In the 2007 Finals, James made various shows at the Cavaliers' home court, although he was already 0-2 behind the Spurs.

This time, because of the "Friend Mother's Gate", James restrained a lot and appeared with a black face, only the habit of sprinkling magnesium powder did not change.

Zhou Xuan and others watched live TV together. Zhou Xuan said: "To be honest, this habit is quite fun, if we go to the Cavaliers in the playoffs in the future, I will also sprinkle it when we want to eliminate them, I don't know what the reaction of the fans will be." ”

D'Antoni laughed: "That must be ironic. ”

Kobe Bryant also played with a black face, and in order to go all out to win, Kobe Bryant was bruised most of the time, which has become his trademark. He thinks it's a way for young players to show the importance of the game.

After the game began, Laurel asked, "Which team do you like to win?" ”

"Knight."

"Knight."

"Knight."

All three gave the same answer, and all of them were not optimistic about the Lakers. The Cavaliers won two games in the regular season, and the Lakers didn't have a good way to deal with James. And the other key to victory is Yao Ming, who is also a huge threat under the basket. Yao Ming only played less than 30 minutes in the regular season and entered the finals, and he really had no reason to continue to stay. Once he attacks without reservation, he can also be called a superstar. Yao Ming's weakness is his slow speed, but the Lakers are not much faster, and they generally play positional battles.

Sure enough, the opening knight took the initiative. Jamison pulled outside the bottom corner three-point line, Yao Ming blocked James, and then stood in the high post to attract the defense, which the Cavaliers completely emptied the inside.

Jamison shot 40 percent from three-point range at his peak, shot with confidence in open positions, and had 35 in the playoffs. 4% of the hit rate, had to be guarded against. And Yao Ming also increased his high-post blocking after arriving at the Cavaliers, and his jump shot was very accurate. James took the ball and rushed inside, and if the Lakers formed a shrink, the pass would be a shooting opportunity. If it doesn't shrink, James has room to play alone.

The Lakers didn't use a bag in the first quarter, but James didn't play hard all the time, more on breaking through the ball. In the first quarter, he shot 3-of-6 and had 6 points and 3 assists. The Cavaliers lead 25-23.

Kobe Bryant's performance was average, scoring only 4 points in a single quarter. When defending, James went to the low post, and Jamison followed Artest on the periphery, so that Jamison's weakness in defense and dismantling made up for it, and Artest had a very low offensive efficiency with the ball.

Yao Ming resisted Gasol in the low post, acting as the most rear-end barrier on the inside. On the offensive end, he didn't attack in the low post and conserved his strength.

In the second quarter, James went down the court, and the Cavaliers had a change, and Jamison, who had a break for a while in the first quarter, went to the small forward position to lead the bench offense. The inside line, Vallejo and Ilgoskas, make up the twin towers. Perimeter Gibson and Moon.

This lineup is highly dominant again. There are only two big men in the league who are over 220cm tall, and all of them are in the Cavaliers, and the amazing thing is that these two can also shoot after blocking and discharging.

Big Z doesn't go to the basket on offense, and after blocking and dismantling, he waits for the ball to be passed back on the periphery. On the defensive end, it's the opposite, not out of the box, just interfering under the basket and blocking the shots of those who burst in. The Lakers can shoot from the outside, but it's hard to get to the basket. Bynum and Odom teamed up to attack the inside, and as soon as the Cavaliers shrunk, they could only pass the ball.

The Cavaliers easily beat the Magic, having time to delve into the series between the Lakers and Suns in detail. The Lakers lack people who are good at breaking through and are afraid of the opponent's joint defense.

The Lakers' offense was unfavorable, and after 4 minutes, Kobe Bryant was replaced, and the Cavaliers immediately replaced James to be responsible for the low post defense on one side. The Cavaliers' perimeter defense is porous, Anthony? Parker moves slowly and must rely on his teammates to help defend him, and James' task is to help defend Kobe.

Every time Kobe Bryant and James faced each other, there would be a burst of cheers on the scene, and once Kobe Bryant hit the iron with a jumper, the Cavaliers fans applauded.

Before the game, fans were predicting who would be better if James and Kobe Bryant faced each other directly. There are options available online, and Bryant got 50. 7% support, slightly better than James' 49. 3%。

In the regular season last season, the Cavaliers defeated the Lakers without Yao Ming and Jamison, and James's statistics were also better than Kobe's, and the biggest gap between the two was defense.

American media "HoopSpeak" Michael? According to Pina, James can defend any player without resorting to a defensive system, and has a less than 20% success rate when defending one-on-one. His defensive ability is underrated because of the disparity between offensive and defensive strength.

At the same time, Pina also analyzed the reasons why James is not favored. The word "selfless" sums up James' performance on the court, and although he has been controversial about his choice to pass the ball when he should be attacking on his own, James's selflessness has helped the Cavaliers tremendously on the defensive end.

