It's a little more difficult for the Warriors to score, but it's also not easy for the Cavaliers.
Although James is still on the court, the strength of his teammates has dropped a lot, and the Warriors' flanking defense has become more decisive.
Unable to make outside shots, unsure of his own shots, and unable to make breakthroughs, James could only continue to play pick-and-rolls with Ilgauskas.
After blocking, if Jordan switches defense, give the ball to Ilgauskas. If the ball is flanked, let Ilgauskas make a mid-range shot.
This is similar to the Warriors.
The Warriors also played more pick-and-rolls with Livingston and DeAndre Jordan.
The difference is that if the opponent switches defense, Livingston will throw the ball into the air and let Jordan dunk.
If the opponent does not switch defense, he will score a mid-range shot.
In the last few minutes of the first quarter, the two teams played at a slow pace, making it difficult for both sides to score.
At the end of the first quarter, the score between the two teams became 31:28!
The Warriors still lead by 3 points.
James remained on the court in the second quarter.
It seemed like he was really going to play the whole game.
For the Warriors, the substitutes come on first.
Deng Fang was not in a hurry.
The game lasts 48 minutes, and James is not a god!
He can play 48 minutes, but can he play 48 minutes with high energy?
If not, then forcing him to stay on the court is not necessarily a good thing.
Of course, even if James has physical problems, it won't happen now.
Therefore, the Warriors' defense against James was still the same as in the first quarter, and the physical confrontation against him was still very high.
Azubuike played the entire first quarter, and Laga Bell came up to defend James in the second quarter.
Two players with different styles took turns defending James, each giving James a headache.
The game lasted 4 minutes, and the two teams only scored 11 points in total!
This shows how fierce the confrontation is.
In more than 4 minutes, James didn't make a single shot and only scored 1 point with free throws!
James took two free throws and only scored one!
The confrontation was so fierce that even the free throw shooting percentage dropped.
Deng Fang took the initiative to call a timeout.
Just playing defense is not the Warriors' style.
The Warriors' starting lineup has had enough rest.
After the timeout, Curry and others reappeared.
Big Z on the Cavaliers side has also been playing for a long time, so it's time to go down and rest.
In addition, the pick-and-roll between Big Z and James was penetrated by the Warriors, and it was difficult for him to score with his own mid-range shot.
Since it's difficult to score, let's try O'Neal instead.
This is also the reason for O'Neal.
Mike Brown thinks so.
Under normal circumstances, there is no problem in doing this.
But the Cavaliers encountered Curry!
Although O'Neal rested for a few minutes, his physical fitness was still worse than at the beginning of the game.
Deng Fang had already prepared.
He knew that O'Neal had enough energy in the first quarter, so he didn't attack him much.
Double-teaming O'Neal, he can also cause fouls or pass the ball out.
Then let him try a few games to give him the illusion that he is still powerful.
Now O'Neal's physical fitness is definitely not as good as in the first quarter, so let's double attack.
A decisive pincer attack!
No matter who it is, as long as their physical fitness decreases, their reactions will slow down and their speed will drop.
This is the situation where you are most afraid of being flanked.
The Warriors' defense is very good, especially the use of double attacks, and the timing is very accurate.
As soon as O'Neal gets the ball, the Warriors double attack.
The pincer attack was very determined.
As a result, O'Neal made 4 consecutive mistakes!
The biggest fear when playing with the Warriors is making mistakes!
The warrior is so fast!
The Warriors' shooting is accurate!
The Warriors have Curry!
Especially a lineup like the Cavaliers with two big men on the court!
Taking advantage of O'Neal's mistakes, the Warriors played four consecutive fast breaks!
Two of them were layups and two were three-pointers!
Fast break three-pointer?!
Who made such an unreasonable shot?
No need to ask, it must be Curry!
Regardless of whether it’s reasonable or not, people invested in it!
It was precisely because Curry made two consecutive three-pointers that in the next two fast breaks, everyone on the Cavaliers' retreat came to guard Curry, and no one paid attention to the basket, which allowed the Warriors to hit two empty baskets.
!
A Smith repeatedly sighed in the stands: "It's amazing, this is the gravity of the library!"
Barkley also nodded and sighed: "That's right! How can anyone defend fast breaks without caring about the basket and only defend three-pointers?! This is the first time I have ever seen such a strange scene!"
A Smith said with a smile: "There is no way, with Curry on the court, you can only defend like this!"
Buckley sighed: "I only heard about gravity before, but now I know that there is gravity!"
…
The two commentators in the commentary box were very excited. You can imagine how happy the more than 10,000 spectators at Oracle Arena were!
Ku Ritian reappears!
Now there is another term: the library has gravity!
This is the new owner of Oracle Arena!
The Warriors used these four fast breaks to open the point difference to 14 points.
47:33!
The score difference has reached double digits again!
Seeing something was not going well, Cavaliers coach Mike Brown quickly called a timeout.
After the timeout, O'Neal was replaced.
Facts have proved that against a team like the Warriors, O'Neal is a side effect.
You can try O'Neal at his peak against the Warriors.
Because O'Neal at his peak can destroy the Warriors' inside line.
It’s nothing more than blowing up each other!
But the old O'Neal certainly can't do it!
The defensive end is too much of a drag, limited by physical strength, and there are also many problems on the offensive end.
The change Mike Brown made was to take O'Neal off the court and let Varejao play center and James play the fourth position.
This should be the last resort for the Cavaliers!
One big and four little ones!
Attack with the Warriors!
The effect of this Knight formation change is pretty good.
The Warriors' offense immediately became less fluid than before.
The four Cavaliers are not slow, and they are all quick in defense.
However, precisely for this reason, the Cavaliers are somewhat empty inside.
James needs to take more care of the penalty area, and it becomes Anthony Parker to defend Curry.
Although Anthony Parker's pursuit and defense is not as good as James', because the Cavaliers players are very fast on the court now, they dare to double-team Curry.
Curry and Lopez picked and rolled again, and Anthony Parker was blocked behind Lopez.
Varejao immediately stepped forward to block Curry's shooting sight.
Taking advantage of this time, Anthony Parker also came around, and the two of them flanked Curry.
If Anthony Parker comes out slower, Curry may feint and shoot!
No matter how fast Varejao is, he is still a center!
Seeing Anthony Parker and Varejao flanking him, Curry immediately passed the ball to Lopez outside the three-point line.
Just as Lopez was about to shoot, Delonte West immediately pounced on him.
Although Delonte West could not interfere with Lopez's shot, Lopez still passed the ball.
As long as someone is in front of you, even if he is a defender and you are a center, he will not be able to interfere with your shooting at all, and your shooting percentage will also be affected!
Unless it's inside.
Not forcing shots is a concept that Deng Fang instills in his players every day.
