Rose held the ball at the top of the key, looking to run a pick-and-roll with Chen Xi. He drove, kicked the ball back out, then settled into the corner.
At the top of the key, Chen Xi caught the ball, squared up, and used the mismatch against Garland.
With a simple push dribble change of direction, he accelerated past Garland. A little contact was all it took to brush him aside before Chen Xi drove straight to the basket, drew in the defense, and calmly passed the ball out.
Derrick Rose caught the ball in the left corner and took a spot-up three.
Swish~~
The basketball swished through the net.
As Rose gradually approached the end of his career, he had quietly developed into a reliable spot-up three-point shooter.
After rejoining the Knicks last season, he had shot a career-best 41.1 percent from beyond the arc.
In the first game of this season, he had also gone two-for-four from three, shooting 50 percent and giving the team a solid contribution.
It was no exaggeration to say that, apart from his low volume, Rose was now a reliable spacing option on the perimeter.
After that three-pointer went in, the ball returned to the Pacers.
McConnell continued to run the offense.
The same move.
But this time, his mid-range jumper wouldn't fall.
In truth, if the Pacers chose to attack the paint aggressively, the Knicks might have been more worried about their three-point shooting.
But with the Knicks' current lineup, they certainly weren't afraid of mid-range shots from the wings.
The reason was simple.
The Knicks had Chen Xi and Ethan on the floor, two excellent help defenders.
Their timely help defense would make life miserable for a player like McConnell, who wasn't especially gifted.
Drummond secured the rebound and passed