Tyronn Lue looked extremely serious, but he did not achieve his expected goal.
Except for the first offensive and defensive round at the beginning, TT was never able to entangle Wang Zelin in the following rounds.
He opened his mouth, wanting TT to be tougher, preferably with the momentum of defending against the Kardashian family alone, but he closed his mouth again.
Although the Kardashian family is ridiculed as the strongest defensive family in NBA, among Wang Zelin, it is still far from enough.
Next, the Trail Blazers defended tightly on the defensive end. With the extra man, they double-teamed the Cavaliers' ball carrier, causing the Cavaliers to make repeated mistakes, and then launched a fast break counterattack.
Wang Zelin went one on two and easily got rid of TT's entanglement with his strong comprehensive quality. He exercised good control over the paint area, controlled the rebounds, controlled the Cavaliers' breakthrough tactics, and frequently played fast breaks.
In the sixth minute, 11:22, the Trail Blazers had the upper hand after the opening game and were already leading by 11 points at the end of the quarter.
The Cavaliers' Big Three were defeated in the middle of the quarter when all members were healthy.
The Cavaliers paused, Tyronn Lue replaced Hibbert and replaced TT.
Judging from the recent situation, Tyronn Lue already knows that his plan has actually failed.
He understood that he was still too naive. He couldn't just let someone gain weight and turn into a human shield to stop the founder of a three-consecutive dynasty.
Even if TT Xia Tian works hard to gain weight, will he still have the speed to compete with Wang Zelin after gaining weight?
Moreover, TT's shortcomings are too obvious, and overall it is too far away from Wang Zelin's level.
But he doesn't regret making this attempt today. Since TT doesn't work, then he will find someone stronger.
After the timeout, everyone subconsciously focused on player No. 55 of the Cavaliers.
He is Royce Hibbert!
When the Cavaliers attacked, Cousins pulled directly to a 45-degree position outside the left three-point line.
He is capable of three-point shooting. He has almost no shooting angle, and his shooting range is still beyond the three-point line.
Wang Zelin followed, and the paint area was immediately empty.
James held the ball from the outside and looked for Hibbert to pick and roll. After the pick and roll, his iconic tank breakthrough passed Batum.
This time it was very fast, and only Wang Zelin reacted to help defend.
James did not attack hard, but passed a through ball to Hibbert who cut in. Hibbert caught the ball and dunked with both hands and scored.
At 13:22, the score returned to single digits!
Hibbert looks young... Well, it seems that he is not that old after all. He is still a few months away from turning 30, which is theoretically in his prime as a basketball player.
But unfortunately, Hibbert encountered an era that was quite unfriendly to him.
Back to topic.
After Hibbert dunked, he yelled at Jokic.
Before the game, he commented that Jokic was as soft as a noodle. Now he dunked on Jokic's head in his first attack after coming on the field, which made him feel extremely happy.
Needless to say, in terms of pie-eating ability, Hibbert, who has been a two-time All-Star, is much better than Mozgov and TT!
But its advantages and disadvantages are also obvious.
The advantage lies in his excellent rim protection and strong offensive ability. The disadvantage is that the traditional center's weakness of slow lateral movement remains unchanged.
Looking back, Jokic took advantage of Hibbert's slow lateral movement and broke through the inside to assist Wang Zelin in the mid-range to easily score two points.
Compared to the offensive end, Hibbert's inability to defend is even more deadly.
James continued to score points and also scored points from Hibbert!
Ren Jingzhan knows how to deal with the world very well. Hibbert has just surrendered to him. Naturally, he has to have a good time in the first game to build up his confidence.
The wish is beautiful, but the reality is cruel!
Hibbert caught the ball and continued to play, but Jokic stretched out his hand to stop the ball.
Hibbert, who averaged just over 12 points per game in his peak season, had a single offensive method. He had neither hook nor footwork, and lacked enough shooting threat to force his shots after confrontation.
"Clang!"
It came out unexpectedly.
However, he is very quick and has a certain height advantage. He took off twice to grab the offensive rebound, glanced disdainfully at Jokic next to him, and was about to take off for a dunk.
At this moment, a figure came out from behind, jumped up after him, and snatched the ball from his hand.
Wang Zelin!
Jokic's bullet speed is average, Batum is also stuck by James, and Lillard and Barton are far outside the three-point line, making it difficult to protect defensive rebounds.
But in fact, Wang Zelin was missed!
The man who has dominated the league for the past three years stepped forward at a critical moment and stopped the Cavaliers' offensive momentum that was about to take off.
There was a burst of cheers at the scene.
Wang Zelin took the rebound and directly launched a defensive counterattack. Lillard and Barton had already rushed out, and even Batum squeezed out of James and moved forward quickly.
The other members of the Trail Blazers have long been accustomed to Wang Zelin's absolute dominance of rebounds. The moment he grabbed the rebound, the other players turned around and started a fast break at the same time, just like their body's instinct, forming a beautiful scenery on the court.
Hibbert had no time to retreat, and the Trail Blazers went three-on-two in the frontcourt. Wang Zelin sent a wonderful pass from the double team, and Batum received the ball and scored with a backhand dunk.
Another gorgeous alley-oop ignited the audience again.
26:13, the Trail Blazers continue to expand their lead!
Tyronn Lue was standing on the sidelines at this time, with his hands on his hips and his brows furrowed.
He was extremely confused right now.
After adjusting the lineup, Hibbert came on the field and scored a goal, and his shortcomings were fully exposed.
After just one offensive and defensive round, his offensive rebounds and height advantage over Jokic were visible to the naked eye, but when the defense was targeted, it directly became a loophole.
Tyronn Lue was thinking whether James would break through and score the ball, or choose to trust his new teammates.
Hibbert caught the ball and squeezed Jokic away, then jumped for a dunk.
"Snapped!"
A familiar figure, a familiar right hand.
It's Wang Zelin again. He shrinks to the basket as soon as Hibbert catches the ball, and takes off at the same time with Hibbert, completing the nail-biting block.
The third big shot in a single quarter is simply appalling!
Wang Zelin's ability to protect the basket at the basket can be called a devil. With him in the penalty area, any monsters that come in will only be dealt with.
The moment he picked off the rebound, other teammates also completed their turns and ran towards the frontcourt.
After locking Lillard who was running at the front, Wang Zelin made a one-handed long pass to the right position. Lillard caught the ball and hit a one-step layup.
At 28:13, the Cavaliers were already 15 points behind.
In the opening match, both sides have no intention of letting go!
But no one expected that the Cavaliers would be so careless, and the Trail Blazers fell down before they even put much effort.
After the first quarter, the score between the two sides reached 41:21... no more, no less, the Trail Blazers led their opponents by a full 20 points!
Is this the rhythm of a quarter-finals competition?