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Chapter 339 - 161. When you can make every shot, you just can’t stop shooting!_4

Chapter 339: 161. When you can make every shot, you just can’t stop shooting!_4

The Jazz Team were desperately trying to catch up, but as soon as they managed to score, Zhang Yang either hit a medium shot or broke through to draw fouls. The halftime break didn’t interrupt Zhang Yang’s shooting rhythm; instead, it gave him time to analyze the Jazz Team’s man-to-man and help defense. He figured out how to minimize the impact of the opponent’s shot interference.

In the third quarter, Zhang Yang played for over 7 minutes. He didn’t shoot as much as he had in the first half of the second quarter, making 4 out of 7 attempts, but he scored 5 out of 5 free throws, netting 13 points in just over half a quarter of play. Together with his teammates’ 3 points, they scored 16 to 10, expanding their lead to 12 points at 58 against 46, leading the Jazz Team.

The Jazz Team were tenacious, or perhaps Sloan was really patient. Though disheartened, they didn’t give up. He instructed his players to pull off a 10-7 run in the last 5 minutes of the third quarter, closing the gap to 56-65 and reducing the difference to single digits.

But that was the last time tonight the Jazz Team would reduce the deficit to under 10 points...

After the break between quarters, Zhang Yang, who had rested for half the quarter, started off the fourth quarter on a shooting spree!

In those 3 minutes of isolation plays in the second quarter, as well as the over 7 minutes in the third quarter, Deron, although lacking some awareness but with good physical condition to keep up and apply some interference, and Fisher, lacking physical capability but making up for it with good awareness to stay in front of him, could at least trouble him somewhat.

This time when he returned to the court, Deron and Fisher couldn’t even manage basic interference. Zhang Yang could breeze past them, stopping suddenly at mid-range for easy jump shots. If they backed off a bit, he’d simply retreat beyond the three-point line and throw, playing as if he were in a practice session tonight with his hot shooting hand.

Deron hadn’t rested at all in the first three quarters, and Fisher, who had played for over three minutes in the second quarter, had been on the court ever since, both unable to keep up their energy after playing their guts out on both offense and defense for the past one and a half quarters!

Zhang Yang’s insane isolation plays meanwhile created rest opportunities for his core teammates. When he went to rest, they too gave him a chance to rest easy; it was a virtuous cycle...

Shoot!

Shoot like crazy!

After several rounds, Sloan finally ran out of patience. There wasn’t any time left. He had to push the defense up high, hoping Okur could hold down the fort alone.

This time, the worrying situation Sloan anticipated didn’t happen. The opponents didn’t score much from cuts to the basket because Zhang Yang, faced with Boozer or Kirilenko rushing at him, didn’t pass but continued to shoot!

Gerald Wallace, Millsap, and Okafor, who went on the court in the final quarter, knew too well what Zhang San was like when he got hot. They never thought about cutting in to support; they stormed in to fight for offensive rebounds!

In 10 minutes, Zhang Yang made over a dozen shots, successfully shooting 12 times, 6 out of 12, including making 2 out of 5 three-pointers, plus 4 out of 5 free throws, scoring a massive 18 points!

With 10 minutes and 16 seconds left in the final quarter, Zhang Yang, from beyond the three-point line and facing Deron, threw a three-pointer...it missed, and Sloan called a timeout, substituting his main players.

Bickerstaff also subbed out Zhang Yang, spitting out in the direction of the old man, "Old fart, so petty! How easy is it for an 18-year-old kid to get a chance to score 20 points in a single quarter?"

The ball that Zhang Yang threw from beyond the three-point line was because in the previous play, when he broke through, he was pulled down by the opponent’s substitute Center, Jarron Collins. Since the opposing team had already subbed out their remaining main players, it wouldn’t be good to put Zhang Yang back in; knowing the old man’s temperament, he would definitely play dirty.

However, failing to get 20+ points in a single quarter wasn’t particularly regrettable...

When Zhang Yang was subbed out, the score had reached 91-73. In those 10 plus minutes of the final quarter, he led the team to a 26-17 run!

In the last minute or so, the Bobcats threw two shots from the outside that didn’t make it, while the Jazz Team had already lost the will to fight and just wanted to clock out...

At 9:22 PM, the final whistle blew, and the Bobcats defeated the Jazz Team by 18 points, improving their record to 12 wins and 4 losses, overtaking the Pistons, who had improved to 11 wins and 5 losses after winning the previous night, to end the first month of play as the leaders in the Eastern Conference!

After the final whistle, the entire crowd went into a frenzy of cheers, everyone shouting "Jack."

The reporters rushed to the Bobcats’ bench at the first opportunity, with more force than the professional players, shoving all the Bobcats players aside... oh, right, and the Bobcats owner got pushed aside too.

Why wasn’t Bickerstaff regretting that Zhang Yang didn’t get 20 points