Chapter 475: First Win of the Season!

The Cavaliers have the ball.

Without the same formation as before, O'Neal ignored Mike Brown's angry shouts on the sidelines and took the initiative to move to the high position to receive the ball.

What a shitty coach, you have no idea at all! Why do you command me? I know more than you!

"Jason!" O'Neal's eyes were filled with anxiety and anger at this time, and he shouted at Kidd for the ball.

To be honest, Kidd did not agree with O'Neal's move.

It is true that Mike Brown could not come up with a corresponding strategy in the face of the Sonics' rotation defense, but it does not mean that he is completely wrong.

The Cavaliers' advantage is the inside line, but if O'Neal is moved to the high position, it is equivalent to giving up their own advantages and attacking the enemy's strengths with their own weaknesses. Don't say how difficult it is for O'Neal to score when he is stared at by the historical defender Hanamichi Sakuragi on the outside. Even if you really score, it will be of no benefit to the team's overall strategy.

But the problem is that Kidd can see that O'Neal is already in a state of extreme anger. After all, he has just been robbed of two rebounds by Sakuragi Hanamichi. If he is not allowed to vent, this giant beast will go berserk, which will be even more detrimental to the team's stabilization.

Besides, this 300-pound guy has already raised himself to a high position. You don't want the Cavaliers to have an empty basket, and the advantage has been given up by this guy. You can't change this even if you don't pass it to him.

While considering the rationality of this ball, we must also consider the team's unity atmosphere and the longer-term harmony of the locker room. After all, this season is still long.

Kidd has no choice but to pass the ball to O'Neal, but the next second...

Sakuragi Hanamichi's death entanglement instantly entangled him, and the aggressive defense made O'Neal feel the threat of being intercepted at the first time. He was forced to turn around to protect the ball, and with the help of his huge body and strength, Sakuragi Hanamichi's arms could not reach him.

Good defense? It's very good. This guy is not only good at defense, but also very powerful. It's not so easy to force his way into the inside line against this guy.

You can't get rid of him, and you don't even dare to do any other extra moves easily. Then there is only one move left, back-to-back!

The difference in strength between each other, and his understanding of back-to-back, O'Neal is confident enough that no one on this planet can stop his back-to-back!

He is near the free throw line, and it's only three or four steps to squeeze in with that guy on his back, just go for it!

O'Neal slightly lowered his center of gravity, and suddenly exerted force from his shoulders. His 147 kg body and historical strength forced Sakuragi Hanamichi to retreat one step.

One collision is half a step, three steps are enough, six collisions!

O'Neal was thinking this, and when he was about to continue to exert force to pursue the victory, he heard his teammates next to him shouting: "Shaq, be careful!"

O'Neal immediately realized instinctively that someone was coming up.

Lin Dong?

Although his focus was on Sakuragi Hanamichi behind him, O'Neal was an experienced veteran after all, and he had a full understanding of the general situation on the court.

Lin Dong was just in the right half of the court!

He subconsciously turned his head to the right and saw that Lin Dong had actually run to the backcourt.

What... is he running for?

O'Neal was startled, and a big hand had already cut over from the other direction.

Snap!

In just a moment, the basketball had changed hands.

O'Neal's hands were empty, and he was shocked. He turned his head and looked back, but only saw an "old" jersey number.

No. 20, Gary Payton!

The only point guard in history who has won DPOY, and also a super steal king who contributed 10 steals in a single game!

Gary Payton is just old, and his physical fitness, strength, and speed are not up to par, but it does not mean that his defensive awareness has also degenerated.

Gary Payton had seen through O'Neal's intention to play with his back after receiving the ball. Almost as soon as Kidd passed the ball, he had already rotated to help defend. Taking advantage of the fact that Sakuragi Hanamichi had drawn 95% of O'Neal's attention, and even Lin Dong occupied the remaining 5% of O'Neal's attention, if this historical defensive point guard still couldn't steal O'Neal's ball, it would be a waste of life.

Gary Payton's perfect steal, coupled with Lin Dong who seemed to have the ability to predict and had already started running in advance, made the Sonics' counterattack as fast as lightning.

