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Chapter 543 - 234. The Old Era Has Turned a New Page! (11,000 words)_6

Chapter 543: 234. The Old Era Has Turned a New Page! (11,000 words)_6

The ball grazed the left side of the rim and bounced toward the front left, where Zhang Yang swooped in to grab the defensive rebound and initiated the counterattack!

Bowen successfully slowed down Zhang Yang’s fast break this time, but the only ones retreating were Ginobili and Bowen.

Zhang Yang drove straight into the lane, unveiled his Euro step, moved to the left side of the basket, turned around for a layup, and scored!

He snatched the rebound and pushed the fast break, scoring one against two!

to 51, the Bobcats’ lead widened to 6 points.

The hunt was on!

The Spurs’ offense was abysmal this quarter, whatever they shot didn’t go in, and turnovers followed one after another.

On defense, Duncan’s rim protection faltered, and to compensate for the offensive deficit without Parker on the court, Popovich sent in two shooters to pair up on the front line... The rotation changed, but the response was terrible. The added offense from both was minimal, further increasing Duncan’s defensive difficulty.

When Zhang Yang exploited a screen to advance, Horry went to block the shot, Zhang Yang would then drive into the lane, and with Horry shrinking back on defense, Zhang Yang simply threw it...

With 2 minutes and 18 seconds left, Zhang Yang drove into the lane for a floater, scoring two points.

With 2 minutes and 49 seconds left, Zhang Yang missed a three-pointer off a screen.

With 4 minutes and 41 seconds left, Zhang Yang hit a three-pointer off a screen.

With 5 minutes and 31 seconds left, Zhang Yang’s drive to the basket resulted in a missed layup.

With 6 minutes and 37 seconds left, Zhang Yang stole the ball from Bowen, scoring with a fast-break dunk.

With 7 minutes and 18 seconds left, Zhang Yang received a pass from Felton and netted a long two-pointer.

With 8 minutes and 16 seconds left, Zhang Yang drove into the lane and was fouled by Duncan, making both free throws.

With 9 minutes and 33 seconds left, Zhang Yang’s solo drive for a pull-up jumper missed.

With 10 minutes and 12 seconds left, Zhang Yang’s pull-up three-pointer didn’t go in.

With 11 minutes and 22 seconds left, Zhang Yang singled out Bowen, stepped back, and hit a three-pointer...

In the first 11 and a half minutes of the third quarter, Zhang Yang scored 18 points with 7 of 11 from the field, including 2 of 3 from three, plus 2 for 2 from the free-throw line!

Under Zhang Yang’s leadership, the Bobcats scored 29 points during this stretch!

The other 11 points consisted of a three-pointer by Felton, 4 points from Alan Anderson driving to the basket, and Millsap and Okafor contributing two points each off the bench.

The Spurs were missing shots, making continuous errors and in the first 11 and a half minutes, they made just 3 of 16 field goals, 1 of 5 three-pointers, and 3 of 6 free-throws, totaling only 9 points!

After Zhang Yang hit a three-pointer, the Bobcats stretched the lead to 22 points, leading the Spurs 82 to 60!

The Spurs took possession again, but a visibly exhausted Ginobili drove into the lane for a floater... it still didn’t go in!

With 20 seconds remaining, the Spurs were about to finish the quarter with single-digit scoring.

This was the first time Popovich attempted such a bold in-game adjustment, resulting in a complete collapse of the team’s stability.

Okafor overpowered Duncan to snatch the defensive rebound, and although Zhang Yang wasn’t able to rush in as he’d almost played the entire quarter, despite the opponent’s poor pick-and-roll defense and lack of protection under the basket, after throwing it more than ten times, he was quite worn out.

But after Felton dribbled the ball into the frontcourt, bringing the clock down to just 8 seconds, Zhang Yang still actively asked for the ball to continue playing one-on-one!

His belief in scoring sustained him!

Facing Bowen’s defense, Zhang Yang drove with the ball!

Bowen stuck to him closely, and Zhang Yang couldn’t get past him.

Reaching the right elbow, Zhang Yang stopped, stepped back to gather the ball, and though Bowen’s anticipation was excellent, pressing up to interfere on time.

Zhang Yang didn’t stop his motion, and leaning back against Bowen’s defense, he let fly the ball...

The ’Hamblen-style’ step-back jumper had a low release point, and given Zhang Yang hadn’t stepped back much, it nearly got swatted by the high-flying Bowen.

But the launched ball, as if equipped with a homing device, traced a beautiful arc and dropped into the net!

After the shot, Zhang Yang, still leaning back, didn’t steady himself and fell to the floor.

But Bowen, who was defending Zhang Yang, felt like he was the one who should be lying on the ground.

With that shot, Zhang Yang scored 5 points in a row, utterly crushing the Spurs’ last hope!

The Spurs inbounded the ball, and with the final 3.3 seconds, Ginobili’s half-court heave... missed, ending the third quarter with the score at 84 to 60, the Bobcats leading by 24 points into the halftime break!

After the buzzer sounded ending the quarter, the Bobcats players rushed onto the court. Gerald Wallace charged forward and bumped chests with Zhang Yang, and if Okafor hadn’t been there to support him, Zhang Yang might have been knocked over by Wallace.

Hitting 8 of 12 from the field, including two three-pointers, and 2 for 2 on free throws, Zhang Yang scored 20 points and 4 rebounds for the quarter alone, leading the Bobcats to outscore the Spurs 31 to 9, a crushing blow!

Seeing this, some fans booed, but not many; more people cheered for Spurs’ players, chanting the classic "GO Spurs GO," hoping to witness a miracle, while some fans had already started to cry.

But the Spurs’ bench was dead silent. Popovich, after finishing his tirade, regretted it, but by then, he didn’t want to say anything anymore...

...

In the final quarter, the Bobcats sent out Rondo, Jarett Jack, Alan Anderson, Muhammad, and Perkins, casually playing the perimeter and securing the basket on the inside.

Despite the loud chants of "GO Spurs GO" from the crowd, yearning for a miracle from the Spurs, Popovich sent out Udrih, Jacque Vaughn, Barry, Bonner, and Brezec, essentially raising the white flag.

Gerald Wallace had rested during the entire first half, and after a quarter break, he found out he was done for the half... But he wished it could always be like this!

However, with his contract expiring and contemplating the many talents on the team... the relieved heir-apparent began drifting into his thoughts.

It wasn’t just him; other Bobcats bench players started to relax and chat. Felton and Joe even began dancing on the sidelines, trying to coax their fellow alumnus Zhang San to join them, only to be coldly refused.