Zhang Yang didn’t choose to go head-to-head with Kobe; Kidd’s defense was tighter with strong anticipation. The opportunity for a turn-around step-back shot was gone, so he proactively drove inside. If he had the chance to shoot, he would, and if heavily double-tead, he’d pass to Millsap or Hill. He beca cautious with periter shots, taking them only when the opportunity was good, maintaining the threat of long-range shots, and paying attention to rebounds on the defensive end...
Millsap and Hill, along with another responder and one-on-one point Jarett Jack, didn’t disappoint Zhang Yang. Even though they were missing shots, unlike Ariza who wouldn’t dare to shoot if he was missing, they would still take shots when the opportunity arose, treating missed shots as entertainnt for the two Ironsmiths on the court.
The teammates absorbed enough shooting opportunities, maintaining the continuity of offensive coordination. In the latter half of the period, Zhang Yang indeed seized the chance to score two more tis... once catching a three-pointer from Jack’s pass after a backdoor cut and another grabbing a rebound and utilizing a follow-up driving threat with a stop-and-go to dunk in transition!
In the latter half of the second quarter, Kobe struggled to score 4 points, adding to Kidd’s two free throws and Kwa Brown’s two points for a total of 8 points; they also defended quite well. However, Zhang San, despite missing two mid-range shots and a driving floater under the basket, scored on 1 out of 1 three-point shot and a fast-break dunk, securing 5 points! Hill made one out of two free throws, and Okafor, replacing Perkins at the end of the quarter, secured a putback for two points, bringing the Bobcats’ total to 8 points as well!
The quarter ended 15 to 16, and at halfti, the Bobcats held a 44 to 38 lead, maintaining an advantage of over 5 points!
Zhang Yang scored 8 points in 7 minutes during the second quarter, raising his personal score to 20 points, continuing to lead Kobe by 1 point!
After halfti, the Lakers players adjusted their mindset, and under the leadership of Kobe, Kidd, and Garnett, launched a counterattack once more.
Kobe focused on offense, defending shooters and blocking the wings on defense;
Kidd assisted with dribbling, catching shooting opportunities, playing defense, trying to seize fast-break chances, grabbing rebounds, and attempting to disrupt the opponent’s defensive rhythm whether or not he could exploit it;
Garnett’s shooting was still off tonight but remained effective with screens, coordinating defense, providing help defense, and trying to receive Kidd’s passes while running, aiming to execute fast breaks...
The Three Giants outright abandoned plans to execute the Triangle Offense, relying purely on individual abilities!
Under the lead of the trio, role players Ariza, Shannon Brown, Kwa Brown in the first half, and Fisher, little Gasol, and Luke Babbitt during the double point guard phase in the second half, perford quite well, fiercely eroding the point gap!
However, the Bobcats’ performance did not fall behind either!
Under the lead of the new ’King of the Third Quarter’ Zhang Yang, the Bobcats steadfastly resisted the Lakers’ counterattack... not allowing the Lakers to overtake the score!
The Lakers had three opportunities to turn the score around this quarter. The first was at the start of the second half, with consecutive three-pointers by Kidd and Kobe, making a 6 to 2 run to narrow the gap to two points, but Zhang Yang imdiately drove the paint with a Euro step, forcing Garnett’s foul for two made free throws.
The second was before the official tiout, with Shannon Brown hitting two handed-off baseline passes from Kidd for layups, narrowing the gap to 1 point. However, Zhang Yang quickly responded with a high post turn-around fadeaway jumper, followed by Millsap stealing the ball from Garnett, Zhang Yang drawing the defense on a fast break, lobbing to Pietrus for an alley-oop dunk, widening the lead back to 5 points.
The third was near the end of the quarter, with Kobe scoring consecutive shots followed by receiving a lob from Garnett, cutting inside for a running hook, drawing a foul and converting the additional free throw for a 7 to 0 personal run, cutting down the Bobcats’ 8-point lead to 1 point.
After Kobe made the additional free throw, there were still 7 seconds left. Zhang Yang sprinted forward, catching a pass from Brad Miller, who sharply lobbed the ball outside the three-point line. Zhang Yang caught the ball, sprinting forward, took a step, and jumped!
Zhang Yang couldn’t quite control his body this ti, lunging inside the three-point line after jumping, but managed to maintain balance, forcing the shot out...the ball flew straight towards the backboard, and while the placent wasn’t the hoop, the direction was perfect!
With the red light illuminating, alongside the long whistle, the ball ’thumped’, hitting the rectangular box on the backboard and bounced into the hoop!
At the ti the red light went on, the ball was already within the cylinder of the hoop, and his jump was clearly from outside the top arc; the referee decisively signaled to the tech desk, the three-pointer counted!
Kobe went 5 for 8 this quarter, including 1 of 1 from three-point range, and combined with 3 of 3 free throws, scored 14 points.
He outscored Zhang Yang in this quarter nurically, with Zhang Yang going 4 for 9, including 2 of 4 from three-point range, and 2 of 2 from free throws, totaling 12 points.
Kobe reached 33 points over three quarters, overtaking Zhang Yang’s 32 points.
But after working hard for a whole quarter, upon checking, the point gap had only closed by two!
Single quarter ended 26 to 24, after three quarters, the score was 64 to 68, with the Lakers still trailing the Bobcats by 4 points!
Moreover, this gap didn’t last long...
Coming back from the break, Felton imdiately stole the ball from Fisher, and in the fast break, succeeded against Fisher’s chase with a 2 1, making the score 71 to 64, stretching the difference to 7 points!
Fisher, a well-regarded player, quickly aid to return the favor to Felton. He indeed got past Felton, breaking to the inside...but was slapped down by Millsap’s help defense.
Though the Bobcats didn’t manage a fast break this ti, after settling into a half-court set, Zhang Yang cut inside utilizing Millsap’s screen from an off-ball run, receiving the ball beyond the three-second area, and with a Euro step avoiding Garnett’s trailing defense, he faced little Gasol’s block and executed a floating layup...scoring!
Reviews
All reviews (0)