The invincible kryptonite of basketball

In other words, this matchup between the two teams will definitely not be as easy as the first time, and the Pelicans will not be so simple if they want to win.

Not to mention that the Cavaliers are still playing at home.

In Cleveland the day before the game, fans have already begun to build momentum on social media.

The disastrous defeat in the opening game, and the disastrous defeat against the Warriors later, made the outside world feel that this season is a two-bear hegemony between the Pelicans and the Warriors, and whoever wins in the West will win the championship.

As for the Cavaliers, in their view, they have become the pallet fish for the winners in the West, and the finals are just a formality.

Now that the strength of the Cavaliers has improved, they will naturally want the team to use the most positive way to justify their name.

Regardless of whether it is the former No.1 in the league, the "Little Emperor" James who has only been on the throne for one year, or the most talked about Whiteside, or even Tang Tian's brother Irving, and because of the change in the penalty scale, he has fallen from an All-Star to an ordinary player. Love needs to prove himself with such a game.

"This is an extra game of last year's finals. Similarly, this may also be a preview of this year's finals."

As Barkley said on the TNT show, the game between the Pelicans and the Cavaliers is the most watched game at the end of the season.

All the attention is on the verge of breaking out.

In the afternoon of this day, the Cavaliers conducted an open training.

The media reporters at the scene were crowded together.

The topics at the end of the season are much less than those at the beginning and middle of the season. At this time, the media will never miss such a topical game.

As soon as the training ended, the Big Four of James, Irving, Whiteside, and Love, as well as the team's head coach Lu, were surrounded by reporters.

Among the crowd, the reporters who interviewed Whiteside were the most, even surpassing James.

The grievances between James and Tang Tian are still going on, but it is not new, and the entanglement between Whiteside and the Pelicans has become the freshest topic.

Moreover, Whiteside himself has always been a topic maker, and the words of the opening game are still fresh in the memory of reporters.

I feel that the team will definitely succeed in revenge tonight. He is completely different from the beginning of the season. They will win a big victory at home...

It was no surprise that these words came out of his mouth.

His grievances with the Pelicans deepened because of the opener's fiasco, and he desperately needed to prove himself tonight.

However, among these questions, a question from a FOX sports reporter brought a new topic to this pre-match interview.

And the explosiveness of the topic is greater than all other interviews combined.

"What do you think of Don's performance? He's got five straight triple-doubles, if he gets to six tonight."

The reporter asked a very natural question. Tang Tian is now creating a record of consecutive triple-doubles in the season, and is likely to tie the history of 9 consecutive games.

But Whiteside was not so happy after hearing it.

"You should pay attention to me, I have got 3 blocks in 5 consecutive games."

When he was in the Pelicans, he was in the accident world, and he has been with James for a long time in the Cavaliers, so he cares more about these.

The reporter smiled.

It's really good to have more than 3 blocks in 5 consecutive games, but it's a bit worse than Tang Tian's consecutive [-]-doubles and [-] triple-doubles.

And now he was asking questions related to Tang Tian, ​​not Whiteside.

Seeing the reporter's expression, Whiteside's thoughts in the cerebral cortex became active again.

He was upset and had to say something.

"He won't finish."

Hearing what Whiteside said next, the reporter's excitement came from the beginning.

Whiteside did not disappoint him!

"All of us watched the Pelicans vs. Rockets, vs. Jazz. AD gave way to Don in both games, and he was in the spotlight because of that, but I wouldn't let him do that. I Grabbing every rebound, Tang naturally couldn't complete a triple-double."

What Whiteside said next was surprisingly logical.

But this is also his reaction, he needs to shift the focus of the outside world from Tang Tian to himself.

"You mean, Tang Tian is a data brush?"

The reporter asked.

Sure enough, as expected of a reporter from FOX Sports, he directly jumped to the most critical part.

Chapter 948 It's Better to Shoot the Wall

After the FOX reporter asked, everyone else looked at Whiteside in unison.

Whiteside said nothing, just nodded.

He nodded!

All the reporters stared wide-eyed, as if Magellan discovered the New World!

Whiteside said that Tang Tian would not be allowed to complete a triple-double. There is actually no problem with this answer.

The FOX reporter loves to make trouble, misinterpreted his meaning, and asked him if Tang Tian was such a sensitive data brush that a discerning eye could see it as a trap.

Ordinary people will definitely shake their heads and deny it when they hear the reporter's question. Even if they are slow to react, they will at least say, I didn't say that.

But Whiteside actually nodded!

Such an obvious pit, he actually jumped into it!

Whiteside really won't let people "disappoint"!

Seeing the excited expressions of the reporters, Whiteside realized that he seemed to be cheated.

But words that are spoken are water that is poured out, and it cannot be taken back.

"What do you think of Don and Westbrook, both of them are now close to averaging a triple-double."

The FOX reporter was overjoyed, and then asked again.

"We have played against the Thunder before. Compared with winning or losing, Westbrook is more about statistics. The biggest difference between Don and him is that he cares about winning and losing, but he also cares about statistics."

Whiteside said, he was just rounding up what he said just now.

