LeBron James running away? He's going all in on Curry.

The buzzer sounding as the third quarter ended echoed through the Staples Center, sounding like a lament from the home fans.

98 is more than 78!

Trailing by a massive 20 points, the Clippers players walked heavily back to the bench.

LeBron James slumped onto the bench, tightly covering his head with a large white towel.

The humiliation of being outscored by Anthony Davis for 22 points in a single quarter and dominated in the paint made him feel like everyone around him was mocking him.

"LeBron, we need you to step up the defense in the fourth quarter, and we're more focused on offense..."

Head coach Doc Rivers walked over with his whiteboard, trying to devise a last-ditch comeback plan for the final quarter.

However, before Rivers could finish speaking, James suddenly ripped the towel off his head, his brows furrowing in pain.

He bent over, clutching his groin tightly with his hands, his face contorted, and gasped, "Hiss—Doug, I can't take it anymore."

"My groin... I pulled it while defending Anthony. Damn, it hurts so much, I can't keep going."

Rivers was stunned, as were Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant next to him.

"Team doctor! Come quick and check on LeBron!" Rivers panicked and shouted.

The team doctor quickly stepped forward and conducted a thorough examination. Although he couldn't find anything from the physical reaction of the muscles, seeing the "King's" superb acting skills in excruciating pain, the team doctor could only helplessly shake his head at Rivers and make a substitution gesture.

Thus, to the astonishment of more than 10,000 Los Angeles fans in attendance.

With the help of two staff members, LeBron James limped to his feet and walked into the player tunnel without playing a single second in the fourth quarter, leaving the game prematurely due to injury!

"The 'intelligent groin' is acting up again?!"

Inside the VIP box, Su Yang watched this scene and almost burst out laughing. "He can't win, so he runs away. He could play this cowardly act a hundred times and never get tired of it."

Without James, Rivers had no choice but to revert to the regular lineup.

At the start of the fourth quarter, the Clippers fielded: Kyrie Irving, Kevin Durant, PJ Tucker, Kevin Love, and Tristan Thompson!

This depleted roster without LeBron James was expected by everyone to quickly become garbage time against the Cavaliers' in-form "Death Lineup".

However, once the fourth quarter actually began, a strange chemical reaction occurred on the court!

Without James holding the ball at the top of the key for more than ten seconds, and without that "makeshift center" who clogged up the space in the paint.

The Clippers' offense suddenly became incredibly fluid!

TT worked tirelessly in the paint, doing the dirty work of a blue-collar player, and relentlessly boxed out Anthony Davis and Marc Gasol to fight for offensive rebounds.

Love returned to his most comfortable position, the power forward, and created space.

Durant and Irving, who were given complete freedom to control the ball, had a breakout season!

"Whoosh!"

With the help of TT's screen, Durant faced Klay Thompson who had switched onto him and pulled up for a three-pointer without hesitation and sank it!

In retrospect, the Cavaliers continued to execute their tight, switch-everything defense.

Kawhi Leonard's suffocating, death-defying defense completely shut down Kyrie Irving, who had the ball.

With only three seconds left on the shot clock, Irving was cornered at a 45-degree angle on the right side.

Instead of passing the ball, he made two consecutive extremely wide crossovers, and without shaking off Leonard's center of gravity at all, he forced himself to lean back, losing his balance in the air, and threw the ball stiffly toward the basket!

"That shot is impossible to score!" the commentator shouted.

But the next second—"Whoosh!"

Hollow-core netting!!!

"What?!"

Su Yang, who was sitting in the private room, sat up straight abruptly: "Holy crap, they even let us in here?!"

This is not over yet!

Kyrie Irving seems to have entered some kind of "miracle ball" mode.

In the next possession, facing Klay Thompson's textbook-perfect close-range defense, Irving made a crossover move and accelerated into the paint. Despite Anthony Davis's towering long arms blocking the shot, he completed a twisting, folding layup in mid-air!

The basketball grazed the backboard and obediently fell into the net!

2+1!

"My God! Kyrie Irving is insane! He's hitting incredible shots against the Cavaliers' top-tier defense!"

"The Clippers' offense has come back on track! They went on a 15-5 run in the fourth quarter!"

Under the completely unreasonable and indiscriminate one-on-one attacks of Irving and Durant, the Cavaliers' defensive system, on which they depend for survival, was actually torn open!

The point difference was quickly narrowed from 20 points to 10 points!

Seeing the Clippers gain momentum, Cavaliers head coach Byron Scott was sweating profusely and dared not substitute his starters.

The match was a close contest until the very last minute!

Stephen Curry stepped up, hitting a crucial floater over Tucker's defense to stem the bleeding, while Anthony Davis secured a vital defensive rebound in the paint.

But the 20-point hole that James dug in the third quarter was too deep. Even though Irving and Durant both turned into death gods in the fourth quarter, they still couldn't complete this amazing comeback.

"drop--!"

The buzzer sounded to signal the end of the match.

112 is more than 105!

The Cleveland Cavaliers narrowly won this epic battle on the road by 7 points!

Despite the victory, there weren't many relaxed smiles on the Cavaliers' bench.

The appearance time displayed on the big screen made everyone gasp.

Stephen Curry played for 38 minutes!

Anthony Davis played for 39 minutes!

Kawhi Leonard played for 38 minutes!

