On the evening of May 8, 1999, at Madison Square Garden, New York fans witnessed Larry Brown's ability to adjust tactics.
The defensive system that Jeff Van Gundy built for the Knicks is to apply local pressure and quickly rotate on the weak side.
At the same time, he inherited Pat Riley's defensive philosophy.
In the playoffs, the bald young coach also likes to use guards to lead the defense and suppress the opponent's offensive rhythm.
This defensive system once forced the old Bulls to rely on dunks alone.
Neither Pippen on the receiving end nor Harper on the weak side could give a response.
In this year's playoffs, Larry Brown relied on Iverson's off-ball ability to continuously pass the ball to the weak side at the beginning of the game, continuously mobilizing the Knicks' defense.
With 6 minutes and 44 seconds left in the first quarter, the 76ers attacked, and Eric Snow was guarded by Lee before he even crossed half court.
Forced to slow down, he moved sideways to protect the ball and reached the top of the arc.
Matt Geiger and Theo Ratliff in the paint covered each other, standing one above and one below.
Eric Snow saw Iverson making an arc and immediately completed a side pass.
Starting from the right side near the baseline, Iverson cut in again and came to the left wing to receive the ball.
He noticed that Alan Houston, who was chasing him, still let go of his left hand.
After a fake move, he let go of the ball with his left hand and broke through with a crossover step.
Iverson cut in from the left at a 45-degree angle at an extremely fast speed, and Alan Houston on his side kept sliding.
At the same time, the Knicks' defense began to shrink to the inside.
Ewing almost let go of Matt Geiger on his side and slid quickly to the lower left side of the basket.
Oakley also followed this time to defend in the paint area, while blocking Theo Ratliff behind him, ready to protect the rebound.
Lee at the top of the arc was also paying attention to the position of Eric Snow beside him, while Larry Johnson was also preparing to squeeze into the inside at this time, letting go of George Lynch beside him.
In an instant, the Knicks completed local pressure defense.
The short Iverson almost couldn't see the basket, but he knew that his teammates were in open positions at this time.
When he came to the basket, Iverson did not panic, but followed the tactical requirements and quickly threw the ball to the right corner.
George Lynch had already started moving without the ball.
After receiving the pass from Iverson, he did not hesitate and immediately made a jump shot from outside the three-point line!
"Swish!" The three-pointer went into the net!
On the 76ers bench, the atmosphere group cheered loudly.
After being suppressed for half a quarter, they finally made a three-pointer.
At 12:16, the score difference was narrowed to 4 points.
"Let's go Knicks! Let's go Knicks! Let's go Knicks!"
The DJ on the scene didn't care about the 76ers' goal and continued to cheer loudly.
Soon, huge cheers were heard again in Madison Square Garden.
Iverson felt that the game was becoming more and more boring as he retreated.
The Knicks' pressure defense made it difficult for them to score.
The inside was full of people, and once they missed the jump shot, they would be counterattacked immediately.
Eric Snow also took the lead in defending Lee at the beginning of the game, but just like in the regular season, the Knicks did not pursue speed when they fell into positional offense.
Lee advanced steadily, simply dribbling the ball behind his back and reaching the top of the arc despite the opponent's close defense.
Ewing stood still on the three-point line.
After Lee completed his crotch change of direction, Eric Snow defended him tightly and struggled to squeeze through the screen.
At the same time, Matt Geiger, who was defending, immediately slid to the left, cooperated with his teammates, and broke through to Lee on the right side without much delay.
As the opponent's big man moved his feet, Ewing quickly moved down.
Lee also suddenly accelerated, and without waiting for the opponent to double-team him, he came to the right wing, jumped up immediately, and passed the ball behind his head.
The basketball instantly flew over the fingertips of Matt Geiger who jumped up to intercept it.
"oh!"
Cheers broke out again in the arena.
Ewing went down to the paint area to receive the ball.
Facing the help defense of Theo Ratliff, he took advantage of his height, got close to the basket, and easily completed the shot!
"Swish!" The two-point shot went into the net.
Eric Snow and Matt Geiger looked at each other and both felt that they had played according to the coach's requirements.
Larry Brown on the sidelines kept shouting, reminding the two to double-team faster.
"What a wonderful assist. Lee's rhythm is getting better and better. Compared to the previous two seasons, he has obviously slowed down this year and seems to be more confident."
Looking at Clay Lee who continued to lead the defense, Bob Costas in the NBC commentary booth could not help but admire him.
Doug Collins also seemed to remember the rookie Lee he met when he coached the Pistons:
"It's definitely absolute confidence. Lee knows he can break through the 76ers' defense. He is in complete control of the game at the moment."
While the two were still discussing the 76ers' defensive strategy, Iverson received the ball on the right wing and immediately accelerated with the ball in his right hand.
In the right blocking area, he suddenly stopped, dribbled the ball quickly, and immediately passed the ball to his left hand.
He shot a mid-range jump shot against Alan Houston's block!
"Bang!"
