He no longer double-tead Hansen as comprehensively as he did in the first half, giving Hansen so space to play one-on-one.
Obviously, Hansen’s ability to connect plays in the first half had left them with no choice.
Hansen attempted a three-pointer but missed, his shooting from the outside tonight wasn’t great.
Then, he began to attack more from inside.
The Heat Team’s smaller lineup definitely lacked the shot-blocking capability of their regular formation, and Hansen glided past Bosh for a soaring slam dunk on his first drive.
His weight loss over the sumr was effective; after becoming lighter, his drives to the basket were faster and more ferocious than before.
In this quarter, Hansen only got one assist but he scored 12 points.
Under his leadership, the Grizzlies tied the ga with the Heat Team at 76 by the end of the third quarter.
Hansen sat out to rest at the start of the fourth quarter.
The cara focused on him, also displaying his stats for the night.
shots, 10 made, 1 of 4 from three-point range, 5 of 5 on free throws, totaling 26 points, 5 rebounds, and 9 assists.
If he hadn’t been struggling with his three-point shot tonight, he would have already scored over 30 in just three quarters.
Moreover, more surprising than the stats, Hansen’s playmaking had tied the ga with the Heat, even without Randolph.
Four minutes into the fourth quarter, the Heat Team made a run under Wade’s lead.
By the ti the starters returned, the score was 86-80.
Hansen took the ball and made a move, then, seeing the Heat were not double-teaming him, he drove in for a floater that went in.
On the way back, Wade’s Mysterious Steps took him inside for a bank shot.
For the next stretch, it was a scoring battle between Hansen and Wade, with the gap staying around 5 points.
Hansen felt a pressure in his chest.
It wasn’t because of the score, but because of Wade.
As the ga reached its climax, both teams ramped up their defense.
And then, suddenly, it was all Wade on the Heat’s side!
It felt like Jas had gotten his stats for three quarters and then let Wade take over to finish the ga.
Or you could say, Wade was wearing down his body to craft a crown for Jas.
How Wade played was his choice, he might even convince himself with the narrative that Kobe and O’Neal worked together this way.
But as an onlooker, and as a friend of Wade, Hansen was genuinely getting angrier as he watched.
With only two and a half minutes left in the ga, the score was 100-94 with the Heat still leading.
The Grizzlies had possession, and Hansen went for a pick-and-roll with Jas.
After a crossover and a quick stop, his jump shot scored, and he spoke out to Jas,
"When I said in Cleveland you were more versatile than Michael, I ant you played like Pippen."
Once back on defense, he switched places with Battier to talk more,
"How could anyone believe such nonsense? You’re so eager to link yourself to Michael!"
Jas flushed with anger, as if soone had exposed his deepest secret.
However, Jas didn’t call for the ball; it was still in Wade’s hands.
After experiencing the surrendering of offensive control in the Finals, Jas had grown a thicker skin.
Wade’s offense was disturbed by Hansen’s help defense.
Hansen still targeted Jas on his return, hitting another mid-range jumper.
"If Michael knew he was your idol, he’d probably be disgusted for days and unable to eat!" Hansen didn’t stop taunting.
But Jas still showed no reaction, as if immune to trash talk.
Wade continued with his Mysterious Steps, drawing a foul in a collision with Little Gasol, losing balance, and nearly getting hurt.
Wade’s style did put his knees at risk, but more than the style, it was always being the one to take charge that was deadly.
Wade sank both free throws, and the Heat maintained a 4-point lead.
The Heat adjusted their defense on the next play, double-teaming Hansen again.
Hansen passed to Little Gasol, but instead of staying put, he cut straight to the basket through the double team.
Witnessing this, Gasol quickly returned the ball.
Hansen caught it, took off and finished with a gliding, one-handed reverse dunk.
Jas caught up to defend Hansen but only reached the basket after Hansen’s dunk.
Hanging from the rim, Hansen looked down at Jas and continued,
"Your one-on-one defense is a joke! My grandma’s legs are faster than yours!"
