Chapter 148: "Steph, welcome to the NBA!"

Butler wanted to come up to double-team, but Monta Ellis cut to the basket, making him hesitate.

"Go up and flank him, don't worry about the others!" Zhang Yu shouted.

When Butler heard this, he immediately went up to attack, but it was still a step too late. James leaned back hard, knocked Curry back, and then rolled Curry all the way into the inside line, turning around and laying up.

After the ball was scored, the cheers from the Quicken Loans Center sounded again, and James grinned and looked at Curry:

"Steph, welcome to the NBA!"

Curry rubbed his aching chest, smiled wryly and said:

"LeBron, do you only play with brute force?"

"I've saved my strength, you are too thin, you need to put on more muscles!" James patted Curry's butt, and quickly returned to the backcourt.

Although tit-for-tat in the game, James and Curry have a good relationship.

He went to the Bulldogs' March Madness game two years ago and was so impressed by Curry's performance that he signed one of his jerseys and gave it to Curry after the game.

At that time, Curry's name was already resounding all over the United States, and entering the NBA was a sure thing. With James' style of making friends all over the world, he would not miss the opportunity to make friends with such potential newcomers.

The NBA is no longer an arena where you live and die, but a league of brothers.

But looking back, James still stopped in front of Curry, guarding him strictly, showing no mercy.

A game is a game, and a personal relationship is a personal relationship, and James makes it very clear.

Curry is still playing the pick-and-roll, James has been prepared, squeezed through Biedrins's screen again, and did not let Curry find O'Neal.

Curry tried to single James, but James raised his vigilance and kept giving Curry physical confrontation, deforming his technical movements and leaving no room for shots.

He ended up throwing a pass to Azubuike before shot clock, who missed a hasty [-]-pointer.

O'Neal grabbed the rebound and threw the ball into the frontcourt. James ran wildly like a bull. He reached out and intercepted the basketball from the air. Take off in one step and slam the ball into the hoop!

"Hey, the ball is so fierce, James is really like a tank, as long as he charges up, he can't be stopped!" Zhang Weiping exclaimed.

Yang Yi nodded in agreement:

"James' tonnage is there, but his sprint speed is almost as fast as a guard. This kind of talent is rare in NBA history."

Zhang Yu naturally didn't know Zhang Weiping and Yang Yi's praise for James, and his attention was not on James' dunks, but on his defense against Curry.

At this time, James has not gained weight, he has both flexibility and strength, and Curry has not yet reached his peak. Facing James' defense, his offense is very difficult.

In short, the current Curry is not yet a superstar, and he can't play against top strikers like Zhang Yu in his previous life. He is restricted by James.

He pondered for a while, and told Silas:

"Stephen, you go and call a short timeout."

Without saying a word, Silas walked towards the referee.

"Di-"

The referee blows his whistle and the players of both sides leave the field.

Mike Brown didn't know what Zhang Yu was going to do, so he could only pour chicken soup, encourage the players, and reiterated the tactics-"Give all the ball to LeBron, let LeBron guard Curry, and we will win!"

The short timeout ended soon, and the two teams returned to the court. Yang Yi carefully looked at the Warriors lineup and said in doubt:

"Zhang Yu replaced Azubuike and Kyle Lowry. What is this for? Azubuike scored 13 points in the first half, and he performed very well. He was the Warriors' second scoring point. Lowry just came off the bench for six minutes in the second quarter and scored three points and three assists."

"In my opinion, Zhang Yu wants to put an extra ball-holding point on the court... Although Curry made a difficult three-pointer against James, he was actually defended very uncomfortable and it was difficult to play a role. This The previous point guard was able to organize an offense when Curry was under strict defense, but the disadvantage is that the Warriors have a smaller lineup, and James is even more difficult to stop when he rushes." Zhang Weiping said.

When the two analyzed the Warriors' formation, Mike Brown also realized Zhang Yu's intentions, but he didn't care.

Lowry's advantage is impact. His shooting is very average. Although O'Neal is old, he still has a deterrent effect on the penalty area and is not afraid of Lowry's breakthrough.

As long as James restrains Curry, the victory belongs to the Cavaliers.

When Mike Brown was full of confidence, the Warriors sent the ball up front and the game continued.

When Curry took the serve, James pushed up and covered Curry, not giving him any room to shoot.

Curry didn't try to single out James, didn't even call a pick-and-roll, and threw the ball directly to Lowry at the top of the arc and ran to the weak side corner.

James didn't dare to neglect, and immediately followed.

