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Chapter 514 - 223. Huge progress!

Chapter 514: 223. Huge progress!

When it was the Spurs’ turn to attack, Duncan noticed that the opposing team’s two athletic forwards were positioning themselves against him.

Bickerstaff: "One-on-one we definitely can’t stop him, and two-on-one defense isn’t good either, so let’s do three-on-one!"

If the other side gets scared, just pass it out instead of going one-on-one!

In the early stages of the game, Duncan truly didn’t dare to rely on his teammates, unless it was Ginobili on the court. Even if it was Parker, he would only let Parker try if they had at least a one-point lead.

Duncan received the ball in the low post and went for a strong play!

Okafor currently weighed 116-117 kilograms, while Duncan weighed 118 kilograms, which was almost the same.

But when Duncan got tough, he knocked Okafor back into the restricted area with his first step, and nearly pushed him under the basket with his second step!

Duncan didn’t continue to chisel, he grabbed the ball, and shot it high before Millsap and Gerald Wallace closed in on him... It went into the hoop!

The fans at the scene screamed frantically, it had been a long while since they had seen this move!

The low-post one-on-one plays of Shaq and Yao Ming were discussed side by side by the media and fans, and it was definitely not Duncan’s current floor-bound back-to-basket play, nor was it Yao Ming’s footwork play before he gained weight, but this type of pure physical dominance!

When it was the Bobcats’ offense, Zhang Yang dribbled past Finley by one step, turned around and missed a pull-up medium shot.

In the transition to defense, Duncan finally got a break and went out to set a pick for Parker.

The goal of the screen wasn’t to help Parker get past Felton, as passing Felton was not difficult for Parker.

Duncan’s goal was to draw out an interior defender to create better scoring conditions for Parker.

Parker used the screen to drive inside... and was surrounded by Okafor, Millsap, and Gerald Wallace!

Gerald Wallace was very attentive to cutting off the passing lanes when collapsing. Parker’s height did not provide him the vision Duncan had, as he could not see the moving Finley. Oberto did not receive Parker’s trust, so he passed the ball to Duncan.

Felton bravely tried to front Duncan to intercept the pass. Parker noticed this and used a lob pass. Felton, having lowered his center of gravity to grapple with Duncan, had no ability to jump and compete for the ball against Duncan.

But! From the left corner, a person burst out, leapt high, and snatched the ball in front of Duncan and Felton!

Duncan tried to reach out and foul, while Finley retreated immediately. Currently closer to the opposite basket than Zhang Yang, he could have committed a foul to stop Zhang Yang’s fast break, but Felton held him off, failing to commit the foul, and could only watch helplessly as the number 3 jersey figure dashed toward their basket.

Finley attempted to intercept midway but was nimbly sidestepped by Zhang Yang.

Zhang Yang shook off Finley, drove inside the three-point line, grabbed the ball at the free-throw line, took two strides, and leaped high to gently dunk the ball into the basket!

4-4!

When it was the Spurs’ turn to attack, Duncan had to do it himself again.

This time, Okafor gave up on aerial interference, gave up on blocking the turn, lowered his center of gravity, and focused on holding his ground.

Millsap and Gerald Wallace converged faster, triple-teaming Duncan.

Duncan didn’t pass; he even felt that shooting against three defenders was more accurate than any open teammate—it was just something he wouldn’t say aloud. His confidence was certainly no less than the Sharks’.

Duncan made a move into the post to create some distance, turned around for a high arc shot... He successfully avoided Okafor and Millsap, but Gerald Wallace’s help defense came too quickly! Duncan was heavily disrupted and missed!

Millsap secured the defensive rebound!

Parker immediately stuck to Zhang Yang to limit his fast start, and although Duncan missed, there was no sign of any emotional fluctuation as he energetically fell back on defense, leading his teammates into their positions.

The Bobcats settled into a half-court offense, with Felton advancing to the frontcourt and passing to Zhang Yang.

Zhang Yang caught the ball, turned to face Finley, and once again attacked suddenly with a pull-up shot!

Finley’s response was still a beat too slow, after all, he was 34 years old, and not someone who took exceptional care of his body.

But this time Zhang Yang’s touch was great; he nailed the tough pull-up!

6-4, the Bobcats take the lead!

Popovich called a timeout!

Popovich felt like he was going to crack, how dare the opposing coach do this?

Last game, letting Zhang Yang go head-to-head with Duncan from the start already made Popovich feel the coach was being bold.

A 19-year-old sophomore player going head-to-head with Duncan, who was entering his third peak phase—would any normal coach do that?

Tonight was even more outrageous, even skipping the step of creating mismatches for Zhang Yang, allowing him to face Finley on high post defense with Bowen’s help on the wing, and a direct one-on-one with Duncan under the basket.

Zhang Yang’s one-on-one efficiency was as low as Popovich had expected, scoring only 2 out of 5 in set plays.

Yet on their side, Duncan also had only 2 out of 4 attempts, and even had one turnover, which led to a fast break by Zhang Yang!

The opponents dared to surround Duncan with a trio in the frontcourt—weren’t they afraid Duncan would pass?

Well, apparently they really weren’t afraid. Their plan was to let Duncan and Parker build an advantage using their individual abilities at the start...

Although Popovich was irate, he also envied Bickerstaff’s bold coaching style; he wished he could be like that.

Seeing their former coach dominate the regular season’s top Mavericks team in the first round, he had started to harbor such thoughts.

Putting aside his rage, Popovich gazed at Zhang Yang across the court, who took a sip of water, gargled, and spat into a towel.

Why didn’t he know to trade Parker for a lottery pick to get that guy? He should have taken a chance when Tellem refused their tryout invitation.

The one thing he most admired about Zhang Yang, which he believed would eventually make him a superstar, was a trait Zhang Yang had displayed in both games—being able to shoot no matter what!