292. Equalize
The second quarter game almost became the rhythm of the Cleveland Cavaliers. If it weren't for the New York Knicks star Cameron Anthony's form, the outstanding level of the first quarter, then maybe at the end of the second quarter, the Cleveland Cavaliers would have equalized or even surpassed the score gap between the two sides!
Although this didn't happen in the end, the New York fans who came to Madison Garden Square tonight were still very dissatisfied with the result of such a half-game ending.
For them, the Cleveland Cavaliers tied the lead at the end of the half, which was definitely an unbearable thing for them to feel. Because after the start of this game, the New York Knicks' advantage at home was extremely huge.
From the beginning of the game, they quickly established an advantage and continued until the second quarter. Although the Cleveland Cavaliers had counterattacked several times in the middle, every time the New York Knicks were able to withstand Cameron Anthony's help, the only last time...
The New York Knicks were unable to withstand the Cleveland Cavaliers' counterattack in the last quarter, and then they could only watch the Cleveland Cavaliers, who were on the back side, slowly chasing the lagging score difference bit by bit!
Until the end of the second quarter, the score had already become 56:56!
The two teams tied. When the New Yorkers got a 12:0 lead at the beginning, they must have never expected that they would be tied tenaciously by the Clevelanders at the end of the half!
However, all of this is still attributed to Wu Dawei. As the core of the Cleveland Cavaliers, Wu Dawei continued his extremely outstanding form since his comeback. Wu Dawei scored a high score of 29 points in the first half!
In addition, Wu Dawei also performed 4 assists and 7 rebounds, and also contributed 5 steals and 2 blocks to the Cleveland Cavaliers on the defensive end.
It is precisely because of Wu Dawei's continued performance that the Cleveland Cavaliers were able to gain such a great advantage from the second quarter game and chased back the behind points step by step.
It is certainly not easy for the Cleveland Cavaliers to equalize the score at the end of the second quarter, because you should know that the person who performed very well tonight is not just Wu Dawei, but the star of the New York Knicks, Cameron Anthony, also performed very well.
At the end of the first half, Cameron Anthony scored 24 points alone, although not as high as Wu Dawei's score. However, the 24-point score in the halftime is also extremely terrifying. Just a few points away from reaching Cameron Anthony's average score this season!
Although Cameron Anthony's 10 points at the start were not Wu Dawei defending, after he scored 10 points in a row to lead the home court, the New York Knicks, who scored 10 points in a row, made a 12-0 offensive at the beginning, Cleveland Cavaliers' head coach Byron Scott, appointed Wu Dawei to be responsible for defending Cameron Anthony's offense.
Although after Wu Dawei replaced the defense to defend Cameron Anthony, Cameron Anthony's attack efficiency on the offensive end was indeed not as high as when he scored 10 points in a row, he still scored 14 points under Wu Dawei's defense for more than a quarter!
This is still a very outstanding number, and the shooting percentage is close to 50%! All of this shows Cameron Anthony's condition in this game tonight and his current strength.
Although Cameron Anthony is still at a disadvantage in comparison of the data of the two, he is at least no longer as he did when he fought in the past. He was completely defeated by Wu Dawei in all aspects.
Under Wu Dawei's defense, Cameron Anthony can still play superstar-like data. This is enough to show that Cameron Anthony has also made great progress. At least in the confrontation with Wu Dawei, he will no longer be as powerless as before. On the contrary, he can often make Wu Dawei feel helpless on the defensive end!
These ensure the advantages that the New York Knicks have gained in this game tonight, but the only regret is that they have not been able to maintain such an advantage, and in the end, the Cleveland Cavaliers, who played away, tied the score at the last moment.
56:56 can be said to be a high-scoring game. Both sides have extremely strong firepower on the offensive end, so naturally their defense cannot be called good. For the New York Knicks, they are not a team with excellent defense, but for the Cleveland Cavaliers, the team's head coach Byron Scott will not be satisfied with the team's performance in the first half.
Although it was not easy for them to go from being behind the double-digit score to equalizing the score at the end of the half-time game. However, Byron Scott, as the team's head coach, was still very dissatisfied with the team's performance!
Because if such a half-time score is converted into the score of the whole game, it will be a loss of up to 112 points! This is definitely a very bad result for a team that ranks at the middle and upper levels of the league and has been in the top 10 of the league since the beginning of the second half of the season!
So this was something Byron Scott felt unacceptable, but he was still very satisfied with the team's efforts in the first half. From falling behind at the beginning to chasing hard and tying the gap in scores at the end of the half, it was really not easy for the Cleveland Cavaliers.
And obviously the team's head coach who is more angry now should be Mike Woodson, the head coach of the New York Knicks who plays at home. For him, the team will be equalized by the opponent at the end of the first half with such an excellent start. This result will make him feel even more unacceptable.
Looking at the 29 points Wu Dawei scored in the half game, Mike Woodson would definitely feel worried about his team's prospects in the second half. Because no one in his team could withstand Wu Dawei. The only Cameron Anthony who can compete with Wu Dawei is not a very outstanding defender on the defensive end.
So Mike Woodson may be able to count on Cameron Anthony to continue to perform a super-strong personal performance show on the offensive end in the second half, but on the defensive end of the New York Knicks, Mike Woodson is going to worry about who will be responsible for defending Wu Dawei, who has already scored 29 points in the half.
And for Mike Woodson, the things he needs to worry about are not just about Wu Dawei and Dwight Howard scored 10 points and 12 rebounds in the half-time game, which is also a huge threat to the New York Knicks.
Because Dwight Howard's rebounds can always create more opportunities for the Cleveland Cavaliers to make quick attacks and second attacks in transition, all of which are the biggest reasons why the Cleveland Cavaliers can launch a large counterattack in the second quarter.
If these two problems cannot be solved well in the second half of the game, it will become very difficult for the New York Knicks to win this game tonight!
Mike Woodson and Cameron Anthony hope to win this game tonight. After all, the Miami Heat, currently ranked behind them, is now aggressive in catching up with them.
If you cannot win this game tonight, then for the New York Knicks, it will naturally give the Miami people a chance to catch up with them!
This is not what Mike Woodson wants to see, so when the Cleveland Cavaliers caught up, Mike Woodson also felt very nervous.
The result of the equal division at the end of the first half was that both sides were not divided, which meant that after the start of the second half, the Cleveland Cavaliers will continue to fight from the same starting line with the New York Knicks!
In fact, even so, the New York Knicks are not a disadvantage, and they still have the advantage of this home game. However, because the fierce momentum of the Cleveland Cavaliers in the second half of the second quarter made Mike Woodson and his New York Knicks feel lingering fears, they will feel even more frustrated and depressed about the scores they are caught up with.
The great advantages are naturally aroused that every New Yorker feels extremely depressed. When they made such a huge advantage in the first quarter, they once thought that this game might become very simple, but obviously the reality will never coincide with the expected situation.
The New Yorkers quickly returned to reality, and now, after the fifteen-minute halftime break, they have to face a Cleveland Cavaliers who scored 29 points in the half and had nine consecutive victories before that.
Facing such a team, no one dares to promise that they will definitely win. (To be continued...)
Chapter completed!