Champion, please stay!

Chapter 244, Section 242: A Great Start in the Second Half!

On the first training day of the second half of the season, the Knicks' tactical meetings and training sessions were longer than usual.

Just as Yi Shui had predicted, in terms of offensive tactics, D'Antoni assigned some of the work to Harrington to fill the void left by his departure, and adjusted the offensive tactics based on that.

Although he took over, the tactical style was completely different.

When Harrington played the same tactical role, his aim was to receive and facilitate passes, distribute the ball, and drive the team's offense.

Yi Shui appeared in the same position, and whether he was attacking with the ball or receiving it, his first choice was to shoot.

This wasn't a decision he made himself; it was arranged this way when the coaching staff explained the tactical adjustments during the tactical meeting.

Because of the huge difference in scoring ability, Harrington might not see a scoring opportunity in the same position and against the same defense, but Yi Shui might see it as a great scoring opportunity.

Teammates who are working together on tactics will also be affected.

Harrington serves as the tactical core, requiring his teammates to have better tactical positioning and execution to bring out the team's coordination.

With Yi Shui as the tactical core, his teammates need to have a better awareness of finding open spaces and to seize the defensive gaps that appear when Yi Shui draws in double teams. This also places higher demands on his teammates' ability to receive and distribute the ball on the flanks.

After the first round of tactical training, Yi Shui felt that this would help Curry continue to develop his 'traffic control' style of organizing offense.

There are also two or three positional offensive tactics that require players with the style of Harrington, Diaw, Kirilenko, etc., to be the core of the tactics in order to play well, which D'Antoni simply removed from the team's tactics manual.

This made Yi Shui look at D'Antoni in a new light! No wonder D'Antoni was still able to be selected as the best coach in the small-ball era.

Have the courage to declutter!
The reduction in positional attack tactics is a good thing for role players, as there are fewer tactics they need to remember.

However, Yi Shui can foresee one situation—the diversity of the team's positional warfare tactics will inevitably be affected, and when the team falls into positional warfare, there will definitely be more rounds where the team needs to rely on the individual abilities of star players to solve problems.

The adjustment of offensive tactics got off to a good start in the first training session.

The defensive adjustments went so smoothly that even Mark Jackson and Cheeks, the two coaches in charge of defense, were surprised.

Chandler and David Lee had a great time working out together on their first defensive practice!

However, what the coaching staff was most satisfied with in defensive training was actually the attitude of players like Birdman, Gibson, and Barnes.

D'Antoni could see that, apart from Yi Shui and David Lee, the other frontcourt players on the team wanted to compete with Chandler for playing time, but they didn't sabotage him in training. Instead, they performed their training tasks well, regardless of their assigned roles, even if they were playing second fiddle to Chandler.

As for Swift and Ben Wallace, they didn't train with Chandler on the same team. Judging from their playing styles, the three of them are similar. Their offenses are all about cutting to the basket, stealing the ball, and fast breaks. Their defenses are also stronger in help defense than rim protection.

D'Antoni is very fortunate that he has cultivated a winning culture over the past two years. The players understand the necessity of adjustments after the trade and have shown a strong willingness to cooperate!

...

On February 24th, the Knicks officially ended their break, marking the first game day of the second half of the season.

In the morning, Yi Shui joined the team for pre-game training in preparation for tonight's opponent, the Heat.

The Knicks have already faced the Heat three times this season, and the Heat made no moves during the mid-season trade window, making their preparations easy.

When it was lunch break time, Yi Shui was about to go to his private rest room for a nap when Curry brought him some disappointing news—the Hornets officially announced that Paul would undergo arthroscopic surgery and miss the rest of the season.

When Yi Shui went online, he saw that major basketball websites and forums were flooded with this news.

After reviewing the Hornets' injury report, he learned the details.

Paul suffered a right knee injury at the start of the season. Hornets team doctor analyzed that it was caused by Paul's habit of quickly changing direction in the direction of his non-dominant hand.

