762: 326.
Give back that aloof and unruly Director Long!
_2 762: 326.
Give back that aloof and unruly Director Long!
_2 The ga was about to start in just over ten minutes, and Zhang Yang and Hill were actually chatting leisurely, which showed that the Bobcats were very relaxed tonight.
The Kings had played 40 gas so far, with 14 wins and 26 losses, making their record one of the lowest in the league.
Although they had just traded for the talented Rondo at his peak, along with Dunk King Richardson, they had also lost their previous frontcourt duo of Artest and Brad Miller.
When they had traded away Bibby, it was just to save money, and they didn’t get any valuable players in return.
Now, their interior lineup only consisted of Mikki Moore, who had been a third or fourth substitute center in the NBA for about a decade, sophomore Shelden Williams, rookie Spencer Hawes, and Adonal Foyle, who had earned a whopping $60 million thanks to O’Neal.
Any strong team facing such an opponent would hardly take them seriously.
At 8 p.m., the ga started, and the Bobcats imdiately scored consecutively, opening with an advantage of 13 to 9 and becoming more relaxed.
But the Kings did not collapse or give up the match just because they were pressed at the start.
Led by Rondo, Kevin Martin, and Jason Richardson, they scored 19 to 14 in the next seven minutes.
By the end of the first quarter, the Kings were leading the Bobcats by 1 point, 28 to 27.
In the second quarter, the Kings continued to take the initiative, scoring 27 points, slightly ahead of the Bobcats’ 25 points, finishing the half with a lead of 55 to 52 over the Bobcats.
The Bobcats’ coaching staff and players did not pay much attention to this, thinking that with the opponents exploding like that, they were only 3 points behind at halfti and could catch up any minute.
Then…
after the Kings had wildly shot for two quarters and worked up their shooting feel, they took off in the third quarter!
Kevin Martin made 4 of 5 three-pointers in the quarter, along with a mid-range shot and 4 free throws, scoring a furious 18 points.
Rondo made all 4 of his shots, scored on two rebounding counterattacks, a steal and counterattack, and a traveling violation breakthrough floater, accumulating 8 points, 3 rebounds, and 5 assists.
With the two of them leading, the Kings scored a massive 39 points in the third quarter.
On the Bobcats’ side, normally they scored many counterattack points in the third quarter and their one-on-one defense and double-teaming were always good.
But tonight, they made only 15 of 22 shots in the third quarter and missed only 7 shots.
In the entire quarter, Zhang Yang managed only one counterattack, scoring two points.
In terms of set plays, once Kevin Martin started sinking three-pointers and rapidly widened the gap, the Bobcats played a bit hurriedly.
Brad Miller, taking on the role of the new strategic core, showed so lack of synergy, performing only moderately well.
The Bobcats only scored 26 points in the third quarter.
After three quarters, the Kings were leading by 16 points, 94 to 78, over the Bobcats!
In the final quarter, Zhang Yang started throwing it all out, making 8 of 13 shots, including 2 of 4 three-pointers, along with 3 free throws, scoring a fierce 21 points and leading the team to score 33 points in the quarter.
Having wildly shot in the first two quarters and exploded in the third, the Kings ran out of steam in the final quarter, scoring only 21 points and losing by 12 points in the quarter.
However, thanks to the advantage they built in the first three quarters, scoring only 21 points in the final quarter was enough!
At 10:21 p.m., the ga ended.
Kevin Martin hit 7 three-pointers, along with two mid-range shots and 10 of 11 free throws, scoring 35 points, 3 rebounds, and 2 assists.
Jason Richardson made 9 of 17 shots, including 2 of 4 three-pointers and 4 free throws, scoring 24 points, 5 rebounds, and 6 assists.
Rondo made 6 of 10 shots, including 1 of 3 three-pointers and 2 free throws, scoring 15 points, grabbing 8 rebounds, and delivering 11 assists and 3 steals.
The three perford outstandingly, overshadowing Zhang Yang’s 38 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists, Okafor’s 21 points, 10 rebounds, 2 assists, and 2 blocks, and Jarett Jack’s 17 points and 6 assists.
Along with John Samuels’s 15 points and Hawes’s 12 points, 6 rebounds, and 3 assists…
115 to 111, the Kings ended the Bobcats’ five-ga winning streak, refusing to be overturned!
…
The next day at noon, the Bobcats left Sacranto and flew to Oakland.
Many fans from the Bay Area ca to the airport to et them, and seeing this scene made Zhang Yang feel much better.
He had desperately tried to overturn the result in the final quarter the previous night and was very frustrated at the ti.
This ti he took out his big move—reading the finance books he had borrowed from Okafor, and quickly fell asleep.
Upon waking up, he had controlled his emotions and looked at losing a regular-season ga with calm.
On the bus on the way to the hotel, Zhang Yang, Hill, Okafor, and Brad Miller started discussing the previous night’s ga, analyzing what went wrong.
The unanimous conclusion—too careless.
Zhang Yang said, “Hey, if I had scored 5 more points in the final quarter, we would have won…
but I didn’t have the ability to score another 5 points, no good, I still need to practice.”
His teammates felt his responsibility as the main star from the first part of his statent, but the second part left them not knowing where to begin their complaints.
After self-deprecating for a couple of seconds, Zhang Yang said, “Although we were sowhat careless in the first half and didn’t continue our initial advantage, being able to seize the opportunity is their skill too.
We can’t deny their effort and strength…
but, seeing Rajon play so actively and fiercely, I can understand, but it’s really surprising to see other players on the Kings team doing the sa.”
Brad Miller, who rarely interjected, added, “I and Artest were traded away.
Now the Kings are like a new team, anyone could beco a main player, and previous main players could also be taken down, so they have to fight hard.”
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