"The trend of the game seems to be different from what I remember..."
A few minutes after the game started, Wang Feng was thinking like this.
The 2016 Finals was the most ups and downs and most exciting game in the NBA Finals in recent years. There were many classic scenes in the game. Therefore, as a fan, Wang Feng has a deep memory of this series and has watched countless video replays.
He remembered very clearly that although the Warriors won the final victory in the first game of the series, the performance of the team's offensive core Curry and Thompson was average.
Both of them had a shooting percentage of only about 30 and scored no more than 15 points. It was the team's bench that stepped up to help the team win its first victory.
Shaun Livingston, the king of mid-range shooters, scored 20 points on 8 of 10 shots.
Yingodala scored 12 points, Barbosa scored 11 points, and 7 players in the team scored in double figures.
This is also the real horror of the Warriors!
Compared to the starting lineup, the Warriors and Cavaliers are almost evenly matched. James Irving and Love are both All-Star players, especially James, who is one of the best in history.
But putting aside the stars and looking at the role rotation players on the bench, the Warriors are much better than the Cavaliers. Although Ying Guodala failed to win the FMVP last year, it did not affect his own strength level.
Livingston is as low-key and efficient as ever, and his stable mid-range shooting ability is the Warriors' strongest offensive weapon when they come on the bench.
However, the game Wang Feng is seeing now is completely different from the G1 final in another time and space.
Curry's performance in the first quarter was outstanding. He scored 12 points on 5 of 8 shots and also sent out 3 assists. His performance was completely different from that of another time and space, and he was even completely different from another person.
"It's the butterfly effect again..."
Wang Feng thought for a moment and came to this conclusion.
Curry's technical characteristics and abilities in this time and space should be similar to those in another time and space, and his ability to perform completely opposite is indeed indirectly caused by the existence of Wang Feng.
Wang Feng's corner three-pointer was so intimidating that the Cavaliers did not dare to let it go easily. This resulted in the Cavaliers' defensive strategy against Curry being completely different from that of another time and space.
There is no way to double-team at will, and there is no way to help defend as soon as Curry picks and rolls.
Curry did not experience the high-intensity defense that he should have encountered in another time and space.
It's obvious how terrifying a top shooting guard with enough space can be.
For the Cavaliers, Irving was still the main attacker at first, but with Curry's explosion, Irving gradually became unable to support the Cavaliers' offense.
After all, the Warriors have a top defender like Green to check for leaks and fill in the gaps. Irving can get past Curry, but Green, who comes up to help defend, can greatly reduce his offensive efficiency.
Seeing this situation, James immediately took over the ball and started organizing the offense.
Wang Feng's defensive pressure doubled instantly, and the losing team had Bogut guarding the interior. Otherwise, James would have completely penetrated the Warriors' interior.
Seeing that he couldn't guard James, Wang Feng didn't hesitate.
"Since I can't guard you, then I will create more pressure on you on the offensive end!"
When the Warriors have the ball, Wang Feng will not hesitate to lead James in circles in the corner and frequently make moves without the ball.
He doesn't expect to be able to catch the ball and shoot. As long as he can beat James, consume his physical energy and make him feel sick, that's enough.
James has to be responsible for both the team's offense and defense. He also has to run around in circles with Wang Feng on the court. Even an iron man can't handle it.
In the second quarter of the game, the player defending Wang Feng changed from James to JR Smith.
They are also following the defense throughout the whole process, but the defensive intensity levels of J.R. Smith and James are very different.
Seeing this situation, Wang Feng directly reached for the ball from the outside.
Curry passed the ball to Wang Feng, and then ran to the other side to create space for Wang Feng.
Wang Feng dribbled the ball slowly and faced J.R. Smith. He stood on the outside and broke through like a sheep, then stepped back and pulled back to shoot a jump shot from outside the three-point line.
JR. Smith was half a beat slow on defense! He couldn't keep up with the defense immediately.
It’s the Gap Hunter’s influence!
Then he immediately rushed forward to defend, but on the badge wall of Wang Feng's consciousness space, the corner three-point shooter and fast shooter badges were activated!
The basketball was already flying into the air before J.R. Smith rushed up, and then hit the net.
Three points are valid!
Immediately afterwards, Wang Feng hit two more difficult mid-range shots. He scored 7 points in two minutes, and the Cavaliers called a timeout.
After the timeout, the Warriors replaced several main players one after another, including Curry, Wang Feng and Bogut.
The replacements were none other than the trio of substitutes who were supposed to show their talents in the first game of the series, Ying Guodala, Livingston and Barbosa.
The Cavaliers replaced Irving and Love, allowing James to lead the team on the court.
According to the idea of Cavaliers head coach Tyronn Lue, with James leading the team, even if the Cavaliers are on the bench at this time, they still have strong scoring ability and can even take this opportunity to establish an advantage.
However, what he didn't expect was that once the lineups of both sides were adjusted, the situation on the field would suddenly change!
The Warriors mainly played Livingston, and his consecutive mid-range hits quickly opened up the score between the two teams.
And Yingodala, who had just appeared on the stage and was full of energy, went straight to James and stalked him.
James, who had played more than a quarter of the game, was still in a hurry even though he had the advantage in size compared to Ying Guodala. He had to forcefully take a shot or pass the ball to his teammates in several attacks, but failed to hit.
In just three minutes, the Cavaliers were launched into a 12:3 offensive frenzy by the Warriors, and the originally relatively close score was instantly pulled to over double digits.
That's not the worst.
Barely able to withstand the Warriors' bench offensive in the second quarter, after the halftime break, Curry and Wang Feng came on the scene one after another, and quickly hit three-pointers one after another, defeating the Cavaliers directly.
Halfway through the third quarter, the point difference between the two teams had widened to more than 20 minutes.
Even James can't help it.
108:89.
The Warriors easily won their first victory at home, which was no different from the previous rounds. Even James' Cavaliers had no way to compete with this Warriors team!
Throughout the game, James made 13 of 21 shots and scored a game-high 31 points, 12 rebounds and 9 assists, a near-triple-double. Irving also scored 26 points. Together with Love's 17 points, the Big Three scored a combined 74 points.
But apart from the Cavaliers' Big Three, the only other Cavaliers player to score in double figures was Tristan Thompson, who scored 10 points on 5-of-10 shooting.
J.R. Smith, who started at the shooting guard position, had high hopes and only scored 3 points on 1-of-3 shooting. None of the other substitutes scored more than 5 points.
In comparison, the Warriors can be said to be more blossoming.
Curry scored 23 points, Wang Feng scored 21 points, and Clay Thompson scored 10 points despite his poor touch.
Green, Bogut, Livingston, and Ying Guodala, a total of 7 people on the team scored in double figures.