Chapter 1 The End of the First Quarter

The Cavaliers' players on the court walked off dejectedly at the end of the first quarter.

On the bench, James stared blankly at the scoreboard, even forgetting to bite his fingernails.

George seemed a little absent-minded; this wasn't really where he wanted to be.

Love was bumped by Whiteside, and like the defense on the court, he was knocked away without resistance.

The Cavaliers were stunned by the Pelicans in the first quarter.

Lue was also a little at a loss at this time. He had anticipated a lot before the game, but he never expected the game to turn out like this.

"Guys!"

Before Lue could speak, Wade reached out and gathered all the players together.

"I don't know why they were in such good form in the first quarter. Maybe they were inspired by something before the game, or maybe they were just in good form.

"But trust me, they won't stay in that state forever. We need to defend hard, play good offense, and we still have a chance.

"What the Warriors can do, we can do too.

"Think about what our goals are this season. We can definitely overcome the difficulties in front of us!"

Wade played the role of locker room leader at a critical moment. After a pep talk, you could feel the Cavaliers' morale noticeably returning.

James looked at Wade with affection.

He wasn't good at using words to inspire his teammates, but Wade was exactly good at that.

Their cooperation was as close as it was in Miami.

Even though he had once let Wade down.

But they, as brothers, wouldn't care about those details.

After hearing Wade's words, Lue slapped his forehead and had a flash of inspiration for a tactic.

"Let's focus our main energy on offense, and compete with them in offense. Our offensive talent is no worse than theirs."

Lue's words showed his tactical genius, and the Cavaliers' players immediately reacted.

James took the tactical board and began to deploy the tactics.

In the second quarter, they would launch a counterattack!

In the second quarter, both sides used their main players with substitutes.

On the Pelicans' side, it was Walker and Davis leading the team, while on the Cavaliers' side, it was James and Love leading the team.

Walker and Davis continued their excellent performance in the first quarter, with high efficiency on the offensive end.

But the Cavaliers went all out on offense this quarter, with James scoring with various forceful breakthroughs.

The two teams stalemated in the substitution period, and the Cavaliers even narrowed the score a little.

Lue watched from the sidelines with a gleam in his eyes.

Sure enough, his strategy was right!

In terms of offense, the Cavaliers weren't afraid of the Pelicans!

After playing for more than five minutes in this quarter, the score on the court was 49 to 35, and the Cavaliers had narrowed the point difference to 14 points.

Stevens called a timeout.

After the timeout, both teams made major adjustments to their lineups.

All five starters from the Cavaliers came back.

The Pelicans, on the other hand, put out a lineup that they had never used before.

Tang Tian and Butler on the outside, Siakam and Davis on the front line, and Dedmon at center.

The average height of this lineup was very high, with the shortest Butler being 2.01 meters.

And more importantly, Tang Tian was playing point guard in this lineup!

Stevens was really getting closer and closer to Popovich this season, and he was starting to show off all kinds of tricks.

The Pelicans' offense after the timeout.

Tang Tian held the ball on the outside, and Davis came up to pick and roll.

The Cavaliers chose to double-team Tang Tian. Tang Tian made a bounce pass through the double-team, and the ball was steadily passed to Davis.

Davis took the ball and dribbled one step, slamming the ball into the basket before Whiteside could help defend.

This goal helped the Pelicans stabilize the situation.

The Cavaliers' offense, James' organization, but several off-ball tactics didn't work out.

He finally chose to rush directly to the basket, and the strong shot caused Dedmon to commit a defensive foul, earning two free throw opportunities.

But it was a bit of a pity, both of his free throws were too long and he failed to make them.

The defensive rebound was taken down by Dedmon.

Tang Tian dribbled the ball to the frontcourt and continued to organize the offense.

When Stevens told him to play point guard during the previous timeout, he was a little surprised.

After all, although his passing was good, he was at most considered a versatile forward.

But after actually playing, he found that it was no different from the previous games.

Wasn't this the Pelicans' trump card No. 1 single play tactic!

Or rather, after his ball-handling improved, he could completely play point guard.

Stevens' reaction was still very fast.

Davis continued to come up for a pick and roll, and this time the Cavaliers chose to switch.

And at the moment of the switch, Tang Tian passed Love with a breakthrough to the right, smoother than crossing the road in the early morning.

And after passing him, Tang Tian accelerated in one step, not giving the Cavaliers a chance to help defend on the weak side at all.

Whiteside rushed out from under the basket, and Tang Tian threw the ball into the air.

Dedmon leaped up and completed an alley-oop dunk.

His ability to catch lobs was already online, and after coming to the Pelicans, he had eaten so many lobs that he was about to become a "cake king."

The Cavaliers' frontcourt tactics still didn't work out.

It was at this time that many people at the scene belatedly realized the purpose of the Pelicans' lineup.

Letting Tang Tian play point guard wasn't the main purpose.

The main purpose of this lineup was defense!

This was the strongest defensive lineup that the Pelicans could field!

Stevens' grasp of the situation on the court was very accurate.

You, Cavaliers, want to compete in offense? Then I'll come up with a super lockdown defense. If you can score like before, you win!

James finally carried the explosive package into the inside again, and after being double-teamed, he passed the ball to George.

But the Pelicans helped defend quickly, George had no chance to shoot, and could only choose to attack with the ball.

He dribbled and broke through, and rushed to the free throw line against Butler's defense. His sudden stop jump shot was interfered with, and the basketball hit the rim and bounced out.

Davis took down the defensive rebound.

The Pelicans launched a fast break this time, Tang Tian and Butler two-on-one in the frontcourt.

Tang Tian faked a breakthrough and passed the ball to Butler with his signature behind-the-back pass, and the latter easily made a layup.

55 to 35!

After the timeout, the Pelicans launched a 6-0 run, widening the point difference to 20 points!

Lue started to panic again at this time.

His tactical genius attribute was temporary, the situation on the court was changing rapidly, and he could only open his mouth and stare blankly.

The Cavaliers' frontcourt tactics still couldn't be opened, the defensive pressure of the Pelicans' lineup was too strong.

This wasn't just difficulty breathing, it felt like suffocation!

At a critical moment, veteran Wade held the ball and broke into the inside, and after a strong confrontation with Davis, he earned a foul.

But this time, his arm landed on the ground when he landed, and he suffered some injuries.

Two free throw opportunities, one big and one small, both missed!

The defensive rebound was grabbed by Dedmon.

The Pelicans attacked to the frontcourt, and Tang Tian organized again.

Before Lue could react, Drew jumped up and gestured to change the tactics.

Davis tried to pick and roll again, and the Cavaliers directly contracted to the middle, not giving the two a chance to attack.

But Tang Tian had a wide field of vision, and a no-look through ball steadily sent the ball to Butler, who was cutting in from the baseline.

"Bang!"

After receiving the ball, Butler leaped up and slammed the ball heavily into the basket with both hands.

There was an uproar at the scene.

The Pelicans were unstoppable after the timeout, and the Cavaliers were like a mantis trying to stop a chariot, directly crushed into meat paste!