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Chapter 686 - 289. Wouldn’t you avoid being killed if you just honestly gave up?_4

Chapter 686: 289. Wouldn’t you avoid being killed if you just honestly gave up?_4

The Trail Blazers continued their offense, and as Roy advanced into the frontcourt, Zhang Yang closely guarded him from the front. He didn’t insist on getting the ball but moved out to the wing, handing over the control of the ball in the crucial moments to Blake.

Blake calmly chose to initiate an attack by picking and rolling with Aldridge, who, after the pick, received the ball on the left elbow area.

Hill moved ahead of time, coming over from the wing to successfully trap Aldridge with Felton!

Aldridge, daring to shoot but not reckless at the crucial moment, passed the ball to the left corner.

McMillan watched this scene and inwardly cursed his luck—just as expected, Webster received the ball and missed the three-pointer!

Zhang Yang grabbed the defensive rebound, seizing the opportunity for a counterattack, he dashed to the frontcourt. The only Trail Blazer who had retreated was Blake, and Zhang Yang drove straight to the basket, scoring a high arcing layup over the defending Blake!

to 122, Zhang Yang scored 5 crucial points in a row, raising his personal score to 37 points and leading his team to overtake the score with just over 20 seconds left on the clock!

The Trail Blazers called a timeout!

McMillan: I was wrong, I should have called a timeout earlier. The opposing players have good defensive capabilities and awareness; it’s just that our lineup structure is not conducive to top-tier defense. Who to leave open at the key moment, how to double-team, and how to protect the rebound—the opponents know it all too well.

The difference in experience!

Although Webster’s three-point shooting is usually decent, he shot poorly tonight, missing all three of his three-point attempts prior to that. He had the option to cut baseline during the last offense, but he chose to move to the corner as Hill went to double-team Aldridge, which was clearly a very poor decision to make.

At the moment of passing, Aldridge also just focused on finding open teammates, lacking the awareness and experience in terms of passing options. Facing up to Felton, challenging Hill’s help defense with a tough shot would have been better options than passing to the spaced out Webster.

McMillan saw this quality clearly in Okafor on the opposing team. Okafor’s passing skills might be inferior to Aldridge’s, but his passes were purposeful— if he couldn’t directly pass to an open teammate, he would only look for the playmaker core, or else he would take a strong shot, not seeking greatness in what he’s not skilled at but aiming for no mistakes.

Internally screaming MMP, McMillan still maintained a confident expression, arranging lineup changes and key play tactics.

On the other side, the Bobcats players gathered around Zhang Yang, celebrating the crucial basket, drawing a cacophony of boos from the home crowd.

Tonight, the enthusiasm of the home fans gradually soared, from the latter part of the third quarter to the timeout of the fourth quarter, the Trail Blazers erased an 11-point deficit, fully mobilizing the fans’ enthusiasm.

Mainly because the opponent was the defending champions and ranked first in the league, the Bobcats, which provided such immense motivation to the Trail Blazers fans, who now truly realized that their team was completely different from the past few years!

The young dual-core talents were brimming with potential and had realized those talents in their sophomore year. Roy displayed an All-Star performance, and Aldridge also became a first-class interior scorer averaging 18 points per game, the roster depth was as good as ever... they’re back! The Western powerhouse from the end of the last century was almost back!

After the timeout, the Trail Blazers brought in a lineup of Blake, Roy, James Jones, Frye, and Aldridge.

The Bobcats also made adjustments, bringing in a lineup consisting of Rondo, Zhang Yang, Alan Anderson, Hill, and Okafor.

McMillan was thinking about what lineup to switch to, Carlisle closed his eyes and quickly guessed it in his mind.

The Trail Blazers inbounded the ball in the frontcourt, and as soon as Roy received the pass from Blake, he heard the loud cheers from the home crowd, feeling greatly encouraged.

This was actually a very cruel thing. Even though he played so well in his rookie year, even though he showed All-Star caliber performance in the first month of his sophomore year and won Player of the Week in the first week of the second month, this was still the first time he heard so many fans cheer for him.

It couldn’t be helped; the Jail Blazers label was too infamous. Randolph’s nightly 20+10 routine had numbed the Rose City fans to the point where they were no longer overly sensitive or excited about a homegrown star’s good performance.

Amidst the cheers from the home crowd, Roy went one-on-one against Zhang Yang, driving to mid-range before halting, dribbling between his legs and stepping back to the right, then using a behind-the-back dribble to return to the right corner of the free-throw line, shaking off Zhang Yang, jumping, and shooting from mid-range... it went in!

The clutch basket!

to 123, with 15 seconds left, the Trail Blazers lead by 1 point!

Roy may not be able to outscore Zhang Yang—scoring 13 points in the third quarter alone and 10 points in the final quarter wasn’t something he could do, remaining at 29 points for now—but when it came to clutch shots, he was fearless.

Zhang Yang defended tenaciously, but at this stage in the game, facing Roy’s suddenly energized and sharp change of direction, he couldn’t keep up his footwork and got shaken off, losing the point. Just as he felt like cursing, he suddenly felt his fatigue fade away, strength returning... he immediately focused, signaling Okafor to inbound the ball quickly.

Carlisle was about to call a timeout but stopped.

It was the right moment to call a timeout, but if Zhang Yang wanted to play, he wouldn’t call it. Although his lineup wasn’t good for offense, the opposing lineup was also poor in defense—worthy of taking a chance.

After Roy hit the clutch basket, he remained calm and, seeing Zhang Yang’s signal for the ball, quickly signaled his teammates to fall back on defense.

Zhang Yang received the inbound pass and pushed the ball up quickly. He didn’t rush a fast break, but also didn’t rush at the top of the key, biding time.