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Chapter 906 - 383. Regret_6

Chapter 906: 383. Regret_6

Zhang Yang’s heart was more resolute tonight. The strategy was to play well and strive for better shooting opportunities, but when it came to passing or shooting, there were no more choices to make... 44 minutes of playtime and a staggering 32 attempts!

Tonight, he finally went all out!

In the first quarter, the Bobcats gained a 10-point advantage. In the subsequent three quarters, Billups continuously led the Pistons in a counterattack, but every time they were about to close the gap, Zhang Yang would appear and score several points, helping the Bobcats stabilize the situation.

By the mid-fourth quarter, when their attempts to close the gap were again thwarted, the Pistons collapsed, and the Zhang Yang-led Bobcats widened the point difference.

Zhang Yang played for 44 minutes tonight, hitting 16 out of 32, including 5 out of 8 three-pointers, plus a perfect 8 out of 8 free throws, scoring an impressive 45 points, 7 rebounds, 2 assists, and 2 steals, leading the Bobcats to a resounding 112-96 victory over the Pistons, refusing to be eliminated at home!

On May 18th, with a switch of venues, the Bobcats returned to The Palace of Auburn Hills for an away game against the Pistons.

Having overcome the 1-3 crisis, Zhang Yang naturally also wanted to overcome the 2-3 crisis. If they could push it to a Game 7, there would be a chance for a comeback!

However, this time, luck wasn’t as good as last year.

Tonight, he attempted 33 shots, 1 more than the last game, and played the full 48 minutes without a second of rest, but made 3 fewer shots, hitting a career-first playoff single-game 20 missed shots...

On the Pistons’ side, the whole team exploded tonight!

Of the 10 players that appeared, 7 scored double digits—Billups with 15 points and 12 assists, Hamilton with 19 points, Dudley with 15 points, Rasheed Wallace with 13 points, Prince with 16 points, Noah with 10 points, and Max Hill with 11 points...

As for the Bobcats, aside from Zhang Yang’s 37 points from 13 out of 33 shots, including 2 out of 7 three-pointers, plus 9 out of 11 free throws, there was only Okafor with 16 points and 10 rebounds from 7 out of 15 shots, and Hill with 11 points from 4 out of 11 shots scoring double digits.

Felton, Jarett Jack only scored 8 points, Brad Miller 5 points, Millsap 6 points, Alan Anderson 3 points, Muhammad and Perkins each scored 2 points...

With a score of 98 to 115, the Bobcats suffered a crushing defeat at their away game, exiting the league at 2-4, failing to defend their title!

As the final whistle blew, Zhang Yang looked at the score on the big screen. Previously, he couldn’t help but lightly mock Kobe for always being knocked out in crucial losing games—2003 Western Conference Semifinals Game 6, where the Lakers were defeated by the Spurs by 28 points; 2004 NBA Finals Game 5 losing by 13 points, originally a 23-point gap with 5 minutes left, the Lakers cut it to 10 in trash time; then the Game 7 loss to the Suns in 2006, and the would-be 39-point massacre in the 2008 NBA Finals...

At this moment, he felt that same unwillingness Kobe did—to exert oneself fully but still lose.

At some point, Felton and Okafor were standing by his side.

This time, surprisingly, it was Okafor who spoke first, and not in a harsh way – "We’ll come back next year."

Felton was taken aback for a moment and agreed, "That’s right, next year we definitely won’t lose!"

Zhang Yang nodded, turned around, and walked toward the players’ tunnel with Felton and Okafor.

They could only come back next year, but next year... will this Pistons team still be around?

Facing them in the playoffs with a record of 1 win and 2 losses might become a regret of his entire career...

...

The Pistons defeated the Bobcats 4-2, advancing to the East Final for the sixth consecutive year, drawing all basketball fans’ attention.

This underdog team, even after losing Ben Wallace, managed to persevere for two more years, and Billups’ status in the mind of neutral fans soared!

Rumors flew that Billups was beating Paul, kicking Nash, and outmaneuvering Kidd, with claims that he was the league’s top point guard.

But Billups himself didn’t like showing off in front of the media, preferring to be flamboyant on the court yet low-key in public, otherwise, with such bizarre praise, he’d get roasted.

The Bobcats’ failure to defend their title left many fans regretful.

For thirty years, the NBA had been overshadowed by the Lakers, Celtics, Bulls, Pistons, and Spurs. In those thirty years, these five teams won 23 championships, leaving other teams to occasionally sip the broth.

Finally, a team with potential and impressive progress appeared, but due to various uncontrollable circumstances, they lost their championship contention the second year after winning it all.

However, before the second round began, most media predicted the Pistons would win.

Though the Bobcats had a better regular season record, looking at the entire season’s consistency and overall performance, with the Pistons’ strengthened bench, they were stronger, as the playoffs proved.

The Bobcats had higher potential, but the Pistons were too stable. With their core players partnering for five or six years, once the stamina issues were resolved, the Bobcats, who were still adjusting, found it hard to win an entire series.

Alongside the regretful voices, mockery also came fiercely...

After Game 6, Zhang Yang had a good night’s sleep. Back in Charlotte, he took a few days off, completely disconnected from basketball, reading books, fishing, and fishing...

The fishing skills he learned last summer in Hawaii finally came in handy.

The time came to May 26th, a week after the season ended. Zhang Yang returned to the training court at Tuhang Stadium and began intense practice with Ingles’ help!

In just a week, he had adjusted his mindset. During this time, although he stayed away from news and basketball, he kept in touch with people like Ingles, Tim Grove, and Carlisle, talking about technical issues.

He整理organized the skills and fundamentals to be enhanced this summer based on team needs and his own characteristics.

As for how to enhance them, he’d leave it to the professionals to制定plan the training, and he just had to train.

First and foremost was shooting, focusing on threes and midrange shots before returning to China on July 5th.

This also aligned with Zhang Yang’s own goals; he wanted to quickly accumulate 120,000 shooting value points to start the next stage of tasks, and he wasn’t far off.

However, before accumulating 120,000 shooting value points, his ability improved first.

On May 31st, the last day of the month, after a few sets of three-point shots in the morning, a "gate" popped up.

"Three-point shooting fundamentals increased from 89 to 90. You’ve become a top-tier three-point shooter, keep it up..."