Joseph once again stepped into the passing lane of Harley, preventing the ball from getting into Harley's hands.
Harley took a step to his right, Joseph shifting a considerable amount as a response. Harley stopped moving completely at the half-court line.
Ainz brought the ball up. The game had essentially turned into a 4 on 4.
As Ainz dribbled down the court, Joseph shifted his body to make sure the pass never came.
Harley stayed still, relaxed.
Ainz got to the three-point line before going up for a shot. From bringing the ball down to his hip to the actual release, it was a slow process, much too slow for it to be effective.
Theodore lunged forward, blocking the shot. The Jesters SF, Leonard, ran behind Ainz and got the ball.
"Screen!" (Darius)
Ainz has transitioned into a screen. Leonard dribbled left, where Darius was. Leonard looked across the court to where Samuel was.
Leonard did an inside-out crossover before driving to the rim. Darius stuck to him. Leonard threw the ball randomly.
Thomas caught the ball out of the air, the ball almost going out of bounds. Crox made sure to set his feet and stop any attempt to score by Thomas.
Thomas looked around before trying to post up Crox to no avail.
Thomas threw the ball out to Samuel, who had managed to get Toby off of him for a moment to catch the ball.
Samuel did a pump fake, getting Toby in the air.
Samuel shot a three ball. The shot hit the back of the rim, bouncing far out to the free throw line. Ainz caught it and tried to float it up.
The ball rolled around the rim before falling out. Thomas grabbed the rebound before Crox and tried going up again for the dunk, or at least a layup.
Crox's body slammed into Thomas' body, their arms flailing as both big men fell back to the ground.
'BEEEEP' (whistle)
"#33 Blue, Shooting foul. Two free throws." (Referee)
"Tsk." (Crox)
Thomas walked towards the free throw line.
"Focus and try not to miss!" (Harley)
Thomas glanced back at Harley before nodding, a worried expression on his face.
The referee passed the ball to him for the first shot.
Thomas took two hard dribbles before releasing the shot. The shot was short, bouncing off the front rim.
Thomas took another shaky breath.
The referee passed the ball to him again.
Thomas took two hard dribbles before shooting the ball.
The rebounders invaded the paint, aiming for the rebound. Without Thomas there, their rebounding was severely weakened.
The ball bounced off the front rim before bouncing into the rim. Thomas stood there, shocked.
"Nice shot." (Ainz)
They ran back on defence.
"First make in an actual game? You done it man." (Harley)
"I was lucky." (Thomas)
"Relax. It's a long game, there's no need to get yourself so worked up. Right?" (Harley)
Harley glanced over at Joseph, who was bringing up the ball.
"Make him work on offence. His stamina will be depleted quicker. But I'll be the primary defender. If he gets into the paint, try to block the ball in a way which he can catch." (Harley)
"That'll be hard." (Thomas)
"I believe in ya." (Harley)
Harley stood in front of Joseph, who was trying to kill time to catch his breath. Harley ran up to him.
Joseph, seeing Harley close in, started driving.
Harley made eye contact with Thomas and stopped pursuing Joseph. Thomas backed off from Joseph, making Joseph believe there was an easy basket.
When Joseph tried to do a layup, before the ball could even touch the backboard, Thomas jumped and swatted it out of the air. Joseph jumped and grabbed the ball, keeping it close to him.
Joseph, knowing the formation they had taken, threw the ball behind him to Crox. Thomas had been hounding Joseph.
Crox received the pass and went up for a dunk. After Thomas had seen Joseph pass the ball, he had automatically turned around.
Thomas jumped and blocked Crox's dunk attempt, sending the ball to the corner where the shooters were.
Ainz caught it and was about to pass to Harley when Theodore intercepted it. Theodore took the ball and shot the open midrange shot before Ainz could recover for defence.
'Swish' (net)
"Good shot." (Joseph)
The Beasts ran back on defence, Joseph still sticking with Harley.
Harley, while still walking, did a half spin which got Joseph shifting his feet. Harley spun back and walked towards Leonard, who was bringing up the ball after Ainz inbounded it.
