Throughout the first quarter, the scores between the Cavaliers and Warriors were 35:27, with the Cavaliers leading by 8 points at home.
The highest scorer for the Warriors was Curry, who scored 12 points on 4-of-6 shooting.
As for the Cavaliers, the highest scorer was actually Wang Feng. He took 7 shots in the first quarter and hit 6 goals. His shooting rate was astonishingly high. Among the 6 goals, he also made 2 three-pointers, totaling 14 points.
In addition to Wang Feng, James also scored 10 points for the Cavaliers. On the other hand, for the Warriors, Durant did not perform well in the first quarter under Wang Feng's defense. He made 2 of 6 shots and only scored 5 points.
This resulted in the scoring gap between the two teams becoming apparent.
This situation is obviously something that most Warriors fans did not expect.
Wang Feng actually successfully restricted Durant in one-on-one defense and showed more efficient scoring than Durant on the offensive end?
Are you kidding?
This scene of directly taking advantage of a one-on-one relationship is extremely shocking to people.
You must know that even when facing James, Durant has never behaved so badly.
Of course, James is indeed worse than Wang Feng, who has the purple defensive shock badge, in terms of pure outside defense. Wang Feng's defensive shock can be called the nemesis of players such as Durant and Curry who focus on shooting offense!
Previously, Durant could still avoid Wang Feng's defense by relying on his height and arm length. As Wang Feng's jumping ability improved, Durant finally enjoyed what it feels like to be intimidating defensively and reach the highest level of the Purple Hall of Fame.
"14 points to 5 points, shooting percentage is 85.7% to 33.3%! Charles."
O'Neal smiled happily.
Barkley rolled his eyes and did not answer. "Don't worry, the game is only in the first quarter, it's still very early."
…
At the beginning of the second quarter, neither team conducted a large-scale substitution rotation. Both teams understood the importance of this game and were very passive if they lost the opportunity rashly.
The Cavaliers replaced Love and asked substitute center McGee to come on to share the pressure. On the other side, Thompson came off the court and Livingston took over.
These two role players came on the field and were basically in a state of running back and forth on the court to exercise their bodies. They basically couldn't catch the ball. The main players in the first quarter were still the ones holding the ball and attacking.
Durant began to take more shots. Although his shooting percentage was affected by Wang Feng's defense, he was still the league's top superstar. After experiencing the discomfort of defensive shock, he began to gradually find his form and hit several goals.
However, Durant's touch improved, but it did not allow the Warriors to regain the initiative, and the point difference even continued to widen.
The reason is very simple. The Warriors' fast-break counterattacks using small-ball tactics have always been restrained by Wang Feng, and they cannot achieve the desired tactical effect. Their scoring efficiency is also slightly worse than that of the Cavaliers.
Wang Feng took fewer shots in the second quarter and focused most of his energy on defending Durant, who took more shots. He only took 4 shots from outside the three-point line and hit 2 goals, scoring 6 points.
After Durant increased the number of shots, his scoring gradually stabilized. In the entire second quarter, he took 11 shots, hit 5 goals, and scored 13 points and 2 rebounds.
The score between the two teams in the second quarter was 32:28. The Cavaliers won by 4 points, further widening the point difference to 12 points, more than double digits.
Throughout the first half, Wang Feng and Durant, who were the focus of the battle, were evenly matched in terms of scoring. Wang Feng scored 20 points and Durant scored 18 points.
However, the gap in efficiency between the two is quite obvious. Wang Feng took 11 shots in the first half and hit 8 goals, with a hit rate of 72%. On the other hand, Durant took 17 shots, hit 7 goals, and had a hit rate of only 41%.
"Unexpectedly, I originally thought that today was a drama between James VS Durant, but it turned out that Wang Feng and Durant were at odds, and they actually had the upper hand in the first half. The two MVPs, James and Curry, were both in supporting roles.
Feel."
"This game is still exciting to watch, Mars hits the Earth, I like it!"
"Come on! Wang Feng, kill Durant! We support you!"
Inside the Warriors locker room.
"We must limit Wang Feng's scoring."
Cole said with a serious expression.
When he said this, he couldn't help but sigh in his heart.
Originally, all teams had a headache with the Warriors, but they didn't expect that one day it would also cause a headache for the Warriors themselves.
Whether it was last season or this season, when all teams face the Warriors, they will worry about one problem: whether to defend Curry, Thompson or Durant/Wang Feng.
The three perimeter players of the Warriors all have explosive scoring abilities. As long as you dare to relax your defense, you will be shot to death unless you have three top perimeter defenders to defend one-on-one all the time. And even if there is
If the team can do this, the Warriors can also use a lot of pick-and-roll screens to open up the situation.
But now, the Cavaliers also have the same configuration as the Warriors.
James, Irving, and Wang Feng are all here for you. It’s up to you to choose which one you want to guard against.
The only defensive players on the Warriors who have relatively strong perimeter defense capabilities are Green, Thompson and Ying Guodala. Now that it has been proven that Ying Guodala cannot guard Wang Feng, should Green be asked to guard Wang Feng?
Cole hesitated.
At least in the Olympic finals, Green couldn't guard Wang Feng, and even with Paul George taking turns to defend, he was scored by the opponent for 39 points!
More importantly, if Green, who has the strongest defensive ability in the team, is asked to guard Wang Feng, what should James do? Should Durant or Yingodala be asked to defend?
Kerr is worried about Wang Feng's performance, but he is even more worried about James. After all, the latter is still the league's best player even though he has failed in the Finals for three consecutive years.
"I just have to give it a try."
Gritting his teeth, Cole had no choice.
There are only so many cards in his hand, what can he do? If Wang Feng is still in the team, he doesn't need to worry about this problem at all. Durant is indeed impeccable on the offensive end, but he is definitely not good on the defensive end.
I can only say that he is outstanding, but he is quite remarkable. Because of his height and long arms, he often performs wonderful blocking and defense.
…
Second half, third quarter of the game.
Looking at Green standing in front of him as soon as he appeared on the stage, Wang Feng couldn't help but raise his eyebrows.
"From Durant to Ying Guodala, is it Green's turn now?"
Wang Feng can see that Cole really wants to limit his scoring, but Wang Feng, who has multiple high-level shooting badges and an average offensive attribute of over 90, is actually as good as the league's first-line scorers in scoring ability.
, if it were not for the Cavaliers, and there were two players, James and Irving, sharing the ball rights, Wang Feng's average points per game this season would be fully capable of soaring to 30+. Even Green would not be able to guard him!