NBA's King of Talking

Chapter 382 A Green Hot Pot Feast

The Clippers' defense against the Cavaliers was modeled after the Hawks' strategy from years past: one-on-one defense against the running man, switching on or double-teaming Irving, and one-on-one defense against Love as well, letting him try to isolate. They didn't give JR Smith open looks, and when the running man ran pick-and-rolls, they would squeeze past him or go around the screen to give him a three-point shot, preventing him from easily driving to the basket or exploiting mismatches against smaller players.

In fact, Running Man didn't have many opportunities to exploit mismatches against smaller players. The smallest player in the Clippers' starting lineup was Beverley, and Beverley is known for his aggressive play. Running Man was afraid of being bitten, so he didn't dare to target Beverley directly and preferred to play Wesley Johnson, who was guarding him.

Wesley Johnson certainly can't stop Running Man, but he can handle him and keep bothering him.

The Cavaliers started off off with a poor shooting touch. JR Smith was shut down by Jia Fei, forcing the Running Man players to take one-on-one shots. Kyrie Irving also seemed to be struggling offensively today, partly due to Beverley's strong defense, which contributed to his poor shooting.

Love simply can't score one-on-one. After losing weight, he lost the power and size to score in the low post. His physical attributes are average to begin with; he's a white center without height, so he can only play mismatches. Forget about scoring in the low post. He'd have a tough time even against Harris in the low post, not to mention DeAndre Jordan guarding the basket.

TT has no shooting ability, so DeAndre Jordan is always going in and out of the paint. As long as the three-second rule is not enforced, he is almost always around the three-second zone.

The breakup scene in Running Man 3 was underwhelming, and he didn't dare to push in, with DeAndre Jordan waiting inside. He played very patiently during the regular season, preferring to coast and win by stealing wins, planning to unleash his full potential in the playoffs. But the problem is, in the current situation, he can't win without putting in the effort.

After just over four minutes, the Clippers led 10-6.

“Mr. Yang, the Cavaliers seem to be having some trouble with their offense. What do you think they need to do to adjust?” Wang Meng asked.

Yang Yi twirled his pen and said, "Let's break it down. The Cavaliers don't need any adjustments. What adjustments? Just keep playing one-on-one. James, stop passing and just attack yourself. Stop trying to get Love to play. Love can't play. You're the team's strongest offensive player. They're not even double-teaming you, so why don't you attack?"

Beverley dribbled the ball over and passed it to Jia Fei.

Jia Fei was caught in a pincer movement on the left wing, but he calmly passed the ball to Wesley Johnson on the opposite corner!

Wesley Johnson was left wide open by the Running Man cast, and his three-pointer went in perfectly!

At 13:6, the score difference has reached 7 points!

In Running Man, he often faces players with less ball possession, and he doesn't really defend against shots. He's always thinking about grabbing rebounds and launching fast breaks. In this respect, Westbrook and Harden are very similar to him.

Kyrie Irving dribbled the ball over, executed a series of impressive maneuvers, and drove in to challenge DeAndre Jordan, but his floater missed!

TT grabbed the offensive rebound, squatted down with his big butt, stood up, and tried to dunk, but Jia Fei, who came over to help defend, delivered a big block, giving him a green hat!

A gasp rippled through the crowd. Fans were amazed by Jia Fei's explosiveness and jumping ability, but also by how TT had become so weak. "How the hell do you need that much time to build up power for your second jump?"

Considering TT's recent relationship, everything makes sense. Perhaps this is truly the case for someone who's been completely drained. Harden is now full of energy and has become like Jordan again; facts speak louder than words.

The ball inexplicably ended up in Love's hands again, and he began to hold the ball with his back to the basket.

Jia Fei happened to be right next to him, directly facing him.

Love turned his back and sat inside!

Jia Fei lowered his center of gravity and headed towards Love.

It has to be said that Love's strength is definitely not what it was during his Timberwolves days. To adapt to the faster pace of offense and defense, he lost weight and is no longer the big guy he used to be. But apart from his improved appearance, none of his other stats have improved after losing weight. His rebounding is not as good as before. He doesn't have the height and wingspan advantage to begin with, and his jumping ability is also poor, so he relies on positioning. Offensively, he used to use his strength and size to attack in the low post, but now he can only exploit mismatches.

But was beating Jia Fei really a misplacement?

Attentive fans noticed that Love seems to be... well... about the same height as Jia Fei!

Aside from being slightly heavier, Love has no advantage over Jia Fei.

Love is ambitious too; he wants to prove he's still the all-powerful All-Star power forward he always was! Even though he played terribly in the recent Finals, unable to hold his own against Klay Thompson and Barnes in the low post.

Lefu tried to sit inside, but he couldn't move Jia Fei around!

Unable to sit still, Love forcefully beckoned to him...

Jia Fei leaped high into the air, face to face with Yan Mao! He'd give you a green hat too!

Wesley Johnson grabbed the ball, and Irving stole it back but committed a foul!

The Clippers are on fire! Jia Fei blocked two of the opponent's big men's shots in a row. That's incredible!

Jia Fei remained calm. What did this matter? Love wasn't Duncan, and Tristan Thompson wasn't Shaquille O'Neal! Blocking those two wasn't a great achievement.

However, to be fair, Love was indeed born in the wrong era. If it weren't for the current small-ball era, and Love had played power forward in a previous era, his weaknesses could have been compensated for. He excels at rebounding, can facilitate, has excellent small-ball skills, and high basketball IQ. As long as he wasn't played center or tasked with protecting the rim on the perimeter, he would have been incredibly useful.

The Cavaliers inbound the ball, Irving receives it, faces Beverley's tight defense, forces his way through, and makes a layup at the last second...

Jia Fei is back again, delivering a massive block that sends the ball flying out of bounds...

This... Cavaliers fans at Quicken Loans Arena are going to be in an uproar. Is Jafi, are you never going to stop today? Are you planning to open a cuckold's hat supermarket in Cleveland?

Cavaliers head coach Tyronn Lue was tilting his head on the sidelines, and the assistant coach next to him had no idea what he was thinking. Was Coach Lue going to go up and put on a hat too?

PS: Tyronn Lue: "I got stepped over by Iverson in the Finals back in the day, I've seen it all, humph..."

The Cavaliers inbounded the ball from the baseline, but JR's shot came after the 24-second shot clock expired!

Tencent Studio.

Wang Meng laughed and said, "I wonder if Jia Fei set a record, delivering 3 blocks in a single 24-second offensive possession, hahaha..."

Yang Yi twirled his pen and said, "I told you, James should attack himself. You're asking Love to go after Jia Fei, but he can't do it! TT doesn't need to shoot, just focus on grabbing rebounds."

The Cavaliers are on offense. The running man receives the ball on the left side and forces his way into the paint against Wesley Johnson!

Wesley Johnson was unstoppable, so he had to foul!

The Running Man members stepped onto the free throw line.

But the Running Man cast missed both free throws...

Head coach Tyronn Lue on the sidelines sighed and laughed, saying, "I gave you a chance, but you didn't use it!"

DeAndre Jordan grabbed the rebound and passed the ball to Patrick Beverley.

Jia Fei made a reverse run, and Beverley got the ball!

Jia Fei cut into the paint, completely ignoring Love's rim protection, jumped high, and with his right hand fully extended, unleashed a powerful tomahawk dunk!