The Way of the Center

The lifelessness of the Cleveland Cavaliers locker room was in stark contrast to the atmosphere before the game.

The players were silent one by one, and even James' face was full of unwillingness. The dominant Eastern Conference, a team with an All-Star lineup. Now, at halftime, he was cornered by a disorganized Portland Trail Blazers.

50 to 58, if the game time is one or two more rounds, maybe the Trail Blazers will widen the point difference to double digits.

The Trail Blazers, which looked like no threat at first, are now all soldiers. Of course, Anjie's performance needless to say, but even a guy like Evan Turner, who is almost forgotten by people, scored 11 points in the half of the game. This data is enough to illustrate the problem.

Just when the air in the locker room was about to freeze, Tyronn Lu suddenly pushed the door open and entered. From the expression on this guy's face, it can be seen that the reporter outside just now must have asked a lot of embarrassing questions.

"Okay guys, this is really a difficult game. But don't worry, we still have a chance to change all of this." Tyronn Lu clapped his hands, and the eyes of the players gradually regained some vitality.

For the confident Cavaliers, suffering such a blow at halftime is indeed too damaging to morale. James also knew that after the start of the second half, he had to stand up and set an example like Anjie. If the morale of the army cannot be stabilized, it will be difficult for the Cavaliers to come back in the face of the Blazers' impregnable defense.

Tyronn Lue began to arrange tactics for the second half of the game, and he focused more on defense. From double-teaming Anjie at the beginning, to man-to-man behind. Now, Tyronn Lue has asked the players to switch defenses flexibly.

The Trail Blazers' exquisite passing and pick-and-roll cooperation in the first half of the game caused the Cavaliers a big loss. Their defense must also become flexible in order to have a chance to limit the opponent's scoring.

As for the offensive end, Tyronn Lue asked the players to open up as much space as possible. Especially Anjie and Morris, the presence of these two people has turned the paint area of ​​Moda Center into a veritable no-fly zone. I believe James, Wade, Thomas Jr. and Rose have a deep understanding of this.

After a while, Tyronn Lu made all the deployments. But looking at the players below, everyone still seems to have no idea.

"Okay guys, it's time to play! The Trail Blazers will make mistakes and be defeated! They are only eight points behind, as long as everyone works together, they will definitely win the game!" James had to stand up at the last moment to say a few words of encouragement If it is popular, this has allowed the morale of the Cavaliers to pick up.

The players rushed out of the player channel one by one and returned to the court. As soon as they stepped out, they heard cheers from the audience.

But these cheers are not for the Cavaliers players,

Because opposite the Cavaliers, the Trail Blazers also rushed out under the leadership of An Jie!

James and Anjie looked at each other. These two guys are too familiar with each other. Anjie's previous three championships were all won by James.

As the "son of the arrogant", James has never been so completely defeated by one person in his career. This year, no matter what, James will crush Anjie and his team. This is not only for the Cavaliers and the championship, but also for breaking through the curse.

The two sides quickly established themselves on the court, ready to serve the baseline and start the second half of the game. Tyronn Lue looked at the field, and it seemed that the Trail Blazers' lineup had undergone some changes.

Iguodala was still on the court, but Turner, who scored 11 points in the first half, was nowhere to be seen. It was replaced by Aminu, known for his defense. But it doesn't seem to be the case to say that Ricard wants to consolidate the defense. Because the "big bull" Morris, who had blood on James in the first half of the game, did not play, and was replaced by European big Jusuf Nurkic.

Rickard's somewhat inconsistent substitutions made Tyronn Lu a little confused. But now it is impossible for him to immediately call a timeout to change his tactics because of the appearance of Aminu and Nurkic. Sometimes, the opponent's substitutions are not necessarily effective.

After Thomas Jr. dominated the half court, the Blazers immediately put everyone on the tight defense.

Now the Blazers are not afraid of the Cavaliers' players breaking through. Anyway, after the breakthrough, Anjie will guard the basket. Therefore, they can stick to defense without reservation, and use mad dog-like winding to prevent the Cavaliers from attacking on the outside.

Kevin Love responded to Tyronn Lue's strategy and pulled to the outside to create space for others. But this time, the person who followed Love was no longer An Jie, but Nurkic.

When Morris was away, the entire inside line was guarded by An Jie himself. Tristan Thompson doesn't have the ability to space the floor. Therefore, An Jie can safely and boldly guard near the three-second zone.

After passing the ball several times, the Cavaliers didn't get a good chance. In the end, James intends to use a forced breakthrough to pull out the gap.

But now, James is no longer facing Iguodala, nor is it the frail Turner. It's Aminu, a Nigerian royal who has the size of a power forward but moves like a small forward.

Previously, although Aminu was very strong and tall and long arms. But for some reason, the guy doesn't like being physical when he's on defense.

But now, after experiencing the "force" of Ricard's closed training, Aminu is more and more fond of using his physical advantages in defense.

More tonnage, shaper body, longer wingspan. Aminu's defense made it very difficult for James, who underestimated the enemy, to break through.

In the end, James had to take a step back suddenly, so as to open the space between himself and Aminu, and got a chance to breathe.

After taking a step back, James suddenly shot. However, interference shooting, which is Aminu's strength. This guy's timing of his shot is very accurate, coupled with his long arms, James thought he had a chance, but he almost shot against interference in the end.

The basketball went out without a doubt, and Anjie easily protected the defensive rebound on Tristan Thompson's head. As soon as the first offense came up in the second half, the Cavaliers failed again.

