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Chapter 752 - 320. New Version of the Little Emperor on the Ship_2

Chapter 752: 320. New Version of the Little Emperor on the Ship_2

The meticulously prepared game plan was utterly useless!

Unexpectedly, the other side completely abandoned their previously successful tactics and didn’t follow the usual script!

Mike Brown could see that playing this way didn’t offer the opponents much advantage, but he just wasn’t as relaxed as the other coach.

The reason was simple: in the regular season plus playoffs, the Knights had lost 18 straight games against the Bobcats!

In NBA history, the record for the most consecutive losses by one team against another is held by the Grizzlies. After joining the NBA in 1995, they lost 24 straight games to the Lakers over six and a half seasons, until the second half of the 01-02 season. It wasn’t until Gasol fully adapted to the pace of NBA games that the Grizzlies achieved their first victory against the Lakers.

Now the Knights were on their way to this ’historical record’!

And Mike Brown had no solution to this unexpected situation.

He could create a defensive system that was no worse than Carlisle’s, but when it came to making on-the-spot decisions, he was worse than Van Gundy...

...

While Mike Brown was self-destructing internally, the Knights players thought much more simply—just follow James and charge forward!

This season, although the Knights’ record wasn’t as good as in the past two seasons, the players were enjoying themselves more and more.

In the past, James wanted to do everything on the offensive end and managed to do so better than anyone else on the team, leaving many of his teammates to do only the simplest things, which many of the new members found overwhelming, like Hughes in the past two seasons.

Only a few pure shooters and forwards who feasted on ’easy baskets’ liked this style of play... but not all the time, as they often received the ball with just a few seconds left on the shot clock or out of their preferred positions.

Each time they caught the ’hot potato,’ teammates would curse internally; getting rid of a bad shot wasn’t a big deal, but failing to score would lead to criticism from media and fans.

And such ’hot potato’ shots were usually caused by James’s hesitation with the ball.

However, as the season progressed, things started to change.

James voluntarily simplified his offensive game, focusing more on scoring. Although his usage rate was still high, he passed the ball more decisively than before.

At first, his teammates didn’t take it seriously, thinking James was just putting on a show. He had played like this occasionally before, only to revert to his do-it-all approach after a few games.

But as the season went on, his teammates were shocked to find that James had stuck with it!

This inspired them greatly, and they started to play better. Despite a rocky start to the season, they still had hope of reaching 50 wins by mid-season... Their record wasn’t worse than in the previous two seasons because they lacked effort or skill.

Hughes was affected by injuries, and the age factor impacted Big Z’s performance, with considerable declines from both. Gooden and Varejao’s progress fell short of expectations, and the situation with acquisitions was another story... To be at their current standing was already quite good, barely maintaining the dignity of a strong team and the hope of reaching 50 wins, which was inseparable from James’s adjustment in play style.

Carlisle’s unexpected tactics tonight made Mike Brown go crazy, but it hardly affected the Knights players psychologically.

The one leading this team was never head coach Mike Brown, but LeBron James!

Mike Brown’s game plan had completely fallen apart, but James didn’t react with dissatisfaction, conflict, or hesitation like before. He’d learned to leave those emotions for after the game, focusing solely on the game during play!

If the opponents wanted to play offense, then he’d capitalize on the conditions to his advantage and go all out on the attack!

Drive and shoot when the conditions are good, or pass immediately when double-teamed, ready to rebound and score on return passes.

If tired from driving, then play it simple.

Under James’s lead, the Knights and Bobcats started competing intensely!

In the first half of the first quarter, the Bobcats led the Knights by 4 points, 18 to 14. In the latter half, the Knights cut the lead by 3 points, ending the first quarter one point behind the Bobcats, 31 to 32.

In the second quarter, James immediately scored 8 points, leading the Knights to a 19 to 14 run in the first half, overtaking the Bobcats by 4 points, 50 to 46. The Knights’ offense remained fierce in the latter half, matching the counterattacking Bobcats with a score of 15 to 16.

With 10 points in the first half and 6 in the second, James scored 16 points in the quarter alone, leading the Knights to a 34 to 30 quarter finish. By halftime, the Knights were ahead of the Bobcats by 3 points, 65 to 62, going into the break!

James’s best average performance this season was in the second quarter, scoring 12.5 points. Tonight, in his advantage quarter, he put on a show even better than usual!

However, coming back from the halftime break, the Bobcats’ strongest quarter arrived!

Hughes was rested at the start of the third quarter, with James defending Zhang Yang.

Zhang Yang, attacking with both drives and shots, scored in 4 rounds, making 2 of 3 shots, including 1 of 1 three-pointers, and 2 of 2 free throws, completely scoring 7 points!

Meanwhile, the Knights started the third quarter weakly, making only 1 of 3 shots, plus one turnover, scoring just 2 points.

to 67, Zhang Yang single-handedly turned the score around, immediately halting the Knights!

During the timeout, Carlisle made adjustments—substituting Jarett Jack, who had just played two minutes, for Rondo.