Eight Hundred and Thirty: Memphis 5 Giants (Four K)

Latest website: The Cavaliers' defensive focus falls on Link, including Varejao and Love inside, who are always ready for Link's breakthrough.

James said before the game that even using three people to surround Link would not be too much. Last season, the scene of Link killing the game with a layup while surrounded by the Heat's Big Three would wake James up from his sleep from time to time.

The Cavaliers put almost all their resources on Link, which also means that Dion Waiters must face Jimmy Butler's attack alone, and he will be isolated and helpless!

James stretched out his hand in front of Link, cutting off Link's path to catch the ball. But Link didn't try to get rid of the defense. He just stood there and stared at Butler and Waiters in the distance.

"Damn it!" James gritted his teeth. Is Link so confident in letting Butler play in singles? It's as if Jimmy Butler is Kelly Irving next to Link.

Facing Butler again this time, Waiters did not completely let him go. Waiters believes that he was just careless, and he does not want to be treated as a soft persimmon.

"Come on, do you think you can continue to be so lucky? Give the ball to Link and run away with your tail between your legs, bastard!" Waiters stuck to him forcefully and started spewing trash talk.

Butler's height of 2.03 meters is definitely outstanding at the second position. He looked down at Waiters, who was only 1.93 meters tall, and this made his eyes look a little more contemptuous.

"Damn, how dare you underestimate me!" Waiters stretched out his hand to steal, but Butler protected the ball very well.

Not even Link can steal Butler easily, let alone Waiters.

Waiters jumped in the air, and Butler, like a cheetah, grabbed the gap and rushed over quickly!

"Idiot!" James cursed in his heart. Waiters took the initiative to give the opponent room to break through.

Butler's absolute speed is not fast, but his strides are long. He entered the penalty area in two or three steps without any delay.

Love and Varejao's attention was on Link, and Butler's breakthrough caught them off guard. Before the two insiders could react, Butler gently threw the ball and the basketball softly entered the net.

"Jimmy Butler's throw was easy and he scored 5 points in a row. Butler has a strong desire to attack. His state is no different from the preseason. Should the Cavaliers adjust their defensive strategy? Butler starts today ,

The effect is very significant! "

Not to mention the Cavaliers, even Hubie Brown, who watches almost every Grizzlies game, was surprised.

Butler has been used more as a defensive barrier in the past few seasons. Although his offense is good, he is not yet able to carry the offensive banner.

Just like Jordan of the Clippers can occasionally score high points, but the Clippers will not be stupid enough to use him as the core of the interior offense.

But today, judging from the past two rounds, Butler is much more mature than before.

Clean, efficient, calm... Butler has all the qualities of an All-Star player!

On the contrary, the pretentious Dion Waiters looked as immature as a high school player in front of Butler.

5-3, the defending champion Grizzlies scored again. Love and Varejao both looked at the bench and David Blatt, the rookie coach, with confused expressions.

Blatt was also hit unexpectedly. He really didn't expect that the other party would make a big fuss about Jimmy Butler.

But in the end, Blatter waved his hand and asked the players to carry out the original plan.

Butler scored 5 points in a row, which was indeed something the Cavaliers did not expect. But in Blatt's view, Jimmy Butler is not the kind of player who can kill the game.

Besides, no matter how powerful Butler is, can his firepower be on par with the Big Three?

The Cavaliers are still reeling from their recent defeat, but the Grizzlies are already preparing for the next round.

"Defend one, defend one! Zach, pay attention to the three-point line!" During the retreat, Link was giving orders like a general commanding soldiers.

Among the five people currently on the Grizzlies court, Link is only more senior than Butler. Randolph, Gasol and Conley are the real veteran players on the team.

But when Link gave orders, no one felt inappropriate. Some people stay in a team for a lifetime and have no say in it, but some people can convince everyone as soon as they come.

This is the so-called leadership temperament.

Randolph did as Link said, keeping an eye on Love's direction at all times. Love is a smart player, and he took advantage of the situation and stretched Randolph beyond the three-point line.

