Champion, please stay!

Chapter 179, Section 177: The Low-Post Defensive Warrior, a Primary School Student, is Online!
At 8 p.m., the first game of the series between the Knicks and the Cavaliers tipped off!
Birdman wins the jump ball, Knicks go first, all players rush forward, charge!

Yi Shui, Birdman, and David Lee flew in unison, with Du Hong providing guidance and Curry following up to receive the pass.

Facing the Knicks' strong fast break at the start, the Cavaliers steadily established their defensive formation, after all, they had faced each other many times before.

Big Z turned and sprinted back to the basket. Big Ben retreated a step inside the free throw line. Delonte West and James retreated to the sidelines of the three-second zone. Mo Williams went to block Curry who was following up.

The 'diamond zone defense' that was hyped up by some media before the game!
In their last regular season matchup, this formation was very effective in defending the Knicks' fast breaks!
Seeing the opponent set up this formation again, Yi Shui rushed to the right side of the free throw line to receive the ball, and took three big steps. The first step was right in the middle of the right sideline of the three-second zone, pushing against the advancing James. The second step was half a step outside the arc of the restricted area.

Big Z and Big Ben rushed towards Yi Shui from the front and back. When James saw Yi Shui turn around, he quickly rushed towards the free throw line... but was blocked by the lateral movement of Birdman.

Easy to clear the free throw line!
David Lee slowed down after entering the three-point line, stopped sprinting on the left side of the free-throw line, took two steps to the free-throw line, received the ball from Yi Jianlian, and made a jump shot from the free-throw line... and it went in!
The commentator exclaimed, "A seven-second attack!"

From the moment Birdman won the jump ball to David Lee's goal, exactly 7 seconds had passed!
When James saw Yi Shui run out and high-five David Lee, that uncomfortable feeling returned—how long had it been, and the defense was useless again?
Yi Shui, who was high-fiving David Lee, was puzzled – more than half a month had passed, and the playoffs had already gone through a round, yet the Cavaliers' defense hadn't changed at all?
Mike Brown on the sidelines looked as sullen as a wronged wife.

Changes? Actually, there have been. He suggested that the regular season strategy might not work anymore, but the star player felt that their defense was enough to deal with the Knicks.

In the four regular season matchups, although they had a record of 1 win and 3 losses, except for the third matchup where they couldn't defend against the Knicks' 121 points due to back-to-back games, in the other three matches, they held the Knicks to just 98 points in the first game, 102 points in the second game, and only 103 points in the last game. The loss was due to their own inability to score.

James believes that with the increased intensity of the competition in the playoffs, he can definitely defend better and is demanding that a better offensive strategy be devised.

What could Mike Brown do but try to find a solution? And surprisingly, when pushed to the limit, he actually came up with one...

The game transitions, James receives the ball in the frontcourt, facing Yi Shui's defense... Call for a pick and roll!

Curry followed Mo Williams to the top of the key in surprise, saw Mo Williams's screen-and-roll, and quickly switched to defend James who was driving to the basket... He was knocked aside and blocked Yi Shui who was trying to get past Mo Williams to retreat and block his defense.

James drove straight into the three-second zone on the right side. Birdman couldn't block him in time. James reached the arc of the restricted area, jumped, and made a layup over David Lee!
Targeted tactics!

This was the idea Mike Brown had for James to improve the offense. Coincidentally, when he couldn't think of a solution, he happened to see the TV station broadcasting Yi Shui's junior season highlight reel, showing Yi Shui specifically targeting Curry...

After being outmaneuvered, David Lee didn't complain about the lack of interception on the perimeter and in the mid-range. He immediately retrieved the ball and passed it to Duhon, continuing the attack!
The Cavaliers wanted to replicate their defense from their last regular-season matchup, when they held the Knicks to very low scores for several stretches, ultimately resulting in Yi Shui scoring 35 points while the Knicks only managed 103... but they failed!

Despite facing a full-court block, delay, and pressure defense from the opposing team's 1-4 positions, Du Hong still managed to dictate the pace of the game!
However, after a few rounds, it was the Knicks who called a timeout first, having broken through the opponent's physical and encircling defense strategy!
In just over four minutes and eight possessions, the Knicks made 3 of 7 shots, including 1 of 2 three-pointers, plus 2 of 2 free throws, for a total of 9 points. Their performance was indeed better than when they played the Cavaliers in the regular season.

At this stage, Ben Wallace and Zydrunas Ilgauskas are at their best in terms of stamina and can keep up on defense. In their last regular season matchup, they were held to just 4 points in the first 4 minutes by the Cavaliers' defense, but tonight they more than doubled that number.

but!

对面骑士队6投4中，其中三分球2中2，加上3中2的罚球，拿到12分了！

If it were just James drawing double teams and then passing out to the Cavaliers' outside shooters and center Zydrunas Ilgauskas, that wouldn't be a big deal.

In their last regular season matchup, and in the first round between the Cavaliers and the 76ers, the Cavaliers' shooting touch often dipped more than their opponents' after playing high-intensity defense.

但詹姆斯开局这4分半钟3投2中加上3中2的罚球拿到了6分！
They suddenly started working together!
Even if D'Antoni had started to accept defense, even when he used to scoff at defense, he would still have to call a timeout in this situation.

