The score at halftime was 57:45, with the Knicks trailing by 12 points.
The visiting team's locker room was just a little silent, and the atmosphere was not that bad. Lin Yu was even a little optimistic, because the situation was still under his control.
With a score difference of 12 points, the "three black minutes" is enough.
Compared to Mike Brown, Lionel Hollins really has no cards in his hand. Faced with an already bad situation, he has nothing to do.
Without any adjustments, the Knicks still faced off with their regular lineup in the second half.
Lin Yu's requirements were very low. He just wanted to control the situation in front of him and wait until the last moment of the fourth quarter. The victory of the game was in sight.
As for the three-point record, he no longer counts on it.
In the first half, he only made three three-pointers in total, which means that if he wants to break the record, he will have to make at least 7 three-pointers in the second half.
After he hit 7 three-pointers every day in the previous game, the Cavaliers have begun to focus on his three-pointers. Under this situation, it is too difficult to hit 7 three-pointers in the second half...
At the beginning of the second half, the Cavaliers' offense went smoothly. James' sudden score directly led to two three-pointers, one from Quentin Richardson and the other from Daniel Gibson.
With two three-pointers, the Cavaliers directly extended their lead to 16 points.
It looks like the situation is on the verge of collapse again.
Lin Yu, however, showed great patience. He did not rush to regain the situation with three-pointers, but used two consecutive mid-range shots to regain the situation.
In this game, it was already difficult for his three-point shot to be effective, because the opponent was tightly guarding and would not relax for a moment.
The score gap was maintained, and Hollins even changed the rotation order for this reason. In the middle of the third quarter, he replaced Lin Yu and rested for a while.
At the last moment of the third quarter, when the situation gradually became uncontrollable, Lin Yu was immediately replaced.
When Lin Yu was replaced, the score difference was 16 points.
Lin Yu, who returned to the court, used two resolute individual singles to tear apart the Cavaliers' defense. He once assisted his teammates to hit a three-pointer and once made a mid-range pull-up of his own. The score gap was narrowed to 11 points...
The score went back and forth like this until the fourth quarter.
With Lin Yu not present, the Cavaliers pulled the point difference up. When Lin Yu returned, they narrowed the point difference again. They went back and forth until with more than five minutes left in the fourth quarter, the score was
The difference is only 11 points.
Lin Yu's chance to break the three-point record was completely lost. After three three-pointers in the first half, he has only made one three-pointer in the second half. He has made four full three-pointers, which is far from breaking the record.
At least 6 more three-pointers are needed.
However, Lin Yu no longer pays attention to his three-point record. His focus has been completely on winning this game.
In the last five minutes, with an 11-point score gap, the opportunity to end this series has appeared.
Lin Yu was not prepared to wait until the last three minutes of the game. This "black three-minute" card did not have any stipulation that it must be used in the last three minutes. Naturally, it was okay to use it in advance.
Lin Yu was ready to use it in advance, he wanted to kill the suspense of this game in advance.
[Are you sure to use the special effects card "Three Minutes of Black"? 】
Sure!
[Please choose to bind teammates.]
A row of heads appeared on the screen, including several Knicks teammates present in the final quarter, Zach Randolph, Wilson Chandler, Kyle Lowry and Nazr Muhammad.
Lin Yu hesitated and chose Wilson Chandler.
After the special effects card improved his key attributes by 120%, he no longer needed help on the offensive end. What he needed was someone to help him with defense, so he chose Wilson Chandler.
[The special effects card has been bound to teammate "Wilson Chandler", and various key attributes have been increased by 120%! 】
The shouts of "Deffense" rang out in the Quicken Loans Center. The Knicks controlled the ball and advanced toward the frontcourt. Wilson Chandler suddenly became a few steps faster.
"The Knicks' offense, in this round, they have a chance to reduce the point difference to single digits. Compared with the last five or so minutes, they still have a chance to reverse the situation."
At the end of halftime, Reggie Miller was thinking about the impact that the Cavaliers winning this game would have on the entire series.
But at the last moment of the game, when the Cavaliers were about to win, Reggie Miller began to stand from the Knicks' perspective again, looking for the possibility of the Knicks coming back to win.
But before he could find it, Lin Yu asked for a screen on the court, and he passed the screen and made a hand-to-hand coordination. Not only the Cavaliers' defensive players, but even Randolph who received the ball were shaken by Lin Yu
, almost didn’t react.
Not to mention Reggie Miller and Magic Johnson in the commentary box.
"Crossing the screen, trying to find the inside... Oh no, this is a hand-to-hand coordination. Lin attracted all the defenders. Zach caught the ball and walked inside, and Lin Yu suddenly circled back!"
Just when the Cavaliers' defense was trying to get back in front of Randolph, Lin Yu suddenly turned back and returned to the top of the key.
He took the ball again, jumped up on James' weak defense, and hit a three-pointer... Whoosh!
Quicken Loans Center exploded with exclamations, the score jumped, and the Cavaliers' lead was suddenly reduced to 8 points!
On the sidelines, Mike Brown also waved his hands anxiously: "Keep an eye on him, keep an eye on him! Even if we let go of other players, we have to keep an eye on him!"
In the Cavaliers' offensive round, James scored from the basket to help Ben score 2 points.
When the Knicks' offense made a comeback, the score gap was back to 10 points.
Lin Yu controlled the ball from the outside and was not in a hurry to end the round. He glanced at Wilson Chandler in the corner.
"It seems that the special effects card does not improve Wilson that much?"
He wasn't sure and decided to watch a few more rounds.
As for the attack, at this moment, Lin Yu was already full of confidence.
Facing Lin Yu's possession of the ball from outside the three-point line on the right side, the Cavaliers did not double attack as soon as they came up. Their defense was too cruel and they did not use Lin Yu.
Facing James' single defense, Lin Yu changed hands twice and then suddenly started.
James retreated, and he immediately pulled back, followed up with a step back, suddenly kicked off the ground with both feet, jumped up, and hit a three-pointer from the outside!
Reggie Miller's eyes widened. This three-pointer was far enough away from the basket, almost two meters away from the three-point line, and close to 10 meters away from the basket.
A swish sound!
Entered again...
"Another super long three-pointer! China Lin seemed to burst out suddenly. In two rounds, he suddenly scored two three-pointers in a row!"
"105:98, the score gap was immediately reduced to 7 points!"
With a difference of 7 points, the game continues.
But the situation was completely different from a minute ago. With less than four minutes left in the game and a 7-point score gap, the Knicks' hope of reversing the game became brighter and brighter.