Basketball's No. 1 Anti-Fan

Chapter 277 Garnett is a bad guy

After the warm-up, the scene entered the opening ceremony and the starting lineups of both sides were announced one after another.

Cavaliers: Irving, Hansen, Tucker, TT, Hawes
Lakers: Clarkson, Kobe, James, Frye, Mozgov

Whether Garnett will start tonight is a big concern for the outside world, because although he is old, he has always been a starter in the past, and the last time he was a substitute was in his rookie season.

However, Malone finally chose to end this record.

Garnett's career record is already brilliant enough. Just like Jordan never needed to set a record of scoring in double figures for 1225 consecutive games, Garnett doesn't need to prove anything for himself by starting consecutively.
Because that is essentially just wasting time in the company, and has nothing to do with the word great.

As for the Lakers, perhaps because the defense against Irving was not effective in the previous Christmas game, Jeremy Lin did not start for the team. He was replaced by Jordan Clarkson, the second-round pick selected by the Lakers this year.

Amid the cheers of the fans, Mozgov passed the ball back to the Lakers' half and the game between the two sides officially began.

The two teams have played against each other before and are already familiar with each other.

At the beginning of the game, Hansen was defending Kobe, and the Lakers' offense was initiated by James, who played pick-and-roll with Mozgov.

The Cavaliers chose to double-team James, but this time the defense was not successful.

Mozgov quickly cut in after the pick-and-roll, received the pass from James and slammed the ball into the basket over the assisting TT.

This ball fully demonstrated Mozgov's advantage.

Although his lateral movement is slow, his straight-line speed is not slow, and his explosive power is quite amazing. For such a big guy, he jumps like a bomber.

It is worthy of being a white bear produced by Russia.

However, this round showed more details of his pick-and-roll.

Generally, when players are rolling down the court after a pick-and-roll, they will choose to face the person with the ball, so that they can see the ball more accurately and then complete the attack by receiving the ball.

But Mozgov did the opposite. After blocking the ball, he immediately turned around to face the basket and went down as soon as possible.

This method can greatly improve the ability to catch the ball as long as the ball holder is good at passing the ball.

The Lakers took the lead and won cheers from the audience.

Because Bosh is out for the season, the Rockets' competitiveness has declined, and the Nike teams in the West now depend on the Lakers.

However, before the cheers from the audience had died down, Irving returned the favor, breaking through Mozgov and scoring with a change of direction jump shot after a pick-and-roll with Hoyes.

Mozgov's weakness of slow lateral movement was also exposed, and he didn't even have time to make a defensive move against Irving.

Four minutes into the game, the score was 9 to 8, with the Cavaliers leading.

Mozgov's offensive threat was underestimated, and the Lakers had enough whistles tonight, with 8 of their 4 points coming from free throws.

But Irving was in good shape, making 4 of 3 shots in the opening period and scoring 6 points.

James broke through Hawes and caused the latter's second personal foul, and stood on the free throw line again.

At this time, there was a short whistle on the sidelines and Garnett came on to replace Hawes.

There was a burst of boos from the audience.

It was a recognition from a long-time enemy.

James made one of two free throws and the two teams tied.

Turning around, Kobe started switching defense to Irving.

The Lakers' purpose of starting Clarkson is to limit Irving, but Irving now gets excited when playing against the Lakers.

Hansen held the ball in the frontcourt and Garnett set up a pick-and-roll.

Garnett is not as heavy as Hawes, but the quality of his pick-and-roll is much better than Hawes.

He lowered his center of gravity to give Mozgov a solid pick-and-roll, then quickly broke away and bounced out to the free throw line.

Because Hansen's offensive threat was big enough, when Hansen broke through, the Lakers had no choice but to chase him with two men following behind.

It was at this time that the Lakers showed their defensive targeting of Hansen.

They didn't just double-team him, they stretched out their entire bodies to cover Han Sen, blocking his view of the ball.

But that didn't work. Hansen suddenly slowed down and put some distance between himself and the two men, then passed the ball from behind to Garnett.

This pass caused exclamations from the audience, and the other Lakers players on the court were completely unable to react.

After receiving the ball, Garnett looked around and saw that no one was rushing towards him, then he made his signature iron-blooded jump shot from the free throw line.

"Shh!"

The basketball goes hollow into the net.

His first point in his Cavaliers career came much sooner than expected.

