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Chapter 719 - 305. Cut through truth, defeat White Devil!_2

Chapter 719: 305. Cut through truth, defeat White Devil!_2

But after the official timeout, Pierce and Bibby led the team, scoring 18 to 11 against the Bobcats in five minutes, narrowing the gap to single digits, 83 to 90, only 7 points behind.

In the final moments of the third quarter, the contemporary Jordan backed down Zhang Yang in the low post, hitting a close-range fadeaway jumper and even drawing a foul on Zhang Yang. He made the free throw too, cutting the lead down to 4 points!

Turning around, Zhang Yang shook off the defending Joe Johnson on the wing with a screen, cutting into the lane. He received a pass from Millsap and performed a Euro step, deceiving Pachulia, Pierce, and Solomon Jones, who were converging on him, and lofted the ball towards the front of the rim.

After passing the ball, Millsap cut down the middle and leaped high, finishing an alley-oop dunk for two points!

After three quarters, the Bobcats led the Hawks team by 6 points, 92 to 86!

Scoring 32 points in a single quarter and still seeing the lead reduced by two points... Carlisle was relieved he had adjusted his coaching style according to his team’s situation. If it had been like his times with the Pistons or the Pacers, prioritizing stability once ahead, the third quarter would have been the end.

The Hawks team only scored 13 points in the first half of the quarter, averaging 96 points per 48 minutes, which didn’t look very threatening,

but after the official timeout, Joe Johnson, despite Zhang Yang’s interference on his shooting space, swished two shots in succession. Under his leadership, the Hawks team scored a furious 18 points in 5 minutes, with Joe Johnson himself scoring a 2+1, netting 8 points in half the period!

If it weren’t for Zhang Yang’s last assist to Millsap for two points, the gap would have been reduced to within 5 points!

Woodson was excited to bursting at this moment. Looking across at the bald Carlisle, he thought: Although we might not always play well, we can reach great heights! You only have one player who can elevate the team’s ceiling, but I have three!

Coming back from the break, the fourth quarter started.

The Bobcats put Felton, Zhang Yang, Mike Miller, Millsap, and Okafor on the floor.

The Hawks team fielded their three star perimeter players with Solomon Jones and Horford pairing up in the frontcourt.

Pierce started by collapsing in to steal the ball from Okafor in the low post, Bibby initiated the fast break, and Joe Johnson swiftly moved down the middle to receive the ball.

Facing Zhang Yang’s close defense, Joe Johnson drove hard for two steps, passed to the wing where Horford followed up with the ball and scored a layup.

Then Okafor, playing one-on-one in the post against Horford, missed a turnaround hook shot. In the ensuing transition, Bibby used a screen to break free and passed to Pierce, who nailed a three-point shot.

With half the quarter gone, 21 to 13, the Hawks team’s momentum was fully up—they started the final period with a 5 to 0 run, bringing the gap down to just one point!

to 91, only 1 point apart.

Felton took the inbound and pushed forward to look for his younger brother, Zhang Yang, who was being aggressively fronted by Pierce, not getting the pass in time, so Felton decided to go it alone.

Dribbling across, he made a strong drive, stepped back to the three-point line, grabbed the ball, and with Bibby hurriedly closing in, shot the three... and it was good!

On the Hawks team’s offense, Bibby shook off Felton with a screen from Horford, drove in close and lobbed a shot that also went in, 93 to 95, the Hawks team stayed close!

In the transition, Felton continued to go one-on-one, with Bibby choosing to stick with the shot this time. Felton drove straight into the lane, drawing Joe Johnson from the wing to help, then kicked the ball to the right sideline.

Mike Miller caught the ball and hit the three! 98 to 93, the gap was back up to 5 points!

In the final period, both teams powered up from the start, foregoing a chase and opting for a strong head-to-head clash!

With 6 minutes and 22 seconds to go in the last quarter, Joe Johnson took Zhang Yang one-on-one, attempting a forceful shot, but because Zhang Yang stayed close, he couldn’t get enough speed; with the help of Muhammad’s inside defense to disturb, Horford, however, grabbed the rebound and scored two points. The Hawks team went into the official timeout 4 points behind the Bobcats, 106 to 110.

