First in scoring

Chapter 501 499. Quick Clearance of the Regional Finals

The next day, Zhang Yang slept until almost noon.

Emma Roberts had already gotten up, but didn't disturb him from resting.

After he got up and washed up, he walked around the house and found the little bitch in the kitchen. She was cooking. The light in the incubator was on and she had already prepared two dishes.

Zhang Yang came up to her and gave her a kiss, then said, "It looks good. I haven't seen you cook for a long time. Have you improved so much in your cooking skills?"

Emma Roberts raised her chin: "I'm so smart, I learn everything quickly!"

Zhang Yang: "Yes, yes, you are the smartest."

Emma Roberts was very satisfied and continued, "Before I went back to New York last time, Mary (Zhang's mother) gave me a recipe, saying that they were all the dishes you like to eat. I would choose a few dishes to try to cook every day after school..."

Zhang Yang responded to the little bitch's words, washed his hands, joined the battle, and helped cook.

Originally, Emma Roberts didn't plan to cook too much, but after Zhang Yang joined in, the two of them cooked while chatting, discussing which dish was more delicious, what the flavor of which dish was, and which dish was difficult to make... As they cooked, they emptied the refrigerator and filled the thermal box.

Seeing that he couldn't finish the meal, Zhang Yang made a phone call and asked his mother and brother to come over for lunch. His father had been busy with work recently and was taking advantage of the popularity of the playoffs to do publicity work, so he couldn't come.

After lunch, Zhang Yang came to the Turkish Airlines Arena. There was a team meeting at 3 pm. When he arrived, it was just after pm, so he caught up with the "Boss Gang" meeting.

Several people compared their summaries of last night's game, and the fat boss was responsible for sorting out which points were worth bringing up in the team meeting later.

Zhang San and the executive vice-boss sat further away and chatted so that their noise would not disturb the boss's work.

The two were initially talking about the 51-point game that stole the spotlight. Game 2 of the Western Conference Finals will start tonight, but when Hill was checking the news after lunch, the hot topic was still about them... and it was also related to Kobe.

Zhang Yang won the scoring title for two consecutive seasons, tying Iverson, McGrady and Kobe, all of whom won the scoring title for two consecutive seasons.

When the regular season just ended, 60E fans were very dissatisfied with Kobe being discussed together with the other three. They believed that Kobe's scoring ability was higher than the other three. If he didn't want to win the title, he would have won the scoring title for four consecutive years.

那时候这个说法还真不太好反驳，81分、三节62分、场均35+、单赛季30次40+、单赛季十几次50+、多次单月场均40+……就是就在两年前的那两个赛季，还热乎着。

But after last night's Eastern Conference Finals opener, Bobcats fans straightened their backs.

In 12 games, Zhang Yang scored a total of 386 points, averaging 32.16 points per game, which is higher than the regular season average of 31.1 points. The playoffs are greater than the regular season. Zhang Yang's highest score in a single game in the playoffs is 51 points, which is higher than Kobe's highest score in a single game in the playoffs of 50 points... The Bobcats fans shouted loudly that even if Kobe wanted to compete for the scoring title, he would not be able to win.

Kobe's fans naturally retorted fiercely, and then a quarrel broke out. Even the pre-game enthusiasm of tonight's Game 2 could not match the quarrel between the two fans.

The main reason is that the Western Conference Finals seems too unpredictable.

In Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals, the Bulls at least made some achievements in overall defense. They defended Zhang Yang in the high post and firmly implemented a team war of attrition, which effectively lowered the Bobcats' score in the last three quarters and reduced Zhang Yang's number of shots. They have their advantages.

In Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals, before the Lakers' Big Three were collectively replaced, the Jazz were beaten throughout the first three quarters and did not make any effective struggle.

Talking about the Bulls' team defense, Zhang Yang said: "If Ben was one year younger, I would have scored at least 10 points less last night, maybe even less than 40 points."

Hill: "I don't think so. You might still be able to score a lot of points. If Ben can get to the free throw line like he did last season, with your three-point shooting last night, the playoff record might be gone."

Zhang Yang: "Now that you mention it, I really regret it. If I had known I could have shot two more three-pointers last night, maybe they would have gone in."

