Chapter 114

In the first quarter, neither team played very well defensively, especially the Knicks, which allowed the Pistons to shoot 80% from the field. The Knicks’ shooting percentage was also as high as 58%. Thanks to the outstanding performances of Zhou Yi and Andre Iguodala, the Pistons took a 7-point lead, 36–29, at the end of the first quarter. Zhou Yi played 10 minutes in the first quarter, scoring 8 points, providing 6 assists, and grabbing 1 steal; Greg Monroe matched him well in his matchup against Tyson Chandler, scoring 6 points and grabbing 6 rebounds; Andre Iguodala scored the most points for his team, with 11 points and 3 rebounds. On the Knicks’ side, the best performer was undoubtedly “The Little Tyrant” Amare Stoudemire, who scored 10 points in the first quarter but only 4 rebounds. Soon, the break between the first and second quarters ended, signaling that the second quarter was about to begin! Chapter 302: The Last Victory Before the New Year By the time more than five minutes remained in the second quarter, both teams had deployed their starting lineups. In the first half of the second quarter, the Knicks played very well and almost managed to catch up in the score. Unfortunately, after Zhou Yi and others came on court, the Pistons’ offense and defense returned to form, suppressing the Knicks’ counterattacks. Although Amare Stoudemire dominated inside for the Pistons, his energy was also significantly depleted. Meanwhile, under John Kuester’s strategy, all the Pistons players were on the court, giving them ample energy, unlike the Knicks. The Knicks’ last offensive attempt in the first half missed, leaving the Pistons with 8 seconds left. With a buzzer-beater three-pointer by Zhou Yi, the score changed to 58–48, marking the end of the second quarter. At the half, the Pistons led the Knicks by 10 points. John Kuester was very satisfied with his players’ performance in the first half, so upon returning to the locker room, he highly praised those who performed well, especially Andre Iguodala, who not only scored 16 points himself but also was constantly fighting hard throughout the first half, especially in rebounding and defense. In his 17 minutes of play in the first half, Andre Iguodala had already grabbed 7 rebounds. Additionally, thanks to his aggressive defense, Danilo Gallinari managed only 4 points in the first half, which was quite rare.

Of course, despite his joy, John Kueste wasn’t careless. After praising his players, he also emphasized that even though they were in the lead, they must not slack off at all and must work even harder to perform as well in the second half as they did in the first.
“Viewers at home, the Pistons performed extremely well in every aspect of the first half, especially in defense and teamwork. Throughout the first half, the Pistons recorded 14 assists, 6 of which came from the combination of Zhou Yi and Andre Iguodala. Additionally, thanks to Iguodala’s outstanding performance, the Pistons grabbed 8 more rebounds than the Knicks. Their impressive shooting percentage of 55.8% is truly astonishing. It seems the Pistons have a great chance of defeating the Knicks today. However, we can’t be sure about the final outcome yet, so we can only wait and see. Well, the third quarter is about to start—let’s turn the camera back to the court…”