First in scoring

Chapter 473 472. Snake-transformed Zhang San, his winning streak continues!
This shot was very difficult, but from the perspective of the Bulls players, it was just a forced shot.

When the Bulls attacked, Yao Ming moved away and left the basket for the scumbag Tyus Thomas, letting him stay at close range to contain Millsap, while he asked Okafor for the ball in the mid-range on the right side.

The Bobcats couldn't double-team this position, but it wasn't that difficult for Okafor to defend. When Yao Ming grabbed the ball and turned over with one step, Okafor jumped up to interfere, but... Yao Ming leaned back and shot the ball over Okafor's fingers, and the ball went straight into the basket and hit the target!

As soon as Zhang San scored a goal, the little giant responded immediately. The Bulls players felt more at ease and quickly retreated to continue to press the tempo.

In the transition from offense to defense, Felton received the serve and advanced. Originally, the two guns should have taken turns with one ball each, but this time he passed the ball to Zhang Yang because Zhang Yang had just scored a goal.

Zhang Yang received the ball while leaning against Luol Deng, turned around and faced the basket for a one-on-one shot. Luol Deng immediately pressed forward to defend him. Zhang Yang seized the opportunity of the difference in rhythm, dribbled the ball between his legs, moved half a step to the right, and broke through!

Luol Deng was passed again, but he didn't pause at all and turned around to defend immediately. Tyus Thomas also moved to provide backup defense as soon as possible. The two prepared to attack from the front and back... but there was a slight deviation in their positions!

To be precise, Zhang Yang did not rush towards the basket, but rushed vertically to the baseline, one step away from the two defenders!

The two reacted very quickly and moved sideways to make up for it, but Zhang Yang seized the opportunity at this moment, stopped suddenly on the right side of the three-second zone, grabbed the ball and jumped, turning 45 degrees in the air while jumping. His upper body tilted slightly to the left due to the force of the turn, avoiding Tyus Thomas's hand that was blocking the shot and shooting the ball...hit!
After this goal, the Bulls players were a little uneasy.

It's not just about making consecutive shots, Zhang Yang's shot was so free and easy!
You don't even need to look at the guy's arrogant steps when he retreats. Just thinking back to his singles moves just now, you can feel how confident he is in this attack - if he is closely followed in singles, he will break through. The conventional breakthrough route will definitely be blocked, so he will change direction. When the opportunity comes, he will just shoot...

Facing the defensive combination of Luol Deng and Tyrus Thomas, this guy found a way to deal with it so quickly?

It was the Bulls' turn to attack. Yao Ming continued to move to the mid-range to ask for the ball for a one-on-one shot. Zhang San scored a goal, and the little giant naturally had to respond.

After receiving the ball, Yao Ming turned around and tried to fake a shot...but he couldn't shake Okafor.

Even though Yao Ming had just scored a goal in the last round, Okafor still defended as he should and played steadily.

Yao Ming could only turn his body sideways, hit Okafor, then turn around and shoot a mid-range shot... it missed!
Yao Ming is, after all, an inside offensive center. He has only a few mid-range one-on-one options. He cannot compare with Nowitzki, Garnett and others in terms of diversity. He is even inferior to Duncan. Yao Ming's goal in the last round was actually a forced shot. When he was far away from the basket, Okafor could make up for the height difference to the greatest extent with his jumping speed. In addition, Okafor's defense is similar to Duncan. He does not seek to block shots, but only to provide maximum interference. It is indeed difficult for Yao Ming to score consecutively with forced shots.

It's just that the way he plays is the best solution for their team when they have to score a goal. Otherwise, other players can only shoot against the defense or try their luck at shooting spots where they are not good at.

The Bobcats' defensive execution impressed the Bulls players, just like when Zhang Yang and Millsap double-teamed Hinrich at the beginning of the game, they withdrew when the defensive goal was achieved, firmly implemented the team's defensive plan, and did not over-defend... In contrast, the Bulls' team defense relies more on individual ability.

This is neither good nor bad. The Bulls have stronger individual defensive capabilities, so they are suitable for playing that way. If the Bobcats have so many players who are good at individual defense, Carlisle will not abandon the simple and powerful defensive method.

