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Chapter 644 - 277. True Colors of a Killer!_2

Chapter 644: 277. True Colors of a Killer!_2

However, compared to Gentry, who still couldn’t let go after several months, D’Antoni exploded for two days and then was over it.

D’Antoni has always been open-minded and easy-going. For instance, in 2014, when he was unhappy coaching the Lakers and both he and the management didn’t wish to continue, he chose to resign, giving up his salary for the remaining two years and leaving gracefully.

In the words of one of Zhang Yang’s seniors, such a thing would be impossible. Even if he was leading an expensive roster that ranked last, he would not resign voluntarily; instead, he would insist on being fired by the team without losing a penny of his salary.

Tonight in the first half, Raja Bell’s one-on-one defense against Zhang Yang was excellent to the extent that Zhang Yang gave up on solo plays. In the first half, solo plays accounted for less than 30% of Zhang Yang’s shots, with only 4 solo attempts out of 15 shots.

But speaking of defensive effectiveness... it wasn’t great. Zhang Yang made 8 of 15 shots, including scoring 2 out of 4 from the three-point line, and made 2 out of 3 free throws, scoring the highest in the half with 20 points, even higher than Stoudemire’s 18 points.

Raja Bell also played well in no-ball defense. However, except for Marion who could provide support, no one else could help him much. Once Okafor broke through inside, Marion couldn’t afford to assist as Zhang Yang’s off-ball play style limited the restrictions Bell could impose.

Moreover, in the 21 minutes of the first half besides scoring 20 points, Zhang Yang also had 4 assists, showcasing excellent performance in off-ball orchestration.

In that case, it might be better to give up the already fragmented defense.

In that case, Raja Bell was far less effective than Barbosa. Raja Bell could only reliably make long twos and threes upon receiving the ball, had average speed in counterattacks, and average positioning ability, limited only to pulling defenses out of position and spot-up shooting, making his offensive impact relatively limited.

Their offensive firepower in the first half was constrained by Raja Bell being on the court, scoring 73 points, which might seem a lot, but they scored 36 points from three-pointers alone by making 12 three-point shots. When they perform like this from beyond the arc, 73 points isn’t considered much, even less so because this was when they had the most energy.

Barbosa was the third leading scorer of the Suns, with more shooting rights than Marion, versatile in skills, capable of breaking through, shooting, positioning, and counterattacking...

The halftime break ended, and the third quarter began.

Rondo advanced the ball to the frontcourt and passed it to Zhang Yang. Facing Barbosa’s defense, Zhang Yang easily bypassed him, drove to just inside the free throw line, jumped up, and shot a mid-range jumper facing Marion who came up to defend... and scored!

Barbosa, defending at the top of the arc, didn’t even manage to hinder Zhang Yang’s start, and unless Marion completely left Millsap to block him, even he would struggle to effectively defend.

Zhang Yang realized this and chose to stop abruptly for a jump shot, making a decisive decision! Since the opponents had given up on defense to focus on offense, it was time to compete in scoring!

After landing, Zhang Yang immediately signaled his teammates to fall back on defense; Marion, following his unsuccessful attempt at defense, also quickly ran forward, catching Nash’s pass as he pushed quickly forward.

The Bobcats’ defensive formation was not yet fully in place as Nash pushed forward in the middle, with Marion and Barbosa quickly advancing on the flanks to press the attack.

Marion cut inside to receive the ball, Okafor hadn’t fully retreated, forcing Millsap and Zhang Yang to double-team him. Marion passed the ball to the left, where the following Stoudemire cut in to receive the ball and scored a layup!

7-second offense, off they went!

Zhang Yang picked up the ball and passed it to Rondo coming inbound from the baseline.

As Rondo advanced, he gestured to Zhang Yang, asking whether to attack or defend.

Zhang Yang: "..."

Do we really need gestures between us? Can’t we just ask directly?

But for the sake of this ritual, Zhang Yang responded with a gesture — attack! He even repeated it twice!

When Gerald Wallace was around, they couldn’t stop them; how much more now? The opponent would definitely prefer them to defend.

This time, Zhang San really guessed wrong, as the "Son of the Wind" didn’t care whether the Bobcats wanted to attack or defend; he just wanted to use the offense to obliterate everything!

However, his choice was right! If they initially tried to defend, then discovered they couldn’t and had to switch to full offense, they would fall into a scoring chase. Directly switching to full attack mode prevented that situation from happening!

The two teams started an impressive scoring battle, with the Suns initially taking the initiative. Their fast breaks were too strong, and they also played better in set-piece games than when Raja Bell was there.

But the situation Nash worried about during halftime still occurred.

In the first half, because the Bobcats kept catching up and overtaking, the Suns were forced to continuously maintain their offensive power, exhausting a lot of their energy, gradually slowing down as they played.

The Suns had led by as much as 8 points during the third quarter, but with 6 minutes and 22 seconds left in the final quarter, Zhang Yang made a reverse run, received a pass from Hill, and stepped up for a layup, tying the score for the Bobcats!

The score was 126 to 126. D’Antoni called a timeout, entering the final official timeout!

In a span of one and a half quarters, the two teams scored 53 to 53!

The Suns scored 37 to 31 in the third quarter, and by the third quarter, they had made 17 three-point shots, breaking the historical record of 16 three-point shots made by the Toronto Raptors against the 76ers on March 3, 2005!

And in the first part of the final quarter, the Bobcats responded with a half-quarter score of 22 to 16!

During the timeout, both teams’ head coaches emphasized issues on the offensive end. As for defense... Even Carlisle, who always valued defense, didn’t know how they could defend in such a situation, so they ignored it; D’Antoni across from him didn’t even consider defense anymore.