First in scoring

Chapter 485 483. Crazy Ending (Part )

The next morning, Zhang Yang ate breakfast while checking the news on the 3rd generation upgraded test phone that Guozi had just sent him.

At the end of 06, he began to invest most of his annual endorsement fees into Fruit Corporation stocks. Later, before the start of the Beijing Olympics, he became the spokesperson for Fruit Corporation and invested the endorsement fees into Fruit Corporation stocks again… He didn't pay attention to how much the stock price had risen. Anyway, if he didn't sell it, it would just be a pile of paper. This thing should be held for a long time and sold when the time is right. Now is not the time yet.

There are three advantages for him to be the spokesperson for the fruit. The first is the high endorsement fee. The second is that he can become the spokesperson for a technology company and his fans can talk about it with dignity. The third is that he can experience new mobile phones before most people... Although the current smart phones are just so-so, it is much more comfortable than when he first came to this world 3 years ago and had to dial up to search for information on the Internet using a computer in Yinshan.

Looking at the hot topic that was hyped up today, Zhang Yang was a little speechless... He really didn't expect that the topic of 'the second in Bobcats history' could be reignited.

After his seven-game winning streak was ended by the Bulls, he no longer thought about the 7-win campaign. The remaining 70 opponents included the Cavaliers and Lakers, the second-placed teams in the East and West, the Heat, Nets, and 10ers, who would have a hard time competing for a playoff spot, the Celtics, who had tried their best to defeat them in the previous two encounters, and the Bulls, their final opponent... It was too difficult to defeat all of these opponents!

This is indeed the case. The Cavaliers, with James improving again this year, kept the score difference at around 5 points. If this opponent had not lacked players who could make single shots in the tense stage and at critical moments, the Bobcats would have lost the start of the last 10 games. Although there were ways to restrain James, James switched to a role player style that night and led the team to focus on defense... The defensive efficiency gap of the league's top team is no joke.

Later, the game against the Lakers was unexpectedly easy, and he even achieved his small goal of having a triple-double for three consecutive years. But later, he almost collapsed against the Celtics.

Because the Bobcats had let go of their worries after losing to the Bulls, they played hard no matter how difficult the game was, firmly followed the coaching staff's game plan, and role players tried their best to take possession of the ball and shoot to create rest time for the three young players during regular time, no matter if they could do it or not...they really got through those difficult games, and then...

9 consecutive wins! Almost all of them are won! Only two home and away games are left!
Zhang Yang looked through the news from a while ago and found that after their last three-game road trip against the Celtics, Bucks and Thunder, some media began to heat up this topic. However, it was not very popular at that time. After all, the three-game crazy season had just ended, and the competition for playoff spots and rankings among other teams was also very fierce, and there were hot topics every day.

At that time, the Bobcats had just returned from an away game and had played three games in four days, and were still in the final stages of "deep adjustment", so he didn't have time to pay attention to those things.

However, the reason why this time was so popular was not only because '70 wins' was crazy enough and a hot topic, but also because the Bobcats took the initiative to ask 'Are you ready for 70 wins?'

This time, Boss Qiao arranged for the director to "shout out" the goal on the big screen on site, not giving some people with ulterior motives the opportunity to steal his limelight.

Zhang Yang saw a piece of news that the ticket prices for their final home game of the season tomorrow night had skyrocketed, and the prices had doubled again at the middle dealers. Someone even spent 9.5 US dollars to buy the ticket in the middle seat opposite the technical desk from a middle dealer's website.

The pre-sale of tickets for the farewell game against the Bulls on the 20th was even stopped, waiting for the result of the Bobcats' game tomorrow night. But even though the result has not come out yet, second-hand dealers have already started buying tickets that were sold in advance at high prices.