So Kelly Irving broke through with the ball. He used an extremely chic and elegant change of direction to shake Conley away and went straight towards the basket!

Kelly Irving's playing style is indeed very attractive, and Link also liked Irving when he first watched the game.

However, fancy and good-looking players like Irving actually have a common problem - their popularity is greater than their strength!

Fans like his cool changes of direction and like to watch him knock his opponents to the ground again and again. So much so that he would unconsciously make up for his strong abilities in other aspects.

Irving went inside for a layup. With Randolph being moved out of the penalty area, Irving believed he could win the one-on-one with Gasol.

Just when Irving was about to take off, Conley rushed up in time to give Irving a strong confrontation. This caused Owen to lose his center of gravity the moment he took off!

Mike Conley is no ordinary guy. After all, he is one of the top 50 superstars in the new season!

Irving was unable to make the expected pulling action in the air, so he could only throw the ball towards the basket before losing his center of gravity.

But this kind of layup cannot get past the long arms of the "Big White Bear".

As soon as the basketball was thrown out, Gasol slapped him back with a "bear paw"!

Link, with his keen sense of smell, caught the basketball first, and the defending champion regained the ball!

"Kelly Irving's first offense was not as smooth as Love's. He chose to challenge Marc Gasol, but he humiliated himself."

Conley and Gasol don’t deserve to be on the list? So when they work together to guard Irving, the "full name idol", they should be qualified, right?

The moment Link grabbed the basketball, James nervously pounced on him. Last season, Link's ability to grab rebounds and then break quickly caused James to suffer a lot.

But this time, Link did not rush forward. Instead, he paused, stabilized his rhythm, and then handed the ball to Conley.

Looking at Link's relaxed expression, James became even more nervous.

He found that Link didn't seem to have a strong desire to attack today, and he didn't intend to take over the game from the beginning. Up to this point in the game, Link has not even touched the ball on the offensive end.

why? Isn't this game important to Link?

No, not possible. James knew Link, there was no way that guy wouldn't be interested in winning.

The only explanation is... Link thinks that the Grizzlies can win even if he doesn't have to work so hard!

"You seem surprised?" Just as James was thinking, Link said something to James again.

"You may be thinking why I am so relaxed. Haha, when your team has four people selected into the top 50 superstar list for the new season, and one or two people are missed, you can be as relaxed as me."

Link spread his hands and walked slowly towards the front court. At this time, Conley had already passed the ball to Gasol, and the Spaniard was going to challenge Varejao in the paint!

It seems like the Grizzlies offense can go on without Link.

"Are you crazy!?" James secretly grabbed Link's jersey with one hand to prevent him from suddenly cutting inside.

James does recognize Gasol's support and defensive abilities. But offense? Come on, Gasol is not an offensive player at all. Gasol averaged 34 minutes per game last season and only scored about 13 points.

But now, the Grizzlies are letting this defensive center play in the low post? Don't underestimate Varejao!

James admitted that the Heat's interior defensive capabilities are very weak. But the Cleveland Cavaliers have no such shortcomings!

Varejao held Gasol's waist, preventing him from exerting force easily. The Brazilian with an afro just received the Cavaliers' intention to renew his contract in advance a few days ago. The price is 30 million for three years and the average annual salary is 10 million US dollars.

This 10 million buys Varejao's ability to do dirty work. Defending the opponent's inside line is undoubtedly part of the dirty work.

He doesn't think that in this era of declining centers, there is no other No. 5 player who can easily score goals on his head.

Gasol felt the pressure coming from his waist, so he suddenly turned his back and broke through!

Because Varejao's center of gravity was too far forward, he was overtaken by half his body. But he did not give up defense, but worked hard to catch up. The moment Gasol walked to the basket, the Brazilian jumped up and prepared to block the shot!

However, Gasol did not lay up immediately, but paused for a second under the basket. After Varejao flew in front of him, he easily put the ball in.

The Spaniard's offense can no longer be confused with last season!

