Champion, please stay!

Chapter 249, Section 247: The Sky-Blocking 'Twin Towers'

After pausing for a moment, Rose accelerated his advance.

Although I don't know why, it's really great that Yi Shui came to defend against him!

The fans at the scene went wild when they saw this, cheering wildly.

They admit that Rose's current strength is not as great as Yi Shui's, and even with a better roster, his team's performance cannot match Yi Shui's.

But in a one-on-one situation, they firmly believe that their roses will definitely crush the Emperor!

On Yi Shui's side, the sounds from the scene seemed far away to him, completely unaffected and unconcerned; all he could see was Rose with the ball.

The "snake heart" was triggered at the end of the first quarter, and he entered a state of high focus and "selfishness" as soon as he stepped onto the court.

Rose and his teammates took their positions and couldn't wait to start the attack, making a crossover dribble forward!

Yi Shui quickly retreated diagonally backward, anticipating the move perfectly, and blocked Ross's path of attack.

Rose made a high-speed change of direction, moving seamlessly from the right wing to the middle, his speed barely changing, as he broke into the paint from the right side of the Yi River!
Chandler pushed up from the middle to intercept, and although Yi Shui couldn't stop Rose's breakthrough, he forced Rose to the middle, which was the most successful perimeter defense against Rose since the start of the game.

However, just as Chandler was about to block Rose in front of the basket, Rose grabbed the ball, held it with both hands, and jumped to the right, dodging the impending contact, in a posture that looked like he was swinging the ball to the left!

Chandler instinctively lunged forward and reached out to dribble the ball, but Rose abruptly pulled the ball to the right, avoiding a steal.

Chandler's move to push forward also cleared the entire fair zone!
As Rose pulls the ball up, he leaps towards the basket, raising it overhead, releasing with his left hand and pushing it out with his right...

The fans in the arena were cheering wildly from the moment Rose broke through to the moment he made two consecutive crossovers past Yi Shui and Chandler, but at this moment, the cheers suddenly turned into screams.

Before Rose could even be confused about why the fans' cheers had changed, he saw a hand emerge from above his head, its fingers slapping the ball!

The ball's trajectory changed, grazed the backboard, and fell to the ground.

Rose, ignoring his shock, fought for possession of the ball with Chandler and Yi Shui who were pressing forward... and the ball was knocked out of bounds!
The referee on the baseline couldn't see clearly who touched the ball; the two tall players almost had Rose in their arms. The referee signaled to the technical table to stop the ball and review the replay.

Ross stared blankly at the two tall men high-fiving in celebration.

If David Lee had blocked the shot from the left side of the three-second zone, he wouldn't have been so shocked. He had clearly passed Yi Shui cleanly; Yi Shui's speed was definitely not as fast as his when he was already at full speed!
The fans' attention was focused on Rose. After Rose got past Yi Shui, the fans were all focused on how Rose would deal with Chandler's help defense. Unexpectedly, Yi Shui suddenly sprang up from behind Rose!
The large screen at the venue showed multiple replays of the three players battling for the ball under the basket, but the live television broadcast did not show this. Instead, it showed multiple replays of Yi Shui's one-on-one defense against Rose.

Fans watching on TV clearly saw Yi Shui's defense just now—he completely ignored whether Rose would pull up for a jump shot. When Rose changed direction at the free-throw line distance, Yi Shui did not make a useless move to rush up and block him. Instead, he turned around at the same moment Rose changed direction and rushed towards the baseline along the right side of the three-second zone.

As Rose hopped past Chandler and reached the right side of the basket, Yi Shui was also in that position, and the two jumped almost simultaneously... It looked like Rose was 'offering' himself to Yi Shui for a block!
TNT Sports' Kenny Smith praised Yi Shui's defensive footwork and defensive choices, as well as Chandler's timing in helping out.

"On that play, whether Rose changed direction to the left or the right, as long as he chose to attack the basket, Embiid was able to interfere! Embiid kept up with Rose's pace in his own way, it's incredible, I will definitely vote for him on the All-Defensive Team..."

