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Chapter 402: Key Killer, First Triple-Double!_3

Chapter 402: Key Killer, First Triple-Double!_3

Now, they could only rely on Zhang Yang and Okafor to solve the problem.

After the timeout, the Bobcats sent out Rondo, Zhang Yang, Matt Carroll, Okafor, and Perkins.

The Toronto Raptors sent out Ford, Anthony Parker, Morris Peterson, Bosh, and Nesterovic.

The Bobcats were on the offense, Rondo inbounds the ball to Zhang Yang.

Zhang Yang prepared to initiate the attack, seeing Okafor close to Bosh asking for the ball, he immediately understood Okafor’s intention. After Rondo moved to the left elbow area, he lobbed the ball to Okafor.

Okafor played one-on-one against Bosh, turned around into the paint, faced the defense from Nesterovic, elevated and shot successfully, 103-102, Bobcats lead by 1 point.

In the transition of offense and defense, Bosh demanding the ball close by for a higher success rate, received the ball and turned to face the basket, took a step-back jump shot and scored!

Zhang Yang felt another fundamental difference between Bosh and Garnett: in defense and organizing the offense, Bosh was far inferior to Garnett, but in critical moments, Bosh dared to shoot and was more willing to approach the basket in one-on-one situations.

In the official time-out, Okafor and Bosh had a scoring duel, Okafor scoring 6 points from 4 shots and two free throws, and Bosh also scoring 6 points from 5 shots.

By 7 minutes 33 seconds left in the final quarter, the score was 109-110, the Bobcats still trailed by 1 point, not allowing the Raptors to extend the lead.

It was the Bobcats’ turn to attack again, Okafor, after 5 rounds, did not play, moved to the right baseline, saving energy for defense.

Zhang Yang didn’t hesitate to start playing one-on-one.

He had prepared to take over the offense since the official timeout. Unexpectedly, Okafor held on for more than a minute, which was, of course, good for him, reducing the consumption during the tense stages.

He felt immense pressure, his teammates had given their all to keep the score close, and now all hopes were pinned on him.

But amidst the tremendous pressure, he was also incredibly excited. In this regard, he was somewhat "masochistic"; he enjoyed this scenario of carrying the pressure forward.

Waiting for Rondo and Perkins to be in position, Zhang Yang started, broke past Anthony Parker!

His teammates’ efforts didn’t go to waste, Zhang Yang had enough rest tonight, now with full energy, he bypassed Anthony Parker, avoiding Ford who lunged from the left side of the paint, heading directly to the right low block of the paint.

The Raptors’ defensive rotation was fast, Ford couldn’t block Zhang Yang; rushing towards the right baseline, he cut off Okafor’s receiving line, with Bosh shrinking to the right side line of the paint.

Zhang Yang, one step outside the elbow area, came to a quick stop, jumped, faced the pressing Bosh, and took a jump shot...and scored!

111-110, the Bobcats reversed the score again!

In the switch of offense and defense, Bosh was panting as he ran forward.

The Bobcats were having a tough time tonight, constantly in a position to catch up, and the Raptors weren’t in much better shape either.

Especially in the past few rounds, Bosh was forced to duel with Okafor, and his playtime, the highest in the game, was exhaustively significant.

But, although he started to gasp for air, once he reached the front court, he had to lean on Okafor for the ball.

Apart from him, no one else on the team could reliably score at crucial moments. Ford was too short and lacked a shot; at this point in the game, driving to the basket would only result in getting blocked, they just couldn’t rely on an ineffective Bargnani, could they? It had to be him.

Bosh, for the 6th consecutive play, played one-on-one... turned, drove under the basket, elevated and was blocked by Perkins!

Having played one-on-one for several consecutive rounds, he wasn’t jumping as high as he had in earlier ones!

Rondo grabbed the defensive rebound, Ford, quick to react, knocked the ball out of bounds, preventing Rondo from starting a counterattack.

Zhang Yang rushed forward two steps then stopped, slightly disappointed, but since the opportunity for a counterattack was lost, it was time to play one-on-one again!

Falling back into set play, Zhang Yang once again broke past Anthony Parker.

Anthony Parker’s defense was actually not bad, but he mainly excelled in team collaborative defense, doing quite well in one-on-one situations against role players, but asking him to guard Zhang Yang, who was fast and had an unpredictable rhythm, was really tough for him tonight.

This time the Raptors did not defend at mid-distance, Nesterovic directed Ford, and Bosh to shrink to the elbow area, not allowing Zhang Yang near the inside.

Nesterovic’s commands were theoretically sound, very much in Popovich’s style, with Anthony Parker on the perimeter blocking long shots, multilayers covering the box to protect the efficient scoring area inside the elbows... but the bad boy, Jack, didn’t play by the rules!

Zhang Yang, one step inside from the foul line on the right side of the paint, stopped abruptly, jumped and released his jump shot... and it hit again!

113-110, the Bobcats gained a 3-point lead!

