Basketball's No. 1 Anti-Fan

Chapter 311 Who is ready to fight?
In Game 1 against the Pacers, the Quicken Loans Arena was packed.

Although it is only the first round of the playoffs, Cleveland fans are already looking forward to it.

During the opening ceremony, the cheers from the audience were overwhelming.

However, the Pacers, on the other side of the Cavaliers, are also eager to try.

Although their overall strength has declined compared to two years ago, it can be seen that they are still confident in themselves.

This state was soon reflected in the opening.

Ellis and George took turns using pick-and-rolls to attack the Cavaliers' inside line. Jokic defended hard but soon paid the price.

Five minutes into the game, he received his second personal foul and left the game early.

The penalty standards in the playoffs are very different from those in the regular season, which will require a physical adaptation process for rookies.

Vogel obviously seized this point and used the Cavaliers' inside line as a breakthrough point.

His tactics worked successfully, but the Pacers didn't gain much advantage at the end of the first quarter.

Because to put it bluntly, Jokic is now the icing on the cake for the Cavaliers, not indispensable.

With Hanson, the Cavaliers will be competitive in the playoffs.

What's more, they have the evolved Irving this season.

Irving was in hot form in the first quarter, scoring 14 points in a single quarter, and the Cavaliers led the Pacers 30-23 in the first quarter.

In the second quarter, George of the Pacers began to explode.

He first broke through Tucker and made a quick stop jump shot, and then made a three-pointer after a pick-and-roll, scoring 5 points in a row.

Before the injury, George's playing style was mainly off-ball and breakthrough layups, but after returning from injury, his explosiveness declined and his playing style included more dribbling and shooting.

Although that resulted in his least efficient season in his career, it also gave him the ability to handle a lot of ball possession.

This is very important for the Pacers, because with the departure of David West and Hibbert's poor form, the Pacers' low-post singles tactics have been almost abandoned, and they can only rely on the outside to drive the offense.

George had a good touch in the second quarter, scoring 13 points in the quarter. At the end of the half, the Cavaliers led 54-50.

The two sides were evenly matched in the first half, and Malone immediately used the five-small lineup in the third quarter.

Jokic hit a three-pointer from the outside as soon as he came on.

He was troubled by fouls in the first half and his playing time was a bit fragmented, which greatly affected his performance, but after halftime adjustments, he obviously recovered a lot.

And his presence in this lineup is devastating to Hibbert.

In other words, this is a live version of the modern center's teaching of strangulation to the classical center.

Hibbert would not be able to come back after defending, and the Pacers' inside defense collapsed directly.

When Hibbert shrinks, Jokic can punish him from the three-point line.

Of course, that is not the biggest damage. After all, Jokic's three-point shooting percentage is not stable overall.

The greatest lethality still comes from the fast defensive counterattack. When Hibbert is unable to punish in the interior due to poor condition, his retreat is simply a disaster in the face of fast defensive counterattacks.

Just five minutes into the third quarter, the Cavaliers had already widened the gap to double digits.

Vogel had to call a timeout.

After the timeout, he made substitutions, replacing Myles Turner and Hill.

The Pacers' lineup on the field became: George Hill, Monta Ellis, Tony Allen, George, and Turner.

Although this is a passive lineup, it can match up with the Cavaliers on the court.

Irving and Jokic played pick-and-roll, but failed twice in a row.

One time, Irving's shot was interfered by Turner, and the other time, Jokic's layup was blocked by Turner.

Turner was the 11th pick selected by the Pacers this season, averaging 10.3 points, 5.5 rebounds and 1.4 blocks per game.

If Hibbert had not been traded on the trade deadline, he would have become the starting center of the Pacers.

He is 2 meters tall and has a wingspan of 11 meters. He is as big as Jokic, and more importantly, he moves much faster than Hibbert.

Jokic won the best sixth man award as a rookie, but the Cavaliers are not the only team with high-quality rookies.

The Cavaliers' small lineup did not achieve the expected wave effect, and the Cavaliers led the Pacers 83-75 at the end of the third quarter.

Although the score difference was not small, it was not enough to kill the game.

