The highlight of this year's Christmas game is the showdown between the Washington Wizards and the Cleveland Cavaliers.

These two Eastern Conference teams are currently recognized as the strongest teams in the league, ranking first and second in the odds to win the lotto, respectively.

Although the Wizards are without Wang Xiao in charge, the team that Wang Xiao has built up in the past few years still exists, Curry, Thompson, George, Leonard and Gobert's starting five Tigers can be said to be invincible, although it is unlikely that this season will break the regular season record just set last season, but there is no problem in winning more than 60 games consistently.

On the other hand, the Cavaliers' Big Four did not fall apart after a failed season, but fought hard to compete for the championship with the Wizards, who lost Wang Xiao.

So far this season, the Cavaliers' performance has been remarkable, James' evolution has become more and more terrifying, and Howard, Irving and Love have also begun to make changes like Wade to adapt to James's style of play, although this result will inevitably make the data of all three decline to a certain extent, but the Cavaliers have become stronger, there is no doubt about it.

The Christmas game was on the home court of the Cavaliers, and the Cavaliers, who had the home court advantage, took the initiative at the beginning of the game and quickly opened up the point difference under the leadership of James.

The Wizards started a little slowly, but they quickly adjusted their form, and gradually relied on the advantage of the lineup to slowly recover the difference.

When the game reached halftime, the score was 61-57, and the Cavaliers had a four-point advantage.

In the third quarter of the following period, the Wizards habitually exerted their strength, and a wave of 12:2 attacks instantly turned the situation around and overtook the score, entering the fourth quarter with a 6-point advantage.

In the final quarter of the game, the two sides were in a lot of stalemate, and the two sides only scored 5 points in the first five minutes, but in the second five minutes, Curry broke out.

Hitting three three-pointers in a row helped the Wizards extend the margin to more than double digits, and the Wizards have been holding on to that score since then, winning the Christmas game on the Cavaliers' home court.

Wizards fans rejoiced, because this is the second time the Wizards have beaten the Cavaliers in the regular season, winning two games, and I believe that the next two meetings in the playoffs The Wizards will not disappoint them.

And the Cavaliers fans held their heads in their hands, their eyes helpless and confused.

They could see that the team had tried their best but still lost the game, and they didn't know how to beat the Wizards, a team that looked so impeccable, with the starting lineup as good as the Cavaliers, and the bench with players like Green and Butler.

Could it be that the Cavaliers really missed the championship?

It seems to be like this, but Wang Xiao, who watched the game all the time, frowned slightly, and he keenly discovered the current problems of the Wizards.

This team is a little different from last season, although the individual quality of the players is stronger than last season, but the overall fluency of the team has decreased.

The reason lies in the passing of basketball.

In Wang Xiao's system, four of the five positions of the Wizards have the ability to attack and pass with the ball, and even five positions when necessary, and the Wizards are best at finding vacant players to attack through rapid offensive and defensive transitions and blocking, dismantling, and passing.

But this season, the Wizards have made a significantly less frequent pass, with more individual singles, and some balls that have better options are not executed.

"There's something wrong with the team......"

Wang Xiao knew it in his heart.

In fact, the problem of ball distribution is not only a problem for the Cavaliers, but also for the Wizards.

Compared to the Cavaliers, the Wizards actually need more players with the ball.

Curry, George, Leonard, Thompson all need some ball possession, while Drummond on the bench. Green & Jimmy. The same goes for Butler.

Although many people, including Curry and Thompson, can play without the ball, they can't play without the ball completely.

Curry, as the core of the house, can't play completely without the ball, and neither can Thompson.

This other world is different.

In another world, although the Warriors' version of Thompson gives the impression of a lot of off-ball offense, in fact, he touches the ball a lot of times, averaging about 17 times per game at his peak, and is a well-deserved second leader of the Warriors before Durant to the Warriors.

And even after Durant came, Thompson's average number of shots per game was not lower than that of the other party.

But now with the Wizards, he is only the team's fourth offensive pick, behind Curry, George, and Leonard.

If you play without the ball at all, then the result is that Curry, George, Leonard, and three people divide the ball, and Thompson can only be a spot shooter.

Even Thompson, whose belief is team-oriented, can't accept such an outcome, especially since this season is Thompson's contract year, and he wants a lucrative contract.

So not long after the start of the new season, Thompson's style of play has also changed, and after receiving the ball, he will still shoot quickly in the open space, and if it is not empty, he will not pass the ball immediately, but try to rely on his personal ability to find some flaws and continue to attack.

This situation is not only for Thompson, but also for George, Leonard and even Butler on the bench, after all, no one is born willing to be content to be a second-in-command, a third-in-command or even a fourth-in-command.

It's just that the Wizards' lineup is too strong, so that the tactical execution is not enough, and they can still easily win most of the matchups.

Wizards head coach Kerr certainly understands this, but he doesn't have a good solution.

This is related to the richness of the contract when the player renews the contract, there are so many shots in a game, and a few players can be divided up casually, even if he is the head coach, it is impossible to order these players to hand over the ball willingly, unless he is as powerful as Wang Xiao and has the right to let any player roll up and get out.

So he could only turn a blind eye when none of this happened.

The Wizards' record is not as good as last season, and they can also use the excuse that the habitual head coach Wang Xiao left the team and everyone is still in the groping stage.

Sometimes, it's not entirely a good thing that there are too many talented players in the team, and it's also a shame that these players are gentle, well-behaved type players, and if it's some thorns, I'm afraid the atmosphere in the dressing room has already been messed up.

If Wang Xiao is still on the Wizards, at this time, he will already have to consider who to trade away from the team in exchange for some benefits.

This summer, the Wizards' salary space will be challenged enormously.

Ke Huai. Leonard, Clay. Thompson, Drummond. Green, Jimmy. Butler's four-man contract expires at the same time, and according to the current performance of Leonard and Thompson, he will inevitably ask for a contract extension with a maximum salary, and Green's contract extension with Butler is expected to be tens of millions.

At present, the Wizards' salary space can only renew two players at most, and it is not possible to renew both Leonard and Thompson at the same time.