At this moment, not only Thompson, but Irving and Harden also had wonderful expressions.
Harden's eyes widened with an expression of "Oh my god", while Irving wiped his eyes and couldn't believe what was happening in front of him.
They knew how hard Thompson was, but it was obvious that Lin Ying was even harder than Thompson.
No, it's not just hard, it's strong.
Lin Ying's extraordinary aerial skills just now can be achieved by only a handful of people in the active league.
"Whoa!"
Lin Ying's extra penalty hit again.
8 to 12!
With two consecutive 2+1s, Lin Ying helped the Nets narrow the point difference to 4 points in one breath.
Basketball is a sport for five people, but because there is only one ball, at certain times, one person can solve the problems of five people.
The next round is very critical for the Cavaliers.
If they still can't score, the Nets will probably reduce the point difference to one goal.
At that time, the advantage they established in the opening game will be gone.
Harden and Irving made eye contact, and they had a clear understanding.
Harden changed direction and broke through Johnson, and then passed the ball to Irving who was free of the ball.
Facts have proven that Irving's ability off the ball is greatly underestimated, and his flexibility and ability to escape are definitely the first in the league.
Moreover, his off-ball skills are also completely up to standard. After catching the ball, he made a pull-up jump shot.
"Whoa!"
With a soft touch, Irving hit this key shot!
8 to 14!
The score difference is back to 6 points!
Quicken Loans Arena is boiling again.
For the first time since the series, the status of the Cavaliers' backcourt duo is online at the same time!
They still have a chance!
"Defend! Defend!"
The venue was once again filled with cheers from Cavaliers fans.
Irving's key shot just now gave them new hope!
Lin Ying caught the ball outside the three-point line.
He is not limited to starting singles from the high post. With his excellent first step and rich offensive skills, he can launch attacks from any position in the half court.
Previously, it was easy to hit Miles from behind.
Now that the Cavaliers are resolutely attacking him, there is no need to keep playing like that.
Miles, not nervous.
He couldn't resist Lin Ying hitting him from behind, but if he faced him, he believed that his speed could keep up.
Miles didn't take Lin Ying's shooting action from beyond the three-point line...
Damn it, Lin Ying just pulled it out!
At this moment, Miles was immediately frozen in place, and he could only look up to Lin Ying's move.
"Whoa!"
There was a crisp sound of hitting the net, and the basketball fell into the net bag like a cannonball.
Killing can only be done with a nod of the head!
11 to 14!
A difference of one ball!
Quicken Loans Arena is buzzing with excitement.
This is so unreasonable!
Those fans in front of the TV can now understand what Cole's explanation means.
Forcing Lin Huang out early is not necessarily a good thing for the Cavaliers!
On the Nets bench, Sloan was touching his chin with a strange expression.
Still a little uncomfortable!
Especially entering the playoffs, that feeling is even more obvious!
He can't say he resents Jordan, but he definitely can't say he likes him.
Your opponent is great, but if he blocks you twice in a row, you can't be generous enough to say you still like him.
But now, he really likes the feeling of Lin Ying in his team.
Sure enough, the previous dislike was not because it was Jordan, but because Jordan was not on his team.
Irving caught the ball in the frontcourt and shot Chandler to the basket, but Kirilenko's defense was in place and successfully interfered with his layup!
Kirilenko took the rebound and the Nets now have a chance to tie the score!
Lin Ying continued to attack with the ball from the three-point line.
Harden's defense was timely this time, but Lin Ying's distribution was also very quick.
Johnson received the ball from the outside and shot a three-pointer.
He hasn't scored yet tonight.
"Whoa!"
Then, he opened!
For a player of his level, the opportunity may be missed once, but it is difficult to miss it continuously.
He is also known for his big heart!
14 square meters!
The Nets tied the score!
The scene was agitated.
The dreamy start gave them unlimited imagination.
But the ideal is very full, but the reality is very skinny.
With just a little effort from the Nets, all their dreams were dashed!
…
After halftime, the Nets led the Cavaliers 49-44.
Both Cavaliers performed well in the half, with Harden scoring 18 points and 3 assists and Irving 9 points and 2 assists.
However, the Nets still took the lead and ended the first half with Lin Ying's unconventional point-based play.
