Basketball's No. 1 Anti-Fan

Chapter 272 The Real Ball-Holding Core

The American Airlines Arena was bustling that night.

Although this is just a regular season game, the mood of Heat fans today is exactly the same as that of Knicks fans back then. When they have the opportunity to witness the home team win against the man who has always defeated them, they will never miss it.

Heat President Pat Riley was also present.

He is the one who is most looking forward to tonight's game.

When he was the head coach, he was helpless against Jordan. When he became the president, he was suppressed by Han Sen and could not turn things around. If Han Sen had not been traded by the Grizzlies, he would have chosen to retire last summer.

This year, there is no reason for the Heat to lose to this Cavaliers team.

If he loses again, he will probably just resign and hang Hansen's No. 77 jersey over the American Airlines Arena, just like he did to Jordan.

Because it is a focus battle, the Big Three of TNT also came to broadcast live tonight.

The three made their predictions before the game. O'Neal and Kenny Smith were more optimistic about the Heat, and even Barkley restrained his tone:
"Han has been exhausted in the past week. The Cavaliers need to play some above-average games to win tonight."

When he said this, the camera was focused on Han Sen who was warming up.

Han Sen flexed his knuckles, but unlike what many people imagined, his face showed not only a look of relaxation but also an eagerness to try.

No one knows where his confidence comes from, but Heat fans who saw this scene suddenly felt that the game was not so stable.

After the opening ceremony, the starting lineups of the two teams were announced one after another.

Cavaliers: Irving, Hansen, Tucker, TT, Hawes
Heat: Wade, Sefolosha, Durant, Deng, Gasol

The Heat also went through a relatively long period of running-in at the beginning of the season, and the current lineup is their highest winning rate this season.

Accompanied by the expectant cheers of the fans, Gasol pushed the ball back to the Heat's half, Wade dribbled the ball forward, and the game officially began.

When Gasol arrived at the frontcourt, he turned his back to the basket and held the ball on the right side of the free throw line to initiate the attack.

The Heat's decision to let Bosh go and sign Gasol in the summer proved to be a very successful move.

Gasol averaged 18.5 points per game this season, the most since the 2010-2011 season. In addition, he averaged 11.8 rebounds and 5.3 assists per game, both of which set career highs. He even averaged 2 blocks per game.

Spoelstra gave him the fullest trust, and what he gave back to Spoelstra was the second spring of his career.

The Cavaliers did not double-team the opponent in the opening period. After Gasol made his signature back-to-the-basket move and looked left and right, he turned around and broke through to the basket.

Hoyes's ability to fight was average, so he was directly knocked away by him, and then watched him put the ball into the basket.

In this era where there are not many super centers, Gasol can have physical advantages even when playing center.

The Heat took the lead at the start.

Coming back, Irving was attacking with the ball. Facing Wade, he continuously changed direction to break through the opponent. After encountering Deng's help defense, he chose to make an early jump shot, but he failed to hit the target due to the interference of Deng's early jump.

The Heat's current starting lineup is similar to the Heat's Big Three during James' time, and Deng plays the same role on defense as James did before, assisting in defense and sweeping the court.

It’s just that because Gasol has excellent organizational skills, they can replace Chalmers with Sefolosha in the backcourt, making the overall defensive strength stronger.

Gasol continued to hold the ball in the frontcourt. This time he and Durant played a hand-to-hand tactic. After receiving the ball, Durant jumped directly and made a dry shot.

He had a verbal fight with Han Sen yesterday, and he was full of energy tonight.

Of course, more importantly, and different from the James era, the offensive firepower of the Heat's starting lineup is much more ferocious.

The game lasted more than 4 minutes and the score was 3 to 12.

Irving's ball handling ability still needs to be improved, and his condition is obviously not as good as in the Christmas game against the Lakers.

However, compared with the offensive end, the Cavaliers' greater difficulty comes from the defensive end. The Heat not only have more scoring points, but also a lot of coordination. It is difficult to defend all of them at the same time.

It can be seen from the beginning that Spoelstra has made sufficient preparations. The Heat's offense is mostly launched from the other side where Hansen is, and the tactics are as simple as possible to not give Hansen any chance to assist in defense.

After this opening game, the Heat fans who had been hanging on their hands at the start of the game finally felt relieved.

If Hansen was still on the Grizzlies, perhaps they would still need to worry, but the Cavaliers' lineup is clearly not strong enough.

Steady, steady.