Jas could bear it, but Spoelstra couldn’t and called a tiout.
With one minute left in the ga, the Heat were ahead 102-100.
Hansen was about to sit on the bench when Guy suddenly grabbed him fiercely, Hansen looked back and saw Guy frantically pointing towards the Heat bench.
Hansen looked up and then realized there was a commotion on the Heat’s bench!
Jas seed very agitated as he yelled at Spoelstra.
Spoelstra didn’t say much, and Haslem tried to pull Jas away, but Jas shoved him off, leading to an argunt between the two.
Great fight!
Hansen had thought his trash talk had failed but turned out it had a delayed effect.
After the tiout, Jas had the ball.
This was completely expected.
Once Jas won the battle for team status over Wade, the Heat gradually beca the Cavaliers of old.
Hansen switched to defend Jas directly.
Jas chose to play with his back to the basket.
Seeing Jas’s choice, Hansen was certain that Jas had muscles for brains.
The weight difference between them required Hansen to use all his strength to contend with Jas.
But just as Jas was about to turn around, Hansen yanked the chair out from under him.
Hansen wasn’t Guy; he was sneakier than Battier.
Jas lost his balance. His excess weight made it even harder for him to control his already clumsy fra.
Hansen stepped aside and snatched the ball, then dashed down the court in a blur.
Wade chased from behind, but as Hansen stord to the frontcourt, he slamd it down with no room for opposition.
The final 30 seconds left the score tied at 102 each!
Spoelstra called for another tiout.
This ti, there was no argunt on the Heat’s bench; Jas was breathing hard but really quiet.
After the tiout, the Heat spread out, and Wade took the ball for a one-on-one, facing Hansen and pulling off a difficult turnaround jumper.
The ball flew over Hansen’s fingertips toward the backboard, and after hitting the backboard, it dropped into the net.
Wade made the tough shot with only 10 seconds left in the ga.
The Arican Airlines Center erupted.
Jas was ecstatic when he saw the ball go in, rushing up to Wade for a passionate chest bump.
If they lost this ga, he’d be the number one culprit, especially after boasting about not knowing how to lose before the ga. But Wade changed all that.
"Jas and Wade working together to capture the Grizzlies"? Windhorst couldn’t wait!
Joerger was about to call a tiout, but Hansen signaled him not to.
The Grizzlies inbounded the ball, and Hansen dribbled it quickly up the court.
This move surprised everyone. The Heat could only fall back to defense, marking the nearest opponent.
This retreat left Jas guarding Hansen.
And because the Grizzlies played so suddenly, the Heat were all chasing their marks and didn’t have ti for help defense or to switch. Jas had no choice but to face Hansen directly.
Hansen swiftly dribbled to the right side outside the 45-degree three-point line, faking a drive and then going for a three-point jumper.
With only 5 seconds left in the ga and the Grizzlies trailing by 2, Hansen’s choice seed unreasonable.
Yet Hansen took the shot.
The hearts of the fans in the arena instantly rose to their throats.
The shot was unreasonable, but the man taking it was Hansen, handpicked by Jas to be the terminator!
Jas didn’t expect it and could only rush forward in a desperate attempt to block.
But his increased weight had slowed him down, he could only disrupt Hansen’s line of sight.
The ball flew over Jas’s head toward the basket.
The rhythm was good.
The backspin was strong.
The trajectory was true.
Though it was a pull-up shot, the ball was as stable as an East University high-speed train!
"Swish!"
The basketball shot straight into the hoop like a missile.
The Arican Airlines Center instantly turned into the Miami Library.
Moreover, the Heat had no tiouts left. All Jas could do was toss the ball backcourt to Wade.
Wade crossed midcourt and, facing Hansen, launched a desperate long-range three.
With Hansen’s interference, the shot was wildly off, not even hitting the rim.
As the final buzzer sounded along the sidelines, the ga ca to an end.
to 104, the Grizzlies won the ga!
Hansen landed and released all the pent-up emotion in his chest right in Wade’s face, shouting at Jas not far away:
"DW can’t save you!"
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