nycdaug Chapter 647 Sweeping Through the Knights, Advancing First!
Chapter 647 Sweeping Through the Knights, Advancing First!
Three days later, the Nets will challenge the Cavaliers at the Rockets' mortgage arena, where the Cavaliers are playing.
This game is a do-or-die situation for the Cavaliers!
If they win, the score will be tied at 1-2, and the suspense will continue.
If they lose, the Nets will have a match point.
There's even a possibility that this series could end in Cleveland.
This is unacceptable to Cavaliers fans who have won championships before.
Even if we lose, we can't lose in Cleveland.
Amidst this united and determined spirit, the third match began on time.
Ray Allen of the Cavaliers has made his comeback, and even if he is not fully recovered, he cannot wait any longer.
This makes the Cavaliers' center position much stronger compared to the previous two games.
The most obvious manifestation of this was that the Cavaliers maintained a lead throughout the second half of the first quarter.
In the final minute, Wang Xiucheng hit a three-pointer and drew a foul from Garland.
These four points allowed the Nets to tie the game.
At the start of the second quarter, Wang Xiucheng rested, and Durant began to play one-on-one.
Thanks to Durant's several pull-up jump shots, the Nets gradually took the lead, even leading by as much as 5 points at one point.
Cavaliers head coach Bickerstaff had no choice but to bring Mitchell back early, which helped stabilize the situation for the Cavaliers.
Wang Xiucheng didn't return to the field until the sixth minute.
This put the Cavaliers players on edge again.
However, Wang Xiucheng started camping in the bottom corner, often disappearing from the field with Mitchell or Garland.
So much so that most of the time, when the Nets were on offense, only 8 players were constantly running on the broadcast screen.
On one occasion, Garland seemed to have had enough of this torment. When the ball was in Westbrook's hands, Garland chose to double-team Westbrook with Mitchell.
Even though Mitchell had already yelled "Don't come any closer!"
But it's still too late!
Westbrook immediately passed the ball to Wang Xiucheng, who was crouching in the corner.
Westbrook wouldn't dare attempt the kind of pass that Wang Xiucheng made that went through several people, but for Westbrook, this kind of open pass was almost as easy as drinking water.
Wang Xiucheng was facing a wide-open shot, and he even dribbled the ball once before shooting.
The basketball hit the bullseye perfectly!
Mitchell glared at Garland with a dark expression.
Bickerstaff even called a timeout and unleashed a barrage of attacks on Garland.
Having learned their lesson, after the game resumed, neither Garland, Mitchell, nor any of the other players who switched onto Wang Xiucheng dared to leave his corner position even once.
This continued until the last minute of the first half.
Even with tight defense, Wang Xiucheng still managed to hit a logo three-pointer, giving the Nets a 66-59 lead by 7 points.
With a 7-point lead, the Nets returned to the locker room.
The atmosphere at halftime at the Rockets' mortgage arena was somewhat somber, and few fans paid attention to the usual halftime events.
The second half began as scheduled, and although the Cavaliers managed to mount a comeback occasionally, they were quickly overwhelmed by the Nets.
Although the Nets scored two fewer points than the Cavaliers in the third quarter, the Cavaliers committed more fouls.
Allen, who just returned from injury, has already committed four fouls against Wang Xiucheng and Towns.
This is not good news for the Cavaliers.
The fourth quarter began after a short break.
Wang Xiucheng did not rest this time, but continued to play in the fourth quarter.
Wang Xiucheng's presence has led the Cavaliers to focus more of their attention on him.
Although Wang Xiucheng is still lurking in the corner, the threat he poses is very real.
Almost as soon as Wang Xiucheng moved his feet, all the Cavaliers players would immediately start working like gears.
After dishing out three assists, the Nets went on an 8-1 run to start the fourth quarter.
The Cavaliers only managed to score one point from Allen's draw, making one of two free throws.
However, on the next possession for the Nets, Wang Xiucheng and Towns set a screen and switched onto Allen to defend him.
Wang Xiucheng dribbled into the paint, then drove along the baseline and feigned a layup, which knocked Allen up. He then scored the basket while leaning on Allen.
Wang Xiucheng scored two points while also drawing Allen's fifth foul of the night.
Bickerstaff had no choice but to substitute Allen.
The lack of talent at the center position made it difficult for the Cavaliers to compete with the Nets.
With three minutes remaining in the game, the Nets once led by double digits.
Bickerstaff finally brought Allen back on.
This time, no matter how Wang Xiucheng tried to draw a foul, Allen didn't reach out.
Allen did not commit any more fouls after doing so.
However, Wang Xiucheng seemed to be in an uninhabited area, repeatedly scoring in the paint.
With one minute remaining in the game, the Nets were already leading by 12 points.
Wang Xiucheng dribbled the ball past half-court and hit another three-pointer while stepping on the logo, extending the Nets' lead to 15 points.
Although Mitchell later hit a three-pointer for the Cavaliers, the 12-point deficit was too much for them to overcome.
The Nets ultimately defeated the Cavaliers 130-120 on the road.
They also won the third game of this series.
The 3-0 scoreline has prompted the media to bring up that historical statistic once again.
That means no team can come back from a 0-3 deficit and win the series.
Sure enough, the Cavaliers, seemingly demoralized, lost to the Nets again two days later in the fourth game, 99-120.
With this, the Nets swept the Cavaliers 4-0 without lifting a finger, becoming the first team to advance to the Eastern Conference semifinals!
The Nets' next opponent will be either the Celtics or the Heat.
Because the Nets' game starts a day earlier than the Celtics' game.
And for some reason, the second game between the Celtics and the Heat was three days apart.
This resulted in the Celtics having just finished Game 3 against the Heat when the Nets and Cavaliers' series ended.
The Celtics currently lead the Heat 2-1.
This means that at least two more games are needed for the two teams to finish this series.
Two matches, that's five days.
If the game is extended by one more day, that would be 7 or even 8 days.
This is actually not good news for the Nets.
Such a long period without games could very well have caused the entire Nets team to lose their competitive edge.
This is what Udukka fears most right now.
Therefore, Udoka only gave the team two days off before requiring the entire team to return to training.
One of the days is spent flying back to New York, which means I only get one day of rest.
But for the Nets, who have played four high-intensity games, this is a rare time to rest.
This is especially true for Wang Xiucheng.
On the night of the fourth game against the Cavaliers, Wang Xiucheng did not return to New York with the team, but instead took his private plane directly back to Houston.
For the other players, even if they lose to the Cavaliers tonight, winning the series in New York in the next game would be perfectly acceptable.
This could even bring the team additional revenue from ticket sales.
But Wang Xiucheng didn't want to delay any longer.
He was eager to return to Houston to see his son.
A few hours later, after the plane landed in Houston, Wang Xiucheng couldn't wait to get into Ma Wei's car and head towards his home in Sugar Land.