After two consecutive three-pointers and an assist, Lin Yu opened up space for the Celtics.
The Cavaliers had to dedicate part of their defense and pay attention to Lin Yu, who had been active on the weak side.
Pierce, who was on the strong side, suddenly felt relaxed.
In the next offensive round, Lin Yu on the weak side once again ran through Perkins' high-quality screen, attracting the defense of Pavlovich and Big Z.
Pierce, on the strong side, was one-on-one and took a mid-range shot, successfully hitting it.
Pierce finally opened his scoring account. This was his first score since returning from injury. The North Shore Garden Arena erupted in cheers, and the cheers were even higher than when Lin Yu hit a three-pointer.
After Pierce scored, the Celtics' offense was completely opened up. Pierce's singles on the strong side and Lin Yu's three-pointers on the weak side. Even the Cavaliers with excellent defense could not completely prevent this well-organized offense.
On the contrary, the Cavaliers can only rely on LeBron James' singles.
But Lin Yu defended the right wing, and every ball James hit was very difficult. After scoring 8 points in a row, James also started to paddle.
A breakthrough from the left, and the mid-range shot was inaccurate again.
In the next few offensive rounds, James chose to pass the ball, but the Cavaliers' role players were not very effective. Only Big Z hit two basket shots.
After the first quarter of the game, the Cavaliers, whom Charles Barkley was optimistic about, were in a behind position.
"LBJ made 6 of 10 shots and scored 13 points in a single quarter. He was in a very hot state. China Lin was completely unable to stop him. However, in the first quarter, the Cavaliers trailed the Celtics by 7 points at 23:30."
Kenny Smith turned to look at Charles Barkley. Barkley shook his head: "The Cavaliers' role players played too poorly. Only Big Z scored 6 points and 3 rebounds by relying on his strong play at the basket. He played a game that suits him."
In terms of performance, others such as Drew Gooden and Alexander Pavlovic, they didn't even score."
"In the first quarter of this game, the Cavaliers were really out of shape. They seemed to be fighting alone. To be precise, lbj was fighting alone."
"Looking at the Celtics, Paul Pierce hit the ball one after another at the beginning, but China Lin stepped up and hit two three-pointers one after another. Moreover, he also showed us his newly developed organizational skills, catching the ball from the outside to attract the pass behind the defense.
His ball support earned him three assists in the first quarter."
"With such a role player who can do many things, the Celtics' overall integrity came out, and they deserved to take the lead."
Charles Barkley summarized a long paragraph, to the effect that James has played well enough, but overall the Celtics have played better.
The difference between the two teams lies not in the superstars, but in the role players.
Off the court, Rivers patted Lin Yu on the shoulder: "Lin, how are you? Can you still withstand it?"
Lin Yu, who had been hit by James for most of the time, was about to fall apart, but he could still withstand the impact. He nodded, indicating that there was no problem.
But James came on the court as soon as the second quarter started, and Lin Yu stayed off the court to rest.
The superstar showdown that fans were looking forward to began. Pierce vs. James, the two exchanged blows for about half a quarter.
Pierce scored 9 points. Under the double-team defense of the Celtics, James also opened up the breakthrough ball. He scored 7 points and 3 assists in the first half of the quarter, which can be regarded as driving his teammates.
During the official timeout, the Celtics still maintained a 5-point lead, and Rivers called up Lin Yu on the bench.
"Lin, it's your turn!"
Lin Yu quickly stood up, took off his training jacket, and stood in front of the technical stage.
After the official timeout ended, he rushed onto the court.
James was still present, so Lin Yu's opponent was still James. As soon as he came on the court, he stood in front of James.
Seeing Lin Yu again, James felt his eyelids jump wildly.
He had just made a breakthrough goal for half a quarter, and the Cavaliers' integrity was about to come out. At this time, Lin Yu appeared again.
After Lin Yu came on the court, the Celtics gave up all kinds of flanking attacks on James, and they began to let Lin Yu defend James alone.
"Lin Yu seems to have his own way of defending lbj."
Lex Karamian observed the entire first quarter of the game and compared the period in the first half of the second quarter when Lin Yu was not on the court. Now Lin Yu has reappeared and continues to defend James alone.
James was still scoring, but Kalamian could clearly feel that James was playing no easier than when he was flanked by defense.
At least Lin Yu's defense can force James to take long-range shots from time to time, and then hit the ball in various ways.
It seems that James is very efficient. In fact, James, who cannot produce sudden points, does not pose a great threat to the Celtics.
In other words, it is difficult for LeBron James, who is known for his reasonable playing, to kill a team by himself. This is a guy who relies heavily on his teammates.
He has won three championships in his career, all of which formed a trio of giants: himself, a real giant, and a fake giant...
On the court, James made another breakthrough. Lin Yu held on to guard the right wing. James, who rushed to the left wing, made an emergency stop and shot a mid-range shot with a stiff posture.
There was a bang, but it didn't come in again.
"Up to this point in the game, lbj's COSCO shots have all been hit." Kenny Smith took a look at the technical statistics table and gave a relatively unpopular statistic.
Charles Barkley continued: "This is normal. lbj's long-range shooting has never been very good. In this game, he encountered China Lin who was very good at guarding against shots. As long as he made a shot against China Lin's defense,
, it’s almost impossible to score.”
"Actually, Charles, what I want to express is that China Lin's defense against lbj was not as bad as you thought. He still restricted lbj from certain angles."
Kenny Smith began to try his best to hit Barkley in the face again. Sir Bark's face suddenly turned dark: "But before the second quarter was over, lbj had already scored 24 points and 4 assists."
"Data can sometimes blind people. The fact is that although lbj's personal performance was outstanding, the Celtics gained a 5-point lead."
When Kenny Smith and Barkley were discussing Lin Yu's defense against James, the Celtics, who grabbed the defensive rebound, went to the frontcourt. Lin Yu directly hit a three-pointer to meet the defense. With a swish, he directly hit the frontcourt.
Hit!
"Oh no, China Lin hit another three-pointer, and now the point difference is 8 points!"
Kenny Smith then pointed out another point: "And there is one point that cannot be ignored. Lin Yu's defense against lbj has always been a one-on-one defense, with no flanking attack at all.
Charles Barkley shut up and stopped talking. He found that he seemed to have been slapped in the face again. Could it be that Doc Rivers has mastered an advanced method of defending James?
At the end of the first half, LeBron James had scored 26 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists, but the Cavaliers trailed the Celtics by 11 points.
Paul Pierce competed with James on the offensive end. In the first half, Pierce also scored 19 points and 4 assists.
Lin Yu was the third best player in the game. He made 5 of 8 shots, hit 4 three-pointers, and scored 14 points, 2 rebounds, 5 assists and 1 steal in the half.