The No.1 Anti-Fans in Basketball-Chapter 64 - s Upstaging, I Am Professional

At halftime, the Lakers led the Cavaliers 51-45, both teams closely matched.

Kobe had scored 17 points by halftime, and James had also racked up 14 points, meeting the fans’ expectations for the 23 vs. 24 showdown.

Hansen also seized his few opportunities, making all three shots and scoring 7 points.

During the halftime break, Brown stood in his office preparing for the second half of the game.

The 20-minute halftime break included the first 5 minutes for the players to hydrate, followed by 10 minutes for the coaches to strategize, and the last 5 minutes for preparation.

Just then, someone knocked on his office door.

"Come in," he called out while continuing to organize.

The door opened, revealing Malone.

"He has something he wants to talk to you about," Malone said as he stepped aside, revealing Hansen behind him.

Brown glanced at the time, knowing Malone and Hansen were close, and nodded.

Hansen entered the room, and Malone closed the door behind them.

The atmosphere in the room was a bit awkward; the last time the two were alone face-to-face was in the gym, and that encounter had been anything but pleasant.

"You told me last time that internal communication was needed," Hansen got straight to the point.

Brown stopped what he was doing upon hearing this, appreciating Hansen’s belated respect; he gestured for Hansen to sit and talk.

"I’m in good form and need more possession of the ball," Hansen walked over to the opposite side of Brown’s desk but did not sit down.

Brown’s face showed difficulty upon hearing this.

Currently, Hansen was a starter, and during starting time, the ball was mostly in James’s hands, and partly in O’Neal’s; he couldn’t give more possession even if he wanted to.

"I understand your difficulty, so I want to come off the bench in the second half," Hansen showed understanding.

Brown looked at Hansen in surprise, as if he was seeing him for the first time.

Was this the same defiant guy who always clashed with James?

"But I have one condition," thankfully, Brown felt somewhat relieved by Hansen’s next words.

"Let’s hear it," Brown sat down first.

"When I come off the bench, I want possession of the ball."

"Okay," Brown nodded, finding Hansen’s request reasonable.

"I’m done," Hansen then turned and left the office.

Brown was slightly stunned, but after Hansen left, he couldn’t help laughing.

Since the game against the Celtics, Hansen had proven his ability to handle the ball.

Including his breakthrough against Kobe in the first half tonight, he had demonstrated this.

However, the current rotation could not fully utilize Hansen’s abilities.

But if Hansen was willing to come off the bench tonight, that problem would be solved.

James’s desires he could not defy, and he had no influence over the management’s decisions, but as the head coach, how could he not want to win?

Returning for the second half, the Cavaliers adjusted their starting lineup, with old Parker replacing Hansen as the starting shooting guard.

"Mike Brown has also realized that number 77 can’t contain Kobe,"

Mark Jackson analyzed again from the commentary box.

Under Hansen’s defense, Kobe had already scored 16 points by halftime.

But he was quickly proven wrong.

Because Kobe exploded at the start of the second half.

He first hit a pull-up jumper facing old Parker on the baseline, then hit a mid-range shot off Gasol’s screen on the right high side, followed by a charge to the frontcourt board, driving into the paint to draw a foul on O’Neal, making both free throws.

In just two minutes, Kobe had scored 6 points.

These two minutes perfectly illustrated what it means to not know the good until the bad is upon us.

Hansen really couldn’t defend Kobe, but under his defense, Kobe’s shooting in the first half was only 6 out of 14.

But now with old Parker on defense, it wasn’t a matter of not being able to defend, but how to defend.

Brown was instantly frustrated.

He said it himself, how come Hansen suddenly volunteered to play off the bench? This was purely to make things awkward for him!

However, now it couldn’t be denied that Hansen had become an indispensable player for the Cavaliers; without him, the team’s perimeter defense had plummeted.

And now, Kobe not only scored continuously, forcing the Cavaliers to double-team him, but he also used this attention to feed his teammates.

Even without the ball, he was moving off-ball on the weak side to tie up the Cavaliers’ defense.

When the time reached 9 minutes into the quarter, the score had become 77-59, with the Lakers scoring 26-14 in the quarter alone, stretching the lead to 18 points.

The Cavaliers had become "Three Cavaliers Collapse."

Both teams then rotated their players, with Kobe and Gasol from the Lakers being replaced to rest, and James from the Cavaliers also being swapped out.

Hansen was then substituted into the game.

At this point, the teams on the court were, for the Lakers: Farmar, Shannon Brown, Vujacic, Odom, Binamu

Phil Jackson even put Vujacic, the "team heartthrob," on the court, and if the Lakers weren’t used to rotating their three tall men inside, DJ Mbenja would probably have made an appearance.

