Y13 [EN]: Chapter 159

[Miami Heat, regrouping. Mario Chalmers, with a nimble dribble past the defender… Ah!]

Chalmers was flustered. The prodigy who had been exclusively guarding Dwyane Wade switched assignments with Kidd and began guarding Chalmers.

[Y13! He’s in front of Mario Chalmers!]

[Looks like a temporary switch defense!]

Chalmers, considering his options, felt a surge of confidence from his strong performance earlier in the game. He dribbled for a moment, surveying the court.

‘Got him!’

As Udonis Haslem came out to set a screen, Chalmers tried to navigate around it quickly. But perhaps his movement was too telegraphed, or his dribble momentarily too high?

Thwack!

[Steal!!! Y13 steals the ball! He knocks it away, recovers it, and takes off running!]

Building momentum is crucial. But you have to control that momentum, not be controlled by it. Otherwise, your play becomes simplistic and careless without you even realizing it. Players who start strong but fade as the game goes on are especially prone to mood swings.

[Youngjae Yoon is on a one-man fast break with incredible speed! Udonis Haslem is the only one chasing him! But with Youngjae Yoon’s speed, it seems impossible for Haslem to catch him!]

Chalmers knew he was slower than Youngjae, but he sprinted with everything he had, his heart pounding, chasing after him. Humiliated by the steal, Chalmers was driven by a simple desire for revenge rather than focusing on the game. But Youngjae didn’t slow down, his eyes locked on the rim, oblivious to Chalmers’ pursuit. Soon, nearing the basket, Youngjae leaped towards the rim.

“Tch!”

In a last-ditch effort, Mario Chalmers reached out with his left hand, barely grazing Youngjae’s uniform, and tugged, determined to stop the play even if it meant a foul.

Rip!

Pulling too hard against strong resistance, the uniform tore messily. At that moment, leaping for an easy layup, Youngjae’s body swayed backward! The risk of falling on his back was high. Youngjae was furious at Chalmers’ dirty play.

[Dangerous! Youngjae Yoon! He has a back injury from a few days ago!]

But thanks to the torn uniform absorbing some of the force, Youngjae managed to take another step and jump.

Beeeep!!

The whistle blew, already signaling an intentional foul, but Youngjae was already soaring towards the rim. He forcefully pulled the ball back in his right hand and slammed a one-handed dunk with such power as if he intended to shatter the backboard. The ball unintentionally bounced off Mario Chalmers in a threatening manner.

[WOW!! Amazing play! Youngjae Yoon!]

[A fantastic one-handed slam, right?! But Mario Chalmers, that was a really dangerous play! A foul with no regard for player safety!]

Even Reggie Miller shook his head at Chalmers’ unsportsmanlike conduct. But the real trouble started after that. Chalmers jumped on Youngjae, who had just landed, knocking him down and initiating an argument. Pinned down by Chalmers’ sudden attack, Youngjae didn’t back down, his face contorted in disgust, as if looking at garbage.

“Does this bastard have no sense?”

“You dirty player, you tear my clothes like that and then start a fight? You piece of trash.”

Chalmers knew his play wasn’t clean either. But Youngjae was getting under his skin. His momentum had been broken, and the dunked ball had bounced off the floor and grazed his head, fueling his anger.

“You son of a bitch!!”

Suddenly, Chalmers lost control and raised his fist, meeting Youngjae’s disdainful gaze.

“…You want to die? Who do you think you are, acting up at your age? If you want to act your age, start behaving like it, you dirty player!!”

Youngjae suppressed his anger and verbally lashed out. Retaliating physically and pushing Chalmers away could result in a double technical foul. Receiving a double foul would be a disadvantage, and enduring hard fouls was part of being a star player.

“What?! You little…”

“Hey, hey! Calm down, calm down!”

The first to intervene were Udonis Haslem and Dwyane Wade, the pillars of the Miami Heat. And from Dallas, veteran leader Tyson Chandler stepped in.

