Text: Lao Kan Kanqiu
Editor|Lao Kan Kanqiu
On May 12, Beijing time, the second round of the NBA playoffs continued, and the Boston Celtics and the Cleveland Cavaliers ushered in the battle of the little kings. At present, the two teams are tied 1-1, the Celtics took the lead by 25 points in the first G1 game, and the Cavaliers also pulled back a game with a difference of 24 points in the G2 game. Mitchell appeared very calm, saying that it is gratifying to win on the road, but the team needs to work hard to protect their home advantage. Before the game, the American media ESPN also gave a win rate prediction: the Celtics have a win rate of 49.6%, and the Cavaliers have a 50.4% win rate.
I have to say that the Celtics starting lineup is balanced offensively and defensively, but their biggest shortcoming is still obvious, and the hard solution ability of the double tanhua at critical moments is still unreliable, and when the team is behind and needs support the most, they habitually choose stealth, especially Tatum, as the leader of the team, began to find reasons for losing, and said in the post-game interview: " The whole world thinks we shouldn't lose, saying that we are a super team, but in fact we don't have any honor, no best coach, no MVP, There are only two all-stars .... This is patently unfair! I have to say that Tatum's words are similar to Embiid's mockery of Jokic at the beginning, and they are all manifestations of not daring to take responsibility.
In terms of injuries, Jerome and Craig Porter on the Cavaliers' side are absent, and it was officially announced before the game that Allen will continue to be absent, and Dean Wade ushered in a comeback, and the starting five are: Mitchell, Garland, Mobley, Okoro, Strus; On the Celtics side, Porzingis is still absent, and the starting lineup is: Brown, Tatum, Horford, Holiday and White.
At the beginning of the first quarter, Mitchell shook Horford, stepped back and hit a three-point shot, winning the first place for the Cavaliers, Holiday hit Mobley with his back, turned around and made a layup, Mitchell chased three points, Tatum could also respond to Garland with three points at the top of the arc, and then Europe stepped past Mitchell and scored 10 points in a row at the beginning, directly stopping the Cavaliers. After the timeout, Mitchell singled out Horford, or stepped back for three points and then hit, Lao Huo simply became the scope of the league's guards, who played whom. Garland made consecutive turnovers on the breakaway ball, and Tatum missed a layup, and the Celtics led the Cavaliers by two points at 30-28 after the first quarter.
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I have to say that Mitchell and Tatum faced each other, Mitchell scored 11 points with 3 three-pointers in the first quarter, and Tatum scored 12 points, 4 rebounds and 2 assists. Coming back in the second quarter, Holiday rebounded, hitting back-to-back defenders, then grabbing frontcourt rebounds and assisting Hauser, hitting a three-pointer at the top of the arc, and the Celtics opened the game with a 7-0 run. Mitchell, who had just rested less than two minutes off the court, was replaced again, hit two three-pointers in a row after coming on the court, and had hit five three-pointers, completely carrying the team on his shoulders. Holiday can also respond to TT's three-point shot, Mitchell tried to make a foul against the defender, but miraculously threw the ball in, the referee ignored it, Jaylen Brown missed the dribble out of bounds in a no-confrontation situation, Mitchell shook White, three points can still be hit, today is all pointing at you, halftime, the Cavaliers trailed by 9 points at 48-57.
Halftime data, on the Cavaliers' side, Mitchell shot 8 of 12 and scored 23 points, 1 rebound and 2 steals; Garland had six points and three assists on 2-of-6 shooting, with a game-low plus/minus of -12, which was a drag. On the Celtics' side, Tatum was 6-of-12 from the field and 2-of-5 from three-point range, scoring 18 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal and 1 block; Holiday was 6-of-8 from the field, contributing 15 points, 5 rebounds and 3 assists; Jaylen Brown was 6-of-7 for 13 points and four rebounds. It is worth mentioning that Mitchell made 6 of 8 three-pointers in the half, and the rest of his teammates shot only 2 of 15 in total, shooting less than 13.3%.
Easy side rematch, White flank big open spot to catch the ball three points finally hit, the Cavaliers hit iron one after another, White and Holiday hit three points again, the Celtics opened the game 14-0, the lead has been extended to 23 points, and, Mobley in the process of fighting with Brown for rebounds, accidentally twisted his ankle, has returned to the bench. Tatum broke through with the ball, threw it high, Cornet completed a two-handed dunk in the air, Mitchell continued to shake in the restricted area, and hit the limit throw, Tatum hit the defensive dry pull, Mitchell stepped back and responded with three points, and after the third quarter, the Cavaliers still trailed by 15 points at 69-84.
Today is the battle between Mitchell and Tatum, and they are all playing very well. In the fourth quarter, Mobley scored consecutive dunks, and the Cavaliers chased the difference by 9 points. Tatum scored a key breakthrough layup to stabilize the team's situation, Pritchard suddenly made a cold arrow, and hit a three-point shot near the LOGO, and Mitchell turned his head to play 2+1 and responded. Jaylen Brown made an easy layup, Garland scored 5 points in a row with a sudden shot, Brown made a quick stop shot, and Tatum also hit a difficult whistle-blowing jumper, and the game completely lost suspense. In the end, the Celtics won another big win 106-93, and the big score came to 2-1, the Cavaliers must recognize the reality, and they can't expect Mitchell alone, Garland and other main players must also stand up, otherwise, this round of the series is almost conclusive, but as long as the Celtics don't relax their minds, the East is really going to have a finale.
In terms of statistics, on the Cavaliers' side, Mitchell scored 33 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 steals; Garland returned to the slump, scoring only 15 points, 3 rebounds and 6 assists on 6-of-15 shooting; Strus had 6 points and 5 rebounds, Mobley Jr. had 17 points, 7 rebounds and 1 assist, Okoro had 2 points and 1 rebound, and LeVert had 13 points and 6 rebounds. On the Celtics' side, Brown scored 28 points, 9 rebounds and 3 assists on 13-of-17 shooting, Tatum scored 33 points, 13 rebounds and 6 assists, of which the points and rebounds set a new high in the playoffs this season, and he has completed 25+5+5 24 career playoffs, successfully tying the team's famous Bill Russell and creating history; Spurs veteran White returned to form, contributing 12 points and 3 assists, Holiday had 18 points and 8 rebounds, and Horford had 2 points and 6 rebounds.