The only game the Knicks lost to the Cavaliers in the regular season was when James and his teammates executed a drive-and-kick play, scoring over 40 points and adding 8 assists!
...

Even after calling a timeout, D'Antoni was helpless; he didn't understand defense. He looked to his assistant coach, but Cheeks was also at a loss.

Pick and roll to exploit mismatches is a very basic offensive tactic. There are certainly many defensive tactics that can be devised, but the prerequisite is a defensive system. Their defense... The most crucial player in the pick and roll is Mo Williams, the Cavaliers' most accurate three-point shooter. In the regular season, he averaged 2.3 three-pointers per game with a 43.2% shooting percentage, and in the first round of the playoffs, he averaged 2.5 three-pointers per game with a 37.5% shooting percentage.

When James charges like that, even if Duhon on the wing, David Lee under the basket, and Birdman in the middle are positioned to block him, they can't stop him. The outside players must play a necessary role in delaying the attack.

If you bring in either Big Q or Wilson Chandler, along with Duhon and Yi Shui, anyone could potentially slow down James' game, but that would disrupt the fast-paced offense and make things worse.

D'Antoni was frustrated. Just as he was about to emphasize some offensive details, pretending that the timeout was to disrupt the opponent's offensive rhythm, he called a timeout.

Yi Shui put his arm around Curry's shoulder, who was practically shutting down after being overwhelmed by James's penetration, and said, "Stephen, you don't need to stick close to him when defending the pick-and-roll. He doesn't have a shot on the line. You should do this and that..."

The coach and teammates all focused their attention on Yi Shui: Yi Di, do you have a grudge against elementary school students?
Curry jumped up in anger: "Big, I can understand you asking me to defend Miller like that, but this is LeBron James! I'm not you, how could I possibly do that!"

Yi Shui spread his hands and said in a trembling voice, "What can we do? He specifically asked to hit you."

The elementary school student looked desperate: Yeah, what else can I do? The boss would never betray me... How many times has the boss betrayed me already?
Seeing that Curry had no objections, Yi Shui continued, "Chris, after you block James' footwork space at the baseline and in the middle, spread out again to defend James' passing. David, you do this and that..."

Cheeks, who understands defense, thought the arrangement was outrageous, but he had no choice. Someone else was taking the blame, and he certainly wasn't going to take it back.

Even D'Antoni, who doesn't understand defense, thought this arrangement was outrageous, but since it was impossible to defend against anyway, it was at least a method, so he decided to give it a try.

After the timeout, the Knicks made no substitutions, while the Cavaliers replaced Ben Wallace with Joe Smith to maintain defensive consistency.

The Knicks are on offense. They inbound the ball in the frontcourt, and Curry receives it and passes it to Yi Shui.

Yi Shui made a one-on-one play from the right side at a 45-degree angle, creating a rhythm difference, and hit a long two-point pull-up jumper!

The Knicks narrowed the gap to 1 point, 11-12.

No one on the Cavaliers' side was affected by the ball; they were used to it. James is extremely bad at defending technical players, especially against rhythm-based offenses. Whether on offense or defense, James' sense of rhythm is extremely poor. In their four regular-season matchups, James never truly contained Yi Shui, instead allowing Yi Shui to average 31.5 points per game.

During the timeout, the head coach's plan was to withstand the Knicks' reckless offensive onslaught at the start. The Knicks' starting lineup immediately deployed their best fast-break lineup. If they could hold on, the rest of the game would be much easier!
The main reason is that their initial attack was better than expected!
In the transition between offense and defense, Mo Williams advanced to the frontcourt and passed to James near the top of the arc, once again bravely blocking Yi Shui's path.

James drove to the basket using a screen, and he was ready to pass the ball to the open Mo Williams for an assist, but after the opposing team called a timeout, they didn't seem to make any adjustments, so he just kept driving!

Seeing Curry retreat repeatedly, looking terrified, James secretly laughed and charged along the right sideline of the three-second zone!
With Birdman and Duhon closing in and blocking the middle and lower limits, James drove straight to the basket. David Lee moved up from the restricted area, and James changed direction, driving towards the baseline, preparing to slip along the baseline for a reverse dunk. Who said he couldn't do a layup?

But just as James was about to turn around after rushing to the baseline, Curry, who had been retreating continuously, suddenly stepped forward, blocked James's lower body before he could turn around, and reached out to steal the ball!

James instinctively turned his back to protect the ball, his first reaction was to look for his cutting teammates and open shooters... David Lee did not double-team him, but moved to the left side of the three-second zone to block Joe Smith who was cutting in!
Birdman and Duhon didn't double-team, and instead spread out to intercept passing lanes!

At that moment, shouts of "knock him out!" rang out near the baseline. James quickly realized that since they were already at this position, why not just attack instead of double-teaming?

That's right, he knocked that Akron dwarf flying!
James lowered his center of gravity and slammed into the dunk! He wanted to dunk over Yi Shui's teammate just like Yi Shui dunked on him!

Curry lowered his center of gravity and fought back with all his might, but at that moment he was filled with despair, prepared to be knocked away or dunked on by his opponent...

'Huh? What's going on? Why is the force of that butt pushing up so weak?'

(End of this chapter)