Joseph quickened his pace to cover Harley once again. Harley then took several steps back before spinning once again to get behind Joseph.
Joseph stepped between Harley and Leonard.
Leonard walked up to face up Darius, who was trying to lock him down.
Harley continued walking around the court, mostly around the three-point line and slightly deeper.
Leonard passed the ball inside to Samuel, who tried pushing Toby back in a post move. Samuel then spun, bringing his right arm up for a hook shot.
Toby was unable to guard it, but the ball did not even hit the rim. Toby caught the ball and looked out for the fast break.
Joseph extended his hand, but after remembering that Harley was nearby, he pointed out to Theodore, who was running down the court.
Harley simply stood near Joseph, and the ball was going nowhere near him. Instead, Harley walked away and started to go jog in Theodore's direction.
Samuel, seeing that, threw the ball over to Joseph instead. Harley stayed far away, making sure that Joseph could not pass to Theodore.
Joseph ran down the court, driving to the rim. Harley stepped aside, letting Joseph go for the easy layup.
After Joseph scored, Theodore ran back on defence.
Harley stepped out of the baseline after tapping the ball to the referee, who passed it back to him. Joseph stood in front of him.
Harley, by pulling his right arm back, threw the ball far.
Ainz, who was supposed to be guarded by Theodore, caught the ball.
Theodore was still running down the court.
Ainz then shot another one of his slow shots. Because of how many shots he had missed, the Beasts did not try to stop him.
Ainz released the shot without any interruption.
The ball arced high in the air before falling in the direction of the hoop. The big men, Crox, Toby, Samuel and Thomas all crowded in the paint for the rebound.
'Swish' (net)
The ball bounced hard from how high it had gotten. The Jesters ran back on defence, all of them cheering and hyping up Ainz.
Harley, still pestered by Joseph, was unable to go up to Ainz.
Joseph was starting to breathe harder the longer they played.
Dom looked from the sidelines, knowing that Joseph's effectiveness was about to run out. Eventually, Joseph would start to slow down.
Harley intentionally left Joseph open at the three-point line. The ball was brought up and passed to Joseph.
Joseph took his time, taking a few deep breaths before dribbling the ball. Joseph looked around before putting his right arm under the ball.
He threw a scoop pass.
"Alley!" (Joseph)
Harley looked back to Thomas, nodding.
Crox jumped, grabbing the ball. Thomas jumped too, extending his arm. Crox grabbed the ball, but saw that Thomas was capable of blocking the shot.
Thomas blocked the ball behind Crox.
Leonard grabbed the ball and threw it forward. Harley was running back, but he had intended it as a diversion, not an actual play.
"No!" (Harley)
Jospeh grabbed the ball out of the air. Harley stopped in his tracks and ran at Joseph, reaching out and stealing the ball when he started to dribble.
Joseph turned around too, guarding Harley. Harley grabbed the ball and held it close, waiting for the defence and offence to set up.
Harley was just across the half-court line.
Harley started dribbling the ball again. Joseph stood firmly in front of him, even though Harley was relatively far away from the rim.
Harley checked the shot clock before looking back at Joseph.
Harley tried to jab a little, but Joseph did not budge. Instead Harley started driving to the right.
Joseph managed to somewhat contain the drive with a lot of shifting from his feet.
Harley did a behind the back crossover from his right to his left, stopping on the dime. He then brought the ball close to his body.
Joseph managed to stick to Harley.
Harley dropped the ball and started dribbling again.
'BEEEP' (whistle)
"Carrying violation, #17 Purple." (Referee)
Harley stopped and dropped the ball, putting his arms on his hips.
"Forgot about that." (Harley)
Harley started walking back after passing the ball to the referee.
***
Time: 4:30
Score: 20-21 (Beasts lead by 1)
***
Despite Harley's lack of involvement, the Beasts were unable to get much of a rhythm going either. Mostly because of Thomas' impressive defensive plays and just the overall effort of the Jesters.
Meanwhile, Joseph slowly got more tired.