The Cavaliers gave up chasing, Lin Dong received Payton's long pass, jumped high at a distance of one step beyond the free throw line, and made a tomahawk dunk.

Boom!

34:14, the Sonics led by 20 points!

20 points, like a watershed, also like a life-threatening signal, instantly made the Cavaliers players who were still angry, anxious, and impatient just now suddenly fall into silence.

Mike Brown on the sidelines slumped back on the bench, his eyes revealing a trace of emptiness and confusion.

The fans at the scene were going crazy.

This is the Cavaliers, the Cavaliers of the Big Four!

As early as the offseason, this Cavaliers team was praised by various media and fans as the biggest dark horse that vowed to stop the Supersonics this season.

Whether looking at the paper strength or the expectations of fans across the United States, or even looking at the historical grievances between the two teams, and the determination of all the Cavaliers players to surpass the Supersonics, etc.

No matter how optimistic the commentators and fans of the Supersonics are, their biggest expectation is that after the two teams have fought hard, the Supersonics can rely on Lin Dong's personal ability to win at the critical moment.

But the score was 34:14 in the first quarter, a huge difference of 20 points.

This, this... this is simply jaw-dropping and unacceptable.

Phil Knight in the VIP room had a dark face the whole time, obviously he wanted to go supersonic...

In Phil Knight's blueprint, he hopes the Cavaliers lose this game.

Because he has not completely given up on Lin Dong. What he wants is to use the threats of the Cavaliers and Lakers to give the SuperSonics and Lin Dong a sense that Nike is the master behind everything before the contract between the two parties expires in December. If you want results and historical status, you must listen to me, and use this to completely tame Lin Dong's fierce horse.

After all, no matter what, Lin Dong is still Nike's biggest endorsement pillar and cash cow.

Therefore, he is actually happy to see the Cavaliers lose this game, but he must play anxiously and create enough threats for the SuperSonics.

Otherwise, how can we create a sense of crisis for Lin Dong? How about demonstrating Nike's control over the league? Let alone how to tame Lin Dong?

So he clearly saw many problems with the Cavaliers, but when he helped the Cavaliers build the team, Phil Knight did not mention these problems in several meetings with the young female boss.

To put it bluntly, Laura Ballmer is just a pawn being used by him. While he is controlling Lin Dong, he is also controlling the Cavaliers.

If Lin Dong had been tamed by him in December, he would never remind Laura of these problems with the Cavaliers, and would even help the Sonics win the championship.

After all, after defeating the Big Four Lakers and Cavaliers, the SuperSonics championship will have more gold and value, and Lin Dong's personal reputation will be pushed higher. All of Phil Knight's actions this offseason are not It will all be in vain. By then, maybe Lin Dong can really replace Jordan and become Nike's real pillar in the global market.

Fans all over the United States...the direction of public opinion and hostility towards Asians was originally brought about by Nike through the media, and it can naturally be brought back. There are many methods, but for the capital that controls public opinion, it is the least worth mentioning. little things.

But if Lin Dong was not tamed in December, still put on airs and was disobedient, and still wanted to take the initiative in negotiations and ask for some short-term contract, then Phil Knight would further help the Cavaliers and Lakers to improve them. lineup to completely defeat the SuperSonics and knock Lin Dong off his horse!

Anyway, Nike will not suffer any loss, and of these two answers and two outcomes, Phil Knight is more inclined to the former - that is, under the condition that Lin Dong is obedient enough, he will help the SuperSonics build a four-consecutive championship dynasty. , completely pushing Lin Dong to the top! This is the most convenient and smoothest way to maximize Nike's interests.

But now... nothing goes according to his script, which makes Phil Knight very unhappy.

A bunch of useless things! What kind of bullshit are you beating! Give back the Big Four and the Four Ducks!

He couldn't help cursing secretly in his mind, and looked at Cavaliers head coach Mike Brown, who fell on the bench on the sidelines, with eyes full of disdain and anger.

At this time, Mike Brown seemed to finally realize his responsibility amidst the cheers for the Sonics.

What the team needs at this time is morale, not a similarly confused head coach.

He gathered his strength and stood up again.

There is no way, but morale must be improved.

