At this time, James was facing Draymond Green at the power forward position. Facing the fierce defensive Green, James did not hesitate at all and directly chose to play in singles. He forced a breakthrough from the right, almost running over Green and rushing to the basket.
Forced layup!
Green tried his best to defend, but the gap in strength between the two was quite obvious.
The Warriors had already anticipated this situation. Green, who was successfully beaten, immediately retreated to the outside line to serve, and Curry, who received the pass, quickly advanced the offense!
Like the previous series of games, Cole still decided to speed up the pace in this game.
The Cavaliers are full of injured players, and player rotation is a problem, but the Warriors are so strong that they can even put together a complete lineup on the bench.
Although this kind of behavior feels a bit like taking advantage of someone's situation at the moment, war never tires of deceit, and only the victor deserves to be remembered!
Besides, in the NBA, there has never been a time when the opponent showed mercy just because the opponent had many injured players!
Relying on his speed advantage, Curry quickly rushed into the Cavaliers' paint and made a throw against Mozgov's defense. The two teams started tied at 2-2!
…
The next few minutes were basically a battle between the core players of the two teams.
On one side is James and on the other is Curry.
But obviously, James is still more experienced than the new MVP Curry.
Faced with Green's strict defense, James can always score calmly and has a high efficiency value.
On the other side, Curry was obviously nervous about playing in the Finals for the first time in his career.
In addition to scoring the initial throw, in the following rounds, Curry took many shots but all missed. This also resulted in the Warriors being suppressed by the Cavaliers at the beginning of the game and at a disadvantage.
Wang Feng was not surprised by this situation.
Curry's performance in the first finals was indeed unsatisfactory, which is one of the reasons why this time the FMVP of the finals will be won by Ying Guodala.
Of course, unsatisfactory is only relative. After six games in the finals, Curry averaged 26 points, 5 rebounds and 6 offenses per game, shooting 44.3% from the field. In any case, he should not lose to the FMVP selection, averaging 16 points and 5.8 points per game.
Yingodala had 4 rebounds and a shooting percentage of 52.1%!
...that's too far.
The Warriors were lagging behind at the beginning, and head coach Cole on the sidelines was not in a hurry. This was just the beginning of the first quarter, and the game was still very long!
Moreover, the current situation is the result of James going all out to hit the basket frequently. Even James cannot play like this for the entire game!
When James is exhausted and other Cavaliers players are unable to step up to help him score, that's when the Warriors will work hard!
In the first quarter, the two teams tied at 29:19.
The Warriors, always known for their sharp offense, did not score more than 20 in a single quarter.
For the Cavaliers, James made 4 of 9 shots in the first quarter, 1 of 2 three-pointers, and 3 of 4 free throws, scoring 12 points.
Curry, on the other hand, only hit 2 goals in 7 shots in the first quarter, all of which were at the basket. He did not hit a single three-pointer and only scored 4 points.
On the contrary, Wang Feng found two open three-point opportunities in the first quarter, and he seized them all. He made 2 of 2 three-pointers and scored 6 points.
After the first quarter of the game, Cole didn't say much. He just carefully talked about how to play next, what kind of tactical cooperation to use, and how to limit James' performance.
"Stephen!"
At the end, Cole finally said to Curry: "In the second quarter of the game, I need you to adjust your state! Make sure you hit the target!"
Curry nodded. "I know!"
…
At the beginning of the second quarter, both teams sent in substitutes.
Irving stayed on the court for the Cavaliers. In the first quarter, with Wang Feng guarding him throughout the game, Irving didn't have many good opportunities. His performance was not much better than Curry. He scored 5 points on 2 of 5 shots.
, and then ended the game early to rest.
At this time, Irving was recharging his energy and gearing up, hoping to show off his ambitions at the beginning of the second quarter!
But when he saw Wang Feng walking onto the field, the smile on his face faltered slightly.
Wang Feng actually also appeared!
Wang Feng played a long time in the first quarter, almost 10 minutes!
Logically speaking, in the second quarter of the game, he should come off the court and rest for a while. After all, the Warriors have no shortage of forwards.
Ying Guodala, Barnes, Livingston, David Lee, plus Wang Feng, Thompson and Green who can swing in the starting position.
It is no exaggeration to say that the Warriors' forward line is the most luxurious in the league!
But Wang Feng remained on the court at the beginning of the second quarter. Why did this happen? Are the Warriors really planning to let Wang Feng guard Irving throughout the game, just like they did against Harden in the Western Conference Finals?
The problem is that the Cavaliers are not the Rockets. Irving is only the second scoring point in the Cavaliers. The real number one core is James!
Of course the Cavaliers don't know that in this game, in addition to defending Irving, Wang Feng has other tasks... that is to score!
2 of 2 three-pointers in the first quarter made Cole even more convinced that Wang Feng's stable corner three-pointers can be used as a special weapon in certain situations!
Don't look at the fact that since entering the playoffs, Wang Feng's shots from the outside have been significantly reduced. This is not because the opponent defends well, but more often, the value of Wang Feng's existence is to give Curry and Thompson space!
After all, compared to Wang Feng, who has a single offensive method, Curry and Thompson have more offensive methods and are more stable!
Now, the Warriors have reached the finals stage. In this most important game, it is impossible to continue to hold back!
When Barbosa took possession of the ball past halftime, all the Warriors players were already in position, with Wang Feng standing in the bottom corner as always.
The person responsible for guarding Wang Feng is JR Smith, who comes off the bench for the Cavaliers.
JR's defense against Wang Feng followed the pattern of other teams in the previous rounds of the playoffs. He and Wang Feng were very close, always blocking the passing route, and completely denying Wang Feng a chance to catch the ball.
This level of defense means that both of them are completely isolated from the game. JR has no chance to help defend other players. Wang Feng basically doesn't catch the ball. He just stands in the corner and hangs up to watch the fun.
But this time, JR. Smith had just stood in front of Wang Feng when Wang Feng suddenly moved!
"What?"
Seeing Wang Feng skipping the baseline and heading straight for the other corner, JR Smith was stunned for a moment before he realized what he was doing and quickly caught up with him.
But when he passed by the basket, a tall figure suddenly stood in front of him, completely blocking him!
"No ball screen!"
JR. Smith's heart sank, and he looked towards Wang Feng. At this time, Wang Feng had already run to the bottom corner on the other side. At the same time, the basketball arrived as expected! It was passed to him!