First in scoring

Chapter 439 438. When a Super Scorer Meets the Mavericks

In fact, the Bulls usually rotate 10-11 players, but in tonight's Christmas game, the opponent is a direct competitor, and Skiles wanted to try to go all out with a playoff style. Yao Ming played for 37 minutes, Hinrich and Luol Deng both played for 40 minutes... but in the end they were still killed by the opponent's double guns.

The Bulls also have Aaron Gray, a second-year center whose progress is not as fast as expected, and two marginal players in Cedric Simmons and Anthony Robertson.

Aaron Gray is a player from the class of 07, a mature center who graduated from his senior year. He looked very good in his rookie year. As Yao Ming's substitute, he played in 66 games, including 5 starts, averaging 12 minutes per game, and got 4.8 points, 4 rebounds and 0.8 blocks... But in his sophomore year, he regressed and his performance at the start was even worse than his rookie year.

Joe Smith was moved to the center position. In addition to his decline in speed, Yao Ming did not have a capable substitute.

Originally, Aaron Gray was designated by the Bulls management and coaching staff as Yao Ming's main substitute, but now they are looking for new players.

After the Christmas game between the Bobcats and the Bulls ended, people's attention was focused on the last Christmas game of the relay - the Lakers' home game against the Nuggets.

Even the Bobcats fans, as well as Zhang Yang and others, paid close attention to this game, causing the topic discussion and ratings of this game to be higher than normal.

Because the Cavaliers were upset by the Heat and the Bobcats narrowly defeated the Bulls, the Bobcats' record tied with the Cavaliers. Relying on the advantage of direct confrontation, the Bobcats topped the Eastern Conference.

The Lakers currently have 20 wins and 6 losses. If they win the next game, the Bobcats and the Lakers will be tied for first place in the league. If they lose, the Bobcats will take the first place in the mid-term start!

Even Yao Ming went to Lounge No. 3 to receive physical therapy and watch the live broadcast with the members of the Big Bang Gang.

The game lasted until 11:58 p.m. Eastern Time and : p.m. Western Time. After Kobe hit a two-pointer to tie the score, Anthony passed the ball to Ray Allen. Ray Allen was double-teamed and passed the ball to Iverson at the top of the arc. Iverson hit an open three-pointer at the buzzer...

安东尼34分、雷-阿伦27分、艾弗森22分8助攻，力压科比的28分、费舍尔替补登场的20分、基德的9分7板11助攻、加内特的17分17板……掘金队以106比103险胜湖人队，拒绝加时赛！
In the No. 3 lounge of the Turkish Airlines Arena, the members of the Boss Gang were all shouting "Answer".

Zhang Yang jumped up and hopped a few times, then turned to Yao Ming and said, "Brother Yao, it seems like we have accidentally become number one in the league?"

Yao Ming tilted his head and responded, "I won it last year. Our team won the first, second and third places in history. Is this the first time you've ranked first in the league?"

Zhang San: Damn, you are showing off!

...

The Christmas game kicked off the mid-season. The next day, at 26 noon Eastern Time on the 12th, the NBA officially announced that the All-Star voting had begun.

In order to stimulate fans' enthusiasm for participation, the league officially announced a temporary new rule for the All-Star voting this time - the NBA official website will publish the latest vote count every day.

Zhang Yang saw Xiao Hua announcing this new rule on the news and felt that this vice president was really excellent as long as he did not participate in the operation of the competition and was only responsible for commercial operations.

The number of replies in the comment section below the news is several times more than in previous years.

Zhang Yang estimated that the presidents of the other three major leagues would like to ask Xiao Hua: How come you are so good at playing?
After a day of rest, on the 27th, the Bobcats' last home game day in 2008 arrived.

After getting up and doing morning exercises, Zhang Yang turned on his computer and entered the NBA official website with great anticipation. Looking at the newly added 'Daily Votes for All-Star Starters' on the right side of the front page, he whispered "Yeah".

With 121531 votes, he ranked first and was the only player to receive over votes on the first day!
However, he saw a note on the page saying that this was a preliminary statistic, and the number of votes announced in each stage would change due to audits and other reasons.

Zhang San: Lian Mei is being targeted again...