Barkley said, "If James had Rose's step-back ability, he could score 50 points against Embiid, and maybe even beat the Knicks... If Rose had James's footwork and transition ability, he could take a step and then shoot, and Embiid wouldn't be able to stop him..."

Kenny Smith: "That's too difficult. I tried it when I went to the park to play basketball with Sam (Caselle) a while ago. When I was driving to the basket, I never imagined that the new NBA rule would allow a three-step layup with the ball and then taking another step."

I don't think anyone can replicate those footwork techniques. Elementary and middle schools don't allow footwork like that, and universities are even stricter about it. James was able to develop those footwork techniques because he didn't go to college. Nowadays, players who haven't gone to college aren't allowed to enter the NBA directly.

However, James didn't use that kind of layup during the Beijing Olympics; he's really smart.

Barkley: "Kenny, I really liked what you said today..."

On the court, the referee finally found a clear angle, and Rose poked the ball out of bounds before Yi Shui could catch it.

Knicks backcourt ball!
When Yi Shui saw the scene on the big screen, he thought of how Rose had shouted at the referee, "I didn't touch the ball!" after the referee called the ball out of bounds earlier. The naive and clueless Rose from his freshman and rookie seasons had disappeared, and he had become increasingly cunning.

Curry received the inbound pass and moved to the frontcourt, continuing the pick-and-roll with Webster.

Rose quickly switched onto Curry's defense, pressing him with very rough movements.

In the last round, he failed to defend Curry and was blocked by Yi Jianlian on offense. Now he is determined to show his abilities.

But Curry didn't continue with the pick-and-roll isolation play. After the pick-and-roll, he passed the ball to Webster at the top of the key, leading Rose to the left corner to receive the ball. Webster then lobbed the ball to David Lee.

David Lee backs down Sam Young in the low post!
Sam Young is one of the Knicks' second-round picks in last year's draft. A graduate, projected to be on the edge of the second round, he is 198 cm tall with a 214 cm wingspan and weighs 100 kg. He has good defensive capabilities at both the three and four positions. Although he lacks ball-handling scoring ability, he has a mid-range catch-and-shoot ability that is rare among rookie forwards today.

Sam Young defended very hard, and his timing and footwork were all good, but he still fell short when it came to guarding an All-Star caliber pure offensive power forward like David Lee.

Gay, who was supposed to be guarding Curry, the sideline receiving pitcher, and double-teaming him in the elbow area on the strong side, was instead left at the top of the key by Curry using a pick-and-roll.

Rose timed his double-team perfectly, leaving no space for David Lee to pass the ball to Curry, but was almost thrown to the side by David Lee's turn.

David Lee turned and broke through the double team to the baseline, launching a floater before Jermaine O'Neal could contest it...

The ball felt great; it bounced off the rim and went in!
The Knicks scored two consecutive baskets to take a 26-25 lead over the Grizzlies!
When it was the Grizzlies' turn to attack, Rose received the ball and advanced the ball. Hearing the fans chanting his name and seeing Yi Shui retreating to the top of the arc, he was no longer as ecstatic as he had been in the previous possession. The pressure suddenly increased!
But he still chose to do it himself, continuing to break through the defense of Yi Shui with one-on-one attacks.

During this mid-range movement, Rose changed direction, choosing to go left to avoid the Yi River's cover.

But Chandler restrained his instinctive scooping motion this time, and moved to the right without hesitation to block Rose when he changed direction, leaving the right side of the three-second zone completely to Yi Shui.

Rose was blocked on the left sideline of the three-second zone and stopped the ball!

Fortunately, Jermaine O'Neal moved to the left side of the free-throw line in time, received a pass from Rose, and took a mid-range shot... forced to lean back... missed!
Yi Shui took two long strides, moving directly from the right elbow area to the left side of the free throw line, successfully interfering with the shot!

In that instant, Jermaine O'Neal felt as if he had been transported back five or six years, as if he had encountered Garnett's help defense!
Jermaine O'Neal quickly retreated on defense. Under the basket, David Lee actively boxed out Marion's attack. Chandler secured the defensive rebound but couldn't pass the ball out immediately. Rose was trying to steal the ball from the side.