Lin Ying had an outstanding performance of 17 points and 5 assists in the first half.
This also made Harden's pre-game assumptions come to nothing.
Familiar third quarter, familiar taste.
The Nets scored 25-13 in this quarter.
It can be seen that the early effort in the first half still had some impact on their offensive end.
But at the end of the three quarters, they already led the Cavaliers by 17 points!
Then at the beginning of the fourth quarter, the Nets came off the bench and went 6-0, which immediately eliminated the suspense of the game.
In the end, the Nets defeated the Cavaliers 93-73, taking a 3-0 lead.
In terms of statistics, for the Nets, Lin Ying had 34 points, 7 rebounds and 10 assists, while Deron and Johnson each scored 18 points.
For the Cavaliers, Harden scored 25 points, 5 rebounds, 11 assists and 5 turnovers, Irving had 21 points and 3 assists, and Thompson had 11 points and 11 rebounds.
When the final whistle sounded, the scene showed footage of Irving and Harden.
The expressions of the two of them were exactly the same at this time, pouting and shaking their heads from time to time, looking particularly helpless.
They played well enough tonight, but still had no chance.
Although 20 points is already the smallest point difference they have achieved, it also illustrates the strength gap between the two teams.
Their inside line and even their forward line need reinforcements.
It's very simple. To break through from the Eastern Conference, they have to cross the Nets, and to compete with the Nets, they have to do that.
And they have a great chance this summer.
Because Irving is still on a rookie contract, they can release a lot of salary space in the summer.
There are many big fish in this year's free market, especially strikers.
Iguodala, Josh Smith, these are perfect reinforcements.
Including Bynum is someone who can take a gamble.
Of course, the problem is the same as it was when James was here. The biggest problem is whether they are willing to come to a place like Cleveland.
…
Two days later, the Nets defeated the Cavaliers 103-81, sweeping their opponents 4-0 and advancing to the second round.
The G4 Cavaliers' backcourt performance was sluggish because they were not interested in playing, which also gave others some opportunities.
Among them, Shaun Livingston performed well.
He contributed 15 points and 3 assists in the entire game, vaguely giving a glimpse of the successor to the Magician back then.
Although in a series like this and a game like this, it seems a bit thin.
But Lin Ying paid attention to this.
Speaking of which, Billups and Iverson still don't know what their plans are for next season.
If one of them chooses to retire, this would be a good replacement.
And because of his past injury history, Livingston's market price in the free market will not be high, even if he plays well with the Cavaliers.
The Nets still have a good chance of winning him.
The Nets swept the Cavaliers and became the first team in the league to advance to the conference semifinals.
But they will have to wait a while before they think about it.
Their potential opponents are the Pacers and Bulls.
The Bulls were defeated in the opening game, but G2 relied on defense to pull back a victory.
Then the game between them turned into a serious defensive battle.
Watching this game, it feels like going back to the 2004 Finals matchup between the Pistons and Spurs.
The big score between the two teams is now 3 to 1, with the Pacers leading.
The Pacers have a high probability of advancing, but a big problem has also been exposed: scoring stability.
Their score in G3 was even less than 70 points.
This may be good news for the Nets.
The rest of the matchups.
In the Eastern Conference, the Knicks swept the Heat cleanly 4-0, leaving Anthony no chance.
However, Anthony performed well, averaging 28.8 points, 6.7 rebounds, 1.6 assists and 1.1 steals in the series.
The only drawback is that the shooting percentage is only 40.6% and the three-point shooting percentage is only 29.8%.
But he was also swept, and his mood was different from Owen Harden's. He was not depressed or anything.
This season he averaged 28.7 points per game in the regular season, beating Durant to win the scoring title for the first time in his career.
As for losing in the playoffs, no one expected them to beat the 6-star Knicks.
Therefore, he feels at ease when he loses, and there is nothing wrong with getting some good data.
The most intense matchup in the first round came from the Celtics and Hawks.
Although the Eagles are neither good nor bad, their lineup configuration is not bad.
Teague, Korver, and Devin Harris are on the outside, Josh Smith is on the forward line, and Horford and Pachulia are on the inside.
Although Lou Williams was accidentally injured, his strength on paper is definitely not bad.
