Basketball's No. 1 Anti-Fan

Chapter 355: Too strong and easy to break
At the end of the first half, the Cavaliers led the Warriors 54-45.

In addition to tactical adjustments, the Cavaliers also significantly increased their defensive intensity tonight.

The Cavaliers' defensive strength was greatly improved in the Irving trade, which was the key to their previous victory over the Celtics.

Especially when playing at home, the cheers of the fans can greatly increase the enthusiasm of the defense.

So even though both teams didn't score many points in the first half, their energy consumption was even greater than in the previous two games.

Kerr was ready to fight to the death, but the game was more difficult than he expected.

The direct result of this was that the Warriors were not able to explode in the third quarter like they did in the first two games.

When the Warriors were forced to start a defensive battle with the Cavaliers, the intensity of the confrontation on the court rose sharply.

Green was targeted tonight and his mentality exploded. He performed very poorly on the offensive end, but when the game came to the defensive battle, his presence returned all of a sudden.

However, the Cavaliers frequently attacked the basket, and he faced great defensive pressure.

After JR attacked the basket and caused Green's fourth personal foul, Green's anger, which had been suppressed by Kerr at halftime, rose again.

He walked over to James and started communicating about defense.

James' expression at this moment was somewhat puzzling.

First of all, Green failed to defend JR.

Secondly, JR is not the person he is defending, so why shouldn’t Green talk to him about defensive issues?
Green was speechless when he saw James' reaction.

The current defensive problems seem to have nothing to do with James, but defense is a system, and the collapse of the system started with James.

James, who was originally only responsible for guarding role players, always wanted to launch a defensive counterattack as soon as possible, which resulted in him always missing people. Other Warriors players had to make up for the defense, which eventually led to the collapse of the defensive formation.

And because the defense will prioritize attacking the inside in a battle of defense, all these collapses were finally transferred to Green, the last defensive wall of the Warriors' inside line.

However, James still seemed very confused. If defense doesn't involve counterattack, then it's better not to defend!

You have to know that the Cavaliers' positional defense is now pinching him and Curry, and the Warriors' advantages cannot be brought into play by grinding the positional defense.

The key to the Warriors' three-man spree is high-speed offense and defense, that is, defensive counterattack. This is Kerr's tactical concept and one of the important reasons why he chose to come to the Warriors.

And now Green is telling him that it was wrong?
Because of their different understandings, the initial communication between the two people gradually escalated into an argument.

Even though Kerr had already called Pachulia and asked him to prepare to replace Green, Green was still arguing with James.

When Han Sen saw this, he obviously couldn't stand it anymore, so he walked over to the two of them.

When old fans see this, the corners of their mouths will subconsciously rise, because when James and Westbrook were arguing in the Thunder, Hansen once went over to cheer them up.

But it is obvious that after so many years, Han Sen has matured.

He did not play the tricks of young people again, but began to persuade the two people very seriously:
"Calm down, it's just basketball."

But perhaps it was the words that the fans had said before that caused a rift between the two of them, and they ignored Han Sen at all.

Han Sen: It seems that I still can't be a good person, I can only be a bastard.

He leaned directly into Green's ear and raised his voice: "Calm down, Draymond!"

The words that exploded in his ears made Green turn his head abruptly and look at Hansen angrily.

He is not deaf!
"Do you really want to be traded? You don't think you can compete with LeBron in the league, do you? So calm down, this is just business!"

As Malone said, championships always come with sacrifice.

In "history", when Durant joined the Warriors, the person who made the biggest sacrifice was Curry, because Durant needed a lot of shots.

Now that James has joined the Warriors, James needs the ball, and the person who makes the biggest sacrifice becomes Green.

Green's statistics and team status have declined. If it weren't for James helping him make money off the court, he would have exploded long ago.

So Hansen's reminder was really well-intentioned, because it was equivalent to telling Green that if he was traded, his way of making money off the court would be cut off.

Or in other words, since Green has chosen to cooperate with all his might, he should learn from Anthony Davis in "history" and sit there dissatisfied and endure the anger.

But it is obvious that Green's personality is not the same as Davis'. He did not respond to Hansen, nor did he continue to argue with James. Instead, he turned around and walked directly to the bench.

