The Way of Basketball: Never Talk Shit to Him!
Chapter 554 - 230 The God who currently controls the MVP in the NBA_5

Chapter 554: Chapter 230 The God who currently controls the MVP in the NBA_5

Tekeglu also noticed his situation and wasn’t so eager to look for Howard’s position, but instead attacked with the ball himself, crushing Anthony Parker on his way in. Randolph saw that Parker was about to get crushed again and quickly stepped up to help on defense, but what Tekeglu was waiting for was just this moment, a "behind-the-head pass" that smoothly found "Mr. Billion" Lewis.

"Swish!"

The ball passed straight through the net.

The Magic Team scored the first three-point shot early in the game.

This made Rick Carlisle frown slightly.

For the Magic Team, which was good at shooting three-pointers, this was an offense that boosted morale.

If they continued playing like this, the Magic Team might comfortably get into their rhythm tonight.

But, as the old saying goes, "Treat the head when the head aches, treat the foot when the foot hurts." To contain the Magic Team, we still have to find the root problem. Lewis was able to hit the three-point shot mainly because Tekeglu’s Breakthrough drew the defense.

No good!

We had to contain that engine!

Rick Carlisle watched Lewis leisurely crushing Anthony Parker on the court, leaving the latter utterly helpless, suddenly a peculiar lineup flashed through his mind from the start of the season:

Point Guard Billups, two Su Wan, small forward Little O’Neal, Power forward Zach Randolph, five Shaquille O’Neal.

This lineup, because of the poor mobility of the frontcourt players, plus Little O’Neal’s request to come off the bench, was eventually abandoned by Rick Carlisle after only a month.

But now, looking at Tekeglu’s obviously Power forward mobility, Carlisle had an inspiration. With 4 minutes and 35 seconds left in the first quarter, he substituted Anthony Parker out and brought Little O’Neal back in to defend Tekeglu.

Although Little O’Neal had lost some weight and was no longer quite capable of playing the five, he was absolutely no problem at the Power forward.

If it weren’t for giving Randolph his position and his constant anxiety about stress fractures in his shin, fearing another injury and not being able to let loose, he would match Shaquille O’Neal in many ways.

Moreover, having sat on the bench for such a long time, Little O’neill’s condition had obviously recovered quite a bit. His movements on the court were quicker and more agile, not showing that heavy "laziness," and he was more willing to exert force when moving.

This was the reason he played better and better off the bench!

Using him to deal with Tekeglu couldn’t be more appropriate.

In his first rotation after entering the game, he successfully contained Tekeglu’s ball advancement.

So far in the match, the Turks’ previously unstoppable ball advancement failed for the first time, and even Tekeglu himself was somewhat surprised; in a moment of panic, he made a passing error, and the ball flew out of bounds.

"Nice!"

Rick Carlisle shouted immediately, cheering for Little O’Neal’s immediate and effective defense!

Stan Van Gundy was famously the League’s "roaring emperor," and seeing Tekeglu’s sudden mistake, he could hardly hold back and scolded loudly, "This is the Eastern Conference Finals, not the regular season; there’s no turn for you to handle the ball carelessly—you damn well need to be serious!"

Tekeglu found it hard to explain to Van Gundy; it wasn’t that he was handling the ball carelessly, but Little O’Neal had effectively contained him.

But in Stan Van Gundy’s eyes, this season’s Tekeglu was the best ball handler at the small forward position, and such a low-level mistake shouldn’t have happened.

Sometimes, being too excellent isn’t a good thing!

However, soon Stan Van Gundy also noticed that Tekeglu didn’t seem unserious; he was playing very earnestly, but just...

He couldn’t break through Little O’Neal’s defense!

With a taller stature and longer wingspan than Tekeglu, along with better mobility and equal strength, Little O’Neal was a challenging defender for any ball handler.

The Turk was contained, and the originally smooth offense also came to a halt at this point.

For the rest of the first quarter, each of their scores was incredibly challenging.

At this moment, Su Wan suddenly realized that Summer Larry Bird’s trade was not only aimed at the Lakers and the Celtics but also calculated the Magic Team.

If Little O’Neal’s containment of Tekeglu was a pleasant surprise, then look at Shaquille O’Neal’s limitation of Howard.

Actually, O’Neal didn’t do much; just by standing under the basket, he compressed the space, and Howard seemed as if his legs had been taken away, his usually excellent running and jumping ability completely unable to come into play.

He and Tekeglu were the Magic Team’s two highest scorers this season.

Both of them being "1 on 1" contained meant...

"The Magic Team must find a new scoring option, and it has to be a steady one!"

Although Bill Walton said this, he glanced at the Magic Team players on the court and couldn’t find anyone capable of doing it.

And the Magic Team had a new problem to face, which was...

"Su Wan gets the ball, facing the French Jordan Michael Pietrus, skillfully fakes, breaks to the basket, dodges Howard’s help defense, and gives the ball to Shaquille..."

"Boom!"

"Who can stop Su Wan’s Breakthrough!"

"Who in the Magic Team can stop Su Wan’s Breakthrough!"

Hm...

That’s the new dilemma for the Magic Team.

Seeing the Magic Team’s offense was not smooth, Su Wan realized this was a good opportunity to step up the offense, and Michael Pietrus couldn’t stop him at all.