The game between the Warriors and Cavaliers will be held on February 26 at the Quicken Loans Center in Cleveland, home of the Cavaliers.
As Wang Feng expected, the coaches and players of both teams took this game very seriously.
Cole had made sufficient preparations before the game and repeatedly emphasized that this game must be won.
"The team in the East that is most likely to reach the finals is the Cavaliers. We must win this game! With a double-kill record in the regular season and fighting against our opponents in the playoffs, we will be ahead in terms of momentum!"
Head coach Cole attaches great importance to this game, and all members of the team are working hard to win this game.
However, after the game started, things did not develop as expected.
The splash brothers Curry and Thompson, as the Warriors' strongest firepower output points, felt cold at the beginning of the game and failed to hit many shots.
On the other side, James of the Cavaliers performed very strongly. He scored 13 points in the first quarter and another 11 points in the second quarter. He scored 24 points, 3 rebounds and 4 assists in the half game! Whether it was Barnes,
Neither Green nor Yin Guodala, who came on the bench, could effectively limit James' performance!
Due to the ebb and flow, at the end of halftime, the score between the two teams was 61:48, with the Warriors trailing by 13 points in the away game.
The point difference was not so big that it was completely impossible to catch up, but the team had problems on both offense and defense, which made Cole quite anxious. He couldn't even think of a solution!
Curry and Thompson can only regain their touch slowly, but James...are there any players in the league who can guard James?
In the locker room, Cole couldn't help but glance at the players, scanning them one by one, and finally stopped for a moment on Wang Feng, sighed and shook his head.
In the first two games, Wang Feng's outstanding performance was still fresh in his memory, especially his single defense ability, which was even better than Green and Yingodala.
But if Wang Feng is asked to defend James, he still doesn't have much confidence.
James is not Anthony. Although the two came from the same draft, and their offensive abilities at their peak are indistinguishable, their playing styles are completely different.
Although Anthony has good strength, he prefers to rely on skills and shooting, so he is called an offensive kaleidoscope.
James is different!
After entering the league for many years, discussions about the ugly playing style of James have never stopped. His best and most efficient way to score is to use his unreasonable power to rush to the basket and attack the frame like a bulldozer!
Facing James, most of the perimeter defense methods are ineffective. Compared with players with excellent perimeter defense capabilities, it is better to have a heavy center in the interior.
Wang Feng himself is not very good in terms of strength. No matter how good his defensive skills are, he can't guard against James!
Because of this consideration, Cole never allowed Wang Feng to try in the first half of the game.
But he wasn't planning on not playing Wang Feng for the entire game.
Putting aside the issue of defending James, the Cavaliers' defense against their own team is very targeted. Both Curry and Thompson have poor shot opportunities. In addition, their touch is average, resulting in late firepower from the outside.
Couldn't open it.
The two strikers, Barnes and Green, had quite a few opportunities on the outside. However, one of them made 1 of 3 shots in the first half and the other made 0 of 4 shots. If it weren't for the hot touch of power forward David Lee who came off the bench, the Cavaliers would have lost the chance.
The team scored frequently inside the line, and the point difference between the two teams had already been widened!
The top priority for the Warriors right now is to find their offensive rhythm!
"Wang Feng."
Thinking of this, Cole turned to look at Wang Feng and said in a deep voice: "In the second half of the game, I want you to play! You don't need to guard James to death, but when you are on the court, if there is an open three-point opportunity, you must take the ball.
Hit! Can you do it?"
"certainly!"
Wang Feng nodded immediately without thinking.
Hearing that the head coach actually asked Wang Feng to ask for help at this time, everyone in the locker room had different expressions.
"Coach, let me do it in the second half! I can do it!"
A voice suddenly sounded. Wang Feng turned around and saw that the speaker was actually Barnes.
Obviously, he felt threatened! The threat from Wang Feng!
"Can you do it?" Cole shook his head without thinking: "In the first half, the Cavaliers guarded Steve and Clay tightly. You got a lot of opportunities to take shots from the outside, but you only took one shot."
3 times, why?”
"I..." Barnes opened his mouth, not knowing how to answer.
"The team has no time or patience to wait for you to find your confidence and feel! If you continue like this, you will lose this game!" Cole said coldly: "I need someone who can break the current situation! Wang Feng has been
100% three-point shooting percentage in two games! I believe he can do it!"
Seeing Barnes sitting back with a dark face, Wang Feng secretly became happy.
Steve Kerr, who studied under the famous Spurs coach Gregg Popovich, has the same coaching habit as his mentor, which is to reuse role players.
Although the Spurs relied on the GDP combination as the absolute core, a group of outstanding role players also contributed a lot.
Kerr is deeply influenced by Popovich and also likes to reuse role players.
In the past few years when the Warriors were at their strongest, the Splash Brothers' outstanding performance was very important, but role players such as Ying Guodala, Livingston, and McGee also contributed a lot.
Even in the post-Warriors era, Cole was criticized for this, because the four-star Warriors who already had Durant at that time were already invincible. Even if Curry, Durant and Thompson took turns playing in singles, they could easily win the game.
Kerr still likes to try to reuse role players, which even leads to losing some games that should not be lost.
Wang Feng doesn't know whether this coaching style and habit is right or wrong, but obviously, for now, this style has given him a rare opportunity!
If Cole had just told him to find a way to prevent James from dying, then Wang Feng would probably not be able to do it.
The four defensive badges Wang Feng owns are all skill badges that focus on defending outside shots. They are of no use against James! The defensive shock badge is a little better, like the death coil badge, which only takes effect in outside defense. When it comes to the inside, it is not even effective at all.
Will not activate!
But Cole's request is that Wang Feng go on the court and shoot three-pointers!
After the last game, Wang Feng's three-point shooting ability value has increased to 90 through free allocation of attribute points! In addition, three badges for corner three-point shooter (purple), catch-and-shooter (silver), and quick shooter (bronze) are added.
Well, just in terms of his three-point shooting ability from the bottom corner, he is not afraid of anyone!