Chapter seven hundred and fifth: close at hand
The golden O'Brien Cup. Before the game started today, Ricard had been to the team's showroom and had seen the dazzling O'Brien Cup.
It would be a bit too lonely to have only one trophy in that huge showroom. If the O'Brien Cup was placed there, it would definitely be more dazzling.
So at the beginning of the game, when he saw James and Wade's impulse, Ricard was a little worried. However, after Angel scored, Ricard's heart suddenly sank. With Angel, that guy was stabilizing on the court, no problem!
"Champion! Hold on for another 48 minutes, we will be the world champion! But now, we have to play these 48 minutes first!" After the goal, An Jie did not celebrate, but immediately turned around and gave orders on the court.
Leading the Heat 3-1, O'Brien's Cup has been moved to the doorstep. These things have made the Trail Blazers players and fans a little fluttering.
But only Anjie can see the situation clearly. The Heat, who is unwilling to fail, will not surrender away. Even if they want to lose, the Heat will not let the Trail Blazers easily win the trophy.
"Ball! Ball!" As soon as Charmos took the baseline ball, James raised his arms and shouted.
James is eager to get the ball right now, and the only thing he thinks about at the moment is how to attack the basket and how to score.
Although Chalmos doesn't like James, he will not delay the entire team for personal grudges. No matter what, Chalmos is also a professional player.
James got the basketball as he wished, and just got two steps away from the three-point line. Iguodala stayed outside the three-point line and was ready to play. Seeing James' state today, he probably had a difficult time playing.
However, what Iguodala did not expect was that after James came outside the three-point line, he actually jumped and shot directly!
There is no organization, no pass, no breakthrough. James just jumped up straight and prepared to take action!
Iguodala didn't expect James to do this at first, after all, this was not a common sense style of play. When Iguodala, who was a little far away from James, rushed forward, James had already shot the basketball.
People say that James' three-pointers are not very good, but sometimes, James will be unreasonable when he shoots three-pointers. This seemingly reckless move actually hits directly!
James scored again. It seems that the "Little Emperor" is not only imposing, but also in a very hot state and feel.
"Occurrence! Offense!..." Although James' goal was very exciting, the enthusiasm of Moda Center fans was not extinguished.
Along with the drum beats released by DJ on the scene, the fans shouted the word "offensive" rhythmically.
"Stay steady, play slowly, they can't always score goals in that way!" An Jie pressed down with both hands, signaling his teammates to calm down and take it slowly. James' unreasonable goals cannot become the dominant player in the game. Only the side that truly controls the rhythm of the game will have more hope of winning.
In order to personally grasp the team's offense, An Jie took the initiative to mention the middle distance position this time, and he planned to take over the organizational rights from Lillard and become the team's brain.
As soon as Angel held the ball at mid-range, Chris Bosh posted it without reservation.
The two started a fierce confrontation outside the free throw line, and Bosh almost stuck to Anjie. If Anjie avoided it in time, he and Bosh might have kissed each other several times.
Under such extreme conditions, Anjie was neither good at breaking through nor passing the ball. Seeing that Bosh was so tight with him, Anjie also had some bad ideas.
Just as Bosh accidentally rubbed his elbow against Anjie's nose, Anjie suddenly had an idea, suddenly threw away the basketball, covered his nose with both hands, and fell to the ground in pain.
Robin, who had been with Anjie for a season, also understood it. He rushed to Anjie anxiously. In this "cooperation", Robin played the role of fanning the flames.
Bosh opened his arms innocently, but the three referees on duty did see the entire process of Bosh "elbowing" Anjie through slow motion replay.
Bosh did meet Anjie, and this, coupled with Anjie's performance, was enough to convict the "Dragon King".
"It's so fucking! You are protecting the defending champions like this, right? Anyway, the championship trophy has been moved, so you just plan to finish it today, right?" Bosh, who has always been difficult to lose his temper, yelled at the referees. These are the three referees with good tempers. If it were someone else, a technical foul would have been hyped out long ago.
Instead of quarrel with the referee, James pulled Bosh away and comforted his teammates. Using the rules rationally is also part of the basketball court. James is well aware of the truth, because he has also benefited from it.
Bosh made a foul and the Trail Blazers re-selected the sideline ball. And Anjie got rid of the entanglement with Bosh.
Since Aldridge is not on the court, Robin Lopez's passing ability is very limited. So now, the task of serving the sideline naturally falls on Angel.
When Anjie stood outside the court, Bosh couldn't interfere with him. The Trail Blazers players immediately interspered with the running position. They knew that only with a glimmer of chance, Anjie could deliver the ball to them!
After borrowing Robin Lopez's pick-and-roll, Wesley Matthews successfully slipped through the baseline and got a fleeting shot opportunity at the bottom corner.
But the only bad thing is that Matthews is now on the opposite side of Angel serving. If Angel wants to send the ball to Matthews, he must let the basketball cross the entire half safely.
Without time to hesitate, Wade was about to get rid of the entanglement. So Anjie put the ball behind his head and swung his hands hard!
