The G3 of the series has also beco the most critical ga of the series at this ti. If the Bulls win, it will be a morale boost for themselves and Nike, but if the Bulls lose, their morale will be completely gone, and they will be hard-pressed to avoid being swept.
The United Center is packed for G3.
Hansen appeared on the scene, and when the cara showed him, there were even a lot of boos from the crowd.
What Irving said before was the truth. Because Jordan had existed, the sports atmosphere in this city, especially basketball, has always been strong.
Hansen looked up at the number 23 jersey hanging above the United Center and couldn’t help but think of the scene of watching the Jordan statue with Irving before.
In fact, it’s not just Irving who wants to beco Jordan. Those who wear the number 23 jersey, who wouldn’t want to be Jordan?
But if becoming Jordan was that easy, the statue would have been shattered by soone else long ago. It wouldn’t be Hansen’s turn.
Irving will realize this.
After the opening ceremony, the starting lineups for both teams were announced.
The Cavaliers had no changes, but on the Bulls’ side, Hoiberg proactively sought change, replacing Gibson with Mirotic in the starting lineup.
The purpose of this adjustnt was quickly demonstrated at the beginning of the ga.
Hoiberg gave Howard more low-post play tactics.
Also at this ti, look at the Bulls’ starters: Irving, Seferosa, Butler, Mirotic—all of whom have three-point range.
This ans that the Bulls on the court have a lineup similar to the Magic’s one-and-four shooters in the past.
Hoiberg’s adjustnt was very correct because Howard against Jokic was the only advantageous point for the Bulls.
At this ti, the surprising thing beca that Irving seed not to have any objection to such an arrangent and even looked for opportunities to feed Howard the ball.
If this is not a sci-fi movie, then Hoiberg must have given Irving so drug.
In fact, Hoiberg did give Irving sothing, but it wasn’t a drug; it was a psychological strategy.
When a group has internal conflicts that cannot be reconciled, the best way is not to try hard to reconcile them but to find an external enemy.
For Irving and Howard, the Cavaliers were that external enemy.
Hoiberg reminded them, especially Irving, of this point.
In today’s environnt, if Irving were swept by Hansen, his decision to leave at the ti would beco the biggest joke of the season.
So what Irving is doing now is not sacrificing but compromising.
As for Howard, this center with excellent shoulder width and cheetah-like speed suitable for pick-and-rolls, his demand has always been to have a lot of post-up opportunities like O’Neal.
Now that he has gotten it, it doesn’t bother him.
In fact, his condition has also greatly improved with the restoration of that kind of confidence.
Jokic’s choice was very tough; he didn’t back down because of Howard’s change but instead confronted him even more fiercely.
Then, he got two fouls in the first quarter while facing Howard.
In the year the Lakers won the bubble championship, there was a classic theory in the series where the Lakers defeated the Nuggets, which was that an aging Howard defended peak Jokic.
However, the reality was that Jokic was caught in foul trouble, Howard gave strong opposition to Jokic, and Jokic responded in the sa way, but inconsistent foul calls segnted Jokic’s playing ti, leaving him hesitant in later confrontations.
The only difference tonight is that the foul calls are consistent, but the sophomore Jokic still has a lot of room for improvent in controlling fouls, especially in such a strong confrontation ga.
Jokic being off the court was disastrous for the Cavaliers.
Because the current style of play for the Cavaliers revolves around Hansen and Jokic’s pick-and-rolls.
This left Malone with only one option, to push TT to the center position and put Wade in early.
The Cavaliers returned to a one-star, four-shooter system, relying more on Hansen and Wade’s personal abilities or on kick-out opportunities for three-pointers.
This also exposed a weakness of the Cavaliers after that trade. Though the team’s depth improved, the margin for error decreased.
And unfortunately, the Cavaliers’ outside shooting wasn’t good tonight.
JR and Covington couldn’t get the ball into the basket.
In the 2015 playoffs, the Cavaliers played against the Heat, producing an explosive outside shooting ga in the series. That victory was key to dragging the ga into a Ga 7.
In fact, in that series, even after Irving got injured, the Cavaliers’ ability to capitalize on outside openings was still on point.
That was the foundation for Hansen to break the playoff scoring record in Ga 7.
After all, no matter how strong you are, you can’t always play 1-on-5 on the court.
But misfortune will not always keep away from them, and tonight they faced challenges.
"This is Chicago’s ga, and tonight God stands on their side," Kenny Smith exclaid from the broadcasting booth.
When the ga was about 7 minutes into the first quarter, the Cavaliers were trailing the Bulls 12-22.
Malone called a tiout.
He called up Korver and Conningham, preparing to try a different lineup.
The Cavaliers’ morale was visibly low.
"I’ll hold the ga until you guys are back."
At this ti, Hansen said a determined statent to everyone.
Basketball is a five-person ga, and what Hansen can do is what he said—to use personal ability to maintain the ga and then wait for his teammates to return.
Hansen is the backbone of the Cavaliers, and his words undoubtedly reassured his teammates.
When the ga resud after the tiout, Hansen’s drive beca more determined.
This season, he had just redeed and trained the First Gear float shot talent, [The tear-drop], which provided him with more help.
Moreover, Hansen’s every attack was accompanied by a strong personal touch.
He would trash-talk Hoiberg on the sidelines after scoring.
"Your double team feels like an open shot to ."
He would also make a listening celebration gesture to the fans after making a tough 2 1.
Hansen seed to transform into an aggressive blood warrior, waving a big axe to crazily harvest among the Bulls.
The audience watched breathlessly, as if they saw the number 23 jersey hanging in the arena returning to the field, only when they focused, the number 23 turned into 77.
At the end of the first quarter, Hansen scored 20 points, but unlike the past, his points were almost entirely from the paint.
The Bulls shrunk back, but they couldn’t stop Hansen from scoring or drawing fouls.
A player’s scoring stability always cos from this way, which is also why Jordan rarely played poorly in gas.
This situation continued in the second quarter.
Hansen had 18 free throw attempts by halfti, which set a career record for him.
Even though Jokic fell into foul trouble and the team only shot a 20% three-point percentage in the first half, the Cavaliers still only trailed the Bulls by 5 points, 46-51.
And all of this fundantally changed when the second half resud.
As a team playing a one-star, four-shooters system, and with a bunch of shooters after the initial trade, the Cavaliers might have an off half, but you can’t expect them not to hit any threes throughout the whole ga.
What’s more, by the second half, Malone not only fielded a small lineup but also put sharper shooters like Korver and Conningham into the starting lineup.
With Korver’s consecutive three-pointers, the Cavaliers’ outside firepower finally opened up.
This allowed the Cavaliers’ one-star, four-shooters system to unleash its power, and the Cavaliers quickly flipped the score.
The Cavaliers hit 7 three-pointers in the third quarter, dominating with a 38-20 single-quarter score, reversing the lead to 84-71, leading the Bulls by as much as 13 points at the end of the third quarter.
The outco was almost decided at this point.
Barkley also repeated the article headline from the comntary booth:
"Han killed Nike’s future!"
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