On the morning of October 8, the team conducted a simple tactical training.

Paul then led the coaching staff and all the players through a pre-match meeting.

When playing the Pistons, Paul didn't have a pregame meeting, which shows how much Paul values the Hawks.

The Hawks, as a fringe team in the playoffs, brought in strong reinforcements this season and aimed directly at the playoffs.

The Cavaliers are a belly team, but with the addition of James and the growth of young players, the coaching staff also has the goal of making the playoffs.

The same goal, and being in the same east, makes the Hawks and Cavaliers direct rivals.

That's why Paul attaches so much importance to the game against the Hawks.

No one pays attention to the Pistons, who lost to the first place in the East, but if they lose to the Hawks, it means that the Cavaliers still don't have the strength to break into the playoffs.

"The Eagles are one of the few teams in the league that are strong in offense and weak in defense, so we have to defend well tonight! I'll tell you first, even though it's only a preseason game, whoever dares to slack off in this game and be as lazy as the Pistons game, I'll put him on the bench! ”

Paul spoke tactfully, without naming names. But everyone knows he's talking about Ricky Davis.

In the last game, Davis was a cancer on both offensive and defensive ends.

On the offensive end, the infinite wave throws iron. On the defensive end, Hamilton was asked to score 28 points.

His face is not good-looking.

"Humph! Isn't it just a preseason game, what's worth paying attention to? ”

Of course, he didn't dare to say this, but his face was obviously unconvinced.

"Also, in this game, we mainly play the inside line, and the two starters on the inside line of the Eagles are less than 210 cm tall, and Big Z has an absolute height advantage. Big Z, you have to play a little more resolutely in this game! Only when you open it, can the outside line get more opportunities. ”

Paul began to deploy tactically, especially reminding Big Z.

After all, Big Z always doesn't fight or grab, giving people a feeling of no fighting spirit. It's okay to be in this state, but when the team needs him, it can be a serious problem.

"Yes!"

Big Z nodded in agreement.

********

8 p.m.

Philips Arena in Atlanta.

With the appearance of the three core of the Hawks, Raheem, Terry and Jackson, the cheers of the fans in the stadium reached a climax.

The five starters sent by the Hawks were: Ratlleaf, Raheem, Jackson, Glover and Terry.

The Cavaliers also fielded regular starters: Ilgoskas, Boozer, James, Davis and McGinnis.

The players of both sides stood still, the referee routinely told the players of both sides, and then the game officially began.

Honk~

Big Z won the jump ball with his absolute height advantage.

McGinnis picked up the basketball and began to advance.

After the ball passed the halfway, Big Z stuck in the position on the inside and began to ask for the ball.

McGinnis didn't dare to delay, hung it high and passed it to Big Z.

The 221 cm Big Z singles out the 208 cm Ratlif.

Big Z leaned against Ratlif with his back, and Ratliff didn't dare to let a little space and tightly resisted Big Z.

But it didn't work, and Big Z turned his back and pulled away.

Ratliff rushed to pounce.

But Big Z immediately turned around in a reverse direction, completely shook off Ratlif, and a small hook hit easily.

(The European center's footwork is really solid!) ）

2：0！

The Cavaliers opened the scoring.

Switching between offense and defense, Terry advances with the ball.

In the face of this small man, McGinnis did not dare to relax at all, and began to block outside the three-point line.

However, Terry didn't have a strong desire to attack tonight, and he was not in a hurry to attack, but gave the opportunity to Jackson first, after all, Jackson's opponent was a rookie.

"Champion, I know you played well in the last game, but you're still a rookie, I'll teach you how to adapt to the NBA."

Facing the young James, Jackson instinctively wanted to teach him a lesson.

As a second-round pick, Jackson's early career was very difficult, and he only worked hard to get up step by step.

Looking at James, he was very unconvinced.

But soon, he realized why James was the real pride of the sky.

Back hit, Jackson couldn't push James at all.

Breaking through, James is faster than Jackson in terms of footwork and lateral movement.

Feints, James doesn't eat at all.

Jackson's mood instantly became very bad, and under the interference of James's long arm, he forced a shot and missed.

Boozer grabbed the rebound and the Cavaliers attacked.

Big Z singles Ratlif and hits a jumper. With 2-of-2 shooting in the opening game, the Cavaliers led 4-0.

The Hawks attacked, and Terry carried the ball through the half.

This time he didn't pick Jackson and handed the ball to the team's boss, Raheem.

Raheem singled Boozer, and with his all-round skills and rich experience, Rahim easily broke through the slow-paced Boozer and scored a layup.

Rahim, the 96 golden generation Tanhua Show, has very strong offensive ability, and if he is not destroyed by injuries in the end, he will definitely become a superstar.

4：2！

After the opening, the two teams went back and forth, tepidly.

When the official timeout reached 9 minutes, it was a 20:20 draw.

On the Cavaliers' side, Big Z scored 12 points, and the Hawks' Raheem scored 14 points, which is basically the same as the score.

But Big Z's height is there, and his physical strength is very limited, so it is impossible to continue to fight like this.

On the contrary, Rahim is in good fitness and has no problem continuing to fight.

So in fact, the Cavaliers suffered in these 9 minutes.

At the end of the timeout, Paul fielded a lineup of James, McGinnis, Meme, Darius and Brown, with two starters and three substitutes.

On the Hawks' side, there are Terry, Raheem, Mohammed (blue-collar center), Dio (rookie, can play No. 1 to No. 5 positions, small forward), Vaughn (guard), the same 2 starters with 3 substitutes.

The game restarted, and the Eagles continued to play Raheem to that point.

But as soon as Rahim received the ball, Darius got entangled.

The two are both 206 centimeters, and Darius does not suffer in height.

Of course, Rahim didn't pay much attention to Darius, after all, as the Eagle King, he hadn't seen any defense.

Darius is well known and talented, but he doesn't do well offensively and doesn't defend aggressively.

But tonight, Darius surprised Rahim, who was extraordinarily active, desperately defending, and did not give Rahim the slightest space to attack.

With better physical fitness and a more youthful body, Darius caused Rahim a great deal of trouble.

Although Raheem finally scored with a difficult step-back jumper, it took twice as much effort as Boozer had done before.

What's more, there are James and Mime staring at him, and Rahim has a solemn expression.

At 20:22, the Eagles led by 2 points.

The Cavaliers attacked, and James relied on his super physical fitness to crush Dio, who was not cool enough, and tied the score at 22:22.

Eagles possession.

Terry dribbled the ball to the front court and made a lob to the inside in front of McGinnis.

McGinnis subconsciously raised his hand to intercept it.

But at this moment, Terry suddenly put the ball down, lowered the center of gravity, and gave McGinnis a surprise shot into the interior with an acceleration.

McGinnis reacted, but it was too late to reach out and pull people.

Terry's speed, his full attention may not be able to keep up, let alone being cheated.

Looking at Terry, who had entered the interior line, Mime helplessly made up for the defense.

Terry didn't panic at all, and threw the ball out with a high throw.

Honk~

The referee blows the whistle and signals for a foul on the meme thug.

At the same time, the basketball thud into the basket.

Terry managed to hit 2+1.

Mime was helpless, looked at McGinnis, who was still standing outside, stretched out his hand to respond to the referee, and admitted the penalty himself.

Raheem and Jackson struggled to attack, and Terry finally began to show his fangs.

The free throw was made, and at 22:25, the Hawks still took the lead.

But Terry's offensive firepower has only just begun!