The Trail Blazers changed tonight, the combination of Lillard, Button, Harrell, Jokic, and Wang Zelin.
Harrell was moved to the third position, mainly used to strengthen wing defense.
On the Cavaliers side, it is still the combination of Irving, JR, Shumpert, James, and Cousins.
At 19 o'clock, the referee blew the whistle to start the game. Wang Zelin jumped the ball first and moved the ball backward.
Harrell in the middle line rushed out like an arrow, received a long pass from Lillard who received the jump ball, entered the three-point line, faced Shumpert's defense and accelerated continuously, and hit the throw.
It only took 4 seconds from the time Liad received the jump ball to when Harrell caught the ball and scored. The Trail Blazers started the fast break.
Although he was beaten abruptly by Harrell, the Cavaliers didn't feel anything.
After all, if such an offense could be played more than ten times in a game, it would be overwhelming. James, who had similar abilities, only played one or two in a quarter during his peak period.
What they are slightly confused about is that logically speaking, shouldn't the Trail Blazers' opening offense pass through Wang Zelin's hands first?
This did not affect the Cavaliers. James picked up the ball and sent it out, and Irving received the serve and advanced.
At the end of the game, Irving passed the ball to James. Faced with Jokic's defense, James took a step back and looked for Cousins to pick and roll as usual. He got rid of Jokic's collision-style mid-range defense and used the screen to break through.
When James entered the free throw line, he noticed the defensive changes of Wang Zelin and Harrell. Harrell came up to block James, and then quickly ran to the left side of the three-second area. When James came south, he was blocked by Wang Zelin and Harrell.
Jokic, who was chasing after him, flanked him.
Due to Harrell's early obstruction, James' sprint momentum was running out.
Facing Wang Zelin's top defense and Jokic's return defense, James had the opportunity to pass to Irving and Shumpert who were cutting in from the left, but Harrell had already blocked them. Cousins, who was following up after the pick-and-roll in the middle, also had the opportunity to pass, but Wang Zelin could
Make up for it.
He knows that if Wang Zelin's defensive dominance cannot be allowed to play, it will cause the rest of the Blazers to switch defenses faster, and it will become more difficult for him to create shots for his teammates.
No hesitation, choose to fight hard!
In a flash of lightning, before James was caught, he grabbed the ball, pulled it to the right, and pushed it toward the backboard...
But at this moment, Wang Zelin successfully predicted James's shot. His speed was as fast as lightning, and he could feel that his anger put him in an extremely excited state.
"Snapped!"
James instinctively jumped up to finish the shot, but Wang Zelin suddenly turned around and rushed over, successfully blocking the shot.
There was a bang, and the two collided. Wang Zelin was fine, but James fell out and fell on the floor.
"oh!"
The core of the two teams collided, and the Rose Garden screamed in surprise.
Jokic, with quick eyes and quick hands, caught the ball that Wang Zelin blocked and launched a fast break.
The only person the Cavaliers can count on to defend against an opponent's counterattack with this lineup is James. But James is lying in the paint at this time, so how can he defend back?
With a swish sound, Lillard assisted Barton for a layup and succeeded.
4:0, the Trail Blazers lead.
Cavaliers attack.
On the left wing, Irving began to break through.
With a sudden lateral movement, he threw away Lillard in front of him, broke through the flank, and went straight to the paint area.
Wang Zelin immediately threw away Cousins and took the initiative to pounce on Irving, who could only follow.
In this way, when Wang Zelin and Cousins are blocked on the left side of the paint area, Irving's breakthrough path is completely blocked.
At this time, Lillard defended from behind and double-teamed with Wang Zelin.
Irving made a sudden stop for a jump shot, but Wang Zelin caught it with one hand.
"Oh! Wang's defense is so beautiful!" Barkley roared excitedly.
"There are consecutive big blocks at the beginning, this is the real DPOY level defense!" Kenny Smith also shouted out.
In the frontcourt, Harrell got rid of Shumpert, formed a 2-on-1 with Button against JR, and finally hit a layup.
6:0!
Continuous defensive counterattacks caused Tyronn Lue to call a timeout.
"LeBron, you must get rid of Nikola Jokic's entanglement and work with DeMarcus to suppress the King. This is what you must do on the defensive end." He said to James very sternly.
The timeout ends and the Cavaliers attack.
When Jokic faced off against James, the difference in speed and agility was obvious. He suffered a bit when moving laterally to defend, allowing James to rush in front of Wang Zelin.
This time James assisted Cousins, who was open, and hit a mid-range shot, and the Cavaliers opened the scoring.
2:6.
Trail Blazers offense.
Barton gave the ball to Lillard after halftime, and then motioned for everyone else to move away.
In the pick-and-roll at position 1 and 5, Lillard rushed past Cousins in the moment of the pick-and-roll. Cousins was completely thrown away, and James, who was good, made a timely defense.
"Bang!"
The two collided, and James successfully blocked it.
"Give me!"
At the same time, a shout came from behind.
Lillard suddenly became happy and threw the ball into the sky.
"boom!"
A violent one-handed chop!
The scene burst into cheers, and the Trail Blazers' offense was impossible to guard against.
Back on the defensive end, the Trail Blazers' defense shrunk.
Knowing that James had a speed advantage at the fourth position, Coach Terry moved the formation deeper, forcing the Cavaliers to take more shots.
The Cavaliers think the same way. Almost everyone in their lineup can shoot.
James catches the ball from outside the three-point line. After observing the opponent's formation, he will try to make a shot.
But the moment he took action, Wang Zelin flew out from the free throw line. Although the distance was a little too late, his momentum was extremely fierce.
"Duang!"
I don’t know if he was affected by this, but James’ three-point shot missed the frame, and the rebound was collected by Harrell.
The Trail Blazers counterattacked. Lillard dribbled to the frontcourt and was caught up by James. He turned back and gave the ball to Wang Zelin who was following closely behind.
Wang Zelin flew up, and when he saw James turning around and rushing toward him, he didn't dodge or dodge in the air, and he just collided with James.
"boom!"
Finally, James poured the ball into the basket!
Beep~~~
The referee's whistle suddenly sounded, and James suddenly looked happy. Just when he thought the referee would continue to favor the Cavaliers tonight, he found that the referee pointed at him.
"Defensive foul on Cavaliers No. 23, Blazers No. 36's goal is valid, and an additional penalty goal is added!"
The referee glanced at James coldly and gave a penalty.
"this……"
James' face was full of astonishment, and he habitually spread his hands and looked at the referee.
Seeing the referee making such a penalty, the crowd cheered continuously:
"I didn't expect that the referee's penalty in the last game actually returned to normal!"
"As long as this free throw is scored, the score will reach 11:2, and the Trail Blazers' lead will soon reach double digits."
"Put your hands away, LeBron. Without referees, you are nothing!"