Chapter 149: There is always someone to be let go, why can't it be you
The Warriors' tactics were well executed. The jumper team that Barkley could not win the championship began to use their best jump shots to chase points. Curry and Thompson's three-pointers were like precisely guided missiles and they all drilled into the Cavaliers' basket one by one.
It was as Lin Sen thought. Once the Shuishui brothers opened their doors on this side, the scoring advantage of these two-digit numbers would disappear quickly. It seemed that they had never existed before.
77:72, the Cavaliers were bitten very tightly. Fortunately, Lin Sen just hit a free three-pointer to stop bleeding before lifting the score back to the safety line again, entering the official timeout again, and now it is Blatter's turn to get impatient.
On the defensive end, Lin Sen has done everything he can do, but the Warriors' double pick-and-roll and the explosion of two scorers made Lin Sen alone unable to clone himself. He is a little depressed now why the skills provided by this system are not given to clones or something.
Blatt looked at the formation and, after seeing the playing time, he suddenly made a very important decision to short the opponent Barnes, who was about to play. After this timeout, the opponent will definitely have to rotate, so Barnes will play again.
This decision is abrupt and looks adventurous, but it is extremely real. Compared to letting those two guys take action, the Cavaliers would rather Barnes take these damn balls.
The former has a good three-point shooting percentage this season. He also scored two bleeding-stop three-pointers in the sixth game of the Western Conference Finals. He also has the basis for his outstanding performance in Thompson's 11 three-pointers saving the world.
But in the finals, he seemed to have disappeared on the offensive end. As soon as he arrived at the inside, he was sent to a big hat by Lin Sen. This three-pointer since the finals has made 1 of 13 shots, and most of the shots were empty spots created by the Splash Brothers for him.
Back on the court, the Warriors' first chance still lies with Barnes, because from the beginning, the Cavaliers deliberately asked the Warriors to pass the ball to him. For Curry and Thompson, the double-teaming was extremely strong. Lin Sen no longer made up for defense after a pick-and-roll substitution, but instead wandered around and double-teamed from the beginning, using his height advantage to force the Warriors' pass to a position.
That is Barnes, who is very comfortable when receiving the ball. Irving, the nearest of the game, was one meter away from defense, which basically means an open three-pointer, but he did not hit.
"Hey! Harrison, your move has become decisive! Unfortunately, your touch doesn't seem to be very good today!" Lin Sen's trash words were definitely full of Green and Barnes, two guys who have been squeezing inside with him for many years. Lin Sen would never let it go as soon as he had the chance.
"You guys keep emptying me! I will make you come back at the price." After being mocked by Lin Sen for several consecutive games, Barnes' temper could no longer bear it. He finally understood why that guy Green had been fighting with Lin Sen in the penalty area at the beginning, because the guy in front of him was so annoying.
Lin Sen shrugged: "Harrison, there is always someone who is going to be emptied, so why can't it be you? You might as well want us to emptied Stephen or Clay, right? Sacrifice yourself to fulfill them? Don't forget that you are about to sign a contract this year."
"Isn't you the same this year? You're going to sign a contract soon!"
"But I can score!"
As soon as he finished speaking, Lin Sen went straight into the inside line. James' pass came as scheduled and made a dunk. Barnes was still immersed in the trash talk with Lin Sen and did not react to the squirting.
This also makes Barnes continue to be more determined to take action when he has the opportunity. In many cases, such determination is a good thing, but when he feels bad and has a wrong mentality, such determination makes him an offensive black hole in the team.
If you don’t win, if you don’t win, you won’t win again! In the first half of the third quarter, there were no three open opportunities, which was undoubtedly uncomfortable for the Warriors who were chasing points.
The Cavaliers won't stop attacking just because your rhythm is interrupted. Irving, who was still silent in the first half, also started his attack in the second half, and Lin Sen responded to Barnes.
In the second half of the third quarter, Lin Sen's five small balls were hit several times by Lin Sen with a hook. In the past, Lin Sen was always punished by the opponent with various inside skills to punish him for his defense. Now, Lin Sen turned over as the master, with his height and wingspan, he had a natural advantage when facing Green.
Admittedly, if Green put all his energy on Lin Sen, he would definitely have a way to defend Lin Sen with the best defensive player in the front line this season and could use his physical advantages to prevent Lin Sen from entering the penalty area.
However, his defensive goal is not just Lin Sen. Like Lin Sen, he needs to face various impacts from the outside, especially the presence of a historically top breakthrough player like James.
Two points, two points have an advantage, but the victory is extremely stable. Lin Sen's hook, James' breakthrough, Irving's mid-range shot, and the attack of the three of them seem to have divided the main theme for the Cavaliers. They are good at three-pointers and like three-pointers, but they are not limited to three-pointers. When they meet the Warriors, a team with stronger three-pointers, they slam the opponent's core three-pointers and scored with two-pointers.
This is the rhythm that this group of Cavaliers like. In the fourth quarter, they slowly stabilized the score at around 10 points in the stable rhythm of the Cavaliers. The Warriors' offense has done a good job. But in the middle of the quarter, they still did not recover their own scores.
"The Cavaliers' offense is too stable! Their steady attacks on almost every goal ensured themselves a sufficient success rate. If the Warriors' three-pointers were not as magical as in the sixth game of the Western Conference Finals, then I announced that we can already watch Game 7. From 1:3 to 3:3, I suddenly felt like I wanted to witness history?" Barkley did not expect that the Cavaliers' classical playing style would achieve such an effect.
Although he has been criticizing that too many jump shots have become the rhythm of the league, it has to be said that the current rules of the league support this, and not to mention the amazing touch of this group of new little guys, he finds it even more rare for the Cavaliers' stable score and maintaining advantages.
Chapter completed!