NBA: James wants to team up with me

May 2010, 5, Chicago United Center.

The first game of the NBA Eastern Conference Finals officially begins.

This is also the Nth time Wang Chong and James have had a head-to-head confrontation on the court, and it is also the time James has the best chance to defeat Wang Chong. The reason is already a commonplace. With Garnett retiring for the season, the Bulls are the weakest team. period, if the Cavaliers still cannot defeat the Bulls under such circumstances, when Garnett returns from injury, even if Garnett's condition declines after a serious injury and cannot return to his peak strength, the Cavaliers still have no chance. .

As for the Jamie brothers' planned meeting to share the pot, no one would really take it seriously.

No matter how bad O'Neal is, he can still play. He is better than Garnett on the Bulls who can't even play.

The game is about to begin.

The Bulls' starting lineup is the same as the first two rounds of playoffs, Curry, Billups, Danny Green, Wang Chong and Gasol.

The Cavaliers' starting five are Mo Williams, Ray Allen, James, JJ Hickson and O'Neal.

There is no suspense at all in the jump ball. The old and frail O'Neal has long been unable to jump. The height difference between the 2 meter power forward Hickson and Gasol's jump ball is very different. The latter can easily move the basketball to On our own side.

Bulls possession.

After Curry quickly controlled the ball and advanced past halftime, as soon as the players on both sides took their respective positions, Wang Chong took the initiative to step forward and screen Curry for the pick-and-roll.

With the help of Wang Chong's pick-and-roll, Curry went straight to the basket and easily scored with a face-to-the-basket throw, giving the Bulls the lead.

The most difficult thing about the pick-and-roll cooperation between Wang Chong and Curry is whether the defensive focus should be on Wang Chong or Curry.

It stands to reason that targeting Wang Chong is the right choice. As a five-time scoring champion and recognized as the player with the strongest offensive ability in the league, the consequences of letting Wang Chong attack will be very serious.

But Curry's threat is not low. Whether it is a three-point shot from the outside or a layup after entering the penalty area, Curry's offensive efficiency is very high and must be defended.

During the regular season, countless teams have frequently suffered losses from this move, but they have never been able to find a good response.

This is actually a headache for all teams in the league in the future era of the five-star Warriors.

No matter how strong the defensive team is, you can limit the offense of one super scorer, but you cannot limit the offense of two super scorers at the same time.

Although Curry is not yet a super scorer, he can still give the Cavaliers a headache on the offensive end.

On the offensive end, the Bulls relied on Wang Chong and Curry's pick-and-roll style from the beginning, and they had full offensive firepower.

On the defensive end, the Bulls' strategy was to let James go and guard against other Cavaliers players.

As the team's strongest individual defense player, Wang Chong did not specifically guard James. The person responsible for guarding James was small forward Danny Green.

Letting the fledgling Green guard James feels a little bit like looking for abuse, but it doesn't matter, this is the effect Wang Chong wants. In this way, Wang Chong can be freed to use his mobility to assist in defense. Strengthen the defense of other Cavaliers players.

James' strongest skills on the court are breakthroughs with the ball and organizational connections. Wang Chong's move directly cut off James' passing support, leaving him to fight alone.

Although James made 7 of 5 shots in the first quarter and scored 12 points, the Cavaliers' offense was severely hampered. Outside shooters collectively misfired, and even Ray Allen struggled to find good shooting opportunities.

Billups, who is responsible for guarding Ray Allen, only firmly implements one belief throughout the whole process, not giving Ray Allen any chance to take an open shot from the outside. If Ray Allen wants to cut into the penalty area, then let him enter the penalty area. Anyway, the Cavaliers With Wang Chong and Gasol guarding the inside of the team, anyone other than James who rushes into the penalty area will not end up much better.

This is true for Ray Allen, let alone Mo Williams.

The Cavaliers' offense was hampered in the first quarter and they only scored 22 points in the first quarter. The Bulls relied on the pick-and-roll cooperation of Wang Chong and Curry to get full firepower and scored 34 points in a single quarter. They led the team to establish a strong momentum in the first quarter. A 12-point score advantage.

The Bulls, who took the initiative on the court, played steadily in the next three quarters and maintained the score advantage. Although James also led the Cavaliers to launch a ferocious counterattack during this period, once the score difference was close to within 3 points, but at every critical moment, King Chong always stood up and used his stable and unsolvable mid-range shot to help the Bulls score, crushing the Cavaliers' chance to take the lead.

