On the first weekend of December, the Cavaliers' home game against the Bulls became the focus of the game.

This is not only a contest between two rival teams, as their records are only half a win apart, but also a battle for the top spot in the Eastern Conference.

Before the game, the media has begun to warm up with extensive coverage.

But an interesting thing is that for the first time, the media did not use the matchup between James and Xu Yong as a gimmick when promoting the event.

Moreover, in the official promotional photos of the game released by the league, the player standing in the C position for the Cavaliers was actually Irving from Nike.

This naturally led to another debate among James fans on social media.

Although Irving's average of 24 points per game this season is a career high, James is the Cavaliers' highest scoring player with an average of 25.4 points per game.

However, their debate does not affect the media people from continuing to express their views.

"This is the first time LeBron has faced the Bulls since becoming the spokesperson for Adidas. It will definitely be a very interesting game." Barkley added a lot of subtext in his preview of the game.

On the plane to Cleveland on game day, Thibodeau announced the team's active roster.

Rose will not travel to Cleveland with the team due to right knee soreness, and another person on the inactive list is Justin Holiday.

When hearing the news, Jokic was stunned.

He originally thought that the spot would definitely be his, but he didn't expect that he would be included in the activation list.

Although he was a little confused, there was still some anticipation in his eyes.

Being on the active list doesn't necessarily mean you'll play, but at least there's a chance.

When I arrived in Cleveland and took the bus from the airport to the hotel passing through the elevated road, I could see a billboard on the side of the road, and there was still a picture of James on it.

This feeling, Xu Yong looks a bit like the late Eastern Han Dynasty. Although the "emperor" has lost the power he should have, it does not prevent him from being the prefect of Luoyang.

After arriving in Cleveland, the players started training immediately.

The players are very motivated, not to mention Xu Yong. The Bulls have also been disgusted by James' privileges over the years. Now they finally don't have to endure that kind of anger anymore, so they have to hold back their energy.

Because it is an open training, there will be a media interview session after the training.

As usual, Xu Yong was surrounded by a group of reporters.

And among this group of people, he also saw a very familiar figure, Windhorst.

Generally speaking, well-known reporters appear in the post-match press conference. Most of the pre-match interviews are with newcomers. It seems that this reporter is not having a good time now.

Xu Yong pretended not to see it and answered questions from other reporters.

Windhorst tried to speak several times, but was ignored by Xu Yong. Then other reporters saw it and immediately asked questions.

Later on, Windhorst couldn't help but wipe the sweat from his forehead. He was really sweating profusely.

When the interview was almost over and he saw that Windhorst was still there, Xu Yong finally turned his gaze to this "old acquaintance".

"Xu, what do you think about another matchup with LeBron? We now know that the two teams are evenly matched." Windhorst asked hurriedly.

At this time, all the reporters turned their eyes to Xu Yong, because in the previous interview, Xu Yong did not mention James, and when reporters asked about topics related to James, he pretended not to hear.

"I think we need to focus on defending Kyrie (Irving). Derrick can't play tonight and he will put pressure on our back line." Xu Yong replied.

Windhorst was stunned. Xu Yong answered seriously, but his answer was completely irrelevant to the question.

"That's all for today."

However, just as he was about to remind Xu Yong, Xu Yong had already signaled that the interview was over. As the reporters dispersed amid laughter, Windhorst could only see Xu Yong's back.

It was obvious that Xu Yong guessed the question he would ask James and had no intention of answering it. He was just making fun of him.

Why did the reporters laugh just now? They were just laughing at him.

He was so angry that his teeth were itching, but just like Zhang Rang, one of the Ten Attendants who finally jumped into the Yellow River, when the so-called "emperor" authority was no longer there, he had no dignity at all.

That night, the game between the Cavaliers and the Bulls kicked off at Quicken Loans Arena.

The stadium was packed with people, and many fans were wearing Cavaliers jerseys, with James' jersey being the most common.

It must be said that the open letter that James wrote when he returned to the Cavaliers was still a bit touching. In Cleveland, as long as he doesn't leave, he will still be the king.

