NBA: Start by torturing Jordan and add points to upgrade

"After all, this is the Lakers! This is the Lakers with three top offensive players! Which team could guard Isaiah Thomas so closely under these circumstances?"

"Let's see how the Cavaliers respond!"

Sessions got a strong shot from Thomas, but he wasn't upset at all. After all, he gets beaten up by guards all the time. Otherwise, with his offensive ability, he wouldn't be unable to get a mid-level contract.

But he also knows very well how to leverage his strengths.

After Isaiah Thomas made the free throw, Pau Gasol immediately stepped back from the baseline, grabbed the ball, and threw it long to Sessions. This time, Sessions couldn't immediately get going and launch a fast break. He had just started to accelerate when Lin Tian blocked him one-on-one, and he couldn't get any speed up.

But he has never been a lone wolf type of player. After being blocked by Lin Tian, ​​he immediately passed the ball to Wade, who was following up on the other side.

After receiving the ball, Wade drove straight to the basket without slowing down, and in the blink of an eye, he arrived at the Lakers' basket. He then completed a layup in mid-air, dodging Kobe's defense and putting the ball in!

"That's fast! Both sides are playing really fast and simple!" Miller said. "The Lakers are going straight for one-on-one attacks on the inside, while the Cavaliers are focused on transition offense and defense."

"It's hard to tell who has the upper hand right now, but what's certain is that both sides are playing something quite new in the early stages of the game tonight, something they haven't played much before."

The game on the court continued, and the Lakers still had Isaiah Thomas attack the Cavaliers' weakest and worst defensive link. Just like before, because Lin Tian and others were waiting for opportunities on the perimeter, the Cavaliers were hesitant to double-team or switch on defense.

At the same time, they were reluctant to remove Sessions from the field.

With Sessions on the team, the team has an extra reliable point of attack and passing. Although he can't be defended, he is really sharp when he pushes the pace and launches counterattacks.

If Lin Tian defends him, he will pass the ball to Wade immediately.

If it weren't for Lin Tian guarding him, Sessions's charging momentum would have been impossible for either Kobe or Isaiah Thomas to stop.

The Cavaliers continued their fast-paced offensive style, while the Lakers still centered around Isaiah Thomas, allowing him to control the team, dribble, and score or drive and dish.

Both sides' attacks were quite effective, and from this result, both sides' tactics can be considered successful.

However, both sides also fell short on the defensive end for various reasons, and were unable to stop the opponent's attack.

Overall, the two sides were tied at this stage, meaning each side achieved half of their tactical objectives.

20: 22!

With four minutes remaining in the first quarter, the game went into another timeout, at which point the Lakers were leading by two points.

"It's a close match!" Miller exclaimed. "Indeed, the game is fantastic! This life-or-death duel certainly didn't disappoint us!"

"It's not a close contest! The Cavaliers are actually at a disadvantage!" Van Gundy said. "The Lakers have taken control! Or rather, the Lakers are closer to taking control!"

"Oh? How so?" Jackson immediately turned into a straight man, letting Van Gundy analyze the game.

“Gasol!” Van Gundy said, “Although Gasol has been controlling the game well, he committed his first foul when Thomas made his first drive. Although he hasn’t committed another foul since then, considering the Lakers’ style of play and his defensive approach.”

"Gasol could commit a second foul at any moment! Keep in mind, there are still four minutes left in the first quarter. What if Gasol commits a second foul now? Wouldn't the Cavaliers be in trouble?"

"Especially since the Lakers have a trump card up their sleeve!" Jackson slapped his thigh, indicating he understood: "Bynum! Bynum only played less than four minutes in the first quarter before going to the bench to rest. If Gasol gets into foul trouble, Bynum will definitely come back on immediately!"

"At that time, neither Zydrunas Ilgauskas nor Varejao will be a match for Bynum in the paint! Neither of them can possibly stop Bynum!"

Miller added, "And the Lakers will immediately change their constant penetration and frantic attacks on the inside to a slow, positional offense, letting Bynum attack Big Z's aging body."

"The Lakers are definitely in control! Or rather, they have a great chance to seize the initiative first. The rest depends on whether Gasol can hold on!"

Pause ended!

After the commentators' analysis, the fans already knew where the focus of the game would be in the coming period, and they couldn't help but stare at the lineups of both sides.

Then, to everyone's surprise, the commentator's analysis turned out to be completely pointless!
Gasol went to rest, and Thomas went to rest too.

Bynum is back, and Zydrunas Ilgauskas and Varejao have also returned.

The commentators analyzed for a long time, but neither side followed their script and instead went straight into the rotation phase.

