Chapter 226: The Finals Begin (2)
“You’re cutting in on a basketball play???”
JR stared at Jokić like he’d just seen an alien.
“What a pass!”
Seeing Jokić’s feed, the entire Kings bench jumped to their feet, waving towels and shouting in excitement.
“He’s a genius!”
Coach Brown couldn’t help but sigh from the bench.
“That’s what separates a good passer from an elite one.”
He tapped his temple as he spoke. “It’s that bit of creativity up here.”
Chris Finch, sitting beside him, nodded in agreement.
A pass like the one Jokić just made—any ordinary playmaker could think all day and never come up with it.
“He’s just a little too heavy,” Brown added, folding his arms with a hint of regret. “If he could slim down a bit and improve his mobility, he’d be unstoppable.”
“Maybe not,” Finch said after a moment’s thought, shaking his head.
“With Jokić’s big frame, even if he loses weight, his mobility probably wouldn’t change much. In fact, it might hurt his screen-setting strength.”
“Good point,” Brown nodded. “Honestly, Jokić’s development is nearly complete. All he needs now is to stabilize his outside shot and strengthen his inside presence.”
Sitting behind them, Divac nodded repeatedly like a proud parent.
“Exactly! You coaches always think long-term. We’ve gotta give that kid a proper tune-up this summer.”
And just like that, between laughs, they settled Jokić’s summer training plan.
Jokić: Screw all of you! I’m going home to race horses!
...
While the coaches chatted, the flow of the game began to shift.
After several isolation attempts, LeBron James kept running into Durant’s airtight defense.
He wasn’t turning the ball over anymore, but every drive felt like running into a wall. His offense kept stalling.
On the next possession, LeBron handed the ball off to Irving—just as the Cavaliers had planned.
The Kings had stacked their roster with wings—not only to counter the Warriors’ small-ball lineups, but also to contain LeBron.
His style always struggled against big, physical wings who could handle contact.
Back in 2014, the Spurs crushed him because Kawhi Leonard hounded him relentlessly on the perimeter, throwing the Heat’s entire offense off rhythm.
The Kings might not have a DPOY-level defender like Leonard, but they made up for it in numbers.
Butler, Durant, even Thaddeus Young could all apply pressure from the outside.
Using this pack-defense approach, Coach Malone could easily dismantle the Cavaliers’ LeBron-centered offense.
But the Cavs were prepared. Tyronn Lue had built a secondary system—this one revolving around Kyrie Irving.
Irving caught the ball at the perimeter and eyed CJ stepping up to defend him.
One massive crossover later, CJ was completely thrown off balance.
CJ knew he was the weakest defender among the Kings’ starters. This season, he’d worked hard to improve, but even after all that effort, he still relied on Booker and Butler to cover his mistakes.
Now, facing one of the league’s best isolation scorers, CJ was in trouble.
After a series of quick crossovers, Irving blew past him cleanly.
Driving inside, he saw Jokić closing in but didn’t pass to the open Thompson on the far side. Instead, he attacked head-on.
In midair, Irving twisted his body with grace, using an unorthodox release to slip around Jokić’s defense and banked the shot in off the glass.
“Irving is still the magician!”
And this was Irving before he started pulling out his showtime antics—no incense burning or fasting rituals yet.
After the bucket, he landed with a blank expression and jogged calmly back on defense.
CJ cast an apologetic glance at Jokić. His bad defense had turned Jokić into a prop in the highlight.
“No big deal,” Jokić said casually, grabbing the ball for the inbound.
“Let’s get that one back!”
Butler took the inbound, crossed half court, and passed to CJ.
CJ took a deep breath and signaled a play. Jokić moved up for the usual pick, but CJ waved him off.
He suddenly changed direction at the top of the key and drove toward the weak side. At the same time, Butler set an off-ball screen for Booker on the opposite wing.
Booker, positioned at the 45-degree mark, spun off the screen and cut toward the basket.
“They’re running the Whirlwind play!”
LeBron spotted the setup instantly. He and Thompson slid over to block Booker’s path inside.
But as LeBron stepped in, Butler—momentarily unguarded—took a step forward and ran right into CJ’s dribble path, setting a perfect on-ball screen.
Irving slammed into him like he’d hit a brick wall, his head spinning.
With Irving trapped, CJ stepped sideways and confidently launched a three.
“Swish!”
The ball sliced through the net. LeBron scratched his head awkwardly.
He had been the one shouting loudest on defense, leading everyone to believe the Kings were setting up a spin play for Booker.
But the spin was just a decoy—the real plan was to create a two-man game for Butler and CJ the moment LeBron shifted out of position.
“That sneaky Coach Malone,” LeBron muttered, his tone dripping with irritation, as if recalling an unpleasant memory.
Malone’s favorite approach was the perfect mix of deception and precision, maximizing offensive success.
Take that last play—if LeBron hadn’t rotated, Booker would’ve had a clear drive to the rim. But once he did, Butler was wide open.
From there, whether Butler popped out for a jumper or screened for CJ, someone was guaranteed a clean look.
This entire system had been built and refined by Malone, and after Coach Brown’s arrival this season, it finally became complete.
After all, Brown wasn’t just from the Spurs’ coaching tree—he was also the head coach of the 2007 Cavaliers.
And back when young LeBron was being schooled by Duncan, Popovich loved running plays just like this one.
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