Basketball's No. 1 Anti-Fan

Chapter 405 [Determination]

Davis asked for the ball in the high post in the frontcourt, then backed up Stan, turned around and drove to the basket, and his shot caused Sabonis to commit a defensive foul.

The Pelicans' record and performance during the same period this season are better than last season, which is closely related to Davis' continued progress.

Although James is nominally the leader of the Pelicans, everyone knows that the one who can really fight the tough battles is the second-in-command, Davis.

Davis made both free throws.

Looking back, Hansen's breakthrough with the ball was met with quick defense from the Pelicans.

The Pelicans were already the best defensive team in the league last season, and after adding Bradley this season, they have taken it one step further.

Han Sen seized the opportunity and passed the ball to the outside.

It was Mitchell who received the ball, but the Pelicans' defensive rotation was very good, so he turned around and passed the ball to Tatum.

James was facing Tatum. After seeing Tatum catch the ball, James did not return to defense quickly.

No one knows his little brother better than him. Like him, he is an ultimate team player who must observe the defense before receiving the ball.

However, just as he was thinking this, Tatum's choice was completely beyond his expectations.

The moment after catching the ball, Tatum took the ball and jumped.

The ball drew a long parabola in the air.

"Shh!"

With a crisp sound, Tatum's three-pointer came up and fell.

The scene was instantly filled with the cheers of fans.

After seeing the ball go in, Tatum picked up his palm and looked at it.

The moment he caught the ball just now, his mind was blank.

The reason why he acted so decisively was because of what Han Sen had said to him before, and because of Han Sen's determination when he saw it up close.

But right after he made the shot, he completely understood what Han Sen said, determination will not improve a player's ability, but a person with determination will be like a god.

Davis continued to receive the ball in the high post, but this time he was unable to attack the basket directly after turning around because Hansen came to assist in defense.

Davis looked for his teammates after being forced to stop the ball.

The Kings' defensive rotation ability was not as good as that of the Pelicans, and James was left open on the outside at this time.

Davis seized the opportunity and threw the ball over.

However, the ball did not reach James. Tatum predicted Davis' pass, and he quickly turned back and successfully completed the steal instead of running to defend Bradley.

As James stared at him, Tatum threw the ball over his head.

Mitchell had already rushed out of the three-point line.

Amid the early cheers of the fans, Mitchell received the ball like a sword drawn from its sheath, running all the way from the backcourt to the frontcourt and performing a powerful gliding slam dunk.

Although he is not tall, he has an excellent arm span. Coupled with his outstanding jumping ability and air stay, his dunks are very visually impactful.

After all, as a rookie last year, he was invited to participate in the league's dunk contest.

Mitchell opened his arms and celebrated by spreading his hands while retreating, which made James very angry.

It’s okay for Hansen to come, but who do you think you are, Mitchell, to come here?
He then turned to look at Tatum, blaming his little fan for stealing the ball from him.

However, when he turned around, he found that Tatum was looking at Hansen.

At this time, Hansen looked at Mitchell who was retreating and gave him a thumbs up.

This is the second time that [Three Views] has appeared after [Three Stalls] of that year.

James was angry and continued to position himself with his back to Tatum.

After getting the ball, he directly used his elbow to clear the way.

Since Tatum doesn't give him face, he has to be more determined towards his little fanboy.

But he soon discovered that things once again exceeded his expectations.

Tatum's defensive intensity is even higher than before, even very aggressive!
Tatum is a black player, but he is very different from most black players. Although he is not as black-skinned and white-hearted as Ray Allen and Hill, he behaves like a "three-good student" on the court.

However, such a model student now gave his childhood idol all kinds of aggressive confrontational moves.

Perhaps Tatum himself did not realize that after failing to attract Hansen's attention in the previous steal, he had fallen into a state of "self-proof".

He wants to prove his determination in every round on the court.

James failed to get around Tatum with his back to the basket, so he turned around and faced the basket, and when he broke through, he lowered his shoulder and knocked Tatum to the ground.