For the Cavaliers: West, Hansen, Moon, Conningham, Ilgauskas

Although Brown was initially intimidated by Hansen, he still kept his agreement with Hansen.

When Hansen entered the game, he looked revitalized.

Did he want to win?

The answer was the same as when he faced the University of Michigan during the NCAA game. If there was a chance, who wouldn’t want to win?

But after being deprived of the opportunity to play in the final moments, whether he could win was no longer up to him.

So what he wanted to do now was to accelerate and reach the "Wave Riding Skill" bottleneck.

Getting stronger was more useful than anything else.

The Cavaliers had possession of the ball, West held the ball and signaled for a pick-and-roll strategy at the two-spot.

Hansen came out for the screen and received the pass, while Odom switched to defend him.

At this time, Odom wasn’t yet addicted to drugs and still exploded with energy on the court.

Hansen made a fake shot, gathered the ball, and changed direction to accelerate down the left lane.

Although Odom was known for his versatility, he was ultimately a center and couldn’t keep up with Hansen.

Moreover, both Conningham and Ilgauskas were shooting centers who had pulled up to the high post.

By the time Hansen drove in, only Vujacic had moved to defend in the lane.

Seeing the opening in the Lakers’ defense, Hansen didn’t hesitate and surged forward.

Vujacic, good-looking, with a girlfriend who was the tennis goddess Sharapova enough said, and terrifyingly accurate from the free-throw line, you could always trust his shot from the charity stripe.

But his defense, famously, he tried hard but couldn’t stop anyone.

Vujacic tried to block Hansen, but he quickly realized something was off.

Because Hansen completely ignored him and soared into the air.

"Boom!"

Hansen dunked the ball over Vujacic, the massive impact knocking Vujacic out of bounds, while Hansen swung around on the rim before landing.

Trailing by a large margin, this dunk greatly boosted the team’s morale.

Binamu’s hard drive inside was stopped, Ilgauskas grabbed the defensive rebound and immediately flung the ball to Hansen, who had already sprinted past the three-point line.

Hansen’s fast-break instincts were too strong, and from the Lakers, only Brown could possibly catch up.

The two raced from the backcourt all the way to the frontcourt, during which the Lakers’ bench, including Kobe, stood up.

Last year, Brown had an incredible chase-down block against the Hawks, though it was called a foul.

As Hansen rushed to the frontcourt, he also felt an intense threat looming behind him.

He quickly went for a layup, but as he shot, a shadow loomed over him.

Brown not only jumped high but also had an incredibly quick lift-off.

Hansen directly leaned into Brown in mid-air, while his right hand gripping the ball maneuvered for a layup.

His large hand and improved coordination allowed him to dodge Brown’s block, and he smoothly scored with a layup.

After landing, Hansen turned toward the Lakers’ bench, clenched his right fist in front of him, pursed his lips, and made a Kobe-like celebratory gesture.

Beating Vujacic or Brown wouldn’t help him, what he needed was Kobe.

The scene was buzzing.

In the first half, Hansen’s performance was more on the defensive end, but this substitute appearance was a full presence on offense.

Driven by Hansen, the Cavaliers’ morale was completely restored, and their on-court defense was tight.

Odom drove hard, but Farmar’s shot from outside was disturbed by Hansen’s help defense and went off target, with the Lakers’ offense failing again.

However, this time the Lakers retreated quickly. The Cavaliers pushed forward in the fast break and switched to set play.

Hansen held the ball and ran a pick and roll with Ilgauskas, and, feeling hot, he pulled up from beyond the arc right after the screen.

Binamu, wary of Hansen’s drive, was noticeably late to contest.

That shot was nearly uncontested, and Hansen’s rhythm was incredibly smooth, the basketball made a clean swoosh through the net.

to 77.

After a personal 7 to 0 run by Hansen, the Cavaliers had closed the gap to 11 points.

The camera, unsurprisingly, focused again on Hansen, with the LED screen also displaying his performance tonight.

He was 6 for 6 in shooting, 1 for 1 from free throws, totaling 14 points, 3 rebounds, 2 steals, and zero turnovers.

"Number 77 is the Mr. 100 Percent of tonight, he’s changed the game," Mark Jackson finally conceded.

At this point, there was just one minute left in the third quarter.

But just then, the whistle blew, and Kobe, tucking in his jersey, re-entered the game.

The crowd erupted in cheers, the sound of welcoming a hero.

Kobe went directly for a one-on-one against Hansen, drove past him after facing up, and scored with a high-difficulty layup.

Hansen put a lot of pressure on this shot, but Kobe’s condition tonight was exceptionally good.

Unexpectedly, turning back, Hansen signaled for a clear-out to go one-on-one against Kobe.

The cheering from the crowd was unstoppable at that point.

Clearly, it was 23 vs 24, Hansen was set on stealing the show wildly!