The era of point forwards in the NBA

Chapter 202 Van Gundy's Small Abacus (asking for a subscription, asking for a monthly pass)
At the end of the first quarter, the Magic led the Thunder by 25 points 23 to 2.

The Magic relied on Howard's excellent performance in the first quarter to gain the upper hand.

第一节霍华德打满了12分钟，6投3中，罚球9中6，单节拿到12分4篮板。

Regardless of the small number of rebounds, 4 of his 3 rebounds were offensive rebounds, which really caused a lot of trouble for the Thunder's inside line.

Pietrus appeared in the second half of the first quarter. Although he only took one shot from the outside, his excellent touch can still make a direct hit.

The expression on Van Gundy's face was obviously satisfied with the results of the first quarter. He had no intention of relying on the starting lineup to win the game. In terms of the strength of the substitute lineup, the Magic must be better than the Thunder.

At the beginning of the second quarter, the Magic sent a lineup of "White Chocolate" Jason Williams, Redick, Barnes, Pietrus and Gortat.

The Thunder used Kevin Ollie, Lin Yue, Livingston, Sefolosha and Etan Thomas to face off.

"Looking at it this way, the Magic's bench lineup is much stronger than the Thunder's. Jason's pass and control organization is good, Barnes is defensive, and the other two shooters can shoot with confidence, but their defense is much worse when Howard is not inside." Kenny Smith said.

"It depends on whether Lin Yue can seize the opportunity to help the team overtake the score. Now the Magic's defensive system is built around Howard. He is not on the court. In fact, the Magic's defensive efficiency will drop a lot. This is an opportunity instead." Barkley did not view it from an offensive point of view, but focused on the Magic's defense.

Van Gundy naturally understood, so he gave Barnes some rest time in the first quarter in order to cope with the second quarter.

This time he doesn't intend to let Redick defend Lin Yue head-on. Now that the ball is in Lin Yue's hands, and the team's two major scorers are not on the court, he will definitely strengthen his personal offense. Isn't Redick a single defense?
Matt Barnes is the best candidate for defense. As a jack-of-all-trades player, he can do many things. The Magic don’t need him to attack. All he has to do is stare at the opponent’s core players, just like pestering Durant in the first quarter. Van Gundy doesn’t expect him to completely prevent Lin Yue to death, but if he can limit Lin Yue’s activity area and make him play uncomfortable, then the effect will be achieved.

Barnes is a link on defense, and the others are strong points on offense.

"White Chocolate" is old now, and he can't spread all kinds of incredible fairy balls like he did back then, but this is actually a help to him personally.

The stable style of play has brought his career average turnovers to a new low. This steady and steady style is deeply loved by Van Gundy. Coupled with his stable three-point ability, he is the big brother in the Magic's bench lineup.

Now he is no longer the "White Chocolate" with one man holding the ball and nine players nervous. Of course, there are always times when he is used to making troubles, and he will pass some difficult balls from time to time. As for whether he can use it or not, it depends on luck.

This season, Pietrus averaged 8.7 points per game, and the scoring basically came from three-pointers. He averaged 4.1 three-pointers per game, and his shooting percentage is currently 39%. He is a good spot-up shooter.

Pietrus is known as the French Jordan. From this nickname, it can be seen that in the eyes of French fans, he is an omnipotent player, but in fact, in the Magic, he is a 3D player with outstanding three-point ability, movement and good defensive awareness. When Howard is not on the court, he is the one who helps his teammates defend.

Even Redick, who performed poorly in this game, has shot more than 40% of his three-pointers in the current few games. He is the firepower output of the Magic's bench lineup. Although he is not as crazy as he was in the NCAA, he has now found a way to survive in the NBA.

……

As soon as the second quarter came up, Livingston singled Redick with his back and hit two points with a dry top shot after turning around.

Since Lin Yue was close to Barnes, he felt that there was no need to waste too much energy at this time, so he passed the ball to Livingston who was on defense.

In the last game against the Rockets, coach Brooks saw Livingston's hard work and still good strength, so he added him to the roster and gave him a chance to play on the bench.

This moved Livingston, who has not been important after the injury, and he will never miss the opportunity to stand up.

Livingston played very actively on this ball. When he found that Redick was defending him, he directly used his body to fight with his body. Due to the injury, his athletic ability declined, so he changed his previous style of play and practiced some practical mid-range.

Livingston is very clear about his position in the team. As a scorer on the bench, he needs to stand up and score.

Poor Redick, once again reduced to the opponent's background board.

25 to 25, the Thunder tied the score.

Van Gundy smiled. He didn't intend to rely on defense to win the game. Their strength is offense.

"White Chocolate" Williams dribbled the ball across the half, and after a few mutual transmissions, Barnes hoisted it to Gortat inside.

After Gortat got the ball, he faked Etan Thomas and hit the board with a small hook.

As Howard's substitute player, Gortat's strength is not defense but offense. It can be said that this guy puts all his talents on offense.

This Polish player doesn't have much playing time, but his offensive performance is surprisingly efficient, and he is a stable existence.

A good machine for assists.

In the next round, Lin Yue followed the same pattern and threw the ball to Etan Thomas on the inside. As a result, under the slight interference of Gortat, this guy missed the attack that must succeed at the basket.

At this time, Lin Yue was rarely envious of the opponent's players. Sometimes he really hoped that the entire team would be the kind of stable scorer who could collect assists. If so, he could give up offense and focus on assists, trying to surpass Stockton and become the NBA's historical assist leader.

Unfortunately, reality does not allow him to do so.

Next, Barnes missed a three-pointer and Sefolosha got a defensive rebound.

After getting it firmly, Sefolosha immediately passed a long pass to Lin Yue who was running towards the opponent's half.

Lin Yue took a big stride, and the European step tricked Barnes who stretched out his hand to block him and made a layup.

"The Thunder's defensive counterattack speed is very fast. Lin Yue's forward speed is fast. Even if he doesn't shoot himself, he can pass to his teammates. If the Magic don't mention the defensive speed, they will play very hard." Barkley said.

"Van Gundy should have thought of this too. The shooter lineup he dispatched is also good at fast breaks. The ball just now was completely careless by Barnes. He shouldn't have shot a three-pointer. As soon as his retreat speed slowed down, Lin Yue would score the ball." Kenny Smith said.

Van Gundy commanded loudly from the sidelines, and the player's style of play made his little calculation come to nothing.

(End of this chapter)