"You don’t think you can score on once and that I won’t be able to guard you?" Kobe looked straight at Hansen, getting into a defensive stance.
"Of course not."
Hansen casually responded, followed by a dribble to break through.
This ti Kobe didn’t position himself early; Hansen used the Mysterious Steps.
But Kobe, with his rich defensive experience, retreated to the basket early to block his layup route.
Hansen’s close-fra offensive skills were lacking, and in the end, he chose to take a forced shot against Kobe, which went off the mark.
However, he knew as he shot that it wasn’t going to go in, sprung up for a second jump ahead of everyone else, grabbed the offensive rebound, and shot again, drawing a defensive foul from Kobe.
"I’m just enjoying the process," Hansen said to Kobe before the free-throw line.
Of course, Kobe had no idea what Hansen was planning; he just recalled everything Hansen had done tonight: he took the initiative to deal with tough situations, showed no fear when guarding him, made provocative celebration gestures towards the bench, and now this remark. Weren’t these things he himself would have done when he first joined the league?
He unconsciously smiled at the corner of his mouth.
Right then, a short whistle sounded from the sidelines.
Hansen turned his head at the free-throw line and saw Jas being substituted onto the court.
His face was full of confusion.
Why was Jas coming on at this ti?
After all, there were only twenty-so seconds left in the ga.
Was it to guard the last play?
Or was it because the Cavaliers were catching up and needed to create a ’Jas on court’ presence?
Hansen didn’t understand, but turned his head back and didn’t bother to think any further.
Hansen made both free throws, helping the Cavaliers narrow the gap to single digits.
At this point, Kobe didn’t continue to aggressively attack Hansen but used Binamu and Odom’s consecutive screens to penetrate the inside, drawing a defensive foul from Ilgauskas and earning two free throws.
Just as Hansen had felt in the first half, Kobe of this period had matured too much and was worthy of being the strongest in the league.
Kobe stepped up to the free-throw line and adjusted his breathing.
He had scored quite a bit tonight but you could tell that it had taken a toll on his stamina.
At 31, it was no longer like being 21, and Hansen was wearing him down on both offense and defense.
However, after adjusting, Kobe still made both free throws steadily, helping the Lakers again widen the gap to double digits.
Only 2 seconds were left on the shot clock.
Jas took the ball out from the backcourt.
Hansen stood at the mid-court, accustod to dealing with tough situations, but he had no interest in a pure backcourt catch.
The Lakers pressured up front, leaving West with no good opportunity to receive the ball.
At that mont, Jas looked at Hansen and frantically waved his hands to signal to him.
Brown’s shouting also ca from behind.
Seeing this, Hansen ran towards Jas, signaling for him to co onto the court.
The ball was passed out, Hansen protected it with his back to the basket, keeping Kobe at bay, and Jas had to co onto the court.
Seeing Jas on the court, Hansen quickly passed him the ball.
With about 1 second left, Jas launched a long-range three-pointer from the backcourt.
The ball traced a long-distance parabola through the air and then went in...
The arena erupted in cheers, Hansen was also stunned for a second—could that really go in?
You had to admit, Jas’s strength was impressive, and of course, he had good luck.
But Jas wore a Schroeder mask at that mont.
Because he knew very well the shot was too late.
Making it was more frustrating than missing it.
Indeed, the replay showed that Jas’s shot had been released after the buzzer.
At the start of the last quarter, Jas didn’t continue to play...
On the Lakers’ side, Phil Jackson also didn’t arrange for Kobe to play anymore.
This wasn’t because he continued to underestimate the opponent, but because he truly felt threatened and didn’t want Kobe to keep wasting his energy during the substitution transition.
But at the sa ti, he had Gasol and Artest enter the ga early, which was also an attempt to contain the Cavaliers’ montum to catch up.
However, as the ga progressed, he wasn’t able to have it his way.
Hansen was in too good of a form tonight.
Even Artest couldn’t limit his performance.
Artest is strong in confrontations and the best choice for defending heavy forwards like Jas, but Hansen is a guard. To leverage his defensive advantage, he first needed to be able to keep up.
By the ti 5 minutes had passed in this quarter, Hansen had broken through Artest with a layup that brought the Cavaliers to within 3 points, just one shot away.
Phil Jackson finally put his hands down and didn’t keep whistling his favorite tune but instead called a tiout.
Hansen was extrely excited as he stepped off the court.
Not only because he led his team to close an 18-point gap to 3, but also because before he went off, his "Wave Riding Skill" had reached its limit!
Kobe plus Artest, it was like gaining double experience points straight away when fighting a monster.
Give him a little more ti, and he could lead the Cavaliers to take this ga in one fell swoop!
But after the tiout, Brown substituted Hansen out, and it felt very much like the national U17 basketball player Li Yuezhou was benched imdiately after scoring a crucial basket.
If you didn’t know better, you might think Hansen was injured.
Jas returned to the court pounding his chest towards the cara, showing a regal air, seemingly ready to lead the team to victory.
At that mont, Hansen felt a fire rise in his chest.
It was frustrating enough not being able to play at crucial monts over the past week, but now, after he had fought for the opportunity and was about to make a big play, you’re telling him he can’t go on the court?!
The ga continued, and the Lakers had substituted all their starters back in, including Kobe.
The Cavaliers’ montum was halted, and with a well-rested Kobe back on the court, nobody could stand in his way.
Despite this, Brown still didn’t put Hansen back in the ga.
The Lakers once again widened the gap, ultimately winning the match.
After the ga ended, the two teams went through the post-ga handshake ritual.
"You played well."
During the handshake with Hansen, Kobe reached out to embrace him.
Although the two had been verbally sparring on the court, it was clear Kobe appreciated Hansen.
But at this mont, Hansen was seething with a pent-up fury, his mind not on the sportsmanship.
After quickly getting through the handshakes, Hansen went back to the locker room.
They lost the ga, and given it was a Christmas Day ga—the kind that draws a lot of attention—the atmosphere in the locker room was sowhat gloomy.
Sitting there, Hansen beca angrier the more he thought about it.
The Lakers were the defending champions, and he knew they would be this season’s champions as well.
Since the two teams were from different conferences, they only faced each other twice a season.
This ti it was a Christmas Day ga, and if he could lead a coback victory, it would be the defining mont of his career.
But Brown and the rest didn’t care about that at all!
Right then, Varejao entered the locker room, and upon seeing Hansen’s deanor, he whistled at him.
Even though they lost the ga, Hansen’s frustration was a delight to him.
That’s the fate of those not willing to conform; what does it matter how talented you are? You still just have to sit quietly on the bench, right?
Hansen stood up abruptly, startling Varejao into silence.
Then, Hansen pushed Varejao away. In his anger, he didn’t control his strength, and Varejao toppled to the ground.
Everyone in the locker room was stunned.
But Hansen left the locker room without looking back.
"That guy... that guy is just an asshole!" Varejao finally recovered with the help of Gibson, pointing at the locker room door and cursing loudly.
After leaving the locker room, Hansen called Thomas.
"Tell them to trade ." As soon as the call connected, Hansen got straight to the point.
He didn’t try to find Brown again after shouting the demand to trade him in the gym last ti had led to nothing. He knew Brown couldn’t decide anything.
It was the Cavaliers’ managent that had real decision-making power, which his agent needed to negotiate.
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