CHAPTER 582: CHAPTER 286 "TAI LUN LUE’S ’$200

"This three-pointer was fatal, though there were still 24 seconds left in the game, just enough time for a complete offensive round.

But this three-point shot turned the Cavaliers from leading by one point to leading by four points, a margin not easily closed in a single round.

That was why O’Neal was so excited.

At this moment, the fans of the Heat at the American Airlines Arena were holding their heads, unable to believe it.

Riley’s face was one of disbelief.

Could Hansen really be hanging his number 77 jersey next to the iconic number 23?

Hansen, who had made the three-point shot, was calm, as if he had done something trivial.

Spoelstra called a timeout.

Garnett, pumping his fist, walked over to Hansen, pressed his head against Hansen’s, and repeatedly shouted excitedly, ’You killed them.’

Like a piece of ice and a ball of fire, this scene was going to be the perfect post-game poster for Game 1.

After the timeout, the Heat’s strategy was to take three-point shots from the perimeter; frankly, they had no other choice given the score difference.

Malone could naturally predict this, and the whole Cavaliers defense expanded outwards.

Durant was forced to take a big three-point shot from a meter away from the three-point line.

If it had been a fully-energized Durant, such a shot would not have been impossible for him to make, but, regrettably, he was now low on stamina, and the shot fell short, bouncing off the front rim.

Vucevic successfully grabbed the offensive rebound but the Cavaliers’ Deathly Five Small formation cut off his passing lanes outwards, and with time running out, he had no choice but to go for a quick two points.

From there, the Heat lost their chance.

Malone called a timeout, as the Cavaliers prepared to inbound, Hansen passed the ball steadily into Irving’s hands.

Irving, having scored all eight of his previous free throws that night, performed consistently, sinking both shots and securing the victory for the Cavaliers.

to 128.

The final whistle blew, but the Heat fans stayed in their seats for a long time.

They couldn’t accept the outcome immediately.

Durant, too, removed his mouthguard and stared at the scoreboard for a long time.

When he finally looked away, his eyes were full of helplessness.

The Heat scoring 128 points had reached their full potential, but the Cavaliers scored 132 points!

Where does one even begin to make sense of that?

In the post-game handshake, Wade couldn’t help but say while shaking hands with Hansen, ’You tricked me.’

Irving didn’t just show up tonight; he shot 6 for 9, scored a perfect 10 free throws out of 10, and scored 23 points in total.

Without his performance, the Cavaliers couldn’t have won tonight.

However, Hansen’s response left no room for argument, ’But we’re opponents, aren’t we?’

How can you trust what your opponent says?

In the post-game press conference, Hansen and Irving attended together.

At the start of the press conference, a reporter mentioned the words O’Neal said just before the game ended.

He described Hansen as the real King of Cleveland.

’No, I don’t like that nickname,’ Hansen shook his head.

Having experienced the era of James Cavaliers 1.0, he really didn’t like terms like King or Emperor.

’I’ve said it before, the American Airlines Arena is my lucky place.’

In response to the reporter’s question about the key to tonight’s victory, Hansen’s humor elicited laughter from the audience.

But after the humor, Hansen also mentioned the real key:

’Every member of the team played their best.’

Hansen scoring only 35 points tonight would usually not be enough for the Cavaliers to defeat the Heat.

But aside from him and Irving, JR had 18 points, Williams 14, TT 11, Conningham 8, a total of five players scoring double figures on the team.

’I’m just following Han’s lead; he’s the greatest player in history,’ Irving humorously praised, well-aligned with his emotional intelligence.

The very next day after the Cavaliers defeated the Heat, the Warriors scored a big win over the Lakers in Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals, 121 to 106.

As it turned out, if you want to understand basketball, you should listen to Kenny Smith.

The Warriors outclassed the Lakers on both offense and defense but more importantly, Mozgov of the Lakers couldn’t take the floor under the Warriors’ Deathly Five Small style of play; they were completely led by the nose in the game.

The two teams of the UA series gave the fans a big gift right from the start.

At this moment, some fans had a thought: the three super teams Nike built last summer couldn’t all fail to make it to the Finals, could they?

It was a bold thought, but it was starting to look possible.

However, the Heat quickly silenced these voices.

Despite losing Game 1, they went on to win two in a row, turning the series score to 2-1.

Hansen scored 44 points in Game 3, but the Cavaliers still couldn’t win.

The Cavaliers’ performance wasn’t bad, but the margin for errors to beat this Heat team was too slim.

You can expect a role player to have a good game, but it’s unlikely to expect him to perform that well throughout a whole series.

Before Game 4 of the series, Malone gave his team a moving speech:

’Explode tonight or die tonight.’

Although it was just Game 4, the Cavaliers had no way out, down 1-3 in the series, and with Game 5 on the Heat’s home court, if they didn’t win Game 4, they were likely going to be out 1-4.

Maybe Malone’s words had an effect, or maybe it was just that a breakthrough was bound to come after so many playoff games, but the Cavaliers delivered the maximum potential of the One Star and Four Shooter System in Game 4.

They achieved an incredibly high three-point shooting percentage, sinking six three-pointers in just the first quarter alone."