Chapter 347: Cold-Blooded Execution.
As Jokić and Howard's matchup shifted from one-sided dominance to a back-and-forth battle, the entire game dynamic changed.
The Bulls weren't built to feed Howard in the post consistently. Hoiberg's original plan had been to target Jokić as a weak link—not to turn Howard into a primary offensive option.
Once that plan failed, relying on Howard's post-ups was not a sustainable option. Without a proper four-out spacing lineup, Howard struggled to make plays when double-teamed.
The Cavs, on the other hand, had no such problem. Han could confidently let Jokić go to work, knowing the Serbian big man could handle defensive pressure and make the right reads.
That also meant Han no longer needed to shoulder the entire scoring load. Instead, he shifted his energy toward locking down Kyrie on defense.
To put it bluntly, as the game progressed, it became less about winning and more about Jokić getting battle-tested.
Hoiberg sat on the bench, gripping his hands into tight fists.
The Bulls should have been able to challenge the Cavs. They had found their rhythm by the second half of the season and built solid chemistry.
But chemistry meant nothing when two of your top players didn't get along.
And Chicago had two guys—Kyrie and Dwight—who refused to back down to each other.
It didn't matter who coached them—Phil Jackson himself wouldn't be able to fix this mess.