Basketball's No. 1 Anti-Fan

Chapter 304 45° Slash but Plus Version
"I'm going to get it this season," James shot back, taking off his braces.

"I believe it." Han Sen looked like he deserved a beating.

"You don't think you can really succeed in Cleveland?" James said angrily.

"What do you think?"

Han Sen's smiling expression made James not know how to answer.

Fortunately, the referee's whistle interrupted the conversation between the two.

The Lakers served the ball in the frontcourt, and with little time left to attack, Kobe ran over to receive the ball and shot.

Tucker's defense kept up, but Kobe made a difficult fadeaway shot.

James' good performance is not enough for the Lakers to rank among the best in the Western Conference. After announcing his retirement, Kobe's self-motivated state is also extremely brave.

And after retreating, he switched defense with Dellavedova.

Irving has already scored 5 points tonight, and Kobe is putting himself in the wrong place again.

The Cavaliers switched from the strong side to the weak side, and the ball fell into Hansen's hands on the weak side.

Hansen called Tucker over for a pick-and-roll.

This time, James didn't dodge or push Dellavedova forward, but instead switched directly to Hansen.

Sure enough, any medicine in this world has side effects.

Han Sen held the ball in one hand and gestured to move away, and the fans at the scene began to cheer.

The argument between the two men under the basket was projected onto the large LED screen. This was James' chance to clear his name.

Han Sen continued to move forward, and James also rushed forward quickly.

Han Sen seized the opportunity to break through, but James was chasing closely behind him.

When Han Sen took off, he also saw the opportunity to jump up and block the shot.

But Han Sen showed his excellent ability to stay in the air, pulling the lever to dodge in the air and then doing a back dunk!
"Oh!"

James' block ended up hitting air.

Han Sen is the man who will participate in the dunk contest!

Han Sen swung around the basket and landed, spreading his hands towards James.

It seems your medicine isn't working!

There was a commotion in the place.

James performed very bravely after the opening, but from the block just now to the dunk now, Hansen still suppressed James.

This feeling was even more obvious on the Lakers' next defensive round.

Hansen played an off-ball pick-and-roll with Tucker against James in advance, and after receiving the ball, he chose to play one-on-one with his back to the basket.

This not only makes James' eyes light up, but also makes the fans look forward to it.

The size difference would put Hansen at a disadvantage, not to mention that James was in such good form tonight.

But the result was that Hansen used a fake back-turn and fadeaway move to shake James, and then turned around and made a layup with up and down steps.

After realizing the side effects on James, Hansen was obviously taking advantage of it.

James puffed up his cheeks after failing to defend repeatedly.

Han Sen's eyes widened when he saw it.

Does your medicine have more than one side effect?

About 9 minutes into the first quarter, the score was 26 to 30, with the Lakers leading.

Hansen scored 12 points in this quarter, which is the most he has played since the opening game.

But judging from the score, the Lakers are indeed strong enough this season.

Both sides started the rotation, and Han Sen was substituted off the court for rest.

However, James of the Lakers still stayed on the court, and he still looked energetic.

So in addition to improving explosive power, can you also improve endurance?
Han Sen was interested in the medicine James was taking.

After being suppressed by Hansen for a while, James' offensive desire in the starting lineup was suppressed, but when he came on as a substitute, he became obviously excited again.

After a pick-and-roll with Kaman, he ignored Jokic and was about to perform a tomahawk dunk.

He doesn't even take Garnett seriously now, so why would he care about a big white European guy whose name he can't even remember?

"boom!"

However, what happened next was beyond everyone's expectation.

Jokic actually blocked the ball against James!

And after completing the block, Jokic's reaction stunned all his teammates on the Cavaliers.

"My horse!"

Not to mention that this was the first time they saw Jokic in such an excited state, even what he shouted was something they had never expected.

What horse?

After being stunned for a moment, Han Sen couldn't help but burst into laughter.

Facts have proved that even the most Buddhist people will have things they want.

Jokic is full of energy for his best racehorse in Sombor!
The ball still belongs to the Lakers. After James came back to his senses from being blocked, he called for Kaman to pick and roll against Jokic again, and then directly signaled to move away.

Han Sen is arrogant enough, but how dare you, a rookie, yell at him?
What do you mean by "my horse"? Are you saying that in his eyes I am his mount?

This is absolutely unbearable!

James played against Jokic one-on-one, and Jokic's speed was obviously not as fast as James', but he won in basketball IQ.

As a substitute, he can observe from the sidelines. Knowing that James' shooting is unstable, he retreated to the basket in advance.

James broke through to the basket but had no good shooting angle and tried to shake Jokic, but Jokic didn't jump at all.

