The two players were nowhere near the same size, but what no one expected was that Irving, already hyped up, didn’t wait for James to get going and unexpectedly poked the ball right out of his hands and out of bounds.
This fired up Irving like crazy, and he was there, pounding his chest and roaring with excitement.
Upon seeing this, Hansen stood up to applaud Irving’s move.
Defense was always Irving’s Achilles’ heel, but it was clear that tonight Irving wasn’t Irving; he was the God of Ou!
James’s pent-up anger finally erupted at that moment. He turned around, shoved Irving away, and then shouted at him,
"That’s the last time! That’s the last time you disrespect me!"
His action left Irving stunned and successfully cracked Hansen up.
He still had that obsession with respect.
Irving turned his head and, seeing Hansen’s reaction, also started to laugh.
"Aren’t you guys going to call a foul on him?" he then looked towards the referees. James had just pushed him, after all.
The referees didn’t blow the whistle. With James now somewhat out of control, if they called a foul on him that led to an ejection, they’d be in for a scolding.
After all, the Christmas Battle needed its highlights, and none of the core characters could be missing.
The Lakers passed the ball in from the sideline, and James, after getting the ball, signalled Bozer to set a screen and then chose a mid-range shot.
This shot was unexpected; Hawes didn’t jump out, and James successfully scored his first field goal of the night.
After scoring, James looked particularly fired up. He found the camera, stretched out his right hand with a commanding presence, and made a strong celebratory gesture.
If you were a fan who only watched the highlights and not the live game, you’d definitely think he played domineeringly tonight.
Irving controlled the ball and advanced to the frontcourt, calling Johnson for a pick and roll.
The Lakers’ strategy was to double-team, but Irving once again showed off his speed, accelerating past the trap. Fresh chapters posted on 𝔫𝔬𝔳𝔢𝔩⁂𝔣𝔦𝔯𝔢⁂𝔫𝔢𝔱
However, slightly different from before, this time his drive was directed towards James.
This made James sense an opportunity.
Blocking shots was his forte.
He timed Irving’s layup, leapt high into the air, and went straight for the ball.
But he clearly underestimated Irving’s skills.
"Kyrie · No-Bar Layup · Irving" specialized in avoiding blocks .
In an almost mocking manner, he switched the ball from right hand to left in midair and glided to finish another jelly layup.
The cheers erupted anew in the arena.
Unlike all the previous baskets, Irving aimed to embarrass James from the get-go with this one.
The more James wanted respect, the less Irving gave.
Oh, the rebellious youth!
And that wasn’t even the most spectacular part; after scoring and landing, Irving turned back towards James and shrugged his shoulders.
Irving nailed it too!
And clearly, this was of the same nature as Hansen’s shrug.
He was clearly learning bad habits from Hansen!
At this, the cheers in the arena exploded completely.
James completely lost his composure and pushed Irving to the ground.
This time the referee couldn’t ignore it, blowing the whistle on James for a flagrant foul.
Scott hurriedly subbed James off to calm down.
The felled Irving was pulled up by his teammates, his face all smiles.
The cheers in the arena turned into whistles and taunts.
At this moment, Hansen also looked up at the scoreboard.
to 26, the gap had reached double digits.
It seemed... Hansen wouldn’t be needed to take the stage tonight.