January 7, Cleveland, Quicken Loans Arena.
At this time, the stadium was already full, and the fans were patiently waiting for the game to start.
This focus battle has attracted a lot of attention. Not only was it broadcast live across the United States, but sports channels also obtained the broadcast rights, bringing exciting games to domestic fans.
At the same time, NBA Commissioner David Stern turned on the TV to watch the game.
He was very satisfied with the publicity for the game.
After the "Gungate" incident occurred, Stern couldn't sleep at night, trying to find ways to minimize the impact.
Therefore, the league went out of its way to hype the game to distract fans.
"I hope these two little guys won't disappoint me!"
After muttering to himself, Stern looked at the TV screen intently.
Back at the game, players from both sides have completed their warm-up activities.
The starting lineups of both sides were displayed on the big screen.
Cavaliers starting lineup: Anthony Parker, Mo Williams, James, Hickson, O'Neal.
Warriors starting lineup: Curry, Ellis, Maggette, Sun Yi, Randolph.
Not long after, the referee blew the whistle, signaling the starting players from both sides to come to the center circle and prepare for a jump ball.
James came to the technical stage and made his iconic opening move, holding a handful of magnesium powder and throwing it into the air, triggering cheers and shouts from some fans at the scene.
On the Warriors bench, Sun Yi watched James' domineering moves and complained silently in his heart.
"You're so pretentious!"
Immediately, he stood up, took off his training clothes, and followed his teammates towards the center circle.
At this moment, the system prompt voice sounded in Sun Yi's mind.
"Ding! A random mission is triggered: compete with the little emperor!"
"Goal 1: The host successfully breaks through James 3 times in the game against the Cavaliers; reward: white wristband +1, 5000 training points."
"Goal 2: Host blocks James 2 times in the game against the Cavaliers; reward: green sneakers +1, 10,000 training points."
"Goal 3: In the game against the Cavaliers, the host will limit James' rebound data to no more than 5; reward: green shorts +1, 10,000 training points."
"Goal 4: The host will limit James' assist data to no more than 5 times in the game against the Cavaliers; reward: green headband +1, 10,000 training points."
After the system's prompt voice ended, Sun Yi quickly walked towards the center circle in a happy mood.
In the jump ball session, Randolph easily defeated the aging O'Neal, touched the basketball first, and moved back to the backcourt, giving the Warriors the first opportunity to attack.
Curry quickly dribbled the ball forward and came to the top of the key to organize the attack.
With the help of Sun Yi's cover, Xiao Gongju ran to the mid-range area on the right, received the pass from the primary school student, stopped suddenly and took off to shoot.
James quickly came over to defend and interfered with the shot.
Bang!
The basketball bounced out of the frame and missed!
Under the basket, O'Neal used his huge body to block the position and collect defensive rebounds.
Although the old O'Neal cannot fly into the sky and escape, he relies on his rich game experience to do a very good job of blocking defensive rebounds.
The Cavaliers' rebounding this season is very good, ranking among the top in the league.
Anthony Parker quickly dribbled the ball forward and passed the ball to James just after halftime. After fulfilling his duties as a tool in possession of the ball, he ran to the bottom corner to ambush.
James received the pass and made a triple threat action. Seeing that Maggette was indifferent, he released the ball and quickly started to break towards the basket.
Maggette was already prepared and quickly moved sideways to block.
The Warriors' strategy to defend James before the game was to make shots rather than bursts, and decisively attack James when he broke into the penalty area.
"Above Heaven"
James' tried-and-tested tank-style breakthrough failed to squeeze away the muscular man Maggette, and he could only rush into the paint with Maggette on his back.
Randolph, who was near the penalty area, quickly came to help defend against double teams.
Seeing this situation, the little emperor divided the ball with difficulty.
Mo Williams received the pass, raised his hand to make a shooting fake, then released the ball and started to step back to the left for a jump shot.
Ellis was not shaken away and immediately rushed to interfere.
"when!"
The basketball hit the front edge of the basket and bounced out, missing the target.
Randolph stuck O'Neal tightly, denying him a chance to grab offensive rebounds.
Sun Yi quickly rushed back to the penalty area to grab the backcourt rebound, and then rushed towards the frontcourt to launch a defensive counterattack.
"Damn! I hate run and gun!"
When O'Neal saw this, he cursed secretly in his mind and quickly turned back to defend.
On the other side, Sun Yi quickly dribbled the ball across the half court, and when he saw his teammate running out of opportunities, he immediately passed the ball over.
Outside the three-point line on the left, Curry received the pass, raised his hand and faked a shot. After shaking off the defender, he took a step to the right and took off to shoot.
Swish!
Hollow into the net!
3:0!