"It's big! This ball must be big!" When Charles Barkley saw Angel passing the ball in this way, his first reaction was that Matthews could not catch it!
"Good opportunity!" On the other side, Jeff Van Gundy applauded on the espn's commentator stage. Because this guy who developed Anjie's organizational ability knew better than Barkley how terrifying Anjie's passing ability was.
As expected, this powerful pass did not fly too high. On the contrary, because Anjie exerted a particularly strong force, the basketball's flight speed was very fast.
When Matthews received the basketball, Wade had not yet completely rushed forward.
You can't wait any longer. If you wait for another second, this opportunity will be completely wiped out by Wade! Matthews immediately started shooting, and Wade's interference still made Matthews' shooting rhythm slightly unstable.
Anjie immediately rushed to the basket from the sideline, but Bosh blocked him and locked Anjie outside the rebounding range.
However, what no one expected was that after the basketball hit the side of the basket, it fell into the net for the second time!
Matthews made a three-pointer, and Anjie made a wonderful attack. The Trail Blazers and the Heat still have no choice but to win!
"Good job, good job, let's continue, continue!" Anjie clapped his hands hard, but Bosh was still cursing for the foul just now.
The subtle psychological changes of the players of the two teams are slowly arising.
Originally, the Heat hoped to use their strength after the game to suppress the rhythm and then open the score. However, after the Trail Blazers showed a tough resistance, the first side to be disappointed was the Heat themselves.
In the next few minutes, the Heat and the Trail Blazers played hard. Seeing the Heat's performance like this, people really couldn't imagine how the total score became 3-1.
However, after a few minutes of hard work, the Heat immediately revealed their true colors.
Wade and Bosh frequently missed offensively, and Chalmos' undecisive pass often made the team miss opportunities. What about Lewis? He was so defensive that he had no chance to take action, let alone score a goal.
Taking advantage of the Heat's sluggish period, Anjie's organization allowed the team to hit the Heat with a very high shooting percentage. On the Heat, it was only possible to solve the problem by James' singles.
At the end of the first quarter, the Trail Blazers led 22-29. Anger gave five assists in a single quarter, while James grabbed the game with a 17-point performance in a single quarter.
"This is the ultimate showdown between personal heroic basketball and team basketball! As of now, LeBron's personal personalities are temporarily at a disadvantage!"
"Do you think LeBron doesn't want to have a good team? It's just that the Heat now has to stand up and work alone!" This time, Jeff Van Gundy stood up and said something to James. James really doesn't want to play alone by himself, but this is the only way for the Heat.
During the holiday break, fans sang the song "We Are Champions" in the stands at Moda Center. This huge voice probably has spread throughout Portland!
"Listen, listen! The first quarter has been spent safely, and we are only three quarters away from the O'Brien Cup. We must not be discouraged, we must keep it, we must not be discouraged! The group of people outside can't wait to see us pick up the O'Brien Cup, we cannot let them down, let ourselves down!" Ricard pointed outside the door. At this moment, even the door of the locker room with excellent sound insulation effect could not stop the spread of the song.
The loud singing of fans brought more energy to the Trail Blazers players, but also made everyone on the Heat even more irritable.
No matter how hard they work, the Heat Big Three are just the foil for the Trail Blazers to successfully defend the title.
Spoelstra now has no way to boost morale, because even the Filipinos themselves are almost losing confidence.
At the beginning of the second quarter, Angel and Lillard ignited the whole game with a beautiful aerial relay. But soon, James returned with another unreasonable three-pointer.
"It's okay, drag him down, drag him down!" Ricard clapped his hands hard on the sidelines. The rest of the Heat were no longer threatening. As long as James was dragged down, the Trail Blazers will be able to bring O'Brien's Cup home tonight!
Ricard doesn't believe it. There are so many players in the Trail Blazers, but they can't drag down an exhausted LeBron James!
James resisted desperately, but he could get less and less support. Ray Allen frequently made a fuss outside the three-point line, and Wade's breakthrough was no threat to Anger. Bosh could use the open opportunity to score a few goals, but his scoring on the court was no longer painful to the Trail Blazers.
The Heat resisted for seven minutes, and when Spoelstra had to replace James, the entire Heat suddenly collapsed completely!
Contney Lee and Nicholas Batum did whatever they wanted during this period and killed all sides. The Heat's second team was not threatened at all. They only scored 5 points in the last few minutes of the second quarter!
Nell Orsey, sitting in the luxurious box, was sweating profusely until the half-time game ended, and the manager finally relaxed.
40 to 50, in the first half, the Trail Blazers have widened the score difference to double digits! The once arrogant Heat Big Three is now in a storm!
Seeing this result, the singing in Moda Center became louder. Anjie's parents, Catherine and her father also sang along.
Ritchie Paul, who was in front of the TV, saw the half-time score and shook his head helplessly. He immediately called Cleveland and contacted David Griffin, then general manager of the Cavaliers.
"What's wrong with Richie, it seems that LeBron is not going well in the finals." Griffin said with a relaxed tone because he believed that after this game, James would no longer belong to Miami.
Chapter completed!