The Fifth Point Guard

In the 2002-03 season, the Pistons did not have "Roaring God" Rasheed Wallace, but in this time and space, the history of the Blazers' defeat in the Western Conference has not changed.

The internal strife in the Portland Trail Blazers is very serious. After being out of the playoffs, Wallace has already revealed the idea of ​​being completely disappointed with the Trail Blazers. The media also generally speculates that he should not appear in the Trail Blazers next season. In the lineup, after all, the team has to make room for the "upstart" Zach Randolph.

Although the double Wallace inside combination has not yet formed, but with the best defensive player of the year Ben Wallace and the undead sportsman Richard Hamilton, the overall defense of the Pistons is still the top in the league.

Ben Wallace, Clifford Robinson, Tayshaun Prince, Richard Hamilton and Chauncey Billups make up the current Pistons starting lineup.

Among them, Prince is the biggest discovery of Rick Carlisle.

In terms of team lineup, except for the three positions of Wallace, Hamilton and Billups, the starting candidates of power forward and small forward have been constantly changing, and the regular rotation lineup is also constantly trying.

Michael Curry, who is 1.96 meters tall, was originally the best candidate for Carlisle's starting small forward, but Curry's scoring ability is really bad. The three-pointer hit rate is less than 30%, and he averages only 20 minutes per game. 3 points, I can't justify it.

Although under normal circumstances, the Pistons don't need him to score, but when Billups and Hamilton encounter tight defense or feel bad, he needs to stand up and bring some pressure to the opponent's defense, but Curry's The performance was a bit disappointing, and Michael "Jordan Stephen-" Curry's reputation was in vain.

Carlisle also tried to use Corris Williams. The player with the 13th pick in the first round of 1995 has no problem with his personal ability, but if he is placed in the main lineup, for Williams who is used to holding the ball, Some are uncomfortable and struggling.

Moreover, Williams' promotion instantly weakened the firepower of the Pistons' bench.

On the bench, Williams averaged 12.0 points, 4.4 rebounds and 1.3 assists per game, but after being promoted to the starting lineup, his averages dropped to 6.5 points, 2.2 rebounds and 1.5 assists per game.

Obviously, the harm outweighs the good.

In desperation, Carlisle, who has always disliked using rookies, replaced the team's rookie Prince this year to give it a try.

This attempt hit the pain point and solved the dilemma that the Pistons have always been scratching.

For the first time off the bench, Prince handed over 8 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals and 1 block. More importantly, he didn't need to hold the ball by himself, run without the ball and make three-pointers. All points are excellent.

At the same time, Prince, who is 2.06 meters tall, has a pair of long arms with natural barriers. Although he lacks defensive experience, he is definitely a good seed worth cultivating.

It was also before the start of the playoffs that the Pistons officially established the team's regular starting lineup and rotation.

On May 19, 2003, the horn of the Eastern Conference finals of the NBA playoffs sounded in New Jersey.

The Nets at home started a tug-of-war with the Jagged Pistons.

In the end, relying on home court advantage and Kidd's ability to control the field at the last moment, the Nets defeated the Pistons 76-74 and won the first victory in the Eastern Conference Finals.

Kidd was the number one contributor to the Nets' victory. He scored 15 points, 9 rebounds and 7 assists, and 1.4 seconds before the end, Shentong was double-teamed by Hamilton and Prince. The winning goal made a great contribution to the Nets getting off to a good start.

In fact, the Nets didn't need to play so hard.

With 3 minutes and 5 seconds left before the end of the game, Shentong made a wonderful jump shot to give the Nets a 74-67 lead.

Carlisle immediately called a timeout and adopted a double-team tactic against Shentong.

In the next nearly 3 minutes, the Pistons launched a fierce counterattack and finally tied the score 74-74 with Billups' two free throws with 22 seconds left in the game.

According to Scott's arrangement, Shentong should be the executor of the last attack of the Nets. However, Shentong had no chance to catch the ball in the face of Hamilton and Prince's close defense.

Kidd had no choice but to complete the offense by himself and score the ball.

This is the first time this season that Kidd hits a ball that decides the outcome at the last minute!

In this game, both sides put most of their energy on defense, so the individual scores were not high.

In addition to Kidd, Shentong also "only" scored 16 points, Martin scored 10 points and 9 rebounds, and Jefferson had 11 points.

For the Pistons, Hamilton scored 24 points by relying on undead running off the ball, while Wallace picked up 22 rebounds angrily.

But failure renders the data futile.

The second battle between the two sides took place two days later.

In the first match two days ago, the two teams dedicated a fierce but not exciting game to fans all over the world.

After the game, some American media bluntly called it an "ugly" game.

Before the second game, the generals of the Pistons in the away game said they would strive for an away victory.

The players of the Nets stated that they would use their fast break advantages to counter the Pistons' defense.

After all, the fast-break offensive method can greatly weaken the Pistons' iron-blooded defense, giving the fastest and most direct blow without waiting for the opponent to settle down.

After the opening, Martin scored the first point of the game with a layup assisted by Kidd.

Then Shentong's three-pointer allowed the Nets to lead the Pistons by 5 points at the beginning of the game.

However, Hamilton continued to bloom inside and outside the line, making the scores of the two sides close.

After the Wizards were trained by Jordan, Hamilton's ability to read the game has been greatly improved, and after leaving the Wizards and Jordan, Hamilton's psychological pressure has also been fully relieved.

Shentong's defense always feels like he has nowhere to exert his strength on Hamilton, who mainly runs without the ball.

This also makes Shentong's defense greatly reduced.

The Pistons learned the lesson of the first loss and began to use vertical defense, which allowed the Nets to score two points in the first quarter with only fast breaks.

After the first quarter, the Nets led 20-19 by 1 point. Hamilton continued to perform well and scored 10 points.

In the second quarter, Mutombo began to exert strength on the rebound.

As the best defensive player before Wallace, Uncle Mu was quite embarrassed by being robbed of rebounds by his opponent in the last game, so this game can be regarded as a competition with Wallace.

The rebounding disadvantage in the first game did not appear in this game. Mutombo and Wallace are evenly matched in terms of rebound control.

After the first half, the Nets led 42-39 by 3 points, but the score still failed to open.

In this quarter, Shentong relied on breaking the team to strengthen its defense against Hamilton, allowing the opponent to only score 2 points in this quarter.

In the second half, both sides accelerated their offensive rhythm. With less than 4 minutes left in the game, the two sides drew 81, 83, 85 and 86 successively.

48 seconds before the end, Shen Tong, who broke through and caused a foul by his opponent, got two free throw opportunities.

Withstood the pressure and made two free throws, the Nets took a 2-point lead.

Before the end of the game, Billups missed a three-pointer, and the Nets beat the Pistons again 88-86.

They won both games with a net difference of only 4 points. The Nets won very "economically".

Although the Pistons have always had a chance, they can only accept the two-game losing streak in the away game.