start with scouting

Chapter 676 The Mystery of the Insufficient Firepower of the Big Three

The three-day rest time passed quickly, and on the evening of June [-]th, the second game of the Kings and Cavaliers Finals continued.

In the first three rounds of the confrontation, Su Yang found that the Cavaliers adjusted their strategy and chose to double-team the ball-handler on the King's side, while blocking the passing route, forcing the King's side to use more small-scale cooperation or singled out, and soon let the Curry made 2 turnovers.

The Cavaliers took the opportunity to expand the score to 9 to 3, with a vague sense of momentum. Assistant coach Mike Brown immediately asked Su Yang tentatively: "Should we let Curry play without the ball in advance?" The implication is that Curry can play without the ball. Better error reduction.

"You can always trust Stephen..."

Su Yang shook his head with a smile, and stood up to indicate that Curry in the field continued to attack with the ball, but he didn't have to shoot a three-pointer, and he could hit the basket. The main thing was that TT Thompson was obviously unable to keep up with the breakthrough of the guard level after the delay of the attack. speed.

Curry had to follow suit, and scored 2+1 in the blink of an eye, helping the Kings catch up to 6-9, and Antetokounmpo and others followed suit.

Like the Cavaliers, LeBron responded at the same time. He rushed to the basket and carried Cousins ​​to take off for a layup and hit a three-pointer. He actually scored 2+1 instead of 2+0. It helped the Cavaliers continue the rhythm, but LaVine and George took turns. Hit the basket and quickly tied the score.

But even then, the Cavaliers still chose to double-team, pinch the pass, and limit three-pointers with all their strength, and Thompson frequently shrunk back to defense.

With such a high-intensity defense, the number of turnovers by the Kings in the first quarter quickly reached 7, but the score always maintained the lead.

"The Cavaliers choose the most physical-intensive style of play, and I hope they can hold on..." Su Yang thought that the Cavaliers and LeBron really had a strong desire to win the championship. They didn't lose their fighting spirit after losing 30+ in the first game. Coach Nash surrendered early.

LeBron cooperated with Love early on to help Love feel good on the offensive end, and every time he encountered the King's counterattack, he chased the frame fiercely, and staged a cap-chasing scene on the spot, just like driving a train. It looked really brave , is quite powder-absorbing.

However, Irving was a little out of order and failed to perform normally. At the end of the first quarter, the Cavaliers trailed 34 to 40.

Curry missed the shot and made only 6 of 2 shots, but frequently hit the basket, allowing him to get 10 free throws.

Su Yang was a little surprised when he saw the free throw statistics. He never expected that Curry would have the treatment of Harden and Embiid one day.

After a short break, the two teams started the second quarter.

LeBron, who only rested for 30 seconds in the first quarter, continued to appear on the stage, leading Shumpert + Jefferson + Korver + Wiggins to play the small-ball lineup, trying to force the King to also play the small-ball lineup. Su Yang weighed again and again. Knowing that the data level suffers temporarily, but the strategic level has long-term benefits, and decisively sent out the five small lineups of Antetokounmpo + Covington + Grant + Brogdon + LaVine.

Maybe it’s almost zero burden, less losses count as wins, the Cavaliers’ five-man team played very well, without any mistakes for up to 5 minutes in a row, and pushed a quick counterattack whenever there was a chance, all kinds of tough physical confrontation singled out, entangled all the way The rotten defense actually helped the Cavaliers cling to the score, and even at the end of the half, it caused Curry to make three turnovers, and only lost three points in the strong half.

Answering the locker room, Su Yang glanced at the statistics and found that the King made 12 turnovers in the first half, and Curry alone made 6 turnovers. In the last game, the Kings only made 4 turnovers in the whole game. In comparison, this game , the Cavaliers had only 7 turnovers in the half.

"We need to reduce turnovers in the second half..." Assistant coach Di Brown said anxiously, but there was no way.

The king's generals were silent, Curry raised his hand to signal that it was his fault, but assistant coach Mike Brown didn't answer, mainly in the second quarter, Curry had actually switched to playing off the ball, but the Cavaliers' double-teaming was too fierce, and he did not hesitate to play 6 times Fouls also have to stick to Curry.

No way, Curry suddenly broke out in the third quarter of the first game of the series and directly killed the Cavaliers, which should have a profound impact on the Cavaliers. Must defend desperately, allowing Curry to score 15 points in a single quarter.

"It doesn't matter. They will still be like the first game. They will collapse in the third quarter. Their physical strength and energy are constant. They can't play ZONE for a long time..." Su Yang calmly comforted everyone, confident that the king can come back in the second half .

