The No.1 Anti-Fans in Basketball-Chapter 60: Not-So-Smart Basketball

The Celtics called a timeout.

After the timeout, both teams made widespread substitutions.

Hansen was substituted out at this time as well.

He wasn’t surprised at all about being "subbed out after scoring 7 points in a row."

Tonight, he was likely to be tied with James.

In fact, if he hadn’t burst out, his stat line would still be empty right now.

But precisely because he had erupted, Brown couldn’t dare to keep him on the court.

By the end of the first quarter, the score on the court was 21 to 23, with both sides evenly matched.

Then, as the second quarter began, James took to the court right away.

Well, that was... expected.

James had been contained by the Celtics in the first quarter with little to show in his stats—any chance to add to them had to come during the time against the reserves.

Otherwise, even if they won the game, the media wouldn’t find an angle to hype.

James went up and dunked on Marquis Daniels to score.

At this time, the Celtics’ inside pair was Rashid Wallace and "Big Baby" Glen Davis, one old and one heavy, which greatly decreased their defensive capabilities.

Under these conditions, unless the outside had a defensive stronghold to limit James’s drives, there was no stopping him from scoring.

Luckily, the Celtics indeed had such a person.

In the next offensive round for the Cavaliers, the defender in front of James switched from Daniels to Tony Allen.

The reason Allen hadn’t started on James was because he’s a 1.93 meter guard—this was a case of the smaller player defending the bigger.

But if it was just about limiting James’s acceleration, then no one on the Celtics could do it better than Allen.

Watching James on the court getting entangled with Allen and unable to get a shot off, Hansen was itching to get back in.

Of course, every player wanted to win the game, but right now he had an even greater desire—to improve his own ability to drive.

Whether it was Delonte West or Pierce, neither could help him anymore, but Allen could.

James’s dribble drive was directly stolen by Allen, leading to a defensive counter for the Celtics, and Daniels received the ball and scored on a fast-break dunk that ignited the North Shore Garden Arena in an instant.

Hansen heard curses aimed at James coming from not far behind him.

He stood up and walked over to Brown, who was standing at the side of the court.

"Coach, put me in," Hansen volunteered assertively.

Brown turned and saw it was Hansen, and frowned.

But he didn’t order Hansen to go back, as on the court James was once again forced into a dead ball, without any good passing opportunities.

The reason Tony Allen was so effective against James’s drives was not just that he was quick with his hands and feet, but more importantly, he almost didn’t fall for pick-and-rolls.

And James just happened to be a player who relied heavily on pick-and-rolls for his offense.

Brown eventually called for a quick timeout.

A quick timeout is only 20 seconds, but it could stop the offense to avoid a turnover by James; moreover, there was a spot for a substitution.

Hansen went on for James.

James, being substituted out, didn’t react much, only glancing at Hansen as he walked by.

Both teams had one substitution during the brief timeout, but Rivers didn’t make any changes.

James was already contained, could Hansen turn the tide?

At this moment, the line-up on the court for both teams was:

For the Celtics: Eddie House, Tony Allen, Daniels, Rashid Wallace, Glen Davis;

For the Cavaliers: Daniel Gibson, Parker, Hansen, Varejao, Ilgauskas.

When the Cavaliers came on offense, Gibson took the ball and drove hard to the inside.

With James on the court, the ball would naturally end up in his hands, but with him off the court, others, especially James’s underlings, had no obligation to pass to Hansen.

James, now on the bench, was casually biting his fingernails, looking composed as if everything was under control.

Brown was sensible, with West, O’Neal, Conningham, who were all on good terms with Hansen, sitting off the court; none of the players on the court were close to Hansen.

He could perform without James on the court?

First, Hansen would need the ball.

Gibson’s layup was directly blocked by Wallace with a chase-down, the "Roaring Sky Venerate" was still full of vigor at his age.

Ilgauskas, with a quick reaction, grabbed the offensive rebound and, seeing no chance for a strong play, passed the ball to Hansen who was open on the outside.

James’s fingernail-biting paused.

Although Ilgauskas wasn’t close with Hansen, he had no selfish intentions and would only do what was beneficial for the team.

But James quickly resumed biting his fingernails, now at an even faster pace.

After receiving the ball, Hansen didn’t find an opportunity to shoot as Tony Allen had already quickly moved over to defend.

Hansen hadn’t expected Allen to be that fast.

Gibson had returned to the perimeter by this point, beckoning to Hansen for the ball.

Hansen simply ignored him and held onto the ball recklessly driving inside without passing—who was expecting him to pass?

Not to mention his main reason for being on the court was to target Allen.

He drove the ball powerfully toward the right, breaking through.

