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Chapter 404 - 189. We’ve come this far, we definitely have to fight for it!_2

’Seems Felton always has a trick up his sleeve...’ Zhang Yang worriedly said, "Big guy, drinking like that won’t affect you in the game tomorrow, will it?"

Felton: "I’ll just go to bed early tonight, no problem then."

Zhang Yang nodded, indeed, Felton loved his drink, but it never affected his performance on the court. The day before a game, Felton was always disciplined.

As for Rondo, this guy was even more self-disciplined.

The elder boss still depended on his younger brother Zhang San and Okafor to gradually become disciplined. Rondo had already demonstrated his self-discipline during last year’s summer league, a prodigy indeed.

Zhang Yang suddenly thought of a question: "Boss, if you had lost the drinking bet, what would you have had to do for Rajon?"

Felton looked puzzled: "Right, what would I have had to do? He didn’t even say."

Zhang Yang: -_-||

So, does this mean when Coach Rondo faces a challenge, he just jumps into a brawl without thinking?

But putting this on a player like him, it doesn’t really surprise Zhang Yang.

Zhang Yang saw an interview from the later stages of Rondo’s career where he was asked about his favorite basketball star. Rondo didn’t mention Garnett or Pierce; instead, he spoke about his idea of NBA’s strongest quintet—Isaiah Thomas, Jordan, James, Duncan, Olajuwon...

After listing his all-time basketball heroes, Rondo switched gears and said, "But my favorite is Kobe Bryant. To me, he’s the greatest player, having the deepest impact on my career. Every time I faced him, I gave all I had to provoke him, because he’s also the player I wanted to beat the most."

In fact, just seeing the obsessive determination in Rondo, one could see some of the snake-like traits in him.

Although originally in the same team as Garnett, who was also an obsessive, Rondo wasn’t much influenced by Garnett; Garnett was all bluster, but Rondo was aloof and cool.

After resting for one night, on February 23, the Toronto Raptors arrived at Auburn Palace to face the Pistons.

After the All-Star weekend, the Pistons had won three consecutive games and currently held a record of 39 wins and 16 losses, leading the Raptors by two games.

For the Raptors to challenge for the top spot in the East, facing the Pistons head-on was crucial. If they lost tonight, the difference in wins would increase to three after both teams played 56 games. With only 26 games left, catching up would be immensely difficult.

Moreover, the implications were even more significant, having lost their previous two matchups against the Pistons. Another loss in this game meant they had lost the regular season head-to-head matchups. If the Raptors eventually tied the Pistons in the standings, they would have to claim the second spot and would need to win four more games in the remaining 26 games, which was no small feat.

Until now, being second in the East was beyond what the Raptors players had anticipated at the beginning of the season.

But having come this far, they definitely wanted to fight for the top spot! The upcoming two matchups against the Pistons were crucial, they needed to strive for a win to not fall behind in the rankings because of head-to-head losses.

By 7 PM, Okafor had outplayed Rasheed Wallace in the tip-off, and the Raptors’ away game against the Pistons started.

Pistons’ starting lineup: Billups, Hamilton, Tayshaun Prince, McDyess, Rasheed Wallace.

Raptors’ starting lineup: Felton, Zhang Yang, Alan Anderson, Millsap, Okafor.

Felton advanced into the front court using Millsap’s screen to attempt a close-range floater... missed!

But Okafor, across from Rasheed Wallace, slammed the ball into the basket!

Now the Pistons’ turn to attack. Rasheed Wallace, taking a close-range catch, tried a straight-arm jump shot but was disrupted by Okafor, who also grabbed the defensive rebound.

Starting with 2 points and 2 boards, Okafor played very aggressively, overpowering Rasheed Wallace right from the start!

Rasheed Wallace, missing his shot, hastily retreated to defense, looking rugged on the outside but feeling aggrieved inside — "It’s not me saying I’m better than you, it’s the reporters!"

Okafor was particularly aggressive tonight because he had been dominated by Bosh in the game against the Raptors.

Although in those few offensive rounds, he and Bosh each scored 6 points, competently threatening in the low post and helping Zhang Yang to secure a winning lead with four consecutive shots. Bosh scoring 33 points overall really exposed the deficiencies in Okafor’s defense without Gerald Wallace around to defend close distances.

When Gerald Wallace was present, most of the time Okafor just needed to hold off the attackers well enough to manage the paint. Without Gerald Wallace, facing Garnett and Bosh, he struggled to cover both inside and outside the three-second area.

This season, in three matchups against Bosh, Rasheed Wallace had the upper hand each time.

Thus, this morning, T.N.T Sports featured a column which — content aside — concluded with the rankings of Eastern Conference power forwards: Bosh first, Rasheed Wallace second, Okafor third.

When Zhang Yang and Felton saw this column, they scoffed — "When it’s about records and team performance, Okafor is a center. Just because he got dominated by Bosh in one game, now he’s a power forward?"