“You son of a bitch! You tear my clothes like this, and you, a dirty player, are getting angry? Can’t even find your way to the bathroom, and all you can do is act tough?! I didn’t like you from the start, acting all arrogant like you’re the strongest. Don’t you remember the bullshit you pulled in Game 5?!”

The mocking of Dirk Nowitzki’s illness [referring to when Nowitzki played through a fever]. The crushing defeat that followed. LeBron James and Chris Bosh, who had come together with championship aspirations, had no response to Chandler’s words, especially since Chalmers’ dirty foul had clearly instigated the situation. They saw no point in escalating it.

“Yoon, you handled that well. There’s no need to retaliate. It would only hurt you.”

“Hey, are you okay?!”

Kidd and Nowitzki, arriving next, offered words of support to Youngjae. He seemed to have been provoked by the dirty foul, but fortunately, there was no physical escalation, so they reassured him. Retaliating after a dirty or hard foul was pointless.

“Shit…”

Chalmers couldn’t stand the sight of Youngjae, who had only been verbally abused and not physically harmed, knowing he was about to receive a flagrant foul. Chalmers was still a young player, and perhaps that’s why he struggled to control his temper.

Youngjae shrugged it off and slyly approached Chandler from behind.

“Chandler, stop it.”

Youngjae intervened and stopped Chandler, who had been arguing with the opposing players. Chandler finally relented and stepped back.

“If it were the regular season, I would have punched him, but it’s the Finals. I think it’s better to cut off their air supply today.”

At Youngjae’s words, Chandler patted Youngjae’s shoulder, agreeing, ‘That’s right!’ The referee deemed Youngjae’s actions as self-defense, as he had only argued and not made any threatening moves, issuing only a warning. However, Chalmers received a Flagrant 2 foul and was immediately ejected for committing a dangerous foul by tearing the uniform, a threatening action reminiscent of a takedown in martial arts, and for instigating the argument.

“Serves you right! You sons of bitches!!”

“Get out of here!!”

Since it was Dallas’ home court, Mario Chalmers was met with thunderous boos, and the game was temporarily halted. Coach Erik Spoelstra was at his wit’s end due to Chalmers’ ejection. Chalmers was the only true point guard available, forcing him to rely on Eddie House for extended minutes or play Wade and Miller together.

Youngjae went to the locker room to change his torn uniform and returned. He glanced at the bench and saw Emily looking at him with a worried expression. Feeling a little better, Youngjae smiled slightly to reassure her.

At the start of the third quarter, Coach Carlisle gave Youngjae a break to regain his composure after the altercation with Chalmers, allowing him to rest on the bench. While Youngjae had discussed the incident with his teammates during halftime and let go of his resentment, he understood that Coach Carlisle wanted to give him extra rest to replenish his stamina and recover his mental focus.

“Barea! Just drive to the basket!!”

And, due to Mario Chalmers’ Flagrant 2 foul, the Miami Heat’s guard lineup and rotation were completely disrupted. They were forced to allocate more playing time to Eddie House and Mike Miller, who were coming off the bench, with disastrous results.

[J.J. Barea! His sharp dribbling has returned in the second half?!]

Barea slowly dribbled the ball from the half-court line and exploded towards the rim as soon as he reached the top of the key. While Dallas often used 2-2 pick-and-roll plays for breakthroughs, Barea drove to the basket without a screen.

Thud!

Barea, penetrating to the high post, glanced at Joel Anthony, who was blocking his path, and faked a step back. Anthony fell for it and lunged forward, and Barea seized the opportunity.

[J.J. Barea! Amazing pace control! An incredible drive-in that completely fools Joel Anthony!]

[Joel Anthony, despite being the starting center, is too slow and undersized. While he contributes offensively, his defensive strengths are limited to trap defense!]

Joel Anthony couldn’t keep up with Barea’s speed, and Barea easily laid the ball in, proudly beating his chest in front of the cheering fans.

“Wow!! Barea!!”

