After defeating the Hawks with difficulty, the Cavaliers, who had a day off, immediately lost at home in the next game. They lost to the Sacramento Kings, who were in the Western Conference lottery.
The conceited LeBron James was locked up by Ron Artest. Under this situation, Lin Yu still couldn't catch the ball, and a defeat naturally occurred.
Losing at home, the Cavaliers were harshly criticized by all quarters.
James was the first to bear the brunt of all kinds of unreasonable singles, and Lin Yu was also criticized: he doesn't catch the ball or take shots at critical moments, which is not Lin Yu in normal condition.
Lin Yu is somewhat innocent, but not too innocent either.
Because before the critical moment, he wanted to get the ball but couldn't. After the critical moment arrived, seeing that the team was about to lose an upset, James began to pass the ball to Lin Yu.
Lin Yu refused to vote. This is where he was not innocent.
Football critics and fans have complained about Lin Yu who dare not take action at critical moments, but at the same time, they also increasingly believe that whenever the game enters a critical moment, the Cavaliers will always have a very obvious dependence on Lin Yu!
In short, at the critical moment, the Cavaliers can only rely on Lin Yu to open up the situation.
Losing to the Kings when there was no physical problem was just the beginning. Next, James, who was angry at some external comments, in the next away game against the Raptors, the game once again became anxious and intense, and it dragged on to the critical moment.
.
James stopped passing the ball and finally successfully took over the game. In the last 3 minutes, he scored 7 points in a row and led the team to victory!
It seems that James has finally proven his key ball ability.
Lin Yu wanted to laugh: an inside combination of Chris Bosh and Andrea Bargnani was the opponent. Any All-Star player who focuses on breakthroughs could take away the game in one wave.
After all, James is facing an inside combination that has no frame protection at all.
After winning against the Raptors, the Cavaliers defeated the SuperSonics at home, which continued to perform poorly and was deeply involved in relocation rumors. Then they went to the road and lost to the opponent Hawks in their first game in January.
In the last home game, they defeated the Bobcats again.
Before embarking on a consecutive road trip to the Western Conference, the Cavaliers started January with a record of 4 wins and 2 losses, which was neither good nor bad.
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"We have another guest..."
Before embarking on a continuous guest trip, every Cavaliers player must make some preparations. Those with spoiled wives and mothers need to settle all the affairs at home, because this continuous guest trip, which lasts for a week, can be considered
A long business trip abroad.
As for a lonely person like Lin Yu, he only needs to pack his luggage and then hand over some work matters during this continuous journey with Amanda Gray.
You can finally leave.
"Come on, play well, but Lin, your condition in January is not very good. You only averaged 25.2 points per game. The top spot in the scoring list is about to be surpassed by Kobe and LeBron."
Amanda Gray is an agent who pays more attention to her employer's on-field performance because she is a journalist.
Lin Yu smiled: "Don't you know the reason for my decline in condition?"
He asked in return, and Amanda Gray also laughed: "How many games do you think you can win in these six consecutive guest games?"
"It depends on LeBron's thoughts. If he really just wants to win as he said, we can win at least four of the games, beat the Rockets and Mavericks, SuperSonics and Trail Blazers, and at most
Lost to the Spurs and Suns."
In early December, James accepted an exclusive interview with Yahoo Sports. He was asked how he felt when his personal performance in the team was surpassed by Lin Yu.
At that time, James repeated what he said to Maverick Carter and the others: "I don't care if my teammates play better than me, I just care about whether we can win, my brain
The only thing we can do here is win!"
Obviously, judging from James' changes from November to December and then to January, the so-called "only thinking about winning" is just some high-sounding words.
But if Lin Yu knew that James also said such words when facing his childhood friend, his impression of James would be further refreshed and changed.
"Then let's hope he doesn't want to win."
"Don't want to win?"
Lin Yu slightly understood Amanda Gray's hope and smiled: "If he doesn't want to win, we will lose more than half of the games, and at most we will win against the Rockets, SuperSonics and Trail Blazers.
.”
It sounds like Lin Yu underestimated the Rockets, SuperSonics and Trail Blazers.
And the actual situation is indeed the case. He did underestimate the Rockets and Trail Blazers.
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Starting on January 14th, the Cavaliers embarked on a week-long guest trip, and their first stop was Houston.
In Houston, Lin Yu even took some time to meet Dayao and had a meal. Lin Yu ate authentic Hangzhou cuisine that he couldn't find or ask for in the United States.
The two also chatted, and Lin Yu mentioned that he might be traded by the Cavaliers within a month or so.
Dayao was surprised and asked for details. The topic revolved around the weak position of international players in the United States for a while. Then Dayao also revealed to Lin Yu that the Rockets were looking for a deal, and the target of the deal was that the Kings really wanted to get rid of them.
Ron Artest, they are also going to form a Big Three.
After exchanging information with each other, Dayao enthusiastically invited Lin Yu to join the Rockets. He said that he had the ability to convince the Rockets to change the number one target of the transaction to Lin Yu.
However, Lin Yu rejected Dayao on the grounds that he did not want the two of them to be on the same team, which would lead to constant and explosive domestic public opinion.
After a delicious meal, the next day, the away game between the Cavaliers and Rockets began.
Lin Yu believes that even if James does not pass the ball to him, the Cavaliers still have a chance to win this game, because this is the first game of the road trip, the Cavaliers have no physical risks, the Rockets are not one of the favorites to compete for the championship, and they are full of potential
Like the Cavaliers with various problems, this Rocket also has various problems.
But after the game actually started, Lin Yu discovered that he had mistakenly ignored James' status.
James' condition suddenly became very bad, and it was a routine operation for COSCO to make crazy shots. What was even worse in this game was that his breakthrough lost its due threat when faced with Sean Battier's defense.
Under the leadership of Yao Mai, the Rockets controlled the entire game and easily defeated the Cavaliers at home.
In the first game of the road trip, the Cavaliers ended up losing and got a bad start.
The next two consecutive away games were in Dallas and San Antonio, two losing streaks that Lin Yu expected.
In consecutive away games, the Cavaliers suffered a three-game losing streak and were almost on the verge of collapse.
In the fourth game, facing back-to-back challenges against the Suns, James, who only wanted to win, finally returned to the style of play he played in November. He finally gave up his breakout style and began to seek pass-cutting and pick-and-roll cooperation with Lin Yu.
Lin Yu cooperated with James regardless of past suspicions, but despite his critical physical condition and poor condition, they still lost the game in Phoenix, losing four consecutive games!
In the fifth consecutive away game in Seattle, the Cavaliers continued to play pass-cut and pick-and-roll. The day's rest also allowed them to recover some physical fitness. Finally, they defeated the SuperSonics at Key Arena and ended their losing streak.
But in the last game of the series, what Lin Yu thought was a two-game winning streak turned out to be Brandon Roy's sudden effort, scoring 9 points in a row, taking away the victory and giving it to the Cavaliers.
Another away defeat.
In the end, the Cavaliers' six consecutive visits resulted in a poor record of 1 win and 5 losses. Their ranking in the Eastern Conference dropped to second place, and the Celtics instantly widened the gap in wins.
The decline in record, poor state, and hidden internal problems were gradually exposed, and the Cavaliers stood on the cusp of the storm.