This scene reminded Zhang Yang of the difference between the NBA under Stern and the NBA under Silver, which will be analyzed by the media in the future. Competitive sports leagues are not afraid of the emergence of super teams. The rivalry between Magic and Bird, God and God, Shark and Buddha, and Snake and Buddha have all greatly increased the influence and revenue of the NBA. However, the "super teams" that the league pushed forward by relying on rules and referees will not work.

Zhang Yang swallowed the last bite of the fried egg and gulped down the remaining half cup of milk.

Now that we have come this far, we must strive to achieve 70 wins!
...

A day later, on April 4, the Bobcats' 18st home game day of the regular season arrived.

At 7:40 p.m., players from both teams entered the Turkish Airlines Arena one after another.

After the Celtics entered the field first, their potential new star Mayo stood in front of the bench with his arms folded across his chest, looking at the entrance to the opposite player tunnel.

In the past two days, all media have been discussing how good and incredible the Bobcats' performance this season is, and analyzing the probability that the Bobcats will win the last two games, end their 11-game winning streak, and get 70 wins.

Other derivative topics include: Can the Bobcats sweep the Celtics and Lakers at the same time, is 'Super Jordan' the next 'King'... and so on.

Celtics players had different reactions to these topics, with Mayo being the most special. He received an interview invitation after arriving at Turkish Airlines Arena this morning. He said to the camera: "We must win tonight and prevent the 70-win team from appearing again. This is my mission!"

Then Mayo became famous because of these words.

People are always friendly and tolerant towards rookies. Although Mayo was abused and his ranking plummeted in the training camp because of provoking Zhang Yang and was ridiculed for a whole summer, he performed very well in his rookie season and has already locked in an average of 20+ points per game in his rookie season. His reputation has long been reversed, and people's tolerance for him has long returned, and they have also projected their expectations for his future onto him now.

So after this interview was broadcast, although some people said that he was overestimating his abilities, more people praised him for his ambition and dreams and expressed their support.

Such public feedback has made "Super Jordan" full of confidence. He can't wait to step onto the court and beat Zhang San!
20 minutes later, at 8pm, the game started.

Celtics starting lineup: Mayo, Tony Allen, Josh Smith, Al Jefferson, and Gooden.

Bobcats starting lineup: Felton, Zhang Yang, Pietrus, Millsap, Okafor.

Gooden defeated Okafor to win the jump ball. The Celtics attacked first and all players quickly pressed forward!
After Mayo quickly passed the center circle, he saw that it was Zhang Yang, not Pietrus, guarding the top arc... He became even more excited!

He quickly came to the top arc, and his shooting space was blocked by Zhang Yang. Without hesitation, he followed the momentum of the sprint, changed direction, successfully shook off Zhang Yang's position, and rushed forward... But he stumbled just after entering the three-point line, and the ball he shot bounced up, but was poked away by a hand stretched out from behind!
Zhang San: Those 216 cm long arms aren’t for nothing!

Felton rushed to one step inside the free throw line and grabbed the ball before Al Jefferson rushed out, helping Zhang Yang complete a steal and launch a counterattack!

However, Tony Allen and Josh Smith had already rushed back to the backcourt.

Clearly Mayo is not the only Celtic player who is fired up and wants to 'get it done'.

Not to mention, Mayo here has a lofty goal, All-Star talent, and strong combat effectiveness. With the assistance of Tony Allen, coupled with his extroverted and flamboyant personality, he can motivate his teammates.

When Felton took two steps forward and passed the ball to Zhang Yang, Tony Allen and Josh Smith had already set up their defensive formation. Zhang Yang rushed through the center circle, Tony Allen stood on the three-point line, and Josh Smith was one step outside the free throw line, blocking both his breakthrough and shooting!

Zhang Yang spotted Pietrus driving straight into the wing, rushed two steps, grabbed the ball and took a step to a position one meter outside the three-point line, facing Tony Allen who rushed out to interfere with his face and shot a three-pointer from behind...

"bang"

"Swish"

A direct hit on the board!