Yi Jianlian's performance this season has been steadily improving. He has averaged 12 points and 6 rebounds per game so far this season. After selecting Lopez, the Rockets now have a big center. Although McGrady's strength has collapsed drastically after minimally invasive surgery, the Rockets' defense has continued. They currently have 13 wins and 14 losses and have not fallen behind in the playoff competition. Yi Jianlian received more than 6 votes on the first day, ranking third among Western Conference forwards, higher than Anthony.

If nothing unexpected happens, Zhang Yang speculates that by the end of the first stage, Yi Jianlian's votes will be reduced. At this rate, the two No. 21s may be surpassed.

At 6:40 in the evening, Zhang Yang stood at the entrance of the player tunnel, looking at the Mavericks' roster on the big screen.

Center: Dampier, Ryan Hollins.

Power forward: Nowitzki, Brandon Bass, Sean Williams, James Singleton.

Small forward: Josh Howard, Jerry Stackhouse, Gerald Green, Devin George.

Shooting guards: Terry, Antoine White, Matt Carroll.

Point guard: Billups, Barea.

The Bobcats' opponent tonight is the Mavericks, who have an extremely luxurious lineup and a total salary that ranks among the top three in the league along with the Cavaliers and the Knicks.

After Billups and Flip Saunders joined the Mavericks, the team was completely transformed.

When Zhang Yang saw a few months ago that the Mavericks would rather send away backup center Diop and take on the Pistons' junk contract in exchange for Sanders, he knew that the Mavericks would quickly get back on track and would most likely do better than when Carlisle first joined the Mavericks in 08 in the original time and space.

In terms of ability, it is difficult to say which of the two coaches is better.

Philip Saunders led his team to 64 wins and even made it to the Eastern Conference Finals last season despite a devastated roster. Carlisle is the best of the new generation of coaches. He has served as head coach three times and has always ranked first in the Eastern Conference.

It's mainly a difference in coaching styles.

Carlisle's coaching style is to tear down and rebuild the old system no matter where he goes. He is a very special coach, very forward-looking. It is difficult for the old system to be compatible, especially for a team with mostly veterans. When he goes there, he can only do a lot of work.

Sanders is different. He is good at integrating and utilizing the team's existing system. After taking full control of the team, he gradually adjusted the existing system into a new system with his own personal characteristics. Just like the Pistons that ended last season, the Pistons looked completely different from the Pistons when he first took over in the 05-06 season. However, a careful study of that Pistons' system revealed some of Carlisle and Larry Brown's tactics.

However, Zhang Yang was still shocked by the Mavericks' performance at the start, with 12 wins and 3 losses in the first month, ranking second in the league!
General Johnson's unlimited singles style is simply perfect for Billups.

As the 04 FMVP, Billups was also able to control the situation. He worked together with Nowitzki, and Sanders' strong aura was not comparable to Johnson's. After the training camp, the Mavericks were united again and quickly got into the game.

But in December, the Mavericks' record suddenly collapsed.

There are many reasons, the most important of which is that Josh Howard was injured, which triggered a chain reaction.

With Billups and Terry on the bench, there are two Warriors, so there is no need for a third one. Stackhouse was abandoned and Josh Howard was injured. Sanders did not choose to use Stackhouse at the beginning. The unlimited singles flow also requires positioning coordination. If Billups, Terry and Stackhouse play together, it will be another Warriors team.

Without Josh Howard, the striker, Nowitzki's scoring has also been affected, from averaging 25 points per game in the first month, the league's top inside scorer, to averaging 24.1 points per game now.

Later on, Nowitzki was forced to play the low-post back-to-the-basket singles, which he didn't like and was not very willing to do before. Josh Howard was injured, and there was a lack of inside scoring to compress the opponent's defense, so Nowitzki had to take over and was forced to improve.

Josh Howard's wing defense is an indispensable part of Sanders' improved mad scientist defense system. When he was injured, Gerald Green and Antoine White took over, but they were also injured after just a few games.

Then Matt Carroll, the former shooting guard of the Bobcats, moved to the small forward position. When playing against the Cavaliers, he was knocked over by James in a simple one-on-one defense and was injured on the spot.

Of the 15-man roster, one-third were injured in just two weeks, and all of them were forwards and guards. The Mavericks can be described as having bad luck this season.

So far, the Mavericks have a record of 18 wins and 9 losses. After entering December, they have only 12 wins and 6 losses, which can be described as a bloodbath.

