CHAPTER 583: CHAPTER 286: TAI LUN LUE’S "200 US DOLLAR"_2

Under such circumstances, Hansen could confidently devote his energy to defending Durant.

The Heat Team had multiple scoring options, but the key was still Durant.

Eventually, the Cavaliers broke the NBA playoff record for three-pointers made in a single game by shooting 20 out of 38 from beyond the arc, defeating the Heat Team 123 to 106 to claim a victory back.

Thus, the Cavaliers had fulfilled the most optimistic predictions from outsiders, securing two wins in the series.

Additionally, they had pushed the Heat to Heavenly King Mountain.

However, at the battle of Heavenly King Mountain, despite Hansen scoring 51 points, the Heat Team still defeated the Cavaliers to reach match point.

That night, Hansen reminded people not of Jordan but of Jerry West.

The disparity in strength between the two teams meant the Heat Team could win just by playing averagely, while the Cavaliers needed to pull off something big.

But big moves aren’t available every night because they have cooldowns.

After losing the battle of Heavenly King Mountain, the morale of the Cavaliers was somewhat low.

After all, if even Hansen scoring over 50 points couldn’t win the game, what else could they do?

A 4-2 outcome was the best they could hope for.

They had played to their strengths, but the Heat Team was simply the better team.

It was after the game, in the locker room, when Malone, with the coaching staff and Griffin, arrived, that Lue made a request.

"Everyone give me 200 dollars."

Saying this, he took out his own wallet and both Malone and Griffin also took out 200 dollars, clearly Lue had already discussed it with them.

Although the team members were puzzled, they complied.

After everyone had given their money to Lue, he found a piece of paper, wrapped all the money in it, and then hid the package in the ceiling of the visiting team’s locker room.

"We’ll come back for Game 7 to take our money back, right?"

It was a question, but everyone heard it more like an exclamation.

Hansen couldn’t help but be impressed again by Lue’s motivational tactics.

He was the first to raise his hand, followed by the rest of the team, stacking their hands together and shouting out the Cavaliers’ slogan.

Game 6, back in Cleveland, was also the last home game of the series for the Cavaliers.

Before the game, Irving’s knee was sore.

Having reached this point in the Eastern Conference Finals, although Irving still had defensive weaknesses and issues with handling double teams, his gameplay was much better compared to the series against the Bulls.

This was partly due to the Heat Team’s weaker defensive capabilities compared to the Bulls, but also because Irving played decisively enough.

He managed to average 9.5 free throws per game this series, much higher than his seasonal average.

As Hansen had said, for Irving to play well before making changes, he needed to play confidently.

However, this also made it difficult for Irving’s body to cope.

A fact easily overlooked was that Irving’s body was quite fragile.

Before entering the NBA draft, he had played only 11 games in the NCAA, which was about one-third of the NCAA season.

After entering the NBA, he also played only about 50+ games in his first two seasons.

Including what Hansen knew of "history," Irving often couldn’t play more than 70+ games a season due to injuries, and even spending long stretches playing only thirty to forty games was the norm.

Knee injuries, shoulder injuries, back injuries, toe injuries...

Using a not so apt comparison, his injuries were as numerous as his offensive moves.

Would this kind of soreness become a severe injury as Irving and Hansen knew?

Hansen didn’t know, but at this point, it was impossible to bench Irving.

Deserting in a do-or-die game, especially at home, if Irving really did that, just like he himself had said, he wouldn’t be able to stay in Cleveland.

In Game 6 at the Quicken Loans Arena, not only was the arena at full capacity, but a large number of fans also gathered outside.

The Quicken Loans Arena was an old venue without electronic screens, so those gathered were fans who couldn’t get tickets but wanted to feel the game atmosphere up close.

The scene was crazy, but it also reflected the popularity Hansen had brought to the team in his return year with the Cavaliers.

This popularity was vividly displayed during the game.

The moment the game started, the shouting from the Cleveland fans in the Quicken Loans Arena never stopped.

The fact proved that fans from smaller cities easily succumbed to madness.

One could almost see an invisible wave of sound engulfing the scene.

Playing amid 360° all-encompassing screams, adrenaline levels maxed out.

Every Cavaliers player seemed to be running on an adrenaline high.

Even Hansen unconsciously reduced his shots and opted more to penetrate the Heat’s defenses causing more damage.

However, it was not that easy for them to draw fouls tonight.

Silva’s balancing act evidently did not want to see the finals played between two UA teams, so he was bound to intervene in such a critical game.

But it wasn’t easy for the Heat to score either tonight.

Adrenaline impacts defense more than offense.

The Cavaliers truly played a desperate defense tonight.

When even an old-timer like Garnett risked ending his career early by diving out of bounds to save the ball, you could truly visualize that scene.

The defensive intensity obviously affected the Heat players as well.

Irving played more resolutely than in G1 and performed quite well.

Both teams battled fiercely until the last quarter.

A scenario reminiscent of G1 occurred again, this time Spoelstra and Thibodeau applied the "Jordan Rules" to Hansen.

At that moment, Irving stepped up, leveraging his offensive threats to score 12 points in the final quarter alone.

Finally, amid the roar of the Cleveland fans, the Cavaliers narrowly defeated the Heat 108 to 103, dragging the series to a decisive Game 7!

Hansen achieved a triple-double with 40 points, 11 rebounds, and 11 assists.

Irving scored 32 points, setting a new personal playoff record.

Quicken Loans Arena was boiling with excitement.

However, right after the game, Irving, who sat courtside, limped back to the locker room with the help of the team physician.

Relying on full team solidarity in G1, phenomenal long-range shooting in G4, and sheer will in G6, the Cavaliers won, just as Hansen had said, one game at a time.

But the price paid in this G6 was somewhat steep.

After the press conference, Hansen received a message from Griffin.

Irving underwent a medical check-up at the hospital and was diagnosed with a Grade 2 MCL sprain in his left knee, requiring at least a month off.

Hansen was familiar with this injury, as Little Gasol had suffered the same during his time with the Grizzlies, ultimately returning after missing two months.

The bad news was that Irving taking a month off essentially meant he couldn’t play the remaining games, effectively ending his season, but the good news was, it wasn’t the career-threatening patellar fracture Hansen knew of, and wouldn’t impact Irving’s career as significantly.

Hansen visited Irving in the hospital.

"Do you regret it?"

"No, having this experience is profoundly meaningful to me," Irving said calmly.

From a performance perspective in the series, Irving’s ups and downs were evident, but after scoring over 30 in G6, he had vindicated himself.

Experientially, as he mentioned, having such a career milestone was indeed meaningful.

It wasn’t just about helping the team to ultimate success; giving everything for this result was equally meaningful.

Moreover, compared to what he had gained, the injury wasn’t that severe for Irving.

As for letting Irving play through a career-threatening injury like Kobe or Curry might, that wasn’t a choice suited to Irving’s character.

And, of course, it wouldn’t make sense.

If Irving couldn’t perform well enough, his ability to assist the Cavaliers would be limited.

After winning G6, the Cavaliers’ chances of making it to the finals had surged from an initial 10% to 36%, the highest since the Eastern Conference Finals.

But once news of Irving’s injury broke, those odds plummeted to just 3%.

With Irving out, could the Cavaliers rely solely on Hansen to defeat this Heat team?

—Divider—

①:NBA history had previously witnessed only four instances of 50+ point losses: Bulls vs Cavaliers in 1989 G4 with Jordan scoring 50; Lakers vs The Suns in 2006 with Kobe scoring 50; Celtics vs Bulls in 2009 with Ray Allen scoring 50; and Bulls vs Celtics in 1986 with Jordan scoring 63.