Chapter 704: Chapter 704
James passed to Iguodala, who missed the three-pointer.
This time, the Warriors had no problems falling back on defense. Deron brought the ball up to the frontcourt and started organizing the offense, running a pick-and-roll with TT before passing to Wade cutting on the weak side.
Wade received the ball and charged towards the basket.
James quickly moved to help defense at the basket.
He knew he couldn’t let Wade score again.
Former teammates from the Heat, they now faced each other head-on.
Both knew each other well, but in the end, Wade, as the attacker, gained the upper hand, using a European Step to get past James for a layup.
But what happened next was unexpected by everyone.
James, who had already been bypassed, actually shoved Wade in mid-air!
Wade never expected James to do such a thing, completely losing his balance in the air.
Luckily, from his early playing days, he was accustomed to such situations, using both legs to cushion his landing and avoid a hard fall.
Still, the sudden incident sent him crashing into a pile of photographers on the sidelines.
Conningham rushed up to James, pointing at him and yelling.
The Cavaliers dared to cut Ci Shiping this season and keep little Jones, partly due to Conningham’s non-basketball contributions on the court.
The referees quickly separated the two.
Wade was finally helped up by Cavaliers teammates, looking unscathed.
Old fans would know about the "Wade Fall," his early playing style just saved him.
After confirming he wasn’t injured, Wade looked at James with a puzzled expression.
Although they hadn’t succeeded when playing together, they were still banana boat brothers with a solid off-court relationship.
But James just pushed him like that?
That could have ended his career prematurely!
James had no intention of explaining; having just been yelled at by Conningham, he was in a foul mood.
Malone was also worried about Wade getting injured again, so he subbed Wade out early to rest.
When Wade sat down next to Hansen, his eyes were still glancing at James on the court, unable to help but shake his head.
He couldn’t figure it out.
"Some brother that is." Hansen couldn’t help but sneer.
Hansen originally didn’t want to get involved in Wade and James’s affairs, their connections were intricate, involving not just two individuals but even two families, which is why he only jokingly said "James has always been like that" to Wade before.
However, James’s actions were indeed unforeseen by him too.
Wade, hearing Hansen’s remark, turned back, hesitating momentarily before he spoke: "It might have just been an accident."
Hansen couldn’t stand it anymore: "DW, you can be a good person, but don’t be a fool!"
His voice also caught the attention of teammates.
But seeing the look Hansen gave them, they all looked away.
Hansen may not bully teammates like Jordan, but seeing him lash out at opponents, no one wanted to get on his bad side, especially after Irving demonstrated it.
"Let me explain what LeBron’s pre-game interview meant," Hansen said, without mentioning the "Eight-Points Power Sharing" incident, as Wade had already completed self-PUA with that past situation, which held little meaning.
Hansen’s scolding left Wade a bit ashamed, not caring if Wade wanted to hear it or not.
"If you’re bought out and join the Warriors, it would heavily weaken the Cavaliers’ strength, and if you join the Warriors, he can gain the reputation of treating his former brother well. As for whether there is a spot for you in the Warriors’ rotation, or if you play well, he doesn’t care at all."
Wade, blushing, remained silent.
He initially thought he shouldn’t say anything, but he felt Hansen might suggest he tries a buyout.
"Why don’t we make a bet?" Seeing Wade’s reaction, Hansen continued.
"Let’s bet if he will care about how you fell after the game. If he does, I’m the one making baseless assumptions; if he doesn’t, you should wake up and stop being used until you’re completely squeezed of value and only then realize it."
Wade hesitated for a moment before nodding.
He thought Conningham might have been the reason James couldn’t come forward to explain.
In the second quarter, after confirming Wade was fine, Malone let him back on the court.
When he checked in, his gaze was on the Warriors’ half, but Cole didn’t arrange for James to stagger the time, instead allowing Green and Thompson to play and lead the team.
Green had already calmed down, and without James on the court, he could control the ball, performing noticeably better than in the first quarter.
The Warriors’ offense and defense were quite good during this period.
But Wade, upon his return, continued his excellent performance, and both teams kept the score in a deadlock during this substitute phase.
This result, while not as dominant as before against the Bulls, was already decent for the Cavaliers.
As during the previous Christmas games, Hansen and Jokic couldn’t sit on the bench comfortably.
By halftime, the Cavaliers led the Warriors by double digits, 62-52.
In the second quarter, James continued to struggle under Covington’s defense, making tonight Covington’s breakout game.
Returning to the third quarter, both the Warriors and Cavaliers brought out their small-ball lineups.
Jokic wasn’t doing well against Green, but Green suffered as Hansen clearly set his sights on him tonight.
Previously, in regular matchups, he only faced Hansen during inside help defense.
But in this small-ball lineup, with Hansen and Jokic in a first gear shift, it was face to face.
Moreover, Jokic’s basketball IQ was too high, and whether it was popping out or rolling down after the pick, it was so fast that the Warriors had no choice but to switch defense.
Hansen once again broke through Green to the basket, scoring while drawing a foul from Green.
Green’s expression was helpless as he excelled at guarding smaller players, but it depended on who. Asking him to switch on James was one thing, but Hansen, unfortunately, was out of his league.
Hansen went to the free throw line and continued the trash talk with Green.
"The 35 isn’t as good as the 23."
When Jordan first returned, the Bulls retired the number 23 jersey to honor him, and according to League rules, players couldn’t wear retired numbers, so Jordan wore 45 upon his return.
Everyone knew afterward, due to Nick Anderson’s comment that "the 45 wasn’t as good as the 23," Jordan eventually switched back to 23 after paying a fine.
Green obviously knew this story, so he understood Hansen’s implication was to switch back to 23.
But just when you thought Hansen was merely paying homage to Anderson, what he really wanted to say was in the next line:
"Forget it, you can’t switch back anyway."
Lies don’t hurt, but the truth is a sharp knife.
Even though the Warriors’ number 23 used to be his, it now belonged to James, and unless James left, he really couldn’t switch back.
The "Madness of Warriors" referred to the Warriors’ ferocity in the third quarter, a hallmark of the Warriors during Cole’s peak years.
But Hansen scored 23 points in this quarter, leading the Cavaliers to maintain their lead with an offensive onslaught.
As they entered late third and early fourth quarter substitution segments, Cole once again put James back on the court, trying to recover some points.
Wade was also back in as a substitute, seizing another chance to compete alongside James.
He occasionally glanced at James, hoping for a moment James would come over and talk about the earlier mid-air push.
However, even when they stood side by side at the free throw line, James showed no intention of doing so.
After the game ended, the Cavaliers defeated the Warriors 121-115. In the post-game handshakes, James left the court early, eliminating that possibility entirely.
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ps: Will take off the update tomorrow noon, will resume normal updates in the evening. Went for a check-up, and the doctor said it’s tension headaches—never heard of it before, always thought it was due to sinusitis. The doctor said it is caused by stress and insomnia.