"Ah, this..." Even someone as thick-skinned as Miller felt a little embarrassed at this moment and didn't know how to respond.

"Both coaches anticipated each other's predictions! They made changes in advance! The Cavaliers were worried about Gasol's foul count and Bynum's isolation plays, so they decided to change their fast-paced offensive lineup to a traditional 2 big men and 3 small men, and switch to a half-court offense."

"As for the Lakers, they also guessed that the Cavaliers would definitely fix their obvious defensive loopholes during this timeout, and would likely start to focus on attacking Isaiah Thomas, their absolute weak link on the defensive end."

"So they also took down Thomas and Murphy, and brought in Bynum and Terry."

"Both coaches are simultaneously addressing their weaknesses and improving their strengths—it's truly spectacular! The players are battling it out with courage, and the coaches are battling it out with strategy! This is the ultimate showdown! Absolutely amazing!"

Jackson and Miller both secretly gave Van Gundy a thumbs up at the same time.

You have to admit, people who play tactics have thick skin and a thick heart.

Both of these athletes were somewhat bewildered when faced with such a life-or-death moment, unsure of what to do. But Van Gundy remained calm and composed, and after rambling on for a while, he actually managed to make sense of it all, and it actually sounded quite plausible!
I admire that!
We still need to practice.

With the timeout over, both sides abandoned their previous fast-paced offensive and offensive-defensive style of play, and instead began to focus on positional warfare.

This is inevitable. With the big men on both sides coming up, the lineup becomes larger and the speed becomes slower, so of course we have to take it slow and fight them off one by one.

As expected, the pace of the game slowed down in the last few minutes of the first quarter. Both sides started to play positional warfare, and the key players of both sides began to rotate. Both coaches made constant substitutions to allow the key players to have some rest time.

The Lakers' offense revolved around Bynum at the end of the first quarter, having him repeatedly attempt isolation plays in the low post. Bynum was quite efficient, scoring on all three of his isolation plays and racking up 6 points. However, the only downside was that he fell into Varejao's trap during one low-post attack and committed an offensive foul.

On the Cavaliers' side, it was Anthony who started to dominate. The most memorable thing about him in the entire first quarter was that he served as a backdrop to Durant's terrifying physical abilities, and he hardly scored anything else.

But in the latter part of the first quarter, he finally woke up, and after several mid-range shots and strong drives to the basket, the Cavaliers were not left behind by the Lakers.

29: 31!

At the end of the first quarter, the score remained close, with the Lakers leading by 2 points going into the second quarter.

In the second quarter, both coaches once again demonstrated their tacit understanding.

They once again fielded a lineup with one big man and four small men, and once again only had one key outside player on the court.

The Lakers fielded Kobe Bryant, while the Cavaliers had Dwyane Wade leading the team.

Two of the league's top shooting guards, widely considered to be the top two active players, have begun a head-to-head matchup.

Kobe takes a mid-range jumper, and Wade inevitably responds with a drive. The role players on both sides maintain their energy and passion, everyone is fully focused. Every shot, whether it goes in or out, is met with a well-positioned defender. Neither side can find many good opportunities at this stage; scoring is mostly based on the individual abilities of star players.

Under these circumstances, the two sides fought back and forth, with neither gaining the upper hand.

With four minutes remaining in the second quarter, both teams entered their first timeout of the quarter.

The score at this point was 37-40. The Lakers had barely won by one point during this period, which could be considered as having the upper hand.

When the timeout ended, neither coach tried any fancy tricks this time, and their strongest lineups, the full starting five, were all sent onto the court.

This is the first time both teams have fielded their full starting lineups since the first timeout in the first quarter!
"No good, old man." Before going on stage, Lin Tian glanced at Jackson with a half-smile and said with a hint of mockery, "So you were only at the same level as Brown, the same level of thinking."

What the heck?

Lin Tian's words immediately froze Jackson in place.

Lao Tzu, the renowned Zen Master, the architect of the Chicago Bulls dynasty, a multiple-time Coach of the Year, the former NBA regular season winning percentage holder, and a top coach who led the Lakers to the Finals multiple times, you say I'm on the same level as Mike Brown in coaching?
What's the difference between this and other people saying Lin Tian plays like Cai Kunkun?
An insult! A tremendous insult!

Jackson slowly stopped smiling and began to focus on the court.

He wanted to find the reason; he wanted to know why.

Why did I actually manage to go toe-to-toe with Brown?

We must investigate this thoroughly!

Jackson began to immerse himself in watching and studying the game, entering his most serious mode.

Jackson couldn't tolerate this humiliation.

After the timeout ended and both sides brought out their starting lineups, the game started in a way that was quite bad for both sides.

