"Facing last season's Eastern Conference champion Magic, can the Knicks defeat them? My answer is yes!"

"With the current strength of the Knicks, it is not impossible for them to reach the Eastern Conference finals. Although their record against the Magic in the regular season is 1:3. But after the first round of the playoffs, I think everyone also discovered that some of the Knicks' trump cards are not there.

It was revealed in the regular season, and they are one of the most difficult teams in the Eastern Conference in terms of defense and offense in the playoffs."

"Although the Magic's Howard is the league's top center, he often falls into the trap of low singles, and his passing ability is a weakness; even if he plays pick-and-roll with teammates, Howard will often choose to pull out to the high post after the pick-and-roll, waiting

Mid-range jump shot instead of sliding into the paint."

"There is nothing wrong with this, but the premise is that the pick-and-roll man must have a mid-range shooting range. However, mid-range shooting has never been Howard's strong point. His mid- and long-range shooting is better than

The shooting percentage at the basket is really far behind, but most of the time he is unwilling to go to the basket!"

"But the Knicks' outside defense is one of the top teams in the league this season. Although the inside defense is not as good as the outside, Millsap's defensive ability should not be underestimated. If Millsap reaches the top

Players from the best defensive lineup, especially David Lee, can also help defend."

"Moreover, the Bucks have proven to other teams that it is impossible to defend Sickle alone, especially since Sickle's shooting range can reach half-court. This is a severe test for the Magic's perimeter defense."

Of course, if there are people who support the Knicks, there will naturally be people who support the Magic.

After all, the Magic were the Eastern Conference champions last season. They retained the main lineup from last season, and they also made reinforcements this season. They have two superstars in Howard and Vince Carter. Mr. Billionaire Lewis has also entered two All-Stars.

Point guard Jameer Nelson was also an All-Star last year.

In terms of the number of superstars they have, the Knicks are definitely not comparable. The only main players of the Knicks are Lian Dao and David Lee, who are this year's All-Star players. David Lee was a later substitute.

"There is no doubt that with Howard as a top center, the Knicks currently do not have a single inside player who can shake Howard. With Howard holding the Knicks' defense in check, the Magic's perimeter players will have more opportunities to shoot from all directions.

The Magic team has proven the feasibility of this tactic last season."

"And the Magic, who have playoff experience, will be more experienced in handling emergencies in the playoffs. The reason why the Knicks can beat the Bucks is that the Bucks have no playoff experience.

Inside. But the Knicks cannot take advantage of the Magic."

The second round of the playoffs has not yet begun, and supporters of the two teams have started a "keyboard war" online.

This also caused the Knicks-Magic game to attract countless attention before it even started.

It can be said that the closer this game is to the start date, the more popular it becomes. Recently it has surpassed the game between the Cavaliers and the Celtics.

"Oh, our second round match is very hotly discussed on the Internet, sickle." Sitting on the bus heading to the hotel, David Lee browsed some comments from netizens on his mobile phone.

This is one of the few times since 2000 that the Knicks have been favored and supported by many people.

"We have completely gotten rid of the bad reputation of the Eastern Conference. We are now one of the four strongest teams in the Eastern Conference!" Lian Dao looked at the scenery on both sides of the streets in Orlando.

In the end, we met the Knicks, the team with the lowest winning rate in the regular season.

They missed the Celtics in the first round and met the Magic in the second round.

"The top four in the Eastern Conference, yes, what would it be like if we made it to the Eastern Conference Finals?" David Lee put down his phone and looked at Lian Dao.

"When we eliminated the Magic, we knew what it was like. Don't worry, it's only a matter of a few games!"

In Lian Dao's calm tone, he said the craziest and most domineering words.

Originally, there were some dignified and depressed Knicks players, but now their passion was ignited by Lian Dao's words.

Many players are much more confident!

Sometimes this is the case, an excellent head player can drive the overall momentum of the team and thus display greater strength!

D'Antoni also heard what Lian Dao said, and he smiled in front.

"Don't worry, I will try my best to guard Howard!" Millsap was also excited at this time. When it comes to the playoffs, no one wants to be eliminated.

Lian Dao patted Millsap on the shoulder. This season, many times this season, Millsap stepped forward and did the dirty work inside the Knicks.

His statistics may not be as dazzling as David Lee's, but his importance in the Knicks' interior is definitely not comparable to that of others.

Millsap has played 81 games this season, averaging 13.4 points per game, 6.7 rebounds per game, and 3.2 assists. His blocks and steals are not high, but through his strong body and being stuck in the paint, he can defeat the opponent every time.

The center was miserable.

Millsap's defense is a bit like that of Rockets' short center Chuck Hayes. Although he is not tall, his lower body strength is strong, his position at the basket is stable, and his defense is very strong. Even a big center player faces Millsap.

The defense is very difficult.

To be honest, this is also due to the training of coach Jerry Sloan. The Knicks can only say that they got a big bargain.

Although it is unrealistic for Millsap to completely defend Howard, it is also impossible for Howard to score easily against Millsap's defense.

"I'm optimistic about you Paul, I believe you will grow into the league's top defensive player in the future!" Lian Dao looked at Millsap with trust in his eyes.

This moved Millsap very much. He has established himself in the league step by step from a second-round pick. He has encountered too many distrustful looks.

In the past, Millsap could only suppress the distrust of his teammates in his heart, and then turn it into motivation for training on the training field.

But when he came to the Knicks, he never felt distrust in Lian Dao. This also made Millsap more confident this season, and his defensive skills have improved by leaps and bounds this season.

Millsap did not expect Lian Dao to think so highly of him, which moved him and at the same time he nodded firmly.

That afternoon, the Knicks participated in training at the training hall of Amway Arena.

In the afternoon, the Magic and Knicks also had to conduct adaptive training at the competition venue.

When the Knicks players entered the official game venue, some Magic players who had participated in adaptive training did not leave and were being interviewed by reporters.

And among these people is Dwight Howard.

Lian Dao looked at Howard and around the empty Amway Arena. Not surprisingly, with his current strength and the Knicks' current lineup, there is a high probability that he can defeat the Magic.

Because at the end of the first round of the playoffs, Lian Dao's learning process for the mid-range fadeaway jumper reached 100%, which means that he obtained the "Godly fadeaway" badge.

This way, I won't be so worried about being double-teamed by the Magic, and I'll have a powerful trump card.

However, the system has not been upgraded, which makes Lian Dao very puzzled. The previous upgrades were very fast, but during the playoffs, Lian Dao did not delve into it too much.

Lian Dao is most worried about accidents. His reborn little wings have changed many things. The development trajectory of some teams has changed because of Lian Dao.

The Knicks were studying the Magic, but Lian Dao didn't believe it. Van Gundy didn't study the Knicks, but himself. Especially the Knicks' game against the Bucks, Van Gundy would definitely watch it over and over again to find a way to target himself.

It's just that the time is too short, and Lian Dao still doesn't know to what extent Van Gundy can study it.

However, Lian Dao knew that the second round would definitely be much more difficult than the first round.

The Knicks players did not step forward to disturb the Magic players, and the Knicks conducted adaptive training in the other half.

Although the Knicks' record against the Magic in the regular season was not very good, the atmosphere between the two teams was pretty good.
Chapter completed!