Although James' desire for the Game 2 wasn't as intense as Game 1, it was still better than before.
But Hansen understood James better than anyone, knowing that James had the weakest mental attributes on this team and was the easiest to crush.
Not to mention those past encounters, James had a psychological fear of him.
As expected by Hansen, as he began to suppress James on both ends of the court, James went from being active and proactive to passive and lazy.
The classic gestures, hands on hips on offense, the spread of hands to the ref's calls, shoving teammates on defense — all those parts familiar to fans that hadn't been shown yet started to emerge like bamboo shoots after a rain.
And this was disastrous for the Pelicans' morale.
Davis, originally striving hard, was battling Jokic in the post and suddenly found himself having to deal not only with Jokic but also with players leaking in from the flanks.
What Green experienced last season, Davis was fully experiencing now.
