After Jokic and Howard's matchup shifted from being completely suppressed to mutually explosive, the situation on the court fundamentally changed.
Because the Bulls wouldn't give Howard too many low post isolation opportunities, Hoiberg essentially just wanted to use Jokic as a breakthrough point.
After the tactical failure, he couldn't possibly bet the team's offense on Howard's relatively inefficient inside play.
Moreover, without a "One Star and Four Shooters" lineup, Howard's ability to handle the ball when double-teamed was quite average.
But conversely, for the Cavaliers, Hansen could confidently feed the ball to Jokic, because Jokic's ability to handle the ball was much stronger than Howard's.
At this time, Hansen also didn't need to keep playing with the ball like at the start; he could put more energy into defending against Irving.
Although it might sound inappropriate, as the game went deeper, this match had gradually become a stage for the Cavaliers to train Jokic.