"Good shot! The Warriors counterattacked very quickly and hit a three-pointer!" Yu Jiajie said.
"The Warriors played very smartly. They knew that attacking from a positional position would not bring any advantages, so they played fast and made O'Neal exhausted and unable to form an effective defense. The effect was very good." Director Zhang analyzed with a smile.
Back on the court, the Cavaliers launched an attack.
O'Neal quickly ran to the right low post and asked for the ball.
The Fathead Shark was obviously a little unhappy. He believed that the failure to defend against the previous attack was mainly due to himself, and wanted to make up for his mistake by returning the ball.
After James saw O'Nealka in good position, he immediately passed the ball.
O'Neal received the pass, sat back with his butt raised, and pushed his back two or three times before reaching the edge of the penalty area.
Randolph was very active in defending, but he really couldn't resist.
O'Neal took a breath, suddenly squeezed Randolph away, turned around and came to the penalty area, stood up from the ground, and dunked the ball into the basket with both hands.
3:2!
The audience burst into applause, and cheers and shouts resounded throughout the arena.
After scoring, O'Neal ran to the baseline and made a muscular celebration in front of the camera.
At the same time, the Warriors quickly issued baseline balls.
When the fat-headed shark saw this situation, his mood suddenly lost its beauty. With a drooped face, he turned around and ran back quickly.
The Warriors didn't develop a special defensive strategy for O'Neal at all. As long as they kept playing fast, the old shark would be exhausted.
In this attack, the Warriors still only took seven or eight seconds to end the offense.
Ellis stepped out of the three-point line, received the pass and jumped directly to shoot.
It's a pity that the basketball rolled around inside the basket and rolled out.
The Cavaliers protected the defensive rebound and James dribbled forward.
At the same time, O'Neal, who ran near the free throw line, was dumbfounded.
Co-authoring, his trip was in vain!
Seeing the Cavaliers attacking, O'Neal twisted his huge body, turned around and ran towards the frontcourt.
James has a very high emotional intelligence and did not launch an attack quickly. He waited until O'Neal was positioned inside before launching an attack.
Fathead Shark did not actively seek the position this time. He wanted to take a lazy break and recover some strength.
The switchback run was so excruciating!
James, who was in control of the ball at the top of the arc, saw that his teammates had no chance to run away, so he had no choice but to end the offense by himself.
He quickly called for a pick-and-roll, and with the help of Anthony Parker's screen, he got rid of Maggette's defense and faced Curry in a misplaced position.
Seeing Curry's weak body, the little emperor showed no mercy and continued to break through to the basket.
Seeing this situation, the primary school students rushed forward to block the ball regardless of their own safety, but were mercilessly squeezed away by James.
"It really hurts. It's more powerful than Sun's impact."
Curry rubbed his chest, whispered, then turned and ran toward the basket.
In the penalty area, after a physical confrontation between James and Randolph who stepped forward to help defend, James scored the ball forcefully.
3:4!
Randolph picked up the basketball on the ground, quickly retreated to the baseline, and sent the ball out.
Curry received the pass and immediately rushed towards the frontcourt.
This time the Cavaliers returned to defense much faster. Only O'Neal was a little slower and ran to the inside.
The fat man was extremely depressed at this time. He really didn't want to go on such a fast-paced return run.
It’s too difficult for a fat-headed shark weighing more than 300 kilograms!
Because O'Neal has not rushed back to the penalty area, the Cavaliers' defensive system failed to take shape.
The Warriors took the opportunity to launch an attack. Curry made a forward change of direction, shook off Anthony Parker, and quickly broke through to the basket.
Upon seeing this, James let go of his defender and immediately rushed back to the basket to defend.
Seeing this situation, Curry quickly passed the ball away without challenging James.
Sun Yi received the pass, mismatched Mo Williams, pulled up and threw the basketball in his hand.
Although the shooting posture was very elegant, the ball failed to hit the target.
In the penalty area, James jumped up to grab the rebound and quickly dribbled toward the frontcourt.
O'Neal, who finally ran back to his own half, sighed helplessly when he saw this, and had to turn around and run towards the Warriors' half.
On the Cavaliers bench, Mike Brown frowned when he saw the scene on the court.
O'Neal, who was retiring with the Cavaliers, didn't have much fuel. If he continues to be consumed by the Warriors like this, he will not be able to play in the next game.
So Brown called Varachio to his side and gave him a few words.
Varaijo nodded, then took off his training clothes and ran to the waiting area to wait to play.
On the court, James broke through into the penalty area, encountered a double-team and then distributed the ball.
Mo Williams received the pass and hit a mid-range jumper against Ellis' defense.
3:6!
The Warriors again served quickly and launched a transition attack.
Curry dribbled across half court and immediately passed the ball.
