Chapter 152

In the second half of the second quarter, the Pistons launched a counterattack under the leadership of Greg Monroe, who hit two of his first two shots after entering the game, bringing the score to 45-all. Then, McGrady stepped up, scoring 5 points in a row, and together with Greg Monroe they created a 9-2 run that helped the Pistons take the lead by 3 points. However, the good fortune didn’t last long. James Posey, who replaced Andre Iguodala, was in poor form today and couldn’t defend Sean Williams effectively, allowing Sean Williams to repeatedly break into the Pistons’ paint and score, instantly wiping out the Pistons’ lead and putting them behind the Knicks 52-56. At that moment, only 7 seconds remained before the end of the first half. In those final 7 seconds, the Pistons had the ball, with Zhou Yi in control. The Knicks used a full-court man-to-man defense to prevent Zhou Yi from easily crossing half-court. But could Zhou Yi, with his excellent dribbling skills, speed, and half a year of NBA experience, make a mistake under Randelly Fields’ single-man pressure? Of course not—in fact, such pressure was exactly what he expected. Zhou Yi deliberately showed a feint to lure Randelly Fields into trying to steal the ball, then spun right while dribbling, easily bypassing Randelly Fields and reaching his top speed in the shortest time possible, charging toward the Knicks’ basket. With Randelly Fields’ defense failing, Raymond Felton and Sean Williams quickly abandoned their original targets to double-team Zhou Yi. They managed to block him as he entered the paint—well, just Zhou Yi. The ball left his hands the moment he stepped into the paint, flying straight toward McGrady. “Good pass,” McGrady said as he caught Zhou Yi’s pass steadily, then quickly adjusted his stance and shot. The moment the ball left his hand, the timer read 1—only 1 second left in the first half. “Swish.” The ball went through the basket. “Blare.” The whistle signaling the end of the second quarter sounded. 55-56—the Pistons ended the first half trailing by one point. “Ladies and gentlemen, the first half is over. The Pistons are trailing 55-56. Coach Zhang, what do you think of the first half performance of both teams?”

“In the first half, both teams performed very well offensively, but not so well defensively. After all, a shooting percentage as high as 60% only occurs when two offense-oriented teams play against each other, like the Suns. The Pistons and Knicks are both defensive teams with strong defensive skills. Yet in the second half, they played in complete contrast to that. If they continue like this, the players on both teams will definitely run out of energy. I think, for either this game or the ones to come, the coaches of both teams will surely make adjustments in the second half to slow down the pace of the game, as that’s the only style that truly suits them…”