First in scoring

Chapter 426 425. The First Month of War is Over
The Pacers have Granger who is entering his prime and has strong leadership skills, and their lineup is not bad. Although it is difficult for them to win, they have the strength to compete with any opponent for a period of time and are rarely abused.

But the situation was a bit special tonight. He made 7 of 5 shots in the first half, including 2 of 2 three-pointers, and scored 12 points without any free throws... The Pacers players were completely stunned.

When they saw Zhang Yang shooting, they had only one thought: How dare he shoot? How dare he make it!

But if you think about it carefully, those shots seem to be opportunities. It's just that for them, even for Granger, a talented player who has already ranked among the top scorers, they would not normally regard them as shooting opportunities, let alone seize the opportunity to shoot the ball in a flash.

But thinking of this, Granger felt even more shocked. Not only was his ability to score worse than others, but his ability to find opportunities was also inferior to others...

This has to do with the experience that Zhang Yang gained before the Olympics, that "art is shooting". In order to make good use of this experience, he has been adjusting his shooting habits since the Olympics to seize better shooting opportunities.

In the first dozen games of the new season, his shot selection has improved significantly.

Tonight it became an opportunity to catch shots that ordinary players wouldn't even dare to think about in a bad shooting environment!
Originally, the Pacers players saw that the Bobcats had been in poor form recently and wanted to take this opportunity to strike back at the Bobcats.

During the preparation training, Big Bird joined in and helped the players find ways to win. Although the record is not important, it would be quite encouraging if they could beat the "strongest young army of bad boys".

But the result...

Their own offense was hindered because Hibbert's flaws were discovered by Zhang Yang, and the opening tactics collapsed directly; on the defensive end, they were blown up by Zhang Yang's various wasteful shots, and fell behind by more than ten points at the beginning...

At 9:23 pm, the final whistle sounded.

张杨首节17分、第二节6分、第三节13分……末节没有得分，22投14中，其中三分球4中3，加上5中5的罚球，三节拿到36分打卡下班，率领山猫队以116比82大胜步行者队！

After the game, DeRozan stared at the data of the players of both teams on the big screen in a daze.

He played for 26 minutes tonight, and because the entire last quarter was garbage time, he made 13 of 6 shots, including 5 of 2 three-pointers, plus 2 of 2 free throws, and scored 16 points, 3 rebounds, and 2 assists, setting a personal record in scoring, but compared with Zhang San on the opposite side...

Granger, who was blown away by Zhang Yang's unexpected shots tonight, suppressed his madness, came to DeRozan and said, "DeMar, don't be discouraged by this. You just entered the NBA. One day you will be as good as him."

DeRozan shook his head: "You may not know how talented Jack is."

Granger: "I know, of course I know. I entered the NBA in the same year as him. I know how fast he has improved. I have been watching him. He is my benchmark."

Ronaldinho: Uh... Looking at your appearance, I thought you entered the NBA at least three or five years earlier than Zhang San...

DeRozan just complained in his heart and there was no way he could say it out loud.

Granger continued: "I know too well how fast he has improved, but the impact he has given me this year is not as strong as at the beginning of last season. From a technical point of view, his progress has slowed down, and he has begun to look for room for improvement in his playing style, which means that the gap between us and him will gradually narrow..."

Having said that, Granger couldn't say any more. The next thing he thought of was - although he might never be able to surpass him.

After so many years in the NBA, he has accepted the fact that he is just an 'ordinary person' among the 'geniuses'. He is not frustrated by this, but is ready to become a team player and lead the team to win. However, DeRozan has just entered the NBA, and he feels that this rookie may not be able to accept this.

DeRozan is a man with a lot of inner thoughts and he guessed what Granger didn't finish saying.

He rarely smiled and said, "Thank you, Danny, but you don't have to worry about me getting hurt. After I played basketball with him for a year in high school, I knew he would soon become stronger than me. In fact, his performance after entering the NBA was not as shocking as what he brought to me in the 10th grade. It only took him one year to become the number one in California... But I never gave up. My dream now is to catch up with him and then surpass him!"

DeRozan's eyes seemed to be shining when he said this.

Granger was stunned. He could clearly feel that the rookie in front of him did not think he had a hope of surpassing Zhang Yang, but still chose to strive in that direction.

His emotions were ignited, and he put his arm around DeRozan's shoulders and said, "Okay! Let's work together to surpass the Bad Boys, surpass the Bad Boys Army!"

...

After two consecutive away games, Zhang Yang returned to Charlotte with the team on the 27th and rested for a night. On the 28th, the team faced the Nuggets at home.

Zhang Yang has been looking forward to this game for a long time - the ultimate version of the Three Musketeers!
Based on Zhang Yang's impression of the Nuggets management, they are not a group of people who are content with the status quo.