By December, after adjusting his playing style, Paul's injury was under control, leading the Hornets back to a .12 winning percentage. However, the adjustment put too much pressure on his left knee, and he missed several games in early January. But when the winning percentage dropped below .1, Paul returned to the court despite the injury.

On February 2nd, during a game against the Celtics, Paul dived out of bounds to save the ball, collided with a camera, and was carried off the court. He was later diagnosed with a torn meniscus and underwent partial meniscus removal surgery.

Under normal circumstances, such an injury should allow the patient to move normally after a week of wound healing, and reach a level where they can begin rehabilitation training within two weeks. If Paul insists on playing, he could play again in half a month, or conservatively, he could return to the court in a month.

However, after a three-week recovery period, Paul's knee still showed no signs of improvement. On the 22nd, the Hornets' team doctor took Paul to Los Angeles for an endoscopy, which revealed a more serious injury that had not been detected before—a fracture inside the articular joint.

Yi Shui felt sorry for his senior, who finally had a superstar guard as a teammate, but after less than half a season together, his teammate was injured and out for the rest of the season...

After reviewing the injury report, Yi Shui realized that the Hornets' team doctor couldn't be blamed for this; it was Paul's own playing style and luck that were to blame.

The Hornets' team doctor's procedures were sound. The fact that they gave the initial meniscus treatment a full month of recovery time shows they were very cautious. They transferred the patient to another hospital immediately if the recovery didn't meet expectations, unlike the Trail Blazers' team doctor, who was incompetent and made a mess of things.

The peak performance of a player with speed comparable to Westbrook, change of direction comparable to Rose, and playmaking skills comparable to Kidd is gone. All that's left is the floor-to-ceiling shot...

At 8 p.m., at Madison Square Garden, amidst the enthusiastic cheers of the fans, the Knicks and the Heat began their fourth regular season matchup.

During the All-Star Game, Yi Shui and Wade's teamwork was highly praised. Some commentators even said that the two were the best duo in the Eastern Conference All-Star team since Jordan and Pippen. In the post-game interview, Yi Shui praised Wade as the best commander, while Wade praised Yi Shui as the best scorer.

Just two days later, the two stepped onto the same court again and began a fierce battle!
In the first half of the first quarter, the combination of Curry, Hughes, Yi Shui, David Lee, and Ben Wallace went head-to-head with the combination of Conley, Wade, White, Haslem, and Milicic for half a quarter without either team making substitutions.

With 6 minutes and 22 seconds left in the game, Yi Shui blocked Wade's drive to the basket in time.

Wade, facing strong resistance from the Yi River, attempted a Euro step, successfully avoiding David Lee's poor help defense, but his jump shot was blocked by Ben Wallace, who was rushing over from the other side of the three-second zone!
David Lee grabbed the defensive rebound, passed it to Hughes, and started a fast break!
Yi Shui was the first to rush out of the center circle, completely unaffected by the intense physical battle with Wade just now. He sprinted at full speed, received the ball half a step inside the top arc, took three big steps, and slammed the ball into the basket with one hand!
The Heat called a timeout!

Wade really caught up this time. By the time Yi Shui received the ball with one foot in the top arc, Wade had already caught up behind him. Then he saw Yi Shui dunk without even dribbling the ball once... With his long arms and legs, he can really do whatever he wants!

His signature chase-down shot was completely useless against Yi Shui.

Durant and Yi Shui, one 21 years old and the other 22 years old, make Wade feel more pressured every time he plays against them.

The Knicks went into the official timeout with a 4-point lead, 17-13.

...

At the start of the game, the Knicks' player who played the most comfortably was Ben Wallace.

He used to have to control his physical exertion, otherwise he couldn't last 20 minutes in each game. But now he doesn't have to worry about that. He can just go out there and give it his all. As for the fact that he might not be able to recover from the excessive exertion later... another second overall pick has already taken off his training clothes and is ready to go on the court!
Both teams made roster changes, with Wade bringing on Conley, Beasley, Haslem, and Magloire.

