CHAPTER 581: CHAPTER 285 "CLEVELAND, YOUR EMPEROR HAS RETURNED!"_2

He had Wade lead the team in the third quarter, so that Durant could be on the court during the opening of the fourth quarter.

And Big Gasol, who had an early break in the third quarter, was back in action during this transition.

Even Durant played as a power forward on the court.

Spoelstra was fully capitalizing on the lessons from the substitute transition phase in the first half of the game.

Even though the Old Knights could charge, they clearly couldn’t hold up against this lineup.

As soon as Durant got on the court, he broke into the paint creating a foul on Garnett, sinking both free throws.

Soon after, Seferosa disrupted Williams’s shot, and following a rebound by Big Gasol, the Heat executed a defensive counterattack, with Durant catching the ball at the 45-degree mark on the three-point line and suddenly stopping to make a three-pointer.

After scoring 5 points, he pumped his fist and roared, the whole arena erupted.

The Cavaliers had Hansen, but the Heat also had their own MVP.

At this moment, Hansen approached the technical table.

Waiting for the next dead ball, Hansen came in replacing Conningham.

This substitution meant he was set to directly guard Durant.

Clearly, this wasn’t a decision made by Malone, but a request by Hansen himself.

At the edge of the technical table, Hansen high-fived Conningham and patted his head:

"Leave the rest of the game to me."

Conningham and his team had already done enough for tonight.

After entering the game, it was the Heat’s possession.

At this moment, the score was 108 to 102.

Durant hadn’t expected Hansen to guard him directly as he came on, but he started running off the ball regardless.

However, all his continued movements still couldn’t shake off Hansen.

Since he needed to shoulder the team’s offense, much like letting Tucker guard Durant in the first half, Malone tried to minimize Hansen’s exertion on defense.

But by the fourth quarter, everything had changed.

At last, Durant finally received the ball from Big Gasol, but his shot veered off the basket due to Hansen’s interference.

Defensive pressure from the newly crowned DPoY.

After grabbing the defensive rebound, Garnett turned around only to see Hansen sprinting past the three-point line.

A long pass across half the court, and after catching the ball, Hansen dashed to the frontcourt, shrugging off Chalmers and delivered a tomahawk dunk.

The scene instantly exploded.

With Hansen in action, the entire Cavaliers’ momentum transformed instantly.

Durant’s frontcourt maneuvers were still closely shadowed by Hansen, who eventually gave up, leaned on Hansen’s body, and started talking to him.

"Aren’t you afraid of running out of steam in the end by playing like this?"

He wasn’t wrong; both full on-guarding and fastbreak dunking substantially drained physical energy.

But Hansen’s retort soon left him speechless as before.

"As long as you don’t have any left, I definitely will."

Durant almost wished he could slap himself for asking too much.

With Hansen on the court, the Cavaliers not only caught up during the substitution phase but even tied the score, fueled by Hansen’s defensive enthusiasm.

This put pressure on Spoelstra because he realized one thing, he couldn’t risk taking Durant out before Hansen rested.

Given Hansen’s stance, if Durant were to sit, the Cavaliers might actually widen the gap.

Then, Hansen showed no intention of resting in the fourth quarter.

When both teams’ main players returned, both Hansen and Durant were geared up to finish the fourth quarter.

About five minutes left in the game, Irving’s breakthrough led to Big Gasol’s sixth personal foul, sending him off the court!

Dragic and others were just the icing on the cake; Big Gasol was truly the driving force of this Heat team.

With him off the court, the Heat’s offensive firepower immediately dropped a notch.

However, the Cavaliers couldn’t seize this opportunity to widen the gap either because Hansen’s offensive efficiency was slipping due to the high energy he had put into both offense and defense earlier.

So, the scene the fans saw was quite special.

After playing an aggressive game for three and a half quarters, both teams now engaged in a battle of missed shots.