They are now in a fierce battle with the Celtics at 2-2, and it is still unclear who will win and who will lose.
The situation in the first round of the Western Conference is similar to that of the Eastern Conference.
The Lakers and Spurs both easily swept their opponents and advanced to the semifinals. They will also be the earliest confirmed matchup in the conference semifinals.
For the rest, the Mavericks beat the Clippers 3-1. The defending champion did not give Griffin and his Clippers too many opportunities.
However, the Thunder and Warriors fought fiercely, and now the score is tied at 2-2. The outcome is also uncertain.
The opponent has not yet been determined, and the Nets are also actively preparing for the game.
Although it was a sweep, the Cavaliers' G3 still gave the Nets players a wake-up call.
Even a sheep can gore someone or even kill someone when it gets angry.
That is to say, during the preparation period, Sloan obviously increased Lin Ying's offensive proportion in the game.
The opponent in the second round will not be as easy as the first round, and the more intense the game, the more superstar performance is needed, so he began to prepare in advance.
During this game break, the league announced the second batch of awards for the season.
Best rookie and dpoy.
Trail Blazers' Damian Lillard was named Rookie of the Year, beating No. 1 pick Anthony Davis.
He averaged a rookie-high 19.5 points and 6.5 assists per game, shot 36.8% from three-point range and averaged 2.3 field goals per game.
His award is well deserved.
The dpoy award belongs to Lin Ying.
He won this award again.
And unlike the controversy last season, this season because of the excellent team strength, he invested more in the defensive end. Both the data and the results in the game are definitely at the dpoy level.
In fact, he received about 51% of the total votes, making him the only player after Howard to receive this percentage of votes.
Moreover, he is not an inside player yet.
After being re-elected as expected, fans began to wonder whether Lin Ying could be elected MVP for the first time in his career in subsequent selections.
Although from a data perspective, he is slightly inferior to James and Kobe.
But the Nets' record is here.
Ross was in a similar situation before this.
And once Lin Ying achieves this, he will officially join the ranks of greats.
He will become the third player after Jordan and Olajuwon to win both DPOY and MVP in a single season.
So are you looking forward to it?
Of course I look forward to it, as a fan, who doesn’t like to witness the birth of a legend!
One day later, the Pacers defeated the Bulls 88-65 at home, advancing to the second round with a score of 4-1.
After the game, Hibbert was in high spirits. When a reporter asked him whether the number of votes in the dpoy selection was too low (Hibbert only received 3% of the vote), Hibbert swore directly at the reporter:
"To be honest, you sons of bitches haven't been watching our games all season."
Attention you guys, Hibbert’s move can be said to be quite straightforward.
And when asked whether the Nets would be the next team to face, his attitude did not change.
"We're not afraid of them, they're good at defense and that's what we're best at."
"They still have LinK."
When the reporter heard this, he still reminded him with "kindness".
"I know that I played against him in college. At that time, he was still playing in the post. A lot of his offense came from breakthroughs, but the basket was my territory."
This is not entirely false, Hibbert's ability to protect the frame in the penalty area is very good.
"But a lot of LinK's points came from jump shots."
The reporter continued.
"Outside the three-second zone, Paul will handle him, and he will be an MVP-level player next season."
Hibbert didn't forget to blow George.
In G5, George scored 28 points and 8 rebounds, and his performance was quite dazzling.
George was nearby at this time. After hearing this, he smiled and reached out to pat Hibbert on the shoulder.
"He and I are no.ho."
It was at this time that Hibbert added another sentence.
No.ho means that the relationship between the two is very strong, but it is definitely not a gay relationship.
However, when the reporter heard this word, he smiled meaningfully.
The NBA has always been strict in its management of players' words and deeds. The word "no.ho" is a term that discriminates against homosexuals.
Taking into account Hibbert's foul language before, he probably won't be able to escape the fine tonight.
But he was in a really good mood. After he finished speaking, he pulled George towards the locker room, talking and laughing.
When Artest was still in the Pacers, the Pacers had a chance to reach their peak.
But in the end, the big brawl at the Palace of Auburn Hills ruined everything.
Now they are making a comeback, and what is different from before is that they have grown up together.
Their desire to compete is even higher.
Chapter completed!