A top-notch defender like Allen would definitely have been watching from the sidelines, so using his Mysterious Steps might not work again; instead, an aggressive first step like this might have a better chance.

Hansen’s judgment was right; Allen indeed hadn’t expected Hansen to make such a move, but Hansen couldn’t make it all the way to the basket in one go, because Allen had slid back into a defensive stance.

This guy’s lateral speed was just too freakish!

It was even faster than before he had put on weight.

And Allen didn’t give Hansen a moment to breathe, cutting in immediately to put pressure on the ball.

Hansen was forced to turn and protect the ball, and the momentum of his drive stopped abruptly.

Eventually, he was forced into taking a turnaround fadeaway with his back to the basket, but Allen swiped the ball out of bounds.

"Offense isn’t your thing, but don’t you dare think you get it."

Sure enough, he was the man who had humbled top scorers like Kobe and Durant.

James finally bit off his nail and laid his hand down, leaning back lazily on the bench.

It was clear to everyone that Allen was tough to play against, and here was Hansen, having gotten hold of the ball after much effort, still insisting on going head-to-head—truly not the smartest thing.

"You should’ve passed the ball to me!" Gibson shouted at Hansen after the ball went out of bounds.

"You’d get it if you scored, wouldn’t you? Give me the damn ball first!" Hansen shot back, unyielding.

"Fine, fine! Take it then!" Gibson turned his head and glanced at Allen, already brooding with malicious schemes.

The Cavaliers attack was up against the clock and ultimately failed to score.

But on the flip side, Hansen managed to disrupt Wallace’s low post one-on-one through help defense and double-teaming.

As ferocious as Allen’s defense was, his offense was just as lackluster; with him on the floor, the Celtics were practically playing offense with four against five, which allowed Hansen to double-team the ball-handler without restraint.

Ilgauskas secured the defensive rebound, and Gibson pushed the ball up to the frontcourt.

He did walk the walk, promptly giving the ball to Hansen once in the frontcourt before signaling for the team to spread out for Hansen’s isolation play.

This was clearly him realizing Hansen couldn’t beat Allen and deciding to make him try to muscle through.

Booing from the Boston fans began to resonate in the venue, interspersed with bursts of whistles.

Hansen’s comments from the previous day had ticked them off considerably; never mind the fact that a white man had first made racially offensive gestures—in their eyes, only they had the right to look down on others, how could others presume to look down on them?

Furthermore, Hansen had embarrassed Pierce today, and even though Pierce was also black, he was the core of the team, an elite among blacks; how could he be comparable to Hansen, an Asian at the bottom of their social ladder?

So come on, Tony Allen, teach this arrogantly conceited Asian an even more unforgettable lesson!

Hansen initiated the offense, this time utilizing his Mysterious Steps.

The Mysterious Step, or the European Step, had a significant advantage in that when driving, the ball was kept in hand, allowing for better protection amid a breakthrough.

That is to say, it was an effective counter to Allen’s ball stripping.

Moreover, going against the norm, Hansen decided to confront Allen with some body contact while executing the Mysterious Steps.

Allen was good in many areas, but he was smaller by comparison, and naturally, his physical confrontation would be somewhat weaker.

After colliding, Allen’s center of gravity shifted back, and Hansen seized the opportunity to straighten up and make a side basket while pressing against Allen’s body.

Rashid Wallace leaped to help defend at this moment, similar in height and wingspan to Garnett, and at his peak, his ability to help defend was not lacking.

Seeing this, Hansen flicked his wrist, releasing the ball early for an adjusted layup.

The enhanced coordination of his body allowed him to make such a move successfully.

Wallace realized he was too late, but with his degraded bodily functions from age, he couldn’t stop in time and crashed directly into Hansen.

Hansen was sent flying out of bounds, and the referee’s whistle followed suit.

As Hansen flew out, his eyes still followed the basketball he had shot.

The photographer under the basket, though instinctively getting up to dodge, pressed the shutter button before doing so.

"Bang!"

The basketball kissed off the glass and spun in a small arc before swirling through the net.

Hansen collided with the photographer, who hadn’t moved away in time.

The scene erupted in amazement.

Hansen had beaten Allen and, facing the help defense from Wallace, completed a 2+1!

Hansen rolled over in the pile of photographers before getting to his feet.

Upon standing, he didn’t mind the pain on his body; he just bent his arms, and gave a mighty roar at the Boston fans nearby.

Did you think I couldn’t play against Allen?

Did you all want to see me embarrass myself?

Doesn’t it sting being proved wrong?

Come on, express all your dissatisfaction, all your inner agitation, and blacken my name to your heart’s content!