The score has narrowed, but the Knicks are still thinking about how to solve the offensive problem. In fact, the solution is very simple——
Lin Yu, who returned to defense, directly greeted Nazr Mohammed: "Nazr, in the next round, you also lean outside and give me a second pick-and-roll."
Nazr Muhammad nodded, and Lin Yu then retreated to the backcourt, patted Wilson Chandler, and pointed at James who received the basketball in the backcourt: "I'll deal with him."
At this stage of the game, the Cavaliers have basically replaced James to defend Lin Yu.
This made Lin Yu feel that he had to respond.
Wilson Chandler retreated in front of Anthony Parker in a daze, and immediately felt very relaxed.
At the top of the arc, Lin Yu also faced James holding the ball.
"LeBron, you haven't tasted my defense for a long time, right? Come on, feel it!"
Lin Yu rarely spoke up during the game, and James seemed to be very interested in chatting. He smiled: "It's been a long time, but Lin, you can't guard against me. You should understand this."
LeBron James' memory of Lin Yu's defense is still in Lin Yu's Celtics days.
Later, in the Cavaliers, the two of them were teammates, but of course they were misaligned.
Later, when Lin Yu came to the Knicks, most of the task of defending James was given to Wilson Chandler. James naturally had no impression of the occasional matchup or two.
Or even if James still has some impression, most of them will only think that the successful defense once or twice was just an accident.
And some unsuccessful defenses are still fresh in his memory at this moment.
"LeBron, he faced Lin, the matchup between No. 23, this game was actually played on both ends of the offense and defense!"
"Look at LeBron's choice, he asked for a pick-and-roll."
Lin Yu was a little speechless. He wanted to have a head-on confrontation with James, but in the end, James still asked for a pick-and-roll.
Lin Yu remembered that Tyshawn Prince once evaluated James: His offense is pick-and-roll, pick-and-roll, then another pick-and-roll, various pick-and-rolls, continuous pick-and-rolls, so what you need to do is just defense.
More than a hundred pick-and-rolls...
Lin Yu quickly bypassed the pick-and-roll from Varejao, but James pushed Randolph into the penalty area with a crushing style.
Then he made a strong move and successfully scored the ball.
Lin Yu spread his hands towards James who scored the goal, as if to say: Hey, you coward.
Immediately afterwards, the Knicks' offense.
Randolph's pick-and-roll took another step forward. Lin Yu passed the pick-and-roll and made a fake shot, but failed to get rid of James who was defending.
But then he took two steps and moved very quickly.
James, who was guarding Lin Yu's shot, was a step behind. He could only turn around and adjust his steps, turning sideways to catch up.
Lin Yu suddenly stopped again, changed hands behind his back, took a big step sideways, and appeared directly behind James who was standing sideways.
Then he jumped up and hit a three-pointer!
James turned around, but the basketball had already passed over his head, and passed through the net with a whoosh!
"Lin shot a three-pointer and scored... My God, this goal was so exciting. He almost used pure footwork to get away from LeBron. This was a goal that completely relied on personal ability.
ball!"
In the commentary box, Mike Breen cheered in disbelief.
Marv Albert was also a little excited: "This goal was Lin Yu's performance alone. LeBron's defense made a mistake, but it was a mistake made after being forced. It can only be said that when faced with falling behind, Lin started!
"
"His three-pointer directly helped the Knicks overtake the score!"
On the court, Lin Yu told James that he started his performance not because he was lagging behind, but because he wanted to tell James: "LeBron, did you see it? This is the goal that a real man should score!"
"So what you're saying is, I'm not a man?"
"No, LeBron, I mean, you should prove you're a man."
Lin Yu spread his hands and once again faced James on the defensive end.
A one-on-one goal, accompanied by continuous provocations, James was angered. Of course, with James' personality, he would not show his anger easily. What can prove this is that James refused to come from Harlem
A sudden pick and roll.
"There was no pick-and-roll, and LeBron chose to beat Lin Yu."
From the outside, Lin Yu thought James's fake move was lame. He saw through it easily, then quickly moved laterally and pushed James back very forcefully.
Then, James pushed against Lin Yu and made a sharp and stiff change of direction.
Lin Yu moved laterally and pushed James back again.
Two consecutive attempts to break through were blocked by Lin Yu. James's face began to darken, and he immediately rushed again.
This time, Lin Yu's lateral movement was a step slower. After all, he also needed to adjust.
During the adjustment process, he gave James a little space, and James rushed in. After two or three steps, he was blocked by Lin Yu again.
James, who was forced everywhere, didn't have much choice. He stopped the ball and quickly made a jump shot with a little fade.
It's not a picturesque looking back, but an ugly looking back.
Lin Yu's big hand covered James' face, and with a bang, the basketball hit the rim.
The rebound was taken by Wilson Chandler, who had an extremely easy defensive task. Lin Yu, who had defended the ball, left expressionlessly.
It seemed that the trash talk session was over.
But this actually made James even more embarrassed. The trash talk session ended, as if telling him from the side that he had failed.
James is still very competitive, although he often uses some evil ways to realize his competitiveness.
The existence of a competitive spirit has caused James to enter a somewhat devilish cycle at this moment.
Especially, in the Knicks' offensive round that followed, Lin Yu, who had already taken a shot, held the ball past half-court, took two steps and hit a three-pointer, and hit it again!
At 63:59, the Knicks began to widen the gap in the score.
Immediately after the Cavaliers' attack, James continued to beat Lin Yu without resorting to pick-and-rolls, and then, with a bang, another fine shot came.
When the Knicks attacked in the next round, Lin Yu chose to take the initiative to break the current cycle.
He asked for a pick-and-roll, and after the pick-and-roll, he attracted a defensive switch and then immediately passed the ball out.
The Knicks also relied on Lin Yu's pass assist and Wilson Chandler's catch and layup, further widening the score gap.
Lin Yu originally wanted to use this method to further anger James.
If James' competitive spirit is strong enough, he will definitely not allow Lin Yu to take the initiative to end the trash talk session at this moment.
But obviously, Lin Yu doesn't know James well enough.
When the score gap was overtaken and expanded to 6 points, James reacted. He ignored Lin Yu's provocation and asked for another pick-and-roll...
Lin Yu was only slightly disappointed, but after all, his plan had been successful.
In this wave of the second half, the Knicks directly erased the original 6-point deficit and even took a 6-point lead.
This is of course related to his personal ability, but at the same time, James' sudden rise to the top is also a very important reason.