But after he finished speaking, the reporters became even more delighted.

This is tantamount to saying that Westbrook and Tang Tian are data brushes!

Sure enough, it was right to come to interview Whiteside, and you can get great news from him every time!

James was being interviewed not far away. He turned his head unconsciously when he heard Whiteside's words, his head was a bit big.

He suddenly realized how Tang Tian felt back then, being Whiteside's big brother, he was tired.

Whiteside's interview was reported by the media, and it quickly became a hot search on social media the next day.

News headlines such as "Whiteside said Tang is just a data brush" were constantly reposted.

There is no impenetrable wall in the world. The matter of James suggesting that the Heat's management should not choose Tang Tian can be exposed, and the matter of Tang Tian's strong recommendation for Whiteside to stay on the team will naturally be exposed.

Including his guidance to Whiteside later, those Pelicans saw it in their eyes.

It can be said that Whiteside was able to play well in the Pelicans entirely because of Tang Tian.

And he can get a contract of 9800 million now, and a large part of his willingness is also Tang Tian.

But now, he turned around and said that Tang Tian is a data brush!

Gratitude will be revenged!

In the training session on the day of the game, the players of the Pelicans were all angry.

Especially Davis and Holiday, who have been teammates with Whiteside.

It's okay to have a bad brain, but repaying one's kindness and revenge can reveal a person's character, and such a person will be cast aside!

After the training session, both Stevens and Gentry went back to the office to study game tactics. The players returned to the locker room and couldn't hold back, directly filled with righteous indignation.

"If I knew this was the case, even if he begged on his knees, Don shouldn't have brought him to the Pelicans!"

"If this is my son, I regret that I didn't shoot the wall directly!"

"Today, I have to give him some color. Didn't this guy say that Tang is a data brush? Then let's show him!"

"Yes, beat them and let Tang get a triple-double, so mad at him!"

"How can a triple-double be enough? We want to get a large triple-double, 40 points, 50 points!"

"It's not like Tang has never taken it!"

……

The discussion quickly reached an agreement that they wanted Tang Tian to do a good job.

They also have experience in this kind of thing. Tang Tian scored 70+ points against the Lakers three years ago.

Although the opponent is stronger now, Tang Tian is also stronger!

Tang Tian didn't speak. What Whiteside said really made him very uncomfortable.

Davis and the others are also right. In the face of such provocative words, getting a triple-double or even a large triple-double is the most positive response.

Moreover, most of his injuries have recovered, and he has the ability to do it.

That night, the game between the Cavaliers and the Pelicans kicked off at Quicken Loans Arena.

The arena is full of seats, and the number of online viewers on the hotline has reached a new high.

This itself is a focus station, and Whiteside's remarks make it the focus of the focus.

Especially in China, the ratings are close to last year's finals.

For 5000 years in China, it has never been shameless to treat ungrateful people.

Now they wish Tang Tian could beat Whiteside severely.

After the opening ceremony before the game, the starters of the two teams appeared one after another.

The regular five tigers of the Pelicans, the Cavaliers, James, Love, Whiteside, Love Big Four plus Shumpert.

Just then, there was a very subtle detail on the sidelines.

James, who always throws magnesium powder before the game, didn't even throw it before playing this time.

This move is intriguing.

Amidst the cheers of the fans at the scene, Whiteside turned the ball back to the Cavaliers' half, officially kicking off the game.

The Cavaliers' style of play has not changed much from the beginning of the season, and they still rely on the individual singles tactics of James and Irving.

James and Whiteside rushed to the basket after the pick-and-roll, forced Jokic and Ariza to double-team, and passed the ball back to Whiteside.

Whiteside caught the ball and dribbled away from Davis, who was helping to defend, and dunked the ball into the basket with both hands.

From receiving the ball to dunking the ball, his movements were very fast, as if there were small springs under his feet.

This is the change between him now and at the beginning of the season. After losing weight, he has become more flexible.

The scene suddenly burst into cheers, and Whiteside ignited the atmosphere with a dunk in the opening game.

Whiteside also beat his chest and roared excitedly after dunking.

His road to rectification begins with this dunk!

In the Pelicans' offense, Tang Tian held the ball from the outside, and after the others pulled away, Davis raised the high position to cover Tang Tian.

In the season opener, the Pelicans relied on dislocation to play Whiteside, which made the Cavaliers' summer 9800 million worthless.

Now that Whiteside has lost weight, it is definitely not wise to hit him again, but the Cavaliers' breakthrough is not only Whiteside, but also Love.

Under the new penalty scale, Love's strength has been further weakened, and it has changed from a breakthrough to a big hole.

The Cavaliers obviously knew this too, and Loveti went in to collect it, but Shumpert struggled to rush out and refused to change.

But Tang Tian's speed was even faster, Davis took a quick step in the pick-and-roll and had already met Love.

After Shumpert saw it, he directly clipped Tang Tian back.

It was the hole that had to be filled, otherwise Tang Tian would be able to make it bigger than the sky.

However, after Shumpert double-teamed, Tang Tian directly made a signature back pass, pushing the ball from his waist to the free throw line.