He remembered that after the Nuggets management formed the "Golden Double Guns" of Iverson and Anthony, they only lasted one full season and played in the playoffs twice. They could not stand the situation of not being able to achieve results in the playoffs and chose to disband the team. At the beginning of the 08-09 season, Iverson, who averaged 26 points and 7 assists per game in the previous season, was sent away. Before that, Camby was sent away with a second-round pick in the 08 offseason.

The future "run and gun" team won 57 games in its peak season but was defeated by Curry in the first round. He immediately fired George Karl, who had just won the best coach award, and announced a reconstruction.

Later in the 13-14 season, Mozgov, a 10th-round undrafted player who was not wanted by other teams, unexpectedly played well, and the Nuggets immediately gave up JJ Hickson and JaVale McGee. As a result, in the 14-15 season, Joseph Nurkic, the 14th-round center in the first round of 16, played well, and Mozgov, who had only executed his two-year contract for half a year, was given up. Nurkic was not spared either. After Nikola Jokic, a second-round pick in the same year, joined the Nuggets the following year, Nurkic was also soon given up...

The Nuggets management didn't have much patience, but after all this back and forth, they really got the strongest center in the small ball era. This is fate. If you are lucky, you can win a championship no matter what you do.

The trade rumors about Iverson here started earlier than Zhang Yang remembered, during the All-Star Weekend. Originally, the Nuggets started to sell Iverson after they were eliminated in the first round for two consecutive years in the 07-08 season, but in the end Iverson was not traded. Instead, Ray Allen came and finally Ray Allen renewed his contract. The Nuggets chose to continue the "new three musketeers" formation.

Maybe it’s because the first round of last season’s playoffs went to 6 games with the Lakers?
Zhang Yang doesn't see any hope for the Nuggets in the playoffs. At most, he can just give Tristana a blow. When facing the Lakers, Horses, Cows, Bears, and Jazz, they can win one or two games with their three guns. The patience of the Nuggets management is estimated to be only one season at most. It just so happens that Iverson's contract expires after this season... But this is not important to him, Zhang San.

What’s more important is that he can also compete with Iverson, the main scorer!

Compared to the original Iverson's bleak end of his career, the Iverson here, even if he is abandoned after this season and returns to the 76ers to retire, is much more decent than wandering around the Pistons and Grizzlies. He may even play for another year or two.

However, the original reason why Iverson faded out of the league was not because of his strength. When he returned to the 76ers and got the minimum salary, he still had the strength to start. It was the times that abandoned him... Speaking of which, that farewell was very Iverson.

At 7pm, the Bobcats played against the Nuggets at home. No. 3 vs. No. 3 has been one of the hottest topics in the NBA in the past two years, especially in China. This game is definitely the hottest game of the season after the opening game between the Bulls and the Lakers.

At 9:22 pm, the game ended and the Bobcats lost to the Nuggets 106 to 114!
This game made Zhang Yang understand why the impatient Nuggets would continue to play with Iverson as the ball-handling core for another year, and why the Nuggets were able to win two games against the Lakers in the first round of the playoffs last year.

This was Zhang Yang's first match against the Nuggets after Ray Allen joined the team. The "ultimate three musketeers" were really fierce! The impact they brought to him was much stronger than watching videos and scouting reports.

If you count JR Smith on the bench, that’s four guns!
The Nuggets were almost defenseless on the defensive end, and everything revolved around the scoring of Iverson, Ray Allen, Anthony and JR Smith.

There are only 5 players rotating on the outside, and another outside player, Anthony Carter, is a ball-feeding machine, averaging 18 assists in 4.7 minutes per game.

The four inside players, Nene, Kenyon Martin, Chris Andersen, and Linas Kleiza, all did the simplest things, scoring fast, cutting into the basket, grabbing rebounds...

The Nuggets played in a simple and rough manner, but with strategy, smooth interweaving movements, accurate outside shots, sharp counterattacks...which messed up the Bobcats' defense, which was encountering this style of play for the first time.

Zhang Yang, who scored 28 points tonight, wanted to attack recklessly like he did last season, and he did try. As a result, their team lost their composure first, and he was also affected by the opponent's mindless double-team, so the whole team collapsed.

Looking at the bright red score, Zhang Yang finally understood why the Nuggets were ranked first in the league with an average of 111.6 points per game, beating the Warriors with an average of 110.3 points per game.

They only lost by 8 points because they kept slowing down the pace.

He still had to save face in his heart - the Nuggets had no future in the playoffs with this style of play.

Such malicious speculation is a bit petty.

But Zhang Yang did not continue to complain in front of the media after losing the game. Instead, he took the initiative to take the blame and only said that it was good enough due to his personal shortcomings tonight.

The topic of No. 3 vs. No. 3 has not ended yet, the live broadcast of the game between the Bobcats and the Nuggets has not ended, and the TV commentator is already promoting the next game between No. 3 vs. No. 3...

The next evening, Zhang Yang, Felton and Paul had dinner at Zhang Yang's farm.

Without other teammates, in front of his two good friends, Paul opened his mouth and complained bitterly. Simply put, in Paul's opinion, except for David West and James Posey, there is no other player in the team who can play.

