Basketball's No. 1 Anti-Fan

Chapter 315 The Cavaliers’ True Trump Card
The biggest comeback in NBA playoff history is 31 points, so a 20-point comeback is not without chance.

In addition, the Heat did not give up as they were playing at home.

They spent the next three quarters trying to catch up.

The Cavaliers inevitably began to have physical problems in the second half.

By the fourth quarter, the Heat took the opportunity to narrow the gap to single digits.

But in the end, because the hole they dug was too big, they lost 106 to 113.

After the game, Ma Long gave the big gold chain that was the key to the game to Han Sen.

When the Cavaliers went on a decisive 10-0 run at the end of the first quarter, Hansen contributed eight of the points.

But Han Sen put the big gold chain around Ma Long's neck.

Tonight's victory was a victory of tactical game, and Malone seized the only opportunity on the court.

"Our opponent played well tonight, that's all."

In the post-game press conference, Riley did not mention the tactical issues in the first quarter.

Obviously, it is impossible to get him to admit that he lost to Ma Long tactically.

He is a "magician", while Malone is just a "young man" who has been a head coach in the league for two or three years.

After winning Game 2, the Cavaliers took the home-court advantage from the Heat.

However, in Game 3 after the two sides moved to Cleveland, the Cavaliers lost to the Heat 106-114 after four quarters of fierce battle, giving up their home advantage again.

Riley did not mention the issue of tactical game in the press conference after Game 2, but in Game 3, he took the initiative to seek change, replacing Deng with David West as the starter and using the regular lineup to play against the Cavaliers' small lineup.

Tucker couldn't hold up against West, so the Cavaliers needed more defensive rotations on the defensive end, which allowed the Heat to play more teamwork.

The Warriors have lost a total of 9 games this season. In those 9 games, the only opponent they lost to twice was the Heat.

When the Heat get going offensively, they are unstoppable.

As a last resort, Malone had to replace TT with the regular lineup, and the game returned to the rhythm of G1.

After Game 3, ESPN's article "This is the Year of Kevin Durant" sparked heated discussion.

In the Eastern Conference, the Heat are leading the Cavaliers 2-1, with Durant averaging 36 points per game, while in the Western Conference, the Warriors are also leading the Lakers 2-1.

If the game continues at the current pace, the finals will most likely be the Heat versus the Warriors, and the Heat swept the Warriors in the regular season.

Once the Heat finally win the championship, Durant, as Nike's top star, will be the undisputed "leader of revival."

There is no doubt that Durant's biography will be popular on social media this year.

Hansen invited the entire team to his estate the night before the game, and they held a bonfire party on his lawn.

Irving showed off his Indian dance at the party, attracting curious onlookers from his teammates.

Han Sen was sitting in the rest area far away, chatting with Ma Long about the game.

The Cavaliers' lineup change worked. If it were any other opponent, they would have won the series in one fell swoop.

But unfortunately they were facing the Heat, and Riley had too many cards in his hand, which made it easy for him to find a solution.

The next games will become more difficult for the Cavaliers.

"We still have to find a solution on the defensive end." Malone has seen the essence of the situation. Competing with the Heat on offense is a dead end.

"I'll defend KD." Hansen agreed with Malone's point of view.

In fact, the Cavaliers won G2 with a bit of luck. If they had given the Heat more time, they would have caught up with the 20-point difference.

This Heat team may not be the best team in history, but their offense can be included in the discussion.

This is not surprising. It is a rare event when all five starting players of a team have All-Star experience.

Perhaps only the Warriors in the 2018-2019 season in "history" can be compared to them, but they did not suffer injuries like the Warriors.

Even looking back now, it's still incredible what the Cavaliers did last season.

"Can Kyrie take on the responsibility?" Malone turned and looked at Irving, who was still dancing there, as if he had entered into his own spiritual world.

Hansen's role on the offensive end will inevitably be reduced when defending Durant, which means Irving will have to take on more responsibilities.

Han Sen also looked at Owen:

"Isn't everything we do in the regular season for moments like this?"