"Even if Michael joins the Cavaliers, they can't beat the Heat." Kenny Smith made a very rational analysis.

"But Han is the one who will surpass Michael." Although Barkley did not have much confidence in the Cavaliers, Hansen was the source of his confidence.

At this time, Han Sen started to hold the ball and play pick-and-roll with TT.

After TT broke the ball and passed it to the basket, Hansen directly chose to take a mid-range shot.

He shot the ball so cleanly that even Deng, who was on switch defense, had no time to react.

Because TT's cut-in is threatening, Sefolosha must follow, and there will be a gap for shooting in between.

"Shh!"

Han Sen made the shot steadily. This undisturbed mid-range shot was almost like giving him a free point.

In fact, contrary to what the outside world imagines, Hansen's explosive scores in the past three games were not all due to his competition with American fans.

That was indeed the case in the game against the Celtics. He even scored 58 points before leaving the game just to create some hype.

But after the game against Thunder, Han Sen's understanding of the tactical system of One Star Four Shooting has changed.

In past games, he would first break through and pass the ball when he had the ball, allowing his teammates to find their touch first. After all, whether he can shoot from the outside determines whether the tactic runs smoothly.

But now, he will prioritize scoring himself, forcing opponents to double-team earlier or more thoroughly, giving his teammates better space and opportunities to shoot.

Because from the shooter's perspective, the biggest difference between being excellent and being top-notch is the shooting stability under interference.

Top shooters like Klay Thompson, Ray Allen, and Curry all have strong long-range shooting capabilities that are resistant to interference.

Unfortunately, these teammates are hard to come by.

In comparison, other excellent shooters can guarantee their hit rates as long as they are not disturbed or are only slightly disturbed.

Hansen will also pass the ball selectively when he breaks through. For teams like Tucker and Irving, who have a good grasp of open three-point shots this season, he will pass the ball to them first.

However, the Cavaliers' defense was indeed a little behind, and Deng used an open cut to cause a defensive foul by Hawes.

Malone made a somewhat unexpected adjustment at this time. He replaced Hawes with JR.

Malone's intention of adjustment at this time is also very obvious. He wants to improve the team's defensive rotation.

However, after this substitution, the average height of the Cavaliers on the field dropped sharply, and TT will face great pressure in the interior.

This is also the first time this season that the Cavaliers have put out such a lineup. It can be seen that Malone was forced into a corner by the Heat's offensive firepower.

Deng made both free throws, and then Hansen changed his offensive style and used his back to attack Sefolosha.

The Cavaliers' lineup is shorter, but has more space.

Sefolosha was able to hold off Hansen, but Hansen turned around and faked a shot, then turned back and made a breakthrough layup, causing damage.

Sefolosha's defense on this ball was good enough. He was not shaken by Hansen. However, Hansen was not someone who could be defended by one person at the moment.

Hansen’s quick attacking style put a lot of pressure on the Heat’s defense.

Unless they provided assistance earlier, they would not be able to stop Han Sen's offensive desire.

"From a certain perspective, there is inertia in scoring. Han has consumed a lot of energy in a week's game, but he still maintains the desire to score." Barkley's confidence is constantly increasing.

Spoelstra also stood up from the bench and stood on the sidelines. He felt Hansen's desire to score tonight. Hansen made two free throws. After the offense and defense switched, the Cavaliers defended the Heat's attack.

They also took advantage of the situation to launch a defensive counterattack. Hansen made a ground pass in the fast break, assisting Irving to follow up with a layup.

This lineup of the Cavaliers is actually somewhat similar to the Warriors' "Death Five". The rotation speed on the defensive end is faster, and as long as they can defend, the chances of scoring through counterattacks will be great.

9 to 14, the score difference was suddenly narrowed to 5 points.

Spoelstra called a timeout.

"If the Miami Heat can make it to the finals again, this may be a preview of their game against the Warriors," Kenny Smith analyzed.

"If the Heat really make it to the finals, they will be the champions because three-point shooting can't win championships," Barkley immediately retorted.

"Charles is right, jump shots can't win championships." O'Neal rarely shared the same opinion as Barkley.

After the timeout, the Heat adjusted their offense, with Gasol launching the attack in the low post.

TT's defense was very tough, and Gasol did not have much advantage in the confrontation, but he immediately scored with a hook shot over TT's head.

Although Green is annoying, his confrontation combined with his arm span can cause strong interference to the opponent's inside line, which TT cannot do.

Gasol scored to help the Heat maintain their momentum. In turn, the Heat also adopted an early double-team defense against Hansen.