However, Zhang Yang noticed that the media and experts mostly praised the Mavericks' performance during this period. Of the total seven shooting guards, five were injured, including Terry. Sanders was forced to take off Stackhouse's suit and start directly. Power forward substitute Sean Williams was also moved to the small forward position as a pitcher, and Devin George was also pulled out from behind the bench. They were able to achieve a 7% winning rate with Western Conference teams as their main opponents. This was purely due to the personal abilities of the three superstars Billups, Terry and Nowitzki + Sanders' dispatching ability.

When TNT Sports summarized the early part of the NBA season before Christmas, Barkley even pulled out Larry Brown to criticize him - if that championship coach had encountered such an injury, he might have already started looking for his next job.

When the home team entered the field, the Silver Horn King stared at Zhang San eagerly - the first place in the league should have been mine!
At 7 o'clock in the evening, the Bobcats' home game against the Mavericks started.

Although the Mavericks were full of injuries and could not even fill the 12-man activation roster, they still played in an organized manner, with great strategy and tactical execution. Sanders emphasized game discipline, and this remained unchanged when he arrived in Dallas.

They continued their strategy of the past six games tonight - in the regular stage, Billups, Terry and Nowitzki played in pairs, mainly dragging the game to the critical moment, and the three superstars worked together to kill the opponent.

12月2胜4负开局后，就是靠着这个策略打出4胜2负的表现，稳住了阵脚。

This strategy, which was a last resort, was well received by fans. Although it was a fight against star players, Sanders knew how to use them.

But tonight, the Mavericks' strategy of "dragging" hit the iron wall of the Bobcats' strategy of "wasting"!

The two teams have different strategic goals and playing styles, but the beginning gives the impression that both sides are implementing the same strategy.

It’s just that the Mavericks are out of forward and guard positions, so they have to play like this, while the Bobcats have already adjusted to their regular style of play, and the Bobcats have been in hot form recently, and are on the longest seven-game winning streak of the season!
In the first half of the quarter, the Bobcats scored 17 to 9. If Nowitzki hadn't switched defense against Okafor and made a 2+1, the Bobcats would have led by double digits in half the quarter!

Then, the Mavericks entered a difficult journey of chasing points with the three superstars taking turns to lead the team in a counterattack...but they still couldn't catch up!

Josh Howard, Gerald Green, and Antoine White, the three best defensive players on the Mavericks' front line, are all injured. No one can match Zhang Yang on the defensive end, and they can't even do basic restrictions.

After Stackhouse switched to play the sixth man, his defense is actually quite good, but he is old, he is already 34 years old. His decline was obvious last season. After Saunders came this year, he didn't even try to create a new role for Stackhouse. It is because of the age problem. The input-output cannot be proportional. The Mavericks have such a good lineup depth, unlike the Spurs, who have to squeeze out even the old players. There is no need to do that.

The Bobcats couldn't defend the Mavericks' three biggest stars, Billups, Terry, and Nowitzki, but they could put some restrictions on them. They were not like the aging Stackhouse and Devin George, who had seriously deteriorated in his 30s, who had no way to deal with Zhang Yang at all.

The Mavericks fought a star-studded battle with the Bobcats from the second half of the first quarter to the first half of the second quarter, but the score gap did not narrow but was widened by two points!

The Bobcats led the Mavericks by 47 points, 37 to 10, and went into the official timeout!
However, Sanders's headache was no longer the point difference. Looking at Zhang Yang's data, he felt that he was going to...

首节前半段6分2助攻、首节后半段和第二节前半段15分1助攻，打了18分33秒，张杨12投8中，其中三分球3中2，加上3中3的罚球，狂轰21分！
Since Cuban took over the Mavericks at the beginning of the century and increased investment, the Mavericks have become one of the league's top teams. However, over the years, the Mavericks have been outscored almost every season, sometimes several times a season.

Because the defensive system created by old Nelson back then had a big problem - it was good at switching defense but lacked the ability to defend alone.

It's not a problem of Nelson's ability. It's that the Mavericks' offensive core at that time was Nash and Nowitzki. Nash left that summer and Terry was brought back to take over... It was crazy that Nelson could come up with a first-class rotation defense system. After Saunders joined, the defense was aiming at this defect and making adjustments. Antoine White and Gerald Green were reused for their single defense ability.

