Offense to defense, Hansen kept the ball and continued to set up the screen with Guy.
What Wade was thinking didn’t matter, the important thing was to beat the Heat, and to beat them thoroughly.
Hansen faced James again, but this time he didn’t rush the attack. Instead, he dribbled the ball and lured James to the three-point line.
"You don’t think that just because you managed to beat an underdeveloped Pacers with a footstool and had a good game eliminating an old Celtics, you can win, do you?"
He observed the Heat’s defensive positioning and then continued the topic,
"Have you forgotten what you experienced in the finals back in 2007?"
Through the years, the power in the East and the West hadn’t been on the same level, if not for the emergence of the Big Three in Boston, the West would have swept the championships.
Hansen’s Anti-Fans System finally started to come online.
It seemed that the memory of being swept in ’07 was a thorn deeply lodged in James’ heart.
Then, taking advantage of a moment when James was momentarily distracted, Hansen made a move, swiftly getting past him.
Because he moved so quickly and unexpectedly, the Heat’s help defense couldn’t set up in time, and Hansen confidently sank another mid-range shot.
Hey, why is it that James really seems just like a Memphis street at four in the morning!
Of course, Hansen’s trash-talking wasn’t finished.
After making the shot, as he brushed past James, Hansen dropped an even more heart-piercing comment,
"You’ve been feeding off the benefits in the East for years, forming the Big Three without even clinching the top spot once. What if you were traded to the West? How would it be then?" ᴛʜɪs ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ɪs ᴜᴘᴅᴀᴛᴇ ʙʏ 𝔫𝔬𝔳𝔢𝔩⚫𝔣𝔦𝔯𝔢⚫𝔫𝔢𝔱
It was true there were benefits to playing in the East, and no one knew this better than James.
Especially since, although Hansen didn’t mention it, what came to his mind was the fact that he had already found success with the Grizzlies.
If James later moved to the West and still couldn’t match Hansen’s achievements, it wouldn’t just be a question of career planning but his personal capabilities coming under significant scrutiny.
Once back on defense, Hansen saw that the confident look James previously had was completely gone.
His goal had been achieved.
He and Guy switched back to guarding each other.
Wade, after seeing Hansen move back to defense, passed the ball to Chalmers, who then moved it towards James’ side.
During organized plays, Wade and James stood on opposite sides, which was why Hansen previously couldn’t help defend against James; his speed wasn’t enough to cover the whole half-court.
James decided to post up against Guy.
Guy braced himself solidly against him.
Then as James spun around, he lost control of the ball.
Guy, still exerting force, saw what looked like a huge pie falling from the sky.
He lunged at it like a man who hadn’t eaten in three meals and sprinted forward at full speed.
Once past half-court, he couldn’t help but look back and saw Wade blocked by Hansen and James not even chasing; only Chalmers was hurrying back.
Looking back seemed to invigorate him further; he surged to the front court, jumped, and delivered a tomahawk slam dunk.
As the ball smashed through the hoop, the entire FedEx Forum erupted into frenzy.
The Grizzlies once again widened the gap!
Spoelstra called for a timeout.
Guy rushed excitedly towards Hansen for a chest bump.
Although he wasn’t aware of what exactly Hansen and James had said, he could feel that the James he was guarding just now was a completely different person from the one who had been trying three-pointers against him.
Maybe in addition to never provoking Hansen, the Grizzlies’ opponents should also add another note: never talk to Hansen during a game!