Chapter 1247 Antetokounmpo: When I Rush in, I Will Be...

That night, the Fezer Forum Arena was packed.

The birth of this competition arena is also a very interesting thing.

The Bradley Center, previously used by the Bucks, was built in 1988 and is one of the oldest arenas, along with Madison Square Garden and Oracle Arena.

But unlike the other two old arenas, it has basically not been renovated. Not only the visiting team, but also the home team have been complaining about the environment of the arena.

“Playing there is like going back to the last century.”

In the past, when Kobe was still playing, he once expressed such emotion after the game.

Because the owners of the Bradley Center, the Pettits, are unwilling to pay the high cost of renovations, such complaints also appear frequently.

NBA officials then put pressure on the team and offered three options: renovation, building a new arena, or moving the Bucks to Seattle.

In the end, the Wisconsin State Senate chose to build a new arena, which resulted in this new arena that can accommodate 17,500 people.

Although the scale is not comparable to the top arenas in the NBA, the facilities inside are all state-of-the-art, which is undoubtedly good news for Bucks fans.

The most intuitive change is that the home stadium, which used to have low attendance, is now almost full.

This is also in line with the Bucks' current popularity in the league.

The Bucks fans at the scene were extremely enthusiastic. Not only were they wearing green T-shirts of the same color, many of them even had green bruises on their faces and even hair.

Like the Celtics, green is also the main color of their team.

As the team with the shortest winning time in the NBA, fans are very reluctant.

Especially the experience that they once had three Musketeers, Glenn Robinson, Ray Allen and Terrell Brandon, but still failed to rise.

They really want this Bucks team to return to glory.

There was still half an hour before the start of the game, and players from both sides entered the stadium one after another.

The head coach of the Bucks is Tang Tian's former coach Budenholzer. After entering the court, he specifically observed the Pelicans' bench.

When he saw Davis in a suit and tie, his mood immediately improved a lot.

Davis can't play, which is the best news for the Bucks.

After the warm-up, the scene entered the opening ceremony, and the starters of the two teams took the stage one after another.

For the Pelicans, Brogdon and Carter are on the outside, Tang Tian and Siakam are on the forward line, and Gasol is on the center line.

Green has not recovered from his injury, so Stevens still uses Carter as the starting shooting guard.

This also allowed him to surpass Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's 42 years and 6 days and become the oldest player to start in the NBA Finals (42 years and 122 days).

For the Bucks, Irving and Redick are on the outside, Hayward and Antetokounmpo are on the forward line, and Horford is the center.

It is worth noting that the Pelicans have continued the "head-touching" appearance ceremony from the past two games.

Looking at this situation, as long as Tang Tian is still with the Pelicans, this ceremony will probably be carried out every night.

Gasol's long arm moved the ball back to the Pelicans half, giving the visiting team the opportunity to take the lead.

Brogdon advanced to the frontcourt with the ball and gave the ball to Gasol for support in the high post.

Tang Tian and Brogdon cut in without the ball.

However, this tactic did not succeed.

Theoretically speaking, Irving and Redick's outside perimeter is the type that can be stabbed by thousands of people.

But Budenholzer defended a 2-1-2 zone defense at the beginning, and Antetokounmpo, as the "1", stood inside the free throw line.

Antetokounmpo has excellent defensive coverage and movement speed. This defensive formation can greatly make up for the Pelicans' weaknesses in perimeter defense.

Compared to Vogel, he is obviously a more promising coach.

But unfortunately the Pelicans have a coach on the field.

If it is purely one-on-one defense, tactics cannot play a big role, but when it comes to tactics, Tang Tian is several levels higher than Budenholzer.

After he reached out to ask for the ball back, he then made a 1-3-1 stance gesture.

This is a restraint tactic.

Carter and Brogdon separated from each other, and Tang Tian and Gasol played a pick-and-roll at a 45-degree angle on the left.

At this moment, Carter cut in from the right and Tang Tian passed the ball. Carter took the ball from the free throw line and stuffed it into the basket.