In the end, he could only force his way towards Jokic and then force a shot.

The ball finally hit the front of the basket and bounced out.

Although Jokic is not the kind of dark, strong and tough guy, he is at least 2 meters tall and has a wingspan of 11 meters. And the key is that he really knows how to use his body, relying on James' hand to always cover his head.

Jokic's defensive problem is still the lack of lateral movement when defending against smaller players. This kind of low-post defense is not bad.

However, just after Jokic grabbed the defensive rebound, the referee blew the whistle, indicating that Jokic had committed a defensive foul.

Jokic raised his hands and looked at the referee with wide eyes.

Obviously, this is a body hair whistle.

After seeing that the referee had no intention of changing the decision, Jokic's excitement suddenly turned into a little frustration.

Seeing this, Hansen stood up, called out to Jokic, and then applauded and cheered for him.

Jokic nodded and then hit his chest.

The horse is right in front of us, how can we give up easily?

James made one of two free throws and Jokic protected the defensive rebound.

After seeing the Lakers retreat quickly, he handed the ball to Williams.

When he reached the frontcourt, he leaned against Kaman and reached out for the ball.

After Williams fed the ball in, he signaled to move away.

Jokic used his back to Kaman and then used his elbow to block Kaman from behind, then he jumped to the basket.

James then stepped back to assist in defense and jumped up to block the shot.

He was blocked by a rookie like Jokic before, so he must find an opportunity to block it back.

But soon, he discovered that he and Jokic seemed to be incompatible with each other.

Because just when he was about to block it, Jokic suddenly accelerated and scored a two-handed dunk!
His hand hit Jokic's arm!
The sound was so clear and audible that the referee had no choice but to call a foul.

After landing, Jokic roared when he saw the referee's gesture.

This made the Cavaliers' bench excited.

They found that Jokic today was really different from usual!
The most excited person was Garnett, as if he had trained Jokic for so long and finally taught him to vent his emotions.

Jokic made the free throw steadily, helping the Cavaliers narrow the gap to 2 points.

James went to the frontcourt and continued to play against Jokic. He had to help himself save face. At this moment, not only Hansen, but also the teammates on the bench of the Cavaliers stood up to cheer for Jokic.

Perhaps because he knew it would be difficult to beat Jokic under the basket, James chose to take a quick stop and mid-range shot this time.

But Jokic’s reaction was once again something he didn’t expect.

Not only did Jokic not rush forward, but after seeing him jump, he turned around and went to grab the rebound without looking back.

This silent but insulting defensive method made James' hands tremble subconsciously.

As a result, his mid-range shot missed the basket when no one was guarding him!
The Cavaliers' bench was all laughing.

After landing, James' face turned pale and he rushed forward quickly to grab the frontcourt rebound.

Although he became faster, Jokic had already positioned himself well and grabbed the rebound, with his signature lift above his head.

James tried to jump up and grab it, but he couldn't reach it.

And in the next second, Jokic seized the opportunity and threw the ball to the front court.

JR had already rushed through the frontcourt like a beast. After getting the ball, he quickly ran to the frontcourt and performed a 360° turn and dunk.

32 square meters.

James of the Lakers stayed on the court the whole time, but the Cavaliers' substitutes not only did not fall behind, but instead tied the score.

When the main players returned in the second quarter, the two sides were evenly matched again. At the end of the first half, the Cavaliers led 61 to 60.

The Cavaliers' victory over the Warriors in the opening game was mainly due to Hansen's performance, which was not much different from last season. However, in this half tonight, it was obvious that the Cavaliers had become different.

When he returned in the second half, Malone made adjustments to the starting lineup. He replaced JR with the Cavaliers' small lineup.

The only difference from last season is that it is not a simple death five-small lineup, but one big and four small, with Jokic at the five position instead of TT.

Obviously, this is another experiment for Malone, and it is an experiment against the Warriors.

After all, after discovering that he was not at an advantage in playing with a five-small lineup last season, he had to prepare for new responses in advance.

After returning in the second half, the Cavaliers took the lead in attacking.

Irving held the ball and set a pick-and-roll with Jokic, who then shot directly outside.

Compared to TT, Jokic has better outside shooting, which makes the Lakers' defense very passive.

Mozgov couldn't be substituted out, so Dellavedova had to rush out to make up for it, but that also meant that Irving got the opportunity to be out of position.

The Lakers retreated on the weak side, and Irving broke through to the basket and found Tucker in an open corner. Tucker received the ball and shot a three-pointer.

Jokic's spatial ability, Irving's upgraded organizational ability... Suddenly, the Cavaliers seemed to have an offensive lineup that could rival the Warriors' small lineup.

