The Basketball Court Swordsman

The Pacers defeated the Rockets at the Toyota Center. Although the game was tortuous than expected, the results were expected by most fans and experts.

The Rockets, which finally reached seventh in the Western Conference, are now caught in a situation where "one foot is outside the top eight and the other is within the top eight."

The Indiana Pacers are one step closer to their goal of No. 1 in the East.

However, what surprised Henson was that the most concerned thing after the game was the situation in the locker room of the Toyota Center visiting team... Maybe people really thought Henson smashed 10 It's a locker.

Therefore, the day after the game ended, at home in Indianapolis, Henson saw a piece of speechless news.

"The Rockets locker is intact! So here is the question? How did Coach Henson get the players to win the game?"

"We thought that Coach Henson really broke 10 lockers, but from now on, Coach Henson may have used some unusual methods to help the players get back to form."

"According to the insider, Coach Henson did smash the locker, but it was embarrassing that it did not smash. Because last season, coach Henson smashed the locker at Toyota Center, Toyota Center deliberately reinforced the locker. ."

Locker, locker...Almost all reporters put their attention and topics on the locker in the Toyota Center.

Paul's perfect control performance? George's cold-blooded cover at critical moments? West and Horford's stable output in the three-second zone? Henson couldn't see the news that was really related to the game. Even if there is a description, it is only a brief introduction.

A basketball game made the locker at the Toyota Center go viral. I don't know, I thought Henson was a schizophrenic saboteur. Henson couldn't help shook his head. In this age of entertainment to death, it doesn't seem uncommon for any weird things to happen.

"Maybe in the future, the security of the Toyota Center will not let me in."

Turning off the browser on the phone, Henson temporarily left the funny news behind. Defeating the Rockets is naturally worthy of happiness, but not for long.

After all, the victory over the Rockets only represents the official start of the Pacers' final month of sprint, not the end.

It's never too late to be happy when the Pacers reach the playoffs as the number one in the East.

But looking at the Pacers' final month schedule, Henson was very comfortable. With the exception of April 5 and 6, where the Pacers will face the Thunder and Celtics, respectively, and the final game of the regular season will be against the Bulls, the Pacers' other opponents in April are not too strong.

The Raptors, 76ers, Bucks, Pistons, etc...For these teams, Henson believes that as long as the Pacers make no mistakes, it will not be a problem to win them. And these teams, having already lost their qualifications to qualify for the playoffs, must be very "happy" to lose in order to get a better draft pick.

Therefore, a very bold idea was born in Henson's mind-while chasing the Chicago Bulls, while taking a rotation in the last month!

On the surface, the Pacers' players are very healthy. After all, Henson is not Thibodeau's coach who "kills the main force if you die," and Henson himself has badge bonuses that other coaches don't have.

But bonuses are always just bonuses, not completely eliminating injuries. Every athlete is at risk of injury and is most likely to break out when fatigue accumulates to a certain level.

Even if the Pacers players stay healthy in the regular season, what about the playoffs? You know, the goal of the Pacers is not just the regular season. Henson must consider the possibility that the Pacers will continue to play until June.

If the players are exhausted in the regular season in order to catch up with the Bulls, and then unfortunately injured in the playoffs leading to a futile exit, then this Eastern Conference No. 1 will be meaningless.

Moreover, even if not for this season, Henson must think about the future. The major injuries of many players often do not erupt in a day, but accumulate.

The fatal reason why Yao Ming fell was not the collision with Kobe, but the previous scars. The reason why Wade's knee frequently has problems is that he had his meniscus removed in college.

The Pacers are a team with great potential, and injuries can even destroy the potential!

So, even if the goal is the first in the east. But when the gap with the Bulls is not big, Henson is still very willing to try the crazy plan of winning while taking turns.

Both want to score and save strength, if others know what Henson is thinking at this time, they will definitely feel that this old man is floating.

But Henson used facts to prove that the Pacers really have the capital to grab both hands together.

On April 3 and April 4, the Pacers played back to back against the Knicks and Wizards. In these two games, the Pacers players played very evenly. Even Paul, the star star, only played 20 minutes. Stephenson and Hinrich shared the remaining time.

Henson's approach made everyone confused, but what is even more unbelievable is that the Pacers actually ended this wave of back-to-back with two consecutive victories...