After the opening ceremony, the starting lineups of both sides were announced.

Bulls: Dellavedova, Butler, Xu Yong, West, Adams;

Cavaliers: Irving, JR, James, Love, Davis.

Amid the cheers of the fans, Davis pushed the ball back to half court, and the game officially began.

Irving took advantage of Davis' pick-and-roll to break through to the basket and shot a pull-up shot.

Although what Xu Yong said to Windhorst before the game was irrelevant to the question, what he said was true. Dellavedova's mad dog defense can only have limited effect when facing a guard like Irving who is good at breakthroughs.

Then when the offense and defense changed, Xu Yong found that the person defending him was Love.

Originally, if James was defending him, he would have to adjust his offensive strategy and play more off-ball offense. After all, James can maximize his physical advantage when defending in the low post, but that did not happen.

Xu Yong looked at the Love in front of him, who had become two different people compared to his NCAA days, and decisively took up position in the low post.

Xu Yong received the ball, but JR did not follow Butler who was going through the back door, but suddenly double-teamed him.

This is obviously the tactical arrangement of Cavaliers head coach Blatt.

Xu Yong did not panic when he was double-teamed. He raised the ball above his head to protect it, gave Love some confrontation, then jumped to the three-point line to get rid of the double-team, and then took a fade away jump shot.

Love's reaction speed has become much faster after losing weight. He rushed over to interfere with him, and JR also saw the opportunity to pounce on him.

But at this moment, Xu Yong suddenly threw the ball towards the basket in the air.

On the other side, Butler stopped under the basket after finding that JR did not pursue him. After receiving the pass from Xu Yong, he easily turned around and scored.

What is the tacit understanding formed by years of cooperation.

But looking back, Irving changed direction and bowed to the Buddha, passing Delavan.

Adams reacted quickly to this ball, retreating to the basket in advance and raising his hands to interfere. Seeing this, Irving jumped up, slid in the air, and then made a layup with his low hand to score.

Xu Yong couldn't help but applaud when he saw it.

Not to mention how strong Irving's one-on-one ability is, it's really beautiful to see him play like this.

Moreover, he scored 4 points in a row at the beginning of the game. Although the second goal had the bonus of the [vertical jump rule], but with Irving's condition this season, if he were to change teams and have more ball possession, he would still average 27 or 28 points per game.

Thinking of this, he then turned his gaze to James in front of him.

James was idle on the offensive end and the defensive end, just strolling around.

Xu Yong continued to single out Love in the low post. This time JR didn't trap him. After Xu Yong gave Love two hard back-to-the-basket confrontations, he turned around and made a fade away jump shot towards the baseline.

After being confronted twice by Xu Yong, Love was unable to exert his strength in the first moment, and when he pounced on him, he was unable to interfere.

This is also where Xu Yong is difficult to defend in low-post singles this season. Under Grover's reinforcement over the years, he has built a body of steel like Jordan back then, and his ability to confront is maximized. Few people can stand sitting in the same position like him, and even those who can stand the mismatch like Love cannot keep up with him in speed.

It is no exaggeration to say that Xu Yong has completely replicated the kind of lethality that Jordan had in the low post, and may even be higher, because his body shape is that of a small forward, and if he leans back, it will be more difficult for opponents to defend him.

And after retreating to the defensive end, Xu Yong smiled and said to James: "So what is your role on the court?"

Before, "It's the same with or without James" was just a joke among fans, but after playing tonight, this sentence couldn't be more appropriate.

James' face turned cold, but he didn't react.

"It's my fault. I forgot that you are only playing simple shots now." Xu Yong continued to output. The Bulls scored one after another at the beginning of the game, and James didn't even have a chance to play a simple fast break shot.

But James still had no reaction. He was like a turtle spirit who had practiced Taoism for a thousand years and was unresponsive.

At this moment, Irving's breakthrough caused West to hit his hand, and he got the opportunity to go to the free throw line.

Irving was like a god tonight, omnipotent.

Seeing this, Xu Yong called Butler and Dellavedova to his side and said a few words to them.

