The No.1 Anti-Fans in Basketball
Chapter 328 - 180 Death of the Lakers_2

Chapter 328: Chapter 180 Death of the Lakers_2

After scoring, Little Gasol threw his fist in the air with a White Bear roar.

The other Grizzlies players on the court seemed to be back in Game 4, but this time, their Desire to Win was even stronger.

Paul didn’t believe in curses, this time he tried to break through Hansen with speed, and even when he knew Hansen was behind him, he tried to use a sudden stop in an attempt to draw a trailing foul.

But what he didn’t expect was to crash into thin air.

Hansen often used this move; he was all too familiar with it.

As a result, Paul didn’t succeed in drawing a foul, and instead, Hansen forced him to stop dribbling. When he finally passed the ball to the outside, there was a passing error that Conley seized the opportunity to steal.

Conley’s play might be clean, but his steals were nothing short of impressive, averaging 2.1 per game this season, even more than Hansen.

The Grizzlies launched a fast break, with Guy receiving Conley’s pass and delivering another tomahawk dunk.

The Grizzlies put together a 4-0 run, tying the score!

Brown called a timeout, and the FedEx Forum erupted into frenzy once more.

Hansen’s taunt to Paul during the regular season had become the truth of the series: in a clutch moment, you can always trust Paul!

Although the score was still tied, it was clear that the Grizzlies looked more hopeful to win.

"Whoop that trick!"

After the time-out, the chanting from the fans was unceasing.

Kobe now started to execute plays. After receiving Paul’s pass, he shook Guy and took a step before pulling up for a jump shot.

"Clang!"

The basketball clattered off the rim; his stamina made it hard to ensure a high success rate on offense.

It seemed like a repeat of Game 4 was about to unfold.

But the roar of the crowd hadn’t started yet; Kobe had predicted the ball’s rebounding trajectory, charged in for the offensive board, and on the second attempt, drew a defensive foul from Little Gasol.

After the scuffle, he fell to the ground off-balance, but he was helped up by Paul and Ci Shiping without a word and went straight to the free-throw line.

The camera focused on him again, with his gaze incredibly resolute as he bit his jersey.

After losing Game 4, Kobe said in the post-game press conference, "It’s my fault we lost. I didn’t step up in the final quarter."

Now facing a similar situation, like when he declared "we’re number one in losing" and came back strong the next year, Kobe wasn’t treating his words as just talk; this time, he was ready to step up.

Even if he barely had any energy left, as long as he could move, he could make it happen.

Kobe loosened his jaw, exhaled deeply, and amid a cacophony of distractions, sank both free throws.

The Lakers regained the lead.

Little Gasol attacked the basket, but this time his shot was disturbed by Okafor, and Randolph’s follow-up layup was also blocked by Kobe, who had rushed under the basket.

The Lakers successfully defended this round.

Kobe once again carried the ball to attack the basket, but just as before, his shot was blocked by the helping defense of Hansen.

Yet at that moment, the late whistle of the sideline judge sounded.

A defensive foul was called on Hansen, giving Kobe two free throws.

Hansen’s "Core Shield" had shattered.

Or perhaps that kind of thing never truly existed, and the referees just made sure Hansen wasn’t fouled out.

At the clutch moment, the decisive whistle still sounded.

Hansen took a deep breath.

He knew that blowing up at the referee now would just result in a technical foul.

Kobe’s two free throws hit the mark again, and the Lakers extended their lead to four points.

In the Grizzlies’ next possession, Hansen also began to run plays.

Little Gasol blocked Kobe, and after Hansen received the ball, he faked out Big Gasol and rushed into the painted area for a quick stop float shot.

Knowing his stamina was low and his shooting percentage would be hard to maintain, he did his best to drive towards the basket.

"Clang!"

But his floater didn’t hit the mark either.

Okafor reached out, ready to snatch the rebound.

But before his hand touched the ball, a figure soared up and slammed the bouncing ball back through the hoop!

As he realized who the one-armed figure hanging from the rim was, his eyes filled with disbelief.

It was Hansen who had just taken the shot!

How did he do that?

"Phew!"

After landing, Hansen exhaled deeply.

That dunk was an instant release of all his pent-up emotions.

However, he looked somewhat unsteady on his feet.

He had taken off with a held breath, as his stamina at that point wouldn’t support playing like that.

But now that the ball was in, it was all worth it.

Returning to the defensive end, Hansen switched back to defending Kobe.

Seeing this, Paul drove with the ball towards the basket, trying to draw another foul from Little Gasol.

But Little Gasol wasn’t Faried, and had already adapted to the night’s level of play, sidestepping in advance to avoid the conflict.

Consequently, Paul, having lost his point of force in mid-air, was forced to change from a direct layup to a reverse lay-in, and the ball bounced off the rim’s edge and out.

Little Gasol grabbed the defensive rebound, and the Lakers’ assault ended fruitlessly.

Hansen and Randolph executed a pick-and-roll. Randolph’s mid-range shot after taking the pass also missed.

As the game reached this point, the tremendous physical toll meant scoring was incredibly difficult for both sides.

It was then the fans realized, the only ones who could score were Kobe and Hansen.

When the game came down to the final minute, Hansen’s flying putback helped the Grizzlies tie the game at 101 all over again.

The home crowd felt their hearts ready to burst from their chests.