no shortcuts in basketball

Chapter 125
The game is about to start. Over at the commentary box, Zhang Weiping and Yang Yi are doing the final warm-up.

Both of them looked a little nervous today.

Not because of the tension of the broadcasters, but the tension of the Bulls' current situation.

Before James retired due to injury, they were all optimistic that the Bulls could end the series in Game [-].

Unexpectedly, the Cavaliers played the game back to Chicago, and James also returned.

Although this is still the Bulls' match point, if they can't win G6, they will go to Cleveland to play tiebreaker. The Bulls will be in trouble.

"Director Zhang, which team do you think has a better chance of winning tonight?" Yang Yi asked.

"It's hard to say, it's really hard to say."

"Tell me, the fans believe your analysis." Yang Yi asked.

"Then I will analyze it from my personal point of view. Personally, James is back on the Cavaliers side, and their morale is very high. But after all, this is the home court of the Bulls, and they must know that this is the best opportunity, so I think... ...The Cavaliers have a greater chance of winning tonight." Zhang Weiping analyzed carefully.

After he finished speaking, Yang Yi was stunned for a moment, and then couldn't help but look at him more.

Zhang Weiping's explanation seemed to go back and forth with just a few sentences, giving people the feeling that he was about to be eliminated by the times. But if you look at people's analysis, how many people can be better than him?

Great wisdom but foolishness!
While talking, all the starters from both sides have appeared.

O'Neal dialed the ball back to the Cavaliers' half, officially opening the curtain of G6.

The Bulls still defended the 2-1-2 zone defense at the beginning, and the Cavaliers still handed the ball to O'Neal to instigate.

After a round of series competition, the two sides are already at the point where you know my strengths and weaknesses, and I know your depth.

O'Neal pretended to pass the ball outside, then suddenly turned around and rushed to the basket to attack the Bulls.

The Cavaliers' intention in the opening game was very obvious, they wanted to cause Noah's damage in the opening game.

Because of the penalty scale, they did this in the last game, and it had an immediate effect.

Noah's confrontation is very tough. Although he knows that he may be blown, he does not want to lose the chain in the opening game.

O'Neal pressed Noah to the penalty area with his weight, but was also forced to stop the ball.

O'Neal finally chose to turn around and hit the hook. After being defended by Deng, he missed the basket and the rebound was protected by Noah.

The Cavaliers' first attack came to nothing.

Also after this possession, the Bulls looked excited.

Because of the penalty scale, it is normal!
The photographer at the United Center was very good at causing trouble and quickly got the lens to Stern.

Stern still had that kind face, and you had no idea what he was thinking.

But at this time, the godfather of the NBA has already defined this game in his heart.

Unlike the Cavaliers management, he is not completely doting on James.

Of course he hopes that James can meet his expectations and become the next leader of the league.

But what he hopes more, and the same choice he made during the dunk contest, is that he hopes James can become a Jordan or Kobe-like figure.

Because only if your league spokesperson is synonymous with toughness and unyielding can the NBA, a commercial league, be seen by fans not as a business, but as the foundation of competitive sports.

So after knowing that James chose the Bulls, he was very happy.

This shows that his original intention to persuade James to participate in the dunk contest was not in vain, and James has grown.

This is also the key to his off-court factors when the Cavaliers fall into a 1-2 disadvantageous situation.

It's a pity that what happened later was a bit out of control. James did not rise up like Wade did back then, but instead ended up being a loser.

He was very disappointed in James.

However, James' return from injury has eased his attitude.

So he will not impose off-court factors in this game, because he just wants to see if James can regain his expectations with his strength.

Of course, his gaze was also on Xu Yong at this time.

Xu Yong's performance in this series has completely exceeded his expectations. If James really can't do it, he will start preparing for the topic of the next era.

The scene quickly cut back to the court, because after Noah took off the defensive rebound, O'Neal violently grabbed the ball and was called for a foul.

The big shark chattered at the referee and seemed very unhappy.

Penalty scales are constantly changing, and it takes time for players to adapt.

This time, the Bulls got the advantage inexplicably at the beginning.

After advancing to the frontcourt, Xu Yong took the initiative to break through to the basket in the face of Parker's defense.

