Chapter 364: First Victory in the Eastern Conference Finals
At halftime, the Cavaliers glanced at the scoreboard, which wasn't much ahead, and it was clear that they were a little bit concerned, and at their home court, such a result was certainly very unpleasant, especially with so many supportive fans. **Soak!*
"I'm." took off his combat jersey and slammed it to the ground, Jones sat on the bench with a depressed face, this guy really didn't play much in the first half, and the alignment with Pierce made him lose a lot of opportunities.
"It's okay, little one, that guy just has a little bigger butt." O'Neal patted Jones on the shoulder and sat next to him, the Sharks didn't help the Cavaliers in the first half, playing 5 minutes and 34 seconds in the first half, getting 4 points and 3 rebounds, but Yao Ming got 8 points and 4 rebounds in the confrontation with the Sharks.
But Scott is already very satisfied with O'Neal's performance, what do you want a 40-year-old veteran to do?
The best player of the Celtics in the first half was not Yao Ming, who got 14 points and 6 rebounds, 20 Lei Allen, in the face of Huang Xiang's defense today, the gentleman's sword seems to have a threshold, whenever Huang Xiang goes to defend, he will do a good job of blocking and dismantling or ambushing traps with his teammates and waiting for Huang Xiang, Huang Xiang got 3 fouls in the first half, not to mention, Ray Allen also hit 5 three-pointers, this guy had 17 points, 3 assists and 2 rebounds in the first half, completely suppressing Huang Xiang.
The Celtics took advantage of Huang Xiang's defense to be too active, and often set up ambushes to make Huang Xiang foul, which surprised Scott, I didn't expect the opponent to think of such a sinister move, but because of this, Scott laughed after thinking about it, the more Huang Xiang's fault was found, the happier he was, and Huang Xiang was more perfect after improvement, or how to say, the opponent was the best teacher.
"Well, everyone look at me here, the lead of the opponent by two points in the first half shows that everyone is not doing well enough. In the second half, Huang Xiang as the core of the opponent's inside, the interior defenders Howard and Garnett appropriately created conditions for him, Huang Xiang, you only have 4 minutes, don't save physical strength, give me a hard impact. I'll take you off in four minutes and see how you play. Iverson sat on the bench for the time being, and after Huang Xiang came down, your partner Carter gave me the score of Huang Xiang's impact, and the time was 4 minutes at the same time, I hope not to disappoint me. Two 4 minutes is 8 minutes in the third quarter, at this time I will change the lineup again, who will appear on the court, it depends on your performance, okay, have a good rest, Garnett and Huang Xiang, you two lie here and get a massage. After speaking, Scott pointed to the massage chair and said to Huang Xiang and Garnett.
Huang Xiang obviously got the opportunity to have a half-time massage because of an important task in the second half, which used to belong to Iverson and Garnett, and he was a young guy who seemed to be lucky today.
After the start of the second half, Gibson and Huang Xiang returned to the court, and the small forward position was Petrus, and the Celtics had the ball.
The Celtics didn't make any adjustments like the Cavaliers, and they all seemed to be more impactful.
At the beginning of the game, Rondo ran across the half court with the ball and then threw the ball to Allen on one side, but when the basketball was running in mid-air, a yellow palm intercepted the basketball and Huang Xiang.
Huang Xiang saw that there was definitely nothing good for Rondo and Allen just after halftime, so he killed them halfway to make their plans come to naught.
Seeing that Huang Xiang intercepted the basketball, the Celtics would quickly return to defense, they knew Huang Xiang's speed, and when Huang Xiang showed his footsteps with all his might, it would be unrealistic for the Celtics to try to defend again.
I don't know which basketball critic once said: It's not terrible to let the opponent dunk, the terrible thing is that the opponent is Huang Xiang's steal and fast attack, and this time is your most uncomfortable moment.
It's not the first time the Celtics have played the Cavaliers, so they know this very well, and they don't want Huang Xiang to win easily in their own half.
Although Pierce has a big buttocks, this guy's speed is really not slow, and the physically strong Ray Allen started at full speed at the same time, Huang Xiang really didn't dare to dunk the basket.
Huang Xiang, who had no chance, had to hand the basketball to Gibson on the side, Gibson took Huang Xiang's pass and pulled it up on the spot and threw the basketball out fiercely, and the basketball went into the net hollow.
Gibson's three points were cheered by the fans in the audience, Gibson's three-point goal was too powerful, of course, foreigners don't know what it means, but the meaning is not the same.
"Don't ever underestimate this guy, Gibson was the three-point leader of the Cavaliers last year, and he will be one of the most powerful weapons you can use to despise the Cavaliers." Scott was smiling with his hands folded over his chest on the sidelines, and Gibson was arguably one of the most powerful weapons he had on the bench, and even former All-Star Carter was not as useful as Gibson.
By the middle of the third quarter, Scott didn't send out his own lineup as originally intended, and the so-called everything can't compare to change, and the change in the field made Scott make lineup changes.
Because of Ray Allen's three-point spree, Scott had to put Huang Xiang and Iverson on the outside, and Howard and Garnett were still on the inside.
In other words, the Cavaliers switched to a full lineup by the middle of the third quarter, and the Celtics, West was rested, and Davis also replaced Yao Ming.
