The Way of Basketball: Never Talk Shit to Him!

With his physical qualities and his impact on the basket, it could absolutely be said...

A qualitative improvement!

From the many changes that took place before, LeBron feels that this time, he will definitely be the biggest beneficiary!

But as smart as he is, there's no way he would admit this to the media, who are already looking for trouble with him. If he admits it, wouldn't that just give them a reason?

So he absolutely cannot admit it!

Not even if it kills him!

Subsequently, the "King Mountain Battle" officially started.

At the Timberwolves' home court, the crowd was roaring.

The sudden rule change by the League gave them great confidence for this game.

Looking at the Clippers entering the arena full of fighting spirit, they really wanted to say:

The officials are on our side, how could we lose?

But what they didn't know was...

It was their boos that made the Clippers grind their teeth, eager and determined to win this game!

Now all the media are saying that the officials are favoring the Timberwolves, so how could they not be angry?

They were almost exploding with rage!

Even if just for the sake of the word "fairness," they had to win this game!

Carmelo Anthony, Little Si, Griffin Blake, and Deron Williams, none of them usually make much effort on defense, but from the start of this game, their attitude on defense was vastly different from their usual selves...

Each of their faces was filled with seriousness.

Tonight, the person responsible for defending LeBron was Carmelo Anthony.

In this game, he took on the stance of defending Kobe.

But just as he made his first major move, in LeBron's surprised eyes, the referee blew the whistle.

What?

Carmelo Anthony showed a confused expression, looking at the referee, constantly confirming with his eyes:

Fouled?

Me?

Did I foul?

Seeing the referee insist that he fouled, he could only smile helplessly.

At this moment, he missed the playoffs of 2009 immensely.

Back then in the League's playoffs, the referee wouldn't whistle for such a move.

But afterwards, Carmelo Anthony became even more active.

One could say...

Old grudges and new ones, all came back to him!

The "Rookie of the Year" award in 2003...

And the rule changes before the game, and now this...

The whistle blowing just after a little contact!

All of these were stimulating Carmelo Anthony's nerves!

He held a grudge on both offense and defense.

The rest of the Clippers played with more and more fire.

These guys definitely had the capability, and holding a grudge, the Clippers gradually took control of the game...

The Timberwolves are a team that heavily relies on the pick-and-roll between LeBron and Howard.

Honestly, the Clippers didn't manage to stop the Timberwolves' core tactic in this game.

But...

Similarly, the Clippers had multiple players scoring, which the Timberwolves couldn't cope with...

The core of the Timberwolves' defensive system is Howard!

But don't forget, this season Howard focused most of his energy on offense.

Because of this, his energy on defense was limited.

The Clippers happened to have the fiercest "Twin Towers" attacking the basket:

Griffin and Little Si!

This left Howard a bit overwhelmed, and combined with Anthony constantly holding the ball and executing on the wings, especially when he twice hit three-point jump shots over LeBron at critical moments, it silenced the entire arena.

At the end of the game, despite the rule changes before the game, the visiting Clippers still won against the Timberwolves 108-99, with a 9-point difference, changing the overall score to 3-2!

The Timberwolves were just one step away from being eliminated.

LeBron scored 26 points, 10 rebounds, and 10 assists in this game, and Howard had 25 points and 12 rebounds.

But originally, the Timberwolves didn't lose due to their strategy centered around the two of them; they lost because they couldn't limit the output from the other side!

This was the most crucial point.

The expressions on the faces of Minnesota fans were one of disappointment.

While LeBron and Howard's faces were ashen.

Before the game, they thought they had this one in the bag, but the result was a big slap in the face!

Really damn...

Painful!

As for the Clippers, they had a sense of relief, with Carmelo Anthony, who scored 33 points, saying: "We all know what we want, and we worked hard to achieve what we wanted to do! As long as we don't give up on ourselves, no one can give up on us!"

This comment had a hint of targeting the officials.

But considering this response to injustice, Carmelo Anthony felt pretty badass himself.

Had to mock and taunt a bit!

Even if it means getting fined!

The emotions of the other Clippers were similar to his.

Little Si couldn't hide his excitement: "This game proved ourselves. As long as we want to win, we can defeat any opponent, even if we are faced with unfairness, it doesn't matter!"

Griffin said: "There has never been a moment when we wanted to win more than now!"

Su Wan didn't watch this "King Mountain Battle," but when he saw the result the next day, that the Clippers beat the Timberwolves, he wasn't surprised.

The original Pacers had, because of the League's favoritism, banded together to drag the series to Game 7, almost eliminating LeBron and the Heat Team.

And that was just with Paul George and the "black version of Yao Ming" on the Pacers.