Chapter 1 The Packed Arena

The Fiserv Forum was packed to the rafters that night.

The story of how the arena came to be was interesting in itself.

The Bucks had previously used the Bradley Center, built in 1988, making it one of the oldest arenas alongside Madison Square Garden and Oracle Arena.

But unlike the other two old arenas, it had barely been renovated. Not just visiting teams, but even the home team constantly complained about the arena's environment.

"Playing there is like going back to the last century."

Kobe had once lamented after a game.

Because the Bradley Center's owners, the Pettit family, were unwilling to pay the high costs of renovation, such complaints were frequent.

Eventually, the NBA put pressure on them, offering three options: renovate, build a new arena, or move the Bucks to Seattle.

In the end, the Wisconsin State Senate chose to build a new arena, which led to the creation of this new arena with a capacity of 17,500 people.

Although not as large as the top NBA arenas, the facilities inside were state-of-the-art, which was undoubtedly good news for Bucks fans.

The most obvious change was that the home games, which had previously had low attendance, were now almost always sold out.

This also reflected the Bucks' current popularity in the league.

The Bucks fans in the arena were exceptionally enthusiastic, not only wearing uniform green T-shirts, but also covering their faces and even hair in green.

Like the Celtics, green was their team's primary color.

As the NBA team with the shortest championship drought, the fans were very unwilling.

Especially after their experience of having Glenn Robinson, Ray Allen, and Terrell Brandon, the three musketeers, but still failing to rise to prominence.

They desperately hoped that this Bucks team could recreate their past glory.

Half an hour before the game, the players from both teams began to enter the arena.

The Bucks' head coach was Mike Budenholzer, Donatien's former coach. After entering the court, he made a point of observing the Pelicans' bench.

Seeing Davis in a suit and tie, his mood immediately improved.

Davis being unable to play was the best news for the Bucks.

After the warm-up, the pre-game ceremony began, and the starting lineups of both teams entered the court one after another.

For the Pelicans, it was Brogdon and Carter in the backcourt, Donatien and Siakam on the wings, and Gasol at center.

With Green still injured, Stevens continued to start Carter at shooting guard.

This made him surpass Jabbar's record of 42 years and 6 days, becoming the oldest player to start in an NBA Finals game (42 years and 122 days).

For the Bucks, it was Irving and Redick in the backcourt, Hayward and Antetokounmpo on the wings, and Horford at center.

It was worth noting that the Pelicans continued to use the "head-touching" entrance ceremony from the past two games.

Judging by this momentum, as long as Donatien was still on the Pelicans, this ceremony would probably be performed every night.

Gasol's long arms tipped the ball back into the Pelicans' half, giving the visitors the first chance to attack.

Brogdon dribbled the ball to the front court and passed it to Gasol for high post playmaking.

Donatien and Brogdon made off-ball cuts from the left and right.

However, this tactic was not successful.

In theory, Irving and Redick were types that anyone could take advantage of on the perimeter.

But Budenholzer started with a 2-1-2 zone defense, with Antetokounmpo as the "1", standing inside the free throw line.

Antetokounmpo had excellent defensive coverage and speed, and this defensive formation could greatly compensate for the Pelicans' weak perimeter defense.

Compared to Vogel, he was clearly a more skilled coach.

But unfortunately for him, the Pelicans had a coach on the court.

If it was purely one-on-one defense, tactics couldn't play a big role, but when it came to playing tactics, Donatien was several levels above Budenholzer.

He signaled to get the ball back and then made a hand gesture for a 1-3-1 formation.

This was a counter-tactic.

Carter and Brogdon spread out on the left and right sides, and Donatien and Gasol ran a pick-and-roll on the left side at a 45-degree angle.

At that moment, Carter cut in from the right, Donatien made a甩手 (Shuai Shou) pass, and Carter, after receiving the ball at the free throw line, passed it to the basket.

Siakam had already quickly cut to the basket, caught Carter's pass, and slammed it in with both hands for a score.

Stevens, as a tactical coach, placed great emphasis on tactical training, and the players had a very good understanding of each other.

In the Bucks' frontcourt offense, Irving and Horford ran a pick-and-roll and then drove straight to the basket.

Gasol couldn't keep up with his speed, and Irving had already shaken him off after entering the free throw line.

However, Siakam's help defense from the weak side had arrived. Irving didn't choose to pass the ball, but forced a shot over Siakam.

The ball was disturbed by Siakam's long arms, and Irving's difficult shot missed, and the referee didn't blow the whistle.

Gasol arrived to secure the defensive rebound.

There was a stir on the sidelines, as the Pelicans clearly had the upper hand in this first offensive and defensive possession of the game.

Donatien held the ball in the frontcourt again, and the Bucks still played a 2-1-2.

Donatien passed the ball to Gasol in the high post, with Antetokounmpo defending him.

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

The Bucks' wing defense was constrained, and Gasol turned around and passed the ball directly to the basket.

It was Siakam again, cutting in to catch the ball and slamming it in with both hands!

After this dunk, he couldn't help but roar. He scored 4 consecutive points to start the game, and they were all dunks. He was having a great time!

The arena was in an uproar.

The Bucks' 2-1-2 formation had worked wonders in the previous Eastern Conference playoffs, but against the Pelicans, it had been completely broken down at the start of the game!

"The Pelicans' tactical reaction ability is too fast."

Kenny Smith on the commentary desk couldn't help but exclaim.

"They have a coach on the court."

O'Neal continued to boast.

However, judging from the fact that Donatien had been standing on the court directing tactics since the beginning of the game, this boast was spot on.

In fact, Donatien had done this kind of thing a lot on the Pelicans.

Hayward's layup on a drive was also defended by Donatien.

The Bucks had not scored a single point in the first two minutes of the game!

They were experiencing the defensive treatment that the Lakers had received in the last two games of the series!

And what was even more deadly was that, seeing the Bucks still playing a 2-1-2 defensive formation, Donatien pulled up directly for a three-pointer from beyond the three-point line.

"Swish!"

The basketball went into the net!

Donatien made a three-pointer as well!

The Pelicans took the lead, outscoring the Bucks 7-0 to start the game!

There was an uproar on the sidelines.

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

Any zone defense has weaknesses, and the basket is a breakthrough point when a 2-1-2 faces a 1-3-1.

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

Budenholzer was still insisting on it after the basket was repeatedly broken through in the front, but Donatien's three-pointer forced him to switch.

He knew that if Donatien was allowed to play like this, he could single-handedly beat a team.

This had been proven countless times.

"Go Bucks!"

With the situation unfavorable, the in-arena DJ took the lead in cheering for the home team.

However, the Pelicans' defense remained impenetrable.

Seeing that the offensive time was more than halfway through, Antetokounmpo asked for the ball and signaled to spread out.

He was about to start a one-star-four-shooter play.

After taking a look at Siakam in front of him, Antetokounmpo chose to drive to the basket facing him.

The NBA had a defensive three-second rule, and as long as he got past Siakam, the Pelicans' interior would be at his mercy.

Siakam defended very hard, but his physical resistance was a notch below Antetokounmpo.

Antetokounmpo squeezed past with a sideways movement, and then, like a tank with the accelerator floored, charged straight into the Pelicans' restricted area.

"You can't let him go one-on-one like that, once he gets going it's just a..."

"Bang!"

Before Barkley could finish speaking, Antetokounmpo collided with Donatien in the three-second area and knocked Donatien over.

"Toot!"

The referee blew his whistle, indicating an offensive foul by Antetokounmpo.