Chapter 216: Encouraging teammates, Wang Yan hides his strength
It's so rare that the Cavaliers got off to a dream start at home.

The Pacers are indeed very strong this season and have the momentum of being a new upstart in the league.

Wang Yan signaled to his teammates, asking everyone not to panic.

This is a challenge for the Knights.

We cannot just focus on a few traditional strong teams, other teams may also be dark horses.

For example, last year's Warriors confused all the teams in the Western Conference.

Although the Pacers had such a good start, Wang Yan did not step up.

Instead, he passed the ball to his teammates more often.

This is a great opportunity to train your teammates!
Wang Yan focused on defense and left the offense to Irving and Jamison.

Owen did not disappoint Wang Yan.

He started the crazy attack mode again, repeatedly rushed into the restricted area, either making a layup himself or passing the ball to TT.

The effect is good.

After more than 5 minutes of the first quarter, the score was 12:11, with the Pacers leading by 1 points.

On the Pacers side, there were many scoring points. Paul George scored 5 points, Stephenson 2 points, Hibbert 2 points, and Hill 3 points.

There are advantages and disadvantages to a team with many scoring points.

The good thing is that if things get dark in one direction, there will be light in the other. We can achieve good results in the regular season and the players can maintain overall health.

The disadvantage is that in the playoffs, at the crucial moment of the fight, there is no one who can stand up and score.

For example, one year the Hawks had the best record in the regular season and five players were selected into the All-Star Game, making them the talk of the town.

But in the playoffs, they were defeated by the Cavaliers led by James.

Four 2s are still not as good as one king.

. . . .

Enter the official suspension.

Wang Yan was very satisfied with the performance of other teammates and gave each of them a high five to encourage them.

"Good job guys, you can do it!"

Owen was even more excited.

He is actually very competitive and has his own little ideas.

The media and fans all believe that the Cavaliers are Wang Yan's team. Although Irving is the second-in-command, they all believe that he does not have the ability to lead the team alone.

Facts have also proved that in the few games when Wang Yan was resting, Irving's performance was indeed average.

It's hard to lead the team to victory.

Irving is at least a high-ranking player in the draft with superb skills.

So he has been working hard to improve his overall abilities.

The timeout ends and the game continues.

The Pacers made adjustments. They found that Wang Yan was not exerting his strength, so they did not focus their defense on Wang Yan, but on other players.

So in the next few rounds, Irving's scoring efficiency began to decline.

Only then did Irving realize that it was Wang Yan who had shared the defensive pressure.

On the Pacers side, Paul George frequently attacked Jamison and succeeded every time.

After all, Jamison is a little older and cannot beat the young and energetic Paul George.

Not only was he repeatedly called out by Paul George, but he also committed two fouls.

Scott had no choice but to temporarily replace Jamison.

At the end of the first quarter, the score was 27:24, and the Pacers overtook by 3 points.

Paul George scored 16 points in the first quarter, which was very brave.

Wang Yan only scored 7 points in the first quarter, but provided 3 assists.

Although Irving also scored 14 points, his hit rate dropped significantly in the second half of the first quarter, and his turnovers increased. Wang Yan had a psychological expectation for the score, that is, if it did not exceed 10 points, he would not take a shot for the time being.

Of course, the opponent knows it too.

At the beginning of the second quarter, both teams' substitutes fought fiercely.

The core of the Pacers' bench is two veterans, Scola and Granger.

Many Chinese fans must be familiar with Scola, as he has been a teammate of Yao Ming and Yao Ming on the Rockets for many years.

Scola is a representative player of floor flow. He has flexible footwork and delicate techniques. He is a very special scorer at the power forward position.

When Argentina won the World Cup, Scola and Ginobili were the two main contributors.

Although he is older this season, he has not suffered any serious injuries and there is no problem for him to play as a substitute for more than 20 minutes.

As the former leader of the Pacers, Granger's skills are beyond doubt.

Therefore, under the leadership of these two players, plus Turner, Watson and other strong players, the Pacers' bench is very strong.

More than four minutes into the second quarter, the Pacers took the lead again.

Both sides replaced their main lineups again.

The Cavaliers fans were anxious because they knew Wang Yan would exert his strength in the second half of the second quarter, so all the audience stood up and shouted Wang Yan's name.

Wang Yan took off his coat, stood on the sidelines, and high-fived the substitute players to encourage them.

Although they have never played against the Pacers' bench players, it is not their fault. After all, the Pacers' bench lineup is top-notch in the entire league.

Especially Scola, who scored 7 points in the second quarter.

His footwork is too difficult to defend.

After Wang Yan came on the court, the number of shots increased.

Although Hibbert tried to attack Wang Yan all over and West was always helping in defense, Wang Yan made both of them dizzy by constantly moving, stopping suddenly and breaking free.

Irving also performed very well. When Wang Yan was occasionally double-teamed, he was able to step forward, receive the pass from Wang Yan and score quickly!
Basketball is a team sport after all, and the improvement of teammates is a necessary condition for winning the championship!

The Cavaliers took the lead again and the Pacers coach called a timeout in a hurry.

Even though everyone knew that Wang Yan would explode in the second quarter, no team could stop him!

Irving has improved again this season, putting the Pacers under great pressure.

Wang Yan was the first to rush towards Irving and bumped his chest with him to celebrate.

This scene is a bit funny. After all, there is such a big height difference that Wang Yan didn't dare to use too much force for fear of knocking Irving away.

It will be quite difficult for the Cavaliers to win three consecutive championships this season.

In NBA history, there are many teams that have won two consecutive championships, but only a few have won three consecutive championships.

In fact, there is some slackness within the Cavaliers.

But Wang Yan has been encouraging his teammates through his leadership ability.

He will tell each player the development direction and room for improvement during training.

In addition, Wang Yan often gives gifts to his teammates.

Of course, Wang Yan didn’t have to pay for most of the gifts himself. As long as he said a word, the suppliers would happily deliver the gifts.

For example, on Butler’s last birthday, Wang Yan gave him a limited edition Rolex watch, which was given by the Rolex manufacturer and was worth more than $30.

Not only the main players, but also the water cooler players and even the players with short contracts of ten days, Wang Yan can take care of them.

Who doesn’t love a boss like this!
After the timeout, the Pacers suddenly changed their defensive formation and adopted a zone defense.

The NBA has been making progress, and its defensive rules are closer to those of FIBA, allowing the use of zone defense.

However, zone defense has very high requirements on players' personal abilities and team tacit understanding.

Defense is the main reason why the Pacers are ranked in the first tier of the Eastern Conference this season.

Their zone defense is very threatening, and many teams with strong offense have a hard time against the Pacers.

(End of this chapter)