Chapter 1156 1155. Five Small Things Show Miraculous Effects
After defeating the Mavericks and Spurs, the two Texas giants, Liu Mang originally thought that the team would habitually enter a slow-heating state, and he was also prepared. Like most games in March, they might fall behind at the beginning, or even fall behind at halftime, and then they could catch up with Jason Terry in the third quarter.
Unexpectedly, in the first game of April, Horry broke out!
He scored 4 three-pointers in a row at the beginning!
The Hawks scored a total of 15 points in the first half of the first quarter. Liu Mang made 0 of 4 shots and did not score a single point. David Lee scored a single mid-range shot, and Kwame Brown made one of two free throws on an offensive rebound. Before the official timeout, Prince and Liu Mang did not score.
If it was during the usual rest period, Liu Mang did not score in the first seven minutes, and the players who ate the ball under the basket only scored 3 points. Then the Hawks would have a miserable start. They must have been beaten by the opponent at the beginning. Since entering 2006, such situations have not been uncommon so far. Liu Mang often played happily later and caught up with the score difference. If he couldn't catch up... he would lose.
But today, when the Cavaliers played so well at the beginning, James made 2 of 3 three-pointers, 3 of 5 shots in 7 minutes, plus a free throw to get 9 points, the Cavaliers scored 16 points in 7 minutes, but they only led by 1 point!
All because Horry scored 12 points in half a quarter!
4 of 4 shots!
When the Cavaliers defended Liu Mang very well and Liu Mang himself had a bad touch, Horry actually stood up to help the Hawks score!
At the official timeout, the Hawks were only 1 point behind when the four players played very badly at the beginning!
The last time they played against the Jazz, the Hawks also had a bad start and were beaten 18 to 3 by the opponent... They were 15 points behind at the beginning, and then they slowly caught up, but they lost.
But this time is very different!
…
The Cavaliers changed their lineup. Former Hawks player Ira Newbell was replaced as a small forward, James went to the point guard position, Larry Hughes continued to play, and Donyell Marshall and Varejao played in the interior.
The Cavaliers benefited from the rookie bonus of three main players, James, Gooden and Varejao, and with Big Z's salary cut of more than 6 million, the Cavaliers made a lot of reinforcements. It didn't show at the beginning, but as the season progressed, these players began to make technical changes to suit James' style of play, and gradually became more and more adapted to playing with James. Without making any trades, the Cavaliers' lineup depth has become better and better.
On the Hawks side, Coach Kruger originally planned to let Horry go up and throw a few balls, then replace him, and replace him again when there is a chance to adapt to find the feeling. Unexpectedly, Horry exploded today!
Horry's old-fashioned style of play, defensively, can't rely on him to keep up with the outside line, and he doesn't play very actively and consumes little energy. In this case, Coach Kruger is ready to make a fuss about Horry's sudden burst of touch.
The Hawks replaced Liu Mang, Iguodala, Korver, Horry, and Josh Smith with a five-small lineup.
After the timeout, the Cavaliers attacked.
James pushed forward to the frontcourt and saw that the two tallest players on the other side were about the same height as him, so he directed Varejao to go inside to get a position, trying to take advantage of his height.
But Josh Smith did a very good job of top defense! Varejao just couldn't get a position!
The key to the death five small is to top defend the opponent's big center. Big Z Josh Smith can't stand it. Facing those centers close to 2.2 meters or even more than 2.2 meters, using five small is simply looking for death. In the future, there will be a center named Boban Marjanovic. He probably can't play in most NBA eras. His mobility is not as good as Bol and Big Z, and he doesn't have the ability to shoot, but he is a bug in the small ball era. His hit rate is higher than O'Neal. He stands in the inside and dunks directly after receiving the ball.
Josh Smith can still top ordinary centers and prevent the opponent from getting a position.
Horry can't defend small forwards 100%, but he can defend Donyell Marshall, who has slowed down and can only shoot three-pointers and high shots under the basket.
James passed the ball to Valanciunas, but Valanciunas had no chance to get close to the basket. He could only face Josh Smith's high-pitched shot...
As a South American, Scola felt ashamed of Valanciunas' shooting. It was not enough that he had no footwork, but his hands were so hard that his shot missed!
Hori took it back and grabbed the defensive rebound!
Liu Mang received the ball and advanced to the frontcourt.
The Cavaliers' lineup had less pressure from the outside, but the defense became better. Valanciunas had excellent lateral movement, help defense, and defense against off-ball pick-and-rolls. When Valanciunas was on the court, it was the Cavaliers' best defensive lineup. Big Z's defense was similar to Yao Ming's. He had a commanding position under the basket and was good at helping teammates to position and grab rebounds. However, his defensive effect was far inferior to Yao Ming. Yao Ming moved better, grabbed rebounds better, and had better blocking awareness. Big Z's presence on the court gave the Cavaliers more offensive space.
Liu Mang went to the frontcourt and met Larry Hughes' defense to protect the ball.
