"If this truly is his destiny, then let him face this destiny head-on!"
Hansen handed the water bottle back to Haddadi, then stood up.
The two minutes of tiout had not restored much of his stamina, but his fighting spirit was still soaring.
After the tiout, both teams entered the final decisive monts of the ga.
Hansen received the ball, shook off Harden, and faced Ibaka’s defense for a mid-range shot.
Having been tricked before, Ibaka’s defense was more about obstructing the view.
"Swish!"
Hansen nailed the mid-range shot despite the interference.
The crowd stirred; Hansen had returned after just a tiout!
However, turning back, Durant also sank a turnaround jumper against Allen’s defense.
That’s the power of a top five active player; after a good rest, not even Allen could stop him.
"Defense! Defense!"
Durant’s basket fired up the atmosphere, and Oklahoma City fans shouted in unison, cheering for the ho team.
The roar was thunderous, the montum overwhelming.
Hansen’s gaze, however, beca even firr.
What can easily be shattered is not a mountain, but a sand dune.
Brooks approached the sidelines, and under his command, the Thunders began limiting Hansen’s chances to receive the ball.
Conley, unable to pass the ball, chose to feed it to Randolph in the low post.
Randolph turned around Perkins to receive the ball, but when going one-on-one, he was double-tead, and under Ibaka’s airborne interference, the ball missed the basket.
Ibaka landed and turned to protect the defensive rebound, but just then, a figure dashed past him.
Before he could react,
"Boom!"
A muffled sound echoed through the arena’s speakers, coming from Hansen’s thunderous follow-up slam dunk!
The fans were stunned.
To see such a tip dunk at this stage of the ga, and the player to do it was Hansen!
The cara focused on Hansen, who stumbled after landing, showing his physical condition was not good.
But the next second, Hansen made his signature celebration move, shaking his number 77 jersey for the cara.
It made one involuntarily gasp.
Such a Hansen was nothing but frightening.
It was an aura of strength that transcended levels of power.
That aura was not only felt by the fans in the arena, the Grizzlies players felt it too.
On the defensive end, Durant spun towards the basket, but Little Gasol’s help defense sealed the air and Allen seized the mont to strip the ball from behind Durant.
The trailing Grizzlies did not slow down the pace this ti; Hansen and Conley executed a fast break.
After being guarded closely by Westbrook, Hansen passed the ball to Conley, who charged to the basket and dunked with both hands.
The move once again stunned the fans; they had never seen Conley dunk like that!
Clearly, every NBA player can dunk; it’s just a matter of whether they need to do it or not.
Obviously, Conley had been inspired by Hansen’s aura and had also transcended himself.
94-95.
The Thunders were still ahead, but the montum on the court had shifted to the Grizzlies.
Westbrook tried to drive to the basket to regain control, but he lost the ball as he made his move under Little Gasol’s block.
The arena was restless.
Now the Grizzlies had the chance to take the lead.
Fortunately for the Thunders, it was their ho court.
Once again, the fans’ chants filled the arena.
Hansen was still being kept from the ball, and Randolph’s counter cut had been pushed out of the paint by Perkins’ clever positioning.
After a pick and roll with Little Gasol, Conley’s return pass found Little Gasol, who was forced by Westbrook’s help defense to keep the ball high.
In the midst of the cheering fans, the Thunders again displayed their high-pressure defense.
Little Gasol, then, had a mid-range shooting opportunity against Westbrook, but he dared not shoot hastily.
However, being tall, he had a wide field of vision and saw Hansen cut to the basket, breaking free from Harden, and passed the ball directly to him.
Hansen received the ball and drove toward the basket, with Ibaka quickly moving to help defend, and this ti he didn’t jump.
After Hansen ca to a halt, Ibaka followed suite, raising both hands to interfere.
His decision was extrely smart, but unfortunately for him, Hansen’s decision to stop wasn’t to take a mid-range shot, but a floater.
And upon seeing Ibaka closing in, he chose a high-difficulty, drifting sidearm floater!
Antoine Jamison’s signature move.
