The Way of Basketball: Never Talk Shit to Him!
Chapter 389 - 197 Rest Assured, LeBron_5

Chapter 389: Chapter 197 Rest Assured, LeBron_5

The result...

Shaquille O’Neal "dreamt of" his peak performance, racking up 41 points and 13 rebounds, and exploding against the "Western Second Center" Dan Piel.

The Cavaliers chewed through this tough bone.

Securing a "two-game winning streak".

It’s important to realize that, although the Cavaliers were second in the Eastern Conference, if their record were to be placed in the West, it would barely rank them at the fifth position, tied with the Nuggets.

From the standings point of view, they were far behind the Mavericks.

What’s more, they were without LeBron James.

But the Cavaliers managed to gnaw down the Mavericks too.

Kenny Smith said, "I can see a strong sense of urgency in the entire Cavaliers team, and the man driving this desire is Shaquille O’Neal. Honestly, I haven’t seen Shaq like this in a long time. He isn’t usually this fired up in the regular season, but the fact shows that when he gets serious, he still ranks among the league’s top five centers!"

After he finished, Barkley reminded him, "Unless they run into the Pacers..."

Then Barkley added, "And who knows how LeBron James’s injury is doing! The good news is, he can recuperate peacefully because the Cavaliers without him seem very strong."

Kenny Smith looked at his smug face and was tempted to ask:

Is this really good news for LeBron?

In Kenny Smith’s view, it would be impressive if LeBron could now manage to keep his composure.

The fact proved...

LeBron couldn’t keep his composure at all!

The second after he saw the Cavaliers beat the Mavericks, he phoned Richie Paul.

Paul was also following the game and when he got the call from LeBron, he said, "Don’t panic, LeBron, it’s alright, it’s just two victories, nothing more. Right now, other teams can’t figure out the Cavaliers’ play style, that’s why they’re on a winning streak, but they will definitely start losing soon!"

Even though Paul was telling LeBron not to panic, his own tone was anything but calm. The idea was his, and now he was much more panicked than LeBron.

Listening to Paul’s "ineffective consolation", LeBron’s eyes flickered. He knew that apart from waiting for the Cavaliers’ momentum to slow, he had no other recourse.

He should have listened to Bill Duffy and focused on his performance on the court...

At this moment, LeBron finally realized how reliable Bill Duffy was!

At the same time, Su Wan heard from Erin about the Cavaliers’ victory over the Mavericks and asked, "Have the Cavaliers finished both of their games against the Mavericks this season?"

Erin replied, "This one was the second; the Cavaliers lost the first one."

"Then this is getting interesting!" Su Wan wore a fox-like grin, "Erin, you know what I mean, right?"

Erin certainly understood.

The next morning, news began to circulate widely of the Cavaliers defeating the Mavericks without LeBron, but biting them down without their star.

In fact, this comparison wasn’t even that exaggerated.

From what Su Wan knew, the Lakers of the future, the team that hovered around the playoffs were able to turn over the Celtics, the first in the league without LeBron.

Presently, even though the Cavaliers had defeated the Mavericks, they still held the second-place record in the East.

Such a shame!

Nevertheless, it was enough to subject LeBron to further scrutiny.

Imagine just two days ago when LeBron announced his absence, Cleveland was in a state of panic, as if without him, the entire Cavaliers team would be slaughtered by the league. Su Wan wondered if LeBron’s Team had anything to do with this media hype.

Bill Duffy wouldn’t do something so foolish.

But considering his status in LeBron’s Team, it probably wasn’t much different than his situation with Yao Ming. Even without him, LeBron had other media channels...

Well, regardless of whether it was intentionally promoted or not, none of that mattered anymore.

The situation now was that those who had advertised the importance of not having LeBron were about to be bitten back.

Many in the media were surprised to find that even without LeBron, this Cavaliers team seemed very capable.

The Cavaliers’ winning streak continued...

In the next game against the Wizards, Shaquille O’Neal showed signs of fatigue, but two "gunmen" stepped up: Channing Frye and "Ah Q" together nailed 10 three-pointers, helping the Cavaliers take down the Eastern fifth-ranked Wizards, continuing their winning streak in the days without LeBron.

In the fourth game against the Nuggets, Allen Iverson’s unexpected withdrawal ignited the Cavaliers’ counter-attack. In the last quarter, turning a deficit of 8 points into a lead of 8, the Cavaliers showed remarkable perseverance, and despite poor shooting across the board, managed to take down the Nuggets with defense.

They weren’t known as a strong defensive team, but they pulled it off.

After the game, a sweaty Shaquille O’Neal, with his hoarse voice, shouted towards the camera, "Rest easy, LeBron, we can fill your absence!"

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