The live camera was given to Ma Long, but there was no panic on his face. Instead, he looked confident.

It would be best if they could defeat the opponent in one wave in the third quarter, but if they can't and the situation is stuck in a stalemate, the Cavaliers' advantage will still be significant.

Because they have Han Sen.

In the final quarter, Hansen began to increase his personal offense.

In the first round, Hansen scored a goal with his back to Allen by turning around and leaning back.

Compared with his time with the Grizzlies, Allen's defense has evolved to the level of the best defensive team because of the large amount of playing time.

But Han Sen was too familiar with his characteristics.

Allen has almost no weaknesses in defense. He has quick hands and feet, and is very good at circumventing pick-and-rolls.

Hitting him with the ball or shooting at him with the help of a screen may not be effective.

But his lack of height is a fatal flaw.

This allowed Hansen to choose an offensive method that maximizes his physical advantage, such as back-to-the-basket shooting.

Of course, Vogel won't sit idly by.

After Hansen scored consecutive singles against Allen, the Pacers began to tighten their defense against Hansen.

If it were last season, Hansen would choose to break through the double-team to score.

But this season, it's possible, but not necessary.

Because of Irving and Jokic.

Especially Jokic.

The moment Hansen got rid of Allen, he was able to receive the pass from Jokic and cut into the basket to score.

The obvious strengths and weaknesses of Jokic mean that even with the experience of the regular season, his weaknesses still exist in the playoffs, while his strengths can also shine in the playoffs.

Hansen scored 18 points in the final quarter, directly helping the Cavaliers win Game 109 96-1.

赛后的数据统计，韩森得到41分7板6助攻，欧文25分7助攻，JR11分，约基奇10分8板5助攻，TT8分8板。

保罗·乔治27分6板3助攻，埃利斯20分5助攻，乔治·希尔15分4助攻，特纳8分10板2盖帽。

"We all know what PG went through two years ago, and I'm happy for him to come back and play well."

At the press conference after the game, Hansen also praised George's performance.

The Cavaliers got off to a good start at home, and two days later, the two teams continued their Game 2 match at Quicken Loans Arena.

At the beginning of the game, Malone showed his two adjustments. One was to increase TT's defensive protection for Jokic.

Another thing was to arrange Han Sen to play singles at the start.

It can be seen that Ma Long does not want to wear out Han Sen's energy too much in the first round.

This is an idea of ​​ending war with war.

After Hansen succeeded in two consecutive singles, the Pacers made defensive adjustments.

However, it was not a double-team like in the last game, but George took the initiative to switch defense in front of Hansen!

George's body shape is very similar to Hansen's, and he has both speed and confrontation. His overall defensive ability is not as good as Allen, but in terms of defending Hansen alone, he is a better choice.

An old friend flashed through Han Sen's mind, and by comparison, he felt more confident about George.

But George still couldn't defend against Han Sen.

Han Sen now chooses his attack method based on the characteristics of the defender.

George has enough size, but his speed and ability to get around screens are not as good as Allen, so Hansen chooses to attack with the ball facing the basket more often.

He also started a pick-and-roll offense with Jokic.

Allen has strong assisting defense ability, and he is in the state of being "as quiet as a virgin and as swift as a rabbit". Frontal breakthroughs can be easily disrupted by him.

The biggest advantage of the pick-and-roll with Jokic is that you can target Hibbert.

Hibbert had no way of defending Hansen's three-pointer after the pick-and-roll.

Even if he could defend, it would be easy for Han Sen to break through him.

In the end, Hansen scored 21 points in the first quarter, helping the Cavaliers establish a double-digit lead early in the first quarter with a score of 35 to 22.

The Pacers were obviously a little confused by this adjusted style of play.

In the end, the Cavaliers continued their momentum and won another game at home with 114 to 98, changing the score to 2 to 0.

After the first two games, the two sides moved to Indiana to continue the G3 competition.

The Cavaliers won the first two games relatively easily, and if nothing unexpected happens, they will be able to win this game easily as well.

However, before the game started, Vogel also showed his adjustments. He directly abandoned Hibbert and replaced him with Turner as the starter.

The effect of this adjustment was immediate.

