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Chapter 425 - 195. Dwayne, do you think O’Neal is too old now? (8000 words)_5

Chapter 425: 195. Dwayne, do you think O’Neal is too old now? (8000 words)_5

By the last quarter, the Bobcats finally took the initiative, scoring 33 points in the quarter, but they couldn’t suppress the opposite side’s offense; the Wizards scored 26 points in the final quarter...

Not long ago, Zhang Yang joked about someone scoring 50 points only to be outdone by Yao and McGrady, joining the ranks of those who scored empty points, and tonight, he too had been bested.

With 33 shots and 17 makes, including 4 out of 8 three-pointers, plus 7 out of 6 free throws, Zhang Yang exploded for 44 points tonight, reaching his 4th 40+ point game of the season, scoring empty points...

Arenas with 27 points and 13 assists, Jamison with 25 points and 9 rebounds, Caron Butler with 18 points, Antonio Daniels with 21 points, DeShawn Stevenson with 10 points... Five players from the Wizards scored double digits, narrowly defeating the Bobcats with a 115 to 108 victory, improving their record to 36 wins and 37 losses, surpassing the Miami Heat, who had lost again two hours earlier, dropping to 36 wins and 38 losses, and climbing to sixth place in the East!

One day later, on March 31, the Bobcats faced off against the Miami Heat at home.

Losing to the Wizards triggered a chain reaction for the Bobcats.

The Heat, having lost two straight games, were not only overtaken by the Wizards but also surpassed by the Nets - also with a record of 36 wins and 38 losses but with a direct win over them - and they fell to eighth in the Eastern Conference, with the Magic hot on their heels!

O’Neal is not the kind of person who doesn’t care about winning or losing; he just gets over losses quickly after the game. Before and during the match, however, he is still eager to win... Kobe’s team is likely making the playoffs, but he can’t afford to miss them.

Moreover, they are the defending champions! It would be too embarrassing if the defending champions failed to make the playoffs.

It’s not unprecedented in NBA history for defending champions to miss the playoffs, with the Celtics and the Chicago Bulls each having done so once, but that was because Russell retired from the Celtics, and Jordan from the Bulls; the Big Shark hasn’t retired yet.

Under O’Neal’s leadership, the veterans of the Miami Heat erupted on the defensive end tonight!

At 11:23 PM, after 2 hours and 23 minutes, the game ended.

Zhang Yang looked at the big screen showing the score of 83 to 92... He scored 20 points, Felton 14 points, Jarett Jack 12 points, and none of his other teammates scored double digits.

On the other side, Wade scored 18 points and had 6 assists, Eddie Jones had 15 points and 6 rebounds, O’Neal had 10 points, 11 rebounds, 4 assists, and 4 blocks, Mourning had 5 points, 8 rebounds, and 3 blocks, Payton scored 10 points with 5 assists, Kapono added 14 points, and White Chocolate had 8 points, 4 assists, and 2 steals...

Zhang Yang: "A bunch of old guys playing so desperately, win, win, win, it’s your turn to win. I wish you really keep the sixth spot and face off against the Bulls!"

Wishing you well so you wouldn’t have to face the Bulls and you don’t even appreciate it!

...

The next day, a new month arrived, and the regular season was reaching its final stretch.

Last week, all four games were broadcast live, in both English and Chinese, a very good treatment that finished around 11:30 PM, and this morning, Zhang Yang slept until past 9 AM before waking up.

His mood exploded last night, but after a good sleep, he had adjusted well.

There are still 7 games left to play, and getting 50 wins is just a matter of time.

At the beginning of the season, their goal was just to reach 50 wins, and now they were close to securing it ahead of time, no need to rush for the moment... Such thoughts could impact the mood for the upcoming games.

At noon, Zhang Yang received a call from the team, informing him he had won his 3rd Player of the Week award of the season!

On April 1, he didn’t plan to go out at all, even turning down his mother’s invitation to come home for dinner.

Knowing his mom, he would definitely be pranked.

He thought the team was joking with him, 2 wins and 2 losses and what Player of the Week... but when he checked the official website, it turned out to be true!

With 2 wins and 2 losses in 4 games, scoring 32, 21, 44, and 20 points respectively, he averaged 29.25 points per game and got the award.

Checking his competitors... he really was the best player overall that week, with Carter ranking second in votes.

James averaged 26+8+8 but the Cavaliers only had 1 win and 3 losses, their record slipping to 43 wins and 31 losses, with no realistic chance to reach 50 wins with only 8 games left to play.

Wade averaged 29+4+7, but also only had 1 win and 3 losses.

Carter had a better week with 3 wins and 1 loss, leading his team to seventh in the East, but he only averaged 22 points, 6 rebounds, and 3 assists for the week.

In the Western Conference, the Player of the Week went to Ginobili, who won all 4 games, averaging 20 points, 3 rebounds, and 3 assists.

The Player of the Month awards were also announced at the same time.

In the East, Carter, who led the Nets to a 9-6 record, climbing to the seventh in the Eastern Conference with averages of 24.4 points, 6 rebounds, and 4.2 assists, took the award.

In the West, Kobe, who averaged 44.2 points per game over 15 games last month, took the award.

After browsing the news for a while, Zhang Yang received a call from Tellem, went back to his room to open his wardrobe, and left his apartment five minutes later to head to the restaurant he had arranged to meet the journalists at... He’d won an award and was going for an interview...

After a day of rest, on April 2, the Bobcats continued their preparations.

Before starting the strategy meeting, Felton took the lead, rallying his teammates: "With 8 games left, our goal is to win them all! We’ve already broken the franchise record for wins, now let’s raise that record even higher!

This season is like this, next season should be too; just think about it, if all of us work hard to set a massive record, one that future Bobcats players can never surpass, wouldn’t that be a beautiful thought... Let’s take down James!"

Zhang San joined his teammates in chanting "Let’s take down James," just as he had guessed, Big Fatty’s pregame motivation always ended up this way.

Their next opponent was the Cavaliers, and no amount of talk could match the motivation of a simple "Let’s take down James."

...

...

Clang, clang, I didn’t stay up last night, went to bed at 10:30 PM because I was sleepy, and before sleeping, I set four alarms to wake up and write a big update first~ Vote for the monthly ticket!