CHAPTER 462: CHAPTER 374: FINALS GAME 1 (PART 3)

"LeBron, keep it up."

"James, put up some resistance against Zeng Xingyang, don’t let him be so arrogant, whoa."

"Take down the Nuggets!!"

"Go Cavaliers!"

"Shatter the hegemony."

After Zeng Xingyang used his influence to take down Pachulia from the league, Warriors fans completely hated him.

Of course, many fans who disliked the Nuggets were supporting the Cavaliers.

Having gradually reached the top, Zeng Xingyang no longer cared about these things.

No matter what he did, there would always be haters.

The Nuggets’ offense.

Zeng Xingyang dribbled to the front court, Jokic called for the ball in the low post, and Zeng Xingyang passed it over, then started moving and positioning.

When he came to the left, Butler and Gordon suddenly screened consecutively for Zeng Xingyang, who cut into the inside.

Jokic posted up TT and saw Zeng Xingyang cutting in, choosing to lob the ball up.

Love wasn’t well prepared, and Zeng Xingyang took off into the air, catching the ball from Jokic with one hand and slamming it down hard.

"Bang!"

Zeng Xingyang completed a poster dunk over Love.

to 14.

The score continued to widen.

Cavaliers fans felt the pressure.

Domestically, Nuggets fans were very excited.

"Haha, classic Zeng-Jokic connection."

"Jokic is the best passing big man in the NBA."

"So cool, the Cavaliers’ rim protection really can’t keep up."

"Only Jokic can feed the ball this comfortably."

"Zeng Xingyang could totally dominate the dunk contest."

"This dunk and alley-oop height is really awesome."

The fans gradually got used to Jokic feeding the whole team in this style of play.

Though being a center as the offensive core is rare, Jokic proved he has the ability.

In many cases on offense, it’s not Zeng Xingyang facilitating the team but more of Jokic organizing.

Despite Zeng Xingyang having many assists, often his direct threat gave his teammates scoring opportunities, when he had the ball it was either scoring or assisting.

Zeng Xingyang high-fived Jokic in celebration after landing.

The Cavaliers’ offense.

Owen dribbled to the frontcourt, finally managing to shake off Zeng Xingyang after several direction changes.

Breaking through on the right, with Zeng Xingyang closely following, Owen felt the pressure and passed to TT inside.

TT tried to post up Jokic, but this wasn’t his strength, and the Nuggets quickly came to double-team.

"Snap!"

Butler came over and successfully stole the ball.

After gaining control, Butler passed it to Zeng Xingyang.

James was sprinting back in defense, creating a one-on-one situation in the front court.

Zeng Xingyang versus James, one-on-one.

"Bang!"

"Bang!"

The fans in attendance stood up excitedly.

Zeng Xingyang charged towards the front court and with a euro-step moved past James.

James reacted quickly, but couldn’t help being passive on defense.

Facing James, Zeng Xingyang cautiously chose a layup over a dunk to finish.

"Bang!"

"Swoosh!"

The basketball bounced off the backboard and into the hoop.

to 16.

Nuggets fans continued to cheer.

The intensity shown by the Nuggets during this period was not comparable to the Cavaliers.

The Cavaliers’ offense.

James dribbled to the front court.

James indicated to calm down, not to rush.

James held some resentment towards Owen’s offense, knowing Zeng Xingyang’s defense was so strong, yet still initiating from that point, it was a huge detriment to the team’s offense.

Attacking from Zeng Xingyang’s side would not yield great results.

Owen realized his mistake this time, hence didn’t take over the offense.

James passed to Love, then moved to the left side.

After Love held the ball, he passed to JR Smith, and then came to screen.

JR Smith used Love’s screen to change direction and break in, with Gordon’s defense not aligning with Butler’s, creating an opening.

JR Smith’s runner shot during motion was successful.

to 16.

JR Smith has very strong scoring ability; on the court, he can finish whenever an opportunity arises.

This offensive slightly suppressed the Nuggets’ momentum.

Soon after, the Nuggets organized their offense smoothly, with Jokic, Gordon, and Butler consecutively passing the ball.

Zeng Xingyang reached the corner, creating a three-point opportunity.

Zeng Xingyang received the ball and jumped to shoot.

Butler was just about to celebrate early, but Zeng Xingyang signaled him not to.

As expected.

"Bang!"

This time Zeng Xingyang’s shot didn’t go in.

Zeng Xingyang rarely had such situations, but it wasn’t unheard of.

Butler took a deep breath, lucky he didn’t celebrate early, otherwise it would’ve been awkward.

Zeng Xingyang chuckled.

Just now he didn’t adjust his rhythm well, he knew it wasn’t going in as soon as he shot.

The rebound was taken by Love.

The Cavaliers’ offense.

Love passed the ball to James, who used TT’s screen to change direction and break, then flung the ball out to JR Smith.

Jokic switched to defend, and JR Smith halted to disrupt the rhythm, taking a three-point jump shot.

JR Smith can be streaky, very accurate sometimes, but misses when he’s off.

"Bang!"

This time Jokic didn’t give him much space, and the ball heavily bounced off the rim.

The rebound was grabbed by Zeng Xingyang.

At this moment, Jokic in the front court waved at Zeng Xingyang.

It turned out that after Jokic went to defend JR Smith, he hadn’t gone back but directly went for a fast break.

Zeng Xingyang didn’t hesitate, pushing the ball forcefully.

The long pass was on point, and Owen couldn’t stop it in time.

Jokic took a stride, finishing with a simple three-step layup over Owen.

to 18.

"Timeout!!"

Tyronn Lue called a stop to the game in exasperation.

The Nuggets’ offensive efficiency was too high; if the Cavaliers were even slightly unreasonable, a fast break would come.

Just now, only Zeng Xingyang had a turnover on one possession; every other possession resulted in almost all scores.

James was also very frustrated; the intensity on both offense and defense from the Nuggets was much higher than he had estimated before the game.

The first quarter ended quickly with the score locked at 20 to 35, giving the Nuggets a 15-point lead in the first quarter.

"Whoa, the Nuggets are too strong, the Cavaliers don’t seem to stand a chance."

"The Nuggets completely suppress the opponents in momentum."

"Owen got suppressed by Zeng Xingyang in one-on-one defense."

"Honestly, Owen’s one-on-one burst ability is strong, but physically he suffers against Zeng Xingyang."

"Yes, I feel skill-wise Owen did his best, but physically there’s nothing he can do."

"The Cavaliers won last year, this year it goes to the Nuggets."

Fans were discussing online.

The first quarter completely portrayed the different looks of both teams.

During the break, there was a different atmosphere between the two teams.

It was very cheerful on the Nuggets’ side, while very gloomy on the Cavaliers’.

The second quarter started soon, with the Cavaliers leaving Owen and JR on the court to lead, managing to withstand the Nuggets’ second-unit attack.

Zeng Xingyang and Jokic came back at 6:14, with the score being 35 to 46, and the Cavaliers having slightly cut into the lead.