Chapter 102: You’re The Challenger
LeBron James found a reason to soothe himself.
However, the game was still not over; they had the fourth quarter to play. The Cavaliers needed to survive a critical juncture, which was the opening minutes of the fourth quarter when LeBron James was resting on the bench, waiting for the final showdown, while the Cavaliers needed to hold the game together in those few minutes.
The Grizzlies naturally wouldn’t pass up such an opportunity. Mark Iavaroni subbed in the lineup of Lowry, Ariza, Howard, Warrick, and Radmanovic, instructing them: “Speed up the rhythm! Attack inside! Expand the lead as much as possible before LeBron returns!”
On the Cavaliers’ side, trailing by double digits and without LeBron James to steady the team, they naturally played chaotically.
Delonte West was still one of the Cavaliers’ X-factors, but the Grizzlies had a bunch of garbage time specialists on the court, with Josh Howard being the worst offender. Back in Dallas, he was a standard wing isolation player and defender. This style worked sometimes and not others, but it often paid off against an opponent’s second unit.
Less than three minutes into the fourth quarter, the Grizzlies went on a 9-2 run, rewriting the score to 94-76, extending the lead to 18 points.
Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse fell into dead silence, with despair beginning to spread.
Many home fans were already holding their heads, unable to believe what was happening before their eyes.
At the time, almost everyone thought the game might end right there.
Mark Iavaroni thought, has garbage time arrived?
The Cavaliers weren’t ready to give up yet; they subbed in LeBron James for one last push.
Joining LeBron James on the court was wing shooter Alexander Pavlović.
For viewers unfamiliar with the Cavaliers’ system, this adjustment might seem like it was to boost height at the three position to match up with the Grizzlies’ Ariza and Howard. In reality, however, Pavlović had been a crucial rotation player for the Cavaliers since last season and one of the key pieces in the team’s playoff run that year.
His entry onto the court had a very clear meaning for LeBron James: the perimeter finally had another reliable shooter with a 40% hit rate.
Sure enough, in the first possession after checking in, LeBron James astutely found Pavlović curling to the wing. The latter caught the ball without hesitation and fired a three-pointer.
“Swish!”
On the sidelines, Mark Iavaroni immediately signaled, and Xu Ling and Kidd rose to their feet, heading to the scorer’s table to check in. But per the rules, they had to wait for a dead ball, so they had to pause and watch for now.
At that moment, the ball went to Josh Howard. At the top of the key facing LeBron James, he set up in his old favorite iso stance. When he was fully healthy, he even had the Mavericks’ young coach Avery Johnson once considering building around him with Nowitzki as the supporting piece. That was until injuries struck, and he became a firsthand witness to last season’s black eight humiliation.
However, in front of LeBron James, his iso technique—lacking refined skill and absolute explosiveness—seemed so feeble. LeBron James didn’t even fully lower his stance; he just used his powerful core strength to hold off every post-up and sealed off the shot space with his long arms.
Howard’s fadeaway jumper veered wildly off target under heavy contest.
The Cavaliers quickly secured the defensive rebound and immediately pushed in transition. LeBron James charged ahead like a full-speed train, caught the ball, and hammered home a tomahawk dunk.
On the defensive switch, perhaps spurred by the earlier failure, Howard called for the ball again in the low post, trying to bully LeBron James to save face. But this time, his spin move intent was too obvious. LeBron James read it perfectly and stripped the ball quickly.
“Smack!”
A clean steal! The ball flew out of Howard’s hands and rolled out of bounds.
The good news was that Xu Ling and Kidd no longer had to watch Howard squander the team’s lead with his inefficient isolations.
But the bad news was that if Howard’s form didn’t recover to its peak soon, he might become the most disappointing asset in this league-shaking four-team trade.
This seemed like a tired old story template. You could always see similar trajectories on countless geniuses: gifted with extraordinary talent, they rose quickly upon entering the league, raking in the cash, then started making all sorts of unwise decisions. Gradually, they lost control of themselves, issues quietly emerged, and their weight kept climbing. Though they still had some fight left, even their occasional flashes of brilliance no longer touched the average level of their prime.
Seeing this, you might think I’m talking about Scalabrine, but unfortunately, this is the harsh reality Josh Howard is facing.
Xu Ling and Kidd’s entry immediately changed the Grizzlies’ offensive rhythm.
Kidd received the inbound pass and calmly surveyed the floor. Xu Ling was like a streak of blue lightning, first faking outward to pull Delonte West, then making a swift backdoor cut straight into the heart of the Cavaliers’ defensive weakness.
Kidd’s bounce pass was perfectly timed, landing right in the hands of the accelerating Xu Ling.
Xu Ling caught the ball and rose up, deftly avoiding Varejao’s late block in mid-air, softly flicking the ball toward the rim with his wrist.
“Bang, swish”
“Jason Kidd’s 11th assist of the night helps Eli get his 32nd point!”
“Look at these two—they’re like a golden duo that’s been partnering for years!”
Breen and Van Gundy said one after the other.
Mark Jackson laughed: “You know what? The best part is, Eli might really be the natural scorer Jason has been searching for his whole life!”
Xu Ling ran past the King again.
He looked arrogant, as if the Grizzlies had already locked up the win.
But what irked LeBron James even more about this arrogance was that the other guy was acting like he was the one in the superior position.
The King’s response came quick and direct. LeBron James took the baseline inbound at the baseline, coldly dribbling upcourt. After crossing half court, he waved for everyone to clear out, his eyes locked on Xu Ling defending him.
