The fourth quarter kicked off with Jokic entering the fray once more.
It’s unclear whether it was the influence or provocation from Hansen and Curry’s third-quarter performance, but Jokic didn’t head inside; he stood at the top of the arc.
The Warriors knew he could hit threes, so they didn’t give him the chance, but he finally got the opportunity to showcase his passing skills.
He faked a three-point shot at the top of the arc, then whipped the ball to a cutting JR, who delivered an explosive alley-oop slam dunk.
It’s hard to imagine just how skillful his hands are, but one thing for certain is that centers, as the orchestrators, possess the best vision.
The Cavaliers held on tightly to the ga at the start of the fourth quarter, keeping the tension high for both sides.
Walton’s plan had been to use a small-ball lineup in the third quarter to build a lead with a run, but since the gap hadn’t widened, the small-ball lineup had to keep going.
The Cavaliers faced a similar situation.
This back-and-forth, high-intensity shuttling across the court amounted to continuous 100-ter sprints, pushing the players’ cardiopulmonary capacity to its limits.
This was precisely why the Warriors didn’t start with a small-ball lineup—their stamina wouldn’t hold up, not the interior defense.
But now, neither side dared to switch back to their regular lineups.
As a result, both teams’ efficiency dipped compared to the third quarter, and "Milan’s little ironworker" echoed throughout the arena.
Yet at the sa ti, it highlighted the distinctiveness of Hansen and Curry’s play.
The Cavaliers didn’t win the championship last season, but Hansen didn’t leave empty-handed.
Just like Butler’s stamina had been forged through Thibodeau’s hard driving, last season’s playoffs pushed Hansen to his limits repeatedly, especially during the 64-point ga, forcibly stretching his stamina bar.
Curry’s situation differed from Hansen’s, but his trainer Brandon Payne paid special attention to endurance training, as Curry was already the player who ran the longest distances on an NBA court last season, leading second place by a wide margin.
Despite the relentless double teams and traps, both continued to perform well in the fourth quarter.
Curry had already sunk two more three-pointers this quarter, bringing his personal tally to eleven.
Just one more three-pointer, and he would tie the NBA record of twelve three-pointers in a single ga, held by Kobe and Toneil Marshall.
However, Hansen had only attempted one three-pointer this quarter; he favored mid-range shots and driving to finish.
For him, even if he trained his natural three-point talent to its limit, he wouldn’t resort to flinging threes all over the court like Curry.
Because scoring with threes largely depends on "heaven’s will," and his two-motion shot ant greater energy consumption.
In the final minute of the fourth quarter, the score on the court was 117 to 119, with the Cavaliers trailing by two points.
Hansen drove inside, scoring over Green’s defense and drawing the latter’s sixth personal foul of the night.
The thrilling point battle between Hansen and Curry had the crowd pumped, but off in an unnoticed corner, Green’s ga had co to an early conclusion.
Green slapped his hands in frustration as he left the court, evidently dismayed by his, or rather tonight’s performance.
Hansen stepped to the free-throw line and, under the full disruption of the crowd, calmly made the additional free throw, giving the Cavaliers a pivotal one-point lead and bringing his personal score for the night to 55 points.
In contrast, Curry had already scored 48 points for the night.
The Warriors called a tiout, and after the break, Bo Gote substituted for Green.
Curry advanced with the ball to the frontcourt, while the other four Warriors sank to the baseline.
There were just 40 seconds left in the match.
Although behind, Curry didn’t rush for a three-point shot.
He waited for Bo Gote to set a pick at the three-point line to switch Irving off him, then he began his assault mismatched against TT.
Surprisingly, he didn’t just shake off TT and launch a three-pointer.
If it were anyone else, with the record so close and the ga’s outco secondary, they might break the record first, especially since it’s just a regular-season ga.
But Curry cunningly exploited this mindset, faking a glance at the basket to lift TT off his feet before quickly driving inside the three-point line.
What’s more, after breaking in, he opted for an unexpected quick-stop mid-range shot.
However, it was precisely because of this series of unexpected choices that Curry faced almost no interference when he shot.
Curry confidently hit the mid-range shot, putting the Warriors ahead 121-120 once again.
The Cavaliers called a tiout.
There were 28 seconds left, and the Cavaliers had the opportunity to finish the ga.
At this point, the fans’ reactions were interesting; though their team was leading, they seed even more nervous than when they were trailing.
After all, the Cavaliers possessed the League’s player with the strongest ability to score in clutch monts.
After the tiout, Irving took the ball to the frontcourt and started to run down the clock.
Although behind, the Cavaliers wanted to leave as little ti as possible for the Warriors.
At this point, the Warriors’ defense was focused on Hansen.
However, the Cavaliers’ choice was surprising, as Hansen showed no intention of moving to receive the ball.
With 10 seconds left on the shot clock, Irving initiated the offense.
Malone did the sa as Walton, setting up a move that was unexpected, and it could be said even more so than Walton’s, because the ball never reached Hansen’s hands.
Of course, this was also with Hansen’s consent.
If they didn’t use the regular season to train Irving, then when would they?
Now, with the score tied and the opponent’s attention on him, it was the perfect opportunity for Irving.
Especially since Irving’s morale was sowhat shaken by Curry’s play tonight, completing a ga-winning shot would help him bounce back.
Irving successfully got past Curry and penetrated the inside because of Hansen’s diversion, earning him an excellent opportunity to hit the ga-winner.
About a ter away from the basket, he faced Bo Gote’s rushed defense and made a jump shot, one of his most reliable scoring thods.
However, whether it was really because his morale had been affected by Curry, his great chance sohow missed!
Fortunately, his shot attracted Bo Gote, allowing TT the chance to successfully grab the offensive rebound.
Seeing Bo Gote retract, TT did not force a shot but instead tossed the ball out to Hansen on the periter.
Irving’s breakthrough had compressed the Warriors’ defensive formation, and now Hansen, who had moved up just beyond the logo, was left unguarded.
The Warriors’ players, seeing this, hurried toward Hansen, while the Cavaliers’ players prepared to set screens.
However, it was then that Hansen made a move nobody had anticipated.
He held the ball in his left hand and made a "STOP" gesture with his right hand towards everyone.
The incredible happened next; players from both sides, not understanding his intentions, slowed their pace as if they’d been controlled.
It was at this mont that Hansen took off from in front of the logo and launched his second logo three-pointer of the night.
The ball’s arc was still very high.
And as it passed the highest point and began to fall, the final buzzer sounded from the sidelines.
"Swish!"
Then, the most pleasing sound in the world followed.
The Oracle Arena was dead silent, all the fans on-site were stunned, unable to believe what had just happened.
"Damn it!" Barkley was the first one at the comntary desk to curse.
"This is the most f*cking show-off ga-winner I’ve ever seen!"
In the 2015-2016 season, in this most special season opener, Hansen pulled off a huge stunt right from the start!
—Divider—
1: In the 2015 NBA Slam Dunk Contest, Hansen was absent. Raven, with two perfect scores in the preliminaries and 94 points in the finals, defeated Adetokunbo, Oladipo, and Plumley to win the Slam Dunk Contest championship.
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