However, Yao Ming's move to mid-range singles was beneficial to the defense. Okafor was pulled out by him, and after he missed the shot, Millsap and Pietrus' first reaction was to turn around and block Tyus Thomas and Luol Deng.

Zhang Yang took advantage of his teammates' positioning to grab the defensive rebound and then started a fast break. Only Felton followed him, while Yao Ming, Hinrich and Sefolosha had already retreated, and Luol Deng followed closely behind.

Zhang Yang slowed down and waited for his teammates to get into position.

Although they successfully prevented the Bobcats from counterattacking again, the pressure on the Bulls players was not reduced at all. Seeing Zhang Yang dribbling one step outside the top arc, they were sure that what they saw in the previous round was not an illusion.

This guy wasn't as serious as he was in the three singles at the beginning. His dribbling movements were very casual and his confidence could be felt just from his body language.

If it were other scorers, the Bulls players would not pay attention to these details, but there are a few players who are different, Old Snake, Big Cheeks, Little Melo, Truth... and the bad boy in front of them!
Seeing that Zhang Yang's dribbling seemed to be full of flaws, Luol Deng didn't dare to reach out for the ball.

After Okafor moved to the close distance on the left side of the three-second zone, Zhang Yang pulled to the right and accelerated the breakthrough!
Luol Deng did not retreat, but only moved sideways to guard against Zhang Yang's step-back shot. At the same time, Tyus Thomas in the left elbow area and Sefrosa on the right sideline came up together to attack.

Just as Sefrosa was double-teaming, Pietrus did not stop at the sideline to wait for the pass, but rushed directly to the inside. Okafor on the right side of the three-second zone also slipped along the baseline and ran to the left side of the three-second zone. Seeing this, Tyus Thomas stopped in the middle of the three-second zone.

Zhang Yang seized the opportunity, and before the double-teamed Sefrosa could get close enough, he took a step to the left, came to the free throw line, jumped, and took a mid-range shot... and made it again!
10 to 6, Zhang Yang scored three goals in a row to help the Bobcats take a 3-point lead, and the Bulls called a timeout!

Yao Ming and his teammates were all overwhelmed by Zhang Yang's consecutive goals.

However, on the Bobcats side, the three young players were under a lot of pressure. Of course, they did not show it directly. Their teammates were excited about Zhang Yang's consecutive goals, and they also excitedly celebrated with their teammates to gain a leading advantage.

After Carlisle made the lineup and tactical adjustments and his teammates' excitement cooled down, Felton said to his teammates: "We relied on Jack's explosion to get ahead. We can't be careless. Next, we have to continue to work hard and seize every opportunity to create better shooting conditions for ourselves and others. We have Jack to solve problems, but we can't be the one who holds us back. We have to be his helpers!"

When his teammates were in high spirits, Felton did not pour cold water on them. Instead, he spoke just before they were about to go on the court and when their teammates were getting nervous. He did not use an educational tone but an impassioned and passionate tone like a speech when he spoke. Not only did this not disgust his teammates, it also served as a motivator.

Zhang San: Not only has the little fat boss become better and better as a boss, he has also become more calm and steady. Who forced my little fat boss to become like this?
Xiao Fei: God knows how I got through these years...

...

After the timeout, Felton's concerns were correct. The Bobcats did not really take the initiative because of Zhang Yang's consecutive scores.

Although Zhang Yang's explosive scoring ability gave the Bulls a headache, the more helpless they were against Zhang Yang, the more determined the Bulls became to fight hard on defense.

Zhang Yang's explosive state of scoring goals continuously could not be maintained forever. The Bobcats continued to be dragged into the quagmire of an iron-blooded battle by the Bulls and could not speed up at all.

Fortunately, the Bobcats did not take it lightly and were firmly implementing the established game strategy. Instead of passively taking the beating, they took the initiative to fight hard on defense. The two teams were once again caught in a tense defensive positional battle.

At the end of the first quarter, the Bulls relied on a tip-in by Ben Wallace and a buzzer-beating three-pointer by Hinrich to beat the Bobcats 5-0, tying the Bobcats 19-19 at the end of the first quarter!
After the intermission, the Bulls sent out Hinrich, Sefolosha, Nocioni, Tyrus Thomas, and Ben Wallace. Skiles put Ben Wallace on the bench, not only to focus on training Tyrus Thomas, but also because Ben, whose athletic ability has declined, performed well when he occasionally played center in the middle of the season.