"Cheer up!" Mike Brown yelled on the sidelines: "Don't worry about losing points, just hold them back, they won't last long!"

LeBron and others recovered slightly from the loss just now.

Yes, the Sonics have an unsolvable five-and-four defense, an unsolvable perimeter vacancy, and an unsolvable Lin Dong... But they also have a physical crisis!

Don't give up, just persevere to the end, and as long as they wait until their physical problems arise, the balance of victory will eventually tilt back towards the Cavaliers!

Bang bang bang bang bang!

Kidd clapped his hands, condensing the morale that was starting to scatter on the court: "Don't be anxious, hit one first! Mike is right, in such a high-intensity offensive and defensive confrontation, Lin Dong, as the core of both ends, cannot last long! Wait until he gets tired, wait until he slows down, and the Sonics' rotational defense will collapse!"

"come on!"

Relying on this belief, the Cavaliers seemed to regain two points of morale, and then...

Knight's ball.

Pavlovic seized this open opportunity and hit a 3-pointer.

34:17, which can be regarded as a life extension for the Cavaliers.

Turning around on the defensive end, the Cavaliers finally adjusted their strategy slightly this time. Chandler's outside touch was too hot. If he was allowed to shoot again, he would be killed. The Cavaliers did not dare to let it go again. Pavlovic gave up. Godala turned to block Chandler, and the ball came to Iguodala.

The same open three-pointer, and Iguodala, who had been cool for a long time, missed from the outside, and the Cavaliers suddenly seemed to see hope of recovering the score.

But O'Neal once again stretched his hips on the backboard. He was a little scared by Sakuragi Hanamichi's millimeter-level "stool withdrawal". This time he did not actively seek confrontation when fighting for position, but gave up his best strength. After the rebounding method, how can he be Sakuragi Hanamichi's opponent?

The consequence of standing still and not daring to exert force is to be eaten by Sakuragi's various tricks.

With an easy pass, Sakuragi grabbed the rebound and passed it to Iguodala. Wade made up the defense, and Iguodala immediately passed the ball to Lin Dong.

Facing LeBron's one-on-one defense, Lin Dong made a change and stepped back to hit a mid-range shot steadily.

36:17, the score difference was widened to 19 points again.

The Cavaliers had the ball, Pavlovic missed a 3-pointer, O'Neal and Sakuragi got the rebound at the same time, this time they were lucky, the basketball bounced more towards O'Neal, and the Sharks took the rebound.

Facing Chandler's joining and Sakuragi's double-team, not only Pavlovic on the left, but also LeBron on the right was free.

The ball was in LeBron's hands, and he stood up from outside the three-point line.

LeBron's three-point shooting rate was still very high last season, but unfortunately... he was entangled with Lin Dong throughout the game, and he didn't touch the ball much on the offensive end, and his hands felt cold.

The basketball missed again, this time O'Neal didn't have the same good luck as before, Sakuragi jumped to the rebound, the Sonics organized a fast break, and Lin Dong faced Wade's defense and made a pull-up shot.

38:17, the score difference was 21, and it continued to expand.

The pressure came to the Cavaliers again. Kidd saw that Pavlovic was under too much pressure, so he didn't pass the ball to him, but asked him to come out and play a pick-and-roll.

Unfortunately, facing the defense of Payton and Iguodala, it was too difficult for Pavlovic to do a pick-and-roll, not to mention that he was not very good at it.

The opportunity failed to come out, but Pavlovic's wide open space was wasted. The two sides entangled on the defense line for a long time. Finally, Kidd had to take a 3-pointer from the outside against Payton's defense, but he missed all three shots.

24-second violation, exchange of ball rights.

The Cavaliers continued to choose to leave Iguodala, who had just missed a 3-pointer, open, but after all, he was a man with a 40%+ hit rate last season. He just didn't feel good just now, and there was no shooting pressure at all with the Sonics leading by a large margin.

Iguodala, who received the ball, shot without hesitation and scored 3 points before the final whistle of the first quarter. The score difference reached an astonishing 24 points, 41:17.

——Hold on! Hold on! They have been playing like this for a whole quarter, it is impossible to continue!

