Although Jas’ desire for the Ga 2 wasn’t as intense as Ga 1, it was still better than before.
But Hansen understood Jas better than anyone, knowing that Jas had the weakest ntal attributes on this team and was the easiest to crush.
Not to ntion those past encounters, Jas had a psychological fear of him.
As expected by Hansen, as he began to suppress Jas on both ends of the court, Jas went from being active and proactive to passive and lazy.
The classic gestures, hands on hips on offense, the spread of hands to the ref’s calls, shoving teammates on defense — all those parts familiar to fans that hadn’t been shown yet started to erge like bamboo shoots after a rain.
And this was disastrous for the Pelicans’ morale.
Davis, originally striving hard, was battling Jokic in the post and suddenly found himself having to deal not only with Jokic but also with players leaking in from the flanks.
What Green experienced last season, Davis was fully experiencing now.
Unfortunately, Davis was not Green; he wouldn’t get mad at Jas and could only suffer in silence.
The result was that Davis got into foul trouble.
Regardless of Davis’ excellent defense, the constant hassle wore him out.
Moreover, his penchant for blocks led him quickly into foul difficulties.
And when Davis wasn’t on the court, the Pelicans’ defensive intensity dropped by two levels.
In this era of small-ball, the role of an elite, agile rim protector is both rare and irreplaceable.
By the first half, the teams were still entangled, but in the second half, with Davis collecting his fourth personal foul early, the Pelicans’ survival-leaning defense collapsed.
The Cavaliers seized the mont, eventually beating the Pelicans 114 to 89, transforming the finals score to 2-0.
If the Pelicans had lost honorably in the last ga, this one was a complete rout, losing both the ga and morale.
After Ga 1, outsiders felt the finals were not as expected, with considerable suspense.
But after Ga 2, the sense of suspense vanished completely.
So fans even pulled out a leaderboard, naming Jas as the top core player to be swept in NBA Finals history.
However, the Cavaliers weren’t overly optimistic.
In 2006, to crown the Heat, the league’s refereeing standards were insanely biased.
Even knowing the Pelicans couldn’t possibly stop the Cavaliers, they would try to make each ga seem evenly matched.
So now, what the Cavaliers need to do is to replicate what they accomplished in Ga 2 for Ga 3.
Although it can be predicted that the difficulty will be much greater than Ga 2.
However, the Cavaliers players won’t need to think about that too much for now.
After Ga 2, the players happily organized a bonfire party at Hansen’s estate.
Because there’s a possibility of clinching the cup on the road, this bonfire party felt more like a pre-departure ritual.
The goat sent by JR was indeed delicious, and Hansen publicly announced it as a gift from JR, giving JR imnse satisfaction.
Everyone could sense, at this mont, JR was Hansen’s most loyal Sword Guard.
However, as everyone was nearly done with food and drinks, Hansen gathered everyone to announce his decision to leave Cleveland this sumr.
Everyone was shocked, with JR snapping out of it and insisting Hansen was joking with them.
"It’s true, not a joke. I didn’t ntion it before because I didn’t want to affect your mindset, but now, I hope you all help win this championship, so I can complete this journey in the most fulfilling way."
Hansen’s following words made them realize he wasn’t joking.
Their faces were puzzled, but none directly questioned why Hansen was leaving.
JR wanted to speak, but Jokic imdiately stopped him.
For such questions, if Hansen wanted to share, he would; if not, asking would only make things awkward for Hansen.
Hansen didn’t explain further, gesturing for everyone to continue the party after his announcent.
Shortly thereafter, JR approached Hansen: "Is it because of ? I already told Nikola not to send any goats, goats are the embodint of evil, yet he insisted you’d love it. I..."
While explaining, JR had a face full of self-bla, truly believing Hansen chose to leave because of him.
Hansen couldn’t help but laugh, JR, although sotis dim-witted, might not be a great player or even a good person, yet in reality, he was quite sincere.
"If I told you I planned to leave at this point before arriving in Cleveland, would you believe ?"
So Hansen decided to be honest with him, even though this statent left JR puzzled again.
"I have my career plans. Coming to Cleveland wasn’t my initial thought, but I didn’t slouch after arriving. Do you understand now?"
Hansen followed with a more straightforward explanation.
Now JR understood, but even understanding it was hard for him to digest.
Or perhaps, Hansen had helped him so much that he genuinely couldn’t foresee what he would beco without Hansen.
"If you want to thank for anything, more than the goat, I want this championship."
Despite his confusion, JR nodded vigorously.
He honestly couldn’t fathom so many things, giving him tasks to complete was what he desired more.
"Oh, right, this is a secret, keep it for ." Hansen reminded him in the end.
JR might do plenty of foolish things, but what he’s told not to say, he would never reveal.
After JR, teammates began approaching Hansen to chat.
So, like JR, ca to ask why, others to bid farewell, so even urged Hansen to stay.
Jokic had the most complicated emotions.
Hansen ant too much to him, even from his experience, without Hansen, there wouldn’t be the current him.
Including previously not understanding Hansen when talking about leadership, making it sound like parting advice, which it indeed was.
He had many things to say but didn’t know where to start; finally, he asked sothing different from anyone else:
"Boss, this sumr I want to visit East University, can you be my guide?"
"This sumr might be hectic, but next sumr for sure, as we’ll be attending the World Cup, and then I’ll take you to see the Great Wall, tour the Forbidden City, and anywhere else you’d like to visit, just tell in advance."
Hansen was as always partial to Jokic.
"Thank you, boss." Jokic was at a loss for words, condensing everything into the shortest sentence.
The news of Hansen’s departure hit the dia headlines the next day.
Like a storm sweeping across the nation, even globally, it triggered a tsunami of reactions.
Fans speculated on why Hansen was leaving and where his next destination might be.
Of course, so were puzzled why Hansen chose this timing to announce the news, knowing the finals weren’t concluded yet!
Especially when Hansen arrived in New Orleans, uncharacteristically avoiding interviews, making everything more enigmatic.
Until the ga comnced, and the puzzle slowly unravelled.
The Cavaliers played harder than in the previous two gas, every muscle telling others how much they wanted to win this championship, or rather, for Hansen.
More importantly, the officiating changed significantly this ga.
The bias against the Pelicans was still there, but noticeably lighter than before.
It’s simple logic.
If Hansen were to leave the Cavaliers, the effect would be akin to Jordan’s retirent.
That cloud over the East, even the league, would disperse, what reason would the league still have to prevent Hansen from completing this dynastic accomplishnt?
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