Now it's the Cavaliers' turn to experience the chain reaction of foul trouble inside the opening game.

O'Neal only hesitated for a moment, and Xu Yong had already pulled the green onion from dry land, and smashed the ball into the basket with both hands like a bombshell.

A huge muffled sound instantly detonated the United Center.

A textbook show of force!

"Defense! Defense!"

The fans cheered and cheered immediately.

What does it mean to start with a rainbow of momentum?

The Bulls players were not affected by the penalty scale on the court, and the defensive end obviously dared to make moves. Coupled with the surge of adrenaline from the fans' shouts, the defensive intensity was full at the beginning of the game.

Young people are the easiest to get excited about.

Jamison's low turnaround jump shot was eventually intercepted by Deng.

Noah received another defensive rebound with his long arm, turned around and advanced the fast break with the ball.

With a long throw across the half court, Rose turned over Williams after catching the ball, and then rushed to the frontcourt like Nezha who stepped on Hot Wheels, a iconic dunk Another two points.

0:4.

The Bulls started with Bangbang and gave the Cavaliers two punches.

That is to say, after these two rounds, those fans who were as nervous as Zhang Weiping and others, worried that the Bulls would lose, instantly cheered up.

G5 or something, it was purely an accident. Accidents don't happen twice in a row. It doesn't matter which village's king returns, you should beat you, or beat you!

O'Neal went to the free throw line to play Noah with the ball this time. He showed the style of a big shark this time, and directly hit the basket with an iron elbow.

But before he pulled it up and dunked, the referee's whistle sounded.

O'Neal was called for an offensive foul.

Come out to mix, always have to pay back!
When I was young, I enjoyed the superstar whistle and got used to sweeping with iron elbows. When I was old, I didn't have that kind of treatment. This directly became a weakness.

O'Neal saw the referee's gesture in disbelief, but had no choice but to put the ball on the ground, then turned and walked to the sideline.

O'Neal under the camera at this time gives people the feeling of being decrepit.

Maybe it's just a coincidence, but everyone can feel that the Shark, who has been in Cleveland for a year, may soon withdraw from the stage of history.

Varejao comes off the bench, the ball is swapped, and the Bulls play the possession.

Varejao's ability to protect the frame is not as good as that of O'Neal. Rose changed direction and did not slow down to hit the basket and score with the bar.

0:6.

The Bulls got off to a perfect start.

The live camera quickly focused on James.

What about the promised plot for Return of the King?

Although the Cavaliers won the last game, this is still the Bulls' match point. If the Cavaliers lose, they can only stay in the 5-4 comeback in the mouth of the fans!
James finally started holding the ball and directly signaled Jamison to pick and roll him at the elbow area.

By doing this, you can stagger the matchup with Xu Yong, and you don't have to confront Noah head-on.

Although Deng's defense is not bad, but because of his size and weight, he is much less of a defensive deterrent to James.

In fact, James got what he wanted. He took three steps and two steps to get rid of Deng and Hinrich, who was flanking, and went to the basket. He forced Noah to help defend and then distributed the ball to Varejao on the baseline. The latter quickly received the ball. Hit the board to score.

The Cavaliers finally broke the scoring drought.

And this round can also see the problem of the Cavaliers, because James does not have Kobe's outside shooting ability, he and O'Neal have been running together for a season, but they still can't get together, so after O'Neal left the court early, he played freely.

James' goal also significantly improved the morale of the Cavaliers. When they returned to the defensive end, Rose's layup was interfered by Varejao, and the Bulls' attack failed to score.

Looking back, James continued to look for the pick-and-roll. Although Xu Yong bypassed the first pick-and-roll this time, James then called Parker to come over.

Anyway, his purpose is only one, to avoid Xu Yong and Noah's two defensive strengths, and he has an advantage against others.

This style of play is really crooked, and James' physical fitness is indeed beyond the reach of ordinary players.

This time Noah didn't dare to come up, and James directly performed his iconic James dunk.

The Cavaliers' bench was instantly ignited.

Obviously, James has not been idle in the past few days of "rehabilitation". He must have studied the game video and studied how to make his own system basketball play when facing a 2-1-2 zone defense.

As it turns out, he found a way.

This time the game fell into a stalemate.