Xu Yong was trapped in the low post attack in the frontcourt and the ball was lost. Butler's three-point shot from the outside was a little off and hit the rim.

At this moment, Xu Yong saw a figure running out of the three-point line.

Taking a closer look, it was clearly James. His speed was as if he had used all the energy he had been holding in the previous moments in this fast break.

But in the end he did not get this opportunity, because James made a fast break in advance, and West saw where the basketball would land and easily grabbed the offensive rebound.

Then the scene became very funny, because when James rushed across the midfield, the Bulls had a 5-on-4 opportunity in the frontcourt.

After consecutive passes, Adams easily scored two points at the basket.

"What?" Barkley in the commentary booth dropped his jaw in shock.

O'Neal on the side had already started laughing.

Without mentioning anything else, the materials for this issue’s “Top Five Embarrassing Stories” are already available.

The camera was also given to James. Apparently even the team's photographer was shocked by James's performance.

However, the Cavaliers players did not react much to this scene, not because their understanding of basketball was different from others, but after last season, they had become somewhat accustomed to James's style of play, and it was impossible for James to resist this kind of fast break.

Of course, James' next move was the most confusing, because after returning to the backcourt, he spread his hands to Davis with a puzzled expression, obviously questioning why he failed to protect the backcourt rebounds.

Xu Yong was stunned, but then he laughed. If Davis plays like this for another one or two seasons, he might just start to maintain his health.

In the transition from offense to defense, the Bulls' defense changed. Xu Yong switched to defend Irving, Butler went to defend James, and DeLaVine switched to JR.

This is what Xu Yong explained before. Originally, he wanted to stimulate James and let James attack with the ball, but that didn't work, so he chose to plug the loophole himself.

Irving saw the defensive changes, but he was quite confident after scoring several goals in a row. He neither passed the ball nor called for a pick-and-roll. Instead, he directly signaled to move away and play one-on-one.

This choice can be described as a sign of youthful vigor, but it also shows that Irving's character is that of a frontal and tough type.

And you have to know that Iverson's famous scene back then was shaking off Jordan and scoring. If he could shake off Xu Yong and score, it would be equivalent to replicating the classic and would definitely make headlines after the game.

The Cavaliers quickly opened up space, Irving took up position outside the three-point line at the top of the arc, and Xu Yong also squatted down and took a defensive stance, concentrating his attention.

The fans began to boo at the scene.

Irving suddenly bowed to Xu Yong, but Xu Yong's sliding step was perfect. His entire defensive posture did not change while he slid backwards, so Irving's bow did not have any effect.

Irving did not stop, and immediately made another series of changes in direction in front of his body. During the whole process, the ball felt like it was stuck in his hands.

Just based on this smooth combo, there is nothing wrong with the official letting Irving take the C position.

But he still couldn't get past Xu Yong. Xu Yong took quick and detailed steps and kept adjusting his defensive direction, which prevented Irving from finding a good angle.

At this time, there was already a commotion at the scene.

In the past two years, Xu Yong has put more energy into the offensive end, and his presence on the defensive end is not as strong as when he first entered the league.

But from the brief contact just now, it seems that Xu Yong has only invested less, but his ability has not weakened at all.

Irving had no good chance and could only pull back to the three-point line.

At this time, Xu Yong did not press forward like he did when defending James, because Irving's dribbling skills were too good, and defending him would require keeping a certain distance.

He is not worried about Irving's shooting because of his size advantage. Even if Irving chooses to shoot, he can quickly pounce on him and interfere.

As expected, Irving chose to break through. After a **, he quickly closed the distance between himself and Xu Yong, then changed hands behind his back and switched the ball to his left hand to break through on the left.

He used this series of dribbling techniques to the fullest, but still failed to get past Xu Yong. Xu Yong's sliding steps combined with puppy steps made him completely mobile. He even had the energy to use his right hand to sweep in front of him, compressing Irving's dribbling space.

Irving still wanted to change direction, but Xu Yong no longer gave him the chance and directly blocked his breakthrough route with physical confrontation.