But what no one expected was that Hansen used a classic Rondo move, a fake behind-the-back pass to get past the defense.

Of course, unlike Rondo, Hansen has better explosive power. After passing the defense, he took off on the spot and performed a one-handed rim-shot.

11:16.

Still a 5-point difference.

But more importantly, when Hansen started holding the ball, he scored 6 points in a row.

"What do you think winning the All-Star vote means to a player?" O'Neal asked.

Han Sen's recent crazy scoring is not directly related to losing the All-Star vote lead, but it started because of that incident.

"Nothing." Barkley's answer was simple.

"It means he is very popular and well-liked." Kenny Smith's answer was more rational and pertinent.

"But that's all." Barkley said lightly.

The Heat's offense was still unstoppable. Gasol's low-post attack attracted help defense, but he immediately made a wonderful pass and assisted Sefolosha to score a three-pointer from the outside.

Maybe Barkley is right. If the Heat make it to the finals, they will win their first championship in the Big Three era.

Because when the five-small lineup cannot defend its position, its speed cannot be increased.

Looking back, the Heat continued to double-team in advance, and this time it was more thorough.

Hansen once again pulled the ball behind him with his right hand, but this time he did not fake a pass. Instead, he used his left elbow to assist in a "white chocolate" elbow pass and passed the ball to Tucker in the strong side corner.

This immediately caused a burst of exclamations from the audience. This was definitely the most exciting pass of the night, no, this season!
Tucker got the ball and got a completely open opportunity.

Just as Hansen expected, his consecutive scores forced the Heat to double-team him, allowing shooters to get better shooting opportunities from the outside.

Tucker did not waste this opportunity. He made a three-pointer after a slight adjustment.

Tucker was very excited after scoring the goal, and he high-fived Hansen while retreating.

Or maybe he was very nervous just now, because if he missed the ball, he would be committing a crime.

The Heat's offense was defended again.

And this time the defense was even more surprising than before.

Gasol was double-teamed and passed the ball to Wade.

Wade faked a shot from outside the three-point line and then actually broke through, but JR not only didn't get fooled, he also blocked the ball when he broke through, and then Irving quickly grabbed the ball.

JR's defense was obviously not good enough to defend against Wade. Wade obviously did not expect this shot, or he underestimated his opponent.

The Cavaliers once again launched a defensive counterattack.

After losing the ball, Wade chased after Irving all the way and jumped up to block him.

The ball was not blocked, but he successfully interfered with Irving, causing his shot to miss.

But just as he was about to jump to catch the ball, he felt a sudden darkness above his head.

"Oh!"

Han Sen's follow-up dunk directly pushed Wade out of the baseline!

16:19.

For the first time since the start of the game, the Cavaliers narrowed the gap to one goal.

The Heat fans, who had originally felt that the game was secure, now felt a sense of distress.

You said that Han Sen has left the Grizzlies, so why can't you let them win for once!

Gasol's early turnaround hook shot in the low post missed, and he wanted to tip in the ball, but found that the rebound had been recovered by Tucker.

Tucker currently plays as a forward-guard swingman, but his rebounding ability is top-notch at this position.

His end is still a space-type power forward in the small ball era.

The scene fell into a state of chaos. This was the first time tonight that the Heat failed to score in consecutive attacks.

It is obvious that under Hansen's leadership, the Cavaliers' confidence and morale have risen.

In the Cavaliers' frontcourt position, Hansen once again pulled the ball behind him after a breakthrough that attracted an early double-team.

At this moment, the remaining eight people on the field became nervous, because no one knew what choice Han Sen would make this time.

It was a simple behind-the-back pass, and the ball went into JR's hands. He was the only one besides Hansen who wasn't nervous.

People with strange ways of thinking don't know what tension is.

Wade tried to return to defense, but just like Deng encountered before, it was too late.

Han Sen passed the ball to the person with the best shooting space.

"Shh!"

With a crisp sound, JR's three-pointer also fell.

19 flat!
The Cavaliers went on a 16-7 offensive climax to tie the score!

The LED big screen showed Han Sen's performance tonight, 8 points and 3 assists.

And he had done this in just the past five minutes.

The lower limit of the one-star four-ray system is low, but the upper limit is high. It all depends on the personal ability of the core.

If we really want to compare, the Cavaliers' lineup this season is not much different from the Knicks' lineup last season, but the results of their performance cannot be said to be different, it can only be said to be a world of difference.

(End of this chapter)