……

In Game 4 of the series, the Quicken Loans Arena was not only packed inside the stadium, but also had a large number of fans gathered outside the stadium.

The Cavaliers' previous plan to renovate the arena has been approved by the city, but unlike the new training center, the new training center is now almost completed, but the renovation of the arena will be carried out during the offseason, so it can only be this summer.

However, the Cavaliers did not do nothing. Long before the start of the playoffs, they converted the parking lot across the street from the stadium into a temporary plaza, where they placed a giant LED screen to broadcast the game.

This way, fans who were unable to buy tickets now have a place to watch the game.

Because there wasn't much suspense in the first and second rounds, there were relatively few fans there, but when it came time to play against the Heat, the place was already crowded.

Trailing 1-2, the crucialness of this game is unquestionable.

If they lose two home games in a row, the Cavaliers will most likely be swept out by the gentlemen this year when they go to Miami with a score of 1 to 3.

This is a game they have to win.

However, during the pre-game warm-up, the Heat also seemed particularly serious.

For them, winning this away game means basically securing victory, and their desire to win is no less than that of the Cavaliers.

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

Heat: Dragic, Wade, Durant, David West, Gasol

Cavaliers: Irving, JR, Hansen, Tucker, Jokic
Riley was a little surprised after seeing the Cavaliers' starting lineup. In the last three minutes of preparation time, he also gave strict orders to his players.

Since Malone insists that this lineup can beat the Heat again, then we'll beat him until his psychological defenses collapse.

Jokic jumps for the Cavaliers.

Irving went to the frontcourt and tried his hand at the pick-and-roll with Jokic, but unfortunately he missed the shot.

In the transition from offense to defense, the Heat used West's low post attack.

The Cavaliers did not provide help defense, and Malone realized after Game 3 that West was no longer at his peak, and the chances of the Cavaliers being killed by him in the low post were very low.

As for what if? If it really happened, he would accept it.

Tucker tried his best to defend, but the size difference still put him at an absolute disadvantage. West's jump shot after turning around gave the Heat the lead.

West is 36 years old this year. Generally, the strength of inside players will decline significantly after the age of 35, but technical inside players are an exception.

Looking back, Irving continued to screen with Jokic, and this time he chose to break through the inside. The Heat's contraction was just a little slower, and Irving broke into the inside and scored a layup.

Organization and scoring, like breakthroughs and shooting, are mutually reinforcing.

Irving showed good organizational skills in the first three games, which made the Heat dare not double-team him easily.

But if the Cavaliers' space lineup does not double-team, it will give Irving a one-on-one opportunity.

One-on-one, and often even one-on-one against a bigger opponent, is what Irving is best at.

This is why Malone insisted on using the previous starting lineup, and why Hansen believed that Irving could carry the team's offense.

After five minutes of play, the Cavaliers did not have many opportunities for defensive counterattacks, but they were able to maintain a stalemate with the Heat in the score.

In fact, these five minutes can be regarded as an offensive competition between Irving and West.

Halfway through the first quarter, West's scoring efficiency began to decline, but Irving remained strong, and the Cavaliers began to take the initiative.

Malone made the right bet, West is indeed very good, but no one can resist the passage of time.

Irving also used this half quarter to prove that he now has the ability to stand on his own even in the playoffs.

Riley had no choice but to replace Deng.

In other words, the only weakness of this Heat team is the inside.

After Vucevic left, their backup center was Zeller, who was traded from the Cavaliers two years ago. He could not play in this level of game.

Dragic holds the ball and organizes the game, while Durant starts to play off-ball screen with Gasol.

However, Durant soon discovered that not only was Gasol unable to stop Hansen, he didn't even have a chance to catch the ball.

It was as if Han Sen had set up a barrier around him.

When Durant was restricted from catching the ball for two consecutive rounds, Riley seemed to finally realize the Cavaliers' style of play tonight.

After realizing what was happening, he immediately signaled Wade to switch defense to Irving.

Those who question Hansen's ability to retain the DPOY are all idiots. When Hansen really doesn't care about offense and goes to defend someone, even Durant will have a hard time.

