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Chapter 422 - 195. Dwayne, do you think O’Neal is too old now? (8000 words)_2

Chapter 422: 195. Dwayne, do you think O’Neal is too old now? (8000 words)_2

But the Bad Boys Legion scored even more fiercely!

Zhang Yang shot 24 times and made 14 baskets, including 2 of 4 three-pointers, plus 2 of 2 free throws, scoring 32 points.

Although his scoring didn’t surpass Agent Zero and the defensive gentleman opposite, his efficiency was higher!

Together with Felton’s 17 points and 12 assists, Rondo’s 11 points, 11 rebounds, and 12 assists, Okafor’s 17 points and 8 rebounds, Gerald Wallace’s 21 points, 5 rebounds, and 3 assists, Muhammad’s 13 points and 4 rebounds, Jarett Jack’s 11 points and 4 assists...

The Bobcats had six players scoring in double digits, the team achieving 36 assists, setting a new team record for assists in a game. Had it not been for a certain player wearing number 3 dragging his feet, they could have possibly reached 40 assists.

to 118, the Bobcats narrowly beat the Wizards by 8 points, improving their record to 48 wins and 23 losses!

After the game, the hottest topic wasn’t the several head-to-head attacks between Zhang Yang and Arenas, nor was it the Wizards’ perimeter shooting versus the Bobcats’ aggressive inside play, but Rondo’s triple-double!

Having played 70 games, averaging 4.9 points, 5.4 rebounds, and 6.2 assists per game, fans had been hotly discussing during the All-Star weekend whether Rondo, in his rookie season, could achieve a triple-double.

By that time, Rondo was already averaging over 5 assists per game, with four games of double-digit assists, three games of double-digit rebounds, and even one game with double figures in both rebounds and assists but not points, earning him the nickname ’Little Kidd.’

Finally, in his 71st game, Rondo accomplished his first career triple-double!

Thanks to this game, Rondo also raised his scoring average to 5 points, becoming a player averaging over 5 points, 5 rebounds, and 5 assists.

After the game, when Zhang Yang returned to the hotel and saw the news, he learned that fans had described Rondo alongside Livingston as two remarkable talents from the East and West.

Both players were despairingly untalented in shooting; Livingston had virtually no scoring ability under the basket or beyond the three-point line, not to mention three-pointers. As a two-meter-tall player, he only attempted two shots under the basket per game. He was too thin; any guard or small forward bumping into him would knock him off balance.

Rondo’s shooting efficiency inside close range was outstanding, reaching as high as 60%, higher than both his starting teammates Zhang Yang and Felton. With his one-handed ’travel’, if an opposing big man wasn’t careful, he’d score easily, but outside the three-second area...

Seeing Rondo’s free throw shooting percentage finally break 60% after 71 games made Zhang Yang feel both happy and relieved.

The progress was slow, but any progress was better than none.

If Rondo could improve during his rookie contract to shoot threes with a 33% success rate and free throws at 70%... he’d likely not be retained in the future. Zhang Yang remembered the original Rondo never had a season shooting over 70% from the free-throw line throughout his career; he hoped under Ingles’ guidance, Rondo could improve his free throws.

He certainly hoped his teammates would continue to improve because if they didn’t, how could he play as freely and focus solely on scoring?

...

After playing the Wizards, the Bobcats traveled south to the true South Coast, Miami, rested one night, and on the 27th, they faced the Miami Heat on their court.

The showdown between Bad Boy Jack and the King of the New Generation Flash again triggered a spike in viewership; the Jewish investor truly gambled correctly by betting on the Bad Boys Legion, a rising power team, to boost ratings at the end of March.

The Heat, having played 72 games, stood at 36 wins and 36 losses, ranking sixth in the East.

After the All-Star break, O’Neal’s attendance rate had finally increased, with hopes of playing up to 40 games this season. His performance was also warming up; in the last six games, he scored 32, 18, 15, 12, 21, and 20 points, averaging 19.6 points and 8 rebounds during this period, ranking first among Eastern Conference centers in scoring.

With the Knicks collapsing, Eddie Curry, without the spirited leadership of Marbury, began to play inconsistently, with his average monthly score in March plummeting to 12 points, and his season average fast approaching below 20, otherwise, ’Eastern Conference’s Number One Center’ would still be the Little Shark.

Although Wade was plagued by injuries this season, having played only 41 games, his attendance rate, like O’Neal’s, could be said to be not far off.

However, his averages of 27.6 points, 7.6 assists, 2.1 steals, and 1.2 blocks per game were all career highs, except for rebounds, rightfully earning him the title of King of the New Generation!

As both players’ health improved towards the end of the regular season, the Heat moved from being overtaken by the Knicks for the ninth spot back up to sixth in the East.

At 9 PM, the highly anticipated game, broadcasted in both countries, began.

In the opening, Okafor fiercely defeated O’Neal in the jump ball and then, fueled by O’Neal, received a pass from Zhang Yang, turned around, and dunked with one hand for two points, showing his toughness!

Zhang Yang, witnessing this, thought of a phrase—after Lu Bu’s death, no one is weaker than Wenhou.

Although he felt a bit embarrassed by the comparison, the scene before him did bear a resemblance to ’a tiger fallen flat being bullied by dogs.’

When the Heat’s turn came to attack, an irritated O’Neal went down low, wrestling with Perkins for the ball... and then reluctantly passed the ball back to White Chocolate.

His weight of 160 kilograms indeed meant greater strength and mass, but his explosive power was far less compared to last season at 146 kilograms. Okafor anticipated this, and as O’Neal received the ball, he immediately teamed up with Perkins to clamp down on him; he could no longer push them aside and dunk as easily as before, almost losing the ball instead.

He gave up competing with the younger players; it wasn’t worth it. He preserved his limited strength and energy for defense instead.

White Chocolate passed the ball to Wade, who switched on nanny mode, handling both scoring and organizing offense!

Wade was hailed as the King of the New Generation, and while the core players of the Bobcats were between the ages of 18 and 24, also part of the new generation, not one of them could stand alone against Wade. But they had strength in numbers!