Capítulo 1278: Chapter 404: Beast and the Three Little Pigs

In mid-air, Roger, who had already raised the basketball, forcefully stopped his motion to attack the hoop, bringing the ball back to his waist. He glanced at Stephen Jackson in the left corner, but passed the ball behind his back to the right corner in the opposite direction of his gaze. There, Jason Richardson was left unguarded. His defender, LBJ, had just landed and looked incredulously in Richardson’s direction.

Jason Richardson made no mistake, hitting his second consecutive three-pointer!

6 to 3!

“LeBron, stay on your matchup!” Mike Brown couldn’t help but roar, unable to tolerate his defensive wall being so easily breached.

Honestly, both AK47 and Larry Hughes are currently stronger than LBJ in off-ball defense.

His stamina and energy can give him an advantage in one-on-one defense, but off-ball defense requires outstanding defensive enthusiasm and awareness, which takes a long time to truly develop, even for Roger.

The reason Mike Brown had the weaker off-ball defender James chase down Jason Richardson was mainly to keep James away from Roger and conserve energy.

But now, his core seems to be targeted instead.

Roger then taunted from the side: “Jason, you’re really lucky, you’ve encountered the dumbest of the three little pigs.”

“You mean LeBron’s defense is as fragile as a straw house?” Jason Richardson deliberately bantered with Roger.

“Exactly, a puff of air could destroy it!”

LBJ had enough of it, his team had a 9-1 record, stronger than the Pistons and Knicks, but these folks from the Bay Area still didn’t show him respect.

“Give me the ball!” Number 23 uncharacteristically shouted at his teammate.

Yet again, he was pressured into passing the ball as soon as he crossed half-court.

And this pass was too high; even the long-armed Kirilenko couldn’t catch it when he jumped, resulting in a turnover, giving the Warriors ball possession.

Forcing the opposing superstar to give up possession, pressuring them into a mistake… all the advantages of the aggressive trap were evident on the court.

Jason Richardson and Tayshaun Prince worked seamlessly together, pinning the usually rampaging James to the outside.

Spoelstra’s defensive strategy initially showed results, but he still had to see if this defense could last for 48 minutes.

“What’s the use of having the ball,” Roger’s voice came as expected, “you’re all talk and no action.”

Possession changes and Warriors attack.

Mike Brown roared from the sidelines, instructing AK47 and James to switch matchups.

He knew Jason Richardson had an excellent touch today, and the best way to handle a player with a hot hand is to stop them immediately. Ignoring it would only bring your own downfall.

AK47’s defense was indeed much tighter. In fact, James’ physical traits are stronger than AK47’s; theoretically, his pursuit defense shouldn’t be worse. But compared to LBJ, the Russian could more wantonly expend energy on defense.

Seeing the situation, Roger used a behind-the-back move to get past Larry Hughes, then halted at mid-range, preparing to gather himself for a jump shot!

Jason Richardson finally blasted a hole in the Cavaliers’ unbreakable fortress—he successfully drew away AK47, relieving much of the defensive pressure on Roger. Against AK47’s terrifying defensive range, Roger’s pull-up jumper would easily get contested. But when the double-teamer switched to LeBron James, everything became simpler.

James rushed to contest the shot, and Larry Hughes prepared to seize the moment to steal the ball.

But as the young Number 23 left the ground, Roger drove the ball instead!

He initially intended to shoot, but James lunged forward too eagerly, prompting Roger to choose to drive at the moment he was about to gather the ball.

Big Z was held off by Marcus Camby, Kurt Thomas was drawn outside by Stephen Jackson, leaving the Cavaliers’ hoop void.

AK47 ultimately had to rush back to help defend, even though it meant leaving Jason Richardson open, opting for the lesser of two evils. Allowing Jason Richardson to shoot a three was better than letting Roger take a direct shot.

But with Roger fully accelerating, he didn’t pass like in previous plays, instead rising up against AK47 for a slam!

The Russian jumped hastily to attempt a block, but like Tayshaun Prince, he had the same flaw—despite being tall with long arms, he was too slender, lacking top-notch physical confrontation ability.

After colliding mid-air, he was completely overwhelmed by Roger, both hovering for a moment in what felt like the calm before an explosion. Then, the entire Quicken Loans Arena erupted with a thunderous crash as Roger slammed the ball powerfully over the Russian’s head!

After dunking the ball, the adrenaline-charged Roger took a big step towards James, roaring like a beast: “A fragile straw house!”

The Beast devoured all three pigs in one breath!

“Damn!” Mike Brown cursed helplessly, sensing that once AK47 is taken out of the equation, there is no one left to restrain Roger.

Even if only Jason Richardson among the Warriors starters had an exceptional touch, and only he could stretch the floor, it seemed more than enough for Roger.

On the bench, watching LeBron James being roared at, Gary Payton was all too familiar with the scene—the beast within Roger had been awakened again.

And those who awaken the beast often don’t meet a good end.

The Glove knew what LBJ was thinking, to defeat Roger, creating a beautiful fairy tale like the last Number 23 did with the Pistons.

But LBJ seemed to forget one thing:

Michael Jordan’s fairy tale turned out to be the most tragically concluded fairy tale in the world after Roger’s intervention.