The No.1 Anti-Fans in Basketball
Chapter 623 - 304: James to Participate in Slam Dunk Contest

Chapter 623: Chapter 304: James to Participate in Slam Dunk Contest

A wave of 8-0, the Cavaliers directly called a timeout for the Lakers.

If Scott didn’t call a timeout soon, the difference in scores would rush toward double digits in no time.

After the timeout, the Lakers brought in Frye.

Now the Lakers had an all-spacing lineup on the court.

This kind of lineup was James’ favorite, as he took the ball and played a pick-and-roll with Love, before barreling toward the inside.

After attracting a double team, he passed the ball to Frye on the perimeter.

Frye was quite reliable, though he just got on, his raised arm and three-point shot were swift and decisive.

The role players who could mix well with James were inevitably talented because those without talent had already been cast aside.

This three-pointer was crucial.

However, the Lakers immediately encountered a new problem after Mozgov left the court, as the Cavaliers changed their strategy and let Jokic play one-on-one against Love in the low post.

In fact, if only to play as a mobile frontline, Hawes could completely fulfill the center role in this lineup, but Jokic had back-to-the-basket capabilities beyond that.

Although his ability wasn’t too effective against defensively talented big men at the time, Love, having lost some weight, wasn’t in that category.

Jokic posted up twice to force Love to lower his center of gravity, then he made a wide turn, driving to the basket for a layup.

The camera panned to Scott, who was stroking his chin, deep in thought.

The Lakers’ spacing lineup could match up with the Warriors, because Green had absolutely no offensive ability in the low post, but Jokic was clearly a different case.

Jokic’s individual ability might not be very strong at the moment, but his addition to Malone’s tactical system was too critical.

Fortunately, after bringing on Frye, the Lakers’ transition defense was much quicker.

Love’s three-pointer from the perimeter missed, but the Lakers quickly retreated to their half-court defense.

Seeing Jokic continue to ask for the ball, Scott waved his arms and shouted from the sidelines, and the Lakers chose to double team.

Jokic seemed slow to respond, turning into the double team and was trapped with the ball.

But in fact, he had already been observing his teammates’ positions while holding the ball high.

Being double-teamed inevitably means a teammate is open, he nonchalantly tossed the ball behind his head.

The fans’ gaze followed the ball’s movement, only to discover it was Hansen, who used a Tucker screen to shake off Kobe, cutting to the basket.

Hansen caught the ball and soared, pulling off a gliding one-handed back dunk, slamming the ball through the hoop.

After landing, Hansen naturally high-fived with Jokic.

Last season, it was always him feeding others, and finally, this season, it was his turn to eat that kind of pie served right to his mouth.

Though Jokic was only a rookie now, his passing talent was innate, and it wasn’t necessarily worse than "Magic," maybe even better, since his height was there.

to 63, the difference on the court reached double digits.

At this point, the Los Angeles fans were getting a bit restless.

They had methods for dealing with Hansen and Irving, but were helpless against a rookie?

However, this was much like the "history" of the 2015 Finals; it seemed as though the Cavaliers were at a loss to handle Iguodala, but in reality, they couldn’t withstand the Warriors’ Deathly Five Small.

From the nanny-like coach Brown, to the stubborn Hollins, and then to the relationally adept Joerger, this was the first time in Hansen’s career he encountered a head coach with both good coaching and communication skills.

In contrast, Scott from Brown’s camp on the other side never managed to find a good way to cope.

The Cavaliers outscored the Lakers 35 to 21 in the third quarter, widening the gap to 15 points.

By the final quarter, Hansen’s earlier prediction came true; James still had abundant energy.

To put it precisely, James could still perform first-quarter moves in the fourth.

With his amazing stamina, the Lakers managed to cut the lead to single digits for a time.

But the Cavaliers had Hansen at the clutch moments, and he scored on consecutive one-on-ones to stabilize the situation.

In the end, the Cavaliers defeated the Lakers 120 to 110, clinching this critical Christmas battle.

Post-game statistics showed Hansen with 31 points, 7 rebounds, and 5 assists; Irving added 27 points and 9 assists; JR had 15 points; Jokic put up 14 points, 8 rebounds, and 6 assists.

James posted 35 points, 10 rebounds, and 11 assists; Kobe 24 points; Love 16 points and 8 rebounds; Frye 11 points.

After the game ended, the players returned to the locker room extremely excited.

Winning the Christmas battle was reason enough to be happy, but they were even happier that they didn’t have to fight to the last moment like they did against the Warriors in the season opener and instead won in a relatively relaxed manner.

The Lakers’ overall strength was not inferior to the Warriors’, this indicated that they had made significant progress since the start of the season.

Or to put it another way, this game made many of the Cavaliers’ players truly believe that they have a chance to make history this season.

Soon after, Malone entered the locker room.

And the item he was carrying was very eye-catching.

It was a glistening golden chain with a pendant at the bottom featuring the Cavaliers’ team logo.

No one knew what it was for.

Not until Malone walked in, holding the stat sheet and first analyzing the game, followed by commenting on the players’ performances.

"Hansen is the MVP; he led us to victory at key moments, as he always does, and by the way, that premature celebration three-pointer was super cool."

"Kyrie was our all-around warrior tonight; not only did he score what he was supposed to, but he also connected the team, and that’s what we want to see from him."