Normally, Conley should have gone to the bench to rest for a few minutes at this point, and then come back in when Wade rests at the start of the second quarter. This has been the case in the last three matchups, but not tonight. The backcourt needs to have a sufficiently consistent long-range shooting threat.

Wade looked at Chandler, who was even taller than Yi Shui, and felt increasingly annoyed with the management.

If another team had acquired Chandler, Wade wouldn't have cared, but the Knicks...

Chandler's market value is average. Besides his slow progress, he also has the flaw of being too one-dimensional, making him unsuitable for most strong teams aiming for the championship or teams trying to rise to the top and make the playoffs.

For example, if the Lakers were given the role of Chandler in place of Bynum, the Lakers would definitely have lost their championship last year. Gasol couldn't penetrate Howard in the low post and couldn't cause any damage, so Bynum would have to be there. On the defensive end, Chandler's overall ability is better than Bynum's, but he can't withstand Howard's attacks at all.

The Bobcats were also unsuitable under Larry Brown's system. With only 109 kg, they lacked rim protection and couldn't match Gerald Wallace's help defense.

He is a 'useless' type of player.

The Knicks, on the other hand, don't need a slow-moving center to score in the low post on offense. Yi Shui's low post isolation plays are fast-paced, and he can even launch fast breaks from the low post. On defense, they don't need a particularly tough center either.

Chandler, who can run, provide basic rim protection, and has outstanding help defense, seemed like a perfect fit for the Knicks in Wade's eyes, but!

Even if it were the perfect fit, trading a versatile forward like Harrington, plus two first-round picks, for a blue-collar center who has been earning $4 million a year for four and a half years without showing significant improvement, would also reduce the team's salary cap by over $1000 million this summer. Wade, thinking about his own team, would definitely not be willing to do that.

envious! envy!
For the Knicks, Yi Shui brought Chalmers, Duhon, Anderson, and Chandler onto the court.

After the timeout, the Heat went on offense.

Wade drove to the basket, and Duhon, who was positioned at the shooting guard position, couldn't stop him at all.

However, against the Heat, Duhon is more effective at the shooting guard position than Webster; neither can stop either of them, at least his help defense speed is fast enough.

Wade drove into the paint, drawing Chalmers' collapse from the wing, and then passed the ball to Conley, who was promptly blocked by Duhon.

Conley reacted quickly, receiving the ball and immediately jumping to pass it.

Haslem took advantage of the Knicks' double-teaming of Wade, moved to the left side of the free-throw line, received the ball in the mid-range, and made a jump shot!
On the sidelines, Mark Jackson exclaimed, "D-Wade is amazing! Paired with a guard like Conley who can shoot and pass but doesn't hold onto the ball, just give them any forward who can shoot and their offense is this incredible!"

D'Antoni responded, "If they manage to acquire any one of Bosh, Stoudemire, or Boozer this summer, they will be our toughest opponent in the East in the future..."

This summer, there were originally six top power forwards whose contracts were expiring or who could opt out of their contracts.

Pau Gasol signed a four-year, $80 million contract extension with the Lakers ahead of schedule, which is considered a pay rise; his previous contract was for five years and $80 million.
Nowitzki is certain he will opt out of his contract, but has promised to re-sign. He opted out to free up salary space for the team, as the contracts of players like Kidd and Terry will expire in 2012, giving them an opportunity to clear salary space and enter the free agent market.

Duncan has already extended his contract, taking a significant pay cut. His salary this season is $2218 million, next season it will be $18.7 million, and the season after that $21.3 million, totaling $40 million over two years. This is not the three-year, $69 million or four-year, $93 million veteran contract predicted by the media last summer for players with 11 years of experience. These are the only three top power forwards left.

