During the intermission of the first quarter, Mike Brown looked at James, who was already on top. He had to enlighten him, otherwise there would be no need to play the rest of the game and he would definitely lose.
"LeBron, you are the leader of this team. You are not a rookie who has just entered the league. Every move affects the entire team, not just you. You must be calm."
"Mike, I got it, I'll pay attention." James was still somewhat dissatisfied with the coach in front of him. His record this season was too poor.
Last season, he single-handedly led the Cavaliers to the Finals. Brown didn't know how to adapt. During the Finals, he was beaten by Popovich and lost his temper. The only tactic he knew was to fuck James.
"Now that I think about it, you asked me to pay attention and let me consider the team. If it weren't for me, the Cavaliers would have gone to the lottery by now." James thought to himself, but still considered paying attention to his emotions.
"LeBron, first of all, you must save your physical energy. You are the key to the team's victory. You cannot use up all your physical energy in the first two quarters. You must arrange your physical energy reasonably; make full use of your deterrent power, use pick-and-rolls, compress the Grizzlies inside, and create a better future for the Grizzlies. Teammates create open offensive opportunities; our ultimate goal is to win this game, and only this is the most important thing."
Mike Brown has been getting along with James for a long time, and he understands James' temper better. You can follow him, but never accuse him directly. Stars have to save face, not to mention that Brown doesn't have too many hard honors.
"Okay, Mike, I will abide by your arrangement. If it doesn't work, I still need to take over the ball." James' tone softened a lot.
"LeBron, we are far behind now. You can only recover your fitness on the court. The team cannot live without you." Mike Brown praised James very highly.
James felt respected and had no objection to Mike Brown's arrangements. Brown continued to arrange tactics.
"Next, LeBron attracts the defense without the ball on the court, and Gibson launches the offense with the ball. If we want to go further in the playoffs, we need more people to step up."
Mike Brown knows that James only has the championship in his eyes, and he can make any compromise for the championship. The failure of last year's finals was a huge blow to James.
James also knows that he cannot play at full strength for 48 minutes in every game, and that one person cannot defeat a team. Jordan's dynasty also has Pippen by his side.
He needs more helpers. He was too tired to play alone in last season's finals.
James is also reflecting on Li Tian's defense against him. "This rookie's defense is so weird. He rushes with all his strength. There is a big gap in weight and strength between the two. He rushes with all his strength, as if he is hitting cotton. It bounced back instantly in just one second, and it was powerful but had nowhere to go.”
He needs to observe Li Tian's defense more before he can crush Li Tian.
James vowed to let Li Tian be shadowed in this game. The next time he meets him, he will feel scared and Li Tian will lose the confidence to play.
The second quarter of the game begins.
Gibson held the ball and launched an attack, and the Cavaliers' ball rights were transferred from James's hands to Gibson's.
"The Cavaliers' main attacker has been replaced by a second-year rookie. It seems that James's crazy attack just now has exhausted his physical strength too quickly. He needs to take a good rest." Larry analyzed.
"Not only because of the rapid physical exertion, but also because of Li Tian's defense, James didn't know how to attack. He cooperated perfectly with the Grizzlies inside. He put James inside twice, which made James suffer. James needs to know more about Li Tian's defense before he can launch an attack. James ignored Li Tian's defense, which caused him to suffer a lot." Jack analyzed why James gave the ball to Gibson.
"Jack, I very much agree with your analysis. Another point is that James needs help, and other Cavaliers players also need to train. Otherwise, the Cavaliers will not be able to make it far in the playoffs. James will be too tired alone."
For several consecutive rounds, James only involved Li Tian's defense, without holding the ball, and only moved without the ball on the court.
After playing against each other for a long time, I gradually adapted to Li Tian's defense.
James without the ball is sometimes more threatening than with the ball.
After 5 minutes of playing in the second quarter, Mark replaced Li Tian and replaced him with Guy.
In these 5 minutes, Li Tian didn't get a single shot. Instead, James got several shots from outside and hit two three-pointers.
The Grizzlies defense was restrained by James, and the Cavaliers pulled the score back to 2 points.
The score came to 38-44.
The Grizzlies' offense was very poor. Fortunately, Varrick, who came off the bench, made 3 of 4 shots and stabilized the Grizzlies' situation.
"Li, you have a good rest first. You will still have to play the important role of defending James in the future. James mainly plays without the ball in this quarter. Your defense will not have much impact on him. The third and fourth quarters are the time for you to perform." Mark slowly began to recognize Li Tian's performance and planned to give Li Tian more opportunities to play.
The main force of the Grizzlies was replaced, and Gay was replaced on the front line. James was able to make a huge impact on the Grizzlies inside. Gay was easily broken through by James again.
James continuously broke through the basket, causing Gay to foul under the basket. James made 1 of 2 free throws, scored 3 points under Gay's defense, and was subsequently replaced by Brown.
"Lee, how do you feel after walking on the court for half a quarter?" Since the Grizzlies corrected Conley, Lowry's playing time has decreased rapidly.
Lowry's status on the team has also undergone subtle changes.
"Hey, what can I do? James doesn't even hold the ball to attack, so I can only run." For some reason, James changed his gender in the second quarter and was no longer the team's main offensive point. This surprised Li Tian. .
"Li, this is a normal phenomenon. James can't play like he did in the first quarter for the whole game. His physical strength is not enough to support him for the whole game. It is estimated that he will collapse before he can play the fourth quarter." Milicic. He has been around the league for many years and has seen many things clearly. He only played 6 minutes in the first quarter of this game and has been sitting on the bench since then.
"Dakko, did you go to shoot a small movie yesterday? You are so weak today, do you want to tell you some ways to make up for it?" Li Tian teased Milicic.
"Fuck, I'm just in bad shape today, it's all my fault for this damn state." Milicic made 1 of 4 in 6 minutes and was put on the bench by Mark.
"Haha, Lee, I think Darko definitely needs to make up some ground. If Darko continues to be weak in the next games, we will lose the team's only center." Lowry shouted that it was a pity, and did not forget to squeeze Milicic.
"Get lost!" Milicic ignored Li and Tian again.
The situation on the court gradually changed, and the Cavaliers regained the initiative. Gay had no way to deal with James' offense, and he had no better offensive method.
Gibson made 2 of 4 three-pointers before the end of the second quarter and scored 6 points in a row.
Throughout the second quarter, the Grizzlies had 4 fewer rebounds than the Cavaliers, and the Cavaliers had 3 more offensive rebounds than the Grizzlies. The most frightening thing is that the Grizzlies made 4 turnovers under the Cavaliers' defense. The Cavaliers had 6 more shots than the Grizzlies, and the Cavaliers scored 5 more points than the Grizzlies in the second quarter.
The point difference was narrowed to 3 points by the Cavaliers, and the score came to 52-55.
The strategy Mark formulated before the game started was to double-team James, prevent James from scoring, and let others defeat the Grizzlies. When the strategy failed, Mark did not make timely adjustments.
"Mark's adaptability is too poor. James has played without the ball for a quarter and hasn't figured out a way to deal with it yet. A rookie is a rookie and needs to learn hard." Larry directly pointed out Mark's shortcomings.
"Yes, I don't know why the Grizzlies management chose him as the head coach. He doesn't have any dignity in the team, can't teach rookies, and has poor adaptability. I don't know how long this rookie can stay with the Grizzlies." Jack discussed directly. How long will it take for Mark to be fired? Tell the voice of Grizzlies fans.