But this is what I said before, his skills will not disappear with age.

Garnett took the initiative to high-five Hansen while retreating.

His jump shot is still there, provided that the pass from Hansen is good enough.

He now has no explosive power, and it is difficult for him to be stable in his shots under confrontation.

James holds the ball and continues to pick and roll with Mozgov.

Mozgov's pick-and-roll was still solid, and James played against Garnett in a mismatch.

James knocked Garnett away during his breakthrough, but he hesitated and did not shoot the first time. By the time he shot the second time, Garnett had already stood firm, and when he saw the right moment, he blocked his shot and hit the backboard.

The ball flew out of the court, and the Lakers still had the ball, but Garnett was already beating his chest and roaring.

And after yelling, he walked over to TT and bumped his chest with him passionately.

At this moment, the fans saw a glimpse of the shadow of the Wolf King of the past.

TT was so excited by Garnett's words that he also roared.

Garnett really talks trash, but he is also really passionate on the court.

The Lakers' sideline ball was sent out, and James chose to back down Tucker, then turned around and broke through to the basket. However, after seeing Garnett coming to assist in defense, he gave up the opportunity to score at such close range and passed the ball to Kobe on the outside.

There were only 3 seconds left when Kobe received the ball, and he failed to make the shot as he was trying to defuse the bomb against Hansen.

There was a commotion in the place.

It is somewhat incredible that the 39-year-old Garnett can still defend James continuously.

But it is obvious that the problem lies with James himself.

I don’t know if it was because seeing Garnett reminded him of the Celtics back then, or because he was beaten by Hansen in recent years, he obviously didn’t play with enough confidence.

Had he been a little more resolute, coupled with the severity of the penalty tonight, the outcome would have been completely different.

But the interesting thing is that after defusing the bomb, Kobe did not complain about James' actions.

Kobe would pull James aside to talk about this and that because of his defensive problems, but for a ball like this that defuses the bomb, he should just feel that he missed the opportunity.

From this perspective, James and Kobe playing on the same team is a perfect match.

Hansen continued to set pick-and-roll with Garnett. This time, the Lakers did not dare to let Garnett go. Hansen resolutely broke through, scored a layup over Mozgov, and caused the latter to commit a foul.

Kobe was very angry at this time, and he pulled Mozgov aside to give him a lecture.

The general meaning is that either don't foul, or if you do foul, foul harder and don't give Han Sen the chance to get 2+1.

Why did Jordan receive so many flagrant fouls back then?

Because ordinary fouls basically cannot achieve tactical goals, they will only allow Jordan to score a goal and put him on the free throw line.

Han Sen prepared to impose additional penalties.

At this time, James started chatting with Garnett on the same side. "You shouldn't have gone to Cleveland, that caused you a lot of criticism." James seemed to be concerned about Garnett, but in fact he was playing with the latter's mentality, and his trash talk level rose to a higher level.

"That's your fault." Garnett bent down.

Under James's somewhat puzzled gaze, the referee had already passed the ball to Hansen.

"If you were in Cleveland, I wouldn't go there." Garnett interrupted James.

"when!"

Han Sen's free throw went wide.

Garnett's trash talk made Hansen unable to hold back.

He took back what he said before, Garnett was indeed a bad guy!
Fortunately, Garnett found a good position and successfully grabbed the offensive rebound.

He wanted a second attack, but he didn't have the explosiveness to do it, and Frye had already come to help defend, so he could only pass the ball back to Hansen.

However, Han Sen's reaction this time was unexpected. He did not catch the ball, but used a very volleyball-like bouncing motion to hit the ball towards TT on the blue background.

This is a display of extreme fingertip ball control.

The Lakers' defensive players were attracted by Garnett first, and now they rushed towards Hansen, and TT was completely missed.

TT picked up the ball and dunked it with both hands with great force.

After landing, he folded his arms and roared excitedly, venting all the excitement that Garnett had just brought up.

Suddenly, with Garnett on the court, the Cavaliers became a passionate team.

The biggest change brought about by this emotional change is defense.

The Cavaliers have not been a very good defensive team this season, but now their defensive enthusiasm on the court is at full capacity.

This is the value that Garnett can bring beyond his ability.

Mozgov's pick-and-roll sent Garnett to James again.

James did not choose to break through, but instead stopped and took a mid-range shot.

