Mike Brown's ejection had multiple impacts on the Cavaliers, both good and bad.
The bad effects include that the Spurs relied on free throws obtained by technical fouls to equalize the score, and that Brendan Malone was forced to step up. His mind is currently blank and he has no idea what to do.
There are also good effects. After Mike Brown made such a fuss, the penalty scale became stricter again.
Under the strict penalty environment, LeBron James' breakthrough easily earned countless fouls, and his free throw statistics skyrocketed.
Although there were very few goals in open play, relying on free throws, the Cavaliers continued to score, the score continued to rise, and the Cavaliers even had some slight advantages.
"In this game, the referee Ron Oleshak's whistle blowing was a disaster. His penalty scale fluctuated so much that now, after his penalty scale is tightened again, the game is interrupted by constant whistles.
It has lost its original smoothness..."
In the commentary box, Kenny Smith was already complaining about Ron Oleshak's whistle blowing. The difference in scale between the front and back caused the Spurs' defensive action game to be unable to stop the car.
The game was interrupted by constant fouls, and it was really not enjoyable to watch.
Even on major forums, fans began to discuss the penalties in this game. Cavaliers fans believed that the referee missed a large number of Spurs fouls.
Spurs fans believe that the Cavaliers' home court advantage in this game is too great. The constant whistles and 20 free throws from LeBron James are obvious evidence.
The Cavaliers had some advantages, but they did not take a big lead because Lin Yu started to explode again.
Even though the referee's penalty standards became stricter, the Spurs still did not relax their defense against Lin Yu. The high-level defense of marking and assisting defense made it very difficult for Lin Yu to connect the ball.
"Except for two consecutive three-pointers in the second quarter, China Lin's performance so far in this game can be described as terrible."
The game just spent the third quarter and entered the fourth quarter. At the end of the third quarter, the Cavaliers were in the lead with a score of 70:67.
Lin Yu's shooting performance so far has been 5 of 15, which is obviously extremely bad. In the entire third quarter, he only made one three-pointer and scored 5 points with free throws.
Regardless of the state of the entire game or the current state, Lin Yu is untrustworthy.
In the fourth quarter, the Cavaliers relied on James to support themselves, and Lin Yu continued to hit the iron. His shooting data gradually became 5 of 16, 5 of 17, and 6 of 18...
After finally making a shot, the game has reached the final moments of the fourth quarter.
Brendan Malone, who directed the game on his behalf, still did not replace Lin Yu because everyone understood the role of Lin Yu's presence.
"Although Lin Yu's condition is bad, his role on the scene is irreplaceable."
With Lin Yu attracting the defense, LeBron James can rush so fast.
The game entered the last three minutes, and the Spurs had regained the score advantage, 86:88, with the Cavaliers trailing by 2 points.
But in terms of the continuity of scoring, the Spurs still have a slight advantage.
Compared to the Cavaliers, who only relied on LeBron James to score, the Spurs' GDP trio broke out one after another and were always able to continue their offensive firepower.
On the court, Tony Parker's breakthrough layup helped the Spurs open the score gap to 4 points.
Lin Yu began to become impatient because he already had a plan to win this game, and the premise of this plan was that the score difference should be within 2 points.
After receiving the ball in the backcourt and controlling it in the frontcourt, Lin Yu passed the ball to James. Even Lin Yu had to admit that James played his worth in this game, although most of the points came from free throws.
The Spurs stepped up their defense against James. James broke through a mid-range shot, but missed with a bang.
There was no Mike Brown standing up on the sidelines to remind James: Don't make mid-range or long-range shots, hit the penalty area, hit the inside!
The Cavaliers lost two points, and then the defense worked harder, successfully allowing Duncan to hit the mid-range shot, then grabbed the rebound and launched a counterattack.
During the counterattack, James broke through to the mid-range, attracted a double attack, and passed the ball to the basket. Anderson Varejao caught the ball and dunked lightly. The Cavaliers controlled the score difference to about 2 points.
Lin Yu's big heart gradually lifted higher...
In the next two minutes, the Cavaliers' offense was very difficult in every round, and the score gap was once widened to 6 points.
But the Cavaliers were tenacious. After falling behind by 6 points, their defense worked hard and continuously prevented the Spurs' attacks. They continued to rely on James' strong play and distribution, scoring 4 points in a row and closing the score gap to 2 points again.
Two minutes later, James was locked up in the Cavaliers' offense, and Rashard Lewis on the sideline had no chance. Lin Yu took the blame and shot a three-pointer against the defense. With a bang, it bounced out of the frame.
"China Lin's three-pointer at the buzzer bounced out of the frame, the San Antonio Spurs grabbed the rebound, and the Cleveland Cavaliers missed the opportunity to take the lead."
"90:92, the Cavaliers are still 2 points behind. There are only 51 seconds left in the game. The Spurs have the ball and they have the opportunity to further widen the point difference."
In the Cavaliers' defensive round, the Spurs, who had the advantage, were not in a hurry at all. They consumed the attack time until the 16th second, when Tony Parker suddenly cut in and assisted Duncan to hit the basket!
"Tim Duncan, the most critical two points, the San Antonio Spurs have a 4-point lead, and there are only 31 seconds left before they win this game!"
At 29 seconds, Brendan Malone called a timeout.
"We have two options. One is to play a round at a slow pace to ensure the success rate of the attack, or to play a wave of attacks quickly to control the time to end the attack to more than 24 seconds."
Without Mike Brown, Brendan Malone had no courage to make a decision directly. He left the choice to the players on the court.
Lin Yu clenched his hands tightly. His plan did not allow the team to launch a wave of attacks to ensure success. He had to hit the ball quickly. After hitting the ball, it was time for him to exert his strength.
Before LeBron James made a decision, Lin Yu made the decision first: "We must attack, grab a ball, and control the time to more than 24 seconds."
Then, he turned to look at LeBron James: "LeBron, I will attack you in isolation, and you will have multiple screens on the flanks. We will cooperate."
James immediately understood what Lin Yu was thinking: "I understand, classic coordination, everyone pulls out of the penalty area, covers the flanks, and we play a fast offensive coordination."
The Cavaliers had less than 7 seconds, Rashard Lewis served from the sideline, and from outside the three-point line, the Cavaliers' cooperation had already begun.
Lin Yu passed the screen from inside to outside, and James did the same, passing the ball from both sides of the screen, and finally the basketball was given to James.
The Spurs' defense immediately concentrated, but James found Lin Yu and played a pick-and-roll with little threat. After the handoff, the ball was transferred to Lin Yu.
After passing James' pick-and-roll, Lin Yu, who was in control of the ball, found a screen from Anderson Varejao. With a double-screen breakthrough, the Spurs were caught off guard.
"Don't give him a chance to start shooting!"
Popovich knew that Lin Yu had the skill of a fadeaway jumper, and he was deeply impressed by it because Kobe Bryant always used fadeaway jumpers to defeat the Spurs' defense.
He gave a reminder, but the Spurs' defense was missing a key player at this moment.
"China Lin's sudden breakthrough and pass!"
Charles Barkley stood up directly in the commentary box.
"LeBron! He caught the ball and dunked!"
boom!
The game time was fixed at the 25th second. The Cavaliers' quick cooperation finally consumed 6 seconds, but this was the limit of what they could do.
"With 25 seconds left in the game, the Cleveland Cavaliers used an astonishing attack to help themselves get a slim chance of a comeback."