Ibaka spun in the air attempting a block, but as Hansen drifted and pulled away, Ibaka’s long arms couldn’t reach.
Hansen showcased his balance in the air and flicked the ball out with his fingertips.
The basketball arced through a small parabola...
"Swish!"
Nothing but net!
The Grizzlies took the lead, 96-95!
The price paid was that Hansen lost his balance and fell to the ground.
The crowd erupted in astonishnt, Hansen seed to them, in this mont, capable of anything!
Swift was gaping once again, only this ti she covered it with her hand.
What kind of man is most charming? When he achieves what seems impossible!
At this mont, Hansen was like standing in the spotlight himself, shining from head to toe.
Randolph and Conley quickly went over to lift Hansen up.
Randolph even laughed and playfully tousled Hansen’s hair.
Hansen had previously called himself "Big Shark" O’Neal, but at this mont, he felt Hansen was more like Kobe.
The score had changed hands, putting the Thunders on the defensive.
In this adversity, it was still Durant. He ca off a screen without the ball, faked and stepped back for a shot to take back the lead for the Thunders!
After scoring, Durant turned to Hansen with his arms raised in a roar.
You can’t win on the court if you can’t win in practice!
Randolph caused havoc in the post and got to the free-throw line.
The Grizzlies then subbed in Battier for Allen.
Hansen had a quick chat with the entering Battier.
Randolph sank both free throws, with 2 and a half minutes to go, the Grizzlies led 98-97.
"This is the most exciting playoff ga this year!" Barkley exclaid from the comntary table.
Right after his exclamation, the arena began to stir.
Not because of his comnt, but because Hansen had switched to guard Durant!
After a whole night of trading blows, they finally faced each other head-on.
"I have a spare fishing rod," Hansen began reminiscing, once they were face to face.
Durant looked confused.
"It’s available to borrow for fishing in the sumr."
Durant, realizing what Hansen ant, beca furious.
He aggressively received the ball with his back to Hansen, then turned around.
"You can’t guard !"
He yelled almost roaringly and then dribbled to pass by on the right.
But just as he made his move, Hansen quickly reached in for the steal.
He touched the ball, though he didn’t manage to take it as Durant regained control.
But it successfully disrupted Durant’s rhythm; his subsequent drive cut off and a turnaround fadeaway from the baseline, disturbed by Hansen, missed the basket!
Hansen really couldn’t guard Durant in the sumr, but his strongest trait was his ability to learn. Having trained with Allen for so long, he’d picked up so defensive moves, especially how to guard Durant.
Previously, he wanted to just disturb Durant’s shot, but in reality, Allen had proved that disrupting Durant’s offensive rhythm was more effective.
The Grizzlies launched another fast break, this ti Cleveland’s fast-break artist, Hansen, took a long pass from Little Gasol and dashed forward.
Seeing Westbrook hot on his heels, he slowed down and took three steps to avoid Westbrook’s interference and scored with a layup.
100-97!
With 2 minutes left in the ga, the Grizzlies led the Thunders by 3 points!
The Thunders called for a tiout.
"Kevin, don’t listen to that guy’s crap; he’s just trying to ss with your rhythm!" Brooks pulled Durant aside during the ti-out and spoke into his ear.
Brooks knew the kind of guy Hansen was when he was still with the Cavaliers.
Brooks’s words took effect; as the coach of this young Thunders team, ’nanny’ was a term of endearnt with him.
After the tiout, Durant received the ball beyond the three-point line and fired directly, the ball dropping as his hand fell.
That was his 42nd point of the night, setting a new personal playoff career-high.
The Ford Center erupted completely.
all!
Both teams were back on an equal footing.
In the next play, Hansen’s shot didn’t connect, Randolph’s follow-up was disrupted, and Perkins secured the critical rebound.
"OKC! OKC!"
The ho crowd roared back to life with an overpowering cheer.
Durant faced up against Hansen again on the frontcourt, and this ti he initiated, "Your trash talk is useless against , save your breath."
Hansen was sowhat surprised but still responded with a smile,
"Taylor knows a lot of actresses; if you really need it, I could get her to ask for so of Scarlett’s bathwater for you."
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