Thanks to the aggressive play of Rose and Marion, the Grizzlies managed to force the Knicks into a half-court game after missing some mid-range shots.

Rose retreated to the backcourt and saw Yi Shui running towards him, feeling a chill run down his spine.

During this offensive play, he noticed Yi Shui's defensive details. He seemed to have successfully gotten past Yi Shui, but in reality, he was completely unable to shake off the defensive presence of Yi Shui and Chandler, two tall players! Fortunately, Curry's subsequent long two-point attempt after a screen missed, and the opponent was unable to extend their lead.

It was the Grizzlies' turn to attack again, and this time Rose passed the ball to Gay, who had come out to call for it.

Gay went one-on-one against Webster, broke through and dribbled past Webster, then pulled up for a mid-range jumper and made it. The Grizzlies finally scored in the second quarter, taking a 27-26 lead.

Then David Lee used Curry and Yi Shui to draw Ross and Marion's attention on the left and right, respectively, turned left to face the basket, and passed the ball to Chandler who cut in, who caught the ball and made the layup...

The two teams have entered a star-studded attack mode!

The Knicks didn't engage in any more complex tactical plays, starting with Curry's pick-and-roll and taking turns scoring with David Lee.

The Grizzlies' offense didn't change much, with Rose and Gay taking turns scoring and passing.

Rose couldn't break through the inside-outside defensive combination of Chandler and Yi Shui, but he still had to play.

We can't just pass the ball to the injured and aging Jermaine O'Neal, can we?
It's unrealistic to expect Gay to keep attacking. Putting aside the issue of stamina, Gay's playing style isn't suitable for leading a team. When he sees Chandler and Yi Shui, two tall players, Gay stops going inside and just floats around outside shooting. Although he can score, he's not offensively effective and can't set up his teammates on the wings.

Rose had no choice but to bite the bullet and drive in, searching for fleeting shooting opportunities under the shadow of Yi Shui and Chandler, creating passing and shooting opportunities for Jermaine O'Neal and Sam Young, and feeding the ball to Marion who was cutting in.

The two teams had roughly the same offensive efficiency.

For the Grizzlies, Curry doesn't have a hard time one-on-one against Rose, but Rose's strong physique and aggressive defensive attitude still affect Curry's shooting.

The most crucial point is that Curry has lost one option when playing one-on-one – driving to the basket.

The Grizzlies' power forwards and shooting guards move too quickly. Although Jermaine O'Neal's offense has almost deteriorated, he still possesses height, size, and awareness on the defensive end. This defensive system is not something Curry can handle by driving in. And they can't rely on Yi Jianlian, who is just coasting on the sidelines on offense. Curry focuses his shots on the high post, giving Rose the opportunity to be limited.

David Lee was truly playing with his head down. It was only because Marc Gasol wasn't there that he was completely lost against the Grizzlies' defense, just like he was against the Magic, Pacers, and Celtics.

The two teams slowly increased their scores and traded leads, but neither could establish a clear advantage.

This made Grizzlies' bench player Hollins feel like ants were crawling on his back—it was so uncomfortable!

But at this point, he didn't know how to adjust!

Their defense was quite good. With Marc Gasol and Ronnie Brewer off the court, they managed to limit the opponent to about two points per minute, which is pretty impressive.

Offense is inherently weak for them. The Knicks have less than one-fifth of their games with a score below 100, while they have less than one-fifth of their games with a score above 100. Scoring two points per minute is their normal performance.

In fact, the Grizzlies didn't gain a lead in the last 8 minutes of the first quarter, scoring the same number of points as the Knicks, with 16 points.

Hollins felt uneasy because Yi Shui didn't participate in the main attack at all after the start of the second quarter. He only rushed out when there was a chance to counterattack, and at other times he spread out and devoted himself to the defensive end!
Of the Knicks' 22 points in the first quarter, half were scored by Yi Shui, which is a completely different story!

...