The referee's whistle sounded immediately.

James was called for an offensive foul.

James was very emotional now and spread his hands and looked at the referee.

It’s a pity that the referee just shook his head.

Times have changed. Now the league is already a UA league. Although Tatum is a young player, he is also from the UA system, and the biased whistle will not be blown on him.

After Tatum sat up on the ground and saw the referee's gesture, he excitedly waved his fist in front of him.

But what made him even more excited was that Han Sen came over and pulled him up from the ground.

This is a more direct affirmation than attention.

Hansen's dribbling breakthrough was once again met with help from the Pelicans. This time it was James who went to the basket to help defend, and Hansen directly passed the ball to Tatum on the outside.

After receiving the ball, Tatum did not panic when facing Holiday who was turning around. He made a fake pass to Mitchell and deceived Mitchell. Then he took advantage of the situation and broke through to the free throw line for a mid-range shot.

"Shh!"

The basketball went into the net again.

Just like Tatum gives people the feeling, he doesn't have any killer moves, but he really can do everything.

There is a critical point between being all-round and being totally incompetent, which depends on the stage and the player's determination.

At this time, the camera language was fully utilized, not only for Hansen and Tatum who were high-fiving while retreating, but also for James.

James no longer had the smug look he had at the start of the game, and his face was extremely gloomy.

As usual, he is usually the player with the weakest offensive ability in the opponent's matchup. Considering that the two inside players of the Kings are of sufficient size, he is difficult to defend. Among the three outside players, Tatum is the weakest and the one with the worst performance this season.

What's more, he knows his little fanboy better than anyone else.

However, tonight, in this highly anticipated game where he avenged his previous defeat in front of Hansen, Tatum actually scored 5 points in a row under his defense!
This is intentional making things difficult for him!

James couldn't bear it anymore, and after getting the ball again in the frontcourt, he used his killer move.

Davis set up a pick-and-roll at his call, and James was finally able to break into the paint, passing Stan and slamming the ball into the basket.

After landing, James was very emotional and yelled at Tatum.

He knew Tatum wasn't a player with strong mental qualities.

Tatum was stunned. In fact, James's perception of this point was very accurate. Even the mature Tatum was not the kind of player who could be trusted at critical moments.

"This is the real LeBron." But at this moment, Hansen appeared next to Tatum.

The winning hug and the post-game player tunnel are only one aspect of the manifestation. James is a typical profit-oriented person: when you are useful to him, you are a friend and a brother, but when you are no longer valuable, you are no different from a stranger to him.

The most classic example is that after Anthony and Westbrook joined James, their endings were more miserable than each other.

Tatum came back to his senses, his eyes becoming firm again.

The white moonlight of his childhood was completely shattered at this moment, but he did not feel regretful or sad, but fortunate instead.

In the Kings' attack, Hansen was double-teamed as soon as he received the ball.

Although Tatum played well after the opening tonight, from the Pelicans' perspective, Hansen is still the biggest threat to the Pelicans, and Tatum just seized the opportunities created by Hansen.

This judgment was correct, but Han Sen's mentality had changed.

He was originally prepared to use his personal performance to open up the offense as he did in previous games this season, but Tatum's performance tonight won his trust.

So after being double-teamed, he immediately passed the ball to Tatum.

The Pelicans' defensive rotation was very quick, and Tatum did not get a chance to attack directly.

Sabonis then took the initiative to move to the high post and tried a pick-and-roll, but Davis was not blocked by Sabonis.

Han Sen was stunned for a moment.

It’s not that I’m surprised at the Pelicans’ excellent defensive ability, but that the Pelicans switched defense, and James, who was originally matched against Tatum, now matches against Stan!
It still has to be James. In addition to smart injuries, there is also smart matchup.

Tatum's choice at this time was unexpected. After seeing that Davis was not blocked, he did not give up the attack. Instead, he suddenly changed direction to the left, then accelerated and broke through between Davis and Bradley!
No one expected that Tatum would show an unprecedented level of determination at this moment.

