No.1 in basketball scoring
Chapter 264 - 135. You score as many goals as we shoot! _3

Chapter 264: 135. You score as many goals as we shoot! _3

Zhang Yang saw this and felt there wasn’t a problem.

The Knight’s signing was indeed ill-advised, securing a ball-handling guard whose offensive zone and style almost entirely overlapped with that of James and who basically had no shooting ability, especially with a near-max contract. It not only impeded the development of James but also took up salary space.

However, Zhang Yang was very displeased.

Media led by ESPN concentrated all the attention on the Knight’s poor moves and Hughes’ unsuitability to assist James, holding James back.

It was as if the Knight would’ve been leading 2-0 instead of trailing 0-2 in the series had they not signed Hughes!

They completely ignored the effort and performance of the Bobcat players.

It was as if they forgot that without Hughes, the Knight couldn’t beat them during the regular season.

But most fans actually believed this narrative, whether they liked the Knight or not, everyone supported this claim... In these still nascent years of information technology, public opinion was easily manipulated.

When something feels wrong, look to the boss!

Felton at home, was happily refreshing the news.

He didn’t have as many thoughts, seeing the rival in disarray and being criticized made him happy.

He felt that they had the series in the bag, his mindset already relaxed.

But after hearing Zhang Yang’s words, Felton became unhappy too...

The next day, on a training day, right before practice started, Felton gathered his teammates and gave a speech, after which he shouted the mantra— "Let the Knight fans know how formidable we are!"

Originally, from January 31st until now, having already beaten the Knight five times in a row, the other Bobcat players had grown somewhat complacent, just like Felton.

Now, feeling slighted, they too were displeased... They had to let the Knight fans understand their strength!

Time moved to April 28th, and the Bobcats faced the Knight at home for the third game of the series.

The Knight players stepped onto the court with a do-or-die attitude; if they lost this game, they would fall behind 0-3 with no hope left.

Hughes also temporarily put his dissatisfaction aside, began the game by leading his teammates in staunch defense, and coordinated well with James on offense.

Any player selected for first-tier defense has a competitive spirit, even a player like Camby is ’competitive’ in terms of statistics, and if fans who had not watched Camby’s live games in the past two years saw a highlight reel of his games, they would definitely think Camby was the most defensively active player in the league.

Hughes, however, didn’t just appear aggressive and competitive—his defense was fierce and earnest; under his lead, the Knight players produced a remarkable defensive performance.

But the Bobcats, under Felton’s lead, also played fiercely, and the viewers in front of the TV couldn’t tell at first glance which team was the one trailing 0-2...

The Bobcat players thought to themselves: You all say the Knight would’ve been the ones 0-2 without signing Hughes, right? Well, we’ll show you what it looks like to play as if we are 0-2 down!

The Knight players gave their all, but after struggling for over three minutes, the two teams were tied at 6-6.

Just then, the turning point of the game occurred...

When the Knight were on offense, James drove to the paint, unable to shake off Felton, Perkins, and Okafor with three big steps, his left-side passing lane cut off by Okafor, and his pass to the high post intercepted by Gerald Wallace who had moved to the middle. He had no choice but to force a shot... and missed!

But at that moment, the referee’s whistle sounded abruptly, calling a hand foul on Perkins!

James went to the free-throw line and made one of two shots.

It wasn’t over yet; on the next play, after the Bobcats’ missed shot on offense, James drove to the basket again, forcefully pushing past Felton. With such an offensive move, he had no space to even step, blocked at the front by Perkins and with Felton reaching for the ball at his side. James jumped toward Perkins, who, within the charge circle, stood his ground against James without reaching out, just providing resistance... The referee’s whistle sounded abruptly once more!

Perkins, dissatisfied, roared his complaints at the referee... and got hit with a technical foul, Okafor quickly grabbed Perkins and pushed him toward the sideline.

The first foul was bearable; the home crowd merely booed.

This time, the home crowd was enraged, cursing at the referee maniacally.

In the first two games, James had an excessive amount of free throws—11 in game one, with only 6 of 18 shots made, and the number of free throws was simply unreasonable; in game two, James only played for three quarters, 31 minutes, and got to the line 12 times, averaging a high of 4 per quarter... but those games were still considered normal as James’ free throws in the regular season were roughly the same.

Tonight, the bias was just too much, with 4 minutes into the game, James got to shoot 4 free throws, the fouls were both precisely called on Perkins! Not to mention the technical foul!

Clear favoritism!

Jordan was angry. Had Okafor not come back, this foul would have struck right at their defensive lifeline! It was the presence of Perkins that had allowed them to begin to find a way to deal with James.

He rushed to the sideline, pointing his finger at the referee’s nose, swearing... Only to be told by the referee to leave the court, be quiet, or be sent off.

Overrated goat, as if anyone cared.

The much older Bickerstaff, who had seen more, remained calm and took advantage of the free throw moment to gather his players, sending in Zhang Yang and Brezec, with Felton, Gerald Wallace, and Felton continuing to play.

Jordan, returning from his setback with the referee, looked at the five players on court and asked Bickerstaff, "With these whistles, what about our defense?"