The long rebound bounced out, Lee retracted in time, received the rebound in the left elbow area of the free throw line, and rushed forward with the ball!
Larry Johnson rushed forward in the middle with his head down.
Alan Houston noticed that Iverson was rushing towards Lee, so he also ran quickly to the left corner.
When the Knicks players accelerated across half court, Eric Snow had just delayed Lee on the right wing.
When he saw Iverson rushing over at this time, he immediately felt that he was in trouble.
There was no time to communicate before they saw Lee on the right wing jump up again and passed the ball, and the basketball flew straight to the left corner.
Alan Houston received the ball in the corner after a long pass.
There was no one defending in front of him.
He adjusted himself and made an easy jump shot!
"Swish!" The three-pointer went into the net!
At 12:21, the score difference suddenly reached 9 points, and head coach Larry Brown immediately requested a timeout.
"Wow!"
The New York fans at the scene began to cheer loudly, and the game was as easy as expected.
In half a quarter, Lee made four assists, and the 76ers' defense was broken.
Larry Brown looked unhappy, as he could not accept that the players did not play according to plan.
Larry Brown frowned, drew twice on the tactical board, stared at Iverson and said loudly:
"Retreat and position yourself in time! Don't forget your defender. I don't want to see the opponent counterattack easily again!"
Knowing that he made a mistake, Iverson nodded dejectedly, and the atmosphere group remained silent.
The gap was bigger than they had imagined.
After the timeout, Eric Snow continued to act as the dealer.
Iverson was on the left wing, released the ball with his left hand, broke through, and finally made a jump shot while drifting in the left blocking area.
After scoring the goal, Iverson pounded his chest, but found that no one on the Knicks team reacted.
Lee received the ball at the baseline and made the same tactical gesture again.
When Ewing moved to the frontcourt, he simply stopped outside the three-point line.
Matt Geiger saw that most of the Knicks were concentrated in the left half, and immediately shouted to Eric Snow, who was leading the defense:
"Eric, squeeze through the cover!"
Eric Snow, who hadn't observed the situation on the court at all, was too late when he heard his teammate's reminder.
Lee quickly pushed the ball and changed direction, scooped up the ball with his left hand, and immediately broke through with his shoulder.
Sliding to the right, Eric Snow bumped into Ewing and instantly lost his defensive position.
Matt Geiger was forced to delay for a long time, and before he could lower his center of gravity, he was staggered by Lee's change of direction of pushing the ball again.
Lee passed between the two players, scooped up the ball with his right hand, and went straight to the basket from the middle.
While moving, he noticed that Theo Ratliff, who was near the left baseline, wanted to move to assist in defense, so he immediately pretended to pass the ball.
Subconsciously stopping, Theo Ratliff finally watched Lee break through to the basket and easily complete a one handed slam dunk!
The breakthrough dunk instantly ignited the atmosphere of the scene, and Spike Lee on the sidelines stood up and cheered with the fans!
"Continuous front-body changes, Lee's combination ball is too good! Maybe Iverson can also play more pick-and-rolls."
In the commentary booth, Doug Collins felt that the game was going to fail and began to analyze the advantages of the 76ers.
As the game progressed, dealer Eric Snow gradually lost his effect, and Iverson began to hold the ball a lot and constantly play pick-and-rolls at the 5th position.
Different from the 76ers' defensive strategy, when Ewing encountered a pick-and-roll, he would quickly retreat to the basket and squat to defend, completely letting go of Iverson's three-pointer and long two-pointer.
Whenever the 76ers attacked, Lee would follow Eric Snow.
He didn't need to defend closely, he just had to be ready to assist at any time.
Thanks to the Knicks' defensive system, Lee has always had little consumption on the defensive end.
Seeing Iverson break through Alan Houston again and hit a mid-range jumper from the free throw line, Jeff Van Gundy on the sidelines just made a gesture to stick to the defensive strategy.
After the opening, the 76ers' passing ball gradually disappeared.
Larry Brown was a little anxious and shouted to the players to play tactics.
In the previous round, Alan Houston broke through the blocking area on the left wing and shot in the face.
It seemed that he heard the coach's call.
On the right wing, Iverson used Matt Geiger's pick-and-roll to get rid of Alan Houston's pursuit, stopped outside the three-point line, and immediately jumped and shot!
"Bang!"
After consecutive hit shots, he missed again and the long rebound was taken by Lee in the paint area.
Holding the ball in his left hand, Lee accelerated and the 76ers quickly retreated.
Eric Snow did not choose to defend closely this time, but quickly returned to the half court and loudly called out to his teammates to complete the defensive position.
After Lee advanced to the top of the arc, he stepped forward to lead the defense.
Ewing and Oakley both lagged behind, while Lee went straight to the basket against the defense.
In the paint area, Eric Snow was engaging in physical confrontation while his hands were constantly moving.
Lee, who was holding the ball in his right hand, suddenly moved the ball under his crotch with one hand, instantly changing the rhythm of the breakthrough.
He picked up the ball with his right hand and came to the basket by the opponent.
