Basketball boy, starting to shine from the slam dunk

"The Cavaliers are really hard to deal with."

In the locker room, the Lakers players had serious expressions on their faces as they discussed the first half of the game. They all couldn't help but sigh that the Cavaliers should not be underestimated.

The Lakers had won two games before, and they thought that even if this game was a little difficult, the Cavaliers would at most lead by a few points. Unexpectedly, at halftime, not only were the Cavaliers leading, but they were leading by as many as 12 points.

Anderson was sitting next to Zhuang Yu and said, "No one expected JR Smith to perform so well today."

"Yes."

"Who could have thought of that? JR Smith played like shit in the previous two games, but he suddenly exploded today."

Everyone shook their heads and could only smile bitterly.

At this time, Zhuang Yu said: "It's not just the sudden explosion of JR Smith, but also the opponent's three-pointer."

Hearing this, everyone couldn't help but raise their eyebrows.

Zhuang Yu continued, "Today, the Cavaliers shot three-pointers very well. They were very determined to shoot three-pointers from the beginning. So far, except for TT, all the other five starting players have made three-pointers. Hood and Rose from the bench have also made three-pointers. I don't know if you noticed, but the Cavaliers made 5 three-pointers in the first half alone."

Everyone looked at each other with a serious expression.

They really didn't notice that the Cavaliers had already made 10 three-pointers. This is indeed a problem.

You know, in the past two games the Cavaliers averaged only 12 three-pointers, but today they made 10 three-pointers in the first half alone.

This is undoubtedly one of the reasons why the Cavaliers are up by 12 points.

"Is it because we double-teamed James?" Clarkson asked, "Should we continue to double-team him in the second half?"

"not quite."

The person who answered was not Zhuang Yu, but Coach Scott who pushed the door open. He was just about to come in and heard what the players said.

The players stood up one after another.

"coach."

"coach."

Coach Scott nodded, exchanged glances with Zhuang Yu, and then said, "We have indeed overlooked the three-point shot. Everyone thought that the Cavaliers were able to lead by such a large margin today because of J.R. Smith's explosion, but J.R. Smith's explosion and the Cavaliers' high number of three-point shots are inseparable."

"So in the second half we have to defend JR Smith well, and also defend the Cavaliers' three-pointers well."

“Why did the Cavaliers make so many three-pointers in the first half?”

"It has something to do with the fact that we will miss someone when we double-team James, but it's not entirely because of that. Even if we don't double-team James, the Cavaliers will probably shoot crazily from the outside."

Everyone fell into deep thought, then slowly came to their senses.

What is James' favorite lineup?

Of course it's a one-star show.

So how to make James play more comfortably and maximize his role as a hexagonal warrior is to pair him with a one-star lineup. James is responsible for holding the ball to initiate offense, while other teammates are responsible for screens and pick-and-rolls, as well as shooting three-pointers from outside the three-point line.

As long as his teammates are in good form, not only will James be able to play comfortably, but other players will also be able to play comfortably and with high offensive efficiency.

This is why the Cavaliers led by 12 points at halftime.

After figuring it out, everyone responded, "I understand."

"Coach, don't worry, we will defend better in the second half and won't let the Cavaliers score so many three-pointers."

Coach Scott nodded with satisfaction, and said, "We will double-team James later, but we need to strengthen the defense against J.R. Smith. When James passes the ball, Holiday, you need to rush to J.R. Smith as soon as possible to force him to pass the ball. You can let Hill go a little bit..."

He made some arrangements, mainly focusing on defense.

The double-teaming of James still had to continue, but JR Smith played really well in the first half, which had to be prevented, so he needed Holiday to rush to JR Smith's defense as soon as possible.

As for letting Hill go...

Well, Hill can actually score.

This is also the reason why the Cavaliers want to bring him in. He can score and organize. As a veteran in his 30s, he has rich experience on the court. In the previous few seasons, his three-point shooting was also good.

It's just that his three-point shooting has dropped a lot after coming to the Cavaliers.

Previously on the Utah Jazz, his three-point shooting percentage was as high as 40%. After being traded to the Kings, his three-point shots decreased, but his shooting percentage soared to 45%. As a result, he was sent to the Cavaliers after only playing more than games with the Kings.

After joining the Cavaliers, not only did his number of three-point shots decrease, but his hit rate also dropped to 35%.

Although a 35% three-point shooting percentage does not seem low, his number of shots is far lower than that of JR Smith.

For example, in the 16-17 season, JR Smith's three-point shooting percentage was also 35%, but his average three-point shots per game reached 6.8 times, more than twice that of Hill.

It is not difficult to see the gap.

If James is double-teamed, he will definitely miss someone. If he has to choose between Hill and J.R. Smith, Coach Scott would rather let Hill shoot given J.R. Smith's outstanding performance today.

Zhuang Yu and others agreed without any objection.

JR has a nickname called "Nervous Knife". You don't need to guard against him when he is crazy. But there is also a saying that JR is not crazy. He is an All-Star every day. He is in good shape and starts to play with his brain. It is not uncommon for him to score 20 points in a game.

