The life-and-death playoff between the Cavaliers and the Hawks will determine the only ticket left in the Eastern Conference playoffs, and whoever loses is out of the game, in the eyes of NBA legend James, it should be a wonderful star showdown? James expressed his expectations on the social media before the game, wanting to see Trae Young vs. Garland, and evaluated Trae Young and Garland are the most brilliant young point guards, under the influence of James, it looks like this will be a star duel between Mars and the earth, Trae Jan or Garland, is to open a scoring feast, attack each other, or to dominate the overall situation as a point guard, are the suspense of the victory and defeat of this game, but James's expectations are disappointed, the Cavaliers' tactics are too fierce.
Yes, Trae Young is very powerful, especially last year's playoff performance, Trae Young proved his worth, but today's life and death battle, Trae Young felt unprecedented pressure at the beginning, the Cavaliers' tactics are crazy against Trae Young? The data can explain a lot of problems, the first quarter of the game Trae Young did not get a break, the Eagles are indeed very dependent on Trae Young, helpless Trae Young handed over 8 shots 3 in the first quarter, 2 of 0 three-pointers, only 6 points and 3 assists of the data output, there were also 4 mistakes, Trae Young could not open the fist and foot, everywhere was limited by the compression level.
Since Trae Young's defense is not top-notch, the Cavaliers in order to frantically consume Trae Young's physical strength, the Cavaliers' arrangement at the offensive end is to find Trae Young's point, hit Trae Young hard, so that Trae Young feels the pressure of being attacked.
Trae Young's attack has a range, but also footsteps and skills, more overall view, the problem is the defensive strategy given by the Cavaliers, that is, to change the defense, only to give Trae Young the opportunity to single out, which means that Trae Young you can only do it yourself, want to tandem the team is not OK, you can single out to win, but you have to exhaust the physical strength, so Trae Young can not get an easy shot opportunity, he almost every ball has to single out the opponent, the heart is that Trae Young in such a targeted defense, the feel is not very good, the hit rate is very low, And it's too hard to get a free throw in the first quarter.
After the half, Trae Young played 18 minutes and 33 seconds, 3 of 11 shots, 4 of 4 three-pointers, did not get free throws, only 6 points, 1 rebound and 4 assists, and the half-time plus-minus -14 was too bad. Trae Young spent half of the second quarter sitting on the bench watching, waiting for the state to adjust and avoiding premature physical exhaustion by the Cavaliers' tactical strategy.
If it weren't for Bogdanovic's efficient performance, the Hawks might have collapsed at half-time, but the Hawks also needed to balance their minds, Capela had to pull Mobley hard when defending, and eventually Capela himself was injured.
On the other hand, Garland did not blindly show himself, do not do the star showdown that James wants to see, after half-time Garland shot 5 of 14, 3 of 3 from three-pointers, 2 of 2 from the free throws, cut down 13 points, 2 rebounds, 5 assists and 3 steals, only 1 mistake and no foul, playing with ease Garland, half-time plus-minus +16 is too perfect.
Of course, Garland did not encounter Trae Young's tactical strategy, which shows that Trae Young's poor performance in the first half is not Garland's complete victory over Trae Young, because the star showdown that James wants to see did not appear in the first half, due to the existence of Cavaliers tactics, Trae Young was confused at the beginning, and the Cavaliers were 61-51 Eagles in the first half. Hopefully, Trae Young can adapt in the second half, or the Hawks will really finish calves.