99: 95.

The first game of the Eastern Conference Finals was successfully won by the Bulls. Although the final point difference was only 4 points, the Bulls maintained an advantage throughout the game. It seemed that the point difference was close, but in fact it did not give the Cavaliers any chance.

詹姆斯全场砍下33分12篮板9助攻的准三双数据，表现甚至比全场28分8篮板4助攻的王崇更好，但数据表现再好，赢不了球又有什么意义？
The second contributor to the Bulls' win is undoubtedly Stephen Curry. In this game, he was on full fire, scoring 27 points and 6 assists, and his performance was almost as good as Wang Chong's.

Of course, fans who have watched the entire game know that most of Curry's offensive scores are completely different from Wang Chong's. Curry often cooperates with Wang Chong in the pick-and-roll, in a relatively comfortable offense. environment score.

On the other hand, Wang Chong scored most of his points when the Bulls' offense came to a standstill, or when the Cavaliers launched a fierce counterattack to close the score.

There is no doubt that Wang Chong's offensive choices and difficulty are significantly higher than Curry's every time. This is also normal. As the first core of the Bulls, a three-time MVP and FMVP winner, he is recognized as the player with the strongest scoring ability in the league. , Wang Chong should play like this on the court.

The victory in the first game made Bulls fans rejoice.

This victory has fully proved that without Garnett, the Bulls' overall strength is still greater than the Cavaliers. The strength of the two teams is not in the same level.

On May 5, in the second game of the Eastern Conference Finals, the Bulls won another victory at their home court.

112:109, rewriting the score to 2:0.

The offensive pace of both teams in this game was very fast. Wang Chong scored a game-high 41 points, and James also recorded a near-triple-double with 38 points.

Different from the previous game, Ray Allen's condition improved in this game, and he frequently succeeded in three-pointers from the outside. He scored 24 points in the game and became the most powerful support beside James.

Correspondingly, Curry's performance in this game was slightly hip-stretching.

After the first game, Curry was obviously a little distracted. In other words, after the first game, the Cavaliers coaching staff also carefully studied Curry's playing style and formulated a set of tactics for Curry.

There is no problem with Curry's offense, but it is too difficult to break the pick-and-roll cooperation with Wang Chong.

But Curry's weaknesses are also very obvious, that is, weak physical confrontation and defensive black holes. The tactic used by the Cavaliers in the second game was unlimited pick-and-roll mismatches to train Curry.

Whether it is James or Ray Allen after the pick-and-roll, they have an absolute advantage against Curry after the pick-and-roll is misplaced. There is no need for a pick-and-roll. Mo Williams' frequent breakthroughs with the ball on the offensive end will also cause serious problems for Curry. Physical exertion.

Fortunately, Wang Chong saw that the situation was not good and immediately strengthened his offensive output. He scored 18 points in the fourth quarter and 41 points in the game. He just managed to stabilize the game and win.

With a score of 2:0, the Bulls will go to Cleveland, home of the Cavaliers, for the next series.

The G2 game of the Eastern Conference Finals also made both sides realize that the gap in strength between the two teams is not big. As long as they seize the Bulls' weaknesses, the Cavaliers will definitely have a chance to win.

as predicted.

5月22日，回到自家主场的骑士队马上就以102：97赢下回归主场的首战，将比分追至2:1。

In this game, the Cavaliers still followed the tactics of the previous game, frequently using pick-and-rolls and mismatched singles to beat Curry, which made Curry miserable.

After all, the current Curry is not the top guard who will win two consecutive MVPs in the future. Under huge pressure, not only can he not stop his opponents on the defensive end, but he also has problems on the offensive end due to changes in mentality.

Although Wang Chong scored 40+ points again in this game, he failed to reverse the decline.

骑士队这边则再接再厉，又在两天后的5月24日，以96：93再胜公牛，将比分追平至2:2。

Cavaliers fans were stunned.

What's happening here? Do they have a chance to win the series?
It’s no wonder that Cavaliers fans have such strange thoughts. After all, in the past few years, when the Cavaliers met the Bulls in the playoffs, they were swept 4:0 without exception.

Such a miserable experience that the team's fans did not dare to have any hope for the Cavaliers.

