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Chapter 673 - 284. Shaking down McGrady, key score!_3

Chapter 673: 284. Shaking down McGrady, key score!_3

The Bobcats played the Rockets and scored a 4-0 run, bringing the score to 38-30, stretching the lead to 8 points. The Rockets, who had fought hard to reduce the deficit to 3 points earlier in the half, returned from the timeout only to have Zhang Yang and Okafor erode that lead with their individual skills and pull ahead by an additional point!

In the remaining time of the first half, the Bobcats scored another 10 points while the Rockets managed only 8.

By the end of the half, the score reached 48-38, with the Bobcats outscoring the Rockets 23-20 in the second quarter, expanding their lead to 10 points!

Into the third quarter, the two teams fought back and forth... both struggling to score.

Under the Rockets’ high-intensity defense, the Bobcats’ shooting cooled off after the halftime break.

However, the Rockets didn’t fare much better. Thibodeau rotated McGrady’s four guard partners—David Wesley, Mike James, McInnis, and Alston—throughout, but none could make their shots.

The two teams scored a 6-7 in the first half of the quarter; by mid-third quarter, the Bobcats led the Rockets by 9 points with a score of 54-45!

After the official timeout, McGrady took the initiative, first with a high pull-up mid-range shot that not only scored but also drew a foul on the defender Hill. Then, Wesley executed a steal, and on the counter-attack passed the ball back, McGrady followed up mid-court, received the pass, and scored with a layup.

50-54, McGrady rapidly scored 5 points, narrowing the lead to 4 points!

As the gap quickly closed, it was the Bobcats’ turn to attack. On top of the arc, Zhang Yang held the ball, used Hill for cover, and advanced to the free-throw line. He faked a quick stop to shoot, but spotting an opportunity, he turned his grab-and-stop move into a Euro step!

Landry got caught too far outside when he tried to double-team!

Zhang Yang took a big step past Landry, reached just outside the charge circle, Diop had to step up, and Zhang Yang changed direction with his second step to the right side of the basket, turned around, and made a throw shot... it went in!

As the ball went in, the referee’s whistle blew, Landry had fouled Zhang Yang on the shot!

The purpose of Zhang Yang’s Euro step’s change of direction was clear: to dodge Diop’s block. Landry rushed to help, but the speed of Zhang Yang’s second step nearly matched his first.

As Landry reached Zhang Yang’s side, Zhang Yang had already jumped and raised the ball. Landry tried to stop abruptly but still brushed against Zhang Yang as he made the shot, drawing the foul.

Landry was slightly better at one-on-one defense than Yi Jianlian; his draft profile was labeled as "an athletically enhanced version of Boozer," with upper arms as thick as necks, fiercely competitive on defense.

However, Landry’s sense of positioning on defense was much worse than Yi Jianlian’s, lacking team consciousness. His help-defense was not about coordinating with his teammates but about taking on the defense himself, which often led to missed covers and, due to overly aggressive confrontation, frequent fouling.

Amidst the cheering of the live audience, Zhang Yang made the and-one,

57-50, the lead expanded back to 7 points!

With the Rockets on the offensive, McGrady controlled the ball outside, his expression stern and his eyes no longer misty but sharply intense—the pressure of relying solely on himself in crucial moments visibly weighing on him.

Facing McGrady was an extremely excited Zhang Yang. When the close-up camera focused on Zhang Yang’s face, the courtside commentator described him as having ’light in his eyes’.

McGrady took on Zhang Yang, changing direction, starting, and accelerating... his first three steps were still sharp! Inside the right side of the three-second area near the free throw line, he suddenly stopped, turned to face the basket, jumped, and released a mid-range jumper... it hit!

It was another abrupt jump shot out of rhythm, just avoiding Zhang Yang’s chase-down, which might have been disrupted by Zhang Yang or Hill had McGrady followed through normally.

McGrady quickly scored 7 points, again reducing the lead to 5 points!

In the following possessions, Zhang Yang and McGrady accounted for their respective teams’ offenses, the only players still ensuring scoring efficiency at this point.

In such one-on-one matchups, McGrady had the upper hand. With a little more than a minute left in the third quarter, McGrady hit a long two-pointer, bringing his team to within 60-62. But just as they were a step away from taking the lead, Zhang Yang faced Battier’s defense and hit a step-back long two-pointer, stretching the lead back to 4 points.

Battier was so frustrated he wanted to curse—this guy was too good at shooting! Given even a slight gap, he could throw the ball, and the more he missed, the bolder he got!

Zhang Yang had better stamina than McGrady. Plus, he had more rest that evening. McGrady had only rested for 6 minutes by that point in the match, while Zhang Yang had only played half of the second quarter and returned after more than 4 minutes in the third, totaling nearly 11 minutes of rest.

On the Rockets’ next offense, McGrady continued to go one-on-one with Zhang Yang. By now, he was running on sheer belief—make this shot, close the gap to 1 point, and then take a break for half of the final quarter to close out the game.

McGrady faked a drive then stepped back beyond the three-point line, unable to fool Zhang Yang!

Zhang Yang saw it coming—McGrady couldn’t drive anymore. He completely didn’t fall for it, guarding McGrady tightly in front!

McGrady, facing Zhang Yang’s defense, pulled up for a fadeaway three-pointer... and missed!

Rondo grabbed the defensive rebound and pushed the fast break... though they didn’t score on the break, it caused a mismatch.

Zhang Yang received the ball at the top of the arc, defended by McGrady!

McGrady: Defend this! Defend this one and keep the difference to just two points, we can tie or take the lead, still plenty to play for in the final quarter!

As McGrady was adjusting his expectations and psyching himself up, he saw Zhang Yang start to dramatically pull the ball back...

This move was all too familiar to McGrady—it was Iverson’s butterfly step!

At the turn of the 21st century, who contended with Iverson the longest? It wasn’t Kobe, Carter, but McGrady.