As both teams' starters took to the court, the tip-off began with Kevin Garnett facing Joakim Noah at center court.
The mont Noah locked eyes with Garnett, his gaze turned blood-red with fury.
Coach Malone's psychological tactics had worked even before the ga began.
Amid the roar of the crowd, Noah tipped the ball back to his side, and the Bulls took the first possession.
The Bulls initiated their offense with Noah orchestrating from the high post, delivering a perfect handoff assist to Derrick Rose, who drove in and hit a teardrop floater.
Noah hadn't always been such a polished facilitator.
In his first two seasons, most of his assists ca from grabbing defensive rebounds and throwing outlet passes in transition.
But even back then, his court vision was evident.
Over the years, especially during the seasons when Rose was injured, the Bulls had shifted their offensive focus to Noah, and he'd rewarded Coach Thibodeau's trust by growing into one of the best playmaking big n in the league.
On the Cavaliers' first possession, Kyrie Irving brought the ball up the court.
But his opening play turned into a codic blunder.
After dazzling Rose with a series of crossovers, Irving drove into the paint, only to dribble the ball off his own foot and out of bounds when Robert Covington slid over to help.
The Bulls' defense under Thibodeau was their bread and butter.
With Carlos Boozer gone, their offense had regressed, but their defense had remained elite, thanks to Taj Gibson and Covington stepping up as defensive anchors.
Back on offense, Rose ca off a double screen set by Gibson and Noah at the top of the arc.
He sliced through the Cavs' defense once more, forcing them to collapse.
Rose then fired a pinpoint bounce pass to Gibson, who sank a mid-range jumper from the elbow.
Two possessions. Two made baskets.
The Bulls were off to a hot start offensively.
It was Han Sen's turn to take control.
During yesterday's practice, it had already beco clear that the Cavs' younger players weren't fully locked in.
That much was confird in the ga's opening minutes.
When the team struggled, there was only one solution — Han needed to stabilize them by taking over.
As Han drove toward the free-throw line, the Bulls collapsed on him imdiately, surrounding him with defenders.
It was clear as day: Thibodeau had written "Jordan Rules" all over the ga plan, and Han was the primary target.
But Han, unfazed, threaded a bounce pass through the sea of defenders, hitting Tristan Thompson right under the basket.
TT caught the ball, adjusted, and went up for a two-handed dunk.
But Noah wasn't done yet.
Flying in from behind, Noah tid his leap perfectly and swatted the dunk attempt away with a thunderous block!
The crowd erupted as Noah grabbed the rebound and led a fast break.
Noah pushed the ball up the court himself, sothing he was famous for as a playmaking center.
Rose trailed the break, caught the pass from Noah, and finished a layup in transition.
6-0.
An unexpected start for the Bulls.
Malone didn't hesitate. Seeing his team on the ropes, he imdiately called a tiout.
Noah was fired up.
As he walked past the Cavs' bench, he pumped his fist and let out a primal scream in their direction.
Malone's mind gas had worked — but Noah had channeled that energy into domination.
During the tiout, Garnett pulled TT aside and offered so blunt advice.
"Go up strong the first ti. Don't adjust. Their rotations are too fast. You won't get a second chance."
Back in the huddle, Malone scanned the faces of his players.
The panic was visible.
They had opened the ga poorly, and it showed in their expressions.
"Guys, take a deep breath." It was Tyronn Lue who spoke first.
"Relax. Just do what you've always done. We've got Han, and as long as we've got Han, everything will be fine."
All eyes turned to Han Sen.
Han nodded silently, a calm reassurance.
Malone finally picked up his clipboard to draw up a play.
...
When play resud, Han took over again.
This ti, Garnett set the screen for him.
The Bulls trapped Han aggressively, sticking to their "Jordan Rules" philosophy of not letting him get clean shots.
But Han didn't wait for the screen to fully set.
Instead, he burst forward with a quick first step, catching the Bulls off guard.
The speed of his second dribble was equally shocking, leaving no ti for help defense to react.
Han's drive was relentless, and Noah stepped up to et him.
Noah was known for his elite rim protection, capable of guarding smaller players in the paint.
But Han unleashed his signature move — the Euro step.
Noah, a big man, simply couldn't adjust in ti to the quick change of direction.
Before Noah could recover, Han exploded off the floor, twisting in midair and slamming the ball down with one hand.
BOOM!
The ball rocketed through the rim with a force that sent Noah tumbling out of bounds.
The crowd erupted.
The entire arena ca alive.
The Quicken Loans Arena, which had been quiet after the Cavs' slow start, was now rocking with energy.
In that mont, every fan had the sa thought:
"We've got Han. We're going to be fine."
On the broadcast, Charles Barkley shook his head in disbelief.