With 6 minutes and 11 seconds left in the game, the Grizzlies called a timeout. The score was 35-36, and they were down by one point!
Halfway through the quarter, the score was 10-14. Apart from the two possessions where Rose's offense was shut down at the beginning of the second quarter, which resulted in a 0-4 deficit, the Grizzlies and Knicks were essentially tied for the last five minutes.

Hollins couldn't wait to bring on Ronnie Brewer and Marc Gasol, replacing Sam Young and Jermaine O'Neal. Rose and Marion continued playing, and Darrell Arthur replaced Gay.

On the other side, D'Antoni only substituted David Lee, who had been battling in the paint for half a quarter. Curry, Webster, Yi Shui, and Chandler continued to play. Instead of another big man, he replaced Hughes, who can shoot, push the fast break, and has a tall stature!
The opposing team's defensive system is based on endless rotations at positions 2-4 plus a dominant center. Apart from Marc Gasol, Jermaine O'Neal, and third center Haddadi, there are no other true interior players. Darrell Arthur, who is 206 cm tall, is like Marion and Sam Young, playing both positions 3 and 4. He has some shooting ability and is primarily a defender.

D'Antoni has never been a coach who is bound by 'player positions'. If he wants to replace David Lee, he might as well just keep one big man.

After the official timeout, the Grizzlies went on offense.

When Marc Gasol came on, his impact was immediate.

Rose drove to the inside and passed the ball out. Although Gasol received the ball and was blocked by Yi Shui's help defense, he still managed to pass the ball out in time. The ball flew over Webster's head and came to the right baseline, where Ronnie Brewer received the ball and made a long two-pointer!

It wasn't a particularly good opportunity, as Ronnie Brewer's long two-point shooting percentage is only 35%, but at least Marc Gasol capitalized on it, creating an open shot opportunity.

If it were Jermaine O'Neal, after receiving the ball, he would only have two options: either shoot over the Yi River or drive in and shoot over the Yi River, with a success rate of less than one-third.

This is precisely why Jermaine O'Neal was only known as the 'best power forward in the East' during his peak two years; his playmaking ability was far inferior to Nowitzki's, let alone compared to the two-two-one players.

The Grizzlies regained the lead at 37-36.

When it was the Knicks' turn to attack, Curry ran up the frontcourt, stood on the right sideline, and directed his teammates to take their positions.

When David Lee was the primary scorer, Curry needed to use pick-and-rolls to reduce the intensity of double teams Lee faced; now he doesn't need to...

Yi Shui, who had been "flopping" for half the quarter, received the ball high up and went one-on-one against Marion!

Marion played very hard on defense and defended very well, not giving Yi Shui any opportunities to shoot from the outside.

The Grizzlies' lucrative contract of $9 million per year for five years, totaling $45 million, last summer was definitely worth it.

Not only did they dispel other teams' hopes of acquiring Marion, they also won over Marion's heart!
For Marion, it wasn't just about money, it was about respect!

Other teams only offered 2-3 year contracts, and some even wanted to offer 1 year contracts, with salaries around $700 million per year. But the Grizzlies not only offered a higher salary but also a long-term contract!

Yi Shui couldn't get space to jump and generate power when using rhythmic one-on-one attacks on the outside, nor could he get space to break through with crossovers, so he simply stopped using fake moves.

He suddenly took a step to the side, and facing Marion who was closing in, he accelerated and made a powerful breakthrough!
'Tank-style charge' triggered! Yi Shui shoved Marion aside and charged into the paint, his speed unaffected!

Ronnie Brewer on the wing seized the opportunity to collapse and help defend, but it was too late! Unless he ignored Curry's passing lanes.

Yi Shui grabbed the ball at close range, took a step and flew up for a layup, pushing the ball out before Gasol could block it... and it went in off the backboard!
Rose, who was defending Webster's catch-and-shoot at the high post, cursed when he saw this. He pictured James driving hard past Marion... James doesn't have such good rim-attacking skills!
On the Knicks' bench, the guy with the mustache was beaming with excitement: Embiid, who had abandoned his 'low-cost shooting', was unstoppable one-on-one!

(End of this chapter)