And until Li Kaiming scored a three-pointer, Arenas still did not come to the frontcourt.
Wizards head coach Sanders couldn't bear it anymore and asked the referee for a timeout!
Li Kaiming stood on the court, glanced at Arenas' somewhat lonely back, and felt quite unhappy.
If Arenas doesn't engage in any power struggle with him, he is very interested in winning the championship with Arenas during his rookie contract, and then becoming an indelible part of the Wizards' history.
But now that the matter has come to this, the conflict has been aroused, and it is impossible for him to sympathize with Arenas anymore.
He doesn't believe that a team with many internal conflicts can achieve a good record in the NBA, so for the sake of the team's record, he and Arenas must go one way!
After whispering a few words to Arenas, Sanders directly replaced Arenas and then replaced him with the original starting lineup. The point guard became Kirk Hinrich.
As soon as Hinrich came on the court, the entire Wizards' ball movement immediately became a hundred times smoother!
No, maybe countless times, because when Arenas is on the court, the ball is not moving at all, either in his hands or in the hands of Li Kaiming.
After the timeout, the Cavaliers attacked and the opportunity came to forward Jamari Moen. The latter got a temporary open shot one step inside the three-point line. Mo Williams came with the ball and Moen caught the ball and shot. The posture is very handsome and the sound of hammering is very loud!
Blatche collected the rebound and passed it to point guard Hinrich. Blatche instantly felt that all the pores in his body were open!
It’s so cool to pass the ball without using any brain cells!
Hinrich dribbled to the frontcourt and took two steps to the three-point line with the help of Li Kaiming's screen. Both JJ Hickson and Mo Williams went to defend Li Kaiming, but gave Hinrich a chance. Throw the ball two meters away from the basket and hit it steadily!
10 to 6!
After the goal, Hinrich and Li Kaiming high-fived. Although the goal did not reflect Li Kaiming's role in the statistics, Hinrich, who scored the goal, understood that half of the score was due to Li Kaiming.
After picking and rolling with Li Kaiming, the two defenders will focus most of their attention on the former, which gives the person holding the ball an opportunity to call the screen.
So in theory, it will be easier for anyone to play with Li Kaiming, because Li Kaiming is good at various offensive techniques and can perfectly adapt to any lineup.
The Cavaliers' offense has failed to score several times in a row, so this time Mo Williams chose to slow down the pace and wait until the last ten seconds before taking action.
In this case, if the Wizards play fast, the point difference is estimated to be in double figures within five minutes. Mo Williams's choice is very correct.
Others failed to score when they had the chance, and Mo Williams was prepared to solve the problem on his own this time.
There were still nine seconds left in the attack time. Mo Williams started from outside the three-point line and used the screen to go straight to the inside. Brach could not keep up with the speed and tried his best to cover Mo Williams with his arms, but was still beaten by the latter. scored.
10 to 8!
There are 6 minutes left in the first quarter.
At the beginning of the game, the offensive efficiency of both sides was very low. Because of Arenas, the Wizards took three consecutive shots and only made one hit. The team's efficiency was naturally not much higher.
As for the Cavaliers, it's because the lineup is really bad, Jamison has not recovered yet, and the only one in the Cavaliers' lineup who can play is Mo Williams.
None of the remaining players averaged more than 10 points per game. Starting center Varejao was a floor player who could only eat cakes and act.
JJ Hickson is one of the best in physical fitness among the starters, but against Li Kaiming, who is 5 centimeters taller than him and has all-round physical attributes, JJ Hickson is like a college player who has just entered the United League.
It is not too much to say that except for Mo Williams, the remaining players in this Cavaliers team are a bunch of rotten fish.
This is also one of the few teams in the NBA that the Wizards can have an advantage in the lineup.
Mo Williams could answer one ball, but not the Wizards' string of goals.
After Arenas left the game, the Wizards once again restored Sanders' tactical system, using Li Kaiming's strong containment on the offensive end, and the Wizards opened up unlimited space when attacking.
In addition, the lineup already has an advantage. Even if Mo Williams is stronger alone, he cannot withstand the indiscriminate bombardment of the Wizards.
Although the Wizards' own defense is not very good, who makes the Cavaliers' offense worse?
The Wizards didn't even start to defend, and the Cavaliers almost smashed the basket at mci in a single quarter!
The first quarter ended quickly, with the Wizards extending their lead to 8 points 32-24.
Originally, the point difference could be even greater, but for some reason, Sanders replaced Li Kaiming 3 minutes before the end of the first quarter.
Fortunately, the Cavaliers were strong enough, and the entire starting lineup played well with the Wizards, who were missing Li Kaiming and Arenas, so the score did not get close.
After the first quarter, Li Kaiming played 9 minutes and scored 9 points, 3 rebounds and 2 assists on 4 of 5 three-pointers and 1 of 1 three-pointers.
During the break, the two commentators on the scene talked about Arenas.
One of the white men with beards said, "After Sanders replaced Arenas, he never got a chance to play again. Could it be that his injury has recurred?"
Another mixed-race commentator shook his head, "This is unlikely. Arenas' injury is quite serious. If it is really a recurrence of an old injury, the team doctor will definitely ask him to check in the locker room out of caution, but Fortunately, Arenas is sitting on the bench now!"
At this point, when the two people look at each other, there is only one possibility!
At this moment, the on-site referee blew the whistle and the second quarter began!
As expected by the two commentators, Arenas appeared in the Wizards' lineup in the second quarter.
The Wizards' lineup in the second quarter was very strange. Except for one point guard who was Arenas in the starting lineup, everyone else was a substitute!
In other words, in order to prevent Li Kaiming and Arenas from directly conflicting, Sanders put Arenas on the bench!
When he's on the bench, it's not up to Arenas to decide how to play the ball?
The first round was a Cavaliers offense, with Mo Williams turning into the donkey of the production team, and after a full first quarter, there was still no rest in the second quarter.
In the Wizards' bench, the power forward is Yi Jianlian and the center is McGee.
Neither of these two had any answers against defenders who were good at penetrating and were beaten into one by Mo Williams.
32 to 26!
The Wizards attacked, and Li Kaiming sat on the bench, staring at Arenas on the court. He wanted to see how Arenas would play if he was not on the court.
Arenas received McGee's serve and skillfully dribbled to the frontcourt. Facing Mo Williams' defense, he made a sharp change of direction and passed the latter.
However, injuries caused his speed to be much slower than before. Mo Williams was closely chasing behind Arenas. Varejao also blocked Arenas' offensive line!
If it was Arenas before, he might still find McGee under the basket at this time.
But now Arenas was blinded by hatred, and his passing vision was average, so he just gritted his teeth and went for it!
Arenas' layup missed the basket due to interference from Varejao, and the rebound was grabbed by Ramon Sessions.
When the Cavaliers attacked, Mo Williams had a clear mind and broke through to the free throw line with the help of a screen. After several Wizards players shrank, he gave the ball to Sessions who ran out of position in the middle distance of the phosphorus line.
Sessions caught the ball, turned around and made a floating jump shot, hitting the board!
32 to 28!
Li Kaiming, who was sitting on the bench, clearly saw coach Sanders' hand clenched into a fist, and then unclenched again...
It seems that the coach does not support Arenas' way of playing.
Li Kaiming breathed a sigh of relief, but he was afraid that Sanders would consider his relationship with Arenas and team up to exclude him.
But for now, Coach Sanders is still very upright.