Pietrus ran around the three-second zone and excitedly high-fived Zhang Yang. He didn't feel that his run was in vain. Third Brother had told him - "You rushing to the basket is the greatest encouragement for my shooting."

He believed that Third Brother was not fooling him, because he also found out when watching the video that when his teammates had a second chance to attack, Third Brother shot more decisively.

It’s hard to say whether it’s accurate or not, so just say whether you get encouragement or not.

Mayo ran back to receive the serve and pushed forward again, but encountered Zhang Yang's defense again. This time he hesitated and didn't make any action immediately... Then he was stuck by Zhang Yang, and his actions were more violent than in the previous encounters!

Fortunately, he reacted quickly, turned around and stuck out his butt to protect the ball... He learned this trick from the Bobcats' duo when he watched their videos day and night for a while.

Seeing Al Jefferson easily blocking Millsap and getting to the position, Mayo quickly passed the ball to him.

Al Jefferson played a singles game, attracted Okafor to double team, passed the ball to Josh Smith in the elbow area, who ran to the free throw line with the help of Gooden. Josh Smith attracted Zhang Yang to make up for the defense, passed the ball to Mayo, and Mayo took the ball and shot a three-pointer... and it went in! He responded to Zhang Yang's chase three-pointer just now!

But looking back, Zhang Yang made a one-on-one back-to-back jump shot against Tony Allen in the high post!

It was the Celtics' turn to attack again. Mayo continued to pass the ball to Al Jefferson to initiate the attack. Al Jefferson continued to connect with Josh Smith, and finally it was Tony Allen who received the pass. He received the ball and rushed straight to the basket, facing the anti-aircraft cannon... It hit the rim and bounced several times before falling into the basket.

It has to be said that after playing in the NBA for a year, 'Super Jordan' has matured a lot in terms of the game. At the beginning, he really regarded himself as Jordan and just threw the ball when he got on the court. Now he can instinctively distinguish where the advantages are.

Tonight, the Bobcats did not have a single heavyweight starter in the interior. Al Jefferson was definitely the big daddy. The one-on-one coordination around Al Jefferson at the beginning was very beautiful, but the Celtics failed to defend him!

After Zhang Yang threw two consecutive shots, Okafor took over the offensive banner, facing Gooden in the low post, forced Gooden to take a step forward, and after reaching the outside of the reasonable collision zone, he turned around and leaned on Gooden to grab the ball, and made a hook shot before Al Jefferson could make up for it!

When Okafor went to the center position to play singles, Zhang Yang used Pietrus's off-ball screen on the outside to use the threat of scoring two goals in a row at the beginning to open up the space! Al Jefferson dared to defend against Millsap's double-team attack, but he couldn't keep up!

In the next few rounds, the Celtics continued to use Al Jefferson as the starting point of the offense, fighting back and forth with Zhang Yang and Okafor. However, Al Jefferson is a short power forward weighing 130 kg, and his offensive continuity cannot be compared with Okafor alone, not to mention Zhang Yang and Okafor combined. After playing for less than one-third of the first quarter, Al Jefferson had to slow down, and Mayo had to take over the offensive banner, and then Mayo suffered the same fate...

Super Jordan: Zhang San is crazy tonight! This confrontation, ouch... he elbowed me! Are you blind, referee? Why didn't you call a foul? Fuck! He gave me a technical foul? Superstars are amazing, right? Well, they are quite amazing...

While Al Jefferson was resting, the Bobcats made a 7-2 run, changing the score from 10-9 to 17-11, widening the gap to 6 points. The Celtics called a timeout and entered the official timeout stage!
Carlisle was very happy at the moment. When playing against the Celtics half a month ago, he took the initiative to adjust the starting lineup, using Okafor and Perkins as the starting partners to deal with Al Jefferson's low-post singles, which were only comparable to Randolph and Brand before his serious injury at the power forward position... He failed. Not only did he fail to defend against Al Jefferson who scored more than 30 points in a single game, but his own offense also failed.

