"55 points! How did you do it? I an, you just scored 40 in two consecutive gas!"
The reporter asking questions after the ga was very excited since Hansen’s 55 points in this playoff ga ranked ninth in history, not to ntion the premise implied in his question.
If employing the classic, exclusive style, Hansen achieved a unique historic feat.
Moreover, in the NBA history, only three other individuals had ever scored 40 points in three consecutive playoff gas: Jerry West, Jordan, and Bernard King.
"You’ll get used to it."
Subtle bragging is always the most deadly.
This also represented Hansen’s stance; if Thibodeau continued this defensive strategy, he didn’t mind keeping up the high scoring.
As for stamina, that wasn’t an issue for him.
After all, he was just a 25-year-old young man.
Two days later, the two teams continued the series at the United Center for Ga 4.
Interestingly, signs targeting Hansen were almost non-existent in the arena.
After all, for the fans, compared to what you say, they’re more concerned with what you do.
When you see a player score 55 points at your ho court, you definitely wouldn’t want to provoke him further.
Thibodeau’s defense adjusted again in this ga, switching back to the mode from Ga 1, applying the Jordan Rules on Hansen.
For the Cavaliers’ Deathly Five Small, Thibodeau also found a counter-strategy: swapping in Dunleavy for Gibson, responding with a "one big, four small" lineup.
This was sowhat reminiscent of how the Grizzlies played against the Heat.
Thibodeau proved to be a master in defense, his adjustnts thoroughly targeted the right issues.
What Thibodeau didn’t expect, however, was Irving, who had underperford in the first three gas, suddenly woke up in this one.
With Hansen drawing a lot of the Bulls’ defense, Irving shot 23 tis in total, making 10 of them, and with his drives, managed to get to the free-throw line five tis, making 9 of the throws, scoring a playoff career-high of 30 points.
After witnessing Hansen’s stunning performance in the previous three gas, Irving finally got a wake-up call.
Though Hansen scored only 28 points in this ga, the Cavaliers handily beat the Bulls 106 to 91.
This was the largest margin of the series to date.
At the post-ga press conference, Hansen was more cheerful than in the past three gas.
"If possible, I hope to experience nights like this every ti."
Scoring records and the like were trivial to Hansen; winning was what he truly desired.
With the victory in Ga 4, the series score was now 3-1, putting the Cavaliers at match point.
When the Cavaliers lost Ga 2, there were overwhelming doubts from the outside world, but their performance in these two away gas firmly silenced the critics.
It’s no wonder Hansen was so exhilarated because this ti Irving truly shined.
The narrative quickly changed as, if Irving could maintain his performance, the Cavaliers’ championship was not out of reach.
However, Irving quickly contradicted himself, performing the worst of the series in Ga 5, shooting 3 out of 14 and only scoring 11 points.
Thibodeau, in defense, specifically targets individual players, especially those like Irving with technical weaknesses.
The resilience shown by the Bulls in dire situations also commanded respect.
Ross, who had been diocre, had a breakout ga, shooting 10 out of 26 to earn 30 points, 7 boards, and 7 assists.
However, the ga wasn’t one-sided.
As the Bulls shifted their defense toward Irving, Hansen started to beco uncontrollable.
The two teams battled fiercely until the final monts.
Hansen, facing Noah, hit a ga-tying three-pointer with 5 seconds left, marking his fourth 40-point ga of the series.
In the final 5 seconds, Ross, using a screen from Noah, shot a bank three-pointer that went in, completing a counter-buzzer-beater.
2-3, the Bulls took the series back to Chicago.
"This is Ross’s night, he deserves this victory,"
Hansen praised Ross at the post-ga press conference.
Although Ross wasn’t known for three-pointers, this is the capability of a superstar; they always manage to do the seemingly impossible when it matters most.
Just like Jordan hitting 6 three-pointers in one half of the finals, this was their night.
"But, we won’t be going back to Cleveland again."
Hansen added later.
Two days later, the Cavaliers dominated the Bulls 94 to 74 in an away ga, advancing to the next round 4-2.
In this ga, Malone set up the Deathly Five Small from the start, and Hansen used his previous tactic from his ti with the Grizzlies, defensively leading against Ross.
Under his guard, Ross only scored 9 points.
Since the Cavaliers’ offense heavily relied on Hansen, he was essentially taking a gamble.
As it turned out, he made the right bet; led by him, the Cavaliers brought out their best defense of the season, using the Bulls’ preferred style of defensive counterattack to completely overrun the Bulls.
The Bulls also exposed a weakness; their lineup with "one big, four smalls" wasn’t sufficient in the offense around Noah to punish TT inside, allowing the Cavaliers to use their small lineup as their main lineup.
However, there was bad news for the Cavaliers in this ga; Irving injured his knee after colliding with Butler early in the ga and had to leave after playing just 12 minutes.
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