The force of the confrontation was so strong that Irving almost lost control of the ball. After Irving regained control of the ball, he quickly turned towards the free throw line with his right foot as the pivot foot and made a fake shot, but Xu Yong still failed to get past him. Moreover, when Irving jumped up for the second shot, Xu Yong made an accurate judgment and jumped up to block his shot.gif!

The scene was in an uproar and many fans were stunned.

In this round, Irving used almost all of his dribbling skills. Other defenders would have been shaken off, but Xu Yong managed to defend him and used his size advantage to block the shot in the end.

Irving failed to replicate Iverson, but it became another scene of Xu Yong's fame.

After the ball was blocked, Dellavedova flew over to grab the floor ball. Although his defensive ability was limited, his enthusiasm and awareness were full.

After controlling the ball, he threw it hard to Butler, who scored with a violent two-handed dunk on a fast break, leaving no chance for James behind him to chase and defend.

James was a little frustrated after failing to block the shot, and slammed the ball to the ground.

As a result, the ball was disobedient and bounced directly into James' right cheek, causing Butler, who was standing by, to show a stunned expression.gif.

This scene happened to be captured by the photographer on the sidelines, and O'Neal burst out laughing in the commentary booth.

So far this season, he has been lacking in material for his top five embarrassing moments, but he didn't expect James to come to his rescue. With the pace tonight, is he going to take on all of them by himself?

After this episode, the pressure on the Cavaliers' offense suddenly became very great.

Because Love is a role player and Davis lacks offensive ability, the Cavaliers seem to have four giants, but after running-in, only Irving and James can really hold the ball and launch an offense.

After Irving was defended by Xu Yong just now, the Cavaliers only had James left.

Just at this time, Butler trash-talked James: "Senior is right, the Cavaliers are the same with or without you."

James got angry when he heard this. It was true that he was afraid of Xu Yong, but could he be afraid of Butler?

"This is the last time you disrespect me!" James said something familiar and reached out to Irving to pass the ball.

Irving originally wanted to continue to attack Xu Yong to get back at him, but he couldn't refuse to give the ball to James when he asked for it.

He and Davis are actually in a similar mood now. They are both being patient with James, and they might explode one day.

After James got the ball, he dribbled twice on the spot, then accelerated and rushed directly towards Butler.

What skills? There is no need for any skills at all. He has no advantage against Xu Yong now. How can he not have the advantage against Butler?

“Bang!”

The two men had a direct physical confrontation, and Butler was knocked back half a step, but was not completely knocked away.

Butler's growth path is different from Xu Yong's, but there is one thing that is similar, that is, he started to gain muscle and increase confrontation from the third year of his rookie year, because without confrontation your breakthrough lethality is limited.

After two years, although he still can't handle James, he is not at the level of wanting to "consume" James as he said during his rookie period.

James didn't completely push Butler away, and suddenly he became a little overwhelmed.

In addition to technical reasons, another very important reason is that the referees have called traveling calls on him this season. In the past, when he encountered such a situation, he would just continue to fight back, but now he is afraid of being called again.

Butler saw this and started to cut the ball. In order to protect the ball, James switched his pivot foot and was forced to kill the ball.

The fans at the scene were also dumbfounded. What happened to James tonight? He couldn't beat Xu Yong, and he couldn't beat Butler? !

Irving tried to pass the ball, but Xu Yong chased him closely and waved his arms to interfere with their passing route.

Love tried to cut into the basket, but Adams blocked his route before he could react.

In the end, James had no choice but to force a jump and complete a difficult shot with his crab-like fadeaway.

God did not favor such an unspectacular shot. The basketball hit the front of the basket and bounced out. Adams grabbed the defensive rebound and after seeing Xu Yong rushing forward, he threw a signature quarterback-style long pass.

Xu Yong received the ball, accelerated to the frontcourt, and glided into the air at the free throw line.

The doors of the Cleveland Palace are always open!

“Bang!”

Xu Yong performed a 360° gliding turn and slam dunk.

After landing, Xu Yong felt good and made his signature hand-spreading celebration gesture to the fans on the sidelines: Look, wasn’t I awesome just now?

There was a lot of excitement at Quicken Loans Arena.