Curry came to the bottom corner, stood for a while, suddenly started, and the oncoming Butler made a screen for each other, delayed James' footsteps, and then deftly circled to the strong side at 45 degrees, and Biedrins gave him Made a back screen.

James stumbled from the crowd to chase and defend, unable to increase his speed, was blocked firmly, and Curry got a brief opportunity to open.

Lowry passed the ball in a timely manner, and Curry caught the ball and shot it.

After he made the shot, James squeezed through the screen and chased him, but it was too late to interfere with his shot.

brush!

The basketball arced high in the air and went into the net hollow. Curry pulled back a victory in the matchup with James.

"Good shot, Curry made a three-pointer by running off the ball. James still has a gap with him in flexibility." Yang Yi praised.

"This shot is very reasonable. Like I said, Lowry dominates the ball, Curry runs without the ball, and makes full use of his advantages. The Warriors have a good chance of playing this way. James is too big, no It's good to chase Curry." Zhang Weiping said with a smile.

In the next few rounds, as long as James stood in front of Curry, Curry avoided his edge and played off the ball instead.

Lowry's task is to deliver the ball to Curry accurately and in a timely manner. This is the daily training content of the Warriors, and it is not difficult for him.

With the ball turned without the ball, the difficulty for James to defend Curry has greatly increased.

Curry is like a fish swimming through the crowd nimbly, without holding back his hands, and James is too big, it is difficult to squeeze through the screen to keep up with Curry, and his teammate's defense is not tacit enough. Run out of space or cut to the basket and score easily.

After several times like this, Mike Brown let Monta Ellis defend back to Curry, but Curry immediately switched to the ball-holding mode, either singles Monta Ellis, or played a pick-and-roll with Biedrins against O'Neal, on the offensive end Still maintains a high success rate.

Yang Yi sighed:

"Before this game, Curry shocked everyone with his shots with the ball. He averaged 27 points per game and ranked in the top five in the league. If the team pays attention to it, it will be able to guard against him."

"But in today's game, under the defense of James, he was still able to score steadily by running without the ball, forcing the Cavaliers to change their defense. This ability to switch between with and without the ball at will is terrible. He His offensive methods are unpredictable and full of uncertainty, no one can really limit him!"

Zhang Weiping nodded in agreement:

"Yes, Curry's performance after entering the NBA is really good. It's hard to believe that he is a rookie who has only played 10 games. Although he is lacking in defense, he is already an out-and-out star. Yes, the shooting is particularly accurate... It's just that the way of playing is a bit unreasonable, and I like to shoot three-pointers indiscriminately."

Yang Yi smiled and said:

"Director Zhang, maybe in Curry's view, those three-pointers are good opportunities."

Zhang Weiping froze for a moment, then nodded thoughtfully:

"It makes sense. To be honest, I have never seen a player like Curry. He dribbles and dribbles the ball. The 'ba' is a three-pointer. When he runs without the ball, he also catches the ball. Just throw it. Don't look at the unreasonable shot, hey, he can really score, this is God's reward!"

While the two praised Curry, the Warriors didn't take much advantage.

The appearance of Lowry gave the Warriors a second passer. Curry can run without the ball without worrying about his teammates passing the ball in place.

But he also further reduced the height of the Warriors' lineup. O'Neal and James showed their power and directly penetrated the Warriors' inside line.

Bang!

On the last attack of the third quarter, James shouldered Butler into the penalty area and slammed the ball into the basket through Biedrins.

At the same time, the red light came on, and this buzzer dunk caused a burst of cheers like a tsunami.

Zhang Yu watched James bump his chest with his teammates to celebrate with a grim expression after landing. He didn't look anxious at all, but smiled and high-fived the players one by one.

On the big screen in mid-air, the score of the two sides was 78:83.

Seeing the relaxed Zhang Yu in the camera, Zhang Weiping smiled and said:

"It seems that Zhang Yu is very satisfied with the Warriors' performance in the third quarter, even though the Warriors trailed by 5 points."

Yang Yi took over the conversation:

"This result is completely acceptable for the Warriors. Before the game, no one could have imagined that the Warriors would be able to stalemate with the Cavaliers for three full quarters."

Zhang Weiping nodded:

"This game exposed many problems of the Cavaliers. Although their offense is strong, they have too many loopholes on the defensive end. The inside line composed of O'Neal and Jamison is old and slow, and they can't defend against top guards at all. It may be a hidden danger for them to compete for the championship."

On the Cavaliers' bench, James' face was a little gloomy.

He didn't expect that he was already fully fired in the third quarter, but the point difference was not even widened. He personally went to defend Curry, and he was also resolved by him without the ball.

Why is it so difficult to play against a small Warriors team?