No.1 in basketball scoring
Chapter 354 - 166. Jordan: Is this what I meant by good shooting? _3

Chapter 354: 166. Jordan: Is this what I meant by good shooting? _3

The son of Philadelphia, Iverson, has actually been traded!

But after looking at the trade details, people realized this wasn’t just any trade, it was a favor!

Anthony + Iverson, paired with Nene and Camby in the paint, plus an excellent bench depth, there’s no way the regular season record could be too bad. The Nuggets Team had a rough start this season, plus a brawl, which might result in a higher draft pick, but the 2007 draft rights were already given to the Nets when trading for Kenyon Martin.

In other words, the Nuggets Team managed to get Iverson back using only Andre Miller plus two late first-round draft picks.

Ignoring compatibility and just looking at the value of the chips, the Nuggets Team practically robbed the 76ers.

...

After finishing a three-game road trip, Zhang Yang’s suspension had also ended.

After playing against the Hornets, the Charlotte team had two days of rest. On the 21st, his teammates had just returned to Charlotte and needed to rest, so Zhang Yang trained alone. On the 22nd, nearly two weeks later, he finally rejoined the team’s practice to prepare for the last game of the early season the next day.

Zhang Yang was back in action after recovering and being reinstated from his suspension, and his teammates were very excited, training very hard.

These six games had been torturous for them, with each game’s offense being worse than the last.

Against the Spurs, the Knight, the Chicago Bulls, and the Hornets, they scored just over 90 points. Even the Hawks team, which averaged the least points per game this season, could manage 94 points. With NHC in its third season, the league’s average scoring had reached 98.1 points. Victories over the Knight and the Hornets were achieved through defense, while the win against the Lakers was due to a three-point shooting spree, having made 19 threes in total, barely falling short of the game record for three-pointers made.

Zhang Yang was also very excited. He missed the games against Kobe, Ginobili, Nowitzki, as well as Paul, James, Hinrich... It was almost too much for him.

On the 23rd, the Charlotte team faced the Pistons at home.

In their last six games, the Charlotte team had a 3-3 record, which the Pistons had matched, both teams standing at 18 wins and 8 losses. Because the Charlotte team had lost their previous head-to-head matchup, the Pistons had overtaken them to the top of the Eastern Conference, pushing the Charlotte team down to second in the East.

At 9:23 p.m., after more than two hours of gameplay, the Charlotte team lost to the Pistons with a score of 97 to 104, failing to reclaim the top spot in the East in the last game of the early season.

Hamilton scored 18 points, Billups had 15 points and 7 assists, Rasheed Wallace added 17 points, Melvin Eli contributed 11 points, and Ronald Murray scored 16 points, with five Pistons scoring in double figures to secure the victory.

For the Charlotte team, Okafor went 6-for-13 plus 7-of-12 from the free-throw line to score 19 points and grab 11 rebounds. Gerald Wallace had 14 points, 8 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 steals, and 1 block, and Felton put up 17 points and 6 assists, with all three of them performing well.

But tonight, Zhang Yang was in a slump; under the defense of Hamilton, McDyess, and Billups, he made only 4 of his 15 shots, including missing all four three-point attempts. With 4 free throws, he scored just 12 points along with 5 rebounds and 2 assists.

Before the injury, he was in red-hot form, starting with the Utah Jazz, scoring at least 20 points in five consecutive games. Against the Suns, he had scored 24 points on 9-of-14 shooting in just 22 minutes before being ejected by Fat Joe. His form was excellent; otherwise, he wouldn’t have provoked Raja Bell, but after half a month without games, that fiery form was gone.

He played as usual in the first quarter but ended it 0-for-4. He realized the problem at that moment and consciously adjusted his playing style to be more cautious and make better shot selections afterward, but he didn’t play much better, only making 4 of 11 shots in the next three quarters.

After the game, Zhang Yang fell asleep in frustration, but when he woke up the next morning, he had adjusted his mindset. Brooding over poor form was useless. Besides, that kind of form where he easily scored 20+ in 30 minutes wasn’t going to last. It was inevitable that his form would return to normal, and he shouldn’t dwell on it. Practicing and playing well and making adjustments was the right path.

After the game against the Pistons, the Charlotte team had completed all of its early-season games.

For the next two days, Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, the Charlotte team had no games, and the coaching staff didn’t schedule any practices either, allowing the players to "have a good holiday."

Zhang Yang didn’t go to the arena during these two days. He stayed with his parents, who rented a house in Charlotte with a basketball hoop installed in the yard for when he came to stay and practice.

During these two days, he practiced shooting only in the evenings, spending the rest of his time accompanying his parents and walking his little brother. During the season, such opportunities were rare. The mid-season was coming, a time when the gap between the strong and weak teams would widen, and they couldn’t fall behind.

On the evening of the 25th, Zhang Yang watched a bit of the Christmas blockbuster game before going out to walk his brother. It was boring.

This year’s Christmas blockbuster was exclusive to just one game between the Lakers and Miami Heat, as 27 other teams, including the Charlotte team, weren’t involved. Naturally, the focus was supposed to be on the OK clash, but both Kobe and O’Neal were sidelined with injuries, leaving only Wade to perform solo... December was truly a downer for the owners.

The Christmas clash ended with the Miami Heat defeating the Lakers 95 to 87, with Wade leading with 40 points and 6 assists.

With the Christmas clash over, all teams had completed their 27-game early-season schedule.

Before going to sleep, Zhang Yang checked the team records.

In the East, the Pistons stood at 19 wins and 8 losses in first place, the Charlotte team at 18 wins and 9 losses in second, the Knight at 16 wins and 11 losses in third, followed by the Toronto Raptors at 15 wins and 12 losses in fourth. Although the Chicago Bulls’ record was better than the Raptors’, being at 16 wins and 11 losses, they could only rank fifth since they shared the same division with the Pistons and the Knight. The Nets had a 14-13 record in sixth, Miami Heat at 13-14 in seventh, and the Wizards at 13-14 in eighth.