The No.1 Anti-Fans in Basketball
Chapter 540 - 267 "This is Your Last Time Disrespecting Me

Chapter 540: Chapter 267 "This is Your Last Time Disrespecting Me

Irving, after scoring, made a gun-toting celebration gesture, and Quicken Loans Arena was once again filled with the cheers of the fans.

Although Irving’s recent stubborn moment left people speechless, his performance tonight was truly surprising.

It should be noted that after hitting that three-pointer just now, Irving had already scored 10 points in the quarter.

He was determined to steal the show tonight!

"Defense! Defense!"

The emotions of the fans at the scene were completely stirred up.

The Cavaliers’ on-court defensive intensity had strengthened, and they were achieving quite good defensive results.

Conningham, as an interior player, may not have the size or physicality of TT, but he had his advantage: speed.

When the opponent was not running low-post offense tactics, his speed allowed him to provide quicker help-defense, which actually benefited the Cavaliers tonight.

The Lakers’ tactics were not working, and Kobe’s last-second bomb-defusal after receiving a pass from James failed, leaving the Lakers’ offense unable to continue.

The initiative had now shifted to the Cavaliers’ side.

If they could score another three-pointer like before, the gap in score would widen instantly.

At that moment of transition between offense and defense, an amusing scene occurred on the court.

Kobe was signaling something to James, who clearly looked resistant.

After the Cavaliers advanced to the frontcourt, everyone understood what Kobe and James had communicated.

Because Hansen’s defender had changed from Lin Shuhao to James!

Upon seeing this match-up, not only did the commentators laugh, but a wave of teasing erupted from the audience.

This classic confrontation had finally come about after much anticipation!

Hansen was amused too, gesturing to clear out before choosing a face-up offensive play.

Although with the current lineup on the court, post-up play would be more suited, facing up was naturally also an option.

At this moment, James’ eyes were darting left and right, his unease apparent.

It wasn’t his fault really; anyone repeatedly breezed past like a simple post would feel insecure.

However, he couldn’t dare disobey what Kobe said.

Despite his tendency to act superior in the media, when it came to standing next to the likes of Jordan and Kobe, the "historical" 75th-anniversary event provided the most accurate depiction—standing there like a mere underling.

Hansen quickly initiated his offense, his face-up crossover taking him past James towards the basket.

Although both Hansen and James were wearing different jerseys now, the outcome remained the same.

Irving had just scored a three-pointer, and the Lakers’ defense hadn’t adequately contracted, allowing Hansen to swiftly make his way to the basket.

James attempted to chase down and block Hansen from behind, but Hansen executed a reverse dunk, giving no chance for any play.

The score was now 14 to 6, the difference jumping to 8 points in an instant.

Scott could only call a timeout.

During the timeout, Kobe was seen speaking with James.

It surely had to do with the defensive play just now; it’s normal to be unable to stop him, but James let Hansen break through too easily, which did not allow any time for help defense.

James’s expression was quite amusing—he seemed to be listening, but it was as if he wasn’t absorbing anything, much like a student being scolded by a teacher.

After the timeout, Kobe forcefully took over and attempted a turnaround fadeaway against Tucker, but it clanked off the iron.

However, Varejao was there to score with a put-back.

Bargnani was doing quite well in other aspects, but his career-long rebounding problem, which could be considered unsolvable, continued.

At 7 feet tall, averaging less than 5 rebounds a game over his career was difficult to explain.

Hansen continued to attack James with the ball.

This time, James chose to play sagging defense.

As Hansen drove, James kept retreating, and when Hansen pulled up for a mid-range stop-and-pop, James symbolically waved his hand and turned to prepare for a defensive rebound.

"Swish!"

There was no chance for a rebound, but there was the death stare from Kobe.

That was when he realized James hadn’t absorbed a single word of what was discussed during the timeout.

James seemed unfazed, as if he hadn’t noticed at all, quickly moving to the backcourt to pass the ball.

"Kenny, you were half right with what you said earlier," Barkley couldn’t help but laugh after seeing the play.

"It was indeed a multiple-choice question, but for Kobe."

Barkley’s comment brought another round of hearty laughter from the commentary booth.

This truly was a perverse turn of events.

However, who would have thought Irving’s performance tonight would outdo James’s before the game?

Kobe continued to create damage with his penetrations, starting to show signs of fatigue.

Although he wasn’t yet encountering physical problems at the start of the game, his energy was depleting rapidly at this rate.

At that moment, the Lakers made an in-game adjustment, with Bozer coming in to replace Frye.

Speaking of Bozer, he had a history with the Cavaliers, being their 34th pick in the 2002 draft. He showed promise in his first two years, and come the summer of 2004, he and the Cavaliers’ management reached a verbal agreement: the Cavaliers would forfeit their third-year team option on his contract, and he would sign a 6-year, $41 million extension with them.

But as soon as the Cavaliers renounced their team option in his contract, he went off and signed a 6-year, $61 million contract with the Jazz, pulling off a slick escape act.

Since the Cavaliers relinquished the contract, Bozer was a completely unrestricted free agent, and they couldn’t do anything about him.

You could say that before James, Bozer was the League’s biggest rebel.

Thinking back, maybe James was on the Cavaliers when Bozer betrayed them; perhaps that was the real reason James gave a verbal promise to Gilbert but ultimately turned around and joined the Heat Team?