Hill: "Haha, I think this day will definitely come. I hope I haven't retired by then. It would be best if I passed a few balls to you... However, I didn't feel it so deeply during the regular season. It was not until the playoffs that I really felt the role of Ben. He seriously deteriorated and the Bulls' strength dropped a level.

Unfortunately, I was injured during his peak period, and by the time I recovered from my injury, he had already joined the Bulls, so I didn’t get to play against him in his peak period. ”

Zhang Yang: "I also think people underestimated the role he played in the Bulls' championship last year. Thomas (Tyrus) will never be able to replace Ben, even if he is 34 years old..."

The two of them talked in this direction mainly because some media hyped that the Bobcats were able to slaughter the Bulls last night, and that they were bullying Tyrus Thomas because he had not grown up yet. This statement made the two feel that Big Ben was being looked down upon.

Both of them like players like Ben.

...

After a day of rest, on May 5, the Bobcats faced the Bulls at home in the second game of the Eastern Conference Finals.

The Bobcats' starting lineup remained the same, but the Bulls made some adjustments to their starting lineup. Hinrich, Sefolosha, Luol Deng, and Yao Ming continued to start, but Luol Deng played as power forward, and the No. 4 pick on the forward and guard line, Quinton Ross, served as the starting small forward.

Quinton Rose, an undrafted player in the 04 draft, can be considered a missed gem. He had received the minimum salary for four consecutive years with the Clippers, was basically present in every season, and was in very good health. He left the Clippers for the Bulls last summer... It is still a minimum salary contract of 4 US dollars, but his joining has played a very important role for the Bulls, whose lineup is aging, salary space is full, and draft picks have been emptied. Except for Sefolosha, Nocioni, and Luol Deng, he is the only one who can play the two and three positions.

In the first two rounds of the playoffs, he averaged 5.1 points, 2.7 rebounds, 1.4 assists and 0.9 steals per game, a jack of all trades at the nd and rd positions.

The game starts at 8pm.

The Bulls' offensive and defensive play at the start of the game changed significantly compared to the previous game.

Before the Eastern Conference Finals began, Skiles said: This time, I will never make any adjustments, I will just learn from Larry Brown and Popovich, if I can beat them, I will beat them, if I can’t, forget it.

After Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals, Skiles said: Okay, I admit that I don't have that much courage. I don't have the fortitude that the Spurs had in the 01 Western Conference Finals when they lost Game 3 by 39 points and didn't change their playing style at all in Game 4.

On the defensive end, he used Sefrosa to defend the shot and Luol Deng to expand out and double-team.

By replacing Tyus Thomas with Luol Deng, who was selected as the second defensive player for his help defense and double-teaming abilities, the defensive pressure on Sefrosa was greatly reduced. Luol Deng is also strong enough to barely hold off Millsap.

On the offensive end, he asked Yao Ming to launch a fierce attack at the beginning, and coordinated efforts on both offense and defense to try to gain some advantages at the beginning. There was always room for buffer whether it was to slow down the pace and wear down the defense or Zhang Yang's explosive touch.

The adjustment at the beginning was indeed done very well. The Bulls scored two goals in three rounds. Yao Ming made a 3+2 and Hinrich made a long two-pointer after catching the ball around the post. The lead was 1-5 at the start.

Then... Carlisle called a timeout after only playing for 1 and a half minutes, replaced Hill and Perkins early, let Okafor go to close range to attack Luol Deng, and used Perkins and Okafor to double-team Yao Ming.

Scales: No, bald guy on the other side, why don't you try two more rounds? You just made a substitution so casually? Don't you think it's embarrassing to make a substitution so early? Don't you have any dignity?

Okafor made a close-range turnaround jump shot in the next three rounds, and after a strong attack in the paint attracted Yao Ming's help defense, he assisted Hill who cut in, responding with a 4-2, making the score 6-7... Skiles also called a timeout and replaced Quinton Ross with Big Ben.

The disastrous defeat in G1 was not all bad for Skiles.

If G1 only lost by three to five points, or ten to eight points, he would most likely continue to stubbornly defend.

But they lost by more than 20 points... He saw very clearly the gap in strength between them and the opponent. A crucial link of their core lineup collapsed. On the defensive end, there was a lack of connection between the inside and outside lines. The lineup depth was not enough. Except for Yao Ming, the inside players were either old or weak. Let alone comparing with the Bobcats, if they meet the Hawks, they will probably be suppressed like in the regular season.

