The No.1 Anti-Fans in Basketball-Chapter 59: The Greek God Who Governs Nonsense

Rivers: "Politeness, my ass!"

Hansen’s court-side interaction couldn’t have come at a more timely moment, as it was highly offensive.

And now, nine minutes into the game, it was nearing the time for the team’s regular substitution.

But with Hansen’s question, there was no way Rivers could sub Pierce out now, even if he wanted to. Pierce certainly wouldn’t be happy about it.

Pierce wasn’t like Durant, he wouldn’t get riled up so easily. But for a star player to be taunted by a rookie and then immediately subbed out, could he still hold his head high?

The Celtics’ attack ultimately came to nothing, and when they turned back, James took the ball from Williams as soon as he crossed half-court.

He really didn’t want to give himself the chance to perform!

Hansen could only roll his eyes in disbelief and chose to stand still at a weak-side 45-degree angle.

He really didn’t believe James would target him to the extent of not caring about winning or losing tonight’s game.

That jersey on the fan at the hotel, and the insulting signs now in the stadium, James couldn’t possibly be indifferent.

James played a pick and roll with Ilgauskas.

The biggest difference between Ilgauskas and O’Neal was that Ilgauskas had range; moving towards the free-throw line after setting the pick could draw away the defender.

But the Celtics’ defense was also superb. Ray Allen followed Ilgauskas, Perkins directly switched to guard Cunningham, and Garnett swept from the key to front James.

If it were Kobe, this defensive strategy would be useless because a mid-range gap would appear during Perkins and Garnett’s switch.

But James’ mid-range shooting was inconsistent, which meant that whether he shot or not, the Celtics’ defense would be effective.

In fact, James didn’t take the shot but instead used the gap to accelerate towards the paint.

Unfortunately, he was stopped dead in his tracks by Garnett.

Many players in NBA history have boasted about defending positions one through five, but really, Garnett was the only one who could actually do it.

James was well aware of Garnett’s defensive prowess and didn’t choose to force a shot. Instead, he glanced at the shot clock in the instant he decelerated and flung the ball out to the perimeter.

Seeing the basketball coming straight for him, Hansen was somewhat caught off guard.

Did he actually guess right?

But after he caught the ball, he realized something was wrong.

Because at that moment, there were only six seconds left on the shot clock. It was another hot potato pass.

Damn it, this businessman is despicable!

"You’re not going to have the same chance as before," Pierce trash-talked him at that very moment.

You two work so well together, why don’t you just play on the same team?

Hansen dribbled and made a slight change of direction toward the middle.

Pierce also slid to the middle, his eyes still filled with disdain.

How could such a simple crossover beat him? It must have been his carelessness that let Hansen sneak by earlier.

But at that moment, Hansen first gathered the ball and continued a dragging step to the right, followed by a sudden, wide crossover to the left.

The speed of the move and the extent of the crossover far exceeded Pierce’s expectations.

The fans in the arena widened their eyes—was this Wade’s Mysterious Steps?!

Amidst the uproar from the crowd, Hansen bypassed Pierce’s defense and angled his body to drop the ball into the basket.

"Nice pass."

After scoring, Hansen smiled and pointed at James.

James couldn’t smile at all; Hansen’s move was a clear provocation!

But the key question was, when had this guy learned Wade’s Mysterious Steps?

to 17.

Regardless, after scoring four consecutive points, Hansen narrowed the score gap to just one basket.

At this moment, Brown looked up at the shot clock.

It was now nine and a half minutes into the first quarter, the time for regular rotation.

But with Hansen in this form, subbing out James would mean losing control.

While he hoped that Hansen would perform well, he was more worried that James might take his frustration out on him.

After some thought, he turned and called Daniel Gibson and Varejao over.

At the same time, on the Celtics’ side, Rashid Wallace also walked towards the scorer’s table.

With the Celtics in possession, Pierce didn’t continue to entangle with Hansen.

He wasn’t Durant, and seeing the close score, he realized that Hansen was setting a trap for him.

"You shouldn’t be called ’The Truth’; you should be called ’The Crap,’" but to his surprise, Hansen didn’t seem to have any intention of letting him off easy.

"What did you say?!" Pierce was speechless. He had only trash-talked Hansen once; did Hansen really need to keep harping on it?

"Don’t think I don’t know about the thing with your shorts in the ’08 Finals," Hansen explained with feigned concern.

With that, even James, who was nearby, looked on with a face that said: This is news to me?

"You... you’re talking nonsense!" Pierce’s face turned red in an instant.

It was a mix of anger and panic.

