Chapter 132: Don't Dunk Like That

Chapter 144: Don't Dunk Like That

Kobe Bryant originally intended to go for the putback, but when he saw the ball flying in his direction, he immediately shifted his focus, preparing to swat it away.

Su Feng's pass was fast and accurate, and Kobe's reaction was timely, yet he was still a step slow. The ball rushed into Robert Henry's arms, with Kobe right in the way.

Robert Henry caught the ball, executed a pump fake, and watched Kobe fly past. Subsequently, the German took a long step toward the hoop and leaped with force. To Kobe's surprise, his hands were slammed down with ferocity.

"Dirk Robert Henry—he has sent a message with a thunderous dunk! The injury has had no impact on me whatsoever!" Barkley was thrilled to see Henry’s dunk. Who doesn't want a hero’s return?

The Cleveland Cavaliers opened with a 6-0 run. Su Feng scored the first six points, hitting two shots and two free throws—a great start. Henry-Will shook his head helplessly. The hardest thing about guarding someone like Su Feng is that even if you stop him, you cannot stop him from creating points.

For ordinary teammates, shooting, driving, or drawing fouls are all ways to score, but for Su Feng, everyone on the court for the Cleveland Cavaliers is his "means of scoring." Want to predict Su Feng’s pass without looking? Unless you have the superpower to predict the future! Even Henry-Will, who had once been the Finals MVP, could not read the direction of Su Feng's passes.

Seconds later, the Cleveland Cavaliers struck again. This time, Su Feng passed to Dirk, but instead of attacking, Robert Henry drew the defense and passed the ball to the outside of the three-point line.

There, Stevenson was left wide open by Henry’s gravity. The former took the decisive shot and drained the three-pointer. Although it wasn't Su Feng's direct bucket, Su Feng had controlled the rhythm perfectly, tearing apart the Heat's defense.

Heat coach Erik Spoelstra hurriedly called a timeout. The momentum today was a bit abnormal!

"The basketball game has just begun, and the Heat have already called a timeout! Those media members who already decided the Heat would win the championship might need to rethink if their claims are appropriate. Even though Dirk's middle finger is injured, the Cleveland Cavaliers are still a powerhouse! Look at their performance right now—this is not the strength of an underdog!"

Barkley's words annoyed many Heat fans. From the start of the game, the big man seemed to be rooting for the Cleveland Cavaliers. In fact, it was no surprise that Barkley didn't like the Heat, but he was a firm opponent of "super-team" formation. Seeing the Heat being dismantled on the court, the outspoken fat man was bound to offend their fans.

During the analysis by Barkley and Kenny Smith, the timeout passed quickly. When the Heat returned to the court, people were surprised to find that the young Robert Henry had been substituted out early, and Spoelstra had brought Bibby onto the floor.

"It seems Robert Henry's defense today disappointed Coach Spoelstra. Several possessions have passed, and it's fair to say that whoever Chalmers guards can score easily. Neither Chalmers nor Stevenson can control their man. Let's see if the Heat can turn the tide after replacing him with Bibby."

Mike Bibby, who had just celebrated his birthday a month ago, was a veteran at the end of his career. Bibby might not have the inspiration he had during his Kings days, but his 45% shooting from three-point range was key to his success with the Heat.

After the game resumed, Bibby didn't play the role of an organizer. He passed the ball to Henry-Will early and then ran quickly. He didn't look like an aging veteran at all.

Meanwhile, Henry-Will passed the ball to James while driving. James backed in, seemingly wanting to take on Marion one-on-one. Unexpectedly, "Robert Henry" suddenly turned around and threw the ball to Bibby, who was standing in the bottom right corner, leaning into the post.

Bibby caught the ball and shot, and Su Feng quickly closed out. But Su Feng didn't jump. He had to be wary of Bibby’s veteran pump fakes. If you jump, you are easily fooled. But as it turned out, this was a real shot, not a fake! Su Feng had to raise his arms to obstruct Bibby’s vision.

It seemed like a difficult shot for Bibby, but the next second, the ball dropped right into the net!

"Mike Bibby! Who would have thought he would break the Heat's scoring drought!"

Not to mention Barkley and the fans, even Bibby himself was a bit incredulous. When Su Feng raised his arms to block his view, he felt the shot would be spoiled. You never know when there's a hole in the defense.

