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Chapter 249 - 148 Off-Peak Travel (Hansen Edition)_2

Chapter 249: Chapter 148 Off-Peak Travel (Hansen Edition)_2

Turning his head, Randolph continued to score in the low post with a spin move and a hook shot off the glass.

In these two rounds, Hansen did not participate in the offense but instead played a restraining role on the weak side.

This was the "more stuff" Hansen was talking about.

During the starting period, the Grizzlies’ offensive focus would be Randolph, while he would conserve as much energy as possible.

Conserve energy for what? Naturally, it was for playing during the bench linking period.

If you want to extend the starters’ time on the court, it’s not possible to extend it for all of them. Otherwise, by the decisive moments, they’d all be exhausted and there’d be no need to play.

Moreover, the bench linking period doesn’t have too many set plays. Often it’s chaos, and Randolph as a heavy inside player, isn’t suited for that.

Around 7 minutes into the first quarter, Hansen was substituted by Tony Allen to rest.

Then, when it was about 9 minutes in, with both sides rotating, Hansen got back into the fray.

"It’s on me now," Hansen said, high-fiving Randolph as he was substituted at the scorer’s table.

Before taking the court, Hansen glanced at the scoreboard.

Thanks to Randolph’s brilliant performance in the paint, the Grizzlies were only trailing the Mavericks by 2 points, 16 to 18.

However, this felt a bit strange because, in a sense, he was now playing the role he had once made Guy play for the Grizzlies.

He too was staggering his playing time.

Of course, seeing the opponent’s substitutions, Hansen knew what he was up against wouldn’t be easy.

At this time, the lineup on the court for the Mavericks was: Baria, Terry, Peja Stojakovic, Marion, O’Neal

And for the Grizzlies: Conley, Tony Allen, Hansen, Johnson, Haddadi

Perhaps, this couldn’t even be called staggering playing times.

Mavericks’ possession coming up, O’Neal set up shop in the low post against Haddadi, Johnson collapsed to help defense, and O’Neal, facing a double-team, passed the ball to Marion. Marion drove to the basket attracting Hansen’s help defense, then kicked out to Peja, who with a smooth three-point shot increased the difference to 5 points.

This year, Peja, as a buyout player who joined the Mavericks, was basically considered a ring-chaser, especially since he had only played 8 games combined for the Hornets and the Raptors earlier that season.

But after joining the Mavericks, he became a core rotation player and, together with West, filled the scoring void left by Caron Butler’s season-ending injury.

Especially in the playoffs, the veteran performed exceedingly well.

Against the Lakers in that series, he managed an impressive 52.4% shooting to average 12.5 points per game, second only to Nowitzki and Terry.

Turning the tables, Hansen executed a screen and roll with Haddadi and then hit a mid-range jumper to punish O’Neal from the free-throw line.

This lineup of the Mavericks looked strong but actually had many vulnerabilities to exploit.

At this moment, O’Neal couldn’t help but shake his head.

The person who used to keep him from being pulled out by the opponents in Cleveland had become the one pulling him out.

He turned around and took out his frustrations on Haddadi.

Haddadi chose to foul on the spot, sending O’Neal to the free-throw line.

Hansen patted Haddadi on the shoulder, signaling he had done the right thing, and then exchanged a few words with him.

O’Neal made one of two at the line, with Haddadi securing the rebound.

After grabbing the board, Haddadi raised the ball and then looked upcourt.

There, Hansen had already streaked past the three-point line.

In Game 4 against the Spurs, the Grizzlies proved they could run even without their twin tower lineup, and Hansen was carrying that forward.

Of course, this was premised on Haddadi’s passing ability.

Haddadi was far behind in other areas, but the two reasons he could still remain in the NBA were his size and his passing ability.

Haddadi threw a quarterback-style long pass, and after catching it, Hansen started a fast break.

Baria was relentlessly chasing him from behind and had caught up by the time Hansen reached the frontcourt three-point line.

This guy was really fast.

Seeing this, Hansen made sure to keep Baria behind him while also starting his European Step after entering the free-throw line.

