Chapter 1059: Sweep in the Finals?

Facing Li Ba's defense, James did not attack much. He made 1 of 4 shots in a single quarter. Li Ba blocked one of his shots and missed one shot. He scored 2 points, 4 assists, 2 rebounds, 1 turnover and 2 fouls.

He was blocked by Li Ba, but he also returned one. The one that Li Ba missed was blocked by him during the fast break.

In addition, Li Ba's mistake was also caused by his defense.

In the second quarter, Li Ba and James continued to play, but there was no matchup. The former played center and returned to the paint area to control the defensive end.

In this quarter, O'Neal was not on the court. Li Ba controlled the rebounds on both offense and defense. Big Z was no match for him. He grabbed 11 rebounds in a single quarter, sent 4 blocks and 2 steals, and also sent 3 Assists, 2 of 2 shots, 1 of 3 free throws, 5*5 data in the half, extraordinary performance.

Similarly, against Tony Allen, James also performed efficiently, making 3 of 7 shots, 4 of 6 free throws, and scored 10 points, 1 rebound, 3 assists, 2 steals, 2 blocks, and 1 turnover.

However, the Suns had an advantage in the number of shots. At halftime, the Cavaliers did not regain the score. At 45:55, the Suns led by double digits.

Back at halftime, the game continues with the Suns attacking.

O'Neal has not returned yet, and the Cavaliers are still big Z and Varejao inside.

Li Ba is still in the fifth position, teaming up with the Arab League on the inside, and Tony Allen, Ginobili, and Rondo on the outside.

Facing the Cavaliers' slow-moving inside line, with Li Ba and Arab League controlling the paint area at both ends of the offense and defense, and ensuring sufficient rebounds, the Suns once again used fast break tactics from the outside.

The three perimeters have a clear division of labor. Ginobi is responsible for shooting from the outside, and the other two attack the basket frantically. In just half a quarter, they got 13 free throw opportunities.

In the 7th minute of the third quarter, 52:72, the Suns led by 20 points, half of which were scored from free throws.

"The rebounding was completely out of control. The Cavaliers replaced O'Neal, but can the aging O'Neal solve the problem? I don't think the Hammers will return to the point guard. He should directly confront O'Neal."

Zhang Lili shouted.

As Zhang Lili expected, Li Ba had no intention of substituting, and he continued to stay in the paint area.

O'Neal's playing has indeed improved the Cavaliers' rebounding.

But Li Ba is in the paint area, which is different from the first half. In the first half, with Li Ba on the outside, the Cavaliers can maintain a balance in rebounding, but now even if O'Neal plays, it is impossible to maintain this balance.

After the third quarter, Li Ba once again grabbed 8 rebounds in a single quarter, sent 2 steals and 1 block, and had two secondary attacks.

Yu Jia shouted: "It is now 60:84, the Suns are 24 points ahead, and the G1 game should be won."

Zhang Lili said: "In the first quarter today, the Hammers mainly attacked on the outside, and in the next two quarters they all defended on the inside, which ensured the score advantage in the first quarter. The Cavaliers are still too slow inside. In this finals, they should not be able to defeat the Suns. Too big an obstacle.”

In the fifth minute of the fourth quarter, the point difference widened to 30 points, and the Cavaliers gave up the game.

Li Ba also came off the court. In 41 minutes, he scored 27 points, 26 rebounds, 7 assists, 9 steals, 7 blocks, 1 turnover and 2 fouls. His performance was average.

This performance was average, as the media said after the game, because there was neither a triple-double nor a quadruple-double, nor a fifth-double, only a 5*5+double-twenty. For Li Ba, the number one active player on par with Jordan, Somewhat shabby.

In the post-game interview, Barkley asked: "Hammer, how many more games do you think there will be in the finals?"

Li Ba smiled and said: "I can tell you for sure that we will win and win the championship."

"oh!"

The surrounding reporters all exclaimed.

"Swiss sweep! Sweep sweep..."

The Suns fans in the audience immediately cheered.

"This damn bastard, he's dreaming!" O'Neill yelled angrily.

"Hammer, what do you think is the problem with this Cavaliers team? How do they need to be strengthened?" a Cleveland reporter asked.

Li Ba said without thinking: “Of course it’s the inside position, the fourth and fifth positions, the Cavaliers must choose again.

I have a good relationship with Shaq, but I still have to say that he is no longer a starter, especially a starting center on a championship-caliber team with championship aspirations. "

O'Neill's eyes widened on the other side. Hearing these words, he was very angry and a little helpless.

James also heard it, but he thought Li Ba's words were right. It's okay for the Cavaliers to play against other teams, even against super teams like the Lakers and Mavericks, because everyone plays in a traditional style, but it's not okay to play against the Suns. Can't beat it, the inside line is too slow.

On June 7th, the G2 war began.

"Iron Hammer, let's compete."

Before the game started, O'Neal approached Li Ba and issued a challenge.

"OK!" Li Ba agreed.

But this whistle was a little biased in favor of the Cavaliers. There was no way, there was a gap in strength between the two teams, and the league didn't want to lose all the suspense in the finals.

Li Ba did not disappoint O'Neal. He always exerted force in the low post and found O'Neal on both offense and defense.

Although the whistle was somewhat aimed at him, he still played extremely strongly. Even after five fouls, his defensive intensity reached its peak. He blocked O'Neal and James three times in one round, and finally blocked O'Neal directly to the floor.

It was precisely because of this block that he swallowed his sixth foul, a so-called technical foul.

In the 8th minute of the third quarter, Li Ba was sent off.

This was the third time he was fouled out in his career.

In 31 minutes, except for the second quarter, he was responsible for the main attack for the other 19 minutes, 13 of 18 shots, 8 of 12 free throws, and 34 points, 21 rebounds, 2 assists, 8 steals, 12 blocks, 2 turnovers and 6 fouls when he left the court.

In the first quarter, the old Shark was blown up by Li Ba on both offense and defense. He was intercepted 2 times and blocked 3 times by Li Ba, and then he couldn't get the ball on the offensive end. He was responsible for the main defense and was responsible for containing Li Ba.

With O'Neal defending Li Ba, LeBron increased the impact on the paint area, but Li Ba played a dominant defense in the paint area, which made him bruised and bloody. Li Ba stole the ball 3 times and blocked him 5 times.

When Li Ba was sent off, there were still 16 minutes in the game, the score was 57:88, and the Suns led by 31 points.

At this time, Barkley shouted: "Congratulations to the league, congratulations to Mr. Stern, the ratings have exceeded 115 million, but I'm afraid it will drop soon."

After Li Ba left the court, O'Neal was actually exhausted, but in order to seize the opportunity to win, he still stayed on the court.

After Li Ba left the court, the atmosphere in the American West Arena became more and more intense. Every time the Cavaliers got the ball, the audience booed fiercely.

LeBron and O'Neal teamed up and played a wave of 12 to 2 attacks at the end of the third quarter, tying the score to 69:90, still 21 points behind.