During the Lakers' offense, Bynum committed his second offensive foul of the night, elbowing Zydrunas Ilgauskas in the chest and sending the poor Lithuanian veteran flying.

The Cavaliers weren't in much better shape either. On their first offensive possession, Wade's three-pointer didn't even touch the rim, resulting in a ridiculous airball.

Bynum caught Wade's shot, which was like a pass, and passed it directly to Lin Tian. Lin Tian dribbled the ball and quickly advanced to the Cavaliers' three-point line. After looking around, he pulled up and launched a three-pointer!
"Boom!"

But Lin Tian's signature three-pointer missed, bouncing off the rim and being caught in Gasol's arms.

But sometimes, fortune and misfortune are intertwined. Lin Tian missed his three-pointer, losing the opportunity to extend the lead, but Gasol's turn around after grabbing the rebound was a bit too big.

An elbow struck Kobe squarely in the face as he was following behind, ready to steal the ball.

With a thud, Kobe fell to the ground, and the referee's whistle blew immediately.

A foul that couldn't be clearer!
Gasol also committed his second foul and returned possession of the ball to the Lakers.

The only good news is that this is Cleveland's Quicken Loans Center.

The referee gave him some leeway and didn't escalate it into a malicious foul.

If this had happened at Staples Center, the probability of Gasol being called for a flagrant foul would have been quite high!
Then, the Lakers, who went back to inbound the ball, immediately executed a very beautiful inbound play.

Lin Tian stood outside the sideline, watching his teammates' positioning and screens for each other. Then, he suddenly raised his hand and passed the ball directly to the basket. Kobe, who happened to be running there, jumped up, caught the basketball with both hands, and then made a light, high-arc shot, sending the ball towards the basket.

Kobe Bryant already had a high jump, and his shooting arc was incredibly high. Not to mention that there were only two big men with average physical abilities, Gasol and Zydrunas Ilgauskas, under the basket. They could only look up at the basketball, which was almost at the top of the backboard, and there was nothing else they could do.

"Shh!"

Then, with a crisp sound, Kobe's high-arcing alley-oop shot fell into the basket, breaking the Lakers' scoring drought!

Immediately afterwards, the Cavaliers broke their scoring drought.

Anthony received the ball on the left low post, facing Durant. He first stuck out his butt, then turned to face the basket, took a signature jab step, and blasted the ball with his right hand. Then he quickly did a 360-degree spin move, leaving Durant behind in the blink of an eye.

Then he took another step and jumped, charging towards the basket.

"Same! Exactly the same as Durant's incredible block in the first quarter!" Miller immediately noticed the detail; Anthony's move in this possession was exactly the same as in the first quarter!
"But the result was completely different! This time Durant couldn't catch up." Jackson added from the side, "Not only did he not catch up, but he also got fouled by Anthony! Durant hit Anthony's arm! 2+1! A beautiful 2+1!"

"A perfect comeback! There couldn't be a more perfect and satisfying comeback! Anthony proved in the same way that he's not old, that he's still one of the best small forwards in the league, and that Durant can't stop him!"

As the commentators analyzed the play, the fans in the stadium could naturally see the extraordinary nature of Anthony's shot. They recognized it as a blatant act of revenge, and the most satisfying, domineering, and morale-boosting retaliatory attack ever seen on the basketball court!
You'll get back at me the way you defend yourself!
"MVP! MVP! MVP! MVP!"

"Messi! Messi! Messi! Messi!"

"Kill them! Kill the Los Angeles people!"

"Catch him again, you skinny monkey! Catch him again, Messi and Ronaldo!"

"The distance between you two is farther than the Milky Way!"

"Messi hitting you is like a father hitting his son!"

The cheers and shouts from the fans were non-stop, after all, Anthony's 2+1 was truly spectacular and incredibly inspiring.

The Cavaliers' morale was completely ignited by Anthony's turnaround and-one layup!

Anthony himself was pounding his chest repeatedly, letting out wild roars, baring his teeth and looking nothing like the 'Melo' he used to be.

He is now a prodigy from Queens!

"Shh!"

Anthony certainly wouldn't lose his composure and miss free throws just because of a satisfying 2+1 play.

After he calmly made the free throw, it signaled the start of another round of back-and-forth battles for the score.

Both sides were eager to gain the lead before the end of the first half, and in order to achieve this, they went all out, using various strategies in the hope of finding a weakness in their opponent and thus finding an opportunity to gain the lead as much as possible.

With only four minutes remaining in the second quarter, Brown called another timeout.

The score is now 48-52!

The match remains extremely close. (End of Chapter)