......

Section 3 will begin soon.

Both sides fielded their starting lineups.

First, the Cavaliers had the ball. When James came to the frontcourt to get the ball, the Lakers immediately double-teamed him, just like in the first half.

Seeing this situation, James chuckled and quickly passed the ball to JR Smith. JR Smith played well in the first half and received praise from coach Tyronn Lue and James, so he was full of confidence at this time and wanted to shoot a three-pointer after receiving the pass from James.

However, before he could raise the ball, Holiday had already pounced in front of him and raised one hand to cover him.

JR Smith frowned, hesitated for a moment, and chose to break through instead of shooting, but Holiday's defense was too good. He tried twice but failed to get past Holiday, so he had no choice but to pass the ball to Hill.

As time goes by, time is wasted.

The Lakers readjusted their defense, and Hill could only pass the ball to Love, allowing Love to play one-on-one in the low post.

When Love pushed back two steps and turned over to finish with a hook shot, the Lakers' help defense came up very quickly. Zhuang Yu seized this opportunity and quickly went up to help defend. At the moment when Love touched the ball, he and Anderson formed a double-team.

Although it was difficult to block Love, he successfully interfered with Love's hook shot and the basketball bounced out of the basket.

This was a successful defense.

Lopez grabbed the rebound and launched a counterattack without anyone opposing him. After coming to the frontcourt, Holiday passed the ball to Zhuang Yu. Zhuang Yu first called for a pick-and-roll, then accelerated to break through. The Cavaliers contracted their defense to block Zhuang Yu. Zhuang Yu did not shoot himself, but passed the ball back to Anderson, who passed it to Korver, who took a three-pointer.

Swish!

The ball goes in.

For a period of time afterwards, the Lakers did a very good job on the defensive end. In addition to double-teaming James, they also did a good job defending against JR Smith.

JR Smith made a layup and a three-pointer, but missed both.

Because the Lakers' help defense was very fast, Love had an advantage against Anderson in the low post, but in the end he was not able to perform efficiently.

After a few rounds, the gap between the two sides narrowed to single digits.

Coach Tyronn Lue frowned and after thinking about it, he replaced Hill with Derrick Rose and let Rose organize the offense.

The effect of this substitution was good. When Rose returned to the court, the Cavaliers had an additional scoring point.

The Lakers had to double-team James and keep an eye on JR Smith. Love also had to help defend when he got the ball in the low post. It was really hard to defend. At this time, Rose came up and scored two goals in a row to help the Cavaliers stop the bleeding.

Coach Scott on the sidelines couldn't help but frown.

Today, the Cavaliers can be said to have played in multiple areas. If James is double-teamed, others can score, and if James is not double-teamed, it is obvious that James will start scoring mode.

What should I do?

After hesitating for a while, Coach Scott decided to play like this.

For a period of time afterwards, the Lakers still failed to limit the Cavaliers' offense, but fortunately, the Lakers' offense was also good, and the score difference between the two sides was finally maintained within ten points, but the Cavaliers were still in the lead.

When it was rotation time, the Lakers kept Zhuang Yu on the court, and the Cavaliers also kept James on the court, allowing James to play the entire quarter.

Today, since JR Smith was in good shape and Rose and Love also performed well, James did not score by himself most of the time. Instead, he took advantage of the Lakers' double-teaming him to attract defense for his teammates and create offensive opportunities.

Therefore, it is rare to see James rushing towards the basket, which also allows him to maintain his physical fitness well.

Even playing the entire third quarter wouldn't be a big problem.

The rotation time in the third quarter was the goal of Zhuang Yu and James. Zhuang Yu started the scoring mode, and James also entered the full-strength James mode, began to increase his personal offense, constantly attacking the basket, and helping the Cavaliers score points.

At the end of the third quarter, the Cavaliers still led by 5 points.

The score difference is not big, but for the Cavaliers, as long as they are leading, it's enough.

"Coach, we may have to replace the main lineup earlier in the fourth quarter." Assistant coach Madsen said beside Coach Scott.

"Yeah." Coach Scott nodded.

Today's situation is different from the previous two games. In the previous two games, the Lakers had been suppressing the Cavaliers. Although there were many situations in which the two sides took turns leading, overall the Lakers still had the upper hand.

But today is different.

The Lakers fell behind in the first quarter, and were 1 points behind at the end of the first half. Although they had caught up some points at this time, they were still 12 points behind.

This was at the Cavaliers' home court, and letting the Cavaliers enter the final quarter with a lead was naturally not a good thing for the Lakers.

Moreover, the Cavaliers' lineup rotation today was relatively reasonable, especially James' physical strength was greatly preserved, which made people worry whether James would explode in the last few minutes and stand out to dominate the game?

Therefore, assistant coach Madsen's idea was to replace the main lineup earlier in the fourth quarter, trying to catch up with the score or even surpass it.

In this case, even if the Cavaliers replace James, even if James goes all out in the last few minutes, neither side will have an advantage in the score, it will be a 50-50 tie.