Chapter 148 The Celtics lost the game because of themselves
In James' career, this is the first time he has faced the Celtics in the playoffs, and the Celtics' Big Three have just been formed.

Perhaps before this round of series starts, most people would think that the Celtics would be the winner of this round of series.

Maybe the Cavaliers will win one, two games, but they probably won't win three, let alone the series.

But after five games, everyone realized that the series was over and the Cavaliers were the winners.

They swept their opponents 4:1.

If you watch this series from beginning to end, you will find that the biggest contributor to helping the Cavaliers win the game was not James, but the Celtics' Big Three.

It was their poor performance that ruined their game.

James' performance in this series was not good, it can even be described as terrible, he was completely restricted by the Celtics.

The Celtics are a defensive team. The strategy they adopted in the game was to let Pierce and Posey take turns harassing and blocking James. Both of them are forwards who can match up against James.

The Celtics' double-teaming and biting of James, and the constant pressure on his breakthroughs, were all sending a signal - he would not have any easy points at the basket in this series.

When James' breakthrough was completely restricted by the Celtics, he fell into the vicious circle of being obsessed with mid-range and long-range shots.

But at this time, shooting was still a shortcoming for James. In the fiercely competitive playoffs, many of his outside shots missed.

As for the pick-and-roll, the Celtics' way to deal with James is to go around and double-team him, with the wing retreating to protect the inside and continue to give him mid-range opportunities.

Let him shoot if he wants to, he just can't get to the basket.

Under the Celtics' targeting, James had the worst playoff performance of his career so far.

Pointless low-level pass errors, return errors, direct pass errors, breakthrough return passes that were directly intercepted, and the possession rate of the entire game was 36%...

G1的比赛里詹姆斯的数据是18投2中，砍下12分9篮板9助攻10失误的准四双数据！

G2的比赛里詹姆斯的数据是24投6中，砍下21分5篮板6助攻7失误的“优异”数据！
G3的比赛里詹姆斯的数据是16投5中，砍下21分5篮板8助攻4抢断3盖帽的数据！
G4的比赛里詹姆斯的数据是20投7中，砍下21分6篮板13助攻3抢断2盖帽4失误的数据！
G5的比赛里詹姆斯的数据是25投12中，砍下35分3篮板5助攻4失误的优异数据！
In the 5 games, except for the fifth game where he played like a star, his performances in the other games were average, especially the first and second games, which were so embarrassing.

But in the end the Cavaliers still won because James played badly and the Celtics' Big Three played even worse.

Like in the first game, Pierce made 14 of 2 shots and scored only 4 points, and also had 6 turnovers, which was more than the points.

而全场打了37分钟的雷阿伦4投0中，砍下0分4篮板1助攻4失误的“战神”数据。

This guy has to sit at the same table with Thompson...

Although the two players' conditions improved in the second game, no one on the team scored more than 20 points. However, they did win this game, which was also the only game they won in the series.

In the third game, none of the three players scored more than 20 points. The same was true in the fourth game. James' touch seemed to be connected with several of them. If they want to miss a shot, they will miss it together. If they want to score a goal... forget it, let's just miss it together!

第五场好不容易皮尔斯砍下29分7篮板3助攻，加内特砍下26分16篮板4助攻，雷阿伦砍下11分3篮板2助攻，但恰好詹姆斯也同样爆发。

When the main players on both sides performed poorly, the other players of the Cavaliers performed better than the Celtics.

Like in the first game, "Big Z" scored 22 points, 12 rebounds and 2 blocks. He was accurate in mid-range shots and could provide rim protection, becoming the real pillar of the team's victory.

In the third game, the Cavaliers' supporting players all stood up. "Big Z" was still reliable with 12 points, 8 rebounds and 6 assists. Szczerbiak scored 16 points, West scored 21 points, 7 assists and made 4 three-pointers. Joe Smith made 8 of 7 shots and scored 17 points. Even Wallace scored 9 points.

The Cavaliers launched a 32-13 attack wave in the first quarter, establishing a huge advantage!
第四场比赛骑士的其他人还是给予了詹姆斯足够的支持，替补的吉布森9投5中，投进2个三分拿下14分6篮板4助攻，史密斯6投4中得到8分6篮板，瓦莱乔8投6中得到12分6篮板。

In the crucial fourth quarter, Gibson scored 8 points and Varejao made both of his shots. The Celtics only scored 2 points, which was equal to the scores of these two players. Losing the game was inevitable.

In the fifth game, James suddenly found his touch at the TD Garden, scoring 8 points on 5 of 11 shots in the first quarter.

With the help of two three-pointers from Szczerbiak, the Cavaliers took the lead at the beginning. In the second quarter, the Cavaliers even expanded their lead to 14 points. Even though the Celtics once narrowed the score to 5 points, they finally managed to hold on to their advantage and win the game.

Compared to the Cavaliers, the other players of the Celtics performed very badly. Their performance on the court itself needs to rely on the Big Three to drive it. Now even the Big Three can't play well, let alone them.

The giants failed to perform like superstars, and the role players were unable to step up and provide support. Isn't it natural that they lost the game?

When the game was won, the entire Cavaliers team gathered together and all the players were very excited, as if they had won the championship.

After all, the team they beat was the Celtics, who were ranked first in the regular season. When the three of them got together during the offseason, everyone thought that the league had come to an end!

But now they beat them, and in just 5 games, these players suddenly felt that they had hope of winning the championship.

The champion, that’s the champion!

"Well done young guys, keep working hard and just beat our last East opponent, the Knicks.

We can make it to the finals and challenge for the championship."

Head coach Mike Brown clapped his hands to encourage the players. He wanted to continue to boost the morale of the players and then defeat the Knicks in one go.