The two teams have similar records. After the Cavaliers' running-in, their overall performance this year is much better than last season. How come they were beaten like this in the first match?

The photographer on the scene was very good at using the camera and focused the camera on James on the court.

Even if it's Tian Ji's horse racing, when your superior horse can't beat your opponent's average horse, what can you use to win?

This should have been a battle to prove themselves for the Cavaliers, but who could have thought that James would be in such a mess at the start.

However, James in the camera was talking to the referee emotionally at this time.

Only the fans sitting on the sidelines could hear what he was saying.

"He's spread out, look, he's spread out!" James said while pointing at Xu Yong at the other end of the court.

Yes, he was talking about Xu Yong spreading his hands.

He was praised for spreading his hands before, so Xu Yong should also be praised. We can't be double-standard.

The referee didn't react at first, until James spread his hands to signal, then he understood what he said.

The referee's expression instantly became meaningful. Even if they all spread their hands, would it be the same?

Other people spread their hands to make themselves look awesome, but you are simply questioning our judgment.

And even if Xu Yong spread his hands, so what? He is the best player in the league. If he really spread his hands at me because of a penalty issue, I will change the call immediately!

Didn’t you see that in Jordan’s era, as long as Jordan questioned the referee’s decision, the referee would change the decision.

This is the real privilege, but Jordan rarely uses it.

"No, no, you can't judge like this, it's unfair."

Listening to James' nagging, the referee also looked helpless. It is important for people to know themselves.

Finally, after seeing that the referee completely ignored him, James turned around and swore.

"beep!"

The referee's whistle sounded immediately and gave James a technical foul.

The buzzing in my ears is annoying enough, and now you have to swear. I won't tolerate you.

James was really angry now. He felt that he was being treated differently. He was so angry that he wanted to go up and confront the referee. Just at this time, Love came over and saw James's look and reached out to stop him.

James immediately made a charging gesture, which surprised Love.

But Love is also an honest man. Seeing this, he forcibly pulled James back to the bench.

The referee went to the technical table to confirm James' technical foul.

Apart from the fact that James' behavior just now was enough to be called a technical foul, if you were to say the most depressing group in the past few years is still the refereeing group.

They followed the league's arrangements and turned a blind eye to James' traveling, which didn't increase their salary by a penny, and they were still criticized by fans after the game; but if they didn't do that, they would be unemployed in minutes.

In this environment, professional ethics is simply a luxury. Can you imagine how miserable they must be?

Therefore, if there is a real backlash, their reaction will be the biggest.

Xu Yong was walking towards his own half at this time. When he heard the referee's whistle, he was stunned for a moment. After realizing what happened, he smiled and shook his head.

The dominoes fell one after another, and James was peeled off layer by layer like an onion. When it was completely peeled off, you would find that there was actually nothing inside him.

James was called for a technical foul and was replaced by Jefferson.

As a result, the Cavaliers were forced to let Love reorganize the offense.

Then you have to say that Love is a plug-and-play player. After losing weight, his three-point threat and the threat of holding the ball outside have increased. He is very effective in handling the ball outside the three-point line, and the Cavaliers' offense has also opened up a lot.

As it turned out, what Xu Yong said before was not entirely accurate, because in this high-intensity game, the Cavaliers seemed to be better without James.

At the end of the first half, the Cavaliers were only 10 points behind the Bulls at 50 to 60, but in the third quarter, Xu Yong exploded and the Bulls directly widened the gap to 20 points in one wave, and the last quarter became garbage time.

It can be said that no one expected this result.

James only scored 8 points in three quarters, which is completely inconsistent with his performance this season.

By the last quarter, Xu Yong and Butler were already chatting and laughing on the bench.

With six minutes left in the game and the Bulls still leading by more than 20 points, Thibodeau turned around and called Jokic at the end of the bench.

Jokic was stunned for a moment and then stood up, excitement evident in his eyes.

Xu Yong noticed Jokic, called him when he passed by him, and then reached out and clapped his hands with him.

Of course, apart from Xu Yong, no one else noticed the little fat guy who was tucking his jersey into his shorts while walking towards the technical table.