Garnett dived hard for the ball, although he couldn't block it, but James's shot was obviously short, and in the end he missed all three shots!
TT struggled to block Mozgov, and Hansen recovered to the basket and grabbed the defensive rebound.

After landing, he quickly launched a defensive counterattack.

Kobe defended Hansen from the backcourt all the way to the frontcourt.

When it was almost time to reach the free throw line, Hansen passed the ball to Kobe with a dish-like movement.

After Kobe's attention was drawn to the ball, he pulled the ball back and passed it to the other side without looking at anyone.

Irving followed up with a layup.

17:9.

The Cavaliers went on an 8-0 run after Garnett came on the court.

The Lakers called a timeout.

There was an uproar at the scene, not only because of the Cavaliers' past offensive climax, but also because of the LED big screen replaying Hansen's pass just now.

They had seen that kind of control over the ball before in this gym.

The person who made that move was called "Magic" Johnson!
Han Sen already possesses the ultimate scoring ability, and now he can make passes of this level. How can anyone defend against him?
Does he really need to use his gentle heart to influence Han Sen, just like Lakers head coach Byron Scott did when he defended Jordan?

When Han Sen scores a goal, say "Good shot, Han" to Han Sen; when Han Sen passes a good ball, say "Good pass, Han" to Han Sen?
After the timeout, James looked very unhappy.

Everyone's attention was drawn to Hansen's pass just now, and no one noticed that during the timeout just now, Kobe had "encouraged" James in his own way on the bench.

James played obviously more aggressively after coming on. He broke through Garnett and caused the latter to foul.

Kobe walked up to him and tapped his chest to encourage him, and James' confidence was obviously boosted.

James has two free throw opportunities.

"Kobe, are you going to beat us with ten times the free throws?"

When Han Sen heard this, he couldn't hold it back again and laughed out loud.

Garnett's words were a double kill.

Kobe is the one who disdains using free throws to win games. When the Lakers and Grizzlies played in the playoffs, the referee openly helped 8 vs. 5, and Kobe didn't even try to draw a foul.

But the opposite is true for James. His performance will be greatly reduced without the whistle.

So this is not only an attack on Kobe, but also an attack on James.

Bad, Garnett is really bad.

"when!"

James was obviously affected and missed the first free throw.

At this time, Han Sen spoke:

"Kevin, ten times is impossible. They'll blow a few insignificant balance whistles in the fourth quarter. You know, not everyone will watch the game."

This time it was Garnett's turn to laugh.

"when!"

James' second free throw missed.

Missing both free throws is equivalent to a turnover.

It was only then that Kobe realized that Garnett's joining the Cavaliers did not bring a change in strength, or even a change in morale, but rather two trash-talking superstars teaming up.

This concerted effort directly caused tons of psychological damage to the opponent.

Garnett protected the defensive rebound, the Cavaliers launched a defensive counterattack, Hansen made another wonderful pass in the fast break, Irving did not seize the opportunity this time and his shot went wide, but Hansen followed up and completed the tip-in.

In the blink of an eye, the score difference between the two sides has reached double digits.

Kobe finally couldn't help it. He started to use pick-and-roll to run. After receiving the ball, he broke into the inside and caused Garnett to commit a defensive foul.

At this time, the large LED screen on the scene gave a comparison of the number of fouls committed by both sides tonight.

Including Kobe's two free throws, the Lakers have already made 10 free throws in the first quarter tonight.

In contrast, the Cavaliers only had one free throw, which was the extra free throw that Hansen just missed.

This time it's really 10 to 1!
"This is bullshit! You can't whistle like that, you'll make the Lakers players look like bitches!" Even O'Neal, a Lakers legend, couldn't stand it anymore in the commentary booth.

He could understand why the referees made biased calls tonight. After all, Nike's hopes in the Western Conference now rest on the Lakers.

But this is too extreme.

"You should let the referee wear a Lakers jersey and directly announce that the Lakers won." O'Neal then complained.

"They want to, too." Barkley began to agree at this time.
"Believe me, they wanted to, but the point is the Lakers couldn't do it tonight."

Barkley said, pointing to the scoreboard.

Before Kobe's free throw, the Lakers were still trailing by 10 points.

Shooting ten times the free throws but trailing by 10 points, the Lakers are making history tonight.

-Dividing line-

①: Garnett started 1381 consecutive games, second only to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (1560) and Karl Malone (1443), ranking third in history.

(End of this chapter)