The Godfather of Basketball

After the regular meeting of the coaching staff, Tang Tian called Carter to his office alone.

"Vince, I will put you back on the bench because there is a more important mission to entrust to you." Tang Tian remained blunt.

Carter nodded, and he didn't look like he was complaining about being in and out of the starting lineup and the bench.

"I need you to go directly against James Harden, to fight against him on defense, to go against him on offense." Tang Tian continued.

"Coach, do you want me to prove that I am more worthy of the best sixth man trophy?" Carter joked with a smile.

"No." Tang Tian shook his head.

"Prove that you are not old."

After hearing this, Carter put away his smile, and then nodded seriously.

"I will."

...

After a three-day break, Game 3 of the Finals moved to Cleveland.

On this day, the whole small town fell into madness.

The outside world is commenting on the Thunder winning the championship, but only those in Cleveland know what the remaining finals mean to the Cavaliers.

If they lose, they will directly lose the 3 consecutive championships, and thus lose the biggest and possibly the only chance of a dynasty.

Before the Rockets dynasty, few people included them in the discussion of tyranny, because they only won two consecutive championships.

So for Cleveland fans, these three home games, they are willing to do everything they can.

On the streets of Cleveland, you can see many small groups parading. They held up the slogans of the Cavaliers Dynasty and called on fans to cheer for the Cavaliers. You can see the faces and arms of fans everywhere. The logo of the Cavaliers.

The craziness of this city is really beyond your imagination.

In the Quicken Loans Arena that night, the fans packed the entire arena to the brim, their faces filled with unbearable excitement.

You could tell from their faces what a crazy night it was going to be.

In the deep voice of the on-site host, the opening ceremony of the Cavaliers officially kicked off.

The Thunder starter was introduced first.

The team is in good shape, and there is no need for Brooks to adjust. The Thunder's starting five are the same as before, with Westbrook and Sefolosha on the outside, Durant and Ibaka on the front line, and Perkins at the center.

After the host finished introducing the Thunder team, his voice suddenly turned higher, and a half roar from the depths of his throat ignited the atmosphere at the scene.

Amidst the explosive cheers of the audience, the Cavaliers' starters were introduced one after another.

The Cavaliers made adjustments to the starting lineup again.

The backcourt is still Paul and Green, and the center is still Yao Ming, but on the front line, the Cavaliers directly sent two veterans, the combination of Battier and Artest.

Although I don't know exactly what to do, but a signal sent is that the Cavaliers will be based on defense and will play more aggressively on the defensive end.

After the introduction of the starters of the two sides, the coaches shook hands, and the much-anticipated third game of the finals finally kicked off.

Ibaka beat Yao Ming and gave the visiting team the right to take the lead.

Westbrook took the ball to the frontcourt and organized the offense at the top of the circle.

At this moment, there was a sudden commotion from the audience.

The main defense against Durant was Artest. He was different from Carter and Battier before him. After he came up, he directly confronted with his body. Various muscles collided with various impacts, which made Durant very angry.

And what's more uncomfortable than a nest of fire is that you can't get rid of it.

For two consecutive off-ball pick-and-rolls, Artest was very experienced and always squeezed ahead of time. In the end, he saw that there was no chance to catch the ball in the middle of the offensive time, so he could only spread his hands to signal Westbrook to play by himself.

Westbrook greeted Ibaka's pick-and-roll, and he was ready to burst in the moment of the pick-and-roll.

But at this moment, Battier and Paul directly released Ibaka to double-team him!

He was a little underprepared and stopped the dead ball directly.

"Snapped!"

With quick eyes and quick hands, Paul slapped the ball away from his hand.

The Cavaliers' fast break, Paul hit the frontcourt and assisted Green's layup.

The Cavaliers take the lead!

Thunder's offense, Durant still couldn't get rid of Artest, so he simply retreated to the other side of the court to open up space.

Westbrook suffered a loss last time and didn't call the pick-and-roll again, but it seemed that he couldn't help it. Green directly let Sefolosha double-team him!

Westbrook took two steps back with the ball, and the Cavaliers double-teamed one step forward.

His passing ability is average, and he obviously doesn't have much experience in dealing with this scene.

"Snapped!"

His pass was directly shot off by Artest, almost another steal.

The ball was sent from the sideline, Westbrook held the ball again, and the Cavaliers double-teamed again.

This time he learned his lesson and threw the ball to Sefolosha in advance.

Sefolosha received the ball, but was a little confused.

He is just a functional player. In the Thunder's starting lineup, he basically has no shot rights.

"Voted! Voted!" It wasn't until Durant shouted there that he realized that he was already empty.

Turn around and shoot.

"boom!"

The shot was a little unconfident, it hit the front and bounced high, and the rebound was accepted by Yao Ming.

The fans at the scene burst into cheers.

The Cavaliers' defensive strategy, as well as the effect shown, are completely different from the first two games.

Full of aggressive defense, the blood of those who watched was boiling.

"Come on! Cavaliers!"

The fans at the scene began to cheer for the Cavaliers.

Paul took the ball to the front court, Battier and Green fell to the sides, and continued to open up space on the court.

However, Paul did not attack by himself as before, but waited until Artest ran over and handed the ball over, and then pulled Westbrook to the other side of the half.

At this time, even if Yao Ming pulls Perkins to a high position, there is a large space from the right side to the basket for Artest who holds the ball and Durant who defends him.

This turned out to be a 1-on-1 tactic!

Artest is not very good at attacking with the ball, and he is also old. Many fans don't understand what this tactic is for.

Artest started to attack with the ball. His direction change was very stiff. Basically, after two changes, he pressed Durant in without getting rid of it.

However, Artest's physical confrontation comparable to that of James is not an exaggeration. Durant felt like a kite with a broken string, being pushed all the way to the basket.

Artest went to the basket and directly knocked Durant's reluctant layup.

Durant wanted to block the shot and hit him directly.

"boom!"

The ball was lucky. After hitting the backboard, the ball bounced into the net bag and scored.

Immediately following the bottom line, the referee also blew his whistle, indicating that this is a 2+1 goal!

Durant put his head in his hands, and the fans cheered.

This also works!