Chapter 132 James: Why is there Liang if there is Yu?
The next two games will be moved to Quicken Loans Arena. If the Cavaliers cannot win despite the home-court advantage, then there is nothing more to say, just go to bed!
The Cavaliers returned to their home court and showed strong fighting spirit in the third game. Success or failure depended on this one!

If they lost this game, they would be on the edge of the cliff. Even if they won the fourth game, it would be useless because their morale and energy would have been gone by then.

But as long as we win this game, there will be room for maneuver in everything.

It’s hard to say who will be the final winner.

Mike Brown understands this kind of thing, and Larry Brown naturally understands it too.

Therefore, before the game, Larry Brown also emphasized to the players that they must play well in this game. Let’s not talk about winning by a few points, but at least they must win!

As long as you can win this game, I'm going to start studying our opponent in the finals!
The Knicks players are also in high spirits. They finally have a chance to win the championship. If they let this opportunity slip away, they don’t know when they will have another chance to win the championship.

Besides, the whole United States is watching their games now. As long as they play well, why should they be worried about not getting a big contract?

So the Knicks players vowed to win the game.

A big battle is taking place again at Quick Loans Arena!

Fans wearing Cavaliers jerseys cheered for their home team with all their might, and also booed the loudest when the Knicks attacked, trying to influence their offense.

For the Cavaliers, this is a game they can't lose!
There were many highlights during the game, such as Big Z blocking Ben and Eddy Curry in one round, Zheng Yang shooting a three-pointer in the face of James, and Crawford shaking off Alexander and making a layup...

The players of both teams were trying their best to play the game. When their inner desire for victory reached its peak, they would not think about anything else. They just wanted to make the opponent's attacks come back in vain and make the opponent's defense useless...

And under what circumstances can one defeat the opponent?
Even in this situation where the opponent has tried his best, you can still score the ball again and again.

When the string in the other person's heart jumps, you have completely defeated him!

So who did it in this game?
Without a doubt, it is Zheng Yang!

When the two teams were fighting until the last four minutes and the score difference was still within 3 points, Zheng Yang stepped up and took over the game.

He scored all of the team's points in the final four minutes, and he challenged the Cavaliers' defense time and time again, completely tearing apart a defense that others thought was impregnable.

Does any of this come as a surprise?
No, because this kind of thing has happened too many times, and the Cavaliers fans only felt a chill, as if they were playing against an alien.

Because only aliens can score the ball again and again.

Relying on Zheng Yang's personal strength, the Knicks finally successfully changed the score to 7-3 with a 0-point advantage on the road!

In this game, he made 26 of 15 shots, scored 43 points, 8 rebounds and 4 assists. Especially in the fourth quarter, he scored 20 points alone and blew up the Cavaliers' entire defense.

Although James on the opposite side also scored 30+ in this game, he only got 4 points in the last three minutes. Compared with Zheng Yang on the opposite side, there is a world of difference!

No one knows what James was thinking when he stood with his hands on his hips and looked into the distance with a confused look in the last 10 seconds of the game. Would he feel helpless because he had to choose between Yu and Liang? Would he be disappointed with everything in front of him? Would he start to think that maybe he was not suitable for the path of basketball?

No one knew what he was thinking. All we knew was that at the end of the game, he went straight back to the locker room again, this time with his head down.

When will he be able to raise his head?

Only God knows!

In the post-game interview, Cavaliers coach Mike Brown shook his head and spoke bluntly.

“Zheng destroyed us!
He won the game by himself. I don't want to discuss how his teammates performed. I just want to say that no matter who leads the Knicks in the league, I have the confidence to play against them.

Only Zheng, I know he will beat us no matter what, it's hard to believe he is just a 21-year-old young man.

21 years old...Michael had just entered the league when he was 21 years old, and it wasn't until he was 28 that he won his first championship in his career!
But Zheng is already on his way to his second championship, and he will surpass him in the future, I guarantee it!"

As soon as these words were spoken, the media reporters present immediately took a lot of photos. Zheng Yang really broke the mentality of the Cavaliers!

There is still one game left and Mike Brown actually said such a thing. No one would believe that Zheng Yang did not leave a psychological shadow on the young head coach!
The innocence of the league has changed. When everyone was wondering who would be the next face of the league, this young man who had been amazed everyone since entering the league stood up.

He proved with his actions that he is now the strongest in the league.

It’s not that everyone hasn’t considered him, but everyone thinks this guy is a little too young. He is only 21 years old now, and it is the time for him to improve rapidly. Normally, those who can become the face of the league are usually 28 or 29 years old.

Such players are at the peak of their careers in terms of both physical fitness and technical skills.

They all felt that even if Zheng Yang made rapid progress, he would probably need another four to five years to settle down.

Who would have thought that this guy, at the age of 21, would give the rest of the league a good time.

As expected, a genius is a genius. It is truly unreasonable to compare a genius with common sense!
After 3-0, the Knicks lost the fourth game. As to whether this game was lost accidentally or on purpose, everyone has their own opinions.

But in the NBA, when the score reaches 3:0, unless it is the finals, the team will usually give up a game.

First, 4:0 is not a good look, but didn’t you see that 4:1 can be called a gentleman’s sweep?

They added the word "gentleman" before the word "sweep", and that's what they meant.

The second is to make some money from ticket sales at home.

Ticket sales account for a significant portion of the team's revenue, especially in big basketball markets like New York, where there are a large number of fans with high spending power. Even if the game is played poorly, there are still people willing to pay to watch it, not to mention witnessing the team reach the finals again at home.

In Game 5, the Knicks did not give their opponents any chances, and they crushed their opponents with overwhelming force. This was certainly due to the Knicks' strong strength, but also to the Cavaliers' bad mentality.

