Whether Lin Yu is finished or not, we can't tell much from this game alone, because his pace and condition when he came out seemed quite normal.
But on the other hand, James was definitely going to be slapped in the face. Before the game started, Mike Brown predicted that the Spurs might shift part of their defensive focus to Lin Yu.
By then, James will have plenty of offensive space. Mike Brown hopes that James can step up and lead the Cavaliers toward victory.
But the reality is that the Spurs' defensive adjustment against Lin Yu was just to change the one-on-one defensive player from Manu Ginobili to Bruce Bowen.
"Uncle Bao is defending Dayu. Popovich's intentions are not pure. Dayu should be careful..."
Compared with the commentators in North America who dare not speak out about the Spurs' dirty play, the commentators from Central Five don't have so many scruples.
Especially in the last game, Manu Ginobili's stepping caused Lin Yu to sprain his ankle. Domestic fans were aggrieved, and the commentators were also very dissatisfied with the Spurs' rough play in the final moments.
With the whole nation looking forward to the 2008 Olympics, neither Lin Yu nor Dayao can afford to miss anything now. The Spurs' defense is undoubtedly committing a crime.
After a short warm-up, the game started, and the matchup between Lin Yu and Uncle Bao quickly sparked.
Bruce Bowen's defense was no different from Ginobili's defense at the end of the last game. If we had to find any difference, I'm afraid Bowen's defense was a little dirtier.
Every moment, Lin Yu could feel various small movements from Bowen.
Secretly pinching the flesh, stabbing the waist with the tip of the elbow, etc. are considered light. The occasional hidden elbow and the need to carefully step on the feet every time he shoots are what Lin Yu hates the most.
Because the bonus attributes actually weakened his original attributes, and Bowen's defense was more cumbersome and aggressive, Lin Yu's performance was a bit poor at the beginning. He took 4 shots and only hit 1 ball.
The defensive environment LeBron James faced was much looser than in the first game, because his defender was replaced by Manu Ginobili, who was completely unable to withstand him.
But the Spurs' defense was very strategic. They almost completely let go of James' mid-range and long-range shots, and only guarded James's attacks through the basket.
Faced with such a defense, James performed very poorly. In the opening game, he took four consecutive long-range shots, all four of which were taken under the rather weak interference of Ginobili. The result was the same as Lin Yu, James was also 4.
Made 1 shot and only scored 3 points.
The poor performance of Lin Yu and James caused the Cavaliers to fall behind by as many as 9 points with a score of 8:17 at the beginning.
"The Cavaliers' poor opening performance continues. Mike Brown called another timeout in the first quarter. They urgently need to adjust their offense. Otherwise, the game will be even worse than the last one!"
The commentators kept emphasizing this point, but the effect of Mike Brown's timeout was so small that it could be ignored.
It's not that Mike Brown's adjustments were not targeted, it was because Lin Yu and James were in such bad shape that the Cavaliers couldn't play a smooth offense and naturally couldn't control the situation on the court.
The first quarter of the game ended quickly. Under the Spurs' high-pressure defense, the Cavaliers only scored 14 points in the end, almost setting a new low for points scored in a single quarter of the Finals.
There was nothing wrong with the Spurs' offense. 25 points was Hagel's single-quarter scoring statistic. At 25:14, the Spurs had an 11-point lead in a single quarter.
Then in the second quarter, Lin Yu still felt cold under the defense of Bruce Bowen.
But LeBron James broke out. This guy seemed to be dormant. He suddenly hit consecutive mid-range shots, which made it difficult for the Spurs to resist. The original 11-point lead was reduced to only 6 points in more than four minutes.
Already.
Popovich also reacted quickly. The Spurs directly switched their defense to James' side, and Lin Yu, who made 2 of 7 shots in this game, has been completely ignored.
"In the last game, the poor performance of LeBron James and China Lin continued throughout the game, and then Lin's comeback broke out and helped the Cavaliers win."
Kenny Smith in the commentary box began to look for similarities between this game and the previous game: "In this game, Lin and LeBron still played a bad performance for the whole quarter, and then in the second quarter, LeBron started to explode.
Already..."
"So, the Cavaliers are accustomed to sluggish starts, and then rely on Lin or James to break out one by one to regain the rhythm of the game?"
Kenny Smith felt that he had grasped the similarities between the two games, and he could make further predictions.
As a result, after Popovich adjusted his defense, the situation on the court changed again.
"Cleveland Cavaliers' offense, China Lin, his movement created an excellent opportunity, three-pointer... beautiful, the ball went in!"
On the court, James was being targeted by the defense, but Lin Yu suddenly ran a somewhat iconic Z-shaped movement, leaving Bowen two steps away, then caught the ball, raised his hand and hit a three-pointer.
.
The score difference that was originally widened to 8 points by the Spurs instantly became 5 points.
But the Spurs immediately counterattacked, relying on Ginobili's European step layup, and the point difference was once again opened to 7 points.
Then, it was another round of offense from the Cavaliers.
It seems that, except for Popovich on the sidelines, no one will take the three-pointer that Lin Yu just hit to heart. Charles Barkley even said: "A super shooter like China Lin, you can't even make a single shot."
No gap is left to him, Bruce Bowen's defense is already very good, he has defended China Lin and only got three good chances in half the game so far!"
It seemed that Bowen just made a defensive mistake.
But in this round of offense and defense, Lin Yu's off-the-ball movement started again. Sean Elliott's off-the-ball ability was slightly weaker than Lin Yu's. Therefore, today, Lin Yu's off-the-ball performance did not seem to be a threat.
However, he has some fixed running routines, such as suddenly turning back and then using the cover of the big center to accelerate and get rid of Bowen's follow-up defense.
The Cavaliers' offense almost happened in the blink of an eye. Lin Yu did this, and the next second, he received a pass from James.
Raise your hand and hit a three-pointer again!
Whoosh!
"Oh my god, China Lin, he suddenly broke out, hit his second consecutive three-pointer, and the score difference was only 4 points!"
"Greg Popovich had to react, but it seemed that he didn't mean to call a timeout. He just shouted Manu Ginobili's nickname and Bruce Bowen's nickname on the sidelines, and then used
The gestures are complaining about something!”
No one knows what Popovich is complaining about, including Lin Yu.
But soon, during the Cavaliers' defensive round, Manu Ginobili, who was attacking with the ball, suddenly began to stagger, and then slipped heavily to the floor.
Before sliding, Ginobili's right leg collided with Lin Yu's left leg.
Seemingly unintentionally, Lin Yu noticed something unusual.
In the subsequent offensive round, when he ran to catch the ball without the ball, Bowen hugged his shoulders and squeezed him back hard.
This is not the point. The point is that Bowen added unnecessary leg confrontation.
Lin Yu's expression suddenly became serious: The Spurs' actions began to cross the line!