The Way of the Center

Chapter 843 : A contest of will

The Cleveland Cavaliers’ locker room was lifeless, in stark contrast to the atmosphere before the game.

The players were silent, and even James’ face was full of unwillingness. Dignified Eastern overlord, a team with an All-Star lineup. Now, at halftime, he was driven into desperation by a Portland Trail Blazers with a disorganized lineup.

50-58, 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 originally seemed unthreatening, are now all soldiers. An Jie’s performance is naturally needless to say, but even Evan Turner, a guy who is almost forgotten by people, scored 11 points in the half game. This data is sufficient to illustrate the problem.

When the air in the dressing room was almost freezing, Tyronn Lu suddenly pushed in. From the facial expressions of this guy, the reporter must have asked a lot of embarrassing questions.

“Well, guys, this is really a tough game. But don’t worry, we still have a chance to change everything.” Tyronn Lu clapped his hands, and the eyes of the players gradually recovered some anger.

For the confident Cavaliers, suffering such a blow in the half of the game is indeed too bad for morale. James also knows that after the start of the second half, he must stand up like Anjie and set an example. If the military’s spirit cannot be stabilized, it will be difficult for the Cavaliers to make a comeback in the face of the Blazers’ defense like a bronze wall.

Tyronn Lue began to lay out the tactics for the second half of the game, and he focused more on defense. From the beginning of double-teaming An Jie, to the people behind. Now, Tyronn Lu has asked the players to switch defenses flexibly.

The Trail Blazers’ subtle passing and pick-and-roll cooperation in the first half of the game caused the Cavaliers to suffer a big loss. Their defense must also become flexible to have the opportunity to limit the opponent’s score.

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

In a short while, Tyronn Lue made all the arrangements. But looking at the players below, everyone still seems to have no bottom.

“Okay guys, it’s time to play! The Trail Blazers will make mistakes and be defeated! It’s 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 and say something encouraging In terms of people’s hearts, this has allowed the Cavaliers’ morale to rise.

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, and the two guys knew each other too well. An Jie’s three previous championships were all won from James.

As the “son of Tianjiao”, James has never been so completely defeated in the hands of one person in his career. This year, in any case, James will also defeat Anjie and his team. This is not only for the Cavaliers and the championship, but also for breaking the curse.

The two sides quickly stood on the court, ready to serve the baseline and start the second half of the game. Tyronn Lu looked at the court, and it seemed that the Blazers’ lineup had undergone some changes.

Iguodala was still there, but Turner, who scored 11 points in the first half, was missing. Instead, Aminu, who is known for defense. But to say that Ricard wants to consolidate defense, it doesn’t seem to be the case. Because in the first half of the game, the “big bull” Morris, who had blooded James, did not play, and was replaced by the European big Yusuf Nurkic.

Ricard’s inconsistent substitution made Tyronn Lu a little confused. But now it is impossible for him to immediately call a timeout to change his tactics just because of the appearance of Aminu and Nurkic. Sometimes, the opponent’s substitutions may not be effective.

After Thomas Jr. held the ball for half the court, the Trail Blazers immediately implemented a pressing defense against everyone.

Now the Blazers are not afraid of the Cavaliers’ players breaking through, anyway, after the breakthrough, there will be Anjie guarding the basket. Therefore, they can stick to the defense without reservation, and use a mad dog to prevent the Cavaliers from attacking on the outside.

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

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

After passing the ball several times, the Cavaliers did not get a good chance. In the end, James intends to pull out the gap by forcibly breaking through.

But now, James is no longer facing Iguodala, nor is it a flimsy Turner. It’s a Nigerian royal nobleman, Aminu who has the size of a power forward but can move like a small forward.

Prior to this, although Aminu was very strong and tall with long arms. But for some reason, this guy doesn’t like physical confrontation when defending.

But now, after experiencing the “pressing” of Ricard’s closed training, Aminu is more and more like to use his physical advantage when defensive.

The tonnage is larger, the body is more shaped, and the arm span is longer. Aminu’s defense made it difficult for James, who underestimated the enemy, to break through.

In the end, James had to take a step suddenly and then, in order to open the space between himself and Aminu, only to get a chance to breathe.

After a step back, James suddenly shot. However, interference with shooting is even more of Aminu’s strengths. This guy has a very accurate judgment on the timing of his shooting. Coupled with his long arms, James thought he had a chance, but he almost interfered with the shot in the end.