This time he gave up on targeting the Celtics' inside strengths. Al Jefferson wanted to pass the ball to Josh Smith to assist, so he decided to see which role player could shoot more accurately! He had Pietrus, Afflalo, and Mike Miller as wing shooters. Would he be afraid of Eddie House, Daequan Cook, and Farmar?

Well, the situation was a bit unexpected. The other side put up a one-on-three situation, and they went straight to the king bomb... But that doesn't matter. As long as the result is what he wants, it's fine.

With a 6-point advantage, the game is closed and the intensity is increased. The showdown between the league’s seventh-best defensive team and the league’s ninth-best defensive team begins!
...

After the official timeout, the Bobcats played teamwork around Felton and Millsap, who didn't put much effort into the offense in the first half of the quarter. Role players took over as the main attacking method. It didn't matter whether the shot went in or not. Zhang Yang, Hill and Perkins led the team in defense and fought hard against the opponent!
There is a difference in the mentality of the players between first creating an advantage and then attacking the defense to slow down the tempo, and attacking the defense first to slow down the tempo and letting the key players score the game later. Although the Bobcats players are confident in Zhang Yang's key shots and his teammates will not feel pressured to attack the defense first, Zhang Yang and Okafor created the advantage first, and his teammates are obviously more motivated when attacking the defense!
首节后半段比分10比9、第二节比分17比18，半场打完，山猫队以44比38领先凯尔特人队，将首节前半段打出的优势死死守住！
No matter how hard Al Jefferson tried, he just couldn't increase his scoring. In fact, this quarter and a half was not much different from the first half of the last match. Both sides couldn't beat the opponent. But the biggest difference was the 6-point gap in the first half of the first quarter!
Kabal: Sometimes you can’t think of a way to solve the problem of a tense game situation. You can choose to give up and focus on your strengths... Coaching experience +1.

In fact, this is the strategy used by those purely defensive teams against their enemies. However, the head coaches of most offensive teams and integrated offensive and defensive teams are unwilling to "give up" and have to use their brains to think of a solution. However, nine times out of ten, they end up digging their own graves and all the advantages they had are lost due to "coping".

In the third quarter, the Bobcats regained their advantage. Felton made 5 of 3 shots, all of which were three-pointers. He also made one of two free throws after a breakthrough into the paint and was fouled, scoring 10 points in the quarter. Zhang Yang scored 4 points and 4 assists, and Okafor scored 5 points and 3 rebounds. The three of them scored a total of 19 points, leading the team to 26 points in a single quarter.

The Celtics played very impatiently in this quarter. The team made 19 of 7 shots and only scored 19 points. The three young players of the Bobcats competed against the entire Celtics team, and the role players had the advantage in scoring!
70 to 57, the Bobcats widened the gap to 13 points and secured the victory!

The final quarter was quite boring, with the Bobcats scoring 14 points and the Celtics 16 points, both of which set new lows for their respective quarter scores in the game. The two teams were "bang bang bang" throughout the whole game.

The game ended at 10:22 pm.

张杨24分、费尔顿21分、奥卡福18分，三少合砍63分，比分84比73，山猫队11分优势击败凯尔特人队，拿下本赛季第3次10连胜！

69胜12负，山猫队超越了72-73赛季凯尔特人队和07-08赛季公牛队的68胜，追平71-72赛季湖人队和96-97赛季的公牛队，并列历史第二！
Zhang Yang's small goal was also achieved - for the first time in team history, he swept both the yellow and green armies at the same time in the regular season!
Mayo, who faced Zhang Yang for the first time in an NBA game, had the worst shooting performance in his four matches against Zhang Yang, making only 4 of 18 shots.

