NBA Legends Manager

Chapter 444 The rising teacher appointment
The Cavaliers fans were completely desperate. They did not expect that the Cavaliers, who had been 4-0 in the series, would be beaten by the Pelicans in the finals. Therefore, when the finals came to the Cavaliers' home court, Cavaliers fans no longer expected to win the championship, but expected the team to win a game against the Pelicans.

However, before the game, Presti suddenly announced that Davis would not play in this game due to a finger contusion in the previous game. This news made Cavaliers fans very excited.

Davis said with a smile in an interview: "I believe in my teammates, even if I don't play, we will still win!"

And Presti said: "Jokic will start this game. He is a very good center. You will find out in this game."

At the beginning, the two sides adopted the same defensive strategy on the defensive end: they all bypassed the screen to chase the ball holder, Jokic/Tristan Thompson squatted in the penalty area to protect the basket, the Cavaliers doubled down on Jokic, and the Pelicans had no ball. Irving/James defended the ball.

The Cavaliers' main offensive player James/Irving instigated the pick-and-roll to lead the two breakthrough points. James used the pick-and-roll to create, supplemented by Irving's second catch to start the breakthrough.The Cavaliers were 9 of 5 and 3 of 1 three-pointers; the Pelicans were 9 of 4 and 7 of 3 three-pointers.The Cavaliers scored 5-3 to the Pelicans in the penalty area, and the Pelicans scored 5-2 to the Cavaliers on the fast break.

After the timeout, Tyronn Lue used Gay to replace Poeltl with one big and four small ones. The Cavaliers singled out James as the main attack, but failed to make any achievements in two consecutive rounds;

Tyronn Lue paused for adjustments and placed James with Love + Korver + Irving + JR Smith four shooters to improve offense: Cavaliers offensively focused on James + Love's high pick-and-roll, James used a single block to grab a mid-range shot or Love's low-post attack to stop the decline. On the defensive end, Love + James double-teamed Jokic, forcing Jokic to make 2 mistakes in a row. The Cavaliers seized the opportunity and the point difference came to 3 points.

During the rotation period, the Pelicans mainly played Middleton/Barea+Porzingis high-position pick-and-roll, Barea misplaced to chase Love, Middleton used a single block to hold the ball to fight; the Cavaliers used Irving Love to launch a pick-and-roll attack, multiple points back and forth, Irving grabbed three points or Love penetrated the penalty area.

首节战罢，鹈鹕28-21领先骑士7分。鹈鹕投篮命中率为46.6%，三分球11中5；骑士投篮命中率为41.1%，三分球7中3。鹈鹕失误6次，骑士失误1次。

At the beginning of the second quarter, Jokic + Antetokounmpo + Paul George + Thompson + Curry VS Tristan Thompson + Love + Korver + James + Owen.

The Pelicans' main guard group + Jokic's high-position pick-and-roll hand-in-hand duo, Curry/Paul George borrowed a single block to attack the basket, supplemented by Antetokounmpo to counter the chaos;

After the timeout, the Cavaliers focused on James + Tristan Thompson's high-position pick-and-roll, and James took over with a single-block mid-range singles; supplemented by James/Irving's reciprocating breakthrough to score the ball, Love penetrated the penalty area to kill;

Tyronn Lue put James + Love + JR Smith + Korver + Irving three shooters to chase points, supplemented by James' low-post singled out Antetokounmpo to attack and kill; the Pelicans used the teacher as a high-level support axis, and linked Curry and Paul George without the ball.

半场结束，鹈鹕51-40领先骑士11分。鹈鹕投篮命中率为48.8%，三分球17中7；骑士投篮命中率为40.9%，三分球8中3。骑士失误4次，鹈鹕失误7次。鹈鹕快攻得分8-3骑士，鹈鹕禁区得分21-20骑士。

In the second half, the Pelicans continued to put pressure on the Cavaliers' defensive end with the impact of Curry and Paul George. Curry/Paul George + Jokic led the double guards to hold the ball back and forth to force the Cavaliers to shrink, creating open opportunities for Thompson on the outside to grab three points, supplemented by the whole people chasing Irving,

In the past 3 minutes of the third quarter, the Cavaliers only scored 2 points by Irving using Tristan Thompson's positional screen to grab a shot, while the Pelicans scored consecutive three-pointers. The Pelicans have already opened up a 20-point difference.

During the intermission, Presti said to the players that this game will be a three-quarter check-in, because the Cavaliers' lineup configuration cannot be infinitely switched between positions 1-5. Jokic and the pick-and-roll hands of the guards are dismantled into a partial one-on-one, and they have to be in a state of passive defense. Therefore, they cannot fundamentally limit the overall offense of the Pelicans.

After the timeout, the Pelicans went online on the defensive end and frantically put pressure on the Cavaliers' ball handlers, bullying Tristan Thompson's lack of long-range shots and James' unstable long-range shots, forcing the Cavaliers to stay away from the penalty area to end the offense;

Five minutes into the fourth quarter, Tyronn Lue had no choice but to withdraw the main force and hand in the guns ahead of time. The Cavaliers' offense was completely contained by the Pelicans. The team could not set off an effective offensive climax in a short period of time, and the strength of the Pelicans' second team was far superior to that of the Cavaliers. In the end, the Pelicans beat the Cavaliers 5:118, and the series was 98:3
整场比赛，鹈鹕投篮命中率为51.0%，三分球30中16；骑士投篮命中率为40.2%，三分球24中9。鹈鹕失误14次，骑士失误8次。

What surprised people the most in this game was that Jokic of the Pelicans played so well, scoring 28 points, 11 rebounds and 9 assists. Of course, what people talked about more was that Presti boldly used a second-round pick as the core of the offense in the finals. Presti's ability surprised the fans again.

(End of this chapter)