But the defense system has not been fully adjusted yet, and the best single defense of the three forwards and guards are all injured. At this time, they are facing Zhang Yang who is in hot form...

After the official timeout, Sanders saw Zhang Yang continue to step onto the court. He guessed that the opponent would definitely let Zhang Yang continue to play, and he also made targeted defensive adjustments, but he himself did not have much expectation for the effect...

As the game continued, Zhang Yang made a three-pointer with a turnaround shot despite interference from Devin George, starting his scoring spree!
He broke into the inside and made a layup with the European step, causing Nowitzki to foul. He then made a back-to-back breakthrough and caused a foul, making both free throws. He then stole the ball and made a three-pointer... Including the three-pointer in front, Zhang Yang made 5 of 3 shots in the second half, including 3 of 2 three-pointers, plus 2 of 2 free throws, scoring 10 points in the first half. At the end of the half, he scored 31 points after playing the entire first half!
This is not over yet. After coming back from the halftime break, Zhang Yang completed a steal on Nowitzki at the beginning of the second half, and then he counterattacked and slammed down to score two points, and continued to soar!

At 11 minutes and 51 seconds in the third quarter, Zhang Yang ran around the wing, received a pass from Hill, turned around and shot a three-pointer towards Nowitzki who was chasing him from the wing... and made it again!
Nowitzki turned his head and looked at the ball falling into the basket. His mentality collapsed again. This moment was just like that moment... Three years ago, there was a man wearing a No. 8 jersey who scored 62 points in three quarters. Now the man wearing No. 3 in front of him didn't soar as hard, but he also scored 51 points in three quarters...

Nowitzki played very well tonight, and his teammates also fought hard and performed well as a whole. Although they only scored 9 points in the first half of the first quarter, they scored 14 points in the second half, 23 points in a single quarter. The offense was stable in the second quarter, scoring 28 points. In the third quarter, their three superstars scored 19 points together and led the team to 27 points.

However, the Bobcats scored 32 points in the first quarter, 34 points in the second quarter, and after Zhang Yang made a three-pointer in the third quarter, his personal score reached 20 points, and the Bobcats' score in a single quarter also reached 33 points!
张杨全场28投18中，其中三分球10中6，加上10中9，狂飙51分！
With 9 seconds left in the third quarter, Terry received the ball and advanced to the frontcourt. As fearless as he was, he didn't want to shoot this time. Like Nowitzki, he thought of the man three years ago and was distracted.

It was only when he saw the red light on the timer that he remembered he was still attacking, so he quickly threw another one...but it timed out.

99 to 78, the Bobcats lead the Mavericks by 21 points entering the final quarter!
Although Sanders has never personally experienced the despair that Terry and Nowitzki have felt and cannot empathize with them, his current mood is not much better than that of the two brothers.

He suspected... no, he was certain that Zhang Yang shot so hard tonight, shooting 36 times in 28 minutes. Including the 5 offensive rounds occupied by free throws, Zhang Yang chose to shoot in 36 offensive rounds in 33 minutes. It was definitely because of him and Billups!

Billups agrees with the old coach!
Flounder: Damn Zhang San, didn't I just beat you once in the playoffs? Is it necessary to hate you for so long? Can't you learn a little Royal style?
...

Sanders surrendered directly in the final quarter. The three major stars and Dampier were all replaced, leaving Barea to lead the team in garbage time.

He was sure that with Zhang San's personality, as long as he didn't surrender, that guy would definitely pester Ka Tu to go on the field and continue to show off.

It's time to admit defeat. Didn't you see that in the Christmas game, the Hornets were 19 points behind after three quarters and refused to surrender. Deron increased the score from 29 points to 40+, and the score difference was reduced to nearly 30 points. That was the result of being stubborn.

In garbage time, the Bobcats still had the advantage. The Mavericks had only 10 players on the active roster, and 3 of them were pulled from the suit group. The Bobcats rarely crushed the Mavericks in terms of lineup depth.

However, there was no grudge between the Bobcats and the Mavericks. Billups was replaced, and Jarrett Jack and Alan Anderson, who led the team in garbage time, had no desire for revenge and finished the final quarter happily.

