On the sidelines of the court, Lin Yu, wrapped in a training coat, watched quietly as LeBron James rushed to the basket and dunked without any reaction.
Behind him, cheers sounded like a tide, and the Quicken Loans Center was ablaze.
In the first two minutes of the fourth quarter, LeBron James continued his all-out James mode. A sudden point interspersed between two dunks assisted his teammates in hitting a three-pointer, leading the Cavaliers to a 4-point lead.
About one possession later, Knicks backup shooting guard Fred Jones missed a layup.
The Cavaliers grabbed the rebound and during the counterattack, James assisted Delonte West for a layup. The Cavaliers' lead increased to 6 points.
This was beyond Hollins' expectations, so he called up Lin Yu, who had been resting on the bench for more than two minutes: "Lin, it's your turn!"
Lin Yu had already stood at the front of the bench area and quickly threw off his training jacket and training pants.
Hollins did not directly ask Lin Yu to go to the technical station to make substitutions. Instead, he grabbed Lin Yu, as if he was going to arrange something specific this time.
"There are nine minutes left in the game. Lin, my request is to close the score difference as quickly as possible and gain the advantage... In the next game, I need you to take care of both offense and defense."
Hollins laughed, and Lin Yu suddenly realized something.
"Don't you have to defend LeBron? In the next game, my request is to limit LeBron with one-on-one defense, and at the same time play your offense, and find Zach to cooperate..."
Finally, Lin Yu understood Hollins' arrangement.
In the first three quarters, Wilson Chandler and Renaldo Backman were used to consume James, and Lin Yu's trump card was finally used in the decisive battle in the fourth quarter.
It is true that Lin Yu is now the Knicks' top player and needs to devote more energy to the offensive end. But when it comes to defense, especially single defense, Lin Yu is still the top player in the league.
With a beep, Hollins called a timeout and replaced Lin Yu.
Returning to the court, Lin Yu had to face an offensive round. Wilson Chandler served from the sideline, and Lin Yu circled around and got the ball directly.
Taking the ball and standing at the top of the arc, Lin Yu was surprised that the Cavaliers' defense also changed, and James directly pushed in front of Lin Yu.
At this moment, there was a scream inside the Quicken Loans Center.
"In the fourth quarter, the real showdown between Lin Yu and LeBron James is coming!"
If it were the usual Lin Yu, he might really be a little worried about LeBron James' single defense against him.
James is the same as Lin Yu who joined the Knicks. As a star player, he rarely invests in the defensive end, but once he focuses on defense, he is also the league's top defensive player.
It's just that today, Lin Yu is not too worried. Whether it is confrontation or singles technical skills, he is at the absolute peak in this game.
Facing James' single defense, David Lee's help defense on one side, and even Ben Wallace's eyeful gaze deep in the basket.
Lin Yu chose to change hands behind his back, a breakthrough.
James also moved backward quickly. His defensive awareness was average, but with the addition of physical fitness, he reacted very quickly and did not create any loopholes in the first shot.
Lin Yu feinted towards James' left side, and David Lee came over and completely blocked James' left side.
Lin Yu suddenly pulled back, changed his hands under his crotch, crossed his legs in the air, and kicked off with his right foot.
With an instant acceleration, he broke out from James' right side.
He was so fast that even Ben under the basket had no time to react. After turning around, he watched helplessly as Lin Yu succeeded in a layup.
When the basketball hit the basket, the Knicks' bench also boiled.
"Reappearing, Lin immediately made a contribution, a wonderful individual single, toying with the Cavaliers' entire defense!"
The score jumped a bit, and the Cavaliers' lead was still 4 points.
Immediately following the Cavaliers' offense, Delonte West controlled the ball in the frontcourt and handed it to James immediately.
James held the ball and immediately discovered that the Knicks sent to defend him was Lin Yu.
He hasn't touched Lin Yu's defense for two years, but he still has fresh memories of the Celtics' Lin Yu's defense two years ago.
Although the memory was profound, James still didn't pay attention to Lin Yu in front of him.
After slapping the basketball hard, James didn't make any changes and wanted to use his body to force Lin Yu away.
But obviously, the Lin Yu at this moment is no longer the Lin Yu two years ago.
James broke through, and Lin Yu also resisted James. In terms of physical confrontation, he did not fall behind at all.
James did not stop and carried Lin Yu forward, but when he finally made the layup, he still lost his center of gravity.
He made a throw during the confrontation, but Lin Yu suddenly let go of him, jumped up, and grabbed the basketball directly from the air!
boom!
Amid the exclamations at Quicken Loans Center, Magic was very surprised: "Lin Yu directly grabbed the basketball. Is this a block?"
The technical statistics on the sidelines gave a reaction, this was indeed a block!
James' face was ugly, but he had to return to defense immediately because Lin Yu, who grabbed the rebound, had already turned around and launched a counterattack.
James wanted to stay close to Lin Yu, who was rushing forward quickly, but Lin Yu suddenly changed speed and dribbled the ball behind his back, shaking James away.
Then he kicked off his left foot and suddenly accelerated, completely throwing James away.
Rushing to the frontcourt, there was still no special change. Lin Yu went straight to the basket. Ben Gordon, who was returning to defense, was forced to make up for it. However, the British man who was only 1.91 meters tall could not stop Lin Yu at all.
impact.
Without anyone to defend him, Lin Yu would choose to take a layup because it was easy and effortless.
But someone stood in front of him, so he jumped up and dunked!
Ben Gordon hid to the side and avoided a tragedy of dunking, but the huge sound of the frame behind him still made the entire Quicken Loans Center scream.
"Counterattack dunk! From Lin Yu. After coming off the bench in the fourth quarter, he scored 4 points in a row. Now the Knicks are only 2 points behind."
"Sure enough, the situation in this game is that when Lin Yu is on the court, the Knicks can always suppress the Cavaliers!"
Looking back, the Cavaliers began to organize their offense again.
James became very serious. Facing Lin Yu's defense, he once again chose to break through without hesitation. He had no choice but to break through.
But unlike Lin Yu's breakthrough, which was full of fake moves, he only added a behind-the-back dribble, and then rushed straight into the three-point line.
Lin Yu relied on him and did not give him much space. In the end, he used a solid interference to end another attack of the knight.
In the two rounds of defense, Lin Yu always implemented his regular defense against James, guarding the right wing that James is good at, and leaving a little bit of the left wing.
And the final result was indeed that James was not very proficient on the left side, giving Lin Yu the opportunity to completely lock him down.
After this iron, Lin Yu chose to control the ball and slowly attacked the frontcourt.
An opportunity for a positional battle. This time Lin Yu took advantage of Randolph's screen. Relying on the screen, he drove to the basket without any changes. After attracting a double attack, he suddenly pushed the ball outside.
Zach Randolph caught the ball at the free throw line, jumped slightly, and took a mid-range shot.
Whoosh!
"Lin's assist, Zach Randolph hit a mid-range shot, and the score was tied!"
"From Lin Yu's appearance to the tie, the Knicks only used three offenses and defenses."