The Bobcats fielded a combination of Felton, Zhang Yang, Hill, Ibaka and Brad Miller.

At the beginning of the second quarter, the Bulls attacked first. Hinrich and Tyrus Thomas launched a pick-and-roll attack. This time, Hinrich broke through firmly after the screen and did not give the opponent a chance to trap him.

Hinrich rushed to the right side of the three-second zone, passed the ball to the middle, Tyus Thomas received the ball and flew for a dunk... Ibaka, who caught up with him, slapped him on the basket rim!
Before the lockdown, Ibaka's athletic ability was no less than that of Tyrus Thomas!
Zhang Yang grabbed the ball in the competition with Hinrich. As soon as he controlled the ball, he was hugged by Hinrich and the referee whistle sounded.

The middle road was open, and Hinrich chose to use a tactical foul to stop Zhang Yangqi's fast break.

But this foul was in vain, and the offense fell into positional warfare. Zhang Yang received the ball in the high position, beat Sefrosa, turned around and stepped back to make a mid-range shot!
When Luol Deng defended Zhang Yang, he had enough confrontation and had great advantages in height and wingspan, but his one-on-one defense skills were insufficient and his speed was at a disadvantage... But at least he was able to cover Zhang Yang's one-on-one mid-range and long-range shots and help his teammates create conditions for assisting defense and double-teaming.

Sefrosa is in his third year and his defensive skills are good enough. He may even be selected to the All-Defensive Team together with Hinrich this season, but his physique is at a great disadvantage against Zhang Yang.

When the Bulls attacked, Nocioni tried to take a chance, forced the ball past Hill, and made a quick stop and jump shot from close range... but it missed.

Looking back, Felton just passed the ball to Zhang Yang who was leaning against Sefrosa in the high position, and Hinrich directly double-teamed Zhang Yang. Zhang Yang passed the ball back to Felton, who received the ball on the left side of the top arc and shot a three-pointer...and it hit!
Hinrich boldly left his opponent open for double-teaming, but was forced to call a timeout after only one minute of play... He scored 1 points at the end of the first quarter, but gave it back at the beginning of the second quarter!

Hinrich returned to the bench and, as expected, was scolded by Skiles. He calmed down and was no longer impulsive, but patiently waited for opportunities like he did in the first quarter.

In the following time, the Bulls insisted on playing steadily and cautiously. The Bobcats had no choice but to slowly waste time. However, in comparison, the Bulls had a much harder time than the Bobcats.

Read the error-free version at 69shuba! 6=9+shu_ba is the first to publish this novel.

With Hinrich and Yao Ming, the Bulls have the ability to seize opportunities, narrow the gap and even overtake the score in certain periods of time, but the opponent has Zhang Yang!

Whenever they narrowed the gap and overtook the score, Zhang Yang would always step up and lead the team to regain the advantage.

Sefrosa and Luol Deng are the defensive weapons on the front and back lines that they have always been proud of, but when the two met Zhang Yang, their defensive flaws were exposed.

Not only that, Zhang Yang was like a poisonous snake lurking in the dark, producing iron most of the time and digesting the shooting rights, but suddenly he felt it and scored two or three goals in a row. Although this could not defeat the Bulls' defense, it continued to torture the nerves of the Bulls players.

The game came to the final quarter, and the Bulls had a good start in the offense. Luol Deng made a long two-pointer, and Yao Ming received a pass from veteran Lynch Hunter under the basket and made a high layup. Then Yao Ming received the ball at close range and attracted a double-team and passed the ball to Luol Deng, who faced Millsap's defense and made a three-pointer. The Bobcats went on a 7-2 run, narrowing the 6-point gap at the end of the third quarter to 1 point.