Turner's starting role brings not only mobility on defense, but also space on offense.

Hibbert originally had a stable mid-range shooting ability, but his condition this season is too bad. He shot 4 times in the first two games and missed all of them.

And George's touch was also very hot in this game.

This was the first time in the series that the two sides played into the countdown.

The Indiana fans at the scene cheered loudly.

Although we are trailing 0-2 and the loss is quite big, as long as we can defend our home court and tie the overall score, the outcome is still uncertain.

With 20 seconds left in the game, Ellis broke through and made two free throws to tie the score at 108.

After the Cavaliers came back from the timeout, Hansen played against George, changed direction to pass George, and then broke through to the basket with a phantom step, and scored 2+1 against the assisting defense of Allen.

When the ball went in, the fans at the scene held their heads in despair.

At this moment, they finally understood the despair of Miami fans.

Hansen's free throw helped the Cavaliers take a crucial 6-point lead with 3 seconds left in the game.

This basically killed the game.

In the last 6 seconds, George threw the sideline ball on the sidelines.

Because they were trailing by 3 points, the Pacers could only use the three-point tactic, and Vogel chose Ellis as the finishing point.

However, the tactical intention was too obvious. Not only was Ellis closely watched by Hansen, but even after the ball was passed, Jokic snatched the ball from Turner's hands.

But at this moment, George entered the court, grabbed the ball, and then shot directly from one meter away from the three-point line before the whistle sounded.

This ball was very difficult to shoot, but with a crisp sound of entering the net, it finally went in!
The scene was instantly filled with the cheers of Indiana fans.

Who is standing on his horse with his sword drawn? General George of Indianapolis!
Although George's hit rate is not high, his three-point shooting rate has always been high since his debut in 3D, and his career hit rate is close to %.

After scoring the goal, George seemed very excited and made a three-point celebration gesture towards Hansen.

At this moment, Han Sen felt the challenge from George more clearly than before.

Then, there was no more.

George's equalizer helped the Pacers drag the game into overtime.

And in overtime, Bankers Life Fieldhouse quickly became silent.

Because they saw Han Sen giving his all.

A three-pointer after the pick-and-roll, a 2+1 after breaking through to the basket after the pick-and-roll, a jump shot to Allen after breaking through George, and a sudden dunk after eating George and rushing to the basket.

Hansen scored all of the Cavaliers' points in overtime, directly helping the Cavaliers win the game.

"PG's performance tonight was perfect. He will become a superstar in the future. I hope to see the day when he succeeds in Indiana."

In the press conference after the game, Hansen spoke higher of George than before.

George scored 39 points in this game, pushing the Cavaliers to the brink of collapse.

It can be said that if it weren't for Hansen's 2+1 before George's three-pointer, the Cavaliers would have lost the game tonight.

If George really didn't specify his next team as described in "history", his career trajectory might really be very different.

Of course, even if George was really beaten by him and left the Pacers, it would make no difference.

For Hansen, it doesn't matter whether George stays with the Pacers or goes to another team.

In Game 4 of the series, the Pacers, who were trailing 0-3, did not collapse like the Heat did in the past. Instead, they fought a desperate battle and fought back at home.

But this is all they can do.

After returning to Cleveland, Hansen switched to defend George. The Cavaliers led from the beginning to the end and eliminated the Pacers with a big score of 4 to 1.

The Pacers performed better in the series than the Bulls did last year, but they only got one win in the end.

It is easy to conclude that the Cavaliers' strength has improved significantly compared to last season.

It's not just about adding Jokic, but it's all-round, from Hansen to Irving, and even to the depth of the lineup.

The Cavaliers advanced easily, and the games against their potential opponents, the Raptors and the Hornets, were quite intense.

The core structure of the Hornets is still the inside and outside duo of Kemba Walker and Al Jefferson, but the addition of Jeremy Lin this season has greatly enhanced their bench strength, and they are expected to break team history and enter the second round this year.

But in the end, after seven games, the Raptors eliminated the Hornets thanks to DeRozan's 30 points.

As a result, as expected, the Cavaliers will compete with the Raptors in the second round.

(End of this chapter)