The score in the final quarter was 27 to 24. At 9:21 p.m., the game came to an end amid the crazy cheers of the fans. The Bobcats slaughtered the Mavericks 126 to 102!
With 8 consecutive wins, the Bobcats continued to refresh the winning streak record this season and maintained their top spot in the league.

But what made the fans happiest was not this, but the scoring list on the big screen... After Zhang Yang scored 51 points, his average points per game increased to 31.3 points, surpassing Wade's 31.2 points and topping the scoring list!

The team's record and the bad boys' score are both first on the list!

This mid-game is off to a great start!

The fans at the scene were celebrating, and the fans in front of the TV were already excited. Before the game was over, Zhang Yang had already dominated the front pages of major sports websites.

Unlike the fans at the scene who were more concerned about Zhang Yang surpassing Wade to top the scoring list, with the help of commentators and reporters, the fans in front of the TV and computers discussed another thing most enthusiastically - Zhang Yang scored 6+ for the sixth time in his career, and scored 50+ in three quarters, becoming the third active player!

Among active players, only Kobe and McGrady have scored 3+ points in 50 quarters.

算上打猛龙队面对杰伦-罗斯的防守拿到81分那场，科比生涯至今的23次50分起步的比赛里，有6次三节50+；

McGrady had four games where he scored 4 points or more. In 50, when playing against the Chicago Bulls, he faced Jalen Rose's defense and clocked out with 03 points in three quarters.
Another time, he played against the Wizards and scored 52 points in three quarters, but they were only leading by 9 points after three quarters. He came on again in the final quarter and scored 10 points to lead the team to victory. Including this time, he scored 50+ points in three quarters twice.

Iverson also had a performance that was "not inferior" to the regular season three quarters of 50+ points. When he played against Carter in the 01 playoffs, he had a 3-quarter game with 47 points, which was also very valuable. The team won that game and played a huge role in the 4-3 series victory over the Raptors...

...

With the popularity of scoring 50+ in three quarters, Zhang Yang flew to New York with the team at noon the next day after playing against the Mavericks. As soon as he arrived at the hotel, the team's press officer chased him to arrange interviews this afternoon and tomorrow.

The Big Apple is the Big Apple. Requests for exclusive interviews start with first-tier media. Those who are not from the first tier are embarrassed to come, and those who come from the first tier are rejected. The press officer only accepts exclusive interview requests from those top media.

Zhang Yang likes this feeling of being surrounded by the spotlight...

However, after he gave two interviews in the afternoon, someone came to 'steal the spotlight'.

Felton, who always pays attention to current affairs, found Zhang Yang and shared a piece of news - just when he was being interviewed, the headline of ESPN's official website broke the news that on December 12, Arenas and Javaris Crittenton pointed guns at each other in the Wizards locker room.

Whenever Zhang Yang saw Arenas in the past, he would always think of his nickname - the first generation sharpshooter.

But he couldn't remember exactly what happened and when. It turned out to be such a thing.

Felton smiled and said, "Jack, you'll never guess why they pulled out their guns."

Zhang Yang was also very curious and asked, "What's the reason?"

Felton said in a teasing tone: "The $1100 gambling money seemed to be owed by Arenas after he lost all his cash. He was unwilling to pay it back afterwards. Crittenton and Arenas had a conflict because of this, and finally the two of them agreed to have a gun fight."

Zhang Yang was shocked: "Just because of this, you're giving up your career?"

Felton: "I can't understand it either. Are they brainless?"

Hill, who was listening to the excitement nearby, resisted the urge to agree. He was more than 10 years older than the two, had met more people, and understood the difference between black people better. In his eyes, lower-class black people like Arenas and Crittenton, and black people like him who came from rich families and black people like Felton who were born in middle-class families, could be regarded as two different races.

But because he is much older, he won't say these things carelessly...

The NBA's revenue situation this season is already worrying, and negative revenue growth is inevitable, but overseas expansion plans still have to continue to spend money. After the Wizards' vicious incident was exposed, Stern reacted very quickly.

In the evening, when Zhang Yang and Felton went to Harden's house for dinner, they learned from the "local" Harden that less than three hours after the incident was exposed, Stern announced an indefinite suspension of Arenas and Crittenton to cooperate with the Foberle investigation.

