NBA: I am the card dealer

Oladipo also smiled: "Great! The sense of rhythm is still so strong, and he is still the MVP we are familiar with."

Xue Liancheng did not comment: "Thank you for the compliment, but it's a pity that you are no longer the you I knew."

This statement actually has two meanings.

The first is: It’s a pity that you are not with me anymore.

The second is: you are my enemy, and you are helping the enemy of my biggest enemy in the league, which is also very unfortunate.

Oladipo spread his hands: "People need to grow after all! And defeating you is the most important part of the growth path."

Defeating someone you admire very much is definitely a very fulfilling thing, but it also indirectly exposes your own ambitions.

To put it bluntly, it means being unwilling to be inferior to others.

Xue Liancheng: "Well, I look forward to your performance next..."

Having said that, he still felt vaguely uneasy.

Because according to the original plan, the first game of this series must be won, so that the reputation of "James' natural nemesis" can be more deeply rooted in people's hearts, making his arch-enemy James panic-stricken and even lose all confidence.

The situation did go according to plan. After a wave of attacks, they successfully widened the gap to 13 points.

result.

Unexpectedly, Oladipo stood up at this time.

This was really an accident and was not planned at all.

Moreover, the energy displayed by Oladipo in this section was indeed violent. It felt a bit like a wild horse that had broken free from its reins and he had lost control.

This was the biggest reason for his uneasiness.

A-Smith saw the two of them communicating enthusiastically and couldn't help but smile: "If Xue hadn't left, we would definitely have won the championship again and achieved two consecutive championships. Their offensive rhythm is the most perfect match."

Burke: "In that case, we will most likely face the fully-formed Warriors. Are you 100% sure you can win the championship?"

A-Smith: "Xue Liancheng + George can bring down the Warriors, so is there any doubt about Xue Liancheng + Oladipo + Lopez?"

Burke: "The situation is different. Green was absent in the first few games, their system was disrupted, and their offensive rhythm was gone, which gave the Lakers an opportunity. If both sides were complete, it would be hard to say who would win..."

A-Smith: "The Knicks are different now, with a more mature and stable Oladipo and a killer version of Xue Liancheng, I don't think they will be worse than the Golden State Warriors..."

The two of them argued fiercely over this.

And the game continues.

Look back.

Oladipo did not force his way forward, but chose to break through and pass the ball to his teammates to complete the finish.

From this point of view, Oladipo's mentality is also terrifyingly mature.

Generally, if a player loses face in a direct matchup, the star who lost face will definitely return it.

What’s more, he was eaten alive by his former boss.

In this situation, if it were Oladipo a year ago, he would definitely have been too excited and would not play tricks with you at all.

And now, Oladipo can remain calm and restrain his desire to perform and win. This alone is worthy of admiration.

This is the sign of maturity!

After watching Oladipo's offensive choices, Xue Liancheng couldn't help but feel even more bitter.

Oladipo really wants to win!

Or to put it another way, Oladipo really wants to beat him!

This is definitely not a good sign.

After all, when a top star with great strength is eager to win, his body's energy is endless, and this unexpected factor will be infinitely magnified.

Next.

Both sides entered the iron-making phase.

Xue Liancheng's touch wasn't very good either, and Oladipo wasn't able to stand out either.

of course.

If Oladipo can still be this fierce, he should really panic.

Finally the second quarter ended.

The Lakers entered halftime with a 64-point lead of 59:5.

Xue Liancheng could still accept this result. After all, he still retained his 100% hit rate skill and the team could still maintain the lead, which was extremely important to him.

As long as they can drag the game into the fourth quarter, they will have a chance to win no matter who their opponent is.

If they can drag the game into the last two minutes of the fourth quarter, their chances of winning the game will increase to 99.9%.

Therefore, he is quite satisfied with the current result.

The only thing that worries him is Oladipo, after all, it is full of uncertainty.

Halftime break.