Sun Yi, who was running, received the pass and quickly came outside the three-point line. After attracting the defense, he hit the ball to the middle and passed it to the center.
Ellis, who was cutting towards the basket, received the pass, rushed into the penalty area, pulled the lever to avoid James' interference, and scored the ball with difficulty.
5:6!
Looking back, James' tank-like breakthrough caused Maggette's foul and got two free throw opportunities.
Amid the cheers and shouts of the fans, James stood on the free throw line, received the referee's pass, and made the first free throw.
Taking advantage of the dead ball period, Varaijo replaced O'Neal.
The replaced Fathead Shark quickly returned to the bench, slumped on the seat, and drank the mineral water handed over by the staff to replenish his lost energy.
Finally no need to do that damn switchback run!
O'Neal regained his composure and enjoyed a massage from the physical trainer to relax.
Back on the court, James made his second free throw and still made it steadily.
5:8!
The ball transitions and the Warriors attack.
Curry dribbled to the outside of the three-point line, waved to the inside, and called for pick-and-roll cooperation.
Randolph immediately ran out, taking Varachio out with him.
After the pick-and-roll was ready, Curry bypassed the screen, jumped directly, and threw the basketball in his hand.
Varaijo, who changed defense, rushed forward to interfere. Although he did not block the shot, he still caused interference.
At the same time, Sun Yi quickly ran towards the inside after avoiding Hixon.
Hixon has no habit of getting stuck, and his ability to protect backcourt rebounds is very poor.
As the starting power forward of the Cavaliers, he averaged only 4.6 rebounds per game, which was obviously not enough.
On the other side, James also ran towards the penalty area quickly.
The two rushed to the basket almost at the same time, and then both jumped up.
Sun Yi occupies a favorable position and is the first to touch the basketball. He knows that without James' interference, he will definitely not be able to dunk, so he can only point the ball towards the basket.
The basketball bounced two or three times on the rim and rolled into the net.
7:8!
In the next round, James broke through and scored, assisting Varaijo to hit a mid-range jumper.
Looking back, the Warriors did not include the lake and used a running and gunning strategy.
Ellis hit a three-pointer from the outside to tie the score.
In the next few rounds, the two sides fought hard and each scored points, but the point difference could not be widened.
The first quarter lasted about 7 minutes, and both sides made substitutions and adjustments.
The Warriors replaced Curry and Ellis and replaced Morrow and Laga Bell.
The Cavaliers replaced Anthony Parker and Hickson and replaced them with West and Danny Green.
After the start of this season, Mike Brown saw that Sun Yi, Curry and other rookies were playing very well. He felt that the rookies selected by the Cavaliers were not bad either, and gave Green enough playing time.
But after playing a few games, he failed to achieve the expected results and had to return to the bench.
In this game, Brown boldly used Green again, hoping to use Sun Yi and Curry to stimulate Green's fighting spirit, hoping that he could perform.
After substitution adjustments, the Cavaliers attacked.
West dribbled from behind the three-point line, passed the ball to James, and then quickly ran without the ball.
After James caught the ball, he saw that Maggette let him shoot. This was unbearable. Without any hesitation, he jumped up and shot.
Bang!
The basketball bounced out of the frame and missed!
The Cavaliers retreated quickly and turned back to defend the moment James shot.
Prevent the Warriors from counterattacking by giving up rushing for offensive rebounds.
Sun Yi rushed back to the basket, easily grabbed the defensive rebound, and then quickly advanced towards the frontcourt.
After he came outside the three-point line, he made a fake move to shake off Green and quickly broke through to the basket.
Varaijo, who was near the penalty area, saw this and immediately retreated to the penalty area to defend.
Sun Yi didn't stop, pushed aside Wa Laiqiao, and rushed toward the basket.
Just when Sun Yi was about to dunk, a whistle interrupted the game.
"Beep! Warriors No. 9 offensive foul."
The referee blew the whistle and gestured to the technical table.
Sun Yi was confused when he saw the referee pointing at him. He didn't know why he was awarded an offensive foul.
When he saw Valaijo lying on the floor and wailing, everything became clear.
"Fuck! I was tricked by the Brazilian movie star!"
Sun Yi complained angrily, then handed the ball to the referee and ran towards the Warriors half court.
When passing by Walaiqiao, Sun Yi glared, and his meaning was very clear: This matter is not over yet!
Varaiqiao smiled and raised his eyebrows provocatively, not taking the rookie Sun Yi seriously.
With his big brother James protecting him, whoever touches a hair on his face will be so arrogant!
When Sun Yi saw this, he smiled and was not surprised by Valaiqiao's response.
"This kind of competition is interesting!"
After making a plan, Sun Yi quickly returned to his defensive area.
