Chapter 163 Biyombo's Chance

Tang Tian and Jokic went to the bench to rest, replaced by Aminu and Gordon.

The Knicks also made substitutions, with Langston Galloway, JR Smith, and Stoudemire replacing Calderon, Anthony, and Bargnani.

Gordon contributed a missed shot as soon as he came on the court. He had been struggling since February.

Howard grabbed the defensive rebound.

Galloway broke through to the basket, attracted a double team, and passed to Howard.

Howard dribbled once and jumped up for a dunk.

Davis turned to block, but the level of physical confrontation was completely different.

Howard slammed into Davis in the air and smashed the ball hard into the basket.

The Knicks' bench exploded.

Lance Thomas even excitedly jumped to the sidelines and waved his towel vigorously.

This play showed what the peak Beast was like!

Gordon's shot was still off, and Davis's put-back was also interfered with by Howard and missed.

JR Smith's isolation pull-up jumper over Ariza went wide, and Howard forced a foul on Davis's put-back.

This time he made both free throws.

He played impressively, helping the Knicks chase points continuously.

After he was truly happy playing basketball, he finally regained the feeling of his peak.

Williams frowned slightly on the sidelines.

Jokic hadn't finished losing weight and gaining muscle, and he suffered in confrontations with Howard. Davis, on the other hand, hadn't finished gaining weight and muscle, and the confrontation was even more disadvantageous.

Whiteside couldn't play, and the defense inside became a big problem.

At the end of the first quarter, the score was 33 to 31.

The Knicks used their inside advantage to chase points continuously at the end of the quarter, completely making up for the previous deficit.

At the start of the second quarter, both sides continued to rotate players further.

Williams went to the end of the bench and called Biyombo up.

A game had 12 active roster spots, 5 starters, 5 substitutes, and 2 spots for flexible use.

Because Whiteside couldn't play today, Williams put both Evans and Biyombo on the list.

Davis's effect at the center position was very poor, so he chose Biyombo between the two.

This was a relatively common choice.

Generally, players who have just been traded will get a higher rotation position.

This was the opportunity that Tang Tian had mentioned to Biyombo in the locker room before.

But if this player was a role player or even a bench player, then for them, this was likely to be one of the few or even just one opportunity.

If they didn't seize such an opportunity, then they would likely be completely abandoned by the coach.

For role players who were no longer rookies, the NBA was that cruel.

At the start of the second quarter, both sides were playing with all substitutes.

The Knicks had Galloway and JR Smith on the outside, Lance Thomas and Stoudemire on the front line, and Cole Aldrich at center.

The Pelicans had Dinwiddie and Gordon on the outside, Morrow and Aminu on the front line, and Biyombo at center.

At the start of the second quarter, Gordon's drive past Smith to the basket still missed.

Aldrich grabbed the defensive rebound.

The Knicks attacked to the frontcourt, and Thomas posted up Morrow, asking for the ball.

Galloway passed the ball inside, and Thomas directly posted up Morrow, turning around for a pull-up jumper that went in.

The Knicks tied the score.

Thomas punched the air excitedly after scoring.

He was cut by the Pelicans at the beginning of the season, and then signed by the Knicks and put into the rotation.

Against his old team, players would basically be like bloodthirsty, not to mention that Thomas had been playing very well since arriving in New York.

When Anthony was out before, he was basically the starter, and he had even scored 20+ points.

His height and weight were similar to Anthony's, and his offensive skills were also very comprehensive. He was just a weakened version of Anthony.

Dinwiddie dribbled to the frontcourt, and Gordon asked for the ball again, but he didn't pass it, instead signaling for the team to run a play.

With Whiteside out, the focus of the home fans was mostly on the center position, watching Jokic's performance, and seeing who would come off the bench.

But in reality, that trade also affected Dinwiddie, who went directly from third point guard to backup point guard.

Dinwiddie made a tactical gesture, and Morrow and Gordon each ran around screens to the forty-five-degree angle outside the three-point line.

Dinwiddie was much taller than Galloway on the other side, had a good passing vision, and was also very aware, passing the ball to Gordon in time.

Gordon took the three-point shot.

"Swish!"

He finally made his first goal of the game.

This was actually similar to Tang Tian's situation before. Gordon was the sixth man on the bench team, and he was bound to receive more defensive attention.

It was easy to be targeted when he took the ball to attack, but the chances were much better if he ran around.

For the Knicks' offense, Thomas continued to post up Morrow, asking for the ball.

Galloway really passed it inside.

This seemed to be one of Woodson's offensive priorities, with Howard playing against Jokic at the start and now Thomas playing against Morrow, both targeting favorable matchups.

After passing the ball, Galloway signaled his teammates to spread out, preventing other Pelicans players from helping.

Morrow was trying hard to hold his ground, and after being scored on in the previous possession, he was clearly defending Thomas's shot this time.

However, Thomas's offensive skills were really quite comprehensive, and he turned around and drove straight to the basket.

His speed was not slow either, and he quickly shot near the basket.

But at this moment, Biyombo squeezed past Aldrich's screen and stretched out his hand to interfere with all his might.

After all, Thomas wasn't really Anthony. Biyombo's sudden appearance caught him off guard, and he didn't have time to adjust, so he just raised his release point.

But he still couldn't avoid Biyombo's long arms, and the ball was tipped back.

The crowd cheered.

However, the cheers didn't last long, because Aldrich quickly grabbed the tipped ball and laid it in from close range.

Something unexpected happened. Biyombo, who had just blocked Thomas, turned around and returned to the basket, jumping up to block Aldrich's shot.

Aldrich was 2.11 meters tall, 5 cm taller than Biyombo, and his arms were also very long, with a very high release point.

"Bang!"

But his shot was ultimately blocked back by Biyombo with a solid slap!

The fans in the arena were stunned. He was actually able to block this shot, and it was a frontal block!

The Pelicans' bench also erupted.

In the first quarter, the Pelicans' inside was suppressed badly, and these two blocks were finally a chance to vent their anger!

Tang Tian wasn't that surprised. This was what Biyombo did, and it was what he could do well.

The NBA was a league of talent, the so-called "no talent, no NBA."

Talent was divided into many types, including hard talents such as height, arm length, and jumping ability, and soft talents such as touch, basketball IQ, and vision.

"What is the strongest talent" was a frequently mentioned and discussed topic. Although there was a lot of controversy, hard talent had always been higher than soft talent.

This was also why the NBA draft prioritized people with height and arm length.

And among hard talents, the most recognized strongest talent was wingspan.

If you wanted to play basketball well, you couldn't lack wingspan.

These words were the truth, especially in the NBA, the most elite league.

Biyombo was a wingspan freak, even one of the strongest in history.