In order to effectively stop the opponent's attack, the team's five players need to react in the same way at the same time, otherwise, the weakest link of the team's defense will drag down the team's defensive efficiency. As a defensive leader, James was extremely kind to his teammates, he did everything he needed to do, and he did it brilliantly.

This season, PER stats have become James' solo dance, and his dominance on the defensive end has begun to be taken seriously.

And on an ESPN show last week, Tim? Legler also criticized the league for awarding the best defensive player award to the player with the most blocks and rebounds, rather than the player with the best defensive ability.

Howard's dominance of the restricted area is self-evident, and he can also use flexible footwork to limit smaller players who are only shoulder height when defending pick-and-rolls, but that has something to do with Howard's role in the Magic system, however, when James breaks through the defensive guard, it has nothing to do with the Cavaliers' defensive system, which is more of a one-on-one matchup.

And James can have the upper hand in the vast majority of rounds. According to Synergy data, James' one-on-one defense can reduce everyone's shooting percentage. But why is James' defense not favored? This can be parsed by the example of Thunder Sephorosa. When discussing Sephorosa's excellent perimeter defense, people tend to base it on the fact that offense and defense are very different. Sefrosa's defensive prowess is closely related to his lack of attacking ability. But James has outstanding offensive talent, and without the disparity in offensive and defensive strength, the defense is not so concerned. Perhaps it will not change until James' offensive ability declines, but his defensive ability remains excellent, that the public's perception of James' influence on the game will change.

Of course, being named to the All-Defensive First Team also reflects James' defensive ability.

When the Lakers defended, Kobe Bryant's opponent was Anthony? Parker. The main defense of James is Artest, and the two are of comparable physique. James doesn't play alone, he relies on the cover to get rid of Atay first, and then plays the inside line in a different position, and then slows down, James rushes up, and no one can stop him. As soon as the Lakers contracted, James still rarely shot and passed the ball to his teammates.

In the first three quarters, James didn't score much, and was more focused on points, but because he grabbed a lot of rebounds because he kept the low post, he got 12 points, 8 rebounds and 7 assists, and he was likely to get a triple-double in the first game of the finals.

The Lakers scored very centrally, with Gasol, Kobe, and Odom as the main three, and no one else scored double-doubles. The Cavaliers are multi-pointed, with the starting five all but Parker already scoring double-doubles, and the bench Vallejo also scoring 10 points.

"This guy is like a big point guard, if I'm at the top of the arc, how can I completely guard him?" Zhou Xuan muttered to himself during the break.

He knew that his physique, even if he was an elbow, he couldn't always block a person of James's type, only to be knocked away. James' back ability is average, but as long as he is a little free, he turns around and accelerates.

"Nobody expects you to be able to defend against James, you defended well for a few minutes and they were about to blow you into the sky." Mitchell laughed.

D'Antoni also said: "Yes, a man of his stature must be a strong swingman to defend himself, and I can't let you defend against him." ”

"It's a shame I can't be a perfect player. Compared to my personal ability, I can't reach the top after all, and after the finals, I'm ready to practice shooting. Zhou Xuan sighed.

If you can't do it physically, you have to make up for it in other ways, and accurate shooting is the easiest way.

"Isn't your leg still well?" D'Antoni shook his head and said, "Don't be in a hurry to practice and let the injury recur, let's talk about it." ”

"I can practice shooting at fixed points and I don't have a leg to do it. It's not bad to practice like this, at least the free throws can be more accurate, I'm really afraid that the new season will start because I haven't touched the basketball for too long, and I can't shoot accurately, as long as I don't jump, it's okay if I don't do strenuous activities. Zhou Xuan smiled.

From the time of the injury to now, he feels like he's been resting for too long. Since I don't return to China in the summer, it's better to practice. He couldn't practice for too long, his parents' visas were about to be issued, and he would come to the United States in July, so he would have to spend some time with his family. In addition, I have to run to recover my strength and do rehabilitation. He hadn't seen his parents for a long time, and spending time with his family was more important than playing basketball.

The Lakers and Cavaliers game continues. In the fourth quarter, the Cavaliers sent Moon to strengthen the defense on the outside, and together with James to deal with Kobe, Yao Ming was the main offense in the low post, widening the difference to double digits.

Brown still sent Vallejo, Big Z, and Hickson to play for some time to preserve Yao Ming's physical strength. In the fourth quarter, the offensive focus was suddenly placed on the inside, which caught the Lakers off guard. Yao Ming has played well in the previous two rounds of the series. Now Gasol and Bynum can't defend him one-on-one.

The Lakers players have Finals experience, and James didn't score much in this defense, but the rest of the Cavaliers stepped up, and they couldn't defend it. Artest has been desperate and can no longer help his teammates defend others, and he also has a low shooting percentage this time, 4-of-12.

Kobe missed three consecutive jumpers in the second half of the game, and the Lakers were gone.

The Cavaliers got off to a good start 103-89!