to 6, after Hansen’s consecutive dunks, the Cavaliers narrowed the gap to 1 point.
Of course, the bigger change compared to the score was in the morale of the two teams.
The momentum the Celtics had in the beginning was now completely gone.
When the Celtics attacked the front court again, the cheers in the arena didn’t rise again.
The Cavaliers continued to apply high-intensity defensive pressure.
Malone was sitting calmly like Mount Tai.
If it were last season, in this kind of situation he had to consider the stamina of Hansen and Irving.
But now, with the team’s depth allowing a 12-man rotation, he actually liked seeing this level of defensive intensity on the court.
Since Irving was traded, the Cavaliers’ talent has decreased, even now the talent on the court is not as good as the Celtics.
But when the game’s defensive intensity is such that only star players can resolve the issues, then Hansen can beat anyone.
Little Thomas was directly lost under this defensive pressure.
Whenever he attacked with the ball, there were defenders everywhere, and he couldn’t find a good shooting angle.
Eventually, the ball ended up in Durant’s hands, and the others spread out to watch his isolation play.
Durant’s hand was steady, he shifted and stopped abruptly under Covington’s defense and hit the shot.
After the shot, Durant waved his fist and roared, he was quite emotional tonight.
The quiet scene erupted again with cheers from the fans.
That cheering transformed back into a shouts of support.
After Hansen advanced the ball to the front court, he gestured for a pick-and-roll play, but this time it was TT instead of Jokic setting the screen.
And TT set a hard screen, bringing Towns right in front of Hansen.
War is all about hitting the enemy’s weak spot until they break.
Stevens crafted an entire "four protect one" strategy for Little Thomas, but clearly didn’t have enough preparation against Towns at this spot.
Capitalizing on this, Hansen immediately began a ’military training’ after the mismatch.
He initiated to the left, connected with a transverse to the right, then after a retreat, he sped up to the left.
Hansen’s crossovers were both wide and fast, he didn’t just shake off Towns, but directly shook him to the ground!
Amid the fans’ exclamation, Hansen drove inside and drew a foul on Horford.
Horford hugged Hansen thoroughly, knowing that if he didn’t, Hansen would surely complete an and-one.
Stevens turned to call Olynyk to sub in for Towns.
If they kept Towns in any longer, he might just get "killed" by Hansen.
Hansen went back to the free-throw line under loud boos, smiling as he made both shots.
The screen showed Hansen’s stats for the night; he had scored the Cavaliers’ first 7 points.
Coming back, a big defensive hole appeared for the Cavaliers, Durant grabbed the ball, crossed Covington and flew in for a thunderous dunk.
But before he jumped, the referee’s whistle had already blown urgently.
Jokic and Olynyk were tangled up under the basket.
Players from both sides quickly squared off, the referees worked hard to separate them.
The fans didn’t know what just happened until the replay was shown on the arena’s LED screen.
It turned out Olynyk had grabbed Jokic’s arm to prevent him from helping on defense.
As the game turned into a stalemate, the tension on the court became noticeably higher.
The referee ultimately called an offensive foul on Olynyk, nullifying Durant’s score.
Possession switched sides, with Jokic demanding the post position against Olynyk aggressively.
Looking back at the Cavaliers’ series against the Bulls, the biggest beneficiary was Jokic.
It not only improved his skills, but also significantly boosted his confidence.
Even the Slavic blood in Jokic seemed to have awakened.
Hansen also gestured to clear out and quickly fed him the ball.
Jokic used all his might on the post-up, forcing Olynyk to lower his center of gravity.
In that instant, Jokic made a quick turn and hooked the shot.
But Olynyk sneakily pushed, and Jokic’s shot didn’t go in.
The referee’s whistle stayed silent.
From the Cavaliers and Bulls series, it’s clear that this year’s playoff refereeing is lenient.
With the league no longer being the Nike League, Nike whistles are decreasing, and the game intensity has noticeably changed.
Jokic used his wingspan to grab the offensive rebound, not holding back, he powered through with a shoulder bump, knocked down Olynyk, and made his shot.
The referee’s whistle blew, signaling an offensive foul on Jokic.
The arena erupted in cheers.
Jokic hung his head and walked back, Hansen came over to give him a high-five, affirming his effort.
Making the shot would surely be better, but getting called for a foul isn’t bad; what’s important is that Jokic tried.
In basketball, beyond skills, there’s also the matter of morale.
Just like Towns, if he really did what O’Neal said and forcefully pulled Hansen down to prevent a dunk, Hansen would have respected him more. Follow current novels on 𝔫𝔬𝔳𝔢𝔩·𝔣𝔦𝔯𝔢·𝔫𝔢𝔱
Besides, Olynyk is as dirty a player as Pachulia, it was him who "historically" dislocated Love’s shoulder.
If Jokic didn’t respond strongly, he might really end up as Love’s "scapegoat."
In fact, that’s exactly the case, when Little Thomas used a screen to penetrate, Olynyk didn’t dare pull Jokic again, Jokic seized the chance and blocked Little Thomas’s shot.
Jokic grabbed the rebound, and the Cavaliers went on a defensive fast break.