Chapter Ninety-Five: The Former King
Portis' three-pointer means that the Bulls have another scoring point, and sometimes basketball games are so weird, when you don't score, you just can't get in, and when a shot is opened, someone else can shoot the ball in.
Naturally, the Cavaliers were in a similar situation, and after LeBron scored all the free throws, the second person to score was J.R. Smith, who was arguably the league's most nerve-knife.
As a young man, he had a very explosive physicality and was a guy who could turn around and make 360-degree layups in the face of defenders in the game. If you are playing a 2K series of games, JR Smith, who was still with the Nuggets at the time, is a very useful player.
Of course, his most convulsive attribute is naturally the three-point shot, although his career average three-point shooting rate per game is not high, only about 37 percent, and there is no way to compare with a three-point master like Curry Thompson, but he has a statistic in three-point achievement that ranks first in history, and he has hit more than 8 three-pointers in his entire career 13 times, surpassing all three-point masters.
He shot 0-of-9 in the first half, but could have turned into 8-of-9 in the second half, and his ability to pump off has made him the league's most threatening x-factor.
Therefore, many experts say that it is not the opponent who can stop JR, but his own touch.
In the early years, he followed the society and mixed behind, and now he is the little emperor's guard with a knife.
However, J.R. Smith is now less and less likely to have a convulsion, and he is no longer the same as the league's best sixth man back then.
It's just strange that the relationship between JR Smith and every coach is not good, but Tyronn Lue is like crazy, and he especially trusts this guy, except for LeBron, no one in the starters can do it, but it can't be without JR Smith.
It's like treating Smith as his own son.
Today's son did not live up to Lao Tzu, even throwing with throwing, has scored three three-pointers, after joining the Cavaliers, Smith rarely rushed inside, more and more like to float on the outside to eat by the sky, once he shot 17 times in a game, 17 times were all three-pointers.
For Smith, who is so keen on shooting three-pointers, Hojberg didn't deploy much defense, just asked for as much defense as possible.
Again, whether JR Smith scores or not is not something that the defense can control, it all depends on whether he has a convulsion that day, how much he has convulsions, and how much time he can convuls.
Li Ming got the ball, he was also in good shape today, he has not missed three shots so far, and he has also gained two passes.
With his performance, the first quarter of the game ended, and both teams shot away in the second half, and the score still came to 23-22.
The Bulls lead by one point.
The head coaches of the league actually have a common habit in employing people, or the unwritten rule, they like to let the bench play for a while in the second quarter, because there is an official mandatory timeout at the fourth to five minutes of the second quarter, and even if the substitute does not play well, the lineup can be adjusted when the time comes.
However, Hojberg did not let Li Ming rest, because at the beginning of the second quarter, Rose came up, as the owner of the Bulls' former No. 1 jersey, this player has a special affection for the Windy City.
So Li Ming stayed on the court at the beginning of the second quarter.
The gringos especially like to see something similar to the inheritance, just like Iverson's goal against Jordan was repeatedly mentioned back then, and the alignment between Li Ming and Rose obviously has a special meaning in it.
It's also a picture that reporters will definitely ask about after the game.
"Okay, we can see that Rose came on the pitch and the fans didn't skimp on their applause and gave the former Union Center owner the cheers he deservedγγγγγγ" Yang Yi's face changed slightly, in fact, any basketball fan will definitely be moved when he sees Rose's current situation.
Five years ago, he was the youngest MVP of the league's hottest regular season, and he was the one who could face LeBron's defense in the Eastern Conference semifinals to beat the Cavaliers, but in just five years, he could only join the Cavaliers with a base salary, hoping to regain his life in the team he once wanted to beat the most.
It's a sad thing, and the Windy City Rose is history.
Rose, who dribbled the ball, did not change much in his expression, and it seemed that it was just a very ordinary thing to oppose Li Ming, and there was no emotional entanglement of the Bulls' No. 1 inheritance, nor did he have those freshly dressed angry horses in the past.
On the face that has obviously experienced the vicissitudes of life, there is only calm.
Simply dribbled a few times, Rose moved, or broke through, this is his signature on the field back then, like LeBron, he is also the limit of talent, but unlike LeBron's talent, his talent is too easy to get injured, someone once described Rose's breakthrough, the words used are very appropriate, as sharp and precise as a scalpel, with the power of a knife directly inserted into the vital point.
His breakthrough was unprecedented, as no one could sprint with all his might and change direction without losing speed and maintain balance.
This is a talent, and there are few people in the league who can match him in the past, and even if they do, they don't dare to do it.
In the end, it was too rigid and easy to break, Rose's injury was actually doomed, he could avoid that twist, and he couldn't avoid the next collision and slip.
In short, it was short-lived, after all, because it was so beautiful.
But Ross is Rose, even if he has fallen, he will not change, this is his character, so he still breaks through.
It's a pity that the injury made his explosiveness no longer what it used to be, and his speed also dropped a lot, Li Ming easily followed, pressing him with his body, so that he could no longer go inside.
Without a breakthrough, Rose is like a toothless tiger, he can't rush over, he can only throw the ball back, and waiting on the three-point line is another former superstar, Dwyane Wade.
Nicknamed The Flash, he was known as a man who was 5 centimeters shorter than God at his peak, and was the only Finals MVP whose efficiency value surpassed Jordan's.
This time he joined the Cavaliers, but countless fans of Jenway connected were very excited, and the classic picture that he once thought was a swan song is expected to be repeated again.
It's just that the current Uncle Wei has been arranged on the bench to play the role of a stable second team, and he has not played much time with James, and he has not been successfully connected so far.
Like Jordan, the three-point shot is also a weakness of Wade, the least threatening of all his offensive methods, of course, this is relative, after all, it is not for nothing that he has used three-point shots in critical moments.