With that jump shot, the Houston Rockets narrowed the lead by two points.

"Damian's defense in front of him is different. He is truly active, but defense cannot be completed by activity alone." Mike Breen shook his head. If the Rockets wanted to win, Stotts should consider using Matthews to guard Su Feng.

"Damn it!" Under Su Feng's easy shot, Edward William bit his lip reluctantly. Although Edward William had scored in the last game, he had also given up points to Westbrook. Westbrook relied on his strong body, while Su Feng relied on speed and extremely smooth, effective positioning. Are all the guards in this league freaks!?

In the next round, the Rockets finally started their best offense. Stotts was an offensive coach during his time with the Cleveland Cavaliers. After joining the Rockets, he certainly advocated offense.

Aldridge’s pick-and-roll was actually a copy of Su Feng and Robert Henry’s tactical playbook. Aldridge also had the ability to shoot from long range, and Edward William’s drive was very sharp. Kobe Bryant smiled; Stotts was too crude, directly copying the Cavaliers' most effective tactics for the Rockets. But the same strategy can be implemented by two different people, and the effect is not the same.

The quality of Aldridge’s screen was still high, and Su Feng was slightly delayed. Seeing this, Edward William accelerated his drive; he was unwilling to let any opportunity to score on Su Feng pass him by!

Because Kobe Bryant had Kaman and Brand switch on the screen, at this moment in front of Aldridge was Kaman, the center, and the rim protection was only 2.0-meter Brand.

Brand's ability to protect the rim was not scary to Edward William. He attacked the short veteran directly, hoping to draw a foul.

The Rockets were slowly improving, but clearly, they weren't good enough yet.

In the second and fifth games, you encountered trouble. Yi Jianlian turned around and easily held the Rockets' fourth substitute, Joel Freeland, in his hands. The Cleveland Cavaliers' bench players were waving towels wildly; they looked relaxed.

After that goal, the Rockets trailed by 10 points. Stotts had to pause the game and draw up quite a few tactics.

However, when Stotts returned from the timeout, he turned his head and saw Su Feng taking off his training gear, walking onto the court. Once Su Feng returned, the Cleveland Cavaliers' offense would only be more terrifying!

Subsequently, in the battle, Su Feng completely dominated the game. Edward William still didn't give up. He tried jump shots and brave drives time and again, seemingly trying to break Su Feng's dominance. However, most of the time, Edward William could only return in vain.

Think about it. If a rookie could make all the top guards in the league uncomfortable, how could he score easily? If, at the end of the last game, Edward William had been asked by Westbrook which guard he hated the most, he would have said Su Feng's name without hesitation.

Edward William tried and failed time and again. Except for a few free throws, Edward William got no return.

What about Su Feng? Even though Edward William was frustrated time and again, he remained focused. Only then did Edward William understand the true meaning of the word "cold-blooded!"

With five minutes left in the fourth quarter, you had to make a substitution. Today, the No. 0 rookie had scored 10 points, 5 rebounds, and 5 assists—it sounded good. But if all of that was based on a 35% shooting percentage, it was terrible.

After Stotts replaced Edward William, the fire in Su Feng's heart seemed to extinguish instantly. He had been infected by Lillard's active state, and his opponent was active, so Su Feng was even more active than him.

Until the Rockets' substitute, Ronnie Price, stood in front of him, Su Feng reacted; he had made Edward William suffer today.

Edward William showed no signs of frustration after exiting. He stared blankly at Su Feng, not letting any of his actions on the court go! The No. 0 guard did not give up the idea of challenging Su Feng just because of one game's failure.

Su Feng inadvertently caught sight of Edward William's presence, his heart filled with emotion. This kid was just as paranoid as he was!

After Edward William exited, Su Feng's scoring desire also decreased significantly. The biggest beneficiary at the moment was J. Mayo.

Mayo was in good form himself, and with Su Feng’s timely passes, he scored with half the effort! This was the second consecutive game that Mayo had scored over 20 points.

Su Feng had a 5x5 stat line? I should deserve this honor!

Su Feng's five-category performance left the confident Rockets trailing by 10 points. Kobe Bryant didn't know how Su Feng did it. There were so many big men in the league who couldn't cover his layups, but Su Feng did it.