Only a few staff members within the Celtics knew about him feigning injury to excuse adjusting his shorts, and Hansen was still playing in the NCAA at that time. How did he know about it?!

Could this guy be a freak who not only watches video frame by frame but also zooms in?

"Look, your reaction has said it all." Hansen kept up his trash talk.

James couldn’t help but burst into laughter.

Trash-talking is a tradition in the NBA. Players from the last century—Jordan, Bird, Payton—were all masters of trash talk.

There are also many players nowadays who are skilled in trash-talking, with Pierce being one of the more famous ones.

As for himself, carrying the title of the Chosen One and being Nike’s top endorser, he naturally didn’t indulge in trash-talking, especially not in-game.

So, over the years, he had put up with a lot from the Celtics.

Then, to see Hansen’s string of trash talk was actually quite satisfying for him.

Who would have thought that "Trash Talk King" Pierce would have his day of being outplayed!

Hansen’s face-riding and James’s laughter made Pierce completely flushed with anger.

Screw the bigger picture, I must regain my face today.

Pierce reached out for the ball again, and Rondo, seeing this, passed the ball to him.

Every team has its own cliques, and Rondo, Garnett, and Pierce were the biggest in the Celtics.

"You can call for a pick-and-roll." Hansen offered helpfully to Pierce.

"No need!" Pierce growled through gritted teeth.

Good.

What Hansen said was similar to his earlier comments to Rivers, both aimed at eliminating options for his opponent.

Garnett’s screening and mobility were fast. If Pierce really called for a pick-and-roll, it might not be easy to defend against.

Pierce began his attack with the basketball, this time choosing to play with his back to the basket.

A step-back jumper was his best frontcourt technique, but the failure of his previous attack indicated that it wasn’t very effective against Hansen.

When posting up, Pierce actively sought contact with Hansen.

Like Hansen, he was a regular at the gym and focused on strengthening his back and upper body to enhance his post-up game.

His dynamic talent was rather poor, so this was a way to play to his strengths and avoid his weaknesses.

Hansen indeed felt the pressure. Pierce’s upper body strength was formidable, on a whole different level than Morrison whom he encountered in the Summer League. The pre-weight gain version of himself couldn’t defend against this kind of play.

And the pressure from Pierce’s post-up was not just about the strength, but the technical moves that followed the physical confrontation.

That was also the main reason why James, who was also known for his strength, was not very threatening in post-up plays.

Against Pierce, if you really lowered your center of gravity to push against him, Pierce could easily shake you off with a turn.

Of course, at this moment, Pierce was the one who was shocked because he found that he couldn’t force Hansen to lower his center of gravity with his strength.

The rookie’s resistance was much stronger than he had anticipated; no wonder his push earlier didn’t budge Hansen at all.

At this time, the League had a "5-second back to the basket" rule, meaning that one could not post-up for more than 5 seconds.

After several unsuccessful attempts to push Hansen, Pierce decided to spin toward the free-throw line position and quickly stepped back to create some distance.

But just as he was stepping back.

"Snap!"

He felt a lightness in his hand, and when he looked down, the ball had already been stolen by Hansen!

Star Catcher activated!

Hansen dashed forward with great strides after intercepting the ball from Pierce.

But James had surged past the three-point line even sooner.

The two of them charged forward one after the other, one on the left and one on the right.

Only Rondo from the Celtics reacted, chasing after Hansen.

In a blink, the three of them reached the frontcourt. James, without the ball, sprinted faster. Rondo changed directions, wedging himself between the two, trying to cut off Hansen’s passing lane.

Seeing this, James simply pointed upwards toward the basket, indicating he wanted an alley-oop pass from Hansen.

Hansen then started to slow down and, upon reaching about half a step beyond the frontcourt three-point line, he suddenly... let loose a three-pointer from a trailing position!

You expect high difficulty moves from me each time, and you want me to pass you a simple ball?

This choice made James so angry he swung his arm in frustration. Had he been closer, he might have dashed over to block Hansen.

Rondo hadn’t expected this either, and taking advantage of James’s momentary loss of composure, he ran toward the basket to prepare for the rebound.

Brown, too, was angered by Hansen’s choice, rising from the bench while cursing, "You damn..."

It wasn’t the best choice, but Hansen’s shot timing was excellent.

The basketball spun a long arc through the air and then...

"Thud!"

It shot into the basket like a cannonball!

all!

Hansen unleashed a personal 7-0 run, helping the Cavaliers tie the score!

"...How can he be so amazing!" Brown, upon standing up, couldn’t help but pump his fist.