Nba Playoff, Gallinari: ‘We weren’t ready, we need intensity in game-2’

This time no wine, although it was the best of his. There is nothing to celebrate for Danilo Gallinari after the Atlanta debacle in Miami in the first game of the playoffs. “We weren’t ready, and I honestly can’t explain why,” he said sadly.

intensity

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In a gruesome race for Atlanta, with Trae Young caged by the Miami defense and limited to 8 points and 1/12 shooting, Gallinari has long been Atlanta’s only effective weapon, finishing with 17 points including 10 in the second quarter. to try to keep the Hawks attached to the match while the Heat built a gap that quickly became unbridgeable. “Miami played with much more intensity and we have never managed to match their level – says the 33-year-old blue, still in the quintet despite the return of John Collins -. We were in the second game in 36 hours, but we are professionals and we are paid to play: we don’t want to be a team that looks for excuses. We have to forget about this match and think about the next one ”. Race-2, also scheduled for Tuesday in Miami, is already in the blue’s head. And the watchword is intensity: “It is the first thing we need-he repeats several times-. Then we have to improve the game plan, do better both in attack and defense, we have to run better, read their defense better and understand how to beat it. But it all starts with intensity “.

other level

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Gallinari’s thesis has similar themes to that advocated a little earlier by Nate McMillan. “Miami played at another level – admits the coach -. In the playoffs you have to take a step forward to be able to compete: they showed us what we need to do to have a chance. We have to play at another level of intensity: in defense we have to be focused on winning every possession, in attack we have to value every chance we have ”. Not even the positive return of John Collins serves to give the coach a smile again: “I had doubts whether to let him play or not-he says-: he had been out for a month, but he felt good and I think he did well. It was nice to see him back on the pitch, but obviously he still has to find the rhythm with his teammates “.

young

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After taking Atlanta to the playoffs with a wonderful last act of Play-In in Cleveland it is difficult to put Young in the dock. The Hawks star, however, played his worst game of the year, caged by the Miami defense: “They attacked us from the start, they sent us out of rhythm. But it doesn’t all depend on me – he says -: I have to make sure that my teammates are involved too, we have to make the right readings and a collective effort to beat their defense. We have to be ready for race-2 and we will be ”. Young is used to taking revenge on him. And he has already targeted a reversal in race-2.