Although the Trail Blazers lost one game and missed the sweep, after a round of reflection, Wang Zelin and his teammates still remained confident.
It's just that I no longer have the blind confidence after leading 2-0, I have restored my attention to my opponents, and I understand that in the playoffs, anything can happen.
It is not uncommon for a 2-0 lead to be overturned, so it cannot be called safe.
On May 21, the Trail Blazers trained in a short-term rental arena in the Bay Area.
"In the next game, we need to use a large, four small lineup to compete with the Warriors' five small lineups. So in the next game, LaMarcus and Damien, your playing time may be drastically reduced."
At the start of daily training, Coach Terry first vaccinated Aldridge and Lillard. Since he is determined to change his style of play, he must have the courage of Cole.
For the sake of the overall situation, he decided to only use the right ones, not the expensive ones!
"For the team's victory, I have no problem." Aldridge responded readily. Although he is a five-time All-Star and the veteran who has played for the Trail Blazers for the longest time and has the most seniority, because of this, he cannot compare with anyone else. Everyone wants the team to win.
He is willing to sacrifice his data for the team at any time.
Aldridge almost agreed, and Lillard quickly expressed his stance. He nodded slightly, accepting the fact that he might not have as much time as Beverley in the next few games of the Western Conference Finals.
"Very good, thank you all for your support and understanding. Then starting from the next game, we will play one large and four small lineups!"
"Patrick will start at the first position, Will and Nicholas will continue to be responsible for the second and third positions, and Montrez will be responsible for the fourth position..."
He paused for a moment, and then he turned his attention to Wang Zelin again.
"Wang, your responsibilities will be extremely difficult in the following games. Not only do I need you to switch defenses and cover outside the three-point line at all times, but I also hope that you can produce the ultimate output on the offensive end and use your offense to destroy the Warriors' defense!"
"In the end, Damien and LaMarcus are responsible for leading the second team on the bench. The Warriors thought they could reverse the situation with five small lineups, so let them reminisce about how we got through them in the regular season!"
Coach Terry waved his hand, his expression calm and decisive. He didn't want to ruin the entire situation because of his own hesitation.
In the last game, if he could have sent out defensive leaders in time after the first quarter and used one senior and four juniors to restrain the opponent, the Blazers might not have lost.
Terry Stotts would never make the same mistake twice!
…
After the training during the day, the team returned to the hotel in the evening. After cooking, they gathered in the conference room to watch the live broadcast of the first game of the Eastern Conference Finals.
Although they lost one game, Wang Zelin and his teammates never doubted that the team would advance out of the Western Conference and enter the finals three times. Therefore, the game between the Cavaliers and the Raptors is quite important.
Their opponents in the finals will be between the two teams.
Publicly and privately, he hopes that the Cavaliers will be his opponent in the finals. Compared to Lowry and DeRozan, he is more looking forward to playing against James.
In any case, James is still at his peak at this stage. To be able to play against such a superstar who has been ranked in the top ten in history after retirement, the opportunity can be said to be used once and less.
Moreover, Wang Zelin is also looking forward to the matchup with Cousins. After all, he is the number one center in the Eastern Conference according to the media and the second center in active service behind him.
He has been sitting on the throne for too long, and he is inevitably a little tired. He always hopes that more powerful opponents will appear in the alliance to bring excitement to him.
DeMarcus Cousins is undoubtedly one of the few current centers who can interest him.
As for the Raptors' inside line, it's too boring to play against them.
Nearly three hours have passed, and we have finished watching the first game of the Eastern Conference Finals.
how to say? The Raptors performed as expected... collapsed!
Especially the star star DeRozan, his performance tonight was completely below par, and he was not even remotely the top shooting guard in the Eastern Conference.
He played 35 minutes and scored 15 points on 9-of-17 shooting. His 52.9% shooting rate seemed quite efficient. Those Yun fans who only like to look at the data for analysis after the game will definitely be fooled by him.
Because of his 18 points in the game, 16 of them were scored in the first half. He made 8 of 13 shots and his shooting rate was as high as 61.5%, which can even be said to be astonishing.
Then... there is no more.
At the end of halftime, with the Raptors trailing the Cavaliers by 22 points 44:66, under a headwind situation, at this critical moment when DeRozan, the star player, was most needed to step up and carry the team forward, DeRozan Zan made 1 of 4 shots in the second half and only scored 2 points...
In the second half of the game, DeRozan could be said to have done nothing on the court. His performance was not even as good as Biyombo's 4 points, Lowry's 4 points, and the bench's contribution of 6 points, 7 points, and 4 points respectively in the last two quarters. 7 points, 4 points, 4 points from James Johnson, Luis Scola, Delon Wright, Corey Joseph, Norman Powell and others.
This is true for the leaders, so it is not difficult to understand why the Raptors made such a big difference in the first game of the Eastern Conference Finals.
In contrast, as the team leader, James' performance tonight was perfect.
After making 7 of 7 shots in the first half and scoring 14 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists and 1 block with a 100% shooting rate, he continued to contribute in the second half, making 4 of 6 shots and scoring 10 points and 2 rebounds with a 66.7% shooting rate. 1 assist and 2 steals.
At the end of the game, James played 28 minutes and made 11 of 13 shots. With a superb shooting rate of 84.6%, he efficiently contributed 24 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals and 1 block.
After the game, he was well deserved to be voted the best player of the game!
In addition, Irving scored 27 points on 11 of 17 shots, and Cousins scored 23 points and 13 rebounds on 10 of 18 shots. The Cavaliers' Big Three scored 74 points together tonight, taking only 48 shots and hitting 32 goals. , the hit rate reached an outrageous 66.7%!
No wonder many authoritative media outlets were in high spirits after the game, especially ESPN, which changed their headlines overnight:
“This year’s Cavaliers Big Three will be unstoppable!!!
Cleveland will also win their first four major championship trophy after half a century under the leadership of the son of Akron! ! ! "
In a few words, it seemed that tonight was not about winning the first game of the Eastern Conference Finals, but winning the championship.
Such shameless high praise obviously offended the loyal fans of the Portland Trail Blazers, who won two consecutive championships in the past.
Poor Toronto Raptors, they obviously lost tonight, but few people pay attention to the condition of this team.
All the fans are busy watching the new round of scolding war between the two major groups of Trail Blazers fans and Cavaliers fans on the Internet.
Not long after, as Taylor Swift and Tehanna, the two European and American music queens, ended up in person, the popularity of this Internet scolding war instantly reached its peak, attracting more and more people's attention and participation.
Under such circumstances, who is still in the mood to deal with DeRozan and Lowry, the "trash brothers"?
(End of chapter)