"On the offensive end, you have to continue to make bold shots, forcing the Cavaliers to continue to use high-intensity defense against you. Every time TT Thompson and Kevin Love are involved in double-teaming, we will have an advantage in rebounding inside. It has been proven statistically that as long as you grab a rebound and score a second offense, it will be extremely destructive to the Cavaliers' mentality..."

"In short, the only strategy that the Cavaliers can wrestle with us is to let LeBron lead the five small lineups in a big way, overdrawing his physical strength and energy to fight against us, but LeBron is also a human being, and he will also be tired. We just attack normally..."

Su Yang casually showed the statistics table to everyone. It showed that LeBron played 21 minutes in the first half, and all 8 goals were in the paint area, without any easy goals. For a 33-year-old player, Great consumption.

After listening to Su Yang's explanation, everyone in the Kings suddenly became enlightened. The whole team returned to the arena, simply warmed up and shot, and continued the game.

As Su Yang predicted, the Cavaliers suddenly lost power. Compared with the first half, the double-teaming of the ball handler and the suppression of the three-pointer are like heaven and earth. Points, and Curry scored 7 points in a row.

Fortunately, the Cavaliers have Love scoring 5 points and LeBron rushing to the basket and making free throws, otherwise they will be defeated in another wave.

The king's leading situation was deadlocked for a long time. With the Cavaliers' five consecutive strikes, the King finally extended the lead to 16 points. Following LeBron's 7 points in a row to bite the situation, the game entered a stalemate again, but the number of fouls by the Cavaliers increased rapidly. increase.

There is no way, the Cavaliers can’t defend anymore. Some actions should have been a perfect interception and turned into a blocking foul, or it was originally a precise cut and turned into an inexplicable thug. The bigger problem is that the offensive efficiency has plummeted. Only LeBron and LeBron Fu normal score.

Between you and me, the game reached 7 minutes and 50 seconds left in the fourth quarter, and the Kings led 111 to 97. Su Yang saw LeBron secretly panting on his hips, and decisively asked for a timeout to replace Curry. Antetokounmpo should play center , to start the ultimate charge.

Followed by a wave of 10 to 4, the king led by 20 points, but Irving and Love scored 5 points in a row to stabilize the situation.

It's a pity that it doesn't help. The Cavaliers have a series of offenses, unable to pose a huge threat to the King, and the defensive end has become full of loopholes. As the time from the end of the game is getting shorter and shorter, the King's lead has not been reduced at all. old dog.

At the end of the game, the Kings defeated the Cavaliers 131 to 112, leading by 2 to 0 in the finals.

Curry, who scored zero points in the second quarter and only played 4 minutes and 41 seconds in the fourth quarter, scored a large triple-double with 32 points, 11 assists and 10 rebounds, including 2 offensive rebounds. The embarrassing thing is that he made 8 turnovers , almost reached a quadruple-double achievement.

For the Cavaliers, LeBron made 18 of 12 shots with super high efficiency, 14 assists, 11 rebounds, 3 steals and 2 blocks, only 2 turnovers, and scored 29 points, which is worth mentioning It was only 4 sports goals in the second half.

Love also scored 27 points more efficiently.

The worst starting data for the Cavaliers is Irving, who only made 23 of 8 shots, and was unable to drive his teammates, making little contribution.

At the press conference after the game, the reporter asked how he managed to restrain Irving. Su Yang said with a smile: "We just add confrontation to him, and then pray to the old man..." In fact, the routine for dealing with Irving is mature, as long as Irving finds TT Thompson to pick and roll Just choose double-teaming, bullying Irving's poor scoring ability and deviation, and choose to switch defenses when looking for Love pick-and-roll, relying on strong defenses.

Back in the locker room, Thomas took the initiative to ask: "Coach, how did you think of restricting Kyrie Irving like that?"

Su Yang smiled and said bluntly: "The essence of designing a defensive strategy like that is to bully the Cavaliers. Only LeBron can organize the offense. If you observe carefully, Coach Tyronn Lue even wants to try to let Wiggins and Shumpert try to organize the ball... "

Mike Brown answered with a smile: "That's the biggest shortcoming of the Cavaliers. They have three All-Star players and can play those off-ball running tactics in the first half, but their essence is still with LeBron as the absolute core, and they are extremely strong. Relying on singles, their running distance must be much lower than ours, which is why they can't play the strength of the three All-Stars..."

Rookie Dorian interjected: "Is this what fans often say that LeBron will always put his All-Star teammates..."

Su Yang smiled and shook his head: "There are only suitable and inappropriate, so there is no useless teammate, go take a bath!"

(End of this chapter)