"Their opponents hit a quick-stop jump shot at critical moments; the Toronto Raptors just couldn’t defend it!"

The Toronto Raptors players thought of another player who had given them a hard time—Arenas.

When the Toronto Raptors attacked, Bosh had been chiseling away for six rounds and couldn’t hold up anymore; he tried to open up space at the baseline as much as possible.

Ford wasn’t afraid of critical moments. He used his lightning-fast speed to get past Rondo. Rondo was already fast, but Ford was the fastest in the basketball world.

But Ford’s finishing ability... he drove into the paint under Perkins’s interference and shot the ball onto the rim!

Perkins’s defense was powerful at critical moments!

Zhang Yang grabbed the defensive rebound and immediately passed it to Rondo, who dodged Ford’s aggressive rush and then immediately dashed toward the frontcourt.

Teaming up with Rondo, all you had to do was charge ahead when counterattacking. Zhang Yang bypassed Anthony Parker and Morris Peterson, received an alley-oop after entering the free-throw line, took a step forward, and leaped up for a layup that hit!

to 110, the Bobcats widened their lead to 5 points!

When the Toronto Raptors attacked, Bosh received the ball in the low post, paused for two seconds, suddenly stepped forward, and fired a turnaround jumper... It hit!

That shot caught Okafor off guard.

In the transition from defense to offense, the Toronto Raptors players tried hard to defend, to create a counterattack opportunity for Ford.

Bosh’s one-on-ones, Ford’s counterattacks, were the Toronto Raptors’ last hope in critical moments when most of the main players were already exhausted.

But... Zhang Yang stopped unexpectedly on the right side of the three-second area and shot. It went in again!

Zhang Yang’s killer instincts were fully displayed at critical moments; he never missed, scoring four times in a row. The Bobcats now led by 5 points again, 117 to 112!

The Toronto Raptors set up one-on-one at the top of the arc, with a tight defense under the basket. Zhang Yang was playing too comfortably!

When the Toronto Raptors attacked, Bosh braced himself again, leaned on Okafor, turned around, and hit the close-range shot.

Turning back, the Toronto Raptors dared not let Zhang Yang take one-on-one quick-stop jump shots anymore. Morris Peterson didn’t dare to leave Matt Carroll, who had hit three 3-pointers tonight. Ford was too short; Bosh moved from the baseline to one step inside the free-throw line to block Zhang Yang, completing the pinch with Anthony Parker.

Zhang Yang unhesitatingly passed the ball to Okafor, who took a mid-range set shot from the baseline... It hit!

Okafor was still reliable in critical moments, no mistakes!

to 114, the Bobcats continued to maintain a 5-point lead!

When the Toronto Raptors attacked, Bosh continued to go one-on-one. After trying to solo for nine turns and already scoring 10 points in the quarter, Bosh, who had taken 10 points, simply couldn’t go on anymore, his close-range shot skewed and fell short!

The ball hit the front outer edge of the rim and bounced toward the court, where Zhang Yang grabbed his 10th rebound of the night in the three-second area and immediately passed it to Rondo.

Just as Rondo caught the ball, he quickly scanned the opponents’ positioning, then pushed forward the counterattack.

The Toronto Raptors players directly blocked in front of Zhang Yang, but Rondo himself charged to the frontcourt and, under Ford’s defensive follow-up, made a fast break layup that hit.

to 114, the Bobcats led by 7 points!

Bosh despairingly watched the big screen.

He had scored 33 points tonight, 8 in the first two quarters, 7 in the third, and 10 in the last quarter, his performance consistently surpassing Okafor but critical moments had no match for that troublemaker!

It wasn’t just Bosh; other Toronto Raptors players, having held their breath all night, too, had been stifled by the Bobcats’ defense and counters.

In the final minute and some, even though the Bobcats had exhausted some energy after several aggressive plays, relying only on Perkins’s put-back for two points, the Raptors couldn’t mount an effective counterattack, mainly because they lacked the will and condition to strike back; at such times, they needed to depend on their perimeter players going one-on-one, but their strongest scoring player on the perimeter was TJ Ford...

At 8:24 p.m., the final whistle blew.

First quarter 6 points, 2 boards, 4 assists; second quarter 4 points, 2 boards, 3 assists; third quarter 5 points, 3 boards, 3 assists; in the final quarter, he added 8 points plus 4 boards, 1 assist... Zhang Yang made 10 out of 17 shots including one of two three-pointers, along with making both of his two free throws, for a total of 23 points, 11 rebounds, 11 assists, 2 steals, and 1 block!

Along with Okafor’s 22 points, 8 rebounds, Felton’s 14 points, 5 assists, Matt Carroll’s three 3-pointers totalling 11 points, Millsap’s 9 points, 6 rebounds, Rondo’s 12 points, 3 rebounds, 6 assists, Alan Anderson’s 8 points, and Perkins’s 6 points, 3 rebounds, 3 blocks...

to 117, the Bobcats narrowly defeated the Toronto Raptors, claiming their sixth consecutive victory!