After the third game, the mentality of the Cavaliers players began to deteriorate. They were already losing, and what James said to the media before left a knot in everyone's heart. Therefore, from the fourth game onwards, the enthusiasm of the Cavaliers plummeted.

Don't you think we are not good enough?

Then you just have to play the game on your own!
I'll pass the ball to you and I'll help you with the pick-and-roll. Let's see if you can score 20 points in a quarter like Zheng Yang on the opposite side!
You are both players who played in Cleveland, so why are you two so different?
You despise us, and we despise you too!
To be honest, the Knicks lost the fourth game very narrowly!

After sweeping the Cavaliers 4:1, the Knicks successfully advanced to the finals. Their upcoming opponent is the Spurs, who also swept their opponents 4:1 in the divisional finals.

As an old rival of the Spurs, Zheng Yang is very familiar with this team. When meeting them, Zheng Yang actually felt a little nervous.

Because the Knicks lost both regular season games against the Spurs. Although the loss was not big, losing both games means that there is indeed a small gap in the hard power between the two teams.

In addition, the opposing players have extremely rich experience in the finals, so it will be very difficult for the Knicks to win.

Originally, Zheng Yang was thinking that there might be a butterfly effect, where the Suns or Jazz in the Western Conference might upset the Spurs, and their chances of winning the finals would be greater.

Unfortunately, the butterfly effect did not appear, and their opponent was still the Spurs team, which was capable of both offense and defense and played steadily.

Well, let’s play against the Spurs. I play against the elite!

Beat the Spurs and let everyone know that I don’t just bully those small fry in the Eastern Conference. Even the strong teams in the Western Conference will be beaten by me!
The shrimp soldiers and crab generals in the east: ...

……

The first game of the finals is scheduled for June 6th and will be held at the Spurs' home court, the AT&T Center. The arena was formerly known as the SBC Center and was renamed last year.

This year's finals really suits David Stern's wishes. It has the heat, the strength, and the topics. If the decisive battle and the game 7 come out, the heat will be explosive!

Of course, that's what he thought, but David Stern would not use referees to manipulate the game just to create a decisive battle or a Game 7. That would be putting the cart before the horse!
What he needs to ensure is that this is a high-quality finals.

After the third game of the Eastern Conference Finals, Larry Brown began to study the Spurs. He knew that this was a team with excellent offense and defense, especially defense. Both Bowen and Duncan were good defenders.

If you want to beat the Spurs, you have to break down their defense.

So after the Eastern Conference Finals, the Knicks held a team speech in the stadium.

"We played two games against the Spurs in the regular season, and we all know the characteristics of the opponent. Although Duncan is still the core of the Spurs, the focus of the offense has begun to fall on Tony Parker.

So Quentin, I need you to guard him tight, and pay more attention to his turnaround jump shot, which is his favorite move.

If he rushes into the inside, that's your job, Eddie!
And on offense, there is no doubt that we need Zheng to stand out.

If it is a one-on-one defense, I would not worry whether it is Bruce Bowen or Manu defending Zheng.

But once the opponent double-teams you, Zheng, you need to reduce your mistakes. Whether you choose to pass the ball or break through, you must ensure that the number of mistakes is small.

When playing against a seasoned team like the Spurs, what we need to do most is to reduce our mistakes. Our offense is powerful and our defense is impenetrable. As long as we are too young, it is easy to make mistakes, so as long as we reduce our mistakes, victory will eventually belong to us. ”

After listening to Larry Brown's speech, Zheng Yang was very glad that he had strongly requested the Smiling Assassin to keep this guy last summer. He is not undeservedly called the coach with a thousand wins.

If the Smiling Assassin were really allowed to coach, I guess what he would say now is: "As long as you win the finals, there will be a big contract!"

The Smiling Assassin is really good for nothing except waving the Knicks owner's money!
At this moment, the Smiling Assassin was also sitting at the edge of the stadium with the team management, listening.

The team finally made it to the finals, they really should come to the stadium to show their importance.

"Coach Larry's coaching ability is truly top-notch in the league. During last year's offseason, the media were all saying that Larry was too old to be a head coach and that he should retire!

But I saw at that time that Coach Larry was talented and experienced, and he must be the best coach for us to compete for the championship. The reason why the team had a poor record before was mainly related to other reasons.

So I kept Coach Larry despite everyone's opposition, and everyone knows what happened next..."

Wherever there is a smiling assassin, there is boasting!

How could the Smiling Assassin become the general manager of the Knicks, and later served as a part-time head coach? After being fired, he went to buy a low-level league, and eventually the league was disbanded...

He just relies on his mouth!
What the media says may not be true, but how can what comes from me, the person involved, be false?
Others didn't know whether it was true or not, and even if they knew, they didn't care. They all applauded and praised this guy for his good business skills.

The Smiling Assassin was almost floating with joy after hearing this. I’ve been bragging for so long, just for this moment!

……

Over the next few days, the Knicks have been training in the gym. Of course, with the big game coming up, in order to ensure that these players have enough physical strength, Larry Brown did not force them to do physical training. They mainly practiced running tactics, shooting and lateral movement.

Of course, a special training plan for Zheng Yang to break through double-teaming was also formulated, which was to let two people defend Zheng Yang and train his passing ability or breakthrough ability when facing double-teaming.

Although the intensity we face is definitely not as great as that of the Spurs, but it's already this time, so let's improve as much as we can!

After a few days of training, Zheng Yang's ability to break double-teams has indeed improved. In fact, he has a wide field of vision and his passing ability is not bad. It's just that sometimes his passing awareness is too obvious and it's easy to be intercepted.

And this problem is not difficult to solve. Just ask other people for advice and learn from their experiences and lessons!
(End of this chapter)