"The Pacers' bench and starter strengths are really close. I even think they have no difference between the starting and the bench, but the distinction between the first lineup and the second lineup." Wizards coach Randy Whitman is losing. After giving it to the Pacers, it is the same evaluation.

Later, against the Thunder and Celtics, Henson also used a similar rotation method. Of course, this time it is impossible to win two consecutive victories. The Pacers have a record of 1 win and 1 loss.

Now, it was Henson's turn to be surprised. Not because I was surprised by losing, but because the Pacers won the Thunder and lost to the Celtics!

86 to 72, the Pacers experienced the most painful defeat of the season. Although the Celtics' current record of 30 wins and 24 losses is not good, this group of determined veterans persisted. Henson even vaguely felt that the Celtics are much better than they were at the beginning of the season...

Sure enough, never underestimate the heart of a championship.

Losing one of these two games is still within Henson's acceptable range. After playing Oklahoma City and Celtics, the Pacers will face a group of teams outside the playoffs sequence or on the edge of the playoffs.

As a result, Henson "intensified" and started to take turns!

Playing the Raptors on April 9, Horford wore a training suit and chatted with Henson on the bench for 48 minutes. The Pacers, 103 to 98, still won the team that had long been disqualified for the playoffs.

On April 11, he played the Cavaliers. With Kelly Irving missing due to injury, Paul sat firmly on the Diaoyutai and didn't play for a minute.

The next day back to back against the Cavaliers, Paul took two consecutive days off, and the Pacers also rushed to win two consecutive victories against the Cavaliers who got the top pick.

On the 14th, the Pacers played away against the Bucks. People found that Paul George didn't even go to Milwaukee with the team!

In the face of curious media, Henson gave the explanation: "The reason for basketball."

There is nothing in the league, there is a "basketball reason" that cannot be answered. Speaking of which, I still learned this from Old Man Stern.

Henson was so blatant to rest players who could play, and imitated Stern to speak, but he was still alive and kicking every day, as if he did not arouse any dissatisfaction and attention from the league.

There is no doubt that Henson's rotation of the main players will definitely affect the team's box office and the league's revenue. Isn't the Spurs "Old Vitch" often interviewed by the league because of the issue of rotation? Therefore, fans and reporters felt incredible to see Henson still alive and kicking every day!

"God of basketball" Michael Jordan once said: "I have to play every game, because I don't know which fans may see my chance once in my life. If players can play, they have to stand on the court. ."

Stern must really like Jordan's words, because the star is the box office guarantee. And the head coach will not let the stars play, the fans will hesitate, whether I want to spend a lot of money to buy a ticket.

But Henson's rotation is very chicken thieves. First of all, he does not have an athlete of Jordan's level. Even the biggest brand of Paul cannot be compared with Jordan in influence. If Henson took Jordan's shift in the 90s, you can see if Stern can trouble him.

Secondly, Henson's rotations are not important. Popovich was interviewed by the league because the old man always likes to take turns in important games where tickets are sold out. For example, the last time the Spurs played the Heat this season, Popovich took a rotation.

Imagine that in an originally fierce game, one side or even both sides of the main force are all truce, how many people will pay attention? The long-term impact on the interests of the alliance is very bad. Therefore, the league must talk to Popovich.

And Henson? Against the Cavaliers, which is the bottom of the league, you can rest whatever you like, because the game itself doesn't have much attention and the league will not care about you.

And to deal with this kind of fish belly team, even if the Pacers don't have to do their best, they can win the game.

As a result, Henson was very good at winning while taking turns without causing dissatisfaction in the league. Even Bird said to Henson, "You are so **** beautiful with this hand."

In this way, on April 23, when the Pacers defeated the Detroit Pistons 103-97 at Conseco Arena, their record became 49 wins and 16 losses! Only one step away from 50 wins!

You know, in 82 regular season games last season, the Pacers only won 55 wins. While there are only 66 regular season games this season, Henson still has the opportunity to let the team win 50 wins for the second consecutive year!

At this point, the Pacers have the last game left in the regular season schedule of the season. That was the final battle against the Chicago Bulls on April 25!

At this time, the Bulls' record is 50 wins and 15 losses. In other words, the Pacers must win the next game to be equal to the terrible record of the Bulls. Then, through the number of wins between the two sides, become the first in the East!

In the end, he actually had to play with the Bulls himself to determine the final ranking of the regular season. Henson couldn't help shook his head. Sometimes, fate is really wonderful.