Mark Jackson asked, "Are we going to compete with the Heat for Stoudemire? Do you think he'll leave the Suns?"

D'Antoni shook his head: "I like Amar'e, but I don't think he's a good fit for us. Brook can do everything he can do better. Amar'e's only advantage is his mid-range shot, but I think Brook can catch up to him in less than two years..."

On the court, Yi Shui switched to ball-handling attack mode, initiating a pick-and-roll offense with Chandler!

Chandler was responsible for executing pick-and-rolls, and his all-around skills were naturally far inferior to Harrington's. He couldn't spread out to receive shots, didn't pass the ball, and was even smaller than Harrington. However, he was better at timing the pick-and-rolls!

Yi Shui easily shook off Wade's top and bottom defense!
Haslem keenly noticed the details of Chandler's pick-and-roll and immediately pushed out to defend Yi Shui's shot off the screen.

Yi Shui controlled the rhythm well. After circling the cones, he was ready to stop suddenly. Facing Haslem pressing forward, he pushed off with his left foot and rushed into the inside!

Watching Yi Shui break into the paint and score a layup off the backboard... Wade grunted in frustration; he had thought their chances of winning tonight would improve.

Although he believes that Chandler's addition will have a very positive impact on the Knicks' future, with a strong second center and a new big man, the offense and defense will be affected at least in the first game.
After just one round, Wade dashed those hopes.

On the defensive end, Chandler was like a seamless cutter! In other words, from his very first game, Chandler knew how to play, trying his best to imitate Ben Wallace, and he played quite well!
The offense seems to have been affected; the way Curry plays in half-court offense changes a lot when he's not on the court... but Embiid is unreasonable and relies on his individual ability to carry the team!

Wade turned and ran to the frontcourt to continue the attack!

The two teams engaged in a back-and-forth offensive battle.

On the Yi River side, in positional play, whether it was dribbling the ball, fast breaks, or charging towards the basket, shooting was always the first choice.

Wade didn't compete with Yi Shui in scoring; with Conley on the court, he definitely had to make good use of his best point guard partner since entering the NBA.

Moreover, their Milicic was substituted, causing their rim protection to plummet, while the opposing team brought on Chandler, whose defensive performance was even better than the physically fit Ben Wallace. Their scoring opportunities were completely mismatched.

At the end of the first quarter, the score was 30-27, with the Knicks leading by 3 points going into the break.

In the second half of the quarter, the backcourt duo of Wade and Conley had a slight advantage over Yi Shui. If Beasley had caught the ball in the corner and made a three-pointer at the last moment, the two of them would have tied the score.

节间休息过后，德安东尼把首节9投5中、加上3中2的罚球拿到12分的易水换下休息，换上了库里、杜洪、巴恩斯、大卫-李、钱德勒的组合。

On the other side, Spoelstra substituted Arroyo, Wade, Beasley, Earl Baron, and Joel Anthony.

Chandler has almost seamlessly integrated into the Knicks. Wade noticed it, the TV commentators mentioned it, and Spoelstra, who has a great coaching talent, naturally noticed it as well. Sensing the crisis, all that's left is to make things difficult for Wade.

Wade certainly wouldn't refuse such an arrangement, and he felt that this was the time for him to step forward.

At the start of the second quarter, the Heat relied on their three perimeter players taking turns attacking one-on-one, maintaining a steady lead over the Knicks.

Curry and Chandler's pick-and-roll offense was decent, but without Harrington, the ball movement decreased. When the ball was passed to the wing, Duhon could still pass it around, but when it was passed to David Lee in the mid-range or high post, David Lee would basically just finish the play.

In the first half of the quarter, the Heat relied on the half-court offense of their three perimeter scorers and Wade's solo counter-attacks to score 17-11, taking a 44-41 lead over the Knicks before the official timeout.

During this period, D'Antoni made some lineup rotations, replacing Barnes with Webster and Duhon with Hughes, but the results were mediocre. However, he did not rush to bring on Yi Shui, giving Yi Shui ample rest time.

