The Magic were obviously a little unprepared. At least judging from the first offense and defense in the opening game, they did not specifically prepare for the Cavaliers' defensive counterattack.
But coach Brian Hill was furious off the court, which seemed to indicate that Brian Hill had reminded him before the game, but the players on the court did not pay attention to it.
In short, Lin Yu got a golden open opportunity at the beginning, and then made a counterattack mid-range shot, getting his first point in the playoffs after joining the Cavaliers!
Amid Brian Hill's roar from the sidelines, the Cavaliers all retreated, and the Magic also served from the backcourt and quickly advanced to the frontcourt.
Just like the previous round, Jamal Nelson took possession of the ball in the frontcourt and immediately passed the ball to Grant Hill.
Grant Hill, who received the ball, also completed a breakthrough without stopping. Of course, facing Lin Yu's defense, his breakthrough was unsuccessful.
"Grant Hill was forced to stop inside the left three-point line. He chose to control the ball on the spot and organize support."
The reason why the Magic performed well in the regular season is that they have two forwards who can organize and score in isolation, one is Grant Hill, and the other is Turkish Hedo Turkoglu.
Grant Hill has no chance on this side, he can pass the ball to Turkoglu on the other side, and then continue to look for opportunities.
But in this offensive round, Dwight Howard under the basket has been stuck in position and wants the ball very strongly.
Grant Hill was helpless and found an opportunity to pass the ball in. Turkoglu on the other side could only run for nothing.
Lin Yu watched Dwight Howard's low post play with great interest and was already ready to rush for rebounds.
He saw Howard push forward with his back twice in a row, and then suddenly made a bad turn and was about to dunk or layup.
But obviously, Big Z would not allow Howard to easily turn around. The Lithuanian center stood directly in front of Howard with his arms raised, forming a tight defensive wall.
The next second, the basketball fell. Lin Yu, who suddenly appeared under the basket, directly picked up the backboard, then turned around and pushed forward.
"Retreat! Retreat!"
Brian Hill shouted impatiently, and the players on the Magic field finally reacted. Everyone was running wildly towards the Magic's backcourt.
"The Magic's defense was much better than the previous round. Grant Hill stood in front of Lin Yu, and Dwight Howard was chasing behind him. He was about to be flanked..."
Facing Dwight Howard, who was gradually reaching his peak, the Cavaliers' counterattack was a bit frightening, at least from Lin Yu's perspective. He was in danger of being flanked, so he passed the ball...
"China Lin passed the ball, and he passed it to LeBron James who was further forward!"
James received the ball, and the only person standing in front of him was Hedo Turkoglu. The Turk couldn't stop James's impact one-on-one.
With a bang, James hung on the basket, and the Cavaliers launched another wave of counterattacks.
After two consecutive counterattacks, James also staged a dunk. At the beginning of the game, Quicken Loans Center entered a hot mode, with crazy cheers and screams.
It was another Magic offensive round. Just like the first offensive round, Grant Hill asked for a screen from Tony Barty.
After the breakthrough, he faced Rashad Lewis, swaying left and right, and shot from mid-range, oh!
After two consecutive rounds of offense that came to nothing, the Magic finally scored. Although Grant Hill was plagued by injuries, his personal ability when healthy was still outstanding.
The Cavaliers counterattacked for two rounds and finally had the opportunity to conduct a positional attack for one round.
In a positional attack, Andre Miller was in possession of the ball. Lin Yu moved to the end without the ball and began to cut towards the inside. James on the other side came around from the middle distance to catch the ball.
"LeBron James receives the ball on the right side of the arc, the Cavaliers' regular offensive style, and Hedo Turkoglu needs to deal with lbj's impact..."
Turkoglu naturally couldn't stop James. He could only retreat and seek help from his teammates.
Dwight Howard directly defended, and the Magic's defense relied heavily on him. Basically, almost all the tasks of assisting and making up for the defense in the interior were piled on Howard alone.
And Howard at his peak is fully capable of shouldering these heavy responsibilities. His presence allows the Magic's defense to be completely spread out. Except for him guarding the basket, all other defensive players pounce.
Lin Yu was closely guarded by Grant Hill, but he saw the gap under the basket and suddenly turned around while running, turning back and rushing towards the penalty area.
The sudden change in movement caught Grant Hill off guard. Lin Yu rarely launched an attack on the basket from the basket. After a season, he only took a handful of shots from close range and at the basket.
Grant Hill was unprepared and the basket was completely empty. Howard couldn't get back, but Lin Yu had already received the ball and made a layup, scoring two more points.
The Magic served from the backcourt, Jamal Nelson controlled the frontcourt and continued to pass the ball, but this time it was passed to Hedo Turkoglu.
The Turk held the ball at the top of the arc and waited for a while. Nelson circled around the penalty area and came out again.
At the top of the arc, Turkoglu completed a hand-to-hand coordination, then regained the basketball, took two steps toward the inside of the three-point line, and made an emergency stop against James' defense.
With a bang, the basketball hit the top of the backboard hard, then hit the edge of the basket and bounced out quickly.
There was a battle inside for positioning, but Lin Yu grabbed the rebound in one leap.
"Fight back!"
The Magic was already prepared for the Knight's counterattack.
But back in the positional battle, Lin Yu passed the ball to James. James made a breakthrough and easily drove away Turkoglu, who was guarding him. He rushed into the penalty area and dunked successfully.
At this point in the game, the Cavaliers have taken the lead. The point difference is not big, but the advantage on the field is huge.
Charles Barkley in the commentary box looked at Lin Yu and LeBron James who were bumping chests and celebrating on the court, and shook his head: "Orlando people are finished, they have said goodbye to the victory of this game, even they
I’ve also said goodbye to this season’s playoffs!”
Kenny Smith quickly looked at the time, and then said with a surprised look on his face: "Charles, are you kidding? The first game of the first round playoffs has only started 2 minutes ago!"
Charles Barkley was still shaking his head, and then said with certainty: "I'm not kidding, Kenny, look at the two minutes of the game. The Magic were completely defenseless against the Cavaliers."
"At the beginning, they lost two goals in a row because of the Cavaliers' defensive counterattack. Didn't Brian Hill know that the Cavaliers' defensive counterattack was a killer move? No, he obviously knew it, but the players on the field ignored it.
"
"Then, to defend LeBron James, they actually sent Hedo Turkoglu. The Turks obviously couldn't defend LeBron James. In this matchup alone, they were completely defeated.
That’s Brian Hill’s problem, why not start Trevor Ariza?”
"Also, to defend China Lin, all teams are using one-mark-and-four defense. Although it is not as easy to use as last season, it is still the best defensive tactic to deal with China Lin. However, the Magic is using it which is outdated.
A good man-to-man defense..."
"It can only be said that Brian Hill's offense relies too much on two forwards who can organize and support and can also score by himself, and the defense relies too much on Dwight Howard. In terms of team configuration and team style restraint, the Orlando Magic
