Chapter 586: The Strength of the Defending Champion

The Lakers' starters were the same as in the previous games.

On the Cavaliers' side, in order to defend Don Shuai, Lue replaced JR Smith with Shambaugh and made him the team's starting point guard, and the rest of the position is the same as the regular lineup, with Irving, James, Love, and Thompson all in the starting lineup.

In the opening game, Gasol used his experience to beat Thompson to give the Lakers their first offensive opportunity.

"Shh~"

As soon as Tang Shuai took the ball from Gasol's hand, there was an overwhelming boo at the scene.

He didn't change his face and advanced to the Cavaliers' three-point line with the ball.

Seeing that Tang Shuai did not react, the boos of the fans at the scene became even stronger.

Shambaugh quickly stepped up to the plate, and the boos in his ears were noisy as if they were going to deafen his ears.

This kind of boo is very rare in games, and it is usually only encountered by very unpopular stars, like when Durant returned to Oklahoma City this season, the boos can be compared to the current one.

There was this reaction at the beginning, and the skirmish outside the arena was really nothing compared to this.

Tang Shuai took a deep breath, focused on the game, and then looked up to observe the Cavaliers' defensive formation.

The Cavaliers are guarding man-marking, and Lu Zaiyi did not use his secret weapon at the beginning, but prepared to defend Tang Shuai with a single soldier.

Like Bradley, Shambaugh is one of the league's top perimeter defenders, perhaps even better, and would have a higher status on the team if it weren't for his frequent injury concerns.

Tang Shuai then beckoned his teammates to run the "goat tactics".

Gasol and Knoll did the pick-and-roll in the low post on either side, and Batum and Barnes ran from both sides with the pick-and-roll.

Tang Shuai stared at the field intently.

Unlike all previous games, at this time, in his mind, there were three clear routes of passing, one for Batum and Barnes, and one for Gasol who cut to the basket after dismantling the ball.

He saw the opportunity, and a blow to the ground gave Barnes who ran out of the open space.

Barnes catches the ball and looks up and throws.

"Bang", perhaps just at the beginning, Barnes's hand was still a little cold, and his shot finally jumped out of the basket.

Thompson grabbed the rebound, and the Cavaliers took advantage of the situation to launch a fast break.

Because of the two bulldozers James and Irving, the defensive counterattack accounts for more than 30% of the Cavaliers' proportion, which is absolutely second to none in the league, especially after winning the championship, this kind of coordination has become more and more skillful.

Thompson grabbed the rebound and immediately threw it to James, James quickly pushed forward, and when he was about to reach the halfway line, a long pass across the court gave the ball to Irving who was running in front, and Irving took three steps directly after receiving the ball, and the super amplitude directly shook off Batum in front of him, a small lever in the air, and sent the ball to the basket with a backhand.

After the ball was scored, the audience erupted in a burst of excited cheers.

After the goal, Irving ran and made a flying motion in the half court, and turned around to give James a high-five.

In the past, the Janway connection that could often be seen in the Heat team became the Janway connection, and when it arrived at the Cavaliers, it became the Janway connection, to paraphrase an advertising slogan, a different formula, the same taste.

Lu on the sidelines also showed a smile on the bench, what he saw was not the team's offense, but the defense, after Shambaugh put it up, Tang Shuai did not play as strong as the previous game, which shows that his judgment is correct.

Tang Shuai held the ball to the front court again, he still beckoned his teammates to run, and saw the opportunity to give Gasol a beautiful hit to the ground, and Gasol turned around and put a basket.

This ball is definitely nine out of ten, even if it doesn't get rid of Lefu cleanly.

But I don't know if the atmosphere of this game was too tense, Gasol's hand slipped at the moment of his shot, and the basketball hit the basket directly and bounced out.

The rebound was grabbed by Lefu next to him.

There was a burst of cheers at the scene again, in fact, someone directly gave Tang Shuai a thumbs up, as if to say: Look at your pre-game amplification to get 20 assists, and then look at the current state of your teammates, let alone 20, you can't get 10!

The Lakers retreated in time this time and didn't give the Cavaliers another fast break, but Irving held the ball to the frontcourt and made a star block with James, and gave the ball back to James, and James directly hit a step-back jumper.

The shouting of the fans at the scene became more intense.

Tang Shuai still had an indifferent expression, although he knew that his words had caused an unexpected reaction, but he didn't say that he wanted to deliberately brush up on assists or anything because of those words, the reason why he didn't choose to attack in the opening two games was that on the one hand, he wanted to see the role of the white chocolate passing bag in actual combat, and on the other hand, he wanted to see how his teammates felt.

Now that he has tried two rounds, he already understands both of these information, and then dribbles to the frontcourt, and he directly beckons Gasol to the free throw line to make a block.

Gasol is quite experienced in blocking and dismantling, and he will block Shambaugh to death when he is taller.