The reason why they were able to defeat the Magic and Cavaliers, who had the potential to defeat the Hawks, was because Yao Ming restrained Howard and James, and those two brothers were unlucky.

There was no need to worry about so many things, just do whatever is necessary and don't think too deeply about it. The situation was there and it was impossible to think of a response without any hidden dangers. So when he heard Luol Deng say he wanted to try playing power forward, he agreed without hesitation.

Now that the starting lineup adjustment has been broken by the opponent, he will strengthen the defense and counter the opponent's moves!

Skiles's ability to respond on the spot is indeed good. Last season, some substitutes had not yet left to get big contracts, the veterans were still strong, and the lineup was deep, so he could let go and show his talents. The current situation is completely different from that time, but it happens to be possible to let go and show his talents...

With Hill and Perkins on the court, the Bobcats only had two players who could shoot three-pointers. Skiles replaced Ben in advance, and the defensive effect was really good!
Seeing this, Carlisle was not willing to fall behind and called a timeout to make adjustments. Compared to the opponent, he had more things to consider, but there were also areas that could be adjusted. If the opponent wanted to stick to defense, then so be it. He did not make substitutions again, but started with defensive coordination. As for offense... let Zhang San take the lead!
In the first three minutes, the two teams were tied at 6 to 7. In the next seven minutes, the score was 7 to 7, tied at 6. The defense was so terrible.

这期间，张杨各种高难度出手……4投1中外加2中1的罚球拿到3分。

However, this shot became more and more accurate. At 10 minutes and 16 seconds in the first quarter, Zhang Yang, despite the close defense of Nocioni who came on the court as a substitute, turned back from the three-point line and made a forced fadeaway jump shot... a difficult three-pointer!

In the next attack, he ran without the ball, went around to the right corner, received the ball, turned over and jumped, and floated out of bounds, avoiding Ben Wallace's defense and hitting a three-pointer!

Hinrich also took the initiative to step forward, first he made a quick stop jump shot one step inside the free throw line, then passed the ball to Yao Ming under the basket, Yao Ming made a high shot over Hill who was defending and completed 2+1, the two scored 5 points in a row and kept the score close.

19 to 18, the Bobcats lead by 1 point, and the score between the two teams remains tense!

With 12 seconds left, Felton quickly advanced to the frontcourt and passed the ball to Zhang Yang, who used a screen to go around the free throw line and pulled to the 45-degree angle on the right. Hinrich, Ben Wallace, and Nocioni, who was blocked and then came out to defend, all rushed towards Zhang Yang.

Zhang Yang received the ball and pushed it back to the top arc without stopping. Felton received the ball and jumped, taking a three-point shot... and it also went in!
公牛队球刚发出来、接发球的罗尔-邓还没来得及扔出去，长哨声便已响起。首节战罢，张杨9投4中、其中三分球4中2、加上2中1的罚球，单节11分，率领山猫队以22比18领先4分！
During these two minutes, the two teams seemed to be fighting back and forth and neither team lost the ball, but the Bobcats managed to widen the gap to 4 points!
Nocioni returned to the bench and started cursing again. After cursing, he complained to his teammates: "Are these three-point shooters so unreasonable? We fought for 10 minutes, and he took advantage in two minutes!"

Hinrich's face twitched: Don't discuss that guy with us!
He also played very well in the Eastern Conference Finals this time. In his rookie season, he averaged 39 three-pointers per game with a hit rate of 1.9%. In the past three seasons, his three-point hit rate has been above 40%. He is also called a "first-line three-point shooter" by the media and fans, and he is one of the few ball-holding offensive shooters among the first-line three-point shooters.

But the guy on the opposite side kept refreshing his understanding of three-pointers!

What made him most unwilling was that he could understand and even accept Zhang Yang's three-point concept, but he didn't have the conditions to play like that...

...

Zhang Yang made two three-pointers at the end of the first quarter, stimulating the sensitive nerves of the Bulls players.

The night before yesterday, this guy just became the youngest man in history to score 50+ in the playoffs!

After the start of the second quarter, the Bulls began to expand the double-teaming range to the free throw line, just like in the first half of the final quarter of G1.