LeBron James didn’t opt for fancy moves; instead, he backed down Xu Ling from mid-range, using his immense strength to bulldoze step by step toward the paint. Xu Ling fought back hard, but when LeBron James reached a step inside the free throw line, he suddenly pivoted on his left foot, spun viciously to the right, and fired a fadeaway jumper.
Xu Ling’s reaction was lightning quick, leaping hard for the block, but LeBron James’s leap height and fadeaway arc were massive—the ball still arced high over him.
“Swish!”
“Remember!” LeBron James said coldly, “You’re the challenger!”
It seemed the King LeBron James no longer wanted to be friends.
Xu Ling responded to LeBron James’s declaration with a barely audible huff, which made Kidd nearby pause—he felt like he’d heard that sarcastic huff somewhere before.
But Xu Ling just made the sound without replying. Though he loved trash talk, he knew he held the advantage now—LeBron James was fighting from behind—so there was no need to follow his rhythm. Hitting back with actions was more powerful than any words.
It was precisely this attitude from Xu Ling—more dismissive than any trash talk—that infuriated LeBron James the most: a near-indifferent contempt, as if the King’s anger was just a scene in the drama and he was the one pulling the strings backstage.
Kidd keenly picked up on LeBron James’s emotional shift and decisively handed the ball to Xu Ling after crossing half court.
LeBron James had completely abandoned his original matchup to specifically guard Xu Ling.
Xu Ling got the message, casually dribbling toward the weakside corner while scanning other positions. Kidd flashed a subtle play call, and Howard cut hard to the rim off Radmanovic’s screen from the other side.
In that instant, Xu Ling seemed totally locked down by LeBron James’s tight defense—he even turned to look at Kidd as if to pass back and reset the offense.
LeBron James’s instinctive reaction was subtle—perhaps even he didn’t notice—that half-second lapse in vigilance.
Seizing that split-second window, Xu Ling exploded upward, cradling the ball in a motion that looked like a reckless forced shot, but was actually a pinpoint high lob soaring straight to the rim!
Howard soared into the air, caught the pass comfortably mid-flight, and flushed home a powerful two-handed slam dunk!
LeBron James turned back helplessly, spreading his hands to big Z who was coming to inbound, his tone laced with clear frustration and blame, as if complaining about a defensive communication breakdown.
Xu Ling, retreating on defense, proactively approached LeBron James and tossed out: “Looks like your teammates ‘need to play 100 more games to understand this league’ too?”
LeBron James immediately recognized it as his own recent “sage advice” to Xu Ling in the media.
He thought that statement was beyond reproach, but there were always people eager to twist his words.
Unfortunately, Xu Ling’s twist was ten times more cutting and vicious than the media’s.
Surging rage instantly overwhelmed LeBron James’s reason; his only thought now was to answer back over Xu Ling’s head.
The King took the ball and drove hard for a blow-by, trying to overpower his man—but Xu Ling seemed to anticipate it, sliding over early to perfectly position and stonewall the aggressive attack.
Shot clock ticking away, LeBron James was forced to pull up into a crowd. With the timer nearly expired, he flung the ball toward the three-point line at the last moment.
Delonte West caught it two steps outside the three-point line with no time to adjust, forcing a contorted jumper toward the basket.
“Swish!”
Such a hot potato actually went in, earning Xu Ling a newfound respect for West—this guy was really balling tonight.
The once-silent Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse, as if devoid of life, came alive again after that shot.
Fans seemed to completely ignore Xu Ling’s successful stop on LeBron James, instead cheering LeBron’s “kick-out” in the shot clock situation and unleashing personal attacks on Xu Ling.
“LeBron can beat you arrogant prick with just a pass!”
“Hey, yellow-skinned bastard, you think you can be king in Cleveland? LeBron’s gonna beat the shit out of you!”
In a way, Xu Ling’s habit of ignoring the crowd let him stay maximally unbothered by off-court noise.
But not being bothered didn’t mean he didn’t know what they were saying.
In Xu Ling’s ears, the harsh insults kept rolling.
He didn’t look up, just exhaled softly, as if blowing out all the filth like air.
Kidd pushed the ball upcourt; the Cavaliers’ defense clearly sagged, fearing cuts to the basket by the Grizzlies’ off-ball players.
The Grizzlies’ strategy at this point was simple: let Xu Ling and Kidd run the show, maximizing pressure on the Cavaliers’ defense.
“Clear out! Clear out!” Kidd directed while handing the ball to Xu Ling.
LeBron James stayed glued to him, face full of fury.
He no longer cared about the overall scheme; his goal was singular: regain face in front of everyone by dominating Xu Ling.
Xu Ling smiled, not rushing to move.
He dribbled while deliberately slowing the pace even more.
The louder the crowd noise, the more composed his movements, as if telling everyone: I know this is your turf, James—that’s exactly why I have to control it.
LeBron James gave max effort to contain Xu Ling; he’d never been this locked in on defense in the regular season. But he was still young, not yet the version who could team with his good buddy Dwyane Wade to create black three minutes for that season’s MVP Derrick Rose.
Xu Ling suddenly drove hard, looking like a reckless charge to the rim. LeBron James reacted confidently, sure he could stop it—only for Xu Ling to pull back not with one step-back, but quickly chaining a second one mid-air, instantly creating wide-open shooting space for an unorthodox super-deep three right in LeBron James’s face.
“Swish!”
“Eli strikes again in direct matchup against LeBron James!”
LeBron James’s expression stiffened; he gritted his teeth to force calm.
But the fans in the stands grew even more hysterical, as if only cursing Xu Ling could ease their inner panic.