Siakam had quickly cut to the basket, received Carter's pass and directly dunked with two hands to score.

As a tactical coach, Stevens usually attaches great importance to tactical training, and the tacit understanding between the players is very good.

In the Bucks' frontcourt offense, Irving and Horford went straight to the basket after a pick-and-roll.

Gasol couldn't keep up with his speed, and Irving had already left him behind when he reached the free throw line.

However, Siakam's help on the weak side has arrived. Irving did not choose to pass the ball, but went up against Siakam.

The ball was interfered by Siakam's long arm, Irving's difficult shot failed to hit, and the referee did not blow the whistle.

Gasol rushed to protect the defensive rebound.

There was a commotion on the sidelines. After the start of the game, the Pelicans clearly had the upper hand.

Tang Tian held the ball in the frontcourt again, and the Bucks still defended 2-1-2.

Tang Tian passed the ball to Gasol in the high position, and Antetokounmpo defended him.

At this time, Tang Tian continued to make tactical gestures, and Carter and Brogdon ran back and forth at a 45-degree angle outside the three-point line.

The Bucks' wing defense was restrained. After Gasol turned around, he stuffed the ball directly into the basket.

It was Siakam again, cutting in to catch the ball and another two-handed dunk!

He couldn't help roaring after dunking this time. He scored 4 points in a row in the opening game, and they were all dunks. He had a little fun!

The scene was agitated.

The Bucks' 2-1-2 formation worked wonders in the previous Eastern Conference playoffs, but against the Pelicans, it was completely broken right after the start!

"The Pelicans' tactical reflexes are too quick."

In the commentary box, Kenny Smith couldn't help but sigh.

"They have a coach on the field."

O'Neal continued to blow.

However, judging from the fact that Tang Tian stood on the court and directed tactics after the game started, there was nothing wrong with this.

In fact, Tang Tian did this kind of thing in the Pelicans.

Hayward's layup with the ball was also blocked by Tang Tian.

The Bucks haven't scored in the first two minutes!

They experienced the defensive treatment of the Lakers in the last two games of the series!

What's even more terrible is that, seeing that the Bucks were still maintaining a 2-1-2 defensive formation, Tang Tian directly pulled up from outside the three-point line and shot.

"Uh-huh!"

The basketball hits the net!

Tang Tian also has three points!

The Pelicans turned around and beat the Bucks 7-0 in the opening game!

There was an uproar on the sidelines.

Budenholzer finally stood up and signaled the team to switch back to man-to-man marking.

Any zone defense has weaknesses. When 2-1-2 versus 1-3-1, the basket is the breakthrough point.

In addition, zone defense is a regional defense, which weakens individual defense capabilities.

Budenholzer was still holding on after being broken through in front of the basket, but Tang Tian's three-pointer forced him to change.

You must know that if Tang Tian is allowed to fight like this, he can defeat a team by himself.

This has been proven countless times.

"Come on Bucks!"

The situation was unfavorable, and the on-site DJ took the lead in cheering for the home team.

But the Pelicans' defense remains airtight.

Seeing that the attack time was halfway through, Antetokounmpo asked for the ball and then signaled to pull away.

This is about to start the one-star four-shot play.

Glancing at Siakam in front of him, Antetokounmpo chose to break through with the ball facing the frame.

The NBA has three seconds of defense. As long as it passes Siakam, the Pelicans' interior will be ravaged by him.

Siakam defended very hard, but he was not as good as Antetokounmpo in the confrontation.

Antetokounmpo turned sideways and forced his way through, and then like a tank with full throttle, he blasted straight into the Pelicans penalty area.

"You can't let him be so one-on-one, and when he charges, he will be..."

"Bang!"

Before Barkley finished speaking, Antetokounmpo collided with Tang Tian in the three-second zone and knocked Tang Tian over.

"beep!"

The referee blew the whistle to signal Antetokounmpo's offensive foul.