Francis dribbles, and Nelson slips to the three-point corner!
An exchange of glances...
Francis drove to the basket and passed the ball between Marion and Nash to Nelson, who was already lurking in the corner.
Nelson takes a three-point shot.
"Whoosh!!!"
The basketball went into the net.
3-0!!!
The atmosphere at the home stadium was instantly ignited.
Go Magic!
Go Magic!
Go Magic!
Fans started cheering for the Magic...
Of the more than 10,000 spectators at the scene, 90% were fans of the national team. However, despite their idols, they could still distinguish which team was the home team.
This is Orlando, their hometown.
They can come to the game wearing Weiguo jerseys and chant 'MVP' for Weiguo, but they hope the Magic win.
Johnson walked to the baseline to inbound the ball...
Some fans have already started chanting, "Let Wei Guo play!"
Half of the fans were chanting for Wei Guo to play. They had paid for tickets to see Wei Guo play, and even if the Magic were no match, Wei Guo couldn't stay on the bench forever.
Wei Guo did not disappoint the fans!
D'Antoni called a short timeout, and Wei Guo replaced Richardson.
Richardson is probably the most unfortunate starting player in the league. He has always been in the starting position, but he only plays for more than ten minutes every game and is always substituted within three minutes of the start of the game.
But this is also Richardson's glory...
Richardson often told his friends that Wei Guo was his backup, and this wasn't just boasting, it was a fact.
The Magic employ a classic "one big, four small" strategy, with Howard guarding the basket while Francis, Nelson, Hill, and Turkoglu float on the perimeter, and all four are accurate shooters.
This creates a misalignment...
When Wei Guo had the ball, the player guarding him was Nelson!
Francis deliberately avoided this, having anticipated this situation before the game. Francis said he knew Wei Guo too well, that Wei Guo knew his defensive habits, and that he absolutely couldn't stop Wei Guo. Hill said the same thing... Then the two of them CP'd Nelson, showering him with praise that made Nelson feel flattered.
He really felt...
He was able to intercept the ball the instant Wei Guo made a breakthrough.
Rookies are rookies, and one of their biggest characteristics is that they are easily fooled. The Magic had two rookie players, Howard and Nelson. Francis and Hill praised Howard a lot, making Howard think that he could defend the paint one-on-one.
......
Wei Guo frowned slightly, assuming that Hill would be the one to defend him.
result...
But the 1.83-meter-tall Nelson was right under his armpit, and this adorable height difference left Wei Guo feeling awkward.
Wei Guo, holding the basketball, asked, "What's your name?"
"Please remember, my name is Nelson!"
Nelson exclaimed, "My idol is Allen Iverson, and I will become an All-Star caliber player!"
"My idol isn't me?"
Wei Guo was unhappy. In what way was he inferior to Iverson? He was also a point guard.
"Whoosh~~~"
Before Nelson could answer, Wei Guo flicked the basketball with his right hand the moment it hit the ground, turned around and got past Nelson.
There was nothing in front of him... except for Dwight Howard under the basket!
Wei Guo took two steps to the basket.
The whole world knows that Wei Guo is going to dunk on Howard, and Howard is jumping up and down, raising his hands to try to knock the basketball out of Wei Guo's hands.
Wei Guo swung his right arm in the air to dodge Howard's block, and dunked the basketball into the hoop with one hand.
"Bang!!!"
After a violent physical collision, Howard fell to the floor.
"You're very good."
Wei Guo reached out and helped Howard up, saying, "A rookie dares to block me head-on."
That's an overstatement. Wei Guo and O'Neal are the same height, but Wei Guo is not as big as O'Neal. Without having faced him, you can't feel Wei Guo's terrifying strength. Howard isn't a newborn calf that's not afraid of tigers; he genuinely believes he can block Wei Guo.
The Magic are on offense.
Hill received the ball beyond the three-point line, faked to the right, and then executed a crossover dribble, the ball instantly landing in Hill's left hand, leaving Johnson to miss.
Hill instantly drove to the basket...
Stoudemire moved to the basket and stood in front of Hill. Hill jumped up and, with the same move as Wei Guo, swung his right arm in the air to avoid Stoudemire's block, then straddled Stoudemire and dunked the ball into the basket.
"Bang!!!"
The net rolled up.
That dunk...
Hill seemed to have returned to his peak form, and the audience rose to their feet, cheering. The DJ became even more excited, chanting, "Grant...Hill..."
That name echoed throughout the stadium!
After dunking, Hill stood still and looked at the spectators on the sidelines with an arrogant expression.
Nash was dribbling the ball upcourt when Hill was backing away on defense when he was suddenly slapped hard on the butt.
"Not bad~"
Wei Guo joked, "He's got the air of a team leader."
When the younger brother is bullied, the boss has to stand up for him. Wei Guo just dunked on Howard, and Wei Guo thought that Francis would be the first to stand up for him. But unexpectedly, after a year of playing together, Hill, the gentleman, has become arrogant.
This is the state of Wei.
If it were Kobe, he would have been arrogant towards Howard after the dunk. Wei Guo had heard about this; apparently, Francis stood up for Howard and pushed Kobe, and the two almost got into a fight.
Just now...
Wei Guo tackled Howard to the ground and then pulled him up.
Even if he doesn't pull, it's fine. Even if Wei Guo kicks Howard a couple of times, Francis won't dare to stand up for Howard. Of course... Wei Guo wouldn't do something so pointless.
......
In the first quarter, both teams had high shooting percentages.
The tactical coordination was not complicated; a shot would be taken after one or two passes, and the rhythm was somewhat similar to the previous game against the Raptors.
but...
The Suns also made some adjustments to their defense, with Wei Guo holding a deep position!
Facing the Suns, Howard missed several shots under the basket, and Francis changed his playing style, focusing on mid-range shots and not daring to drive to the basket rashly. Fortunately, the Magic had a good shooting touch, and the Suns did not pull away by the end of the first quarter.
31:29!!
The Suns are only leading by 2 points.
Cummings said, "In recent games, our opponents have been in great form, with the team shooting over 70%."
Cummings was no longer limited to being just a technical statistician for Wei Guo...
He has matured and become a data analysis master on the court. In the last ten games, Cummings can tell you the opponent's points, rebounds, assists, and shooting percentage in each quarter without even looking up the data... His memory is amazing.
Was our defense not good enough?
D'Antoni stroked his chin. "It's strange that the opponent's shooting percentage is always this high."
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