"Noah made the mistake of poking the bear. He just pissed off the one guy you absolutely don't want to anger."
Shaquille O'Neal chuckled.
"They'll learn. It's a process, but they'll learn."
Back in the '90s, Byron Scott hadn't thrown triple teams at Jordan until Jordan proved he could dominate everyone.
This was what it ant to be a true generational player.
...
"Defense! Defense!"
The chants filled the arena, echoing with a passion that had been dormant for four years.
On the court, the Cavs' defensive intensity skyrocketed.
Tyronn Lue had a way with people. His empathy and understanding allowed him to connect with everyone.
With Han as their anchor, the Cavs' anxiety lted away.
The Bulls' half-court offense was shut down once again.
On the other end, Han Sen continued to run the offense. Garnett stepped up for another screen.
This ti, Han didn't attack imdiately. Instead, he dished the ball to Garnett, who popped out to the free-throw line after the pick.
What happened next showed Garnett's experience. He didn't rush his shot. He took a mont to observe Han's movent off the ball.
When he saw Han slipping past Jimmy Butler's defense, Garnett didn't hesitate — he delivered a perfect bounce pass through Noah's outstretched arms, leading Han directly to the basket.
Han caught it mid-stride, evaded Gibson's help defense with a graceful twist, and finished the gliding layup.
When it cos to playmaking from the post, Joakim Noah is still a student, and Garnett is the master.
The pick-and-roll, mid-range dagger, and playmaking from the high post — these three weapons are what Garnett can still bring to the team offensively.
Back on defense, the Cavaliers' intensity remained high.
Derrick Rose's driving layup was contested fiercely by TT, forcing him into a tough miss.
Noah leapt for the offensive rebound, but Garnett boxed him out perfectly, preventing him from getting a hand on the ball.
TT secured the board, and with each possession, you could sense the Cavaliers shedding their early-ga nerves.
"Let's go, Cavs!" The fans shifted from defensive chants to cheers of encouragent.
The ball was back in Han's hands.
Garnett ca up for another screen.
No one knew how the rest of the Cavaliers would perform tonight, but Han and Garnett, both battle-tested playoff veterans, were rock-solid.
After the screen, Garnett once again popped out to the periter. This ti, the Bulls didn't send an imdiate double-team at Han.
Han took one hard dribble toward the paint and pulled up for a mid-range jumper.
It was a simple decision, but the right one. The Bulls' wing defenders — Covington and Gibson — were already shifting over to cut off his driving lane.
Passing out to the periter was an option, but what the Cavaliers needed now was a leader who could score under pressure.
Noah anticipated the shot and lunged forward with his long arms to contest it.
His timing was perfect, and his expression radiated confidence.
Swish!
Han drained the jumper, ignoring Noah's outstretched hand.
It was pure personal ability, the type that makes defense irrelevant.
The crowd erupted into cheers.
Han had just single-handedly erased the Bulls' 6-0 opening run with his own 6-point streak to tie the ga.
As he landed, Han shrugged toward Noah, palms up in a casual, almost dismissive gesture.
Han didn't need to say anything. His body language spoke louder than any trash talk.
The big screen at the United Center showed a close-up of Noah's frustrated expression, drawing a wave of jeers from the crowd.
...
Noah had called Han out by na before the ga, vowing to stop him. But now, it was clear he couldn't.
The Bulls pushed the ball up quickly, looking to retake the lead.
The possession ended with Jimmy Butler taking a corner three.
Butler, like Han, started his career as a 3-and-D player. This season, his three-point shooting had improved to 37.8%.
But Butler's biggest flaw was a lack of natural talent. Once Han closed out on him, the shot ca up short, clanking off the front rim.
The ball bounced high, hitting the floor once before heading toward the sideline.
Both PJ Tucker and Noah sprinted after it — Tucker from under the basket, Noah from the free-throw line.
The ball was too fast for Tucker to reach it in ti. Instead, he made a smart play by positioning himself to cut off Noah's path.
But what happened next shocked everyone.
Noah twisted his body mid-run, avoiding Tucker, and dived headfirst toward the ball, fully extending his arm to save it from going out of bounds.
It was a reckless, dangerous play, but Noah succeeded in pulling off what seed impossible.
He crashed into the front-row crowd, but the ball was back in play.
Jimmy Butler appeared out of nowhere, grabbed the ball, and glided in for a layup.
The crowd roared with excitent.
For Bulls fans, Noah's dive evoked mories of Dennis Rodman's iconic horizontal dive to save a ball from going out of bounds.
Even Han couldn't help but look at Noah differently as he ran back onto the court.
Noah's big mouth before the ga had made him easy to dislike. But his fearless effort? That was worthy of respect.
