After Giannis received the pass, he charged straight ahead and drove into the Knicks' paint. Even with Toppin challenging him, he calmly finished at the rim.
7–2.
Milwaukee once again played very Milwaukee-style basketball.
The opening tempo was excellent.
Now, back to the Knicks' offensive possession.
Rose held the ball on the perimeter and continued to look for Chen Xi in the middle.
This time, Chen Xi chose the forty-five-degree angle and signaled for Hartenstein to come up for an on-ball screen. He then used the screen to drive into the paint before jumping and kicking the ball out to Grant in the weak-side corner.
Jerami Grant's second three-point attempt after receiving the pass.
This time, it went in.
The basketball swished through the net.
The score returned to 5–7.
Grant did not always miss.
It was just that his efficiency was certainly far lower than that of Lillard, Giannis, Chen Xi, and the others.
That was perfectly normal.
After all, he was neither a superstar nor a specialist shooter.
Both teams quickly settled into their own rhythms during the opening stage.
Milwaukee attacked fiercely and with remarkable efficiency. Thanks to their advantage in pure ability, they smoothly took the lead right from the start.
The Knicks, meanwhile, played steadily, combining well as a team and executing their tactics seriously. That allowed them to cling tightly to the deficit instead of letting Milwaukee easily pull away and widen its advantage.
This development was actually fairly acceptable for the Knicks.
After all, compared with Game 1, the current situation was already much better.
At the very least, although the players' efficiency was not especially high, it was still stable enough.
They had made quite a few of the shots they were supposed to make.
Grant and Toppin had both performed