Chapter 106 Breaking through their defense

During the jump ball phase, Dampier still passed the ball steadily. After Da Chou got the ball, he did not choose to pass it to Jason Terry, but passed it to Zheng Yang.

The latter dribbled the ball across half court and also did not choose to pass it to Jason Terry, but chose to play it alone.

This is not about isolating Jason Terry, but the Mavericks' new tactic. They want Zheng Yang to break through the Pistons' defense through singles.

This sounds incredible, because you have to know that the Pistons are defending a one-on-four zone. To break the zone, the team has to use their shooting ability to score points. Isn't breaking through like going to the tiger mountain even though you know there is a tiger there?

But this is the plan that Zheng Yang proposed to Nelson after Game 3.

This was not something Zheng Yang came up with on a whim, but was the tactic Popovich used in the original history's Game 7 between the Spurs and the Pistons.

In that seventh game, the key factor that enabled the Spurs to win the game was that Popovich allowed Ginobili to continuously attack the Pistons' inside line and break their double-team defense.

With Ginobili's sharp breakthrough, the Pistons' iron wall was shattered and they eventually lost the game.

But Zheng Yang did not dare to guarantee that he could do the same thing and achieve the same effect, so he did not propose this tactic in the previous two games.

He hopes his teammates can step up and help the team win.

But two consecutive defeats made Zheng Yang decide to put his hopes on himself. If he lost one more game, the whole team would really be standing on the edge of a cliff. At that time, he really did not have the confidence to say that he could lead the team to a comeback.

So he decided to give it his all in this game and carry the team on his shoulders. Even if he lost, he would have no regrets.

After getting the ball, Zheng Yang dribbled the ball to find his form while scanning the situation on the court.

At this moment, everyone's attention is on Zheng Yang, but Hamilton is the only one defending Zheng Yang, and the opponent did not rush to attack him.

After a crotch pass, Zheng Yang suddenly accelerated and rushed to the inside. Hamilton did not control the distance well at the beginning, so he was overtaken by half a body length in an instant.

Zheng Yang, who was blocking the opponent's position, was double-teamed by Billups, but he made a fake move and then suddenly accelerated, then made a layup and scored.

Zheng Yang scored successfully in the first round!
Old Nelson off the court felt a little more at ease. Changing tactics, and changing it to a tactic that seemed very unwise, required a lot of psychological pressure for the head coach to overcome.

If the game is lost, the head coach will definitely be the first choice for fans and the media to vent their anger, and not every head coach is willing to take the blame.

But when Zheng Yang put forward his ideas, old Nelson still chose to believe him. This team has been able to transform to its current level because of Zheng Yang, and he is willing to support all his ideas.

However, other people didn't care much about this matter. After all, it was just a goal and it was of no importance to the entire game.

It was the Pistons' turn to attack. Billups dribbled the ball and directed his teammates to move. After a round of passes, Hamilton missed the mid-range shot and the rebound was secured by the Mavericks.

The ball came into Zheng Yang's hands again. Larry Brown on the side frowned slightly. He couldn't understand the Mavericks' tactics today.

In the first round, Zheng Yang held the ball and played singles. At that time, he thought it was just to help him find his touch and didn't pay much attention to it.

But the Mavericks still chose to give the ball to Zheng Yang in the second offensive round, which shows that they did it on purpose.

But... when his own team set up a one-on-four strategy and allowed Zheng Yang to keep holding the ball and play one-on-one, what was the opponent thinking?

Larry Brown had a vague feeling that something was wrong, but he couldn't tell what it was.

He could only wait for the game to continue and see what would happen next.

Zheng Yang, dribbling the ball, was still facing Hamilton. This guy learned his lesson and this time kept half a step away from Zheng Yang. Although this would give him reaction time when Zheng Yang broke through, it would also create space for Zheng Yang to shoot.

After two crotch shots, Zheng Yang took a step back and then took a three-point shot, which was quite resolute.

Even though Hamilton reacted quickly and jumped up, he still couldn't stop Zheng Yang's attack.

The basketball drew a perfect arc in the air and finally fell into the net.

There was a clear sound, which immediately attracted the Dallas fans in front of the TV to cheer loudly.

So handsome!
Facing Hamilton's defense, their king was so calm, but his goal was so handsome and compelling.

They really hope he can lead them to a championship.

Although this possibility is really low...

But deep in their hearts, they still retain a little fantasy.

It was the Pistons' turn to attack again. Billups' breakthrough was successfully disrupted by Dampier. After Jason Terry got the ball, he made a long pass to the big ugly who slipped to the frontcourt. The latter got the ball and dunked it directly.

The appearance of Zheng Yang has indeed focused the fans' attention on him, but don't forget that Josh Howard, who is also a second-year rookie, is already a key link in this Mavericks team, although he is not yet able to stand on his own.

His defense, his aggressive tackling, and his accurate judgment of the conditions on the court are constantly helping the team.

With this dunk by Big Chou, the Mavericks' score reached 7 points, while the Pistons still have not scored a single point as they have not found their offensive rhythm.

In the next round, the Pistons finally managed to score a goal with cooperation and got the first point of the day.

But then Zheng Yang turned over and scored from the left side, keeping the score at 7 points.

2: 9!

This was a start that no one expected, but the score gap did not narrow, but continued to widen.

The Pistons failed to score in the next round, and Zheng Yang attacked the inside again. He carried the basketball by himself as if he was carrying a bag of dynamite, and after a physical confrontation with the Roaring God, he pulled up and scored.

2: 11!

Zheng Yang made 4 of 4 shots and scored 9 points!
Larry Brown chose to call a timeout, and less than two minutes into the game, the Pistons used their first timeout.

But this pause came at the right time, because they needed to take the opportunity to suppress the opponent's momentum and find their game form.