Seeing that Korver was followed by Donyell Marshall and it was James who was defending Horry, Liu Mang immediately directed Iguodala to run to attract Newbell's defense, so that he would not help defend in the interior, and then look for a pick-and-roll, and the target of the pick-and-roll was... Horry!
Horry came out to help Liu Mang block Larry Hughes, but he didn't block him very well, but it was enough!
Pick-and-roll master level 5 triggered!
Liu Mang bypassed the pick-and-roll and accelerated to break through!
James quickly switched defense and chased him, but he could only barely keep up, and could not even get close. He could only hope to interfere with Liu Mang's attack on the basket from behind. His blocking interference was excellent.
Larry Hughes, when faced with a pick-and-roll, did not dare to let Horry go to double-team Liu Mang, and could only switch defense to stick to Horry to prevent Horry from running out of space.
Liu Mang rushed to the basket, and Newbell went to chase Iguodala who was running back. Varejao made up for the defense quickly, and was very active and hard-working. He made up for the defense in the first time. Liu Mang was ready. When he was double-teamed, he hung the ball to the left side of the basket. Josh Smith received the ball and made a layup to score two points.
It was unreliable to expect Horry to keep shooting, but Horry now made 4 consecutive three-pointers. James and Larry Hughes did not dare to let him go, and Liu Mang made good use of the space opened by Horry!
17 to 16, the Hawks took the lead for the first time in this game!
Being overtaken, the Cavaliers did not lose their composure because of this incident, and continued to play steadily.
James pushed forward to the frontcourt, and now he did not pass to his teammates with height advantage in the interior. He was originally thinking about playing with the height advantage.
James was very upset, the Hawks were too difficult to deal with! After finally limiting Liu Mang at the beginning, Horry exploded, and now they have a lineup without a center. If Josh Smith is regarded as a small forward, and Josh Smith can really be regarded as a small forward, then the Hawks don't even have an inside player, but the defense looks pretty good!
It feels like an egg with no cracks.
Facing Iguodala's defense, James did not break through directly, but let Varejao come out to pick and roll.
Varejao seems to be bad in many places, such as running, shooting, and catching cakes, but he is active! Good body, good rebounding, good help defense, good pick and roll, very suitable for James, so far this season, he has 7+7 data, and he almost got 80 million.
James made a breakthrough with the help of Varejao's solid pick-and-roll... and met Josh Smith, who was like a twin with the same physical fitness as him, and was only 20 days younger than him...
Josh Smith switched from defending the center to defending the perimeter, and stuck to James. James squeezed to the basket, three steps... one more step to layup...
Iguodala quickly shrank, and when James took three steps, he and Josh Smith doubled up, and James passed the ball back to Varejao who had just run into the free throw line. Varejao received the ball and there were three people under the basket, so he chose to shoot...
Liu Mang followed Larry Hughes to cut in and prepare for the rebound. Varejao's shot looked unreliable, but he was lucky enough to bounce on the basket a few times and fell in.
It was already a good defense, using Iguodala and Josh Smith's speed and physical fitness to defend James and leave Varejao's long shot open, but the opponent made such a shot, so there was nothing he could do.
Moreover, Varejao couldn't always be so accurate!
As the game progressed, Liu Mang's touch began to recover gradually, and he started a tug-of-war with the Cavaliers.
After the first quarter, Liu Mang scored 4 points and 5 assists, Horry scored 12 points, and James scored 14 points and 3 assists.
In the first half of the first quarter, the Hawks relied on Horry's three-pointer to keep the score close, and in the second half, they relied on the five smalls to limit James. When other people except Horry had not found their outside touch, the five smalls and Horry showed miraculous effects, and tied the Cavaliers 27-27 and entered the second quarter.
In the second quarter, the Hawks began to release weapons of mass destruction, and Jason Terry appeared!
The lineup of Liu Mang, Jason Terry, Iguodala, Josh Smith, and Kwame Brown appeared.
On the Cavaliers side, Big Z had a good rest and returned to the court. Donyell Marshall, who had a good touch, continued to stay on the court. James and Larry Hughes, the poor version of James and Wade, who averaged 40+ playing time per game, continued to appear on the court, and the point guard position was replaced by Damon Jones, a once excellent shooter.
As soon as Jason Terry came on, the Hawks' offense was immediately different, and the two waves began to surge!
The Cavaliers played very well today. After the start of the second quarter, Liu Mang and Jason Terry, who gradually found their touch, scored 12 points in a row, but James and Larry Hughes broke through and scored and passed the ball one by one, helping the Cavaliers to occupy a one-point lead in the first attack. If the Hawks scored, they would immediately return one.
The two teams started to play a beautiful battle!
The game was very good, and the fans cheered non-stop, and the situation began to gradually tilt towards the Hawks.
In the ninth minute of the second quarter, Korver, who came off the bench, hit an open three-pointer, and the Hawks once again overtook the score!