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Chapter 353 - 166. Jordan: Is this what I mean by shooting well? _2

Chapter 353: 166. Jordan: Is this what I mean by shooting well? _2

The Bobcats scored 13 to 4 in the third overtime.

Okafor scored 12 points with 25 rebounds, Gerald Wallace scored 11 points with 8 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals, and 3 blocks, Felton scored 32 points with 5 assists, Matt Carroll scored 21 points, Jumaine Jones scored 12 points, Alan Anderson scored 12 points, Herrmann scored 9 points... Six players on the Bobcats scored in double figures. After a triple-overtime battle, they narrowly defeated the Lakers with a score of 133 to 124!

Kobe played 63 minutes, made 22 of 41 shots, and scored a whopping 58 points.

Odom underperformed tonight, playing 48 minutes, making only 5 of 15 shots, and scoring just 14 points with 11 rebounds and 5 assists.

Kwame Brown and Bynum also did not perform well on the rebounds; the Lakers lost 20 rebounds during the 63 minutes, with Okafor alone grabbing 11 offensive rebounds, instilling confidence in his teammates to fire from the perimeter.

However, none of these caught Zhang Yang’s attention as much as one person’s stats did.

With Felton drawing defensive attention during top arc pick-and-roll plays, Rondo took over as the playmaking core, delivering assists to the wings, and his assists count soared.

Rondo played 33 minutes, made 1 of 3 shots, added 2 out of 4 free throws, and got 4 points, 10 rebounds, 15 assists, and 2 steals.

Scoring less even with assists included! His shooting was still incredibly astonishing!

Seeing Rondo, Gerald Wallace, and Okafor practicing shooting, Zhang Yang realized just how difficult it could be to develop a shooting skill.

...

Zhang Yang entered a state of patient injury recovery, practicing one-handed ball handling every day to keep his body from getting out of shape.

His injury healed faster than the doctors had anticipated; partly because of his exceptional recovery abilities, and also because he followed medical advice carefully, wearing his brace all the time except in the shower to prevent accidental twists of his neck and shoulder from worsening the injury.

Originally expected to take about ten days to recover fully from his shoulder injury, he got clearance from the team doctor on the fifth day to resume regular training.

He wore his neck brace for an additional two days, taking it off after a week as such injuries could be serious.

While he was suspended due to the injury, the games still had to go on.

On the 12th and 14th, the Bobcats hosted games against the Spurs and the Mavericks... both were losses, dropping their record to 16 wins and 7 losses.

On the 16th, the Bobcats narrowly defeated the Knight, 93 to 89; on the 18th, they lost to the Chicago Bulls 91 to 105; and on the 20th, they defeated the Hornets 90 to 85, earning a record of 2 wins and 1 loss over three away games, improving their record to 18 wins and 8 losses.

In these three games, without Zhang Yang, the Bobcats only had a competitive edge against the Hornets, as Peja was out with a serious injury early in the month, and Paul was just about to take off as a top shooter when he too got injured.

The Chicago Bulls had a 50-win caliber, and without Zhang Yang, the Bobcats were merely at the fringe of playoff level, sometimes not even playing up to playoff standards. The issue wasn’t just missing their top scorer; it was a bigger impact on offensive tactics.

Being able to defeat the Knight, another 50-win caliber team... Felton made a name for himself again—Charlotte’s own giant killer of James.

Actually, it was mainly by defending James with a solid front line; of course, Felton bravely faced up to James, his role no less significant than the front line’s, but in the media, it turned into Felton single-handedly locking down James.

During Zhang Yang’s suspension, two major events occurred in the league.

He was involved in the first incident—on the evening of the 16th, the Nuggets Team and the Knicks Team had an epic brawl!

Initially, Zhang Yang was harshly criticized for hitting Raja Bell, even though more fans defended him, it didn’t stop the criticisms.

However, after the Madison Square Garden brawl, the criticisms towards him significantly decreased.

The brawl between the Nuggets Team and the Knicks Team erupted with just 1 minute and 15 seconds left in the game, with the Nuggets Team already ahead by 19 points. Nuggets Team’s head coach, George Karl, did not substitute his starters, and the starters wanted to increase the lead over 20 points to complete the slaughter. This deliberate humiliation angered the Knicks players, leading to the conflict.

JR Smith couldn’t handle it alone, called for his teammates, and both teams erupted into a brawl, eventually involving up to 19 players. The referees, after reviewing the footage, ejected 10 players who were directly involved in the physical confrontation, and the other 9 received technical fouls.

In the wake of this brawl, fans saw Zhang Yang’s reason for hitting Raja Bell as completely justified; he tried to prevent a mass brawl, and his decision to fight alone, initially mocked as shameless and deceptive, surprisingly turned around in public opinion.

Hitting someone is definitely not a good thing, but it’s hard to deny having a foil...

The brawl at Madison Square Garden had a much worse impact; all 41 home games of the Knicks are televised, and the ratings are high, so the entire process of the brawl was broadcasted live.

Afterward, the leader who helped JR Smith in the brawl, Anthony, was suspended for 15 games, or an entire month, the second-highest punishment for fighting. Below that tier, there’s Artest, the infamous player who could be suspended for an entire season.

With two violent incidents occurring in one month, December 2006 was not a good month for the league.

The other big news occurred on December 19, following the brawl, the Nuggets Team completed a trade with the 76ers.

The Nuggets Team traded Andre Miller, at 30 years old averaging 13 points and 9 assists, along with two first-round picks, to acquire Allen Iverson, 31 years old averaging 31.2 points, 7.3 assists, and 2.2 steals!

The trade announcement shocked the entire sports world.