Carter, while retreating on defense, also found Hansen to give him a high five. Seeing Guy getting called consecutively, he came in with some emotion.
"Watch out he might trip you," Hansen warned.
As someone who had been tripped several times, warning someone with a history of tripping others was quite timely.
Carter’s dunk ignited the emotions of the fans at the venue, and cries of defense echoed through the arena.
Afflalo received the ball from Westbrook outside the three-point line but missed his shot.
Little Lopez grabbed the offensive rebound and passed it outside to James, whose three-point attempt was also off.
Thunders’ attempts from outside the three-point line had all been off since the start of the game, and shooting slumps could be contagious.
Turning back, Hansen immediately played a pick-and-roll with Carter, got past James, then made a quick stop and scored with a floater.
Even though he warned Carter about being tripped, he wasn’t worried for himself.
After all, having been knocked out by Johnson with a punch in last season’s finals, if you lent James ten times the courage, he still wouldn’t dare to trip Hansen.
Whistles had already begun sounding in the venue.
Even with the help of the referees, the score gap was still heading towards double digits.
Grizzlies had stored up energy for over half a month and were unleashing it all on Thunders!
As the game switched from offense to defense, cries of defense once again enveloped the venue.
With Thunders’ outside shooting off and knowing Grizzlies were playing a zone defense, they could only continue to push inside.
After all, the whistle was still biased towards them.
James carried the ball again, this time finding Little Gasol’s position.
There was body contact as he took his shot.
But this time, the baseline referee didn’t blow his whistle.
It wasn’t that there was a traitor among the referees, but biased officiating couldn’t always be enforced; continuous biased calls would turn into outright injustice.
And how the Grizzlies reacted to such injustice was clear from last year’s finals where they flipped the table.
So they dared not blow the whistle to that extent.
James looked at the referee, his face puzzled.
But by then, Grizzlies had already initiated a fast break.
Thunders had been caught off-guard before, but this time they retreated quickly.
Yet, when both teams settled into position, they realized it was 4 on 5 defense.
James was still in the backcourt! The most update n0vels are published on 𝓷𝓸𝓿𝓮𝓵⟡𝓯𝓲𝓻𝓮⟡𝓷𝓮𝓽
And of course, Grizzlies wouldn’t miss such an opportunity. After several quick passes, Randolph scored under the basket.
Now the score difference had really reached double digits!
Brooks called a timeout immediately.
Players from both teams walked towards their respective benches.
Grizzlies’ bench was at the other end, so they walked to the other side.
It was only then that James returned to the Thunders bench from the backcourt.
Watching James still muttering towards the referee’s direction as he returned, Hansen couldn’t help himself and said as they passed each other,
"Or maybe, kneel again?"
Perhaps in that way, the referees might ignore the potential consequence of Grizzlies flipping the table and blow the whistle as if aiming for outright bias.
However, Hansen glanced at the direction of the cameras and positioned himself between the camera and James, as if waiting for something.
James didn’t react much; after all, he was already immune to Hansen’s trash talk.
Close by, Westbrook, upon hearing that, turned red as if deeply insulted.
2012~2013 Season Scoring Leaders (fiction): Anthony (28.7), Durant (27.3), James (26.2), Harden (25.9), Kobe (25.3), Hansen (25.1), Westbrook (24.3), Wade (23.2), Curry (22.9), Irving (22.5)