On May 5, the Eastern Conference semifinals G1 between the Bulls and the Cavaliers arrived as scheduled.

The Cavaliers sent a starting lineup of James, Larry Hughes, Alexander Pavlovich, Drew Gooden, and Big Z, and the youngest on the team, Larry Hughes, also had 1.96 meters.

Fortunately, the Bulls are not short in the starting height, and with the exception of Byron Davis, the Bulls do not suffer in terms of height and size.

Of course, in terms of alignment, it is normal for James to get the ball and repeatedly block and dismantle to trouble Byron Davis, after all, James plays point guard and is exactly opposite Byron Davis.

However, the Bulls have plenty of defensive resources to keep Byron Davis hidden.

And before the game started, the Bulls coaching staff also studied how to defend James.

Even if Byron Davis really matches James, he will take a step back and prevent the breakout.

When James burst into the elbow area, there were naturally Doon, Josh Smith and others who stepped forward to help defend and flank.

Therefore, during the regular season, James' invincible breakthrough hit a nail at the beginning of the game.

James didn't get that many whistles in the playoffs, and without free throws, James couldn't go through the Bulls' wall and score under the basket even if he took a few more steps.

James, who has no projection ability and can't play singles in the low post, is afraid of big centers, otherwise he would not have introduced the vertical jump rule in the future, which promoted the arrival of the small-ball era and turned Curry into a new version of the monster.

And today's Bulls, not only have a big center with outstanding defensive ability on the inside, but the defensive quality of the front line is enough for James to drink a pot.

Before James played the Heat, he played several double-doubles in a single quarter.

Playing the Bulls tonight, he made 6 shots in the first quarter, but only hit 1 shot.

However, as a point guard, it doesn't matter if James can't score, he can pass the ball to his teammates and let his teammates score.

Today's Cavaliers may not have the strength to win the championship, but they are actually very suitable for James.

Except for Big Z, everyone else can help James open up space and throw some catches.

And Cavaliers head coach Mike Brown, although he is still a rookie coach, still has two brushes to adjust the defense and build a defensive system.

In the regular season this season, the Cavaliers were fourth in the league in defensive efficiency, comparable to the Pistons and Spurs.

James' teammates can not only shoot but also defend, which is obviously pretty good.

Tonight's game is a playoff game, not a regular season, though.

The playoffs are always a stage for superstars!

When the vast majority of NBA stars reach the playoffs, their stats shrink.

The stars are not good enough to lead the team to the next level.

Tonight the Cavaliers are against a defending champion like the Bulls, and normally James should step up and score.

James chose to play team basketball and pass the ball to his teammates, while his teammates only scored 15 points in the first quarter.

If you continue to play like this, the result is not surprising, and it should be - how can you win a championship by playing with a group of CBAs?

However, when a point guard on the court becomes a combination of no offense, no defense, no passing, and no matching, his fans may not be able to blame his teammates.

As a point guard, James' passing ability is actually quite good. But the rest of the operation control projection, then dare not compliment.

And James has been playing in the league for several years and is a hot new star in recent years.

is also because of his fame, other teams have basically paid attention to and studied him, especially teams like the Bulls, who are also in the East.

In order to weaken James' influence in the regular season and playoffs, everyone will naturally study how to defend and limit James' scoring.

If you change to other stars, you must further consolidate your basic skills and develop more skills to fill in the gaps.

However, James did not show much patience in improving his basic skills, and his development in offensive skills was extremely limited.

When a point guard has limited ability to dribble, he will inevitably be interfered with by the opponent's tight defense.

When he doesn't have the ability to shoot, then the breakthrough and passing aspects will also be greatly affected.

Even if his forward size has a big mismatch advantage in playing small guards, once he is pinched in an offensive area that he is not good at, then the problem will inevitably be exposed.

After he couldn't score, and even the passing line was cut off.

Then if he stays on the field, he will only become a drag on his teammates.

The Bulls also relied on studying James' offensive defense thoroughly, adopted targeted defense, and gained the upper hand at the beginning of the game.

Even though the Cavaliers' overall defense is good, the Bulls' overall offensive efficiency has declined.

However, when the Bulls have no one to score, Doon can definitely step up and help the team break the scoring drought.

In particular, Doon's physical talent and all-round offensive skills have given Doon the effect that he can play anyone who is misplaced, whether on the inside or outside.

And after Duane noticed that there was a problem with James's mentality, he also took the initiative to block and dismantle James to play.

One thing to say, most teams will choose to hide the team's point guard on the defensive end, or the team's first scoring point.

Point guards are often played by opponents because of their height, and the first scoring point needs to maintain a better feel, so they need to avoid being affected by physical confrontation and physical decline as much as possible.

Therefore, it is normal for James, who is both a point guard and the team's first scoring point, to be protected by other players in the Cavaliers.

However, tonight's James couldn't score points, but he was still under the protection of his teammates.

When Doon took the initiative to step forward to roll call, James was also standing near the free throw line, and seemed to be still standing in the assistant defense position, as if he was afraid that Doon would take the ball and kill him under the basket.

Doon is not James after all, and he still has to shoot when it's time to shoot.

Relying on the easy offensive environment and shooting space on the outside, Doon's three-point shot was shot early.

Mike Brown, who was on the sidelines, saw this scene and had no choice but to replace Alexander Pavlovich in advance and replace him with backup point guard Daniel Gibson.

Gibson is a first-year rookie with little playoff experience, but in any case, he doesn't stand on the defensive side when he is called out and treat opponents as if they were nothing.

Not to mention, Gibson still has a basket, shooting more than 40% from three-point range during the regular season, not making a single three-pointer, but accumulating three or four turnovers first.

In other words, it was also Mike Brown's timely adjustment, and the Cavaliers finally had a qualified point guard.

However, after the Cavaliers had a second point of possession, the first point of possession suddenly became invisible.

No one noticed what he was doing, and the margin on the pitch continued to widen.

It wasn't until the Bulls' rotation made up the majority of the players on the court, and most of the main players were resting off the court, that he finally popped up again.

(End of chapter)