The No.1 Anti-Fans in Basketball-Chapter 74: He Pioneered a New Track
Chapter 74: Chapter 74: He Pioneered a New Track
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Pierce’s expression right now was literally speechlessness opening the door for more speechlessness—it was speechlessness through and through.
It’s not about why Han scored 2 points—the truth, Han’s shots only add 1 point—the truth, right?
No, damn it, why does he even need to tally truths like Han?
He shook his head vigorously to confirm that Han was a freak.
Forget it, arguing with this guy is just looking for self-humiliation.
He shifted his gaze away, having made up his mind.
The Cavaliers’ offense, with James continuing the pick and roll attack.
Ray Allen was not bad at dodging the screen, but his stature didn’t match James’, still unable to restrain James’ launch.
The Celtics continued to shrink, and James kept penetrating and dishing.
However, this time Pierce had turned and run back the moment James jumped to pass, so James didn’t pass the ball to Han but to Williams at the perimeter.
Williams took the ball to penetrate; Pierce decisively played help defense.
He might not know the nickname of "No-Pass," but he was clear on Williams’ technical characteristics—the man who only had eyes for the basket.
Yet, the turn of events once again surprised him; Williams actually passed the ball halfway through his penetration.
And the recipient of the pass... Why was it Han again?!
Even if you guys are showing off merchandise for a trade, you don’t have to pass him the ball with the whole team, do you?
How eager they are for him to leave!
Pierce was shocked but didn’t stop moving, already following the ball towards Han.
But after being drawn out twice in a row, his defensive position was much worse than before.
When he lunged over, Han simply waited for him to draw close, faked a shot to get past him, and then charged to the basket.
Han had previously lobbed an alley-oop to O’Neal, so Perkins didn’t dare to play up.
But Garnett still managed to play help defense hard from the free-throw line.
It must be said that, despite a decline in mobility, Garnett’s reputation as the first responder in defense was not in vain.
Han went for a slight change of direction connected to the "Mysterious Steps."
This was the first time he used Mysterious Steps in a real game since his "Wave Riding Skill" hit its limit.
What could be clearly felt was that his rhythm had become much quicker.
Garnett hesitated only a moment when making his judgement, and Han had already made a big change of direction, flashing past him before laying the ball up, his body turned to the side.
However, Garnett didn’t give up, trying to use his long arms to block Han.
Han noticed and leaned into Garnett, pushing his body outwards a bit, making Garnett’s blocking hand land on Han’s wrist in the end.
Everything happened in the blink of an eye; Han took the shot after being hit on the hand, and his body lost balance from the contact, leading to a clearly insufficient ascent trajectory for the ball.
In the end, the ball hit the front rim of the basket, hesitated for a moment, then crawled into the basket!
Han was not only shooting well tonight; his luck was good too.
The referee’s whistle was slightly delayed, marking a 2+1 that was good enough for today’s top five plays.
Han, who had fallen out of balance, lay on the ground, and when he saw the ball go in, he excitedly punched the air with his right hand.
It might have been a little late compared to the Christmas Day battle, but damn, this feeling was just too exhilarating!
O’Neal and Conningham ran over to pull Han up.
After getting up, Han took a long breath and walked to the free-throw line.
Garnett’s expression was still okay, because his defense had actually been on point; Han’s successful shot had a lot of luck behind it.
But at this time, Pierce was really starting to lose it.
Han had a foul mouth and was asking for a beating, but damn it, tonight the entire Cavaliers team was feeding him the ball, and his damn luck was so good!
Where was justice? Where was the law?
Watching Pierce, full of frustration at the free-throw line, Han felt a bit of compassion.
While the referee hadn’t yet put the ball into play, he spoke to Pierce, "How about you keep calling yourself ’The Truth’? You can be ’The Truth of the United States,’ and I’ll be ’The Truth of the World,’ that way we won’t have to fight over it."
Pierce glared fiercely at Han, feeling like Han had been stabbed 11 times in his mind.
From Pierce’s gaze, Han knew he had just cultivated his number one hater.
The first half of the game ended with the Cavaliers leading 54 to 44.
Han had played the most dazzling half of his NBA career, scoring 25 points.
As long as he was on the court, the Cavaliers made it a point to feed him the ball, and he didn’t let them down.
"25 points in this half, would he not score 50 for the entire game?"
Of course, it wasn’t that simple.
When a player performs well in the first half, opponents would typically make targeted defensive adjustments during halftime.