Tang Shuai's defender was replaced by Lefu at once.

He strode back, took Love and Gasol to open the distance, and then without waiting for James on the right side of the Cavaliers to help defend him, one changed direction to the left, and then accelerated forward, and in an uproar from the fans, he directly sent the ball into the basket with his low hand.

Lu couldn't help but be stunned on the sidelines, and the original face of everything under control disappeared at once.

This seems to be wrong with the plot he imagined, in his understanding, the players are all "backbone", after the 20 assists have fermented, Tang Shuai should have brushed the assists like the opening, but this is only the third round, why did the style of painting suddenly change? This is a card that does not follow common sense!

Tang Shuai's goal is very beautiful, but compared to the Cavaliers, the Lakers' defense is indeed a big problem, although it is not as vulnerable as the small lineup, but in the face of the Cavaliers with the Big Three, it seems to be a bit careless.

Irving forced the basket and gave the ball to Lefu on the outside, and after pulling the Lakers' defensive center of gravity over, Lefu made another horizontal pass to James, who faced Barnes's defense and directly bulldozed a layup.

Where could Barnes stop James, even the referee on the sidelines who pulled and dragged and fouled a lot of fouls blew the whistle, and James was stunned to put the ball in before it landed.

A 2+1 that has no aesthetic sense but is full of lethality attracted another burst of cheers from the fans at the scene, as if they wanted to vent all their dissatisfaction because of Tang Shuai's goal just now.

James shook his arm and walked to the free throw line with an indifferent expression, as the first person in the league, he has long been accustomed to these things.

With a solid hit and a free throw, the Cavaliers scored in all three of their opening games, and they already led by five points at 7-2.

“defnse! defense! ”

James' goal sparked the emotions of the fans at the scene, who shouted loudly to cheer for the home team without being driven by DJs, and those fans holding KT boards raised their hands up sharply, afraid that others would not be able to see them.

Tang Shuai held the ball to the front court again, glanced at Shambaugh in front of him, and did not wait for other teammates to settle down, a move to break forward, forced Shambourg to take a step back, and he followed a direct three-point dry pullout.

This came down very suddenly, and there were not even Lakers players under the basket, which completely belonged to the category of "wave shot" in the hands of most coaches.

It was precisely because of this surprise that Shambaugh did not expect it completely.

"Huh!"

The moment the crisp sound sounded, the shouting on the scene suddenly stopped.

Tang Shuai didn't change his expression, he turned around and retreated directly, if Langtou could enter, then it should be called a different word, called a big heart.

Seeing that Shambaugh was still stunned, James came over and patted him on the shoulder, and then motioned for him to move forward.

The Cavaliers' offense, James advanced to the frontcourt with the ball and pointed to the sharp mountain outside the three-point line.

As the league's all-time No. 1 small forward, his playmaking skills are among the best, and after a run from his teammates, he saw the opportunity and hit the ball beautifully to the open Irving.

Irving received the ball and made a big railing layup against Knoll's defense.

The action was quite beautiful, even a little dazzling, but Knoll was clearly not a stake, and he reached back as he reached out to interfere with Owen's space.

The angle of Irving's shot was disturbed, the angle was a little off, and the basketball hit the edge of the basket and bounced high.

Thompson and Love next to him all jumped up, and James also rushed straight inside from the free throw line to see if the posture was to win this offensive rebound.

The basketball jumped high, but what caught people off guard was that the ball actually fell towards the basket and did not leave the range of the frame.

Thompson and Love, who jumped up, forced back their hands, and if they touched the ball, it would be an offensive interference ball.

"Bang!"

The basket fell and smashed into the basket for internal testing, then bounced up again, this time flying out of the basket diagonally.

Knoll jumped up and snatched the ball into his arms before James could rush to it.

After Noll grabbed the rebound, he turned around and went to find someone, and when he raised his eyes and saw that Tang Shuai had started, he shook his hand and passed the ball over.

The Cavaliers' Irving and Shambaugh reacted quickly, and by the time they caught the ball, they were already quickly retreating.

Tang Shuai didn't stop the ball, and directly accelerated and rushed forward.

At the same time, Barnes and Batum also rushed forward from outside the three-point line.

The three-line fast break is against the defense of two people.

The five men were very fast, and in the blink of an eye, they advanced from the back to the front.

Owen and Shambaught are still very smart, and the two of them always maintain a defensive posture on the left and right, that is, they do not give Tang Shuai the opportunity to pass the ball to both sides, nor do they give Tang Shuai the opportunity to make an easy layup.

Tang Shuai instantly had two clear passing routes in his mind at this time, and on the premise of keeping his speed unchanged, he suddenly took a big stride and pulled the ball back.

As soon as he made this move, Owen and Shambaugh's eyes lit up.

Tang Shuai, it's time to pass the ball. (To be continued.) )