Chapter 840: Chapter 840

There is a critical point between being omnipotent and powerless, it depends on the stage and the player’s determination.

At this moment, the live shot is full, not only capturing Hansen and Tatum high-fiving on defense, but also James.

James no longer had the smug expression he wore at the beginning of the game, his face was extremely gloomy.

According to usual practice, he generally guards the opponent’s weakest offensive player. Considering the Kings’ two big men are full-sized and hard for him to guard, among the three on the outside, Tatum is the weakest in ability and the worst performing this season.

What’s more, no one knows his own little fan better than he does.

However, tonight, in this highly anticipated game, where he intended to redeem himself in front of Hansen, Tatum had scored 5 points under his defense!

This was deliberately going against him!

James could no longer stand it, once he got the ball on the front court again, he used his killer move.

With Davis brought up for the pick-and-roll at his beckoning, James finally broke into the paint, bypassing Stan to slam the ball into the basket.

Landing, James was emotionally stirred, he roared at Tatum.

He knew Tatum was not the kind of player with strong mental resilience.

In fact, James’ understanding was quite accurate, even the mature Tatum was not a player to be relied upon in critical moments.

"This is the real LeBron." But at this moment, Hansen appeared beside Tatum.

Winning embraces, post-game player tunnel is one aspect, James is a typical utilitarian: when you are of use to him, you are friends, brothers, when you lose value, then to him, you’re no different from a stranger.

The most classic examples are "in history" Anthony and Westbrook’s efforts to join James ended in situations more miserable one after the other.

Tatum came back to his senses, his gaze becoming determined again.

The childhood idol was completely shattered at this moment, yet he felt neither regret nor sadness, but was glad to learn this early on.

On the Kings’ offense, Hansen was immediately double-teamed as soon as he got the ball this time.

Although Tatum had performed well since the start of tonight’s game, in the Pelicans’ eyes, the biggest threat was still Hansen, and Tatum was just capitalizing on the opportunities Hansen created.

Judging by that, it was true, but Hansen’s mindset had already changed.

Originally, he was prepared to open the offense with his solo performance as he did in past games this season, but Tatum’s performance tonight earned his trust.

So once the double-team came, he immediately passed the ball to Tatum.

The Pelicans’ defensive rotation was swift, and Tatum didn’t get a direct shot opportunity.

Sabonis proactively stepped up for the high pick, but Davis wasn’t successfully screened by Sabonis.

Hansen was momentarily stunned by this.

It wasn’t the stellar Pelican defense that surprised him, but rather the Pelican switched defenders, James, who was originally matched against Tatum, went to defend Stan!

It had to be James, besides being incredibly injury-prone, he also had a quick mind for matchups.

Tatum’s choice at this point was unexpected, when seeing Davis not screened, he did not give up the attack, instead suddenly changed direction to the left and accelerated through the gap between Davis and Bradley!

No one had expected it, at this moment, Tatum’s decisiveness was unprecedented.

When the Pelicans realized it, it was too late, Tatum had already penetrated inside the free-throw line.

However, just as he was about to accelerate and jump, James left Stan on one side and moved under the basket.

Convinced that his previous roar had shaken Tatum, he decided to give his little fan a deep lesson.

He timed his leap to block Tatum’s layup.

Yet once again, his judgment proved incorrect, Tatum had no intention of making a layup, or rather upon seeing James, he abandoned the layup idea.

Hansen also sensed something, focusing his gaze on Tatum. ɪꜰ ʏᴏᴜ ᴡᴀɴᴛ ᴛᴏ ʀᴇᴀᴅ ᴍᴏʀᴇ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs, ᴘʟᴇᴀsᴇ ᴠɪsɪᴛ 𝔫𝔬𝔳𝔢𝔩⁂𝖿𝗂𝗋𝖾⁂𝔫𝔢𝔱

Only to see Tatum suddenly spring up like a bolt out of the blue, taking the ball to the apex in mid-air.

James jumped almost simultaneously.

But at that moment, Tatum showed his youthful advantage, jumping slightly higher than James.

It was just that bit, which left the ball Tatum elevated higher than James’ blocking hand by half a hand length.

In the incredulous stares of everyone present, Tatum completed a dunk over James!

James’ blocking hand did not touch the ball, but as it hit Tatum’s shoulder, it couldn’t stop Tatum from finishing this poster dunk.

The scene went into madness.

Honestly, Hansen didn’t expect Tatum to suddenly become so fierce.

Landing, Tatum showed extreme excitement, directly roaring back at James!

What James gave him, he returned!

No, not just returned, he even actively bumped into James’ body.

At that moment, Hansen truly felt Tatum’s determination.

Tatum used this way to say goodbye to his childhood idol, throwing away that "awkwardness" always tucked in the bottom of his heart.

James at this point seemed a bit dazed, he was not infuriated by the poster dunk, but instead mechanically received the ball from Davis thrown from the backcourt.

Seeing the bad situation, Gentry stretched out his hand to call a timeout.

As they came off court, Hansen proactively went over and patted Tatum on the head.

This was the first time since Hansen came to the Kings that he gave Tatum a direct and positive acknowledgment.

Tatum nodded vehemently, it was clear he was very excited at this moment.

Not just because of such affirmation from Hansen, but more importantly, he truly experienced the impact of the determination Hansen talked about.

Playing with determination would make him stronger than before, it was truly possible to win games.

After the timeout, Pelicans stepped up their marking on Tatum.

Not only did the previous dunk fully showcase Tatum’s personal ability, but it also demonstrated his hot streak tonight.

In this situation, Pelicans had no choice but to focus defensively on him.

However, doing so meant they inevitably reduced their defense on Hansen.

Then quickly, Hansen showed again his determination to win this game that he had already exhibited at the start.

Does it matter if there’s a gap in team strength?

Just as with the Grizzlies and Knights before, as long as teammates provided Hansen support, pulled away part of the defense, Hansen became a player in this league that couldn’t be defended.

Finally, under Hansen’s lead with 48 points, the Kings defeated the Pelicans 108 to 98 in this spotlight showdown.

In a season where scores often reached 120+ or even 130+, the level Pelicans showed tonight was top of the league, yet they still couldn’t handle Hansen.

Davis’s empty 31 points and 16 rebounds big double-double now made him the league’s number one interior player.

James got near triple-double stats with 20 points, 10 boards, 9 assists.

At the post-game press conference, Tatum once again attended alongside Hansen.

He made 15 of 10 shots tonight, getting 26 points, 7 boards, 3 assists, another brilliant performance after the previous game against the Warriors.

"I just wanted to win this game, I kept reminding myself of that during the game."

Tatum talked about his determination when discussing his performance tonight.

"Are you worried about your performance fluctuating again?" a journalist pressed on.

Knowing that after the last game against the Warriors, the outside world briefly thought Tatum had finally arrived.

But the subsequent games proved it was just a flash in the pan.

"No, I’ve found the way to win." Tatum said, turning his head to look at Hansen beside him.

Journalists also immediately turned their gaze towards Hansen.

Hansen smiled and nodded, "We will see the real Jason Tatum."