In fact, Zhang Yang has always been good at defending Mayo, a technical player whose athletic ability is not top-notch in the NBA and who has no advantage in height and wingspan. It's just that Carlisle's previous defensive arrangement was to let him assist in defending Josh Smith's passing targets and block shooters. There were times when he defended Mayo alone, but not often. Even in the last match, Zhang Yang defended Mayo only a dozen times, and Mayo only played one-on-one three times during that period.

Tonight, Zhang Yang defended Mayo throughout the game, and the referee had already switched to the playoff standards to help... The dead tryout memory began to attack Super Jordan crazily again. …

The Bobcats won the final home game with a strong momentum, and the ticket prices for the Bulls' season finale skyrocketed. At noon on the 19th, the record for the 'most expensive scalper ticket' this season, which had just been set by the Bobcats, was broken. On a second-hand dealer's website, a first-row ticket was sold at a sky-high price of 14.9 US dollars.

However, it is still far from the most expensive ticket price in the history of the regular season. On April 03, 4, Jordan's last game against Iverson was so hard to get a ticket that one ticket was sold for an incredible 16 US dollars, which is still a record in the four major leagues.

On the afternoon of the 19th, Zhang Yang, who came to Chicago with his teammates, saw the news and complained that Boss Joe and Boss Joe's former club had made a lot of money this time.

NBA teams cannot get the extra profits created by the middlemen after getting the tickets, but the tickets of the distributors are obtained from NBA teams. For popular games, NBA teams will add a price to the "retail price" of the official website and official ticket outlets and sell them to distributors. The middlemen seem to have an unlimited source of tickets, which are those distributors. The ticket prices for these popular games are already high. For example, the "retail price" of this curtain call game has doubled, and it will double again when sold to distributors...

In the evening, Zhang Yang returned to the airport to pick up Emma Roberts.

Back at the hotel, Zhang Yang looked at the textbooks and exercises that the little bitch had pulled out and said jokingly, "Why do I suddenly feel guilty for coming to play with my boyfriend and bringing homework?"

The little bitch immediately fell on the bed and posed in a sexy posture, and asked back: "Our school has school uniforms, I will bring them next time... Hey, wait a minute, I'm going to take a shower first..."

The next day, April 4th, was the last game day of the regular season.

Last night, Zhang San and Xiao Bitch only discussed the principle of the birth of life in the bathroom and went to bed early. This morning, they got up before 7 o'clock, ready to go. The moment they walked out of the room, the filming of the court TV began.

Aiming for 70 wins, on such an important day, the opponent is the team Yao Ming is on. Zhang Yang received a notice from Tellem yesterday morning when he was still in Charlotte. Today's original daily shooting turned into a professional team following around the clock.

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

Emma Roberts's mother, a famous Hollywood agent and producer, also came over last night. She learned about this after discussing the principle of life with Zhang Yang last night. She decided to take advantage of it. Her boyfriend would lose out if he didn't take advantage of it. Maybe it could help him gain some overseas fame? It doesn't matter if he doesn't, anyway, he just needs to change a few more sets of clothes and put on makeup twice more.

Sometimes it is not a good thing if the game is too popular. During the day, except for the team meeting in the morning, Zhang Yang and his teammates were in front of the camera the whole time. Even the tactical training classes were filmed. Fortunately, the opposing Bulls team had Yao Ming and a white technical point guard who was very popular in the United States, so the situation was similar, at least they did not suffer any loss.

Zhang Yang is naturally the busiest one. Not only does he have to do TV shooting and media interviews, but he also has to take advantage of the popularity of the brand he endorses. He even wore the "Zhang Yang Fourth Generation Punk Style Limited Edition" combat boots, which have not yet been officially released, and recorded a set of dunks and shots for promotional purposes.

Hook has finally come to his senses and put some twists on his shoes, but they are still a bit conservative. The so-called "punk style" is just a change of color and some patterns. It is actually no different from the basic style, and the design sense is not as good as the marquee style he casually made last year.

In addition to Yao Ming and Zhang Yang, there is another person who is so busy today that he is vomiting - Boss Joe.