At this time, more than half of the fans in the stadium had left. No one was a masochist, and the remaining fans were all looking at the Cavaliers' half because James was back on the court.

It seems that James still refuses to admit defeat.

Those who were still left at this time were basically die-hard fans of the Cavaliers. Although they knew that the game had entered garbage time, being able to watch James score some points was the only highlight of the remaining game.

Just after the two sides made a substitution, James broke through Artest and performed his signature tomahawk dunk.

The emotions of the fans at the scene were ignited.

Thibodeau shook his head at this time. In the previous round, Jokic moved too slowly and did not provide any effective defense for James. He really didn't understand why Xu Yong valued such a player.

After completing the dunk and retreating to his own half of the court, James also yelled at the bench players around him to remind them of their defensive positioning.

He is serious about chasing points.

This also worked successfully. The Bulls had several players on the court at that time, including Hinrich, Ennis, Anderson, Prince, and Jokic. They were old and young, and their offensive ability was indeed limited.

Anderson finally made a breakthrough with the ball and then passed it to Jokic outside the three-point line.

Jokic has three-point shooting range, and he shoots after receiving the ball.

James then flew forward, of course this dive was fake, he actually took advantage of the situation to run outside the three-point line and prepare for a fast break.

But Jokic's next move was completely unexpected.

He did not take a three-pointer directly, but halfway through the shot, he passed the ball directly to Anderson under the basket.

Anderson was a little slow to react and almost let the ball fly away.

Fortunately, his arms span was long enough, and he managed to get the ball back.

At this time, the Cavaliers' bench players didn't react at all, because Jokic was just shooting, who knew that he would pass the ball halfway through the shot?

Anderson easily scored two points under the basket.

Now O'Neal in the commentary booth laughed again. It seems that his previous hunch was correct. James really came here tonight to take on all five embarrassing moments, and this round echoed the one in the first quarter.

Xu Yong turned and smiled at Thibodeau, as if to say that this was the value that Jokic could provide.

Thibodeau's reaction was average. To him, players who are not good at defense will never be able to play high-intensity games. As for the current performance in garbage time, it does not have much reference value.

The Cavaliers attacked and James continued to rush to the basket. This time Jokic retreated to the basket in advance, allowing James to take a mid-range shot.

James naturally wouldn't take a mid-range shot. He jumped into the air and was about to dunk over Jokic.

He has seen many centers like Jokic, who are fat and slow, and can be completely ignored.

However, the result of this confrontation disappointed him. Jokic's barrel-like body had developed a certain level of confrontation after a summer of hard training. He failed to knock Jokic away, but was bounced back instead.

He barely managed to throw the ball in the air, but it hit the back edge of the basket and bounced up but didn't go in.

Jokic showed his characteristics, successfully predicted where the ball would land, and then quickly reached out to grab the rebound.

James had just fallen to the ground at this time.

Yes, the referee did not blow the whistle because Jokic had already stood outside the legal collision zone early on, and he did not jump, although he might not have been able to jump.

Then the next second, Jokic performed his passing art again, a quarterback-like long pass across the entire court.

Although his strength is stronger than Adams, the angle of the pass is much better than Adams. It can be said that he accurately put the ball into the hands of Ennis who was running fast.

Ennis got the ball, took three steps to the basket, and made a fast break dunk and a basket.

The scene was in great turmoil.

In the past, the Bulls' centers were the pillars of the basket, but now all of them can make long passes from the backcourt?

Just after Ennis' dunk, Xu Yong noticed that Thibodeau's eyes finally showed a slight fluctuation.

Jokic's pass just now impressed Thibodeau.

This is understandable, because Thibodeau's system is a defensive counterattack system. [Defensive counterattack] can be a word, but it can also be divided into [defense] and [counterattack].

Jokic's defense is average, but his long pass after grabbing the rebound is a rare ability in the counterattack system.

Although Adams has this ability now, he is not among the substitutes yet.

At this time, James, who had just stood up from the floor, took off his braces and looked up at the replay of the previous round on the LED screen. He was like a peeled onion, revealing his true colors.