The Godfather of Basketball

The opening rounds became the epitome of the first quarter of the two teams.

James really supported Irving and gave Irving enough opportunities.

Irving's singles ability is also really strong. Once he is given a chance, he will go to the basket to score points.

In the first quarter alone, he personally contributed as many as 10 points.

But the Cavaliers did not have an advantage on the court.

At the end of the first quarter, the score on the court was 25 to 24, and the Cavaliers only led the Nets by 1 point.

Tang Tian looked more relaxed on the sidelines at this time.

Fans watch football sometimes with a lot of subjectivity, but their understanding of players is relatively accurate most of the time.

Like Owen, his ability is indeed very strong, but he is not strong enough to change the game by himself. Given the original opportunity of James, the damage he can cause is almost meaningless.

This is actually enough for the Eastern Conference team, but they are playing the second best team in the Eastern Conference, the Nets, and this Nets is especially good at defense. Take advantage.

This was an inadvertent adjustment made by the Cavaliers, but it fell into Tang Tian's hands.

What he said in the off-court interview actually wanted this result.

Those words are half heartfelt and half true. James is too strong. Only by distributing the ball from him can the Nets have a greater chance of winning.

Fortunately, he has been James' head coach for more than two years, so he has a better understanding of James' personality. The current result has already achieved what he wanted.

During the second quarter of the bench, the Cavaliers were led by Love, plus Dellavedova, Shumpert, Jefferson and Frye.

The Nets are led by Butler, plus Livingston, Booker, David West and Oden.

"Our performance in the first quarter was great, but whether we can win the game depends on your performance in this period. Work hard and tell our opponents that this is our home field!"

During the break between festivals, Tang Tian shouted at his substitute players after he finished arranging the tactics.

There is no doubt that the Cavaliers are strong, but the Nets' only advantage is in the transition from the bench, so the next few minutes are particularly critical.

"Defend! Defend!"

The fans at the scene watched the past two games and even this point, and the second quarter started with all their strength to cheer for the home team.

After Dellavedova advanced to the frontcourt, he gave the ball to Love in the low post, and Love sat in the low post to play West.

Love deliberately gained weight in order to swing the fifth position this season, in order to enrich the team's low-post tactics in the transition period.

However, West's strength and confrontation are stronger than Love's, and Love has no chance to hit back a few times.

The ball finally returned to Dellavedova, and Frye went straight to the pick-and-roll.

After tearing down the ball, Dellavedova broke through the basket, Oden's defense was very tight, Dellavedova's layup missed, and the rebound was accepted by Oden.

Livingston carries the ball upfield and West holds the ball in the low post.

Love couldn't beat West, but looking back, West was right about Love. The hard-pressed Love retreated again and again. When he hit the penalty area, he turned around and hit the board to send the ball into the basket.

The confrontation is not just about weight. Love's weight gain did not give full play to this kind of high-intensity competition.

West's goal also allowed the Nets to successfully overtake the score.

Love's three-pointer after the pick-and-roll in the frontcourt was missed by Butler, and Oden received a defensive rebound.

Livingston dribbled the ball into the frontcourt and gave the ball to West in the low post. West played again, and Jefferson on the weak side came to help defend. Cut Butler, Butler catches the ball and directly dunks with both hands.

The Nets' offense played smoothly on the court.

Tang Tian yelled on the sidelines to remind the players to retreat, but the joyful expression on his face betrayed his current mood.

West is the kind of player who can become the pivot. The Pacers' positional battle with him and without him are completely two levels. This was obvious in the first round of the match, and now West has become the Nets. The axis of the team's bench group, which is also the biggest advantage of the Nets in the transition period of the bench.

Dellavedova missed a three-pointer, Jefferson missed a tip-up, and West turned back to accept the defensive rebound.

Blatter was a little dissatisfied with the team's defense at this stage, and went to the sidelines and yelled to remind the players of their defensive positions.

Livingston held the ball to the frontcourt and wanted to pass the ball to West. Love directly chose to go forward at this time.

Although the confrontation is not dominant, he has a large area, and his hand interference did not allow Livingston to get the ball in.

However, the Nets are notoriously strong off the bench this season, and it must be more than just West. Livingston immediately reached out to make a new tactical gesture, and Booker and Butler immediately ran three-pointers on the weak side through the pick-and-roll.

Blatter's roar worked, and Shumpert and Jefferson's follow-up defense was in place without giving Booker and Butler a chance to make a shot.

However, when the Cavaliers' defensive focus shifted to the outside three-pointer, West and Oden quickly cut to the basket after dismantling the ball.

Livingston had a good vision and gave the ball to Oden with a flick of his hand. Oden caught the ball and threw Love away, and directly scored with one hand.

There was a burst of whistles and cheers from the fans.

After returning from the second quarter, the Nets beat the Cavaliers 6-0 and directly overtook the Cavaliers by 5 points.

David Blatt was very dissatisfied and called a timeout.

Tang Tian took the initiative to go to the sidelines to give his substitute players high fives one by one.

The performance of the substitute group in this period is very important, not to mention the changes in scores, but the momentum has already taken advantage.

Back from the timeout, Blatt replaced Love with James.

After James came up, he made a strong attack and caused Butler to foul, and went to the free throw line to continue the points for the Cavaliers.

But after the Nets played this period of momentum, Livingston immediately responded to Dellavedova's fadeaway jumper in the low post.

After a battle, the Nets led the Cavaliers by 6 points 59 to 53 at halftime.

For the first time in the series, the Nets had the advantage at halftime.

Such a result made the fans cheer, but it also made Barkley and Kenny Smith in the commentary stand puzzled.

James only took 6 shots in the halftime. Although it has something to do with the Nets' double-team strategy, the number of such shots is less than the previous game, while Irving took 13 shots.

This was obviously a key factor in the Cavaliers' fall behind, but the Cavaliers and James didn't make any changes after returning in the second quarter and let this continue to happen.

Barkley and Smith were puzzled, but probably only Tang Tian, ​​who knew James well, knew.

If Kobe is a paranoid scorer, then James is a paranoid team player. Unless he is really desperate, if he has a choice, he still likes to give the ball to the player with the best chance.

This is his character trait, or it can also be said to be his character weakness.