It was just a finger-tip touch on the ball, but it was also a way to seal the shot. As long as you can stop the opponent from scoring, blocking, or tipping the ball, what is the difference?

Kobe Bryant sat on the bench, unable to help but look up at the replay on the big screen. As he expected, it was Su Feng blocking him on the screen.

Su Feng's desperate desire for victory made Kobe Bryant feel as if he had returned to the game two years ago when the Rockets were eliminated by the Cleveland Cavaliers.

At that time, Su Feng had the same expression. But Kobe Bryant didn't want the same tragedy to happen to the Rockets again.

"Shooters, do your best to get opportunities without screens. We need to increase the number of outside shots, especially three-pointers. Don't try to get near the hoop; it will only lead you to failure time and again!" At this moment, Doc Rivers found that the Cleveland Cavaliers' interior weakness had disappeared. In the last game, the Rockets had played like they were playing against a weak defense. But if they did that today, the Rockets themselves would undoubtedly be killed in the end.

Since the interior was shut down, Rivers started to think about three-pointers, which now accounted for an increasing share of the league. The number of teammate shots and three-point percentages increased year by year. In many clubs, making three-pointers the main means of scoring was obvious.

When Adams Miller came out and DeJuan Blair entered, it was not too late for Rivers to organize the club's play.

Rivers seemed to have forgotten that the Golden State Warriors, who had just been defeated 4-0 by the Cleveland Cavaliers, were a three-point shooting club...

The game started again, and Rivers replaced Henry-Will with Jamal Crawford, clearly wanting to strengthen the club's offense. Crawford had been in good form since winning the Sixth Man award. Rivers believed that with one more attacking point, the Rockets would have more opportunities than the others.

"The Rockets are very offensive; Edward William, Robert Henry, and Crawford all have strong scoring abilities. We know the Rockets are very eager to score. It can be said that this will be a confrontation between a spear and a shield!" Adams Miller.

The Rockets stopped on their first offense, Crawford took Kobe Bryant's pass early, and wrestled with Iguodala outside the three-point line.

But in fact, Crawford was just a decoy. Everyone thought he wanted to go one-on-one, but the Rockets' real target was Redick.

Robert Henry used the excuse to repeat, using two strong men, Henry-Will and Griffin, to block and pull out for a three-pointer. At the same time, Crawford made a shot, giving Robert Henry a fleeting opportunity.

Robert Henry didn't hesitate to catch the ball and throw it. This is what the Rockets did when they let him start—catch and shoot; his value was reflected in catching and throwing.

The Rockets successfully completed the attack. Robert Henry made a three-pointer, narrowing the gap to seven points!

Rivers waved his arms exaggeratedly after the timeout; this was what all coaches loved to see.

Adams Miller didn't expect Robert Henry to be so decisive, and all the interference was not very timely. The black guard raised his right arm to indicate it was his fault, and he would perform well in the next round.

Rivers saw Adams Miller's reaction and laughed even more happily. Adams Miller, I'm afraid you won't get what you want next time!

Although the Rockets' lineup was strong, it must pay the price of defense. Crawford was 1.95 meters tall, and when guarding Iguodala, he clearly suffered a heavy loss.

After Iguodala received Su Feng's pass, he directly pressed his body into the three-second zone, and then jumped for a close-range shot.

The Cleveland Cavaliers easily restarted the game instead of scoring. Although Iguodala was not a teammate eager to score, don't think that an all-around strong forward only knows how to dunk quickly.

Although the defense failed again, Rivers was not as anxious as he was just now. He believed that his tactics would not fail after just one round.

This time, the person pretending to take the ball changed from Crawford to Griffin. Griffin pushed his back to the mid-range position, and the collision with Robert Henry was very fierce.

Then he suddenly straightened his arms and put the ball in front of him. Robert Henry flashed in.

Iguodala's performance at the free-throw line was as stable as ever. The Cleveland Cavaliers scored three points with a hollow free throw. 5 to 0, Su Feng scored one goal, one assist, and one steal. His stats showed his epoch-making reason.

The two consecutive defeats in the three-second zone were already obvious. Therefore, in the next round of offense, the Rockets did not try to build the ball in the three-second zone again, but were eager to create shooting space for Robert Henry and Henry-Will.

