It's not too easy for Durant to play Irving alone.
Not to mention that Irving is not a player who is good at defense. Even if his defensive ability is strong enough, his height of only 1.88 meters will have no effect in front of Durant, who is at least over 2.11 meters.
Facing Irving's defense, Durant shot a pull-up jumper about 20 feet away from the basket.
"brush!"
The basketball hit the net.
Wang Feng narrowed his eyes slightly.
It seems that Durant is ready to avoid the battle.
Although Wang Feng has a strong ability in perimeter defense, he is poor at defending pick-and-rolls.
The defensive badge system has badges such as pick-and-roll dodger, but Wang Feng has not activated it yet. Therefore, his defense against pick-and-rolls relies entirely on his own speed and experience. And where can Wang Feng, who has only played in the league for less than three full seasons, come from?
Rich experience in guarding against pick-and-rolls?
Durant gave up the head-to-head confrontation with Wang Feng and instead used pick-and-roll screens to attack a relatively weak link in the Cavaliers' defense.
Although this kind of proactive performance is a bit pricey for a top superstar, the scoring efficiency has been significantly improved.
In the next few rounds, Durant continued to use pick-and-rolls to form a one-on-one situation with Irving and frequently succeeded in singles.
After a few rounds, the Cavaliers took the lead in calling a timeout.
"The situation is not good. Durant is always allowed to rely on Irving alone. The scoring efficiency is too high."
After a short pause, Tyronn Lue made adjustments defensively.
The player marking Curry was changed from Irving to James.
This is a good move, because only Curry is the only one on the Warriors who can form a pick-and-roll with Durant and then quickly play in singles.
If it were any other player, Wang Feng could completely ignore the opponent and instead defend Durant.
Clay Thompson, with his super-fast shooting speed and three-point accuracy, is certainly qualified for this job.
But JR Smith, who is responsible for marking him, has slightly better defensive ability than Irving. Although JR Smith's current scoring method is mainly mid-to-long-range shooting, he is a real springer, young and
During his time with the Nuggets, he often performed violent dunks.
With a height of 1.98 meters and excellent jumping, he performs quite well when defending outside shots. Even if he cannot guard Durant, at least he will not be used as a cash machine like Irving.
As for letting James guard Curry, it would be meaningless for Durant and Curry to be misaligned in the pick-and-roll. James is second only to Wang Feng in terms of outside defensive ability of the Cavaliers, and he is also the top defensive player.
Instead of facing James, Durant would be better off playing J.R. Smith in isolation.
The Warriors' dual-core pick-and-roll problem was somewhat solved, and at the same time, the Cavaliers also began to exert strength on the offensive end.
Irving, who lost many points due to frequent singles by Durant, began to take over the ball and launch an attack on the Warriors.
"I can't guard your players, but can you guard me?"
The answer to this question is that it cannot be prevented.
Putting aside other factors, just talking about his ability to hold the ball and attack, Irving is definitely at the top level in the league, especially his ability to break through and attack the frame. Among guards, only Westbrook, Rose in his peak period, and a few others can compare with him.
When the Warriors' five-small lineup came on the scene, there was already a lack of big men in the paint to protect the rim. Irving made a series of sudden shots and rushed into the Warriors' paint like no one was around, scoring 7 points in a row.
Taking advantage of this gap, James and Wang Feng also seized the opportunity and each hit a three-pointer. The advantage originally established by Durant was quickly recovered.
At 33:31, the Cavaliers fell behind by 2 points, and the two sides were tied in the first quarter.
Durant scored 11 points in a single quarter. Except for the one-on-one round with Wang Feng at the beginning, the rest of his shots were obtained by beating other players in mismatched situations. His shooting rate was maintained at around 60%, which was quite efficient.
As for the Cavaliers, the highest scorer was Irving who scored 9 points.
James did not rush to take action in the first quarter, perhaps because Irving has a good touch, so it is better to let him charge first.
As the second quarter began, James began to exert his strength.
At the beginning of the game, James held the ball and hit a three-point long shot from outside. Then he successfully scored 2+1 under the basket, made a free throw, and scored 6 points in a row, helping the Cavaliers directly complete the lead.
Then the Warriors made a pass error and was intercepted by Wang Feng. James rushed to the basket on a fast break and scored another 2 points with a tomahawk dunk.
Green, who was responsible for guarding James, had nothing to do against James. He tried his best to pull and pull, using all his little tricks, but it had no effect in front of James, who was strong and resistant.
In fact, in the previous two seasons of competition, James has become accustomed to some of the Warriors' extraordinary defense against him, and he didn't even make a birdie.
Not only James, but Wang Feng also started.
Green goes to guard James, while Durant is responsible for guarding Love, who is similar in height to him.
The person responsible for defending Wang Feng is his old teammate Clay Thompson.
Thompson's defensive ability is at the top level among guards. In the past few years, he has defended James one-on-one more than once in the Cavaliers' battle. He is also a player who is fully capable of being selected for the All-Defensive Team.
But with his current defensive ability, it is obviously not enough to limit Wang Feng.
Facing Thompson's defense, Wang Feng, like Durant, used a large number of mid- and long-range shots as his main scoring method.
Although Thompson defended very well every time, with the blessing of the double golden badges of marksman and hot zone hunter, Wang Feng kept hitting shots, and Thompson couldn't guard him at all.
Throughout the second quarter, James scored 10 points, Wang Feng also scored 8 points, the Cavaliers scored 36 points, and the Warriors only had 29 points. The Cavaliers not only overtook the score, but also turned the 2-point deficit in the first quarter into 5 points.
's lead.
When O'Neal saw this scene, he immediately became happy.
"Charles, you have to be mentally prepared."
And Barkley snorted disdainfully. "It's only a 5-point lead. You won't be sure that the Cavaliers will win, right? With this point difference, two three-pointers can lead the lead. Against the team that ranks first in offensive efficiency in the league,
It’s nothing to a warrior.”
Barkley really got it right.
After the intermission at the end of the first half, the third quarter began, and both sides began to rotate their main players to rest.
At this time, it is precisely the time for the Warriors with a deep bench to exert their strength!
In just a few minutes, the Cavaliers' 5-point lead was overtaken, and then the main players from both sides began to return one after another. On the Warriors' side, Curry, who had been constantly targeted before, finally broke out.
After all, this is a super player whose ability is no less than that of James and Durant. How could he be completely invisible while being strictly guarded?
Curry, who was in charge of the ball, took crazy shots from the outside in the third quarter. He made 4 of 6 three-pointers and 1 of 2 2-pointers, scoring 14 points in a single quarter.