After dodging Baria’s swipe at the ball, he leaped directly up for a two-handed dunk.

Landing, Hansen made his signature number 77 jersey celebration to the home crowd, instantly sending the FedEx Forum into frenzy.

Theoretically, Hansen was set to play extended minutes tonight and should have been conserving energy, but having momentum on the court was equally important.

"Defense! Defense!"

Indeed, the dunk had ignited the home crowd’s enthusiasm.

Amidst the cheers, Haddadi put all his might into it in the low post, successfully defending against O’Neal’s shot.

However, in the end, he was still called for a defensive foul by the referees.

Boos filled the air.

Hansen went over and patted Haddadi on the back, affirming his defense.

Against O’Neal, chopping him down directly would have been enough, but wearing him down before another chop meant the defense was definitely successful.

Moreover, sending O’Neal to the free throw line had another advantage, which was that it prevented the other Mavericks players on the court from getting their chance to perform.

The boos rose wave after wave.

But O’Neal withstood the pressure and made one of two free throws.

For O’Neal, making one of two was a normal performance.

Then turning back, Hansen used a pick-and-roll to seek out O’Neal.

He was truly as he had told the other in their previous exchange, holding nothing back.

However, amid Carlisle’s shouting, the Mavericks displayed their defensive mobility, with Hansen’s pick-and-roll immediately encountering Marion’s help defense.

And his fake shot didn’t fool Marion.

Johnson, lacking shooting ability, could be overlooked on the offensive end when O’Neal was inside for the Mavericks.

Hansen chose to strong-arm his way into a shot with Marion on him.

Marion’s reaction was quick as well, jumping immediately to contest the shot.

The two men competed in the air for height, and in the end, the younger Hansen bested him, completing his shot in the air facing Marion.

That move was very Kobe, but the result was very Jordan.

"Swish!"

The basketball fell cleanly through the net.

The mood of the FedEx Forum fans was ignited once again.

Such a difficult shot going in lifted the team’s morale as much as a dunk over someone would have.

Moreover, this was the correct version of off-peak travel, since I was on the floor during this time to score, it didn’t matter whether it was easy points or not.

to 23.

After Hansen scored 6 consecutive points, the gap on the scoreboard had narrowed to just 1 point.

It seemed like Hollins finally caught on, yelling for Haddadi to commit a foul directly.

O’Neal reluctantly went back to the free-throw line.

At this point, there were only the final 20 seconds left in the first quarter.

Hollins wanted to flip the score before the end of the first quarter.

Crowd interference was tumultuous, but this time O’Neal stood firm against the disruption and made both free throws.

After sinking the second ball, O’Neal excitedly waved his fist.

Hansen was not holding back, and neither was he.

Hollins called for a timeout.

"Coach, let me in!" Just at that moment, Little Gasol volunteered.

Hansen’s encouragement on defense hadn’t made much of a difference, but Hansen’s performance on the court had made his young heart also boil with fervor.

Hollins agreed, although Little Gasol had not been in great form this round, his quality in pick-and-roll was better than Haddadi’s.

After the timeout, the Grizzlies’ strategy was straightforward: pass the ball to Hansen and let him take the shot.

Hollins had set up a three-point play.

Hansen, using Little Gasol’s screen, received Conley’s pass and shot, O’Neal this time lunging out.

Hansen made a feint and took one step, then seeing Marion also lunging towards him, chose to lob the ball under the basket.

Little Gasol, having screened, was cutting to the basket, and O’Neal coming out meant he had a chance under the rim.

And such a pass wasn’t difficult; all it took was to lob the ball toward the rim.

With his height and reach, Little Gasol successfully caught Hansen’s pass, and Terry chose to foul him directly by pulling his arm.

Terry’s foul was decisive, but Little Gasol’s shot was more resolute, managing to release the ball despite his body losing balance.

The referee’s whistle blew, and the ball rolled into the basket.

It was an and-one!

After making the shot, Little Gasol roared triumphantly towards the sky.

At that moment, Hansen went over to give him a forceful high-five.

Because he could feel it – with that shot going in, the heart that Nowitzki had killed in G1 was coming back to life.