During afternoon practice, Jackson revealed the starting line-up for Game 2 in advance, and to the surprise of the players, Allen replaced Ariza as the team's starting small forward, and he will be tasked with defending James one-on-one.

Ariza felt a little helpless about this arrangement, but he really didn't have a good effect in defending James in the last game, just look at the latter's 44 points in the game. And there are not many outside defenders of the Bobcats, Ariza has also communicated with Allen many times in private, since the coach puts his hope on Allen, maybe he can really bring surprises! So Ariza quickly calmed down and said that he would obey the manager's arrangement to play as a substitute.

In terms of player positioning, Allen is a more pure defensive player than Ariza. Ariza still has the ability to break through with the ball, and the three-point shots in the two bottom corners also have a certain accuracy, but Allen only has the trick of cutting to the basket, and his independent offensive ability is completely negligible, let alone three-point shots, and he can score two or three out of 10 balls when he is training.

But now the Bobcats need such a pure defensive player to keep an eye on James, and the lack of offense will allow others to make a few more shots, and Chang Wei and Jackson believe that the players under their command will not care. The key question now is, can Allen really stop James? In fact, no one dares to pack tickets, so let's see the effect in the competition!

The sudden change of formation of the Bobcats surprised the outside world, but Mike Brown did not take it to heart, in his opinion, the overall strength of the Cavaliers far exceeded that of the Bobcats, and it was helpless for the other party to choose to change the formation at such a critical moment. Besides, he doesn't think it's useful to replace Ariza with Tony Allen, his overall height has dropped, isn't that asking for trouble?

However, Brown frowned at the beginning of the game, although Allen was only the height of a shooting guard, but his strength was unexpected, and he could make James unable to turn around after getting the ball, which is something that only a few people in the league can do. Originally, James still wanted to score with his back alone, but Allen didn't give an inch behind him, forcing him to pass the ball out.

Although the Cavaliers' first offense ended with O'Neal scoring the ball under the basket, James was forced to pass the ball in the eyes of many. Of course, they won't praise Allen for a single round, but at least this honest-looking guy who doesn't seem to have any outstanding points is starting to get into the eyes of basketball pundits and live commentators.

After Roy responded with a three-pointer, the Cavaliers started to organize the offense again, and the basketball was in James's hands again, and Allen naturally followed him closely. Although Aaron is young, he has a lot of small movements in his hands, which makes James feel very uncomfortable. To make matters worse, Allen's top defense made him completely unable to get close to the basket, and the passing route was basically locked, so James could only shoot with a turnaround jumper that he was not as skilled as he would be in the future, and the basketball slammed directly into the front of the basket.

Milicic struggled to grab the rebound and a long pass was thrown at Allen, who had already run past half court. Although the latter did not have the ability to break through, he was quite skilled in switching offense, and after receiving the ball, he scored the ball with a slow three-step layup.

Allen's defensive attack surprised Jackson, and he couldn't help but turn his head to look at Chang Wei, who shrugged at him, smiled slightly, and didn't speak. In fact, he himself didn't expect Allen to be able to play at such a level, it seems that the words he said in the hotel restaurant yesterday are not false, he really wants to prove his defensive ability in James.

Under Allen's interference, James completely lost the style of the previous game, and the first four shots were all iron, and it was already halfway through the first quarter to open with free throws, but this was not a sports goal. James didn't open up, and the Cavaliers' offense was deadlocked, trailing the Bobcats by 11 points with 3:21 left in the first quarter.

However, this is when Mike Brown showed his boldness, replacing James with Pavlovich to give him a good rest, and Allen's entanglement with him greatly drained his physical strength. With just four points, three rebounds and three assists, as well as two turnovers, James was in a slump, and his slump was a major factor in the Cavaliers' downfall.

Jackson then replaced Allen as well. Don't look at James who was a little out of breath when he came off the court, Allen was no better, after all, defense is always more passive than offense on the basketball court. Moreover, James' physical fitness is far above Allen, which makes him have to put in 12% effort to achieve the desired effect, and naturally he is more tired than before.

Still, Allen's defense played a noticeable role, and James rarely experienced such a mess even in the regular season, and even if he did, it was Artest who was responsible for marking him by the league's top wing defenders like Artest. It's just that Allen is a nobody, and almost no one knows who he is before this, but he guards James!

The result also boosted the morale of the Bobcats, who showed their bench prowess on the court in the final minutes of the first quarter. In particular, Ariza, who was put off the bench in this game, hit consecutive three-pointers from the outside, and by the end of the first quarter, the Bobcats had a nine-point lead at 41-32, and 41 points were also the highest points in a single quarter of the season by the Bobcats.

In fact, the Bobcats did not use defense to drive the offense in this quarter, and in the final analysis, they still relied on limiting James to improve the team's morale. Ariza also admired Allen's defense, and since he could no longer contribute on the defensive end when he came on the court, he simply made a few baskets on the offensive end, so there was a small climax in the final moments of the Bobcats.

During the break, Jackson praised Allen fiercely, and the latter was also very excited, after all, it was James who was restrained, and Allen could already imagine how the major media would write about him after the game.

However, Chang Wei hurried to pour cold water on him, and after Jackson explained the tactics, he walked over to Aaron and said, "Tony, you have to remember one thing, this is just the beginning. Do you think the Cavaliers' head coach and James will be stupid enough not to make any adjustments? I'll admit that your debut in the first quarter was very successful, but the challenge you face next is definitely not that simple. If you can still limit James for the next three quarters, you're going to be famous! ”