Of course, the challenge of this lineup still comes from the defensive end. Jokic does not have the ability to assist in interior defense like Green.

Fortunately, that didn’t seem to be necessary against the Lakers.

Since Mozgov has no shooting ability, Jokic can just stay near the three-second zone.

As for perimeter defense, Irving's improved defense this season has prevented him from being singled out by opponents, while Hansen and Tucker have built a defensive network.

Therefore, the best way for the Lakers to deal with this kind of defense is for Love to play one-on-one in the low post.

It's time to mention Love, a star who is not considered a superstar in the eyes of James fans.

Because he was unable to lead his team into the playoffs in the Western Conference, Love's ability has been questioned by the outside world.

When he was with the Timberwolves, he was very heavy, reaching 275 pounds at his highest, which is almost 250 kilograms.

It's not simply because he can't control his weight, but because he is not tall enough and has insufficient wingspan (2 meters tall and 03 meters wingspan), so he needs weight to improve his confrontation and positioning under the basket.

After coming to the Lakers, because James' offensive style is mainly based on breakthroughs and low-post singles, he can only give up the inside and start to transform into the space inside.

Now, he weighs only 245 pounds, or about 222 kilograms.

This weight makes him more flexible, but his offensive threat in the low post inevitably declines.

Of course, he is still enough to play against Tucker.

It just won't be that easy.

When Love focused on playing one-on-one, Hansen had already chosen to move back and help defend.

James' three-point shooting is not stable, which allows him to selectively let go of the opponent.

Love was forced to stop the ball and had to pass it, but James' three-point shot missed.

Jokic blocked Mozgov to protect the defensive rebound.

It was at this time that another advantage of Jokic over TT in this lineup was revealed.

He has a long pass, and it's the best kind.

When the Cavaliers started to push back defensively, he just threw the ball forward.

After receiving the ball, Hansen quickly advanced, shook off James who was chasing him from behind, and performed a gliding windmill dunk.

There was a commotion at the Staples Center.

After returning in the second half, the Cavaliers beat the Lakers 5-0!
After two years of experimentation, Malone finally found the five-small system that best suits the Cavaliers.

Scott then turned and called Frye to his feet.

The Lakers will, of course, play the Warriors in the West, and the best way for them to deal with that is to have Frye replace Mozgov and also play a space lineup.

Kobe also took the initiative to reach out for the ball on the court at this time.

Jokic's first pass ability is too strong and the Cavaliers' counterattack speed is too fast, so the Lakers must ensure the success rate of their positional offense.

Kobe called for a pick-and-roll for Mozgov and went to the free throw line to prepare for a mid-range shot.

But Hansen let James come over to assist in defense, and Kobe passed the ball to James.

James now had another wide-open three-point opportunity.

But perhaps because he missed the three-pointer just now, he hesitated after receiving the ball.

When Han Sen saw this when he returned to defense, he couldn't help but shake his head.

Drugs can make people perform better on the court, but they can never change a person’s character!

James finally lost his chance with the ball because of Hansen's close defense, and the Lakers wasted more than half of their offensive time in vain.

Kobe and Mozgov then came out for an off-ball pick-and-roll, and James also seized the opportunity to throw the ball out.

Hansen also followed the ball and moved towards Kobe.

In order to avoid being disturbed by Hansen again, Kobe sped up his shooting, but this also disrupted his shooting rhythm.

"when!"

Milan's little blacksmith flashed past and Jokic grabbed the defensive rebound again.

This time the Lakers retreated quickly, and Jokic did not find an opportunity to pass the ball directly to a fast break.

He then passed the ball to Han Sen.

The Cavaliers' advancement pace is still not slow.

Hansen advanced to the frontcourt outside the 45° three-point line, with James in front of him.

He made the falling step and ball-handling move again.

James simply chose to take a small step back.

He won't fall in the same place twice.

However, Hansen chose to directly pull up for a three-pointer.

The drop step can be used for a breakthrough without the ball or for a pull-up shot with the ball. It was one of the smoothest moves that McGrady used back then.

James quickly flew over to interfere with Han Sen. He had the confidence to defend Han Sen.

However, he soon discovered that Han Sen completely ignored his interference, or rather, Han Sen had anticipated it.

What's even more terrible is that after taking the three-point shot, Han Sen did not keep following up, but turned around after landing.

It felt like the ball was bound to go in!
James turned his head angrily and just happened to see the basketball falling.

"Shh!"

There was a crisp sound.

At this moment, Han Sen turned his back to the basket and raised his hands in celebration.

(End of this chapter)