After the timeout, Yi Shui, who brought in Hughes, Webster, David Lee, and Ben Wallace, did not disappoint the coaching staff. They immediately drove into the paint and scored a 2+1 over Haslem, tying the score!

Spoelstra sighed softly on the sidelines. With Chandler on the court, the opposing defense was completely different!

The strength hasn't improved significantly; it's still the same, at a mid-tier level in the league. But the consistency has changed dramatically!
Arroyo and Wade both had outstanding singles performances tonight. Beasley also played very well in singles without Yi Shui on the court, and neither Webster nor Barnes could stop him.

In the past, when Yi Shui and Ben Wallace were not on the court, the three outside shooters would usually score more than 20 points in half a quarter. But this time, they only scored 17 points. This was because Chandler and the power forward who stayed under the basket ensured basic defense in the paint!
On the court, Yi Shui returned to the game, and the Knicks' offense underwent a qualitative change.

Wade felt immense pressure, but he wasn't deterred by it and continued his relentless attack!
Having already scored 8 points in the first half of the quarter, he added another 6 points and two assists in less than 5 minutes, leading the team to a total of 13 points!
Yi Shui single-handedly scored 6 points and David Lee scored 4 points!
比分来到57比58，热火队将分差紧咬在1分，这期间与尼克斯队打出了13比14的比分！
When it was the Knicks' turn to attack, Curry and Chandler, who had come off the bench, initiated a pick-and-roll offense. Yi Shui circled around the baseline, using David Lee's screen, and headed towards the top arc.

Wade switched on defense promptly, immediately closing in on Chandler, but he was a little slow.

Yi Shui received the ball at the top of the arc, turned, bent his knees, and lifted the ball. By the time Wade got into position, it was too late!
'High Tower Sniper', Yi Shui aimed at the big jaw card cannon and hit a three-pointer!
When it was the Heat's turn to attack, Wade's pull-up jumper from the free-throw line missed.

Turning around, Yi Shui noticed Wade's declining stamina and immediately set a screen for Curry. Curry then broke through and drove forward before passing back to Yi Shui in perfect unison.

Yi Shui faced Wade, who had switched onto him, and took two long strides to the right at a 45-degree angle. Wade tried his best to pounce, but it was too late!

Yi Shui grabbed the ball, turned around, and launched a three-pointer... and it went in again!
After the timeout, he scored a 2+1 play and went head-to-head with Wade for 6 points. With these two three-pointers, Yi Shui's score in the quarter reached 15 points, surpassing Wade's 14 points!
In the final possession of the first half, facing Hughes's defense which had stepped back a step, Wade took a gamble and pulled up for a three-pointer... It didn't go short, but it went wide! It bounced high off the right side of the rim!

The long whistle blew as the two teams battled for the ball inside.

At halftime, the score was 64-57. The Knicks extended their lead to 7 points thanks to Yi Shui's two consecutive three-pointers in the final moments!
韦德首节9分3助攻、第二节前半段8分1助攻、后半段6分2助攻，打满上半场，拿到23分5板6助攻1抢断1盖帽。

He can score, steal, and pass, demonstrating a well-rounded and formidable performance. The TV commentator believed that Wade's overall performance in the first half was a level above Yi Shui's.

But they couldn't stop the Yi River from being able to be dredged!

首节12分、第二节半节狂轰15分，18分钟时间，易水17投10中，其中三分球3中2，加上6中5的罚球，狂轰27分！
The difference between Wade's individual score and Yi Shui's, and the difference between the Heat's team score and the Knicks', lies in the two shots Wade took in the final moments. Wade missed both shots, while Yi Shui made them!

...

In the third quarter, Wade only rested for half a quarter, and when he returned, the gap had widened to 12 points, with the Heat trailing the Knicks 68-80.