Being only 23 years old, Pao naturally did not have as much scheming as he would a few years later. He dared to say anything in private. Of course, it was also possible that he understood Felton's temper and knew that Zhang Yang would not speak ill of others behind their backs, so he dared to complain without hesitation.

As for Zhang Yang, he didn't find it strange that Paul had so many complaints about his teammates.

This season, the only Hornets players whose performance has not declined compared to last season are Paul, David West and James Posey.

Chandler, who is in his eighth year of his career and is already 8 years old, still cannot see the possibility of "realizing his talent". So far this season, he has averaged 27 minutes per game, with stats of 34 points, 8.6 rebounds and 8.2 blocks.

The 31-year-old Peja has been in a precipitous decline. In almost a month, his shooting percentage is 38%, which is far from the mark for a running pitcher. He averages only 11.8 points per game, the lowest since his rookie season.

Players such as Devin Brown, Rasual Butler, Maurice Peterson, new player Antonio Daniels, etc., all hit career lows in performance.

As for Paul, his personal performance has improved compared to last season. Since the start of the season, he has averaged 22.4 points, 5.2 rebounds, 11.2 assists and 3 steals per game, with a hit rate of 51%. His playing time is also a career high, just 40 minutes per game. He is almost C-ed, but after 15 games, the Hornets have 8 wins and 7 losses and are tenth in the Western Conference... It would be strange if he is not full of resentment.

When Zhang Yang got the Hornets' scout report in the afternoon, he saw Paul's statistics and guessed that the core reason for the consecutive serious injuries suffered by Little Cannon must be his playing style. Just like the Bulls version of Rose, his knees could not bear the pain. However, the situation of the Hornets this season and the brutal competitive environment in the Western Conference forced Little Cannon to fight hard in every game, which undoubtedly accelerated the speed of his injury.

It would be fine for Zhang Yang to just listen to this kind of thing, and not to join in criticizing Paul's teammates. He might show some concern about whether Paul would get hurt if he played like this, but he wouldn't take the initiative to make any suggestions, as it would not only be useless but would also create estrangement.

The next night, the Bobcats faced the Hornets at home in their last game of the first game month.

Like the Nuggets, the Hornets have changed their style of play significantly compared to the Hornets team that the Bobcats last played against.

The former formed the 'ultimate three guns' and stepped on the accelerator of 'track and field run and gun' all the way to the end, while the latter was that the state of many players declined and they were forced to make constant adjustments.

However, what is the same is that the changes shown by the two teams in the game exceeded the expectations of the Bobcats when preparing for the game. They played very differently from what they thought. Moreover, when Xiao Pao saw the 'Fat Three Brothers' tonight, he played very hard and led his teammates to a very hot start.

Fortunately, the Bobcats learned a lesson from the previous game. Zhang Yang, Felton and Okafor led the team to insist on implementing their own team's offensive and defensive plans, shooting when they should shoot, defending when they should defend, and consuming energy when they should consume energy.

After enduring the Hornets' hot offensive phase at the beginning and the war of attrition taking effect, the Bobcats gradually began to seize the initiative in the middle of the second quarter, and in the third quarter, led by Felton's consecutive scores against Paul, they scored 32 to 24 in a single quarter. From being behind by 11 points in the first quarter and 8 points at halftime, they tied the Hornets 81 to 81 at the end of the third quarter!
Felton scored 23 points and 5 assists in three quarters, with a shooting percentage of 12 out of 8. It was so amazing that when he led the team to tie the score, Paul almost became autistic.

Xiao Pao: These fat guys are not done yet, are they?

张杨今晚表现也不错，15投7中，其中三分球5中2，加上2中2的罚球，在詹姆斯-波西的防守下三节拿到18分4板5助攻1抢断，给今晚的主攻点费尔顿提供了强有力支援。

After tying the score, the Bobcats completely controlled the situation on the court. After the start of the final quarter, Felton made consecutive passes, and Zhang Yang and Mike Miller each made two three-pointers. In more than two minutes, they made a 12 to 5 run and quickly established a clear lead.

保罗此时也没办法了，打到这时候，全场得分最高的不是23分9助攻的费尔顿，也不是24分5助攻的张杨，而是18投10中、其中三分球2中2、加上5中4的罚球拿到26分6板10助攻的他小炮！

As a point guard, he scored and assisted, and although he didn't do a good job in one-on-one defense, he did a good job in double-teaming and blocking when the ball was not in his possession. However, the score went from a 13-point lead to a 7-point deficit, and they lost 20 points in a little more than two quarters... The desperate mentality began to emerge from Paul, the team's star player.

The game ended at 10:20 pm.

费尔顿末节2分6助攻、全场25分11助攻；张杨末节13分、全场31分6板6助攻，两人携手率领山猫队以111比99逆转黄蜂队，赢下首个比赛月最后一战！
(End of this chapter)