The strongest champion puzzle

Chapter 286 Prospects
As far as the Pacers are concerned, a team whose core players can't play, even if the winning streak is ended, it shouldn't be now.

After being repeatedly fierce by Zhang Xiaotian, the Cavaliers team took a lot of effort.

Pacers coach Frank Vogel looked serious, and they wanted to win, too.

If some teams lose their core players, they will simply fail, but the Pacers have no such plan.

In order to maintain their physical strength, the Pacers actually rotate very frequently. Except for Hibbert who protects the inside, the others mainly work hard. This is also the difference between them and when the lineup is neat.

However, the Pacers' bench lineup is relatively poor in defense. For example, Scola basically has no help defense, and Zhang Xiaotian's defense against Stuckey is also very average.

The Pacers are quite familiar with Zhang Xiaotian, and if he goes in, he will definitely be treated as a defensive assistant.

But they don't know that Zhang Xiaotian's shooting ability is getting better and better.

At the beginning of the fourth quarter, Zhang Xiaotian scored 5 points in a row.

The score changed all of a sudden, and the Pacers also hurriedly replaced, letting CJ-Myers defend Zhang Xiaotian.

Their defensive strategy is to jump out and help if they are out of position.

But the most important thing for CJ-Myers to come up is to increase the offensive point. This season, the Pacers won CJ-Myers for outside shots.

CJ-Myers did not disappoint the team either, hitting a three-pointer as soon as he came up.

Zhang Xiaotian was delayed by the opponent, and CJ-Myers is not a pure shooter, he took a step laterally with the ball and hit it. This kind of player can improve two threat levels when he is accurate. Compared with a pure shooter or a slow mover The big shooters are much harder to guard against.

Zhang Xiaotian was determined to score 3 points, but in a blink of an eye, Irving was beaten 1+[-] by George Hill, and the score that he had just overtaken was reversed by the opponent.

Irving's defense is purely a talent point for offense.

At this time, Love was still resting, the Cavaliers played a big and a small, and James cameo at the fourth position.

During the offense, Zhang Xiaotian sat with his back after receiving the ball. The Pacers would definitely not let him sit in and make a mid-range shot. As soon as the flank came, Zhang Xiaotian distributed the ball to the outside.

If his teammates still feel bad, he will also try to forcefully turn around and lean back.

It's just that the hand feeling is not good today, even if the skill is activated, Zhang Xiaotian doesn't intend to do it recklessly when it is not necessary.

Fortunately, JR Smith made a hit. In this case, Zhang Xiaotian is more likely to interfere with the opponent's defense than James, who is surrounded by a meat shield.

Because James usually shoots in from the front, Zhang Xiaotian can play sitting down, because James has a strong impact and Zhang Xiaotian shoots more accurately.

There are not so many strong players in the second position, so Zhang Xiaotian got a lot of similar opportunities.

Just like the buddies in the first position who can fight back always bully others, Zhang Xiaotian can also choose someone to bully.

Although CJ-Myers' defensive ability is above the average level, Zhang Xiaotian is slightly stronger.

The Pacers' defense suddenly fell into a dilemma. This kind of star play is to force you a little bit. When there is no good enough opponent player, it can only be flanking, and you can also see the opponent's touch.

Zhang Xiaotian quickly proved his touch. He sat inside, turned around and hit the top, and hit 2 points with his best mid-range shot.

After Zhang Xiaotian opened this point, the Pacers were immediately passive.

The three-pointer was originally their supplementary method, but now it has become a routine method for them to chase points, but their three-pointer ability is not strong.

CJ-Myers wanted to follow suit and make another three-pointer, but Zhang Xiaotian saw through and blocked it.

During the Cavaliers counterattack, James directly ravaged the basket.

The team's lead came to 7 points, and the time was only more than three minutes left.

The Pacers came back and George Hill hit a breakthrough, but then Zhang Xiaotian caused CJ-Myers to foul and hit a two-pointer, and the Pacers had no choice but to pause.

After returning from the timeout, the Pacers' strategy is to switch George Hill to defend Zhang Xiaotian. It is not new for George Hill to switch to the second position with a good wingspan.

It's just that Zhang Xiaotian was originally a player in the third position. After he hit again, the morale of the Pacers was already low.

Then the Pacers attacked twice and Zhang Xiaotian sealed the victory with a three-pointer.

When the team was in trouble, Zhang Xiaotian led the team to reverse the situation almost by himself.

In this game, he did what the core of the team should do, and he did it very well.

The Cavaliers won 27 consecutive victories, and Zhang Xiaotian also scored [-] points.

His strength has once again aroused heated discussions, especially before many people thought he was highly regarded, but now it seems that they still underestimated him.

This is still his third season in the league. From being undrafted to an All-Star, it is really surprising.

If there is a team that trains him as the core, the current achievements can still be justified, but he is just a role player in front of him, which seems very unusual.

Especially after he came back from injury this time, he was even more ferocious.

This annoyed some teams that came into contact with him last summer. If they had been more sincere, this late blooming star player would have been theirs.

Zhang Xiaotian himself is sober, the outbreak during this period can only be said to be a collision.

And if he really became the core and received special attention in every game, he would definitely not be able to explode like this.

In the Cavaliers, because there are several All-Star players who helped him attract defenses, he is the one who presumptuously bullies the players in the second position with his body in the third position.

It’s almost the Spring Festival on the other side of the ocean, and Zhang Dajun came to Cleveland with some home-made food that he made.

Zhang Xiaotian originally planned to go to the farm to celebrate the New Year, but he had to play a game that day, so Zhang Dajun came here ahead of time, and followed Zhang Xiaotian to the All-Star for a stroll, just to keep up with the fashion.

On February 2, the Cavaliers returned to their home court against the Lakers.

Kobe Bryant was injured again for the Lakers a few days ago, and the age is really different.

Without Kobe, the Lakers can feel at ease.

The seven Cavaliers easily won the opponent in double figures, and of course Zhang Xiaotian also scored 20+ again.

On February 2, facing the Heat with Wade's truce, the Cavaliers won another big victory.

Fifteen consecutive victories, the Cavaliers are also high-spirited.

But the next day they went to Chicago to play back-to-back away games, and the winning streak was still ended.

Love's truce suffered a loss on the inside, and Rose broke out, and the Cavaliers lost without complaint.

But this is not necessarily a bad thing, just came to the All-Star Weekend, the Cavaliers can take the opportunity to recuperate and make some adjustments.

After the All-Stars, it's time to focus on the playoffs.

According to the current state, as long as there are no problems with the main players, Zhang Xiaotian is full of hope for his third championship.

The Cavaliers this season have no particularly obvious weaknesses, they are not afraid to face any team, and Zhang Xiaotian will not allow failure.

(End of this chapter)