CHAPTER 663: CHAPTER 320: HANSEN RECRUITS JAMES (PART 2)

Even James has never seen a scene like this, and Kobe, who’s played for so many years, is witnessing it for the first time too.

To say James is like a rat crossing the street in Cleveland is not an exaggeration at all.

At this moment, James was grinding his teeth to the point of breaking them.

He hated Hansen to death. If Hansen hadn’t returned to Cleveland and blocked his way, he could have reconciled with Cavaliers fans and made Cleveland his home!

After the opening ceremony, the starting lineups for both teams were announced.

Malone once again revealed the Cavaliers’ small-ball strategy.

In this starting lineup, Hansen directly matched up against James on the defensive end.

Even with technological support, James played his worst game since the playoffs, under Hansen’s tight defense and the whole Cleveland crowd’s boos.

He shot 4 for 15 from the field and scored only 13 points.

Kobe’s thought process wasn’t wrong. At the level of the Finals, it’s all about your mental toughness.

No matter how good your stats were before, if you can’t perform, you’re no better than an average player.

James’ previous three playoff journeys all ended in disappointment for the same reason.

Whether against the Mavericks or Grizzlies, his performance was disastrous.

As the rational James fan Skip once said: James’ career has too many "cold moments," which is why he can’t be the GOAT.

For fans, what truly moves them is not how many championships you’ve won, but how many goosebump-inducing moments you’ve created.

Jordan’s flu game, 63 points in a playoff game, the last shot, hitting six threes in a Finals’ half despite not being good at threes...

Hansen’s steam moment, 64 points in an East Finals Game 7, sweeping the Heat after returning from injury, 17 points in 90 seconds in the playoffs...

These are the reasons why fans are truly madly in love with them.

The Cavaliers beat the Lakers 112-100, changing the series score to 2-1.

But do you think G3 ended there?

No, it didn’t.

Right after G3, a Lakers’ team reporter exposed some news:

"LeBron’s injury is worse than imagined, and he has been playing through it, but he always keeps it a secret and doesn’t tell anyone."

James’ injury might be late, but it will never be absent.

When this news broke, both Kobe and Hansen couldn’t help but laugh.

Hansen was amused, can’t you come up with something new?

Your consistent mindset is commendable, but you’re applying it in the wrong place, you know!

Kobe was laughing out of anger.

Because he realized he wasted his breath after G1.

Especially the act of making excuses after the game, it’s simply nauseating.

No one knows better than James if he’s really injured.

Even if he really is injured, this is the damn Finals!

Unless you can’t stand on the court, why wouldn’t you give it your all?

Before G4, Kobe found James.

"If you’re injured and can’t play well, just sit on the bench in a suit, watch Han win the championship over your head, and become a big joke."

Kobe’s attitude was clear; he’d rather face the Cavaliers alone than carry a burden.

Quicken Loans Arena was still packed for G4, and it was still filled with all kinds of enthusiastic welcome signs for James.

Before the game, Malone warned his players.

The referees will be strict tonight because the league wants to see a 2-2 tie, so pay attention to defensive actions.

After the opening ceremony, the starting lineups were announced.

Lakers: Delavadova, Kobe, James, Frye, Love

Cavaliers: Irving, JR, Hansen, Tucker, Jokic

After three games, both teams’ starting lineups were significantly different from G1.

You could say they’ve made all the adjustments they could, and what will decide the game is player performance, as Hansen says.

Kobe showed a strong offensive desire right from the start.

He scored 14 points in the first quarter, a throwback to his peak, making Hansen see the energy a 38-year-old Kobe without an Achilles tear could unleash.

However, the Lakers were still trailing the Cavaliers.

As a counter, Hansen scored 18 points in the first quarter, showing Kobe his desire to win tonight.

And in the second quarter, he switched to defend Kobe.

Kobe tried to use screens against Hansen but to no avail; his shots were constantly disrupted by Hansen’s strong interference.

Even if peak Kobe met peak Hansen now, it would be challenging to explode against each other.

The Lakers’ offense was forced to shift to James.

James’ breakthrough was met with double teams and missed, but the referee’s whistle blew late.

It seems tonight’s issue wasn’t just the ref’s judgment tightness; James had the Nike whistle.

The so-called Nike whistle forces you not to make defensive moves with the whistle, drastically lowering his scoring difficulty.

It’s a soft whistle that can sway individual player performance.

The league wanted to see a 2-2 tie and also hoped for a rebound performance from James.

It worked; as the game progressed, James found scoring easier, and his confidence quickly recovered.

By the end of the third quarter, the Lakers and Cavaliers were tied at 85.

At that point, the free throw count was 30 to 16, with the Lakers’ free throws nearly double the Cavaliers’.

This drew a lot of skepticism from fans on social media.

Just like before, the Lakers couldn’t win without blowing out Curry, and now they can’t win against the Cavaliers without blowing the whistle this way.

Silva is not as staunch of a Nike supporter as Stern was, but he wants the series to go to a Game 7 because it would be most profitable for the league.

With about 7 minutes left in the fourth quarter, the score was tied at 95, and it was still a deadlock.

At this point, both teams’ main players returned to the court.

Hansen immediately charged into the paint, scoring a 2+1 through Love and Kobe’s defense.

He was very displeased tonight, and after resting, his stamina was now sufficient.

He made his additional free throw, helping the Cavaliers achieve a 3-point lead.

On the return play, James broke through Tucker to the basket; Tucker didn’t dare reach out and just stood there, drawing a foul from James.

James knocked Tucker over, but the referee didn’t whistle.

James also completed his shot afterward.

But as the ball left his hand, a figure flew up from behind James, directly swatting the ball away.

"Bang!"

Hansen gave a volleyball-style block, sending the ball flying out of bounds.

The referee blew the whistle, signaling an out-of-bounds play.

James was startled, and once he realized it, he spread his hands to the referee, hoping for the whistle he’d always gotten.

Unfortunately, the referee didn’t make a move this time.

Some whistles are given because they’re ordered to be given, but only some.

Hansen is now Silva’s Jordan; the referee wouldn’t give that kind of whistle against him.

Seeing James’ actions, already displeased Hansen directly shouted at him:

"Go home!"

Chasing referees for calls in basketball is like kids chasing their moms for milk.

If you’re really not grown up, go home for milk!

James was extremely angry at Hansen’s behavior, but just like he didn’t dare speak up to Kobe, he truly didn’t dare face Hansen.

That punch from Johnson years ago left him with a "once bitten, twice shy" mentality.

Even though Johnson was long gone from the Cavaliers, who knows if any other Cavs might lose it.

Speaking of losing it, there really was one on the Cavaliers’ court.

If James dared to act, JR, who Hansen had tamed, would likely make a move.

Hansen’s block significantly lifted the Cavaliers’ spirits, and when the LED screen at the venue started replaying it, the crowd’s excitement reached its peak.

But more significant than the crowd was a "KBfans" user on social media who posted a comment that not only received high praise but also quickly trended:

"Hansen is recruiting James!"