James looked at Hansen with a slightly complicated look.

"no need to thank me."

Han Sen looked at James and spoke, then turned and left.

As the saying goes: When the work is done, one leaves, leaving all achievements and fame hidden.

With Green off the court and Pachulia on, the Warriors' interior defensive capabilities, especially their ability to assist in defense and sweep, declined significantly.

Malone also adjusted his offense at this time. He did not continue to use breakthroughs to compress the Warriors' defensive formation, but instead opened up and allowed Jokic to play one-on-one in the low post under the basket.

Although the course of the game was different from what he expected, he never forgot his game strategy.

Because they were afraid of Jokic's pass, the Warriors didn't dare to double-team him easily, and Jokic was able to accurately hit Pachulia one-on-one.

However, when the game reached the middle of the third quarter, an accident suddenly occurred on the court.

When Jokic was in position for an attack, he went straight for Pachulia and knocked him to the ground like a bull.

Because the force was exerted so suddenly and violently, Pachulia had no time to adjust his center of gravity and fell directly on his shoulder, which made him hold his shoulder on the ground with a painful expression.

The referee then blew the whistle to interrupt the game.

The situation on the court was also very interesting at this time. Although several people from the Warriors gathered over, they did not go up to confront Jokic.

Because Green, who played that role, was sitting on the sidelines at the time.

As for James, he didn't even go over there. A player of Pachulia's level was not worth the risk.

The game entered a technical timeout.

The referees gathered around the technical table to discuss the punishment for Jokic, and the large LED screen on the scene began to replay what happened in the previous round.

Jokic's impulsiveness seemed unreasonable, but after replaying the video, fans found out why he was so impulsive.

Pachulia became famous for his dunk against the Spurs, but dunking is not his best skill.

Popovich's previous curse on Pachulia was hypocritical, but it was actually correct.

Pachulia is proficient in all kinds of weapons, including stepping on feet, removing arms, elbowing, crotch kicking, and scissor kicking.

What he just used on Jokic was his signature skill: turning fist into palm.

As the name suggests, it means punching the opponent's head during a confrontation, but immediately releasing the fist and turning it into a palm, so that it looks like only the palm hit the opponent. In a fierce competition, if the referee does not see the punch, he will not call this action.

But Jokic couldn't bear it, or rather, Jokic's outburst was not temporary.

Although Pachulia couldn't defend Jokic, he kept making small moves to defend against Jokic.

After Jokic's emotions reached a certain point, the fist-turned-palm attack just now directly made him explode.

But Pachulia probably didn't expect that the gentle-looking Jokic would do such a big thing.

Before the referees discussed the penalty, he had returned to the locker room accompanied by the team doctor.

The referees ultimately gave Jokic a first-degree flagrant foul.

The Warriors were awarded two free throws, but the good news for the Cavaliers was that Jokic was not given a Level 2 and ejected.

So the result was equivalent to Pachulia using his injury to exchange for the Warriors' two free throws and one shot.

Compared to the rewards he got from tripping Leonard before, Pachulia must be regretting it.

Hansen also patted Jokic on the shoulder.

What Jokic did just now was very impulsive. If he was really ejected, it would probably ruin the team's victory tonight.

But now the result is good, because Jokic's character of revenge will make others think carefully before taking action against him again.

This was just a small episode in the game, although the Warriors used two free throws and one free throw to score 4 points in a row and narrowed the gap a little.

But with Green not on the court, the Cavaliers had a huge advantage in the interior, and the points they recovered were not enough for them to reverse the trend.

In the end, the Cavaliers defeated the Warriors 103-94 at home, defended their first home court, and took a 2-1 lead in the overall score.

"Jokic's behavior violated sports ethics and the league should impose an additional suspension on him."

At the post-game press conference, James took the initiative to mention Jokic.

He still has some concerns about Wade, but Jokic has no psychological burden at all.

"That move was aimed at people, and that is definitely not something that should happen in a basketball game."

Kerr also acted angry afterwards, as if Jokic's move changed the situation of the game.

However, the remarks made by both James and Kerr are completely understandable.

Because shifting the topic to Jokic at this time can avoid the media paying too much attention to the conflict between him and Green during the game.