This is why, often, a player who excels in the first half doesn’t score much more in the second half.
Against a defensive team like the Celtics, even a superstar like Kobe would find it hard to score the same number of points in both halves.
Naturally, Hansen couldn’t do it either.
Moreover, unlike the last encounter, the last time the Celtics had severely misjudged Hansen’s technical characteristics, but this time their mistake was more about the strategic setup of the Cavaliers.
If the Cavaliers focused their offense on Hansen, then all the Celtics needed to do was cut off the connection between the Cavaliers’ players and Hansen.
They’d also identified the weakness of Hansen’s insufficient finishing moves when breaking through; they let him get to the basket and then disrupted his layup.
With such a defensive strategy, the Celtics were gradually closing the gap.
The Cavaliers were forced to adjust their offensive focus, relying more on James to finish.
Then, a low-probability event occurred.
James’s shooting from outside was exceptionally accurate tonight; having made 1 out of 3 attempts in the first half, he scored 3 out of 6 in the second.
That allowed the Cavaliers to defeat the Celtics 99-95, completing a double victory over them.
After the game, the statistics showed: for the Celtics, Ray Allen had 18 points, 3 assists, 3 steals, Pierce had 16 points, 11 rebounds, Garnett had 13 points, 10 rebounds, 3 blocks, Wallace had 12 points, 2 blocks, and Rondo had 8 points, 6 rebounds, 10 assists, 3 steals.
For the Cavaliers, Hansen had 31 points, 7 rebounds, 2 assists, 3 steals, 2 turnovers, James had 25 points, 4 rebounds, 14 assists, 2 steals, 4 blocks, 7 turnovers, Williams had 11 points, 5 assists, and O’Neal had 10 points, 10 rebounds, 3 assists.
During the post-game press conference, Hansen and James appeared together, and aside from them, the team’s General Manager Ferry also showed up at the press conference.
Ferry’s appearance was quite a surprise and naturally drew the attention of the journalists.
"We’ve heard a lot of trade rumors about Hansen, can you share the specifics?" The journalists naturally wouldn’t miss such an opportunity, and the first one called upon asked Ferry.
"I want to clarify that those are just rumors; we’ve never put Hansen on the shelf, he’s always been off-limits for trade for us."
Hansen nearly lost his composure when he heard this.
So the primary qualification for becoming an NBA General Manager is having thick skin?
But, rounding off, it wouldn’t be wrong, as the Cavaliers indeed had no plans to send him away.
After confirming the trade rumors were false, the journalists naturally turned their questions to Hansen.
Despite not scoring much in the second half, Hansen still scored 31 points, the highest in the Cavaliers and a new personal career record in a single game.
"31 points, if you were to grade your performance tonight, how many points out of 10 would you give yourself?"
A very classic and somewhat familiar question.
"7 points." However, Hansen’s response seemed out of character.
It didn’t seem like Hansen’s usual style. Did he have a grudge against the number 7?
Of course not; he was still aiming for the value of those who opposed him.
When someone who’s always high-profile acts humbly after accomplishing a great deed, more often than not, they aren’t praised but criticized as being insincere.
"In this game, Pierce scored 16 points, and before the game, you said he didn’t deserve the nickname ’The Truth,’ insisting that you were The Truth. Do you have anything to say now?"
Carrell, having been mentioned, stood up to ask.
Hansen replied with a smile: "Yes, I stand by that opinion, but I think he can still call himself ’Half The Truth.’"
Trash talk in games usually stayed within the game, but when it had a purpose, that was another story.
Having completed his mission, Carrell also got his news material.
"How would you evaluate LeBron’s performance tonight?"
Next, a reporter from NBC Boston was called upon.
Although Windhorst was overshadowed by James, there was no denying that James truly had influence.
According to the previous agreement, Hansen could choose to skip this question.
But at this moment, a thought suddenly struck Hansen.
Tonight, James had indeed passed him quite a few balls, and speaking of statistics, James’s performance tonight was quite Pippen-like; one could say he played the supporting role.
What would James’s reaction be if Hansen decided to tease him a bit?
"Ahem!"
After clearing his throat, Hansen adjusted the microphone and sat upright.
Hansen looked ready to answer, and James looked on curiously, thinking Hansen would surely choose to skip.
"In the past, we’ve defined leadership within a team by their superstar scorer, like Jordan and Kobe, but LeBron can score, organize, and defend. He’s blazed a new trail for what a leader can be," Hansen said seriously.