So we still have to look for a solution from Irving.

Wade's ability to go around screens is much stronger than Dragic's, while Jokic's pick-and-roll ability is not enough, which forces Irving to face Wade head-on.

This was not an easy matchup. Although Wade's pace has slowed down due to his age, he is still Wade after all and has a wealth of defensive experience.

This also significantly suppressed Irving's performance.

However, after this positional adjustment, the Heat's offensive efficiency began to decline.

The offensive core of this Heat team is still Durant and Wade, while Gasol, Dragic and Deng are essentially supporting players.

As a result, the two teams that had been playing offensive games in the previous three games suddenly switched to a defensive battle.

Malone breathed a sigh of relief after seeing this change.

Because just like what he thought when chatting with Hansen before, there is no chance to compete with the Heat in offense, and the current situation is more favorable to the Cavaliers.

You should know that the Cavaliers' defensive efficiency this season ranks among the top five in the league.

However, on the other end of the court, Riley also seemed calm after seeing such changes.

Because defensive confrontation consumes physical energy, and physical energy is what the Heat have the most.

After three quarters of defensive battle, the two sides were tied at 71.

In the last quarter, Riley replaced all the main players just three minutes into the game.

This forced Ma Long to switch back to the main players.

This early start of the decisive battle is also Riley's usual strategy. When both sides are lacking in physical strength, the Heat can always win the game in the end.

But soon after the final battle began, Riley realized he had made a huge mistake.

Because after the fourth quarter, the Cavaliers adjusted their offensive focus and Hansen began to hold the ball more.

And he looked more physically fit than at any time in the past three games.

Defending Durant did consume a lot of Hansen's physical strength, but that kind of consumption was limited to Hansen.

After Durant found that he couldn't break through Hansen's defense, his offensive desire inevitably decreased. Many times he, like James, rested with his hands on his hips on the weak side.

So for the first time in the series, Hansen was in sufficient physical condition entering the fourth quarter.

And that's the mistake Riley realized.

The Cavaliers can use Han Sen to block Durant, but who can the Heat use to block Han Sen?
Wade, who is no longer at his peak? Or Sefolosha, who faced Hansen during his time at Thunder?
No, they can't.

The most they did was to make Han Sen, who had plenty of energy, feel that it would take some effort to score.

Damn!

Riley felt as if he had suddenly become more than 20 years younger, so younger that he seemed to have returned to the time when he was coaching the Knicks.

At that time, the opponent had a No. 23 who made him hate him but could do nothing about it, and now the Cavaliers have the same No. 77.

Riley had to double-team Hansen, but Hansen easily broke through with the pick-and-roll with Jokic.

Maybe next season, it's time to improve Jokic's tactical position.

This is what Malone is thinking at the moment. Since playing against the Pacers, Jokic has demonstrated his excellent ball handling ability.

You have to know that this is rookie Jokic, who seems to have unlimited potential.

After struggling for a while, Riley gave up the idea of ​​limiting Hansen's scoring because it made him feel as stupid as those who questioned Hansen's chances of winning DPOY for the second consecutive year.

He began to place his hopes on Durant.

When Hansen started holding the ball on the offensive end, the Cavaliers' defender on Durant changed from Hansen back to Tucker.

Durant was strong enough. He hit a mid-range shot facing Tucker in the first round after receiving Riley's order.

After being restricted by Han Sen, his chances of shooting became fewer, which also allowed him to still have plenty of physical energy in the fourth quarter.

So, after three quarters of defensive battles, the last quarter of the game became the scoring time for Hansen and Durant.

Then, the Cavaliers defeated the Heat 103-96.

Five years ago, Hansen and Durant met for the first time in the playoffs, and he defeated Durant with the courage of a brave man winning when two meet in a narrow road.

Five years later, Hansen no longer needed to do that because he had already surpassed Durant.

It was not until this time that many fans who watched the game realized one thing.

When the Cavaliers used a small starting lineup in G2, you thought that was their trump card, but in fact, it was Hansen.

(End of this chapter)