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Chapter 618 - 267. Overwhelming Reed, first explosion of the season!_2

Chapter 618: 267. Overwhelming Reed, first explosion of the season!_2

Rondo bounced a pass to Zhang Yang, and Reed leaned in to steal the ball as Zhang Yang was reaching to receive it.

Zhang Yang, with quick reflexes, grabbed the ball while stepping to the left side, dodging Reed’s hand as he tried to steal from the right, and secured the ball.

Reed backed off immediately after his steal attempt, matching up against Zhang Yang who tried to turn and drive. Zhang Yang’s start was limited, he turned back to back Reed down without rushing to break through, aware of the ’Big White Bear’ still under the basket.

In his early years as a sixth man, Reed truly embodied both offense and defense. In the 03-04 season, when he first became the go-to guy, he averaged over 20 points while maintaining his defense. However, after Bobby Simmons joined the team in the 05-06 season, Reed became less enthusiastic on defense, focusing on offense with a tendency toward McGrady’s style, but when facing opponents he wanted to guard, his defense was still quite impressive.

Feeling the pressure from Reed’s defense, Zhang Yang had also figured out Reed’s defensive habits from their last exchange... One step by pushing, dribble left and turn!

Zhang Yang put a lot of force into his dribble as he made his left turn, and Reed immediately judged and reacted, retracting a step to the left rear to block Zhang Yang’s driving route... Zhang Yang didn’t drive!

The ball bounced hard off the floor, quickly springing back up, Zhang Yang stretched out his hand high to catch it, pulled the ball back, then made a wide dribble to the left, took a lateral step, picked up the ball, leapt, and released a jump shot from the free-throw line... it went in!

Reed was completely shaken off. He tried forcefully to step back but was too late, unable to get back in time to offer any disruption.

Hill suddenly stood up from the sidelines!

Butterfly step! His butterfly step!

This kid only learned this move a few days ago, and he’s already using it in a game?

Moreover, he didn’t use it to break through but in his back-to-basket play!

Hill felt he still lacked imagination, he never thought the move could be used like this!

The fans at the venue screamed and cheered non-stop as Zhang Yang’s extended dribble shook off his defender and his mid-range shot went in, much more spectacular than Reed’s plain back-to-basket turnaround jump shot just earlier!

Furthermore, while the back-to-basket move was flashy, the shot was clean and crisp. The last guard to score like this from the high post... the big screen camera panned to Jordan.

Jordan: "..."

That move didn’t resemble his in the slightest.

This kid isn’t learning from him, huh? Claims he doesn’t have the same physical gifts as him and isn’t suited to mimic him.

And honestly, Hill found no fault with that claim; the kid’s natural athletic talents weren’t focused on leaping or explosive strength.

Frustrating.

In the transition from defense to offense, Reed continued to post up Zhang Yang down low, nailing another turnaround jump shot!

to 80, the Bucks’ lead had once again reached 3 points, and Reed’s personal tally rose to 33 points, only 5 points behind Zhang Yang’s 38!

It was the Bobcats’ turn to attack; Zhang Yang posted up high against Reed, pulled back for a mid-range jumper... using a ’Hamblen-style’ step-back, he caught Reed off guard. The shooting form was there, but sadly it didn’t go in.

Bogut secured the defensive rebound well as the Bobcats quickly fell back on defense, preventing a counterattack pass and forcing the Bucks to switch to a set offense with Reed continuing to play low post.

After receiving the ball, Reed, seeing Millsap’s inclination to sag, backed down Zhang Yang, swiftly turned around, stepping back towards the elbow, evading Millsap’s help defense, took the ball and quickly leapt for a close-range jump shot... which also missed!

Okafor secured the defensive rebound, and as the offense transitioned to defense, Zhang Yang took charge up high, pulling up for a stop-and-pop jumper on the right side of the key... which also missed!

The fans at the venue expressed their disappointment with sighs, as Zhang Yang was just two points shy of 40, why couldn’t he just make the shot?

But after merely a moment of disappointment, the fans quickly began to chant ’Defense’ loudly.

In the Bucks’ offensive possession, Reed, feeling the clingy defense from Zhang Yang and considering Zhang Yang’s anticipation on jump shots, plus the timing of his contesting moves, again saw Millsap ready to collapse... Reed continued to back down and turn towards the elbow for the step-back, but when Zhang Yang and Millsap closed in for the double-team, instead of forcing the shot, he passed to Villanueva.

Villanueva, freed by Millsap’s collapse, quickly moved to the right corner, received the ball, and shot a three-pointer... no good!

Okafor overpowered Bogut to secure the defensive rebound!

Although Reed could average over 25 points, people did not rate his offensive ability as highly as that of comparable sharpshooters like Pierce, Anthony, or Ray Allen; this shot was very telling of that.

Before his previous miss, Reed was 11 for 20 from the field with 33 points, such efficient performance in this star duel saw after a miss; he no longer took shots, choosing instead to find his teammates. If the one getting the open shot was a top-notch shooter like Bobby Simmons with a 40%+ three-point percentage, but the one left open was Villanueva, a power forward with only a 33% three-point success rate and an average of 0.8 three-pointers per game in his first two seasons!

During the transition from defense to offense, Rondo continued to feed the ball to Zhang Yang, then pulled to the left baseline mid-range, getting ready to cut in for a pass or to move towards the free-throw line to receive a shot or facilitate play.

Zhang Yang, upon receiving the ball, naturally went for a shot!

He continued with a back-down, turn, and step-back mid-range jumper!

Having just missed a shot himself, with his teammate also missing a response shot, and only leading by 3 points, Reed panicked. As Zhang Yang made his step-back, Reed lunged forward, but was unable to control his force against Zhang Yang’s unusual step-back jump shot rhythm, and he toppled Zhang Yang.

But before he was knocked down, Zhang Yang had already completed the shooting motion and released the ball!

The referee’s whistle and the sound of the ball hitting the inner rim and dropping through the net sounded simultaneously.