In the first two games, the Bulls scored a clean 2:0, which seemed to confirm their thoughts. Unexpectedly, the Cavaliers, who returned to their home court, finally showed strength and won two games in a row, allowing all Cavaliers fans to see the hope of winning. !
As long as the Cavaliers can defeat the Bulls in one go and win the Eastern Conference Finals, the championship will be only one step away!

But...how could Wang Chong tolerate this happening?

While the Cavaliers frequently targeted Curry in several consecutive games, Wang Chong and Bulls head coach Tom Thibodeau have also been thinking of ways to deal with it.

On May 5, in Game 26 of the Eastern Conference Finals, the Battle of Tianwangshan began at the United Center in Chicago, home of the Bulls.

In this game, the Bulls fielded a starting lineup that the Cavaliers didn't expect at all.

Curry, who was criticized for his poor performance in the first two games, was replaced from the starting position. The Bulls' starting lineup was changed to Billups, Danny Green, Wang Chong, Tim Thomas and Gasol.

Thomas, who is 2 meters tall and serves as a power forward, is a substitute inside player for the Bulls.

After the Bulls used Millsap as a bargaining chip to trade for Curry, the team was already short of interior substitutes. Among the several interior players selected by the management in the free market, Tim Thomas was valued by Wang Chong and signed.

Thomas, who was born in 77, was a pretty good player when he was young. At his peak, he averaged about 16 points and 5 rebounds per game. He was a standard brutal power forward.

Now that he is older, Thomas has lost the athletic ability he relied on for survival, and his level has seriously declined.

But even so, after all, he has a height of 2 meters and a weight of 08 kilograms. Just standing there has a certain intimidating effect.

What's more, the Cavaliers' power forward position itself is not a particularly high-level player.

JJ Hickson's playing style is similar to Thomas. He is a beast with outstanding athletic ability. He lacks independent offensive ability and relies entirely on receiving passes from teammates in the paint.

The Bulls' tactical adjustment is obviously to deal with the Cavaliers' unlimited pick-and-roll dislocation military training Curry's tactics.

Don’t you like military training library? I'm taking Curry off the court now. Can you train another one?
Both Billups and Danny Green are much better defensively than Curry on the outside, and they have very little work to do on the offensive end, so they don't have to worry about their physical strength being exhausted in advance.

As for Curry, Wang Chong does not intend to keep him on the bench.

Let him play as a substitute in this game just to avoid the edge temporarily. If the Bulls want to defeat the Cavaliers, Curry's firepower output is also indispensable.

Fortunately, Curry has a gentle personality and is a standard team player. Therefore, he did not complain about being put on the bench. Instead, he blamed himself. If his defense was not too poor and the opponent seized the opportunity, the Bulls would not be as passive as they are now. .

The effect of the change of formation is quite good. Although the Bulls' starting lineup lacks a main scoring point, for the Bulls, there is no shortage of offensive points at all.

Wang Chong alone supports half of the Bulls' offensive tasks, while the other half is shared by Billups and Gasol.

After spending three years in obscurity with the Bulls, Gasol has always been positioned as a blue-collar center. Although his offensive ability is not bad, compared with other teammates on the team, he is the one most worthy of sacrifice.

But now, when the team needs him to step up, Gasol has no mercy.

Of course, this is directly related to the fact that O'Neal, who is facing him, is old and slow and can no longer keep up with his pace.

During the game, Gasol took the initiative to come to the outside many times to cover Wang Chong's pick-and-roll. After the screen, he did not return to the penalty area, but stayed on the outside. When Wang Chong released the ball, Gasol received the ball. A shot in a wide open position.

At this stage, Gasol has not yet developed a three-pointer, but his mid-to-long-range shots are still very stable.

In particular, Wang Chong often asked his assistant coach to practice medium and long-range shots for Gasol in daily training. Wang Chong, who has experienced the small ball era in the future, is very clear about the value of space-based insiders in the future league.

Especially a center like Gasol, who is a heavy center in the interior, can resist the opponent's center's attack in the penalty area, and can also pull in outside shots, which is not easy to use.

"Shh-!"

Gasol's shots are often hollow into the net. Although the difficulty of the shot when it is completely open is relatively small, regardless of whether it is difficult or not, if it can be made, it is a good shot! (End of chapter)