For the Warriors, giving the cold shoulder to the issues concerning James and Green is the top priority option. If the internal conflicts cannot be resolved, the Warriors can basically admit defeat after Game 3.

"I've said before, if they don't want to play well, we're not going to play well. I think Nikola is not backing down. He's responding to Pachulia."

When the Cavaliers arrived at the press conference and reporters asked Hansen questions about Jokic, Hansen brought up the U.S. Stand Your Ground Act, which is commonly known as self-defense at the University of the East.

"Nikola paid the price for his impulsiveness. The referees have taught him a lesson. If he is suspended further, Pachulia should have been suspended earlier."

Malone refuted the reporters' questions about suspension. After all, Pachulia's previous behavior of blocking Leonard was even worse, but the league did not suspend him.

The question of whether Jokic should be suspended became a focus at the press conference.

However, just like the Player of the Year voted by TGA has nothing to do with the Player of the Year voted by players, the focus of fans' discussion on social media after the game was not Jokic, but the phrase "LeBron will trade you" shouted by Cavaliers fans.

That is something that deserves more attention from fans than Hansen's head-patting kill and Wade's throat-slitting ceremony.

After all, the nature of human beings is to repeat and eat melons.

Fans even started discussing on social media who they could get in exchange for Green.

The most popular comment came from a fan in Boston, who believed that trading Horford for Green was a win-win deal.

This may sound strange at first, because the one who performed poorly against the Cavaliers in the Eastern Conference Finals was Towns, while Horford's performance was remarkable.

But the Celtics can't trade Towns for Green. First of all, Towns is still on his rookie contract and the salary cannot match.

Secondly, it is precisely because Towns is still young and as the No. 1 pick his future has unlimited possibilities. It would be a huge loss to trade him for Green.

Finally, Green's ability to assist in defense is much stronger than Horford's, and his outside shooting ability is more stable than Horford, making him a perfect partner with Towns.

For the Warriors, trading Green can appease James, and Horford is the best replacement for Green, and his personality is much gentler than Green.

But the second-ranked comment from a Bay Area fan is very interesting because he is asking: Why can't we trade LeBron?

Judging from his performance in the finals, Green is more important than James, and James signed a 1+1 contract with the Warriors. This kind of contract can easily manipulate the management. In comparison, Green is not only an old player, but his contract has become a cost-effective contract as the new broadcasting contract came into effect.

The comments in this post are also very interesting. There are James fans who scold the Warriors for being ungrateful, and there are James haters who offer suggestions and help the Warriors find a suitable target to trade James.

The most exciting thing is that if LeBron can be traded for Anthony Davis of the Pelicans, the league will usher in a real finale.

Just when fans were discussing this heatedly, the Warriors officially announced that Pachulia was out for the season due to a dislocated shoulder.

The league also announced shortly afterwards that Jokic's first-level flagrant foul in Game 3 was upgraded to a second-level flagrant foul.

Because Jokic's previous flagrant foul points were 2, this means Jokic will be automatically suspended for one game. ①
Jokic's Slavic blood has awakened this season, and his temper is in stark contrast to his appearance.

The Cavaliers protested the result, but were unable to change it.

"Boss, I'm sorry." During the off-day training, Jokic found Hansen with a guilty look on his face.

He is well aware of what his absence means to the Cavaliers.

"Don't apologize, you didn't do anything wrong."

Hansen's attitude was the same as in the previous press conference, and he did not deny Jokic's approach.

It is necessary to show toughness to the opponent so as not to make him feel that he is easy to mess with.

An example is when Hansen destroyed Ginobili when he was young.

But then he patted Jokic on the shoulder and said:

"But you should also understand the principle that 'too much rigidity leads to failure'."

After all, they are playing basketball. That kind of method would hurt the enemy by a thousand and hurt yourself by eight hundred, so Han Sen is now making harsh remarks in front of the media in advance.

Of course, Jokic is still as young as he was back then, so it’s all part of growing up, just like when he played against the Celtics.

-Dividing line-

①: During the season, one flagrant foul at level one will be worth 1 point, and one flagrant foul at level two will be worth 2 points. The points will be reset to zero after the season ends.

(End of this chapter)