In that half of the quarter, the Hawks team scored a whopping 20 points, and with Horford’s putback, they edged the Bobcats by 20 to 18.

But the Hawks’ rally came to a halt at this point... Coming back from the official timeout, Zhang Yang took up the attack, scoring 7 points in 3 minutes, hitting 4 out of 3 shots, including 1 three-pointer on 1 attempt!

During this period, Pierce attempted two breakthrough shots and Bibby threw a three-pointer, none of which went in, except for Horford who stealthily added a basket after Pierce’s breakthrough attracted a double team.

Zhang Yang soloed the Hawks with a 7 to 2 run, leading the Bobcats to a 117 to 108 lead, 9 points ahead of the Hawks!

Starting off cautiously, Zhang Yang, after the first ball, began focusing on team tactics to preserve his energy, a decision that played a significant role in tonight’s game.

Although he couldn’t hold back the rampaging Joe Johnson in the latter half of the third quarter, he did quite well for the most part. Joe Johnson managed to score 8 points on 3 out of 5 shots in that half-quarter, but for the entire game, he only made 6 out of 15 shots; excluding that period, Joe Johnson only had 3 out of 10 shots succeed.

Then now, at the critical moment, he faced Bibby and Pierce, two opponents with strong resilience, and won a two-against-one battle!

In the final two-plus minutes, both teams scored 5 points, with the Hawks unable to close the gap, and Zhang Yang, having done a stint of topping, couldn’t continue his streak.

At 9:23 PM, the final buzzer sounded.

Pierce played for 44 minutes, making 12 out of 25 shots, including 3 out of 8 three-pointers, and hitting 5 out of 6 free throws, scoring 32 points, 7 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 steals, and 1 block.

Bibby played for 39 minutes, making 9 out of 19 shots, including 4 out of 7 three-pointers, and hitting 5 out of 5 free throws, scoring 27 points and 6 assists.

Joe Johnson played for 40 minutes, making 6 out of 16 shots, including 2 out of 7 three-pointers, and hitting 5 out of 5 free throws, scoring 19 points, 4 rebounds, and 3 assists.

Horford made 6 out of 9 shots, and with 2 out of 4 free throws, he scored 14 points, 12 rebounds, 2 assists, and 1 block.

Childress scored 6 points, Solomon Jones 10 points, and Asi Lao 5 points.

Under the leadership of their three stars, the Hawks scored 113 points with a fierce offense, but their defense...

Zhang Yang made 12 out of 22 shots, including 2 out of 4 three-pointers, and hitting all 8 free throws, scored the highest in the game with 34 points, adding 6 rebounds, 3 assists, and 3 steals.

Felton made 7 out of 14 shots, including 3 out of 5 three-pointers, and hitting 3 out of 4 free throws, scored 20 points and 5 assists.

Okafor had 16 points, 8 rebounds, 3 assists, and 2 blocks, Mike Miller scored 14 points, Millsap 11 points, 4 rebounds, and 5 assists, and Rondo had 7 points, 11 rebounds, and 6 assists...

to 113, the Bobcats narrowly defeated the Hawks by 9 points, improving their record to 24 wins and 4 losses!

After the final buzzer, the Bobcats players gathered to celebrate the hard-won victory.

On the Hawks’ side... the players weren’t too disheartened!

Though they lost, Bibby, Pierce, and Joe Johnson, standing together with hands on hips, when they looked at each other, they saw a gleam in their eyes!

It seems from the time in January 2006 when the Bobcats first reached a 50% winning rate, for two whole years, these three men’s teams had hardly any chance against the Bobcats. It wasn’t that they hadn’t won at all, but when they did it was considered an upset. They hadn’t truly won on merit for two years, and normally, they would be soundly beaten by the Bobcats.

But tonight, even though the Bobcats were fiercely offensive, they fought till the end, only falling short due to a lack of stamina, taken down by the Bad Boy Jack.

This loss didn’t bring them down, instead, it gave them hope!

In fact, in their professional careers up till this point, the Bobcats hadn’t been considered a significant opponent. Normally, it wouldn’t have stirred such feelings in them, but at this stage, they just happened to be facing the Bobcats, projecting some of their emotions onto this game. From this moment on, the Bobcats became a special opponent in their minds...