At the end of the third quarter, the score was 72:71, with the Cavaliers leading at home by 1 point.
Then came the most critical fourth quarter. Everyone began to breathe nervously, and Lin Yu was the same. In the first three quarters, the game progressed perfectly according to his plan.
LeBron James finally played a normal game, making various desperate breakthroughs to cause damage, and cooperated with Lin Yu to hold up the first three quarters.
Now, the Cavaliers still hold a 1-point lead. Lin Yu, who has some reserve, only scored 15 points in the three quarters, plus 3 rebounds, 4 assists and 1 steal. His statistical performance is average.
But he felt relieved. At least, he didn't need to face a situation of falling behind significantly.
Or to be more precise, if the Cavaliers fall behind significantly, it will be difficult for Lin Yu to turn the game over today, because he is not Jordan, but Pippen next to Van Jordan...
At the beginning of the fourth quarter, Lin Yu did not appear.
Mike Brown insisted on the regular rotation strategy, letting James lead the team first, spending the tug-of-war in the first half of the fourth quarter, leaving Lin Yu to exert his strength at critical moments.
Popovich is obviously more experienced. He knows the Cavaliers' rotation strategy very well, and he keenly grasped this point and directly started the game with all the main players.
Duncan teamed up with Bruce Bowen to lock down James, and Rashard Lewis on the wing was as misfired as ever, just like Chris Bosh or Kevin Love later, who will always perform at a pseudo-giant level.
After more than three minutes, the Cavaliers' offense was quite difficult. They only relied on James's free throws and Big Z's difficult tip-in at the basket to score 4 points.
On the Spurs' side, Manu Ginobili was not restrained and immediately showed the attributes of the demon knife, hitting two consecutive mid-range shots, plus two breakaway points, assisting his teammates to score.
The Spurs scored 9 points in a row and quickly overtook the score. At 76:80, Mike Brown called a timeout.
The game was so intense that Mike Brown only had one short timeout and one long timeout left, but the timeout at this point had to be called.
Because the Spurs have already gained momentum, and the starting point is related to Lin Yu.
On the offensive end, because of the lack of Lin Yu, the Spurs attacked James unscrupulously. On the defensive end, because of the lack of Lin Yu, the Argentinian Ginobili had no pressure and could make various easy breakthroughs.
Mike Brown must be replaced by Lin Yu, otherwise, the game that has been locked in will be on the verge of collapse.
"Lin, starting from now on, can you hold on until the end of the game?"
According to the Cavaliers' previous rotation strategy, the three-minute rest period in the fourth quarter was not enough for Lin Yu in the past. Generally speaking, he would rest for about five minutes before coming on.
Therefore, it is not yet Lin Yu's playing time, and he has not rested enough, but Lin Yu has no physical problems today, and he nodded decisively.
Mike Brown no longer hesitated and traded directly for Lin Yu.
When the one-minute timeout ended, Lin Yu stood in front of the technical stage, the timer buzzed, and he stepped directly onto the floor of the Quicken Loans Center.
In the last eight minutes of the game, trailing by 4 points, the script was already written.
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"The Cleveland Cavaliers replaced China Lin, which indicates that the final battle of the game has begun. The Cavaliers are 4 points behind. This score gap is not the end of the world for them. They still have a great chance, because China at the critical moment
Lin just made his debut."
In the commentary box, Charles Barkley had already begun to attack Lin Yu from all angles.
But what disappointed him was that in the first offensive round after Lin Yu came on the court, the basketball didn't even pass Lin Yu's hand. James made a breakthrough and made a sudden mid-range shot, successfully hitting the iron and ending the Cavaliers' attack.
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Mike Brown on the sidelines was very anxious and kept standing on the sidelines yelling. LeBron James' offensive choices were obviously not what he wanted to see.
Although this game will not directly determine the O'Brien Cup, for the Cavaliers, it is already a life and death battle.
This is a match point match held at the Cavaliers' home court. If you win it successfully, you will have a small advantage. If you lose, it will be a huge disadvantage.
Because after the home game comes the away game, and the away game is far more difficult than the home game. The Cavaliers who lose at home have almost no hope of winning.
The rebound was taken by the Spurs, and LeBron James, who was retreating, turned a deaf ear and did not respond to Mike Brown on the sidelines at all.
Lin Yu shook his head secretly. At the critical moment, James's cool move came.
Manu Ginobili dominated the Spurs' offense. He broke through with the ball, but was blocked by Lin Yu's single defense. With no chance, he chose to pass the ball and found Tony Parker.
Tony Parker faced Daniel Gibson's follow-up defense and also had no chance to score directly.
The French sports car received the ball and made another breakthrough, highlighting a space where he could shoot. He made a mid-range jumper, but with a bang, he missed.
Under the basket, LeBron James grabbed the key rebound, and Lin Yu immediately started running.
His speed is very fast, one minute faster than usual.
However, James still didn't pass the ball, and rushed to the frontcourt. Taking advantage of the opportunity before all the Spurs returned to defense, he strode into the three-point line.
Lin Yu, who was rushing forward, was forced to pull to the wing, but he did not pull completely to the three-point line because he found that James had no intention of passing the ball.
The roar in the paint, the confrontation between James and Bruce Bowen, the basketball was obviously not strong enough when the basketball was strong, and Lin Yu rushed over quickly.
Accurate judgment, another lunge, and took off the rebound.
Then he took advantage of the situation and made a tip-in, voila!
When the cheers at Quicken Loans Center just started, Lin Yu had already left the penalty area with his fists clenched. He waved his fists high and did not celebrate the goal too fiercely.
"LeBron James failed to hit a breakthrough layup, but China Lin appeared in time, took off the rebound, and successfully tipped the ball in. This goal was so crucial!"
The Cavaliers broke the scoring drought, 78:80, with only 2 points behind.
In the transition of offense and defense, the Spurs' offense, Ginobili continued to use his personal offense to contain Lin Yu's defense, Tony Parker and Duncan cooperated, and Duncan hit a close-range throw, widening the score gap to 4 points.
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On the Cavaliers' side, James still has the ball and seems unwilling to pass the ball.
But this time, his mid-range shot hit the mark again...
It was another three minutes of the game. After Lin Yu came on the court, the Cavaliers' bad situation did not improve. The reason was blind and obvious. James took some medicine and turned into Kobe Bryant and stopped passing the ball.
But the problem is that at this time, James does not have Kobe's key ball ability.
Fortunately, Lin Yu's defense locked down Ginobili. Although Parker was able to cooperate with Duncan, the offense was already very difficult.
The score rose with difficulty, 81:84, and the Spurs still led by 3 points.
At this time, the game entered the last 5 minutes.
Holding a short pause and a long pause in his hands, Mike Brown struggled and hesitated...