Rondo dribbled across the half, dodged past Iverson and rushed inside to share the ball to Pierce on the side, Pierce shook Jones with a feint, and then pulled up on the spot to make a mid-range shot.
The good fortune of "touching" the first half did not allow Truth to continue to maintain the shooting percentage, the basketball smashed on the basket, and the big baby Davis jumped up to take the rebound down.
After Davis received the ball, he pouted his butt and pushed Howard to grab the ball with one hand, turned around and shook the basketball to the basket, the big baby who had learned from Garnett for a long time did not waste this opportunity, and the basketball did not disappoint Davis, the basketball smashed into the basket and fell steadily into the basket.
"Haha, I knew I was the best." Davis waved his fist excitedly, but the excessive excitement made Garnett next to him very unhappy.
"Boom" Garnett slammed a shudder on Davis's head, and the big baby screamed as he smashed it, and his scream drew the attention of all the referees to him.
"It's okay, it's okay" turned around and saw that it was Garnett who knocked on himself, and Davis immediately waved to the referees to signal that it was okay, who is Garnett? Half of his teacher. Garnett wants to fight himself, and it doesn't matter how he fights.
"What's wrong, boss?" The big baby scratched the back of his head and asked suspiciously.
"Don't get excited when you score, how many times have I told you, you're not honest when I leave Celtic, right?" Garnett glared at Davis and reprimanded unceremoniously.
It was just a small episode, and Garnett and Davis's education had been a lot of the way before, but this was the first time since leaving the Celtics that he had reprimanded Davis in front of fans around the world.
At the end of the third quarter of the game, the fans at the scene were slightly relieved, the Cavaliers led the Celtics by 7 points, although not much, but the leading side was very comfortable.
During the break, several film and television stars walked up to Huang Xiang and chatted with Huang Xiang for a few words, and basically asked Huang Xiang for a few autographs, of course, for their relatives and friends.
In the fourth quarter of the game, Huang Xiang and others did not, at this critical moment, the big shark O'Neal went to the front line, and Carter also played, at this time, experienced people were needed to control the rhythm well.
The current Cavaliers bench depth is really strong, and there are a lot of people available on the bench, but if they really go all up to withstand the rhythm of the game, it is really a bit surprising that they are still in the playoffs at the critical moment of the Eastern Conference Finals.
The Celtics didn't have such a big adventure, Rivers still replaced Yao Ming, and there was a core on the court that the generals had a backbone in their hearts, although the Celtics used to often start not putting the core on the court in the fourth quarter, but most of that stage was the regular season, and in the playoffs, no accidents were allowed.
O'Neill and Yao Ming collided again, but at this time, Yao Ming returned from injury, and O'Neill had already entered the stage of retirement and did not have much combat effectiveness.
However, the battle between the two still made many people look forward to it, and when O'Neal took Carter's pass and hit Yao Ming with his back, many O'Neal fans stood up and looked at him expectantly.
"Come on, Sha Kunen......" many people shouted in anticipation.
O'Neill carried Yao Ming behind his back, pushing inside step by step, his strength was still very strong, Yao Ming carried O'Neill hard and felt a little unbearable.
O'Neal suddenly roared and handed the ball to both hands, turned around and arched, Yao Ming was pushed away by O'Neal's ass, and then O'Neal slammed the basketball into the basket with both hands, and the huge body flew to the basket, making Yao Ming have an illusion, a familiar feeling, that fat man...... It's back again.
The sound of the basketball entering the basket made many people feel addicted, good O'Neal, you are the best.
"Sha Kun Eun, Sha Kun Eun, Sha Kun Eun ......" The scene unanimously rang out the cheers of the fans, and the performance of the sharks really made them find their previous feelings, and the omnipotent O'Neill appeared in front of them again.
The Sharks' performance proved that he can still fight, and he successfully stopped the Celtics' offensive footsteps for the Cavaliers, and when the Cavaliers' main players returned to the court, O'Neal walked to the sideline with a smile and completed the mission.
Huang Xiang, Garnett and Howard walked to the middle of the court hand in hand, Iverson had already replaced Gibson, and the four looked at each other and began the final defense of honor.
Howard took Huang Xiang's pass and singled Davis, Davis couldn't resist Howard's hard hit at all, and Howard directly turned around and hit the basketball into the basket.
Huang Xiang took Iverson's pass, missed the three-point shot, was grabbed by Howard, and handed over to Huang Xiang on the outside to attack again, this time Huang Xiang lived up to everyone's expectations, and the basketball hit steadily.
Iverson took Howard's basketball from the inside and then poured it to Huang Xiang, Huang Xiang had no offensive opportunity and had to pass back to Iverson, Iverson raised a shot basketball and hit the board into the basket.
Garnett came out of the low post to take Jones' pass, drilled into the basket along the baseline, raised the basketball over his head with one hand, and slammed the basketball to the basket, the basketball was smashed into it by him, and it hit.
In the second half of the fourth quarter, although the four did not burst out with super strength, their performance was normal, and in the face of the Celtics' offense, they successfully defended, and the Cavaliers finally won by 9 points, 98:89, the first leg of the Eastern Conference finals, the Cavaliers won.