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Chapter 909 - 384. Jack, I want to duel you! _3

Chapter 909: 384. Jack, I want to duel you! _3

After Tellem understood Zhang Yang’s attitude, he sighed in relief. He was really afraid that this young guy would suddenly change the previously agreed contract extension approach.

Although Zhang Yang is much more mature than his peers, who can be more mature than that number 21 in San Antonio? Still, he was swayed by Popovich and lost quite a bit.

Look at Kobe and Duncan’s contract extensions, both with 7-year long deals: Kobe’s max salary is 136 million, while Duncan’s is a near-max 122 million over 7 years, averaging 2 million less per year, which is over a 10% salary gap.

At the time of the extension, Duncan had the upper hand in both honors and strength, as well as being very popular in the U.S., starting All-Star games year after year and having multiple endorsements.

In the evening, Zhang Yang stayed in front of the TV to watch the live broadcast of the first game of the finals.

On the 3rd, the East Final determined the winner.

The Bulls reached the East Final, finally meeting their first strong opponent of this year’s playoffs, starting before the Western Conference Finals but ending later.

The Bulls first secured their two home games with scores of 88-85 and 107-91, then the Pistons also secured their home games 101-96 and 95-83.

In the pivotal Game 5, Yao Ming exploded with 24 points and 20 rebounds, dominating the Pistons’ interior, leading the Bulls to a 96-82 victory and gaining the match point; in Game 6, the Pistons launched a fierce counterattack, winning the first quarter 29-18 by 11 points, but the Bulls took control in the next three quarters, pressured the Pistons continuously, and eventually completed a comeback with a 104-97 win.

Ultimately, the Bulls went through a tough battle to defeat the Pistons 4-2, advancing to the finals.

The best performers from both teams were Yao Ming and Hamilton, with Yao averaging 23.5 points, 14 rebounds, 1.8 assists, and 2.8 blocks over 6 games; Hamilton averaged 24.5 points, 3.2 rebounds, and 4 assists, with a shooting percentage of 52.6%, even 0.3% higher than Yao, the center.

In the West, another team advancing to the regional finals was the Spurs.

The Spurs battled until Game 7 against the Warriors to barely advance, winning Game 1, suffering a heavy loss in Game 2, and going 1-1 at home before losing Game 3 on the road as well.

Fortunately, in Game 4, Guy and Duncan both exploded, scoring 30 points each. Duncan scored 10 points in the third quarter, while Guy hit three three-pointers plus a dunk and two free throws for 13 points, leading the Spurs to make a historic single-quarter playoff record of 41 points, setting the victory, ultimately defeating the Warriors 118-104, leveling the series.

Then, back at home, the Spurs seized the momentum to win the pivotal Game 5, but the Warriors also erupted, responding with a 115-101 win, dragging the series to a Game 7.

Then the Warriors met with an outsider, who scored 16 points with 6-7 shooting in one quarter... The Spurs won Game 7 with 112-98, meeting the Lakers in the Western Conference Finals.

This series, Zhang Yang first had to prepare for his own games, so couldn’t watch live broadcasts.

After being eliminated, he didn’t feel like watching the last two live games... but later he found the video and roughly watched a replay.

In this series, Ellis shone, with an average of 7.3 mid-range and long two-point shots per game, averaging 24.7 points, the highest on both teams, with a very good shooting percentage of 47.3%, the highest among the starting lineup on both teams’ three-point percentages, even surpassing Ginobili’s 46.9%. In terms of overall performance, Ellis completely overshadowed Ginobili.

He was praised as a youthful version of Kobe for this series.

He personally embraced this nickname, calling himself the ’second shooting guard in the West’.

However, what left a deeper impression on Zhang Yang was Artest, who averaged 13.6 points, 5.3 rebounds, 4 assists, and 1.7 steals, though his scoring was a bit low, as a small forward his shooting percentage was only 44%. He was only doing well on offense when driving fast breaks. In positional play, when he broke through and met Duncan, he struggled.

Yet Artest on the defensive end was guarding Ginobili outside, standing against Duncan inside, and occasionally switching on to Conley, like a defensive foundation King, although his stamina wasn’t as good, waning in the last quarter, getting particularly beaten by Ginobili at critical moments, especially in Game 7, where Ginobili scored 16 points right in front of him.

This was partly because only Artest and Azubuike among the Warriors’ guards could defend, leading to unhealthy playing time, having to maintain all-out defensive effort throughout, and he’s not a stamina monster.

Also, when Ginobili gets hot at critical moments, no one can defend against him, regardless of who the defender is.

But, Artest’s performance in this series wasn’t given high praise in the media, and Stephen Jackson with an average of 19.6 points, and Baron Davis with an average of 15 points and 7 assists got higher ratings.

Because his name is Ron Artest.

Zhang Yang didn’t watch the live broadcast of this series and couldn’t resist finding the footage to watch it again, but after watching G1 live in the Western Conference Finals, he lost interest.

The score in G1 was 107 to 87, with the Lakers winning by 20 points in the first battle.

Peak Kobe alone was enough to make the Spurs despair, not to mention adding Garnett, who could shoot from mid-range everywhere.

In the next three games, the Spurs didn’t turn the tide, losing 92-104, 90-100, 88-103, and saying goodbye to the playoffs with a 0-4 sweep.

The Spurs lost badly, but it was still better than Zhang Yang’s memory of the 08 Western Conference Finals, where he remembered the Spurs suffering a 30-point defeat, which Duncan avenged with a 31-point margin when facing the Lakers again in 2013. Many people said the Spurs did it on purpose, Duncan fans insisted it was deliberate, it’s just a pity that Kobe had to sit out the season due to injury and didn’t participate.

As time ticked over to 9 o’clock in the evening, the finals began as scheduled, and Zhang Yang could only sit alone in a dimly lit room, watching other stars run on the court...

...

After resting for two days, on June 8th, Zhang Yang continued his training with the help of Ingles.