Chapter 772: Chapter 772
At the end of three quarters, the score on the court is 100 to 92.
One point that can be clearly felt tonight is that Hansen’s scoring is directly linked to the Cavaliers’ performance.
When he scores high in a single quarter, like the first and third quarters, the Cavaliers can gain a lead advantage;
But when his scoring is low in a single quarter, like the second quarter, the Cavaliers’ lead advantage is eaten away.
This also highlights the dependence of the Cavaliers’ current gameplay on the core player; the portion of the score Jokic hasn’t managed to contribute on the offensive end has to be filled by Hansen.
So even though the Cavaliers are leading by 8 points now, the situation is not as optimistic as it looks for them.
Because based on the first half’s performance, after Hansen played outstandingly in the first quarter, he immediately experienced a significant decline in the second quarter.
According to this rule, Hansen’s performance will inevitably fluctuate in the fourth quarter as well.
Although Malone intentionally substituted him out two minutes ahead for a rest, scoring 62 points in three quarters is a huge test for a player’s physical stamina.
So when the bench rotations take place between the third and fourth quarters, the live camera occasionally cuts to Hansen sitting off the court.
Hansen’s complexion does look quite unwell at this time.
Scoring 62 points in three quarters without physical problems?
Jordan once said scoring 30 points in a game is easy; now this is doubled in three quarters. Content orıginally comes from 𝚗𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚕·𝚏𝚒𝚛𝚎·𝚗𝚎𝚝
Jordan’s highest score in a single game was only 69 points.
Moreover, Hansen’s way of playing in the first quarter indeed had some issues. After all, this is a completely different tactical system from before; people aren’t machines, and when they’re hyped, they don’t consider too much.
But the good news is his stamina issue isn’t as significant as imagined.
Although the defensive style adopted by the Celtics this time, unlike how the Raptors dealt with Kobe back then, involves a lot of double-teaming and help defense, the point that differentiates the Cavaliers from the Lakers of that time is: Cavaliers have Jokic.
With Jokic standing at the top of the arc three-point line, Hansen can have many more off-ball opportunities than Kobe did back then.
Hence, the stamina exhaustion for Hansen, especially in the third quarter, is entirely within an acceptable range.
Although the situation on the court asserts that the fourth quarter will not be easy, the Celtics, after all, are much stronger than the Raptors of that time, but under the current circumstances, Hansen might really have the opportunity to challenge Kobe’s 81 points.
With Hansen’s character, he wouldn’t have planned to break this record before the game, but tonight he’s on a roll, and it seems only by doing so can he win this Christmas battle.
Three minutes into the fourth quarter, the Celtics narrowed the score to within 5 points, and Hansen was substituted on earlier.
The Celtics this year have a lineup similar to the Heat back then and last season’s Warriors, too many stars, and Stevens can rotate them during bench rotations, providing the opponents with continuous defensive pressure.
After Wade’s state declined, in this level of confrontation, it’s hard to perform like last season.
After Hansen came back on, he immediately positioned himself for a post-up against Smart in the elbow area.
The key players haven’t fully returned on both sides yet, and Jokic is still resting off the court, so Hansen’s offensive will primarily involve ball handling.
After receiving the ball, he looked around, and seeing the Celtics didn’t first-time double-team, he put his weight on Smart and quickly spun around to break through.
Bradley or Smart, to him, makes no difference.
Hansen’s breakthrough has a low center of gravity, which makes his breakthrough speed fast after turning around; the Celtics, primarily dominated by substitutes at this moment, realized too late that they should have anticipated the help defense earlier.
Hansen dashed into the basket, half a meter away from the collapsing Olynyk and suddenly leaped up directly.
Olynyk wanted to jump but seeing Hansen’s approaching bulging muscles, realizing he couldn’t block, he turned around, shielding his head.
Hansen rode over Olynyk, slamming the ball into the basket with one hand.
The fans on site were all stunned.
Cavaliers’ bench players jumped up, going crazy.
This is not a dunk over, it’s a dunk ride!
This, like McGrady dunking over Bradley, Carter dunking over West, Jordan dunking over Ewing, is destined to go down in history!
More importantly, Hansen can still have this stamina in the fourth quarter?!
Not only the fans on site, but also the Celtics players on the court and the sidelines were also astonished.
Everyone thought Hansen would run into physical issues in the fourth quarter, but Hansen used this moment to tell them: your thoughts are wrong!
A mindset of "we can’t stop him" began to subconsciously emerge in their minds.
After Hansen landed, he let out a yell, also releasing the suppressed breath in his chest along the way.
Although this dunk indeed consumed quite a lot of his stamina, it was worth it.
The most immediate impact was when the possession switched, the Cavaliers exhibited an exceptionally high defensive intensity.
Towns’ spin move to the basket was directly blocked by TT and Dedmon.
The Cavaliers quickly activated a defensive counterattack, Hansen assisting Wade for a fastbreak slam dunk.
With consecutive dunks, the Cavaliers not only stabilized the score but also reversed the momentum back!
Stevens had already called out Irving previously, but he couldn’t wait for a dead ball to substitute, so he extended his hand for a timeout.