A pick-and-roll between Kobe Bryant and Henry-Will forced Su Feng and Iguodala to change positions. At the same time, the Rockets' top shooter, JJ Redick, was outside the baseline for a three-pointer without the ball in his pocket. Kobe Bryant did not miss the opportunity and threw it to him immediately.

Adams Miller had just gotten rid of the entanglement with Henry-Will. It seemed that this air-drop would completely break the Rockets' lack of scoring in the basketball game.

Just as Redick was about to accept the ball to shoot, someone faster than the ball suddenly killed him and cut the ball off!

"Again! Yes! A major high-speed interception! It turns out that in the world, someone can run faster than the ball!"

After Su Feng intercepted the ball, he pushed forward with his speed. Kobe Bryant wanted to foul Su Feng, but Su Feng moved too fast, not even giving him a chance to foul.

Just like that, Su Feng turned into a lightning bolt, crossing the floor of the arena.

Entering the Rockets' restricted area, Su Feng raised the ball with one hand, his tomahawk slam dunking like an axe splitting the heart of the Rockets!

Seven to zero, Su Feng scored two goals, one assist, and one steal. All the data was the same! Adams Miller.

Kobe Bryant was so angry his lips were trembling, although he didn't know where Su Feng came from.

In fact, after seeing Robert Henry get rid of Adams Miller through the screen, Su Feng knew that Kobe Bryant would definitely hit the white guard.

So he rushed to the front to intercept the ball and then flew toward Robert Henry. But because people didn't know what happened, they felt that Su Feng had suddenly "appeared out of thin air."

A dunk caused the temperature in the arena to soar. It was 7 to 0. Before you did anything, the Rockets didn't expect they would suffer such a big blow today.

The Cleveland Cavaliers were in a different state. This was very different from the day before.

The Rockets had no choice but to attack again. They hoped that this time, they could completely break the Cleveland Cavaliers' dominance on defense.

However, as soon as Kobe Bryant crossed the center line, he was strictly guarded by Su Feng. The two fought side by side near the midfield line, showing the fans the cruelty of the playoffs.

Eventually, Griffin's screen allowed Kobe Bryant to safely pass the ball out of the three-point line. At this time, Henry-Will was blocked by Adams Miller outside the three-second zone, and once the technically crude center walked out of the three-second zone, there was no threat.

Griffin was entangled by Dirk at the top of the tower. He wanted to get rid of the German's defense, but Dirk kept close contact.

What about Robert Henry and Henry-Will? Although Robert Henry was a good off-ball attacker, when he met Adams Miller, he also met his match.

Henry-Will was a defensive-type teammate, not an offensive-type teammate, let alone guarding him now, or Iguodala, the recognized defensive gate of the league.

After a circle, the teammates had no chance. Kobe Bryant decided to score first to stabilize the situation!

Kobe Bryant controlled the ball to the right, and Su Feng's weight and footsteps had to move to the right.

It was with this opportunity that Kobe Bryant suddenly hit the ball to the left, making a breakthrough!

Su Feng reacted quickly and immediately blocked laterally. Kobe Bryant was not surprised. If he didn't even react to this, he wouldn't be Su Feng. However, the man was selected as the best defensive guard last year.

When Su Feng came over, Kobe Bryant quickly changed hands and returned to the right.

Kobe Bryant's dribbling technique was excellent, and his speed and pace were at the highest level in the league! Although Su Feng guessed Kobe Bryant's intention, his nerves did not have time to dominate his body.

In this way, Kobe Bryant crossed Su Feng with his excellent ball-handling level and looked for scoring opportunities.

Like Su Feng, Kobe Bryant was also a ball-handling guard, who often scored with mid-range jump shots.

Kobe Bryant was one of the hardest teammates to block in the league. Although he was only 1.98 meters tall, his block rate in this basketball game was only 0.5, which was the lowest in the league. The second lowest point was Robert Henry, with a starting point as high as 2 meters.

This shows how scary Kobe Bryant's high-altitude shot is.

This time, Kobe Bryant did not intend to give Su Feng a chance to make up for the defense. Henry-Will left Adams Miller behind for Kobe Bryant. Kobe Bryant rose up...