If James' system can work, the Bulls will not have an advantage. This has been verified in G2.

After the first quarter, the score on the field was 23 to 22, and the two teams were evenly matched.

Xu Yong was resting off the court at this time, and he was thinking while watching the court.

James does not have much advantage in one-on-one play, but he has been able to lead the Cavaliers to the No. [-] Eastern Conference for two consecutive years, and his lower limit ability to lead the team is very high.

The Bulls played well in the first quarter, but as a young team, the performance is unstable. It is difficult to guarantee that they will play like this later, so the stalemate is not a good thing for the Bulls.

O'Neal played well at the beginning of the second quarter. The Cavaliers' lineup depth advantage appeared, and the point difference began to gradually widen.

Denagro called a timeout, and Xu Yong was replaced after the timeout came back.

In response, Brown also replaced James.

At this time, James' face was very relaxed. After finding a countermeasure, he would no longer swear when he saw Xu Yong like before.

This is the Cavaliers' offensive round, and James is not in a hurry to hold the ball.

"LeBron, I've heard your story." Xu Yong said while defending James.

James ignored Xu Yong. After Xu Yong broke the defense in G4, he had already blacklisted Xu Yong.

"You were still 16 years old and you were already scoring a little bit more than Kobe in every game, especially when you were playing against Trevor Ariza. Because his uncle said he was better than you, you hit him in a single game. Scored 52 points." Xu Yong didn't care and took this opportunity to continue chatting.

When James heard this, he immediately turned his head and glanced at Xu Yong. He didn't expect Xu Yong to know such things.

At this time, his teammates wanted to pass the ball to him, and he directly signaled for them to play.

Gibson missed a shot and switched offense and defense. The Cavaliers retreated very quickly, but the Bulls did not start their fast break and turned into a positional battle.

Xu Yong seized the opportunity to cut one, and after receiving the ball, he sent the ball to the basket to help the team stabilize the situation.

Then after returning to the defensive end, he continued to chat with James.

"That is, after that, some media interviewed you and asked you if you want to be the next Kobe."

James didn't want to listen to Xu Yong's continuation, but when he heard the next Kobe, the leg that was going to be lifted abruptly retracted.

"You said, you don't want to be the second Kobe, you want to be the first yourself."

"What exactly are you trying to say?" James looked at Xu Yong suspiciously, because the media used this to blow him up.

When these words came out of someone else's mouth, he thought they were fans on the court meeting their idols, but Xu Yong wouldn't believe it even to death.

"You scored 52 points on Uncle Ariza's head in high school because of his words, but now I'm dunking on you, grabbing your slam dunk contest championship, and shaking you to the ground, and you don't even think about it. You don't want to blow me up, it's not that you don't want to be the second Kobe, you are..."

Xu Yong said and looked at James seriously: "It can't be done."

"Fack!" James broke the defense on the spot.

But just when he was furious and wanted to get on top, the appearance of a person calmed him down instantly.

James Johnson came to Xu Yong immediately.

Young man juice, you have to do something.

Xu Yong looked back and saw that Johnson also felt inexplicably safe.

Although he is worthy of James if he really wants to start a fight, but for things like fighting on the court, who is okay to do it by himself every day.

I know why those European countries and even the United States can only make small fuss when looking at Russia, because people really have nuclear weapons.

With a nuclear threat like Johnson's, which opponent would not immediately restore calm like those Western countries?

Because it was just trash talking, the referee didn't whistle a technical foul, but just gave some warning whistles and signaled the game to continue.

It was at this time that James held the ball and was about to hit Xu Yong.

In fact, there is an issue that is easily overlooked, that is, people will change, especially under the influence of the general environment.

At this time, James in the 1.0 period still has a heart, otherwise he would not have played in a small city like Cleveland for seven years without applying for a trade.

You must know that although it is not so common to apply for a trade in this era, there has been a precedent of Carter's bad performance 丨 forcing the Raptors to trade before, and there is also the deed of Garnett and the Timberwolves management. arrived.

That spirit, though, has all but waned as the team loses year after year.

But, with the last part of him at the moment, he's ready to take on the rookie who broke his defense twice.

He wants this guy to really feel what it means to be furious!
　After finishing the next chapter, it's in the code.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)