As the only player in history to create a record of 70+ wins, and the owner of a team aiming for its second 70 wins, he naturally cannot and does not want to miss this occasion.

After a busy day, at 7:40 in the evening, when he entered the stadium, Zhang Yang escaped from the "shadow" brought by the ubiquitous cameras. It was not that there were fewer cameras, but that pairs of eyes were staring at him. As long as he did not actively look for the camera, the presence of the camera would disappear.

In addition to the stares, the fans at the scene also gave Zhang Yang enthusiastic boos!
There is no doubt that the Bulls fans least want to see the Bobcats get 70 wins, even more than the Lakers fans. If that happens, their Bulls will not be the only team with 70 wins.

Even the local Chinese fans who came to the scene were the same. Yao Ming has been here for almost two years and led the team to win the championship. He already has a fan base in the local area. They are all Chinese players, so they naturally support their own team more.

After the players of both teams entered the field, they performed harmoniously in front of the camera, and then returned to their respective benches to make final preparations before the game.

The pre-match preparation time ended quickly and the starting lineups of both teams came on the court.

After more than a month of "deep adjustments", Carlisle strengthened his belief in "going his own way". He did not adjust the starting lineup just because Yao Ming was on the opposite side. Instead, he focused on utilizing the advantages of the original starting lineup and still sent out the starting lineup of Felton, Zhang Yang, Pietrus, Millsap and Okafor.

Opposite Skiles, he still used the regular starting lineup after the All-Star Weekend, Hinrich, Sefolosha, Luol Deng, Tyrus Thomas, and Yao Ming.

Zhang Yang came to the top of the three-point arc and looked at the big screen. The Bulls currently have 52 wins and 29 losses...

昨天来芝加哥的飞机上他看到公牛队战绩时就很惊讶，他记得4月1号那天看到的公牛队战绩是47胜25负，当时他觉得公牛队拿55胜都有可能，公牛队3月份12胜4负、且最后拿到一波6连胜，4月份10场比赛拿下8场胜利虽然有难度，但真不是不可能。

As a result, the Bulls won 9 and lost 5 in the first 4 games!
But after reading the Bulls' scouts' detailed analysis report in April, he understood the Bulls' purpose.

The most direct thing is that the day before yesterday, on the evening of the 18th, the Hawks defeated the Nets and helped the Heat lock in a playoff spot one game in advance. The Hawks' record also came to 52 wins and 29 losses.

Since the Hawks had a record of 3 wins and 1 loss against the Bulls in the regular season, the Hawks are currently fifth and the Bulls are sixth!

公牛队球员的出场时间也能看到战绩下滑的原因——姚明3月份16场比赛场均打34分钟，4月份9场比赛场均打27分钟，辛里奇、罗尔-邓出场时间也减少了3-4分钟。

Obviously they didn't want to be fifth and give the Eagles a chance to catch up.

Zhang Yang was a little puzzled. If he didn't want to be fifth, then why did he fight so hard in March? Anyway, the winning rate of seventh and eighth place was at most 3%, so there was no way he could surpass them.

Hill, who has been in the NBA for 15 years, used his rich experience in playing and watching basketball to analyze for Zhang Yang: "They don't want to be fifth, and they definitely don't want to meet us in the playoffs early. They played so hard in March, probably to verify their ability, to show their strength, and to increase their deterrence in the playoffs.

From a marketing perspective, it’s to tell Bulls fans that it’s not that they can’t get fifth, they just don’t want to.”

Zhang Yang thought the veteran's analysis made sense, but he felt there was another reason - the Bulls were not able to maintain such high-efficiency performance for two consecutive months. If they really played like that, their playoff chances might be unstable.

It can even be said that the Bulls do not have the conditions to "downgrade their performance" for two consecutive months. The absence of Duhon, Big Ben and Joe Smith has had a serious aging impact on the depth of the Bulls' lineup. Their ability to control the tempo of the game through lineup adjustments has been greatly affected. By reducing the playing time of the three core players, the overall strength has not declined like last season, but has directly dropped a level.

