The No.1 Anti-Fans in Basketball
Chapter 302 - 169 At the critical moment, you can always trust Paul

Chapter 302: Chapter 169 At the critical moment, you can always trust Paul

Randolph was known as "team poison" before joining the Grizzlies, and Hansen was described by LeBron fans as a "cancer" during his time with the Knight. O’Neal was certainly a man of many nicknames.

With the outstanding performance of the "Poison Duo" of Hansen and Randolph, the Grizzlies had a fifty-fifty start against the Lakers.

Moreover, Hansen was substituted with three minutes left in the first quarter to rest, looking much more energetic than their last matchup.

The impact of Randolph’s return was clear.

It also extended Kobe’s time on the court for the Lakers; he had to play the entire first quarter.

Regarding salary structure, the Grizzlies utilized the "rookie bonus" with Guy and Randolph each pulling in 15 million for the season, while Little Gasol and Conley were on new labor agreements with large incremental but low starting pays, earning 13 million and 8 million in their first year respectively, totaling 51 million for the four players.

On the Lakers side, Kobe earned 25 million, Big Gasol 18 million, Paul 16 million, and Okafor 12 million, adding up to 71 million for the four.

From this difference, one can conclude that although the Lakers were not banding together at their peak like the Heat Team, their assembly in terms of salary was no different, leaving little to be desired in bench strength.

Dunleavy was indeed a quality signing, but he was not the type to attack with the ball.

In contrast, the Grizzlies’ bench strength had qualitatively improved compared to last season.

The biggest change was naturally Guy’s return, elevating the team significantly by staggering the lineups.

And in the interior, Speights and Faried were much stronger than Haddadi and Johnson from the last season.

Especially Faried, once he found his direction, became like an interior version of Westbrook on the court, strongly influencing his teammates’ emotions.

Thus, the Lakers’ backcourt stars had to keep one person on the court, and it had to be Kobe.

Otherwise, during this stretch, the Grizzlies could indeed take the opportunity to widen the score gap.

But this season, Kobe was in excellent form; his ability to play during staggered stretches was nothing short of exceptional.

Of course, this was good news for the Grizzlies, as the game was a four-quarter match.

By halftime, the score was tied at 58.

"Now we can conclude early that the Grizzlies will be one of this year’s championship contender teams!" Barkley celebrated with champagne at halftime.

This season, there were few in the League who could push the Lakers to this level.

Returning from the halftime break, the intensity of the game did not diminish.

The Lakers initially capitalized on the Grizzlies missing consecutive outside shots, scoring 8-2 against the Grizzlies.

Seeing this, Joerger subbed Randolph early, and the "Poison Duo" continued to exert pressure, immediately responding with a 9-2 run.

The intense game also caused the players to become increasingly contentious, forcing the referee to tighten penalty enforcement.

Tonight, the fans, whether present or online, truly got their money’s worth from this nationally broadcasted game.

As the match reached the final five minutes, the score was tied again at 108.

Hansen then played a pick-and-roll with Randolph, who received the pass and immediately threw it facing Barnes’ defensive help, scoring and putting the Grizzlies ahead.

This marked his 20th point of the night; though he was off the bench, his performance was anything but secondary.

"Defense! Defense!"

Though there was still time left in the game, many fans had already stood up, and the chanting from the crowd was deafening.

The Grizzlies maximized their defensive intensity on the court, and the Lakers failed to find opportunities in two consecutive tactics, eventually passing the ball back to Kobe.

Kobe isolated against Guy, stopping suddenly after a change of direction and took a turnaround jump shot.

Guy didn’t lose his position, but Kobe’s speed was faster, still managing to shoot against the defense.

"Swish!"

His shot went through the net, bringing his total to 36 points for the night.

Returning to the defense, he switched to guard Ci Shiping.

When Hansen played another pick-and-roll with Randolph, Kobe using the "Little Dog Steps" managed to get in front of Hansen without letting him create a mismatch.

Many "Poison Duos" have appeared and will appear in the League, as mentioned by O’Neal, but in reality, if the defender does not get blocked and there’s no switch, the so-called poison choice naturally won’t occur.

Kobe was fully in a defensive stance, ready to go one-on-one with Hansen.

Hansen, however, did not rush his attack, dribbling the ball back to the three-point line before signaling the tactic.

Waiting for Randolph to secure a good position down low, he passed the ball inside.

Kobe, not expecting Hansen to choose this, turned to check if a double-team was needed inside.

But at that moment, he suddenly felt a breeze blow past him.

When he turned back, he saw Hansen cutting inside while he turned!

Hansen seized the moment perfectly, and since Kobe was also tired from playing, he wasn’t as quick to start and was already a body’s length behind when he began chasing.

Randolph immediately passed the ball back to Hansen, pinning Okafor as well.

Big Gasol desperately rushed to the basket, but by the time he barely got there, Hansen was already soaring, pulling the ball high with his right hand and smashing it towards his face.

"Boom!"

Before he could react with his hands, Hansen slammed the ball into the basket with a dunk.

The cheer from the crowd erupted instantaneously.

Randolph, exhilarated, ran over to Hansen and vigorously patted his head.

Hansen’s dunk over Big Gasol was like a revenge for his earlier times.

Now Hansen, looking back at a stunned Kobe, smiled and said, "I’m not 21 anymore."