Xu Nuo bent down, tensed every nerve in his body, and focused entirely on the Boston Celtics point guard Rajon Rondo in front of him. Rajon Rondo dribbled the ball slowly while observing the movement of his teammates on the court and looking for passing opportunities.
"Watch out for their pick-and-roll!" Danny Granger shouted behind Xu Nuo. []
Xu Nuo looked back behind him for a moment, and sure enough he saw Boston Celtics center Kevin Garnett already in a high position, preparing to set up a pick-and-roll for Rajon Rondo.
"Hey, are they still scoring through the pick-and-roll between Kevin Garnett and Rajon Rondo like they did at the beginning of the first half?" Xu Nuo thought to himself, "If that's true. In this case, it is very likely that Rajon Rondo will pass the ball back to Kevin Garnett after passing the ball!"
As soon as the eyes of Rajon Rondo and Kevin Garnett met, Rajon Rondo immediately bypassed Kevin Garnett and rushed directly to the Indiana Pacers' three-second zone with the ball. At the same time, Indiana Pacers power forward David West and small forward Danny Granger immediately surrounded him to prevent Rajon Rondo from continuing to rush to the basket. However, Xu Nuo did not participate in the containment of Rajon Rondo, even though Xu Nuo was the Indiana Pacers player responsible for guarding Rajon Rondo.
"It's so fast!" Rajon Rondo said in his heart, while turning around and passing the ball in his hand towards Kevin Garnett.
"Sure enough, it's Kevin Garnett again!" Xu Nuo whispered, and at the same time he jumped up and intercepted Rajon Rondo's pass from the air.
"It turns out that this is the reason why Xunuo did not participate in the containment of Rajon Rondo!" Coach Larry Brown, who was sitting on the coaching bench beside the court, thought to himself, "Xuunuo had realized that Rajon Rondo was Rondo would pass the ball to Kevin Garnett who was standing in the penalty area, so he was waiting in Rajon Rondo's passing lane early and promised to play. It was really smart!"
Among the fans in the Consecan Stadium, the fans were cheering up, and promised to launch the ball to launch a fast counterattack. Kevin Garnett tried his best and couldn't keep up with Xu Nuo. He could only watch Xu Nuo dunk easily. Kevin Garnett doubled over, breathing heavily.
"Kevin Garnett is really old and can no longer keep up with the pace of young people!" the on-site commentator and Indiana Pacers star Reggie Miller sighed.
However, before Reggie Miller's words came to fruition, Kevin Garnett had already puffed up his chest and participated in the Boston Celtics' offense.
"Rajon Rondo, I think you'd better be more careful in the second half of the game." Xu Nuo said coldly to Rajon Rondo in front of him while defending, "Although you performed well in the first half of the game , but in the second half of the game, it was my world!"
However, Rajon Rondo didn't say anything and continued to dribble the ball slowly. At this time, Kevin Garnett once again mentioned the high post to set up a pick-and-roll for Rajon Rondo. After Rajon Rondo bypassed Kevin Garnett, Xu promised that he still did not pursue it and continued to stay on Kevin Garnett's side. Next to Garnett, watch out for Rajon Rondo's pass.
However, this time Rajon Rondo did not choose to pass the ball, but faced the double-team defense of David West and Danny Granger and made a small throw. It was just Rajon Rondo's shooting strength. A little too big, the ball hit the neck of the basket with a "dang" sound and bounced back.
"Damn it!" Rajon Rondo cursed in a low voice.
After Rajon Rondo missed a shot, Indiana Pacers center Roy Hibbert leaped high and grabbed the defensive rebound. At the same time, Xu Nuo, who was standing at the top of the three-point arc, immediately started and rushed toward the frontcourt at high speed.
"Quick attack!" Xu Nuo shouted loudly.
Roy Hibbert flicked his long arm, and the ball immediately spun towards Xu Nuo at high speed. Xu Nuo jumped up to catch the ball in the air, then took three and two steps to get to the Boston Celtics basket, and scored an easy layup. Since the start of the second half, Xu Nuo has scored four points in a row, and the Indiana Pacers also lead the Boston Celtics by eight points with a score of 48:40.
"It's so fast!" Boston Celtics head coach Doc Rivers thought helplessly in his heart. At this time, Coach Doc Rivers, like his peers Coach Stan Van Gundy and Eric Like Coach Spoelstra, he also began to fall into the difficult problem of how to defend the promise. However, coach Doc Rivers' situation is even better. After all, he still has a good card like Rajon Rondo in his hands. This is coach Stan Van Gundy and Eric Spoelst. Pull what the coach doesn't have in his hands.