Compared to Felton and Harden who were talking excitedly about this matter, Zhang Yang didn't care so much after his initial curiosity wore off. He knew that Arenas was basically not suspended and was going to be ruled out anyway. After his comeback, he didn't perform as well as he did before his injury. He was later used by the Wizards to swap junk contracts with the Magic, which later triggered the birth of a new generation of amnesty clauses...On the contrary, after Arenas joined the Magic, he got along very well with Beast, competing with each other in spending money, raising sharks, splicing sports cars, etc., which made him more interested in knowing what was going on in these two guys' minds.

Zhang Yang walked around Harden's big house in the suburbs... It was bigger than his own house! This was the Big Apple! He heard Harden say that he bought it, not rented it.

He estimated that Harden must owe the bank a lot of money, right?
Although Harden signed a three-year, $3 million shoe endorsement contract right after entering the NBA because of the Big Apple's support, and the salary of a high-draft rookie is also good, all the money he can get in advance at present is not enough to buy this building.

But it is not a loss to buy with a loan at this time, as the current housing prices are low... Zhang Yang remembered that Harden seemed to have asked him about buying a house when they had a small gathering in Compton in September. He didn't think much about it at the time and replied that buying a house now would be an investment and he would make money in the future.

Erha must have believed what Zhang San said casually...

Zhang Yang clearly felt the difference in Harden's and DeRozan's concepts of money. Harden enjoys money whenever he can, while DeRozan is like an ascetic. The difference in personality is also reflected. Harden dares to take risks and will decisively make a purchase if he knows he will not lose money. DeRozan is more cautious. He has a patient at home who needs money, so he is unwilling to go into debt.

The house Harden bought is in a good location and the price is cheap now, so he will definitely make a profit in the future.

However, Zhang Yang thinks that DeRozan's choice is also good. From DeRozan's current choice, it can be predicted that he will not invest indiscriminately in the future. For a talented athlete who is bound to get a top salary, not investing indiscriminately is the biggest guarantee for the future.

After dinner, Harden prepared to take Zhang Yang and Felton to a nightclub.

Zhang Yang: "James, you will only be 19 this summer, right? Can you go to a nightclub?"

"If you don't tell me, who would know that I'm 19 years old? Don't worry, we won't be kicked out again. I've been there several times!" Harden said, touching his beard.

Zhang Yang's facial expression was completely broken. His mouth twitched for a long time before he complained, "I was wondering why you grew a beard so early. Is it because we were kicked out of a nightclub half a year ago?"

Harden nodded and clenched his fist and said, "I swore that time that I would find a way to avoid being kicked out of the nightclub, and I did it!"

Zhang Yang said angrily: "There's no need to be so proud!"

Zhang Yang was a little annoyed by Harden's magical operation, but he was still very interested in the nightclub in New York. After all, it was his first time there... Just as they were about to go out, Zhang Yang's cell phone rang, and he took it out to take a look.

After hesitating for three seconds, Zhang San said to Erha and Xiaofei, "Boss, James, I won't go with you. I might be kicked out. I have a date, so go and have fun."

Harden suddenly realized: "Right, Jack, you still don't look like you can drink. I forgot that you still have six months to turn 21."

Felton interrupted, "James, don't listen to him. He's been there twice. It's only been a few months, so the bartender and the police won't be so strict. Jack, I guess the text message you just received was from that female star, right?"

Zhang San: Damn, why is the fat boss so sharp this time?
Harden's eyes widened when he heard this and he asked, "Female star? Is she pretty?"

Felton recalled and replied, "Besides looking young and small in stature, she is very pretty and cool."

Harden wailed, "No! Why! Jack, you can hook up with female celebrities in that damn place of Charlotte, and I'm in New York and I don't even have a girlfriend!"

Zhang Yang consoled him, "What's so good about female stars? They've seen and experienced too much, and they're deep-minded. James, you're still young, and you can't grasp it. Just find a girlfriend with big breasts and a nice butt."

Harden was just dumb, not stupid. He rolled his eyes at Zhang Yang and asked, "So do you choose to go out with us, or go on a date with a female star?"

Zhang Yang stood up straight, and Prince Duan possessed him. He said with a serious expression, "My family education will not allow me to disappoint a lady who has been waiting for me."

Felton and Harden both raised the international friendly gesture.

(End of this chapter)