By the time the Pelicans reacted, it was too late. Tatum had already broken through to the free throw line.

But just as he was about to accelerate and jump, James let Stan move to the basket.

Convinced that Tatum had been intimidated by his earlier roar, he decided to teach his little fan a lesson.

He saw the right moment to block Tatum's layup.

However, his judgment was wrong again. Tatum was not prepared to layup at all, or when he saw James, he gave up the idea of ​​layup.

Han Sen also had a premonition at this time and looked intently in the direction of Tatum.

Tatum suddenly took off like a scallion pulled up from dry land, and then pulled the ball to the top in the air.

James jumped almost at the same time.

In the aerial wrestling, Tatum showed his youthful advantage as he jumped a little higher than James.

It was this point that made the ball rise half a hand's length higher than the hand that James used to block the shot.

"Oh!"

Under the incredible gazes of everyone at the scene, Tatum completed a dunk on James!

James' blocking hand didn't cover the ball, but it hit Tatum's shoulder and couldn't stop Tatum from completing the dunk.

The scene fell into madness.

To be honest, Hansen didn't expect Tatum to become so brave all of a sudden.

But that’s not all.

After landing, Tatum was extremely excited and he yelled directly at James!
He gave back what James gave him!

No, not only did he return the favor, he even took the initiative to bump into James' body.

At this moment, Hansen truly felt Tatum's determination.

Tatum said goodbye to his childhood idol in this way and threw away the "awkwardness" that had been hidden in his heart.

James seemed a little dazed at this time. He was not angry after being dunked on. Instead, he mechanically took the ball from Davis from the backcourt.

Gentry saw that something was wrong and called a timeout.

When the game was over, Hansen took the initiative to touch Tatum's head.

"Well done."

This is the first time Hansen has given direct and positive affirmation to Tatum since he came to the Kings.

Tatum nodded vigorously, and it was obvious that he was very excited at the moment.

It was not just because of the affirmation from Han Sen, but more importantly, he truly felt the effect of the determination that Han Sen talked about.

Playing with determination will make him stronger than before and he can really win the game.

After the timeout, the Pelicans increased their defense on Tatum.

The dunk just now not only allowed Tatum to show off his personal abilities, but also demonstrated his hot form tonight.

In this case, the Pelicans had to focus on defending him.

However, doing so would inevitably mean weakening the defense against Hansen.

Then soon, Hansen showed the determination to win the game that he had shown at the beginning.

What if there is a gap in the strength of the teams?

Just like the Grizzlies and Cavaliers before, as long as his teammates can give Hansen support and can tie up part of the defense, Hansen will be an undefended player in this league.

In the end, led by Hansen's 48 points, the Kings defeated the Pelicans 108-98 in this focus battle.

In a season where 120+ or ​​even 130 points are common, the Pelicans limited the Kings to less than 110 points tonight, and the level they showed is still top in the league. Unfortunately, they still can't do anything about Hansen.

Davis scored a big double-double of 31 points and 16 rebounds, but now he is already the league's top inside player.

James got a near triple-double of 20 points, 10 rebounds and 9 assists.

Tatum once again attended the post-match press conference with Hansen.

今晚他15投10中得到26分7板3助攻，是继之前打勇士之后又一次打出高光表现。

"I just wanted to win the game, and that's what I kept telling myself during the game."

Tatum talked about his determination when discussing his performance tonight.

"Are you worried that your performance will fluctuate again?" the reporter asked.

You know, the last time the team played against the Warriors, the outside world once thought that Tatum had finally performed well.

But subsequent games proved that it was just a flash in the pan.

"No, I have found a way to win the game." Tatum said and turned to look at Hansen beside him.

The reporters immediately turned their eyes to Han Sen.

Han Sen smiled and nodded: "We will see the real Jayson Tatum."

(End of this chapter)