Chapter 733: Chapter 733
In the era of self-media, many things become popular not because they are good or bad, but because of an opportunity.
When the fans were still discussing G1, two days later, the G2 finals between the Cavaliers and the Warriors continued in Oakland.
The Warriors had no way back, heading to Cleveland with a 0-2 score they might even face a sweep, and under this background, they burst out with astonishing energy.
Their field goal percentage was as high as 54%, and their three-point shooting percentage even reached 60%, finally scoring over 130 points.
What makes this Universe Warriors strong is not defense, but their scoring explosiveness.
The Splash Brothers were fully ignited, while James was also more determined in his breakthroughs in this game.
Everyone has a desire for the championship; James, who has played in the league for 14 seasons without any harvest, is no exception.
Moreover, what Cole said after G1 was correct; the Cavaliers’ lineup was not sufficient to maintain such high scores as in G1.
After the first two games of the finals, both teams took one game each, heading to Cleveland with a 1-1 score to continue the upcoming games.
This result was acceptable to both sides.
For the Warriors, avoiding a 0-2 situation after losing G1 was the scenario they hoped to see.
And for the Cavaliers, winning one of the two away games meant obtaining the home court advantage from the Warriors.
What they need to do next is to defend their two home games with all their might.
Before G3 started, players and coaching staff from both sides actively prepared, while the Cavaliers’ official account began building momentum for their home court.
They even solicited ideas online on how to disturb the Warriors to the maximum extent.
For a time, the comment section was full of talent.
Some fans dug out photos from when Clippers fans tried to seduce Bird, thinking they could replace those posters with real people and raise the intensity to the max.
Other fans advocated focusing on LeBron James, who had poor free throw performance in the finals, by making KT boards with captions like "Cleveland already has a real Emperor."
Of course, some fans suggested using the classic daddy slogan, considering Malone’s actions during last season’s championship parade, and that slogan was no longer just for the Celtics.
Truly, talents emerge from the comment section during the self-media era. As for what method the Cavaliers will ultimately adopt, we will only find out once the game officially starts.
On game day, a light rain drizzled down in Cleveland.
However, this did not dampen the fans’ enthusiasm at all, and in fact, the June weather made the fans feel quite cool.
The Cavaliers’ official preparations were also very thorough, setting up a temporary transparent raincoat distribution point outside where fans who needed them could get them for free.
The Cavaliers’ official preparation for this game was quite sufficient.
Everything that could be done outside the court was in place, now it was up to the players’ performance. Orıginal content can be found at 𝓷𝓸𝓿𝓮𝓵•𝑓𝑖𝑟𝑒•𝙣𝙚𝙩
During the pregame warm-up, Hansen today did not come out to dunk as usual. Instead, it was Little Jones and JR out there.
After finishing his shots, he sat on the sidelines chatting with Malone.
It seemed like the Cavaliers’ strategy tonight might be different from the past two games.
After the opening ceremony, the starting lineups for both sides were announced.
For the Warriors: Curry, Thompson, Iguodala, James, Green
For the Cavaliers: Hansen, JR, Tucker, Covington, Jokic
Cole made adjustments to the starting lineup in this game, going with a small-ball lineup right from the start.
The Warriors won the last game, but it was due to their shooting touch and state, factors that aren’t within human control.
Especially intending to perform the same on the away court is even more difficult, hence intending to make this a grind-it-out game.
This starting lineup was unexpected for the Cavaliers, and in the final three minutes, Malone also quickly made adjustments in detail.
As the starting whistle blew, Jokic tipped the ball back to the Cavaliers’ half, marking the official start of G3.
Right from the start, the Cavaliers showcased their tactical changes.
Jokic no longer tried to post up but moved early to the high post to set a screen for Hansen.
Starting off with Hansen and Jokic’s pick-and-roll wasn’t that surprising, the real surprise was that Jokic’s screen this time was solid.
This allowed Hansen to be mismatched against Green.
Hansen quickly launched an attack, stopping abruptly after a drive to hit a mid-range shot.
In the next play, when Thompson scrambled over to double Hansen, Hansen passed the ball to Jokic, who didn’t hurry to pass it back, instead giving it back to Hansen and screening Thompson once again.
Hansen continued to attack Green, and this time after breaking through he made a fake shot, then stepped through to score past Green.
Moreover, after scoring, he bent down in front of Green, pressed the floor with his hand, making a "too small" gesture.
Malone’s tactical intent quickly became apparent; he still planned to find a breakthrough from Green.
Because, among the Warriors, only Green could limit Jokic inside, and if Green had problems, Jokic could dominate the inside.
Before Cole could react, Brown, as a former Cavaliers head coach and a master of defense, had already responded promptly by reminding Green.
Since Cole had communicated with Green beforehand, Brown’s reminder didn’t provoke Green.
But some matters are not just about whether one wants it or not.
Just like Hansen messed with James in G1, in terms of mental games, Hansen would rank second, and no one in the league today could claim first.
Even though Green had psychologically prepared himself and avoided Hansen’s traps, his emotions were still greatly fluctuated by Hansen.
It’s important to note that he previously had mental breakdowns because of being stepped over by James.
Though he kept it bottled in and didn’t burst out, his court performance was visibly affected.
The biggest fluctuation was in his three-point shooting, as he attempted three shots from outside the arc in the first half but missed all of them.
When Green missed his third attempt, Hansen directly shouted to Jokic, "he has no three-point shot, get the rebound."
From Green’s frustrated hand fling, you could completely sense how explosive his emotions were inside.
The Cavaliers’ fans also kept exerting efforts.
When James was at the free-throw line, someone immediately displayed a crying KT board of James, with "The King with No Rings" written beside it.
And when Curry was at the free-throw line, some female fans in the front row took off their coats, displaying bikini tank tops, lining up under the basket and blowing kisses at Curry.
Indeed, Cleveland fans are ruthless, opting not for one but for all, and even harsher than what fans suggested on social media before.
Of course, this still wasn’t the harshest part.
The harshest part came when Green finally found a chance to stand on the free-throw line before halftime, and the on-site fans started chanting uniformly.
Not the daddy meme, but:
"Lebron will trade you!"
LeBron is going to trade you!
Green has been performing well in the playoffs so far, including in the first two games of the finals.
Yet, as soon as both sides arrived in Cleveland, Malone made a play targeting Green, causing a subpar performance from him.
And just like when Hansen taunted Green in the regular season, such things were very likely to happen.
So when this chant started, Green’s emotions really went out of control, and he directly turned to the fans on the sidelines yelling at them to shut up.
But the more he reacted this way, the more excited the fans got with their chants.
Previously, when they chanted the daddy meme against the Celtics, the league didn’t punish them, so they had no concerns at all.
Even the live cameraman had a great sense of when to capture scenes, opting not to focus the lens on a cranky Green, but on a silent James standing at the free-throw line.
Hansen finally couldn’t hold back his laughter.
He thought he was strong in psychological warfare, yet didn’t expect his fans to outdo him.
Indeed, the strength of the masses is the greatest of all!