And Rajon Rondo did not disappoint coach Doc Rivers.The end assist teammate Michael Pietrus hit a long outside three-pointer, finally getting the first point of the second half for the Boston Celtics. However, Xu Nuo soon assisted teammate David West to hit a mid-range jumper, and the Indiana Pacers still maintained a seven-point lead.
Coach Doc Rivers kept pacing back and forth on the sidelines, thinking about how to defend the promise in his mind. At this time, Rajon Rondo took the ball from Michael Pietrus and began to organize the team's offense again.
"Is it possible to have Rajon and Xu Nuo one on one and let the two of them fight to death?" Coach Doc Rivers thought, "If we do this, it is very likely that Rajon's offense will be sacrificed. , but we don¡¯t have an outstanding backup point guard outside of Rajon, and the Indiana Pacers, in addition to promises, also have a bunch of backup point guards such as O.J. Mayo and Darren Collison"
Thinking of this, coach Doc Rivers couldn't help but fold his arms in front of his chest.
¡°That will only result in more losses than gains!¡± Coach Doc Rivers came to a conclusion in his own mind.
But the question then came to Coach Doc Rivers¡¯ mind again.
"So, how to use Rajon more rationally?" Coach Doc Rivers thought in his mind. "Should I let Rajon play the whole game, just like LeBron James did. But, Rajon's physical strength is still inferior to that of LeBron James, and Rajon also lacks the dominance like LeBron James."
At this time, Promise on the court once again hit a mid-range shot. The Indiana Pacers at home led the away Boston Celtics by five points at 52:47. Coach Doc Rivers saw that his team was never able to take the initiative in the game into his own hands, so he had to request a timeout.
"Everyone did a very good job of limiting their offense!" Coach Larry Brown said during the timeout. "I think the Boston Celtics will still use point guard Rajon Long. If we develop tactics centered around commitment, then we must develop our tactics with commitment as the core of our offense!¡±
"If you do this, wouldn't it mean that you have to go head-to-head with Rajon Rondo!" Team captain Danny Granger said with a hint of surprise.
"Even if we really promise to go head-to-head with Rajon Rondo, the loser will definitely be their Boston Celtics, not us!" Coach Larry Brown said categorically, "This is a local war. It¡¯s a battle between Xu Nuo and Rajon Rondo, and the winner is definitely Xu Nuo!¡±
Hearing coach Larry Brown say this, the players were speechless. At this time, the referee Derek Stamford blew the whistle to indicate that the timeout had ended. The players got up and returned to the court.
¡°Don¡¯t let down Coach Larry Brown¡¯s expectations of you!¡± Danny Granger gently patted Xu Nuo¡¯s shoulder and said with a smile.
"Don't worry, Danny!" Xu Nuo said with the same smile, "Just as coach Larry Brown said, I will definitely defeat that guy Rajon Rondo!"
After the timeout, the Boston Celtics still started their tactics with Rajon Rondo as the core. All other Boston Celtics players, including the two superstars Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce, were waiting. Pass from Rajon Rondo. However, only one player, Rajon Rondo, cannot save the Boston Celtics. Under the promised defense, Rajon Rondo only scored three points and two times in the third quarter. Just an assist, no rebounds.
"You played really well!" Boston Celtics head coach Doc Rivers looked at the promise on the court and couldn't help but start to admire the performance of the players in the opponent's lineup.
Of course, Xu Nuo¡¯s performance is fully worthy of praise from others. Xu Nuo, who played the full 12 minutes of the game, scored eight points and four assists in the third quarter, almost single-handedly leading the Indiana Pacers forward. At the end of the third quarter, the home team Indiana Pacers led the visiting team Boston Celtics by nine points, 66:57, and entered the fourth quarter.
Rajon Rondo sat down on the chair, lowered his head, looking very frustrated. Coach Doc Rivers patted Rajon Rondo on the head.
"It's okay, Rajon!" Coach Doc Rivers said to Rajon Rondo. "This quarter of the game does not mean that the ability promised is definitely better than yours. There is still time in the third quarter. Use it." Counterattack with all your strength!"
Rajon Rondo nodded slowly, and a murderous look began to appear in his eyes.