Compare that to the Lakers in the Western Conference, who were still able to secure nearly 60 wins in such a competitive environment. The gap was obvious, and if the Spurs hadn't adjusted effectively and caught up, the Lakers would have even secured first place in the Western Conference.

It was foreseeable that the Bulls would fall into such an embarrassing situation in the summer of 07. Zhang Yang only talked about it in private when chatting with his teammates. Once on the court, it was no longer his business. The 70th win was already within reach. No matter who was blocking the door, he would just blast it open!
...

At 8 o'clock in the evening, the much-anticipated '70-win defense battle at the United Center' began.

The referee blew the whistle and threw the ball. Okafor jumped high and used his speed advantage to push the ball backwards. The Bobcats attacked first!
On the first attack, Felton broke through with the help of Okafor's screen and passed the ball to Millsap who was left open on the left side of the three-second zone.

Millsap received the ball but did not shoot. Instead, he rushed to the basket and made a layup under the interference of Yao Ming who was crouching in the three-second zone...but missed.

Luol Deng protected the defensive rebound and Hinrich received the serve and advanced.

Coming to the frontcourt, Hinrich was defended by Zhang Yang alone. It was difficult to play one-on-one, and he didn't dare to look for Tyrus Thomas. The Bobcats' anti-pick-and-roll strategy designed to target Tyrus Thomas' poor offensive awareness was too amazing.

He lobbed the ball to Yao Ming who was leaning against Okafor in the right elbow area.

Yao Ming took a turnaround jump shot...but it didn't go in!

Away from the basket, Yao Ming's advantage as an inside player in high-profile shooting is greatly weakened. Okafor has good physical fitness, excellent defensive awareness, solid basic skills, and good habits. It is really difficult for Yao Ming to play against Okafor at this distance, and he has to rely purely on his touch.

Zhang Yang went into the middle and used Millsap's position, but was interfered by Tyus Thomas when he turned around. The fast break did not go forward, and he did not force it. Instead, he passed the ball to Felton and continued the positional battle.

Seeing that the Bulls' offense was not doing well, they slowly consumed the opponent's energy and used positional warfare at a slow pace to wear down the defense. The Cavaliers, the No. 1 team in the league, were no match for them.

The two teams played several rounds next, and the score was similar to what the Bulls expected, 3 to 5 after more than 4 minutes, with the Bulls leading by 1 point, both of which were scored in running games. The extra point was because Yao Ming freed up the basket, and Tyus Thomas received a pass from Luol Deng and cut into the paint for a dunk 1+2.

But Yao Ming felt something was wrong during the game! He clearly moved to the elbow area to attack, and did not force the ball in the low post. There was much less offensive confrontation, but he was sweating just as much as he usually did when he started the game in the low post!
When it was the Bobcats' turn to attack, Felton passed Hinrich in a singles game and passed the ball to Millsap, who then passed it to Pietrus who cut in.

Yao Ming moved from the dotted semicircle inside the free throw line to the arc of the legal collision zone, slapped the layup of Pietrus who cut in onto the backboard, and grabbed the rebound himself.

He raised the ball to protect it, not giving Pietrus a chance to steal the ball, and waited for Hinrich to come over before passing the ball.