With Rose's explosiveness fading and Butler still growing into his role, it was Noah who seed like the Bulls' true leader.
Now, Han could understand why Noah had talked so much prega.
The Bulls had once carried the hopes of an entire city, tasked with restoring the franchise's glory. But injuries had shattered that dream.
This season was their chance at redemption.
...
Back on offense, Han was imdiately doubled as soon as he crossed half-court.
Thibodeau's defensive sches were extre, but effective.
Han waited for the double to commit, then calmly passed to Kyrie Irving, who was wide open for a three-point attempt.
Irving caught, shot, and released smoothly. The shot looked perfect — great form, great trajectory — but it rimd out.
The Cavs' nerves hadn't fully settled, particularly among the role players.
Watching them, Han was reminded of the 1991 Chicago Bulls, who had nerves in their first-ever Finals appearance, with only Jordan and Pippen scoring in double figures in Ga 1.
Coach Tyronn Lue's prega speech had been motivational, but stepping onto a new stage always brings pressure.
Noah grabbed the rebound and quickly pushed the ball upcourt.
The ball found Jimmy Butler, who attacked the basket for another fast-break layup attempt.
But Han was already chasing him down.
Butler rose for the layup, but Han soared from behind, pinning the ball against the glass for a chase-down block.
The arena exploded.
Noah's desperate dive had ignited the Bulls' spirits.
If Butler had converted that fast break, the Bulls' montum would have snowballed.
But Han's block shut them down.
He grabbed the rebound, imdiately turned, and pushed the ball in transition.
Butler tried to foul him, but Han spun behind his back and accelerated past him.
The crowd watched in awe as Han streaked down the court like a one-man fast break, unstoppable.
The only Bull left to stop him was Noah, who had barely crossed half-court.
At the free-throw line, Han made his move.
A quick crossover left Noah behind, but Noah recovered quickly and lunged to contest the shot.
Han, already anticipating the contest, adjusted midair, switching to a left-handed layup with a smooth up-and-under finish.
The ball dropped through the hoop as the crowd erupted once more.
One-man coast-to-coast.
Han's relentless attack left Noah stunned.
For the first ti, Noah's confident expression wavered.
He realized sothing terrifying:
Playoff-mode Han Sen was far more dangerous than he had imagined.
...
The Bulls' half-court offense was shut down once again by the Cavaliers' defense.
In the "original tiline," Pau Gasol had joined the Bulls this season, becoming a key pillar of their half-court ga.
Without him, Chicago could only rely on Derrick Rose's drives or Joakim Noah's playmaking from the high post. But with Rose's diminished explosiveness and Noah's lack of scoring threat, the Bulls' half-court offense wasn't as potent as it once was.
In fact, under Tom Thibodeau, this Bulls team had risen to prominence largely because of their defense-first, fast-break system.
When they couldn't stop the opposing offense, their overall effectiveness took a massive hit.
This was one of the major reasons — aside from injuries — why the Bulls never found success.
In the frontcourt, Han Sen held the ball and imdiately faced a double team.
This ti, however, he didn't pass out of it. Instead, he accelerated before the defenders could fully close in, cutting toward the basket from the other side.
His drive was decisive, quickly reaching the free-throw line.
But the Bulls' help defense was impressive. They quickly collapsed on him, with Noah raising both arms, charging toward Han Sen, who had already left his feet.
Noah had one goal — stop Han Sen from attacking the paint at any cost, even if it ant committing a foul.
The collision was fierce. Noah was knocked to the floor, and Han Sen was disrupted mid-air, unable to complete a normal layup.
But Han Sen's incredible body control allowed him to adjust mid-air, switching to a pull-up floater instead of a layup.
Swish!
It was a high-difficulty shot, yet Han Sen still made it look easy.
At the sa ti, the referee's whistle blew.
The call? Blocking foul on Noah.
The crowd erupted.
Fans jumped to their feet, pumping their fists in the air, their cheers reverberating through the arena. The noise level exploded.
Still lying on the floor, Noah stared at the ceiling, then slowly turned his head to see the referee's outstretched arm signaling the and-one.
Noah exhaled heavily, letting his head fall back against the hardwood. His chest rose and fell as he tried to catch his breath. But it wasn't the physical toll that weighed on him.
It was the thought creeping into his mind — a thought that had been there before, but now refused to leave.
He had seen it every ti he walked by the statue outside the United Center.
The words beneath it: "The best there ever was. The best there ever will be."
It was ant to be a statent of fact, a reminder of what the Bulls franchise represented.
But now, lying there on the court, Noah couldn't help but question it.
Was Jordan truly untouchable?
Or was Han Sen proving the world wrong?
(End of Chapter)
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