Eric Snow jumped up to block the shot. Lee shot the ball onto the backboard, and then the two fell to the ground together.
"Squeak!"
"Bang!"
The whistle blew and the ball went in, and the basketball hit the backboard and fell into the basket.
"Wow!!"
After Lee was pulled up by Alan Houston and Larry Johnson, the New York fans at the scene stood up and cheered, while Iverson was pulled aside by Larry Brown and whispered to him.
At this time, there were 2 minutes and 2 seconds left in the first quarter.
While Lee was standing on the free throw line, the 76ers replaced dealer Eric Snow with Larry Hughes.
Jeff Van Gundy waved his hand, and Sprewell, Kurt Thomas and Ben Wallace also took turns to play.
Seeing Lee's free throw, the score came to 20:30. Bob Costas said helplessly in the commentary booth:
"It seems that Iverson's pick-and-roll offense did not change the Knicks' defensive strategy."
Doug Collins on the side smiled awkwardly.
The 76ers averaged 7.4 shots from beyond the three-point line in the regular season and made 2.0 shots per game, ranking last in the league.
Such a three-point output was not enough to change the defense.
Larry Brown's advice worked, and Iverson started passing the ball again.
When Lee was defending, he just let Iverson shoot and block the breakthrough, letting go of his left hand.
In the last two minutes, the 76ers, whose playing style had become more reasonable, fell into a scoring drought.
Matt Geiger missed the ball under the basket and Larry Hughes missed the shot.
By the end of the first quarter, the score was 22:33, with the Knicks leading by 11 points.
At Madison Square Garden, fans at the scene began to celebrate the victory in advance.
Sprewell, who returned to the bench, was a little embarrassed.
After coming on the court, he served as the main attacker, but he made 0 of 3 shots.
In the end, he relied on Ben Wallace's second attack to score points.
"There is no need to worry about the hit rate. Anyway, we are leading by double digits, so we just need to keep shooting."
Lee, who played the entire first quarter, returned to the bench, replenished his water, and spoke to comfort the nervous Sprewell.
Jeff Van Gundy didn't care about the missed shots and limited the opponent's score to 22 points, which has achieved the expected goal:
"Keep rushing for offensive rebounds and don't give them easy scoring opportunities. Ben, pay attention to your defensive position and don't over-help defense!"
The bald young coach drew on the tactical board, indicating that Ben Wallace should also retreat to defend.
Lee had already changed into his training suit at this time.
The 76ers had no three-pointers.
As long as the team did not make mistakes, the double-digit lead could be easily maintained until halftime.
In the first quarter, Clay Lee made 2 of 4 shots and 3 of 3 free throws, scoring 7 points, 2 rebounds and 5 assists.
On the opposite side, Iverson made 4 of 7 shots and 2 of 2 free throws, scoring 10 points, 1 rebound and 1 assist.
Looking at the technical statistics, Doug Collins in the commentary booth sighed:
"After entering the league, Lee and Iverson chose different development paths."
"It's difficult to judge whether Iverson's change is correct, but coach Larry Brown has indeed built a system that suits Iverson this season."
Bob Costas saw that Larry Johnson was still on the Knicks side, and Iverson was not resting either, and suddenly sighed:
"The two teams play in a similar way, but the difference is that Lee's offense is more efficient."
The 76ers chose a short rotation and continued the "four protect one" tactic, while the Knicks continued the regular season rotation, with Sprewell still the main attacker.
The "Mad Man" had an average shooting touch in this game.
Facing the first-year rookie Larry Hughes, he began to rush to the basket and the whistle kept sounding.
Larry Brown was so anxious that he kept complaining to the referee, but it was of no use.
Iverson's shooting touch declined, and he also rushed to the basket.
The 76ers' opening tactics completely collapsed.
As in the regular season, Lee came on as a substitute with 2 minutes and 46 seconds left in the first half.
Larry Brown no longer walked around the sidelines.
He sat quietly on the bench with a serious expression.
The first half ended quickly, 42:56, the Knicks were already leading by 14 points.
In the NBC commentary booth, both of them knew that the game was basically over.
Doug Collins could only encourage them at this time:
"This is the first time the 76ers have made the playoffs since their reconstruction. I believe that Philadelphia fans can accept such a performance."
Bob Costas glanced at the technical statistics and noticed that Sprewell had made 2 of 9 shots and 6 of 6 free throws for 10 points, and immediately said jokingly:
"The Knicks are the only team in the league that has the luxury of an All-Star guard playing as the sixth man."
"I think general manager Grunfeld should get the award for best manager in the league."
"."
In the Knicks locker room, everyone was talking and laughing.
Although Sprewell was not satisfied with his performance, he also smiled at this time.
Lee was smiling and encouraging Ben Wallace, who had three fouls in the first half:
"Don't mind the number of fouls. Defense must be intimidating, like Charles, be more aggressive!"
Ben Wallace kept nodding his head.
As his hair had grown longer, he was wearing a headband at this time:
"I understand. In the next game, they won't be able to get to the basket easily!"
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