At this moment, he understood the opponent's opening intention - no matter what the opening score was, it was purely to consume his little giant!
He doesn't go to the inside for physical combat on the offensive end, so the opponent can't consume him through defense, but the opponent has been prepared for this. Felton breaks through with the pick-and-roll, and rushes to the elbow area without being double-teamed. Whoever of Pietrus and Millsap is left open will rush to the inside!
The Bulls' defensive method of cutting off the Bobcats' three-point shooting line actually helped the opponent to better complete the defensive plan... No, it should be that the opponent noticed this before formulating the offensive strategy!
Yao Ming came to the frontcourt and no longer moved away. He went directly to the low post and leaned on Okafor to ask for the ball!
He didn't know how to deal with the opponent's offensive strategy, and he didn't bother to worry about it. He would first disrupt the opponent's rhythm! Playing in a way that the opponent didn't expect was always the right choice!
If the Bobcats are now on 68 wins, they might only let the three core players play for 20 minutes in the last game against the Bulls and then let them rest. That would be fine if they lose, so as to avoid the Hawks losing the last game while they win and get to that damn fifth place.

But the Bobcats won 69 games. Every Bulls player wanted to win this game. No one cared about the fact that they didn't want to meet the Bobcats early in the playoffs. They didn't want to see the Bobcats get 70 wins more than the fans, and they didn't want to see them get 70 wins by beating them!
Hinrich reacted quickly, not giving Millsap time to get the ball in advance, and used a straight pass to get the ball to Yao Ming as quickly as possible. Yao Ming took a strong step and pushed Okafor into the basket, then turned around and made a layup!

It was the Bobcats' turn to attack, and Yao Ming began to worry about how to defend and reduce consumption...but he soon discovered that this was not the right thing to worry about.

Zhang Yang directly asked for the ball outside the three-point line to play one-on-one against Frosa, broke through and dribbled past Frosa, then stepped back and hit a three-pointer!
7 to 7, the Bobcats tied the score!

Sefrosa was defending off-ball movement very well, but suddenly he had to defend Zhang Yang's one-on-one play. He couldn't withstand the burst and was not as fast as the other one. After being blocked by Yan Ye, he could only run to the opposite side with a bitter face.

When the Bulls attacked, Yao Ming had to go to the low post to respond instead of taking the initiative in the previous round... The two teams suddenly entered a showdown mode between their star players!

Yao Ming's adjustment of his offensive style did disrupt the Bobcats' rhythm.

But the adjustments Zhang Yang made immediately afterwards also disrupted the Bulls' rhythm!

Yao Ming was not the only one who discovered the purpose of the Bobcats' offensive strategy. The Bulls' starting trio of the best perimeter defense in the league also noticed this. They were trying to figure out how to reduce the burden on Yao Ming, but suddenly the opponent's style of play changed, and all their previous thinking was in vain!
The confrontation between the star players is obviously more disadvantageous to the Bulls...

Yao Ming had a bigger advantage at the beginning. After forcing a layup from Okafor, he made a turnaround hook shot and a dunk, scoring 6 points in a row.

After Zhang Yang made a three-pointer, he only made a mid-range pull-up jump shot and made 2 of 1 shots. Luol Deng switched defense to Zhang Yang, and Zhang Yang's three-pointer chance became worse. When he broke through, he had to face the double-team of Tyus Thomas and had to rush to shoot the mid-range shot.

But it was the Bulls' turn to attack again. Yao Ming, who had scored three goals in a row, was obviously tired. He was trapped and couldn't jump up under the confrontation. Fortunately, he did not make any mistakes and passed the ball in time, but it was Tyus Thomas who received the ball. This guy rushed in and was blocked by Okafor!
Zhang Yang grabbed the ball and launched a counterattack. Hinrich and Sefolosha retreated. Luol Deng chased after Zhang Yang. Sefolosha and Luol Deng sandwiched Zhang Yang on the three-point line. Pietrus, who was running down the left side, was also blocked by Hinrich.

But there are still people...

Felton followed up from the right, received the pass from Zhang Yang, adjusted himself and took a three-point shot...and it went in!
12 to 11, the Bobcats took the lead!

It was the Bulls' turn to attack again, and Luol Deng's three-point shot from the wing with the help of a screen also missed!

Looking back, Felton advanced to the frontcourt without passing the ball, and played against Hinrich alone, stepping back and taking a three-point shot... and it hit again!
(End of this chapter)