One minute before the final buzzer, Durant finally made a shot, putting the Heat ahead of the Cavaliers, 126 to 125.

At this point, Malone called a timeout.

The timeout was a bit early, coming on Lue’s suggestion.

The aim was to give Hansen a break.

Even the person handing water to Hansen was Lue.

That’s why Lue could get along with all the players.

"The Cavaliers won the final minute in an unbelievable way," Barkley was even more excited than O’Neal at this moment.

His earlier prediction of a big score meant that a single win for the Cavaliers was a victory, and now they were about to win the first game!

"The pressure on the Heat Team now must be greater because they can’t afford to lose tonight’s game," O’Neal continued.

It wasn’t just about losing Game 1, but it was a blow to their confidence.

Hansen had defeated them too many times already; if the gap between their abilities was so large and he could still lead his team to victory over them, did it mean that Hansen was invincible to them?

After the timeout, it was the Cavaliers’ offense.

Irving brought the ball up to the front court and passed it directly to Hansen beyond the three-point line, then ran to the weak side to pull apart the space.

At the strong side 45-degree angle, it was a one-on-one between Hansen and Wade.

Seven years ago, Wade could never have imagined that the NCAA Division II league temporary ball boy from the Heat Team, his practice partner, would stand before him in this way.

Back then, Hansen was weak but fearless; now, Hansen was strong and daunting!

Chants of defense filled the air, a sound of their cheers and their fears.

Without excessive pre-movement, Hansen held the ball in one hand and quickly made a drive to break through.

Wade tried hard to keep up, but the "Uncle Drew" allowed Hansen’s ball-handling skills to max out, and he shook Wade off with a wide change of direction.

One-on-one, nobody could guard Hansen.

Hansen didn’t go much deeper after shaking Wade off with a forward step; he chose to pull up for a mid-range shot.

He had missed two consecutive shots due to a slip in stamina before, but the recent timeout had allowed him to catch his breath.

The Heat Team’s help defense couldn’t arrive, with only Wade’s desperate defensive effort which was limited.

The basketball left Hansen’s hands, flying through the air in a perfect parabola.

"Swoosh!"

Accompanied by a crisp swish of the net, the chanting in the arena abruptly stopped.

to 126, the Cavaliers took the lead!

With 40 seconds still remaining in the game.

Spoelstra called a timeout.

"This is Hansen! In the clutch, you can always trust him!" O’Neal couldn’t contain his excitement at the commentary desk.

In fact, five years ago, Hansen was already playing the role of a clutch killer, which is where "terminator" came from.

After the timeout, Spoelstra set up an off-ball tactic for Durant.

Durant successfully got rid of Tucker but his shot upon receiving the ball drifted from the basket.

Hansen’s words were harsh, but they were the truth.

He still had the stamina, while Durant had none left.

TT grabbed a critical defensive rebound.

Malone didn’t call a timeout because Hansen had taken the ball and was quickly pushing forward.

Wade sensed something then, with the haunting memories of death furiously attacking him.

He tried to steal from Hansen, but Hansen dodged him with a behind-the-back dribble.

"Stop him!" he chased after Hansen and then shouted to Durant, who was retreating.

By the time Durant reacted, Hansen had already reached the front court three-point line.

He didn’t know what Hansen was going to do and instinctively retreated half a step.

It was right for Wade to defend against the drive.

But Wade already knew he was doomed; he desperately tried to catch up but couldn’t.

When Hansen dribbled up to the 45-degree angle of the three-point line in the front court, he immediately stopped and pulled up for a three-pointer.

Durant managed to react and jumped at him, but it was too late.

The basketball flew over Durant’s head, plunging towards the hoop under the terrified gazes of the audience.

"Swoosh!"

This was a declaration from the terminator!

O’Neal could no longer contain his excitement, standing up from the commentary desk—the headset was yanked off his head, but he remained blissfully unaware, only shouting excitedly:

"Cleveland, your true Emperor has returned!"