masters-orleans Chapter 447 The Knight's Dilemma
Chapter 447 The Knight's Dilemma
Chapter 447 The Knight's Dilemma
Irving was injured and the morale of the Cavaliers was also affected. At the end of the first half, the Nuggets maintained a 5-point lead.
The atmosphere in the Cavaliers' locker room was serious, and James' expression was even a little scary.
This season is really not going well, the lineup is running in, various situations, in the playoffs, even the so-called Big Three are now only left with James.
James felt confused, is it really the right choice to go back to his hometown?
However, as one of the top players in the league, James' confusion is only a moment.
In the finals, they can only go all out, and they have not failed yet.
"Don't be depressed, everyone. We have faced any difficult situation. We will definitely survive it and give our opponent a head-on blow." James began to encourage his teammates.
Immediately, someone echoed it. A player of James' level, who has the glory of a championship, is more convincing than the head coach.
In the third quarter, the Cavaliers let Dellavedova start, and the offensive burden was all on James.
James naturally went all out, but without a strong support, the Cavaliers played harder and harder.
Now the Nuggets can flank James to a certain extent, strength is strength, and the threat of others is far less than Irving.
But Dellavedova replaced Irving, and the Cavaliers' defense has improved.
Dellavedova was like a mad dog on the court. Knight's rhythm was completely disrupted by him, and he even made two mistakes. It took a while to adapt.
It's just that only defense is useless, especially when the Nuggets can attack.
After the Nuggets adapted to the Cavaliers' new lineup, they had a firmer grasp of the situation, while the Cavaliers were in jeopardy.
To change things up, the Cavaliers gave backup James Jones more playing time and tried veteran Mike Miller.
But their attempts had little effect. Not only could their substitute players not be able to play three-pointers, but they would also be hindered on the defensive end.
Seeing that the score gap is about to move towards 10 points, the Cavaliers can only gamble on a small lineup.
Tristan Thompson would like to help restrain Xiang Chu, but he is really powerless.
In order to withstand Xiang Chu, Tristan Thompson made consecutive fouls.
This guy only defended once in the first half, and he had four times by the end of the third quarter.
The Cavaliers also had no choice, but under the targeted defense of the Nuggets, they were still unable to make three-pointers.
A pure shooter who needs space to shoot will be greatly reduced under tight defense.
In the end, the Cavaliers still took the lead with JR, which was the kind of unreasonable three-pointer.
JR still has Jordan's means as a highlight, but the efficiency is very low, and it is not as good as James himself to give him a shot.
But it still has to be given, in order to share some defensive attention.
JR's performance in the second half was slightly better, but he still couldn't support the Cavaliers' rotation.
As long as James goes down, the Cavaliers' offense and defense will have problems. Their current lineup is short of quasi-All-star players. The biggest fear of the Big Three model is injury.
So James didn't even have a full minute of rest, and continued to play hard in the final quarter.
Xiang Chuduo rested for a while, and soon returned to the field.
In the fourth quarter, the Cavaliers' shooting feel improved a lot, and they should have adapted to the new lineup.
In addition to JR, Dellavedova also hit a three-pointer from the outside.
The Cavaliers don't need to hold the ball in the first position now. James is a little tired, but if they connect the team well, they also have a chance to play high efficiency.
After the touch came, the Cavaliers did not intend to switch back to the normal lineup, but to use a small lineup to fight the Nuggets to the end.
But just entering the last 5 minutes, Thompson has fouled for the fifth time.
He has been able to persist until now because he has restrained himself extremely, but it is really embarrassing for him to defend Xiang Chu.
Now Cavaliers head coach Blatter is also in a difficult situation. They have just played a small climax, and now the gap between the two sides is only three points, which shows that the current lineup is good.
If the substitution will disrupt the current momentum, what if Thompson VI commits a crime without changing.
Blatter asked for a timeout, but in the end he didn't make a substitution, so he decided to take a gamble.
Three strong points hurt two, if you don't gamble, just wait to lose.
"Man, I won't just go on like this." Thompson cheered himself up after coming up.
Xiang Chu laughed lightly and said, "Actually, I also hope you don't go down."
Before he finished speaking, Xiang Chu pushed the opponent away, took off the offensive backboard and dunked.
The Cavaliers often rely on James to grab rebounds, just like this buddy in the Heat, but Thompson's blocking skills are average, and it is not easy for James to grab a rebound from Xiang Chu.
After the timeout, the Nuggets were more targeted, as if the Cavaliers called a timeout for them.
At 3 minutes and 14 seconds, James hit a three-pointer with a step back, and the score gap between the two sides became 4 points.
But then Middleton returned one, and James' defense didn't keep up.
Obviously, he was a little tired.
Of course, the most important thing is that time is getting less and less.
James missed the next shot, but soon scored 2 points with free throws.
At the last moment of the game, Cavaliers fans still have expectations in their hearts. Maybe the team can fight back, and the gap is not too big.
Just as the whistle sounded, Thompson committed six fouls.
Mozgov came up and was beaten by Xiang Chu before he started to move. Mozgov is a qualified tank, but he is getting slower and slower now. Xiang Chu is not just good at back punching.
The point is that the Cavaliers' offense has come to a standstill, time is running out, and they have to make a three-pointer.
James missed a strong three-point shot, and Shumpert missed a pass from outside the three-point line.
After those few plays, the Nuggets' lead was nine points, and the Cavaliers were running out of time.
They finally chose a foul tactic, and Knight made two free throws.
However, the Cavaliers did not seize the opportunity, and their three-pointer still missed.
After the Nuggets served, neither side had the desire to continue fighting. The Nuggets won the second home game with a 10-point advantage, and the series was 2:0.
After the game, Blatter talked about Irving's injury. He didn't know if it was possible for Irving to come back at home.
"Yes, it's a tough test for us, but I would say it's going to be completely different when we go back home."
James also said that they still have confidence, but everyone can see his displeasure.
Xiang Chu said in an interview, "Injuries are always worrying. I am very sorry for the current situation of the Cavaliers. But we will still go all out to defeat them. This is our respect for them."
George Karl said: "Injuries are also part of the game. We have also suffered injuries. As a head coach, you have to anticipate everything and then give countermeasures. We will not show mercy."
(End of this chapter)