This year's Gasol is more stable, more efficient, and smarter on the offensive end.

If Varejao thinks that brute force alone can take down Gasol, he is totally wrong.

7 to 3, the Memphis Grizzlies continued to expand the point difference. The most terrible thing is that these 7 points do not come from Link. The Cavaliers' defensive arrangement before the game did not play any restrictive role.

"Marc Gasol's current strength is probably no worse than that of his brother. Pau Gasol was a well-deserved All-Star insider during the Lakers' two consecutive championships. At that time, no one would question Pau Gasol's ability. In this case, Marc Gasol, who has also won two consecutive championships, is ranked 24th among the top 50 superstars, which does not seem unreasonable."

After Hubie Brown finished speaking, he glanced at Link on the field.

Link is a person who must avenge himself. Before the game, people said that the Grizzlies players were ranked too high. Link would definitely not let it go.

He deliberately handed over the game to his teammates today. He wanted the world to see with his own eyes the strength of the Memphis Grizzlies! At the same time, he also has full confidence in his teammates.

This is probably the true leadership style!

The Cavaliers fell into a passive position, and James had to step out of the role of organizer and try to attack for the first time.

Although Link is good on the offensive end, he is unambiguous on the defensive end. In the process of James' breakthrough, Link did everything quickly and gave James a mistake.

After Link cut off the basketball, the basketball hit James' leg and bounced out of bounds. So, the offensive ball possession changes again!

After inheriting the power of Grant Hill at his peak, Link became more comfortable in the confrontation with James.

As long as you can hold James temporarily, it's not difficult to cut his ball.

Compared with half a year ago, Link obviously feels more relaxed playing against James!

James and Irving missed consecutively, sending Cavaliers fans into panic.

Although the Cavaliers have a younger Big Three, although people say that the Grizzlies' lineup cannot be compared with the Cavaliers, other Grizzlies players except Link are parallel imports.

But after a few rounds, Cavaliers fans feel that the Grizzlies' lineup seems more reliable... Everyone in the Grizzlies starting lineup seems to be able to influence the situation of the game. Compared to the Cavaliers, they are more like a team. Giant team.

A team with five giants!

Throughout the entire first quarter, Link didn't attack much. In addition to doing his best to confront James on the defensive end, he was basically in a paddling state.

But even so, the Grizzlies still had a 5-point lead after the first quarter.

28 to 23, except for Love, the Cavaliers basically had no second player in the first quarter.

James scored 2 points on 1 of 4, and Irving only scored 2 points on 1 of 3. Only Love's 12 points in a single quarter can give Cavaliers fans some comfort.

On the other hand, against the Grizzlies, Butler scored 9 points in a single quarter and beat Waiters badly. Gasol scored 6 points in a single quarter. He succeeded in all three of his singles under the basket. After the first quarter, his shooting percentage was still 100%. Conley had 6 points and 3 assists. Facts have proved that even without Link, Conley can handle the offense extremely smoothly.

On the contrary, it was Link who only scored 4 points, 1 assist and 1 rebound in the first quarter. If not for his outstanding performance on the defensive end, fans might have thought that Link had disappeared.

The Grizzlies' lineup, which people called "inflated rankings," beat the Cavaliers' Big Three out of breath. After the first quarter of the game, no fans would say such stupid things as "the only one who can beat the Grizzlies is Link."

There are still many immature aspects in the Cavaliers' coordination, but the Grizzlies' lineup has already been tested by two championship trophies.

During the break, Joger was very satisfied with everyone’s performance. Being able to suppress the Cavaliers in the first quarter can be regarded as completing the first step of the plan in this game, and it is also the most difficult step.

The second step to win the opening match was very simple for Joger.

"Link, start working hard in the second quarter. It's best to open up the score before the end of the half." Joger said to Link lightly.

Link looked at Jorge and nodded easily.

Finally, I can show off my peak strength.

Link turned his head slightly and looked at the Cavaliers bench, which was struggling in the other half.

Are you ready? LeBron.