The No.1 Anti-Fans in Basketball
Chapter 649 - 314 The Cavaliers’ True Trump Card_2

Chapter 649: Chapter 314 The Cavaliers’ True Trump Card_2

This was a game they absolutely had to win.

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

For them, securing this away game meant they would essentially be pocketing the victory, their desire to win was no less than that of the Cavaliers.

After the opening ceremony, the starting lineups of both teams were announced.

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

Cavaliers: Irving, JR, Hansen, Tucker, Jokic

Riley was somewhat surprised when he saw the Cavaliers’ starting lineup, so during the last three minutes of preparation time, he gave his players a categorical order.

If Malone insisted this lineup could win against the Heat again, then they would play until his mental defense crumbled.

Jokic jumped for the ball and won possession for the Cavaliers.

Irving went to the frontcourt and after a pick and roll with Jokic, tested his shooting touch but unfortunately missed.

In the changeover to defense, the Heat attacked with West in the low post.

The Cavaliers didn’t provide help defense, Malone had figured out after Game 3 that West was no longer at his peak, and the likelihood of the Cavaliers being beaten by his low post was very low.

As for the off-chance? If that happened, he would take it.

Tucker put up a staunch defense, but the difference in size still put him at a distinct disadvantage as West’s turnaround jumper scored the first points for the Heat.

West was 36 this year, and typically post players would see a significant decline after 35, but technical post players were the exception.

Back at it, Irving continued with pick and rolls with Jokic, this time choosing to drive inside.

The Heat’s defense was slow to collapse, and Irving penetrated to score with a layup.

Playmaking and scoring were like penetration and shooting, they restrained each other.

Irving had shown good playmaking ability in the previous three games, which made the Heat wary of double-teaming him too readily.

But for the Cavaliers’ space-creating lineup, not doubling Irving meant giving him one-on-one opportunities.

And one-on-one, sometimes even playing bigger, was Irving’s forte.

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

Five minutes into the game, the Cavaliers’ opportunities for defensive counterattacks weren’t plentiful, but they were holding their own against the Heat in scoring.

In fact, these five minutes could be seen as an offensive contest between Irving and West.

When half of the first quarter was over, West’s scoring efficiency started to drop, but Irving was still going strong, and the Cavaliers began to take the initiative.

Malone’s bet was right, West was indeed outstanding, but no one could resist Father Time.

Irving also used this half-quarter to prove that even now, during the playoffs, he possessed the strength to stand on his own.

Riley had no choice but to substitute Deng onto the court.

Or rather, the only weakness in this Heat lineup was in the post positions.

After Vucevic left, their backup center was Zeller, whom they had traded for from the Cavaliers two years ago; he wasn’t cut out for this level of competition.

Dragic handled the ball and orchestrated the play, Durant began to use Big Gasol for off-ball screens.

However, Durant quickly realized that not only could Big Gasol not keep Hansen from him, he didn’t even have the opportunity to receive the ball.

Hansen was like a barrier around him.

After Durant was restricted from getting the ball for two consecutive plays, Riley seemed to finally realize the Cavaliers’ tactics for tonight.

Once he caught on, he immediately signaled for Wade to switch defensive duties onto Irving.

Those questioning Hansen’s consecutive dpoy were fools; when Hansen truly focused on defending one person, even if it was Durant, it wasn’t going to be easy.

So the solution had to come from Irving.

Wade’s ability to get around screens was much stronger than Dragic’s, and since Jokic’s pick and roll wasn’t quite strong enough, this forced Irving to confront Wade head-on.

This wasn’t an easy matchup, whilst Wade had aged and slowed down, he was still Wade, with a wealth of experience in defense.

This distinctly affected Irving’s performance.

However, after this defensive adjustment, the Heat’s offensive efficiency also began to decline.

The offensive core of this Heat Team still revolved around Durant and Wade, with Big Gasol, Dragic, and Deng essentially playing support roles.

And so, the two teams, which had both been playing offense cards in the first three games, suddenly entered into a defensive battle.

Malone sighed in relief when he saw this change.

Because, just as he had discussed with Hansen before, there was no chance in outscoring the Heat Team. The current situation was more advantageous for the Cavaliers.

It should be noted that the Cavaliers’ defensive efficiency ranked in the top five of the League this season.

However, on the other end of the court, Riley was equally composed upon seeing this change.

Because defense sapped stamina, and stamina was something the Heat Team was not short of.

After three quarters of defensive struggle, the score was tied at 71.

In the final quarter, Riley substituted all his main players back into the game just three minutes in.

This forced Malone to also bring back his main players.

This early start to the final showdown was a consistent strategy for Riley; in times of depleted stamina on both sides, the Heat usually came out on top.

However, not long after the final battle started, Riley realized he had made a colossal mistake.

Because at the start of the fourth quarter, the Cavaliers shifted their offensive focus, with Hansen taking on more ball-handling.

And his stamina seemed more abundant than at any point in the past three games.

Defending against Durant indeed drained a lot of Hansen’s energy, but that kind of drain was limited for Hansen.

Because when Durant realized that he couldn’t break through Hansen’s defense, his offensive desire inevitably declined, and often he would rest on the weak side with his hands on his hips, just like James.

So, for the first time this series, Hansen entered the fourth quarter with plenty of stamina.

And this was the error Riley had realized.

The Cavaliers might use Hansen to lock down Durant, but who could the Heat use to stop Hansen?

A past-his-prime Wade? Or Seferosa, who had been matched up against Hansen back in his Thunders days?

No, they couldn’t do it.

At most, they could make a well-rested Hansen feel that scoring took a bit more effort.

Damn it!

Riley felt like he had suddenly become 20 years younger, young enough to think he had gone back to his coaching days with the New York Knicks.

Back then, there was that infuriating number 23 on the opposing side, and now the Cavaliers had a similar number 77.

Riley had no choice but to double-team Hansen, but Hansen easily dismantled it with pick-and-rolls with Jokic.

Perhaps next season, it would be time to elevate Jokic’s tactical status.

This was what Malone was thinking at the moment. Since starting with the Pacers, Jokic had demonstrated his excellent ball-handling abilities.

Remember, this was rookie Jokic, who seemed to have limitless potential.

After struggling for a while, Riley gave up on the idea of limiting Hansen’s scoring because that made him feel as foolish as those who doubted Hansen’s back-to-back dpoy awards.

He began to place his hopes on Durant.

When Hansen started handling the ball on offense, the man defending Durant for the Cavaliers changed back to Tucker from Hansen.

Durant was up to the task. He hit a mid-range shot over Tucker on the first play following Riley’s instructions.

Being limited by Hansen had reduced the number of opportunities for Durant, which allowed him to still have plenty of energy in the fourth quarter.

Thus, after three quarters of defensive warfare, the final quarter turned into a scoring duel between Hansen and Durant.

And then, the Cavaliers defeated the Heat Team 103-96.

Five years ago, when Hansen and Durant first clashed in the playoffs, Hansen defeated Durant with the bravery of "meeting on a narrow path, the brave prevails."

Five years later, Hansen didn’t need to do that anymore because he had already surpassed Durant.

It was only then that many fans who had watched the game realized something.

When the Cavaliers brought out a small-ball lineup in game 2, you thought that was their trump card, but in fact, Hansen was.