But immediately after Zhang Yang's attack with the ball was blocked, he switched to a running and receiving style of play. He received the ball twice in a row and made mid-range shots while facing the backup defense, returning a 4-0 lead to the Bulls, making the score 74 to 69, and the Bobcats' lead once again reached 5 points!
It was the Bulls' turn to attack again. Luol Deng, who had been tormented by Zhang Yang all night, couldn't help it. When he received the ball at the top arc, he didn't pass it to Yao Ming who was trying to get a single shot in the low post. Instead, he relied on his good touch at the beginning of the fourth quarter and chose to take a three-pointer facing Afflalo... It missed!
Severe interference!
Although sophomore Afflalo is not well-known and has major flaws in his abilities, he has shown his defensive talent in the first and middle stages of this season, attracting the attention of many teams. If he cannot interfere with this kind of ball, his title of "defensive genius" will be wasted.

Luol Deng's touch was indeed good at the moment, and he shot the ball straight, but due to interference, he didn't control the force well and shot too big, hitting the inner edge of the basket in the direction of the backboard and bouncing back toward the top arc. Afflalo, who turned around to see the result of the defense, just happened to grab the ball.

After getting the ball, Afflalo turned around to avoid Luol Deng who was rushing to grab the ball after missing the shot, and launched a counterattack!

Sefolosha and Tyus Thomas retreated and successfully blocked Afflalo and Millsap who followed up from the wing.

After being blocked, Afflalo turned around and threw the ball toward the top arc. When Sefrosa saw the person who caught the ball, he secretly said that it was not good, but he could not block the opponent from this position. He could only pray that the opponent would miss the shot. After all, that guy's three-point shooting was quite poor tonight.

But Sefrosa's hopes were soon dashed... Zhang Yang followed up with the ball in the middle and made a three-pointer!
It’s not that Zhang Yang had a bad touch tonight. He just shot badly in the first three-pointer. It’s because the Bulls defended well, and the three-pointer opportunity looked more and more like an open shot for him!

77 to 69, the Bobcats' lead reached 8 points!
We finally started with a 7-2 lead, but were countered with a 7-0 lead.

Luol Deng failed to handle the pressure, ruining the Bulls' efforts throughout the night. They had been trying their best to keep the hope of a comeback, waiting for the other side to make a mistake, but they didn't expect their side to make a mistake first. The Bulls players felt that their faith was shattered at this moment...

In the remaining 8 minutes, the score gap did not widen further. The Bulls even narrowed the gap by two points during this period, but they failed to launch an effective counterattack like before.

The time came to 10:22 pm and the final whistle sounded on time.

34投14中，其中三分球10中3，加上6中4的罚球，张杨拿到35分7板3助攻1抢断，力压拿到28板17板2助攻6盖帽的姚明，率领山猫队以87比81险胜公牛队，豪取11连胜！

Looking at Zhang Yang who was surrounded by his teammates celebrating on the opposite side, Yao Ming put his hands on his hips, his expression full of the desire to have an indescribable relationship with the Timberwolves.

The "debt" that the Bulls owed in the summer of 07 when they went all in for the championship will take at least two years to pay off. However, they did not give up on defending their title. Instead, they chose to dig deep into their strengths, which was defense. For this reason, they did not care about their regular season record at all, as long as they could make the playoffs. They spent the entire season making defensive preparations against those playoff opponents.

In their first game of the second half, facing the strongest opponent in the Eastern Conference, they used their best iron-blooded tactics and successfully locked down the Bobcats' team offense. Of course, the opponent actively played tough defense, but if the opponent did not defend so hard, their offense would not be so bad. Through this game, he can be sure that with the defensive focus and penalty standards of the playoffs, even if the conventional offense and defense cannot gain the upper hand, there is still hope of winning.

But Zhang Yang single-handedly raised the Bobcats' offensive ceiling!
Zhang Yang single-handedly broke through the defense that the team's offense couldn't break!
Yao Ming's first impression of Zhang Yang was that he was like a magic sword, which gave him an indescribable sense of amazement.

After playing for a while, he felt that Zhang Yang was like the Son of the Wind, possessing the talent to learn all techniques.

Something was wrong later on, and his physical fitness was constantly improving... Now, he has begun to transform into a snake!

Although there are significant differences in skills and shooting choices, Zhang Yang's playing style tonight is exactly the same as that of the old blacksmith on the West Coast.

He takes a lot of shots and misses a lot of them to find the opponent's defensive loopholes. He scores so many goals but his hit rate seems to be just barely passing. Isn't that the guy's style?
Little Giant: Zhang San, how many faces do you have?

(End of this chapter)