A-Smith briefly summarized: "The two teams were evenly matched in the first half. The Lakers played a smoother rhythm. Xue Liancheng was very good at passing, pick-and-roll, fast break counterattacks, and connecting balls. Xue Liancheng's leadership ability is really strong. At the same time, his insight is also amazing, and he can switch between offense and passing freely."

"Of course, the Lakers were able to play such an offensive performance mainly thanks to the Knicks' loose and poor defense. Randle, who was defended half to death in the last round of the series, made 6 of 4 shots in this game and scored 10 points. This shows how bad the Knicks' defense is."

After summarizing for so long, it is actually just to criticize New York's eye-catching defense.

Actually, there is nothing wrong with it.

As a veteran New York fan, A. Smith is very dissatisfied with the Knicks. He is really disappointed with them!

At the end of the first half, the opponent had scored a full 64 points. This is the finals, and the opponent was able to score such a high score. Such defensive efficiency is simply unforgivable.

Let’s take Randall, the example he mentioned, as an example. This is the most striking contrast.

In the series against the Warriors, Green defended him like a dog, and single-digit scores in a single game were not uncommon.

In the series against the Spurs, Randle's tactical position improved and his performance was slightly better. He had some brilliant performances, but also many poor performances.

All in all, it can only be considered average.

result.

Coming to the finals, Randall made 6 of 4 shots in the first half and scored 10 points. He really has the tendency to transform into another Xue Liancheng.

If this isn't due to bad defense, what else could it be?

So, A-Smith's anger is definitely justified.

Burke: "This is unavoidable. Lopez slowed down the pace of the game. The Knicks had to take him down and try their best to speed up. The price of taking Lopez down was that the rim protection was seriously insufficient. Jeff Green's size was completely incompatible with Randle's. This allowed Randle's impact to be fully released."

A-Smith is still indignant: "But this is definitely not an excuse. Others can find ways to delay James and minimize his impact advantage. Why can't you find a way to solve this pain point? Tyronn Lue is really disappointing."

Burke: "Ahem! It may not just be a problem for Tyronn Lue."

A-Smith: "Huh? What do you mean?"

Burke replied: "There were two shots where James lost focus after switching defense, allowing Randle to break in and score. I think James's distraction on the court hurt the team a lot. The points that were finally caught up were gone in a flash, which was very demoralizing."

A-Smith: "Yes! This is also a very infuriating move and needs to be criticized. As a leader, you need to lead by example and show your defensive attitude. You can't show this kind of mental outlook on the court. This is definitely a frustrating thing."

Mike Breen added: "Besides that, I think James needs to make a bigger contribution on the offensive end. He can't retreat, and he can't always pass the ball in the last few seconds of the offensive time."

They jumped up and criticized James.

The current James is completely different from the James in history.

First of all, in the first season after leaving the Heat, he was nailed to the pillar of shame by his old club, which was a big blow to James' image.

The bigger blow was that the Heat won the championship that season.

After all this trouble, the Heat can still win the championship with or without him.

It follows Wade's closed-loop model: I had won the championship before you came, we can win the championship after you came, and I am still the champion after you leave.

This time.

James was turned into a mercenary and came to the Heat to gain experience?

You took away two championships and two FMVPs for nothing, all these honors belong to you, and then you still say you are a historical player?

You fart!

You have to win a championship first.

Then in the second season with the Cavaliers, they lost even more thoroughly to the Knicks led by Xue Liancheng, being swept 4:0.

Losing for two consecutive seasons, both times so miserably, is almost a direct declaration that the Cavaliers have failed to form a Big Three.

really.

James ran away.

Instead of running away to some other place, he ran to New York to seek refuge with his mortal enemy Xue Liancheng. This really surprised everyone and everyone felt it was incredible.

It's simply an enhanced version of surrendering to the enemy.

result.

Xue Liancheng ignored you and just walked away.

This made James Diele lose face for a century.

