The North Shore Garden Arena was boiling, and even Pierce on the bench stood up excitedly, waving his fist.
It’s not just Hansen who feels immersed in this series.
The Celtics started with unstoppable momentum.
The crowd also began to chant for defense.
Horford decided to front Jokic this time, denying him an easy catch.
Jokic, seeing this, moved his body out to set a pick.
However, Bradley quickly navigated around the pick, and Horford’s long arms disrupted the play, rendering the pick-and-roll ineffective.
Seeing this, Hansen signaled Jokic to move to the weak side, then backed up against Bradley for a post-up play.
But as Hansen started backing down, Durant came over from the weak side to help, his long arms obstructing Hansen’s passing lanes.
All the Celtics players, including Little Thomas, moved to disrupt Hansen’s passing options.
The Celtics’ defense was impenetrable.
Seeing himself forced towards the baseline, Hansen suddenly spun unexpectedly, making a quick break past Bradley.
The spin was so swift and sudden that by the time Bradley and Durant reacted, Hansen was charging towards the basket.
Horford was drawn away by Jokic, leaving only Towns in position to defend the basket. The source of thɪs content is 𝘯𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭⚫𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘦⚫𝘯𝘦𝘵
Seeing Towns, Hansen made a decisive choice, leaping high with his head level with the rim, dunking over Towns.
Towns tried to block with his outstretched hand but couldn’t reach.
The ball slammed through the hoop, and the referee’s whistle blew at the same time.
Landing, Hansen shot Towns a cold glare, causing Towns to turn aside in retreat.
The cheers abruptly stopped, replaced by an uproarious commotion.
The basket was essentially a one-on-three, a statement that "no matter how good your defense is, you can’t stop me," which was demoralizing.
Amidst the noise of the crowd, Hansen calmly made the free throw.
That one play significantly dampened the Celtics’ early momentum.
Moreover, it instantly woke up the Cavaliers players on the court.
That book "Decoding Hansen" Conningham could get, they could obviously see too.
If Hansen were really a jerk, anyone failing at defense could expect to be benched.
The sensation of a proverbial sword hanging over their heads drove them to fiercely battle their matchups.
Durant came out using a screen to get open, but by the time he shot, Covington’s long arms were there for a strong contest.
Durant’s shot clanged off the rim.
The arena buzzed once more, as the fans fully sensed the shift in the Cavaliers players’ intensity.
Two points are just two points, but a single basket changed the entire game dynamic.
Thankfully, the Celtics retreated swiftly on defense.
With the ball in hand in the frontcourt, Hansen called for an isolation, then posted up Bradley again.
This time, Hansen took note of Durant lurking in his blind spot, sending him back with a stern look.
Immediately after, he executed a sudden large spin move.
Quick as Bradley was to react and try to block, Hansen’s strength forced him off balance.
Of course, physics is mutual, and this threw Hansen off balance during the spin.
But that’s when Hansen put a hand to the ground to steady himself and pushed off, maintaining control with his right hand, similar to a skateboarder’s move to regain balance, propelling himself towards the basket.
This time, upon seeing Hansen, Towns dared not make another rash move, only raising his hands to contest, but Hansen soared by him with a sidestep glide and scored with yet another two-handed slam!
The crowd was in shock.
"What’s KAT doing? He looks like nothing but a pushover!" O’Neal questioned from the commentary booth.
Even if it is Hansen, the next time you face a center who has been dunked on, you should foul him hard to bring him down!
"Han is such a bastard!" Barkley cursed from the side, claiming Hansen’s plays were destroying Towns!