But as soon as he said this, the originally happy atmosphere in the locker room suddenly froze.

Their Eastern Conference Finals opponent is the Knicks...

They also made it to the Eastern Conference Finals…

Although they knew in advance that the Knicks were tied with the Pistons 3:2, deep down they still hoped that the Pistons could work harder and eliminate the Knicks directly.

They really don't want to play against the Knicks. If they can choose their opponents, the team they least want to play against is the Knicks. They would rather play against the Celtics. When you are repeatedly abused by Zheng Yang on the court, you will understand the thoughts of these Cavaliers players.

Larry Brown didn't expect that his words would have such great "power". He felt that he seemed to have underestimated the shadow that Zheng Yang had cast on these players.

But then again, it's not just the players who have psychological trauma. As the head coach, he has also felt frustrated countless times with Zheng Yang.

Through Zheng Yang, Mike Brown truly understood a saying: in basketball games, players are more important than coaches, because no matter how powerful the coach is, no matter how brilliant the tactics are, there will be players who cannot be restricted.

However, the Eastern Conference Finals have not started yet. Even though Mike Brown is a little afraid of Zheng Yang, he has to find ways to boost the players' confidence and let them go all out.

He still doesn't believe it. He can beat the Celtics but not the Knicks?

So he cleared his throat and started talking to the players.

"Young guys, we finally defeated our rival, the Celtics, and made it to the Eastern Conference Finals again. Our next opponent is the Knicks, just like last year.

I know this team has beaten us so many times in the past that when we see them now, we instinctively think of our past defeats.

But young people, please remember that the failures we have experienced in the past should not become a cage that limits us, but should become experience and motivation for us to keep moving forward.

We are now stronger than ever before, we beat the Celtics, we found the secret to winning, and we can do better than ever before.

The chance to win the championship is right in front of us, so this Eastern Conference Finals is our chance to prove ourselves. We have to prove with practical actions that we can beat the Knicks and we can also be the best team in the NBA this season!"

Mike Brown’s motivation and the excitement of winning against the Celtics reignited the fire of war in these players’ hearts.

Maybe they can really compete with the Knicks?

Maybe they can really win the championship?

LeBron James' eyes on the side gradually became determined. I have been bullied by Zheng Yang every year, and this year it should be my turn.

As long as he can defeat Zheng Yang this year, enter the finals, and then defeat the Western Conference team, he will be able to catch up with Zheng Yang again.

Even though there is still a gap between him and Zheng Yang, this gap is already within a controllable range.

But if he loses to Zheng Yang again this year and the other party still wins the championship this year, then James will never have to think about catching up with him again!
Three championships, two of which were won by stepping on his own head, how can he catch up with them?
Therefore, this Eastern Conference Finals is his last chance.

Zheng Yang has suffered in the Eastern Conference for a long time, it’s LeBron’s turn to come to the fore!

"Defeat the Knicks and win the championship!"

After encouraging himself in his heart, James shouted to his teammates, and the others followed suit.

For a moment, the Cavaliers were full of fighting spirit!
……

At this moment, the Knicks did not know what happened in the Cavaliers' locker room, but when they heard that the Cavaliers had eliminated the Celtics, everyone on the Knicks breathed a sigh of relief.

No matter how poorly the Celtics' Big Three perform in this series, as long as they can play, the deterrence they bring to their opponents is greater than that of the Cavaliers.

Besides, they just defeated the Cavaliers in last year's Eastern Conference Finals, and they will play against them again this year, so isn't that an easy task?
It seems that they still have a great chance of defending the title this year.

Knicks head coach Larry Brown did not expect that all his previous preparations for the Celtics were in vain.

But the same thing goes, as long as we don’t have to play against the Celtics, it doesn’t matter if all these preparations are in vain.

But how did this Cavaliers team beat the Celtics?

I feel like their regular season performance was just mediocre, and there weren't any standout reinforcements compared to last season?
Larry Brown has been following the Pistons during this period, but apart from looking at the score, he really didn't understand much about the game process.

But after actually watching the videotapes of several games, Larry Brown was completely stunned!
Does the Cavaliers' victory have anything to do with themselves?

It seems that it really doesn’t matter!

James' performance was not good. Although other role players were good, none of them performed like a superstar, right?

What really caused the Celtics to lose the game was themselves, the Big Three.

Of course, it is not fair to Garnett to talk about the Big Three, because this guy only had a bad game in the fourth game. His performance in the other four games was really worthy of his fame and strength.

But the performances of Pierce and Ray Allen were really terrible, especially the latter, whose performance was completely at the level of a war criminal.

In the five games, he made 19 of 4 three-pointers, which made O'Neal cry!
Do you think the loss has anything to do with the Cavaliers?
It really doesn't matter, they just made a mess of themselves!
After discovering this situation, Larry Brown felt relieved. He thought that the Cavaliers performed well. If that was the case, the Knicks would have to be careful in the upcoming Eastern Conference Finals.

However, judging from the current situation, beating the Cavaliers should not be a problem, as long as we imitate the Celtics and limit the breakthrough of James of the Cavaliers.

No matter how well their role players perform, can they really compare with Zheng Yang?
Zheng Yang is not Pierce, let alone Ray Allen. He may occasionally pull a little, but he will never collapse.

Besides, Zheng Yang has gained experience in playing against the Cavaliers, and he knows all the tactics of the opponent.

This year's Eastern Conference Finals should be in our grasp!
It seems that I should analyze my opponent in the finals. Is it the Lakers? Or the Spurs? Or the Hornets?

Larry Brown was not sure for a moment...

(End of this chapter)