"Don't let anything affect your state. We are leading by a large margin now. As long as we win the next game, we will have a chance to win the championship at home and successfully defend the title. We don't need to be anxious. They should be anxious.

As long as we play our best, we can win this game."

Larry Brown shouted at the players, saying that they were not fully committed to the game, which was why they were 9 points behind the opponent at the start.

As long as they can get back to their form, they still have a great chance of winning the game. After all, the current score difference is not particularly large, and the game has just begun, so there is still a long time for them to catch up.

As for the Mavericks' abnormal offensive choice, Larry Brown did not choose to change their defensive strategy. He just didn't believe that the opponent could continue to score.

After the timeout, the Pistons finally found their offensive form, but on the defensive end, they still failed to defend the Mavericks, or rather, they failed to successfully defend Zheng Yang.

Throughout the first quarter, Zheng Yang took 10 crazy shots. No matter whether he was facing one person or two people, as long as he had the chance, he would not choose to pass the ball, but would definitely shoot resolutely.

His shooting position was not limited to the outside line. On the contrary, he took 7 crazy shots in the paint area, either with the Euro step, or with a cut after receiving the ball, or with a turnaround layup...

He displayed all the weapons in his arsenal in front of the world, and his only goal was to use his breakthrough to smash the Pistons' defense.

He completed this task very well in the first quarter. He made 10 of 7 shots and scored 17 points, leading the Mavericks to an 18:32 lead over their opponents.

At this moment, the entire Pistons team was in a state of confusion. No kidding, they were really in a trance.

They were wondering if they hadn't woken up yet and were still dreaming.

Otherwise, how could anyone be able to take whatever they want in the paint area under their double team defense and act as if they were in an empty space?

Is their opponent the God of Basketball, Michael Jordan?

They began to think about how they should defend!
In the second quarter, the Pistons' defense finally changed. Although they still used a one-on-four stance, when Zheng Yang broke through with the ball, he would at least attract the attention of two or three people.

They will leave their defensive positions and double-team Zheng Yang based on his breakthrough position.

This was exactly what Zheng Yang wanted, so in the second quarter, Zheng Yang was no longer obsessed with personal scoring. He would always observe the positions of his teammates when he broke through with the ball, and then after attracting the opponent's attention, he would pass the ball to them to help them score.

If the Pistons' players' attention returns to others, he will continue to punish his opponents with his scoring ability, making them lose sight of the big picture.

They have to choose between Zheng Yang and his teammates, and no matter who they choose, they may be attacked.

The Pistons players kept wavering on this choice. Sometimes they pounced on Zheng Yang, and sometimes they turned around and ran to defend his teammates.

They didn't know who they should defend against, and they were in a panic.

Old Nelson did not miss this good opportunity. He replaced Jason Terry with Finley, who has stronger scoring ability and is more suitable for the current Mavericks.

As for the responsibility of controlling the ball, just leave it to Zheng Yang, he won't let you down.

At the end of the first half, the Pistons scored 40 points. The good news is that they successfully found their offensive state in the second quarter and their offensive touch was very good.

The bad news is that they allowed their opponents to score a full 60 points on them, many of which came in the paint.

Under the leadership of Zheng Yang, the Mavericks players have a special liking for inside offense. They still need to find their offensive touch for outside shooting, but as long as they don't have butter hands, they can still make layups most of the time.

After only half of the game, the difference between the two teams reached a staggering 20 points, which was an outcome no one had expected before the game.

If someone had said before the game that the difference between the two teams would be 20 points halfway through the game, most people would probably think: Is the Mavericks' offensive state so bad in this game? The gap was 20 points in the first half of the game!

No one would believe that the Mavericks would be leading by 20 points!
Of course, fans who have watched the game naturally know that the number one contributor to this game was Zheng Yang. After all, he scored the highest score of 22 points in the team and also got 5 assists.

But only a small number of fans who know basketball well could immediately see that the key to the Mavericks' lead in this game was not how many points Zheng Yang scored, but his dismemberment of the Pistons' defense.

It was because Zheng Yang dismembered the Pistons' offense that the other Mavericks players were able to gradually find their offensive form, and successfully attack the inside line many times, winning a team victory.

As for how he dismembered the Pistons' defense?

It was hard for everyone to believe it when they said it, he actually achieved it through a breakthrough!

Using breakthroughs to break through the double-team defense... this is as outrageous as 1+1=3!
But the facts are right in front of them, and Zheng Yang has indeed done all of this.

This makes one have to believe it!

In the second half of the game, Zheng Yang's condition began to decline. After all, no one can maintain an invincible offensive state forever, and their offensive feel will always be consumed.

But thanks to a 20-point lead in the first half and the good offensive form of their teammates, the Mavericks did not allow the Pistons to overtake them again.

They finally won this precious victory away from home, changing the score to 2-2!

The two teams returned to the starting line again.

Zheng Yang, who scored 35 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists in the whole game, finally breathed a sigh of relief after the game. After all, they did not let the worst result happen.

They still have a chance!

However, his expression was still serious, because if they wanted to win the championship, they still needed to win two more games, but he couldn't guarantee that he could be in such good shape as today in every game.

If he can no longer dismantle the Pistons' defense like he did today, can their team continue to win?
Can their teammates step up again and help the team win?

These are things that Zheng Yang cannot guarantee, but what he can do is to try his best to do everything he can and then devote all his energy to the game.

Detroit fans, we have to say goodbye for now, but we will be back. I hope that when we see you again, your boos will still be as loud as they were today!

The players from the Mavericks and Pistons each walked into the player tunnel. Their expressions were very serious. They all needed to adjust their condition to prepare for the arrival of the decisive battle of Game 5!

(End of this chapter)