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Chapter 266: In critical moments, you can always trust Zhang San!

Chapter 266: In critical moments, you can always trust Zhang San!

James wanted to lead the team to overtake the score and establish a lead.

Time and again he drove to the basket, countered, scored, drew fouls and went to the free-throw line, passing the ball to teammates at mid and long distances...

In the first quarter, James made 2 out of 5 attempts, plus 7 out of 10 free throws, collecting 11 points, 2 rebounds, and 3 assists, leading the Knights to score 23 points.

This was the highest score James and his team had achieved in the first quarter since the start of the playoffs in three games.

On the Bobcats’ side, Zhang Yang played for 8 minutes, scored 6 points, and had 1 assist; Felton 5 points, Okafor 4 points, Gerald Wallace 5 points, Alan Anderson 3 points, Jumaine Jones 2 points...totaling 25 points for the quarter, leading the Knights by two points as they headed into the break!

In the second quarter, James continued to play the entire period, making 2 out of 5 shots, including 0 for 1 on three-pointers, along with 4 out of 5 free throws, scoring 8 points, 3 rebounds, and 3 assists, leading the Knights to score 24 more points.

For the Bobcats, Zhang Yang played 5 minutes and scored two points, Gerald Wallace 4 points, Okafor 3 points, Felton 2 points and 3 assists, Matt Carroll 6 points, Jumaine Jones 3 points, and Alan Anderson two points...The Bobcats only scored 22 points this quarter, losing it by two points but still preventing the Knights from turning the score around.

In the third quarter, James made 2 out of 6 shots, 1 of 3 on three-pointers, along with 4 out of 6 free throws, pocketing 9 points, 4 rebounds, and 2 assists, leading the Knights to score 21 points.

On the Bobcats’ side, their perimeter shooting accuracy dropped this quarter, but Zhang Yang stepped up!

Zhang Yang played for 7 minutes, scoring twice on counter-attacks, once from a long two-pointer and once by driving to the basket for a close-range shot where he was fouled and made both free throws, totaling 8 points for the quarter!

Together with Felton’s 6 points, Gerald Wallace’s 6 points, Okafor’s 4 points, the four of them monopolized the team’s scoring during the crucial third quarter, totaling 24 points.

James fought hard, but no matter how hard he tried or how desperately he played, he still couldn’t lead his team to gain the advantage!

Every time he scored, went to the free-throw line, or passed an assist, someone from the Bobcats would score!

Zhang Yang’s mid to long-range shooting, counter-attacks; Gerald Wallace’s drives to the basket; Felton’s three-pointers, close shots; Okafor’s close ball receptions, scoring under the basket, offensive rebound rushes; Matt Carroll, Jumaine Jones, Alan Anderson’s side wing shots...There was always someone sinking the ball!

With 28 points, 9 rebounds, and 8 assists over three quarters, James never expected that with such a performance, his team would still be trailing!

to 68, the Bobcats led the Knights by 3 points going into the final break!

...

Zhang Yang originally intended to play defensively, which is why he engaged in physical confrontations with Damon Jones, causing his shooting to fall off in the second quarter where he only scored two points from 1 out of 4 shots over 5 minutes; fortunately, his teammates performed well and kept the score close.

After Perkins committed two fouls in succession, while the Knights were at the free-throw line, Zhang quickly recalled the 2012 Finals against the Miami Heat during a brief break...finding nothing relevant to use.

He didn’t have the capabilities he had back then, and the Bobcats didn’t have the unbeatable team offense that the Spurs had.

So, he opted to gamble on defensive plays, betting that the referees’ whistles might be blocked.

But the referees really did blow the whistle!

And strictly speaking, those were indeed fouls.

Most of those fouls were called on Perkins, Brezec, and Melvin Ely, the three unfortunate ones.

Perkins and Melvin Ely were keen on physical defense, acting roughly since their current defense lacked finesse.

Brezec also had poor defensive habits, often relying on his height of 218 cm and a wingspan of 221 cm as a physical advantage, hovering over players driving in, and when James raised his arms and touched Brezec’s hands, the referee’s whistle blew.

If strict by the rules, then the 10 fouls James drew from these three were all legitimate.

It incited passionate and furious exertion from the Bobcats players and left the home crowd unable to contain their anger as the officiating was stricter against the Bobcats than during the regular season while using standard playoff leniency towards the Knights.

Big Z, Gooden, Varejao, Donnell Marshall’s defense was no different from the three, even rougher. Once Gerald Wallace drove in and ’banged’ into Big Z’s arm, causing his nose to bleed, yet he got no free throws.

Left with no choice, during the official timeout in the second quarter, Zhang Yang and Bickerstaff discussed and unanimously decided to reduce the physical confrontation inside post.

The three of them couldn’t help it. If they did not defend like that, they would be useless on the defense, so they played as they should.

Okafor and Jumaine Jones focused on defensive disruption when they were on the court, pairing it with perimeter contraction to encircle James, pushing on offense.

The Bobcats’ offense was not as good as the 2012 Spurs, not even close.

But then, James’s impact was also not as good as his 2012 self, and the Knights’ shooters were far from the 2012 Miami Heat!

Damon Jones was the league’s third-best three-point shooter last season, but why did the championship-aspiring Miami Heat not keep him? At the time, the Heat’s head coach was Stan Van Gundy, who favored three-point shooting, and Pat Riley also understood the importance of three-pointers.

Because he was timid...He was good playing with the lead, and with a major deficit, he dared to fight and struggle, with that fierce expression and resolute eyes making it seem like he was a tenacious player.

But he wasn’t truly fierce or tenacious, as one would know after testing him. Whenever the game reached a tense moment, Damon Jones would disappear. In last season’s Eastern Conference Finals Game 7, he would pass the ball whenever he received it, scared to shoot even when open. He played 32 minutes, attempted only 3 shots, missed twice, got fouled on one, made one of two free-throws, scoring just 1 point and 2 assists.