After the successful defense, the Trail Blazers did not speed up, and Iguodala still commanded the offense unhurriedly. The value of this veteran is fully reflected at this moment.

Although he can no longer average 17 or 18 points per game like before, although he can no longer frequently stage brutal dunks. But as long as the guy is on the floor, he always makes a difference.

An Jie crossed a block, planning to make a pick-and-roll cooperation with Iguodala. Iguodala did not hesitate, and immediately broke through in the direction of Anjie's cover.

Needless to say, the quality of Anjie's pick-and-roll, it will definitely take some time for James to bypass Anjie's pick-and-roll. Love, who followed An Jie, continued to act according to the tactics arranged by the coach. He switched positions flexibly and switched defenses with James without hesitation.

Angie also cut inside in time after the pick-and-roll. His move scared Tristan Thompson and James to shrink to Angie's side at the same time, for fear that he would wreak havoc on the basket again.

Sure enough, Iguodala, who broke through halfway, leaned on Love and passed the ball to the side, and sent the ball to An Jie who cut in.

Thompson and James immediately caught up. James still didn't believe that Anjie could score in such a situation.

After An Jie held the ball, his eyes were fixed on the basket, and he hugged the basketball with both hands, as if he planned to take three steps directly.

Seeing that An Jie was about to collide with Thompson and James, the big 00 man who was looking at the basket suddenly threw the basketball aside.

Nurkic, who was ambushing in the mid-range position, caught the ball steadily. This basically solid European big man easily made a mid-range shot without being marked. An Jie's assist after attracting the defense was still as precise as a scalpel. The soft touch unique to European big men made the Cavaliers experience a failed defense immediately after a failed offense.

"Hey!" Tyronn Lu waved his fist unwillingly. Seeing that the defense was about to succeed, An Jie suddenly found another gap. It seems that Ricard's seemingly contradictory substitution is not a mistake in tactical decision-making, but a targeted adjustment.

With Nurkic, Anjie can better flex his muscles on the offensive end. Aminu's playing allowed the Blazers' defensive oppression to spread from the three-second zone to the outside.

This time, the point difference was completely widened to double digits by the Trail Blazers. In just two rounds, Anjie let James know that reality will never be as happy as imagined. James' idea of ​​a Jedi counterattack encountered great obstacles from the beginning.

As the game continued to deepen, the Cavaliers' advantage of having more stars was finally gradually manifested. Although the Trail Blazers can limit a certain point, when facing a team with four All-Star players, the Blazers' defense will inevitably encounter trouble.

Thomas Jr.'s impact became an unexpected problem for the Trail Blazers, and Derrick Rose's continuous highlight performance also surprised the commentators.

On the contrary, the performance of the two good brothers James and Wade today is very average. Maybe the Trail Blazers set up more defenses against the two of them, which led to this situation.

Although the Cavaliers gradually regained their rhythm, they also played a wonderful offense. But from beginning to end, it has always been the Trail Blazers who have taken the lead.

At the end of the first quarter, Rose's buzzer shot gave the Cavaliers the lead, which was the only time the Cavaliers led in the entire game.

The game continued until the end of the fourth quarter. Under the bombardment of the Cavaliers' stars, the Trail Blazers seemed to be in a precarious situation, but they have been tenacious to stabilize the rhythm.

When Aminu's defense is not working well, Ricard will replace Turner to score some points. After Nurkic was targeted, Ricard was able to replace Morris to strengthen the defense and let Anjie attack. Iguodala couldn't pass the ball, and Napier continued to do his job.

In short, no matter how the Cavaliers adjust and limit, they can only limit the Trail Blazers for a short period of time. Seeing that the overtime is about to be reversed, Ricard can always get out of the predicament through substitutions and strategy changes.

James was so close to overtaking again and again, but was left behind by the Trail Blazers at the closest time.

In the last minute of the game, the tight string of the Cavaliers was finally broken by the Blazers' oppressive defense. The continuous strikes of Rose and Thomas Jr. and a pass error by James made the Cavaliers completely lose the game.

Although it looked precarious, the Blazers who persisted until the end finally got their wish and won the game.

When Angie was holding the ball beyond the three-point line and the red light on the backboard finally came on. This tall No. 00 player slammed the basketball onto the floor, and then roared to the sky!

Facing the contempt of the whole world, facing the hard closed training, facing the family who cannot accompany him, facing the fine of up to 500,000 US dollars, facing the injuries of Lillard and George... in countless Under the influence of unfavorable factors, An Jie finally gritted his teeth and persisted to the end, winning the hard-won victory.

This guy raised his arms high and roared crazily, venting out all the unwilling emotions in his heart. You say I'm doomed to lose, but now, let's see who takes the lead?

"To be honest, in the last three minutes of the game, I thought the Trail Blazers would be overwhelmed. Unexpectedly, it was the James Corps that collapsed first. This is undoubtedly a wonderful tug-of-war, and Ann and the Trail Blazers, Relying on a more tenacious will, he became the final winner. Audience friends, I take back what I said before. Although Damien and George are missing, this finals is still full of suspense!" Kenny Smith Completely overwhelmed by the performance of the Trail Blazers, he originally thought that the Cavaliers were destined to pass easily. But after this game, Kenny Smith found out that he was very wrong.

An Jie was still roaring ferociously in the center of the court. This lion from the East is marking its territory on the land of Portland!

The pride of heaven? All-star team? I'm sorry, but on the land of the City of Torn, I am the only truth!