For the Cavaliers, a team that is used to "clocking out after three quarters" and plays a relaxed style of basketball, it is unheard of in the regular season for the starting lineup to be forced to play more than 38 minutes.

"If it weren't for that huge hole they dug themselves in the third quarter, this Clippers roster... would actually be quite terrifying."

Su Yang looked at Irving and Durant, who were panting heavily on the court, and put away his contempt.

Pure one-on-one talent, if pushed to its limit, can indeed disregard any defensive system.

……

Half an hour later, in the post-match press conference room.

Reporters from all over the United States, armed with cameras and microphones, surrounded the podium.

Due to LeBron James' injury and subsequent treatment, Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving represented the Clippers at the press conference.

"Kevin, Kyrie! You two displayed unparalleled scoring explosiveness in the fourth quarter tonight, almost completing a 20-point comeback!"

A reporter from Los Angeles stood up and posed the most pointed question: "But in the third quarter, we saw LeBron actively request to guard Anthony Davis, resulting in the team losing the quarter by 20 points. Do you think there are serious problems with the team's current tactical arrangements and defensive matchups?"

When faced with this question, the sensitive Kevin Durant simply lowered his head, touched his nose, and gave a vague answer: "We did lose some focus in the third quarter. Davis is a good player... We'll go back and watch the film."

He didn't want to get involved in such an offensive topic.

But Kyrie Irving, sitting next to him, clearly didn't have that concern.

He experienced the humiliation of being overpowered by LeBron James' eight-step layup during the offseason training camp, and then being forcibly suppressed by his boss.

In addition, tonight, Durant and I fought tooth and nail to bring the score back, but the so-called "leader" ran away due to illness.

This made the proud and arrogant Irving explode!

Kyrie Irving slammed the microphone in front of him, his eyes icy, and laid his cards on the table for the entire nation to see:

"A tactical problem? No, this isn't a tactical problem. It's a serious distorted self-perception among some people."

Irving sneered, tearing off the pretense of civility:

"What 'Chosen One'? What 'Number One Player in the League'?"

"If you're really better than me, then show me on the court!"

"Instead of talking big and saying things like 'Let me guard Davis,' promising to teach us how to win, only to get completely thrashed on the court! Leaving us with a 20-point deficit, then dusting themselves off and running to the locker room for some so-called 'treatment'!"

boom--!!!

The entire press conference room exploded!

All the reporters frantically pressed the shutter!

Internal strife has erupted! The Clippers' super team has publicly broken apart at a press conference! Kyrie Irving points the finger directly at LeBron James!

Just as the press conference room was in complete chaos.

Cavaliers owner Su Yang, accompanied by Stephen Curry, walked to the other end of the podium with a beaming smile.

Upon seeing Su Yang appear, the reporters shoved their microphones at him like sharks smelling blood.

"Mr. Su! Kyrie Irving just publicly criticized LeBron's performance! As the winner, how would you rate this star-studded Clippers team tonight?!"

Su Yang sat down and adjusted his tie.

He's the kind of person who loves to add fuel to the fire at times like these.

"What's your opinion on the Clippers?"

Su Yang smiled slightly, not holding back his praise:

"I must admit, we had a close call in the fourth quarter tonight."

"Kyrie Irving is too good; his incredible shots that ignore defense are simply unbelievable. And Kevin Durant's offensive power is also astonishing. The two of them are the top one-on-one masters in this league."

The reporters were stunned. Su Yang was actually praising his opponent?

But then, Su Yang abruptly changed his tone, launching into a vicious attack that aimed to destroy his moral compass:

"However, as you know..."

Su Yang shrugged and spoke eloquently, "Actually, whether it's our Cavaliers team or the San Antonio Spurs at their peak a few years ago, teams like ours that play advanced tactical systems are never afraid of players who just drive to the basket with the ball and rely on their physicality to score."

"That kind of play that only involves driving to the basket, even for Shaquille O'Neal in his prime or LeBron James in Miami."

"They are too easy for us to target! As long as we tighten our defenses and set up our support, they are like caged beasts, unable to cause any trouble."

Su Yang looked directly into the camera and delivered a tactical conclusion that sent chills down the spines of all the reporters present:

"What advanced systems truly fear are players like Kyrie and Kevin, cold-blooded killers with unstoppable mid-to-long-range pull-up jumpers who can forcefully finish regardless of any defensive system!"

"This is similar to the Shaq-Kobe dynasty playing against the Spurs back in the day. If you watch the tapes carefully, the Lakers are guaranteed to lose whenever Kobe Bryant doesn't perform well from the outside! Because Shaq is too easily shut down in the paint by Popovich's tactics!"

"So, if you ask me who I'm most afraid of tonight?"

Su Yang smiled and pointed to Irving and Durant on the other side of the podium, delivering the final push to ignite the flames:

"What I fear most is Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant."

"As for those other guys who only rely on their physicality and then think they're smart enough to defend heavy interior players?"

"On the stage of high-level games, he is destined to be a loser."

The entire room fell silent!

Throughout the entire process, Su Yang did not say a single word about how bad James was, but he used the most professional tactical analysis to categorize James and O'Neal as a type of reckless player who is easy to target!

At the same time, the status of Irving and Durant is elevated to an extreme!

This tactic of praising to the point of exhaustion and criticizing to the point of defeat is undoubtedly like pouring a bucket of high-octane aviation gasoline into the Clippers' already riddled locker room!

This night in Los Angeles is destined to be sleepless.