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Chapter 216: Table 118 is ready!_4

Chapter 216: Table 118 is ready!_4

At that time, he was obviously a bit faster than Zhang Yang, but just now, when Zhang Yang was on defense, he kept up with his pace. Even when he was chasing back on the counterattack, before Zhang Yang caught the ball, his speed didn’t seem slower!

Is the potential of a 17-year-old that great? No, that’s not right! Ellis remembered that when he was in 9th and 10th grade, about sixteen or seventeen years old, he was already almost at his current speed!

His height hadn’t grown much since then, only his weight increased from 165 pounds (75 kg) when he first entered high school to the current 186 pounds (84 kg).

Ellis felt annoyed. He was the second-best high school player in the entire country for the class of ’05! The best-performing, highest-ranked perimeter player of his class! How could there be another perimeter player with higher potential in the same class?

Ellis continued his offensive after receiving the ball in the frontcourt...

After a few rounds, Ellis couldn’t accept it, but he had to admit that in just 3 months, he could no longer suppress Zhang Yang like he did when they clashed in December.

His skills might be slightly better, but the other’s physique was superior. Not only could he play with the ball, but he could also play off the ball. Instead of coming off the bench as the sixth man to continue the team’s offensive firepower and suppress the opponent, he was actually being suppressed by them!

In the starting phase, the Bobcats withstood the opposing team’s offensive firepower, and didn’t let the gap widen too much. After Zhang Yang came on, he withstood Montgomery’s strategy to use Monta Ellis as a surprise weapon to widen the gap... By the end of the first quarter, the advantage of the Bobcats’ team cooperation came into play!

After the first quarter ended, the Bobcats led by 4 points, 34-30 ahead of the Warriors, scoring 22-13 in the last 7 minutes!

If they had been suppressed from the start, losing 9 points in 7 minutes is likely enough for the Warriors to give up as per their ’tradition.’

But since they had the lead at the beginning, they didn’t want to give up after returning from the interval, and continued to attack!

The Warriors scored 28-27 in the second quarter, narrowing the gap by 1 point, but in the third quarter, the Bobcats, with the help of three-point shooters Matt Carroll, Karim Rush, and Jumaine Jones, scored 5 three-pointers, achieving a 29-23 score and widening the gap to 9 points, leading 90-81 against the Warriors.

In the final quarter, the Warriors ultimately resorted to their ’tradition’ of giving up when outmatched.

The score for the last quarter was 24-21, and the Bobcats defeated the Warriors by 114-102, improving their record to 30 wins and 31 losses!

Ellis played 25 minutes tonight, making 5 out of 11 shots, and with a free throw record of 3 for 3, he scored 13 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists, and 1 steal. His performance was quite impressive.

But being just a scorer who plays one-on-one, without tactical support from his team, he didn’t perform as well as Zhang Yang on the other side.

Zhang Yang made 6 out of 13 shots, including 2 out of 5 three-pointers, and with a free throw record of 2 for 2, he scored 18 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal!

Okafor dominated the paint tonight, cutting inside for easy buckets or second-chance points, scoring on fast breaks, and posting up... Making 12 out of 21 shots, and 4 out of 6 free throws, he amassed 28 points, 13 rebounds, 1 assist, and 2 blocks. His 28 points were the third-highest scoring in his rookie season.

Felton had a standard performance tonight with 14 points, 3 rebounds, and 7 assists.

Gerald Wallace was insane, continuously igniting the crowd’s cheers. Although he only scored 17 points, he also contributed with 4 rebounds, 5 assists, 4 steals, and 5 blocks, effectively curbing the Warriors’ scoring momentum.

Gerald Wallace was originally quite satisfied with his performance, but listening to the murmurs from his little brother Jack while looking at the big screen, he felt his OCD kicking in.

"Why couldn’t Gerald just get one more assist and one more steal, or at least have one less assist and one less block? And he could have scored two more points, or maybe one more three-pointer or a 2+1... Looking at it makes me feel itchy all over..."

So, in the next day’s back-to-back game against the Hawks team, the Hawks players were coming apart at the seams.

The heir to the Bobcats, what have we done to you? We were just targeting the rookie high school players, right?

The situation with the Hawks team was even worse than the Warriors.

The Warriors’ poor performance has been a tradition for 10 years; they’ve always been like this, and the players are used to it. If there’s a chance to win, they go for it; if not, they give up and lay flat, without getting discouraged.

Moreover, head coach Montgomery has always been trying to make the team better. Though his coaching style doesn’t fit the NBA, his efforts have earned the respect of the players. They are willing to go along with his attempts, keeping everyone busy.

The Hawks team, on the other hand, is like a quagmire; possessing the best forward lineup in the entire league, they have achieved the third-worst record in the Eastern Conference, fourth-worst in the league.

Their record is far below their expectations at the start of the season. Facing strong teams, they couldn’t beat anyone; every lineup change by the head coach was a mess, even the players felt it shouldn’t be done that way. But as a Larry Brown-school coach, Mike Brown was stubborn and autocratic, believing his authority could not be challenged, resulting in tense relationships with the players...

Against the Bobcats who played back-to-back tonight, the Hawks players had no expectations. Joe Johnson planned to just score 20 points with 5 assists and call it a day, Harrington continued to target Zhang Yang, a fellow rookie high school player, and Josh Smith when he had nothing else to do, joined Harrington in double-teaming Zhang Yang... only to be thoroughly hammered by His Royal Highness, who was dissatisfied with the data from the previous night.

Gerald Wallace played 36 minutes tonight, making 5 out of 9 shots and 2 out of 4 free throws, scoring 12 points. He didn’t focus on scoring, immersing himself in aggressive offense and defense, making mad dashes to snag... He gathered 6 rebounds, 6 assists, 6 steals, and 5 blocks!

Under the targeting of the two high schoolers, Zhang Yang made 3 out of 7 shots, scoring 6 points, 3 rebounds, 5 assists, demonstrating Livingston-esque performance.

Okafor got 15 points, 11 rebounds, Felton 18 points, 4 assists, Brezec 19 points, Matt Carroll 13 points... With a 102-81 victory, the Bobcats defeated the Hawks team, handing them their 44th loss of the season. The Hawks’ record is now 20 wins and 44 losses, ’equaling’ the Eastern Conference’s second-bottom Toronto Raptors.

Toronto Raptors management: Damn! Another competitor has emerged!

On the Bobcats’ side, securing a fourth consecutive win, they improved their record to 31 wins and 31 losses, reaching a winning percentage of 50 percent, and finally hitting the .500 mark!

After the game ended, the entire Bobcats team celebrated around Gerald Wallace, crazed by his performance, but Wallace himself felt itchy all over... 12+6+6+6+5... just one block short!