The basketball knocked out without a doubt, and An Jie easily protected the defensive rebound on Tristan Thompson’s head. As soon as the second half of the game came up for the first offense, the Cavaliers failed again.

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

Although he can no longer average seventeen or eight points per game as before, although he can no longer stage brutal dunks frequently. But as long as this guy is there, he can always make a difference.

Anjie crossed his gear and planned 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-rolls naturally, it will take some time for James to bypass Anjie’s pick-and-rolls. Love following Anjie continued to follow the tactical actions set by the coach. He changed positions flexibly and did not hesitate to switch defenses with James.

An Jie also cut in in time after the pick and roll. His move scared Tristan Thompson and James to shrink to An Jie at the same time, for fear that he would once again ravage the basket.

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

Thompson and James immediately caught up, James still does not believe that Anjie can score in this situation.

After holding the ball, An Jie stared at the rim and hugged the basketball with both hands. It seemed that he was planning to start three steps directly.

Seeing that Anjie was about to collide with Thompson and James, the big man of 00 who looked at the basket suddenly threw the basketball aside.

Nurkic, who was ambushing at the mid-range position, steadily caught the ball, and the basically solid European big man made a hit easily without being marked. Anjie’s assists after attracting defense are still as precise as a scalpel. The unique soft touch of the European big men made the Cavaliers experienced a failed defense immediately after experiencing a failed offense.

“Hey!” Tai Lun 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 tactical decision error, but a targeted adjustment.

With Nurkic, Anjie will be better able to flex his muscles on the offensive end. Aminu’s appearance allowed the Blazers’ defensive pressure to spread from the three-second zone to the outside.

Now, the point difference is completely widened by the Trail Blazers to double digits. In just two rounds, Anjie let James know that reality will never be as happy as imagined. The idea of ​​James Jedi’s counterattack was greatly hindered from the beginning.

As the game continued to deepen, the Cavaliers’ stardom advantage was finally revealed. Although the Trail Blazers can limit it to a certain point, when facing a team where all four of them are All-Star players, the Trail Blazers’ defense will inevitably encounter trouble.

The impact of Thomas Jr. has become an unexpected trouble for the Trail Blazers. Derrick Rose’s continued high-profile performance has also surprised all the commentators.

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

Although the Cavaliers gradually recovered their rhythm, they also played a wonderful offense. But from beginning to end, it was the Trailblazers that took the lead.

At the end of the first quarter, Rose’s buzzer shot gave the Cavaliers a lead, which was the only time the Cavaliers took a lead 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 state of turmoil, but they have been steadfast in their rhythm.

When Aminu’s defense was not effective, Ricard replaced Turner to score 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 or restrict, they can only limit the Trail Blazers for a short period of time. Seeing that it is about to time out, Ricard is always able to get out of the predicament through substitutions and changes in strategy.

James came back so close time and time again, but was left behind by the Trail Blazers when he was the closest.

In the last minute of the game, the tight string of the Cavaliers finally broke under the pressure of the Blazers defense. The continuous strikes of Rose and Thomas Jr. and a passing error by James caused the Cavaliers to completely lose the game.

Although it looked like a storm but persisted to the last Trail Blazers, he finally got his wish and won the game.

When Anjie was holding the ball outside 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 screamed!

Facing the contempt of the whole world Facing the hard closed training, facing the unaccompanied family, facing the fine of up to 500,000 US dollars, facing the injuries of Lillard and George… …. Under the influence of numerous unfavorable factors, An Jie finally clenched his teeth to the end and achieved a hard-won victory.

This guy held his arms high, roared frantically, venting all the unwilling emotions in his heart. You said I was destined to lose, but now, see who takes the lead?

“To be honest, in the last three minutes of the game, I thought the Trail Blazers would be unable to withstand it. Unexpectedly, it was the James Corps that collapsed first. This is undoubtedly a wonderful tug of war, and An and the Trail Blazers With a more tenacious will, I 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 impressed by the Blazers’ performance, he originally thought that the Cavaliers were destined to pass easily. But after this game, Kenny Smith found that he was very wrong.

Anjie is still roaring ferociously in the middle of the court. This lion from the east is marking his territory on the land of Portland!

The proud son of heaven? All-star team? Sorry, in the land of the Torn City, I am the only truth!