even less intense than before.
As soon as the inside line stabilized, the three Zhao Feiyangs on the outside line also started the All-Star mode.
The three of them were in very good shape. Zhao Feiyang made many breakthroughs and scored, Zach LaVine also hit many three-pointers, and Adrian Ennis even suppressed Gordon Hayward.
At the end of the first quarter, the score was 35-25, with the New York Knicks leading the Boston Celtics by 10 points.
Section 2.
Celtics head coach Brad Stevens replaced the team on the bench, leaving Irving as the only core to control the ball on the court.
For the Knicks, Zhao Feiyang was also sent to the court, and he was replaced by Jeremy Lin as an assistant. Howard was still guarding the inside.
call out.
Celtics serve.
Irving advanced with the ball, and after halftime he was marked by Jeremy Lin.
The two met each other, and Irving directly passed Jeremy Lin and entered the two zones. Inside, the Knicks substitute No. 4 Noah Vonleh quickly stepped in. Irving pretended to pass the ball to his teammates, but actually hid the ball behind his back and rushed to the basket.
Snapped.
He successfully avoided Vonlei and threw the ball with a lever.
The basketball board falls into the basket.
There was constant applause at the scene. Although not all fans in the North Shore Garden Arena liked Irving, most fans still recognized his singles ability on the court.
From the perspective of "attacker" alone, Irving is definitely at the top level in the league.
The Knicks serve.
Jeremy Lin advanced with the ball, and after halftime Irving came up to mark him. Jeremy Lin did not choose to act recklessly, but gave the ball to Zhao Feiyang.
Zhao Feiyang singled out the opponent's substitute guard Terry Rozier.
The two met each other, and Zhao Feiyang picked up the basketball and easily shook the opponent away. After passing Rozier, Zhao Feiyang rushed to the basket with the ball. The Celtics' inside players came up to cover the position. Zhao Feiyang had no intention of giving in and jumped directly into the opponent's substitute center for a one-handed dunk.
boom.
A dunk hit the basket hard.
Zhao Feiyang's goal made the Knicks players on the sidelines stand up and cheer and scream.
The host and guests who were responsible for the commentary were also excited because of Zhao Feiyang's performance.
"Oh! Unbelievable! I almost forgot that this guy once won the slam dunk contest... Now it seems that Zhao's physical fitness is definitely among the top..."
"I really hope to see him duel with Kyrie! These two guys are one of the best defenders in the league... If I can see them duel, it will definitely be the most exciting thing in this game. time......."
His eyes returned to the field.
Irving continued to dribble the ball across half court. After reaching the top of the key, he tried to pass the ball to his teammates.
However, the teammate on the flank was blocked and could not escape for a while. Irving had no choice but to dribble the ball and continue playing singles.
This time he launched an attack from a 45-degree angle on the right side. After he shook away Jeremy Lin in front of him, Howard and Feng Lai on the inside double-teamed him at the same time.
The two teamed up with Jeremy Lin to form a triangular defensive formation. In this case, the offensive player will most likely be targeted.
However, no one expected that after breaking through the trap of three people, Irving just stuck to Feng Lei and turned around to pull away. By the time Howard on the side reacted, Irving had already thrown the ball towards the basket.
Snapped.
The basketball hit the backboard and hit the basket smoothly.
"nice shot!"
"Well done!"
Irving's breakthrough aroused the excitement of all the fans.
Irving had just scored here, and Zhao Feiyang was not to be outdone. After getting the ball, he rushed through the half court under the cover of Jeremy Lin. After the half, he continued to maintain a one-on-one stance, first facing the opponent with a feint and then pulling away with a sudden step back.
Zhao Feiyang decisively threw a three-pointer.
Uh-huh.
The ball went in.
The game goes on.
In the next few minutes, the Celtics relied entirely on Irving's isolation attack. What makes them gratified is that Irving is in very good condition, both in long-range shots and breakthroughs, and has always helped the team score steadily.
For the Knicks, Zhao Feiyang has become their offensive firepower.
Relying on Zhao Feiyang's excellent singles ability, the Knicks continued to maintain their lead.
By the end of halftime, the score between the two sides was 71 to 63, and the 8-point gap was not much.
Compared with the difference in score, what fans are more concerned about during this quarter is the competition between the two stars.
Although they did not face off head-to-head, their scores were similar.
Irving had 18 points and 1 rebound, while Zhao Feiyang had 16 points and 3 assists. Compared to Irving's pure single-core play, Zhao Feiyang still pays more attention to cooperating with his teammates.
Beep.
The timer sounded and the two sides entered halftime.
Perhaps the game went too smoothly and there were no problems on the court today, so after returning to the locker room, the Knicks players actually started playing poker.
Interestingly, Howard and others, who carried a lot of beautiful knives with them, also took the initiative to play "fried gold flower".
"Hey! DeMarcus, come over and play!"
Zhao Feiyang took the initiative to call Cousins who was sitting in the corner in a daze.
Cousins glanced at him, then at Howard, who was dealing cards to others, and shook his head after a slight hesitation.
But before he could speak, Howard waved to him, "Come on! DeMarcus! Are you afraid that I will win your money?"
"You are a millionaire! The game we are playing is very small. You can't bear to part with this little money, right?"
As soon as Howard said this, Cousins was not happy. He hurriedly sat next to Howard and played the game with everyone.
When Coach Thomas saw this scene, he originally planned to stop it, but considering that Cousins, Howard and others really needed to ease their relationship, and the players did not really intend to gamble, but just for the sake of harmony within the team, Coach Thomas He didn't interfere in the players' games.
Everyone didn't waste too much time and put away various things when the rest time was about to end.
Coach Thomas also continued to lead everyone towards the players' tunnel.
"Guys, we played very well in the first half! Then we have to continue to maintain the state of the first half...The Celtics are very strong, but they will never be our opponent. ......."
"I need you to maintain a mentality, that is, we are the strongest in the East, no one else... Any team will be defeated by us..."