——Lin Dong has to face the double attack of LeBron and Wade on the offensive end, and he has to join the rotation core to check for leaks at any time on the defensive end. His running volume is even greater than Sakuragi Hanamichi. How long can he run?

——Drag until Lin Dong is tired and the Supersonics give up the rotation defense. At that time, the initiative will be in our hands!

——Don’t talk about Lin Dong, how long can the old guy Payton run? That guy’s average playing time last season was only 15 minutes per game, and their bench is shallower than ours!

——It’s only 24 points, we can definitely catch up!

The Cavaliers cheered frantically on the sidelines, and it seemed that only this belief was left to support them.

In the second quarter, when the Cavaliers saw the Sonics use rotation defense again, they all had an Ah Q mentality of "defend, I'll see how long you can defend".

Unfortunately...

48:24, 56:28, 61:31...

The Sonics' defensive intensity did not decrease at all, but their offense was still impressive.

Even if there were occasional misses from the outside, Sakuragi Hanamichi and O'Neal could still grab about 60% of the rebounds in the competition for rebounds under the basket, which gave the Sonics more secondary offensive opportunities and further curbed the Cavaliers' poor offense.

Five minutes into the second quarter, the score difference had reached an astonishing 30 points, and by the end of the first half.

74:38, the score difference had reached as many as 36 points.

The Cavaliers, who were touted as one of the strongest teams in history before the game, were actually led by the Sonics by 36 points in the first half!

Phil Knight got up and walked out of the VIP room. He was too lazy to watch any more.

Countless fans in front of the TV in the United States were so angry that they cursed, were speechless, or turned off the TV.

The four giants of the Cavaliers were already breathing heavily.

I thought the rotation defense of the Supersonics could only play one quarter, and then I thought they could play at most one and a half quarters, but now they have played the whole first half... Don't those guys know how tired they are? They run much more than the Cavaliers!

When will they be tired? When will the Supersonics slow down?

Let's not talk about Payton. Although he only played 15 minutes per game last season, he can still play for more than 30 minutes when the key games really need him.

More importantly, in the new rotation system of the Supersonics, Payton's task is not heavy. How tired can it be to play two defenses against one with Iguodala on the outside against Kidd? He is not really needed on the offensive end, and he doesn't really have any major physical problems. How tired is he...

The key is still Lin Dong and Sakuragi Hanamichi.

The latter's stamina has been proven through three seasons. If he focuses on defense, he can run for three quarters at high intensity, and it is not impossible for him to run the whole court.

As for the former, although his stamina seems to be bottomless, he is good at both offense and defense after all, so he must be the first to fall.

The Sonics are already at the end of their strength, and Lin Dong will soon be gone! Just wait and see, in the second half, the Sonics will no longer use rotation defense, they are not robots!

But.

In the third quarter, when Kidd had the ball, he immediately encountered a double blockade by Payton and Iguodala. When Wade was once again blocked by Lin Dong alone...

The Cavaliers' players were heartbroken at this moment.

Didn't they say that this guy can only play like this for one quarter? But now he has played the whole first half, and he still wants to play in the second half? !

And looking at his smiling face, this guy is really not tired? !

MD, you are not tired, but I am tired!

Collapse, despair, unable to find any way to deal with it, and not seeing the slightest hope of catching up.

When Chandler easily hit an open three-pointer again, 77:38, widening the gap by 39 points, even exceeding the Cavaliers' total score, this invincible Big Four super battleship finally collapsed in an instant.

No more strength, no more confidence.

In the despair of Wade and LeBron, Lin Dong broke through the two's defense and slammed the basketball over O'Neal's head.

Beep!

"The Cavaliers change players!"

Five up and five down, the collapsed Cavaliers gave up the game directly.

It's impossible to play anymore. With such a score difference, even if the Supersonics replace the substitutes, the Cavaliers can't catch up. If they continue to play, it's probably not just a loss, but a collapse of the Tao heart!

——Supersonics! Supersonics! Supersonics!

——Lin! Lin! Lin! Lin!

——Sakuragi Sakuragi! Rebounding King Rebounding King!

The whole stadium was filled with cheers and noise, as well as shock and silence from fans across the United States.

133:89, the Supersonics won their first victory of the season with a huge 44-point margin!