Yi Shui didn't play for half a quarter, and the Knicks used a combination of Curry, Duhon, Barnes, David Lee, and Chandler to score 16-11!
In the first half, Spoelstra completely dominated Wade, and Wade played like crazy, putting up numbers that other superstars would put up in a single game. That's exactly what we're worried about!

The Knicks showed better defensive consistency in the first half than before, but in the eyes of the two players, it was nothing special; as long as Wade was on the court, that defense could be easily broken down.

But Wade wasn't there...

The combination of Duhon, Barnes, and Chandler, along with David Lee camping under the basket and Curry helping on the wing, barely reached the middle level of defense. It was weaker than the upper-middle level defense when Yi Shui was on the court, but it was more than enough to deal with Conley, who was in his third year, and Beasley, who was in his second year!
If Wade gains an advantage in the first half, and the score is caught up after a few minutes of rest, when Wade returns, the score will at most be back to the same starting line; even if the score is close in the first half, and Wade is down by three, five, or eight points after resting, he can still fight back.

Trailing by double digits... Spoelstra felt that all was lost.

Wade, once on the court, did not give up. In his view, as long as the game was not over, there was still hope for a comeback!

But Yi Shui officially took to the field after the pause!

Both players launched a fierce attack, battling it out from the latter half of the third quarter to the first half of the fourth quarter, during which the score difference hovered around 10 points.

打到末节4分多钟，韦德在10分钟时间里，拿到12分3助攻，率队拿到24分，与拿到14分2助攻率队拿到23分的易水斗得有来有回！将比分咬紧在92比103，保持着反扑的希望。

But when Wade couldn't score, the Heat collapsed...

In the three rounds before the official timeout, Arroyo and Beasley, who had possession of the ball, missed all three of their one-on-one attempts!
Meanwhile, Yi Shui, who had also attacked for 10 minutes and made 8 throws during that time, launched a counterattack with astonishing speed!
He scored two points on a fast break layup, received a pass during a fast break for a three-point assist, and created opportunities for his teammates to cut and dunk on fast breaks...

尼克斯队打出一波7比0，将分差拉开到18分，以110比92领先热火队！
Spoelstra called a timeout, substituted Wade, and essentially surrendered.

Although Wade only played 34 minutes, he was more tired than when he usually plays 40 minutes, and he was on the offensive almost the entire time!
26投14中、加上10中7的罚球，拿到35分8板9助攻2抢断2盖帽。

This was completely different from the pre-match plan, and we had no choice but to make on-the-spot adjustments.

If Wade hadn't fought hard, the point difference might have widened by the second half of the first quarter!
According to Spoelstra, with the addition of Chandler and their defense maintaining a mid-level throughout the season, the Knicks have begun to resemble a truly top-tier team, and they no longer have the ability to pull off upsets...

On the other side, D'Antoni saw Daequn Cook take off his training uniform and knew that Wade was definitely going to be benched, so he also substituted Yi Shui.

In the second half of the quarter, Chalmers, David Lee, Conley, and Beasley traded stats, resulting in a 16-14 score.

The match ended at 10:30 p.m.

The Knicks crushed the Heat 126-106, a winning start to the second half of the season!

...

After the final whistle blew, Yi Shui received a mission notification.

In four matchups against Wade, he scored 175 points while Wade scored 142 points, adding one point to his 'Road to the Scoring Title' journey. He defeated both Anthony and Wade.

Only James is left!

Yi Shui trails 31-35 and will have to play three more matches.

He looked at his stats on the big screen. His playing time tonight was much less than he had expected; he only played for 29 minutes!

上半场17投10中、下半场9投5中，合计26投15中，其中三分球7中4，加上10中9的罚球，狂轰43分！
This was Yi Shui's most efficient offensive performance against a playoff-level team this season!
Previously, he believed that Chandler's addition would help him protect the rim and improve the team's defensive consistency.

This did have an effect, but it was secondary. Its biggest effect was that it gave him the conditions to focus on scoring!
(End of this chapter)