On May 14th, Eastern Time, the game at Quicken Loans Center was the only game in the United States that day.
But in the words of on-site commentator Reggie Miller: "Even if this game is played at the same time as the other three games, it will be the game that attracts the most attention."
The reason is simple and crude: the New York Knicks, who are gaining momentum, are very likely to defeat the Cavaliers in Cleveland and complete the upset!
The air-conditioning blows out, and the visiting team's locker room at Quicken Loans Center is very comfortable. The players are talking and laughing, and the coaches don't seem to be under any pressure. They are satisfied with being able to get to this point.
Lin Yu also acted very casually. Although he could not guarantee victory in this game, he could guarantee that the final victory of the series would definitely belong to the Knicks.
The result of winning the match point in advance is that Lin Yu has three games to try and make mistakes.
["Three Black Minutes": In the 2011 Eastern Conference Finals, the Miami Heat trailed the Chicago Bulls by 12 points with 3 minutes and 55 seconds left. After that, LeBron James and Dwyane Wade broke out, dominating both ends of the offense and defense.
Lead the team to complete the reversal.
After using this card, the host can designate a teammate, and both of them will receive a 120% bonus to key attributes on both offense and defense. Duration: 3 minutes!]
The above is the introduction of the special effect card "Three Black Minutes". This special effect card has great limitations. If the game situation cannot be controlled, this card will definitely not be used.
Lin Yu recognized the strength of the Celtics. After a season of working together, the Celtics have become a historically strong team.
If under normal circumstances Lin Yu leads the Knicks against the current Celtics, there is a high probability that they will be defeated.
This was the judgment made by Lin Yu when the Knicks defeated the Celtics in the regular season. He knew very well that the regular season was different from the playoffs, and the intensity was at two levels.
To beat the Celtics, he must enter "forest territory" throughout the game.
Then, the "three black minutes" can only be used in Cavaliers games.
"Three chances, come one at a time."
Lin Yu was not going to waste three opportunities. He was going to brush up the characteristic points of the "Lin Domain" characteristic. For him, the easiest personal record to obtain is the three-point record in the playoffs.
In the last game, he scored 8 three-pointers, only 2 three-pointers away from breaking the playoff record for three-pointers in a single game. (The original record was Ray Allen's 9 three-pointers in the 2000/01 season.)
However, in the last game, he needed to pursue efficiency and control the score. Therefore, when his hand was average at certain periods, Lin Yu still chose to end the attack with a mid-range shot, so the overall shot was very reasonable.
In this game, and if he can't win this game, and even in the next game, he can shoot more unreasonable three-pointers.
With his current three-point attributes at full value, he is also qualified to shoot.
"I don't need to say more about the significance of this game. If we win it, we can go to the Eastern Conference Finals!"
Lionel Hollins glanced at his watch and saw that the time was almost up. He clapped his hands to boost morale and then called the players out.
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Quicken Loans Center, although the team fell behind 1:3, Cleveland fans still filled the arena.
But the fiery atmosphere in the stadium is gone forever. In addition to the cheers when the home team comes out, there are no even boos when the Knicks come out.
"Perhaps, Cleveland fans no longer have the energy to boo the New York Knicks, who performed surprisingly well. They need to worry that their team may be eliminated immediately after this game."
In the somewhat quiet Quicken Loans Center, Lin Yu said hello to the brooding James.
The two of them gave a gentle high-five. Facing Lin Yu who was in normal condition, James just replied lightly: "Thank you."
Obviously, the James today is not the James in normal condition.
Lin Yu didn't think much about it. How James was doing was no longer important to this game and this series.
Looking back, Lin Yu began to hug his teammates.
The referee urged him to come on stage, and Lin Yu swept around.
The league has obviously learned a lesson from the refereeing controversy in the last game, and the referee team for this game has been replaced.
Scott Foster and Mike Callahan, who made the controversial call, are gone, replaced by experienced veteran referee Dick Bavetta as the referee.
The sideline and baseline referees have also been replaced by Derek Stafford and David Goodman.
"The game is about to start. The Knicks' starting lineup remains unchanged forever, center Kwame Brown, power forward Zach Randolph, small forward Wilson Chandler, shooting guard Lin Yu, point guard Kyle -
Lori."
Magic finished introducing the Knicks' starters very calmly, and when he turned his eyes to the other half, his expression gradually became surprised.
"The Cleveland Cavaliers made very significant changes... They changed the starting lineup in as many as three positions at once..."
"The point guard went from Delonte West to Daniel Gibson, the shooting guard went from Jamal Crawford to Ben Gordon, and the power forwards went from David Lee and Darko Milicic.
Replaced by Quentin Richardson, only center Ben Wallace and small forward LeBron James remain unchanged!"
The camera turned to the sidelines and focused on Mike Brown.
Mike Brown looked normal on the surface, but his hands holding his chest were actually starting to tremble. In this game, he made a desperate move.
"With three substitutions, Mike Brown told everyone that the Cavaliers in this game must focus on offense."
Reggie Miller immediately analyzed: "Compared to Delonte, Daniel Gibson has higher offensive attributes, while Quentin Richardson and Ben Gordon are more suitable for LeBron's breakout system.
, it seems that they are going to leave all defense to Ben Wallace and LeBron James."
The Cavaliers' big change is both a hidden danger and an opportunity for the Knicks.
Lin Yu took a look at the backcourt combination of Ben Gordon and Daniel Gibson. They were too short! One was over 1.8 meters tall, and the other was over 1.9 meters tall. These were simply shining sieves!
"The opportunity has come, guys, let's play more screens and look for mismatched singles opportunities."
Dick Bavetta grabbed the ball and walked to the center of the court, blowing his whistle to signal the two players who jumped the ball, Kwame Brown and Ben Wallace.
Then, there was another crisp whistle.
The basketball was thrown into the sky above the arena. Kwame Brown got the basketball first without any suspense. Lowry followed up and got the basketball.
The Cavaliers retreated quickly, and the Knicks also quickly advanced to the frontcourt.