Youngjae jumped up from the bench with Brian Cardinal, waving a towel and cheering. Barea responded by pointing at Youngjae and Cardinal with his index finger as if shooting a gun, and happily backpedaled.

[With this, the Dallas Mavericks are extending their lead to 8 points again! Mario Chalmers’ absence is hurting the Miami Heat! LeBron is leading the offense, but Chalmers’ ability to contribute on both ends of the court cannot be replaced by Miller and House.]

[The possibility of Game 6 being the final game seems increasingly likely for the Miami Heat. The problem began when Mario Chalmers took down Youngjae Yoon out of momentary anger, failing to recognize the importance of the game! He should have controlled himself and responded on the court!]

[It was an act that showed he didn’t understand his role as the starting point guard of this team! If there had been no takedown, Mario Chalmers might have had the best game of his life, he was playing so well! If Mario Chalmers, not Mike Bibby, had been guarding J.J. Barea right now, he wouldn’t have been so easily beaten!]

Chris Webber said with regret, and Reggie Miller, seemingly wanting to move on from the topic of Mario Chalmers, praised Dallas’ offensive prowess.

[Truly amazing offensive power! The Dallas Mavericks are pulling away again as if they were never caught! The score is 58 to 50 with Barea’s incredible drive and layup! The Dallas Mavericks aren’t just maintaining their lead, they’re steadily increasing it! This must be devastating for Miami!]

Joel Anthony and Mike Miller were eventually substituted out after about 3 minutes, and Coach Spoelstra was forced to face Dallas with a lineup of Eddie House – Dwyane Wade – LeBron James – Chris Bosh – Udonis Haslem. Haslem was a starter last season, so he could play extended minutes, but House was not. Ultimately, they had to rotate the Big 3, with Wade playing point guard when Miller was out.

============================ Author’s Notes ============================

★Thank you to those who gave advance reservations, recommendations, comments, and coupons!!

＠This episode is about Chalmers becoming Youngjae’s prey…

Gayunlee/// Disadvantages of serial novels ㅠ.ㅠ

CountOfDark, BrilliantLegacy, Financia, Omarion/// Thank you for your comments!! Have a great weekend~

H0h/// Daily life and various things will be mixed ㅎㅎ. The next season will open in December or so;;

rtg98/// I like Phila in MLB haha. Their prime is recent, but considering before that, they were a pretty bleak team. My younger sibling likes Everton. In overseas soccer, I like Valencia and Fiorentina.

Lazze/// In his past life, he didn’t have anything that could be called a signature move. A bench player’s specialty can’t do more than imitate the signature moves of star players. What could be Youngjae’s signature move now is the teardrop that imitates Parker and the crossover dribble. But I don’t think it’s enough to call it a signature move yet. To be called a signature move, I think that player has to reach the pinnacle of that skill. Other than Parker, no one shoots that high-angle floater, and unless it’s Iverson-level, it’s not called a signature move. I won’t comment on future signature moves as it could be a spoiler.

Ultra10/// If it weren’t for Haywood’s injury, they would have the strongest big man depth in the league, but since it’s an injury in the Finals;; Moreover, unlike other teams, there is no player who can serve as a center in the 4 position, which is a big deal. Miami has two potential center resources, but Dallas doesn’t have a slasher, so there was no way to foul out the center, so two were enough. Other than Nowitzki, there are no players who are good at drawing fouls, so…

anwkdk/// Hmm. I know Dallas has good security. I saw news that it has pretty good security compared to New York and Eastern cities. The area near the bus terminal is a bit insecure, but other than that, it’s good. The frequency of incidents is also low. It is the largest art, finance, and commercial city in the Southwest, so the city is good. Strangely enough, it is not attractive to FAs [free agents] in reality. Looking at baseball news, Dallas is a pretty good team for players. There is no sales tax, so it is financially good. Of course, it is less attractive compared to big markets such as New York, LA, Chicago, Boston, and Philadelphia.

-DarkANGEL-/// As you said, security is quite unstable in big cities. New York was the number one city in the US for gun incidents last year, I think.