At the same time, it also gave Durant a way out. After all, at that time everyone was amazed at the Knicks' Big Four, who were already invincible and there was no need to play at all!

At this time, Durant announced that he would join the Warriors, which was considered the birth of another cosmic-level strong team to compete against the defending champion Knicks.

It’s just that Xue Liancheng is gone.

So, the firepower was dispersed by James.

During this period of time, James' reputation has been completely ruined.

In the historical track, James won the championship in the 15-16 season. Don’t worry about the value of this championship. Anyway, with three crowns in hand, the world is mine.

Its historical status is truly extraordinary.

After all, he won another championship after leaving the Heat, which proves that being beaten by the Spurs during his time with the Heat was not his problem.

on the contrary.

With this championship, he proved that he had the ability to lead a team to win the championship, and his popularity was really at its peak.

So after winning three championships, James has established himself as the best active player. The media, reporters, and commentators will not offend him easily.

After all, he was the biggest trafficker at that time.

But it’s different now, the one with the biggest traffic is Xue Liancheng.

James' own reputation is terrible, and the value of those two championships has been almost wiped out. Now he is in the position of a villain. Who else will the commentator mock if not you?

This is why this group of commentators speak so freely.

Scenes that rarely appear in history are now the norm.

And the person they needed to support was Xue Liancheng.

of course.

It's not that there is no remedy.

The championship battle on the stage of this finals is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for James.

As long as he can seize the opportunity, defeat Xue Liancheng head-on once, and step onto the highest podium and lift the championship trophy again, all the previous negative news, negative image, and negative influence can be eliminated.

Once the media shapes the situation, we will officially enter the era of a two-hero showdown.

The situation is completely different!

James' future remains bright.

This is the world of sports competition, the winner is the king and the loser is the enemy.

People will only remember the championship and the winner, nothing else is important, even how you won is not important.

of course.

There is a possibility that the reputation will become a little bad, like James in the historical trajectory.

But his 4 championships, 4 MVPs, 4 FMVPs, and a long list of other honors still give him enough confidence to impact the historical rankings.

This is sports competition.

Honor is the strongest endorsement.

However, judging from James' current attitude towards the game, he seems to have not yet realized this truth. Psychologically, he still hopes that someone will lead him to the top of the championship throne.

And this is Xue Liancheng's opportunity.

The second half of the game started quickly.

Without the huge pressure of chasing points, James came alive again, shooting from inside and outside, taking various difficult shots, and...

One person scored 15 points in a single quarter, showing the style of a top star.

On this point, Xue Liancheng has never denied James' strength. Even if you use double-teaming or strong confrontation to deal with James, James is still capable of scoring the ball.

But it is probably impossible for James to lead the team alone, or lead two weak All-Stars.

The reason is that my ability to bear and my leadership role are lacking.

Xue Liancheng's touch was still average in this quarter, but his teammates were in good shape. Vonleh, Clarkson, and even substitute Courtney Lee all played well, which prevented them from being tied.

This is what makes Xue Liancheng most pleased.

In the first game against the Knicks, everyone seemed like a different person and everyone was able to play.

I have to say that the defensive intensity brought by the Knicks really helped a lot.

The Lakers are not very good at defense, especially with their current lineup.

Xue Liancheng himself is not fast enough, and he can't move sideways either, so it would be better if he had the ability of predictive cognition to make up for it.

Not to mention Clarkson, even Xue Liancheng is far inferior to him, he is too thin.

James Johnson is considered a defensive talent, but his ability is limited after all, and he is not yet at the top level of defense.

Needless to say, Randle's defensive basics and defensive awareness are not very good. He is easily distracted and his defensive attitude is also problematic.

Only Vonleh is considered to be a good defender.

The defensive tactical system constructed with such a lineup is not that great. Its only advantages are mobility and positive defensive attitude.

So they have always relied on offense.

Isn’t it a good thing that the Knicks are competing with them on offense now?