In this regard, Zhang Yang's adjustment... No adjustment, he just kept shooting and passing the ball. When his teammates were tired of playing as a team, he would swing the ball. As for starting to miss a lot of shots again, that didn't matter. He just had to give his all on every shot.

Mainly because the opponent's offense was worse...

In the first quarter, Carlisle and Skiles competed on defense for a while. Pietrus was replaced after playing for 1 and a half minutes. Jarrett Jack, Afflalo, Mike Miller, and Brad Miller didn't even play. Although some of these players didn't feel good because they played too late, they were in large numbers! Second, third, and fourth-line pitchers are still pitchers!
第二节张杨打了10分钟，6投2中、外加2中2的罚球拿到6分，效率低下，但队友们给力，15次出手拿到19分！
单节25比18，半场打完，山猫队以47比36领先公牛队11分！
In the third quarter, the Bobcats continued to advance, and the teammates scored less in this quarter, but Zhang Yang came off the bench and played for 8 minutes and scored 9 points and 2 assists. Together with his teammates' 15 points, the score was 24 to 16!
During this period, Skiles has been trying to adjust, but Carlisle on the other side is also constantly adapting. He didn't gain any advantage in the on-the-spot response, and the "reckless" adjustment that started from the starting lineup had consequences...

After three quarters, the Bobcats led the Bulls by 71 points, 52 to 19!
In the final quarter, Skiles did not start Yao Ming, who had played for 27 minutes in the first three quarters. He sent out a combination of Hinrich, Nocioni, Luol Deng, Tyrus Thomas and Joe Smith, made regular tactical arrangements, and then left him alone.

Destroy it!
Damn Zhang San, he scored 6 points in less than two minutes at the end of the first quarter, and 5 points in more than two minutes before the official timeout in the third quarter. Every time he led the Bobcats to break through the offensive difficulties and widen the score difference... What can he do? Even Hinrich, who is the best at key shots and has the strongest ability to withstand pressure, can't do it!

After the start of the final quarter, Hinrich, Nocioni and Luol Deng began to shoot recklessly. There was no other way... Not to mention, their shots were quite accurate. Hinrich made 3 of 2 three-pointers and a long two-pointer, scoring 8 points. Nocioni and Luol Deng also scored 5 points each. The three of them led the team to score 27 points in a single quarter.

However, the opposing Bobcats also scored 20 points. Zhang Yang played for half a quarter and only scored 5 points before leaving. Jarrett Jack, Millsap and Ibaka were the main scoring points for the Bobcats in the final quarter.

首节11分、第二节5分、第三节9分、末节5分，张杨24投10中，其中三分球9中3，加上8中7的罚球，拿到30分6板5助攻1抢断1盖帽，率领山猫队以91比79击败公牛队！
Defend both home fields!

...

In the first round, due to the huge gap in strength, no one paid attention to the Bobcats' technical and tactical performance.

The second round of double shooters vs. three big stars was so eye-catching that people's attention was focused on these players.

In the first match of the Eastern Conference Finals, Zhang San stole all the limelight.

In G2, Carlisle's outstanding on-the-spot adjustment ability finally came into people's attention!
Facing Skiles' desperate and reckless adjustments, Carlisle countered them steadily, and made many eye-catching counterattack adjustments, which suppressed Skiles!
The team also did a very good job in the defensive adjustments against Yao Ming and the offensive adjustments around Zhang Yang's containment force. They seized the two key nodes at the beginning of the second quarter and the second half of the third quarter, and widened the score gap significantly twice, laying the foundation for victory.

After G1, many people thought that the strength gap between the two sides in this Eastern Conference Finals was obvious, but there were still many voices saying that it was only because Zhang Yang exploded and made 7 three-pointers and scored 51 points.

But in G2, from the Bulls' initial adjustment of the starting lineup, it can be seen that the Bulls put themselves in the position of "inferior", trying to make up for the strength gap by adjusting their playing style... but still couldn't win.

Even the Bulls fans have admitted the gap. Those fans who were expecting the Bulls to beat the Bobcats and prove that it was not their own stars who were too weak but the Bulls who were too strong, were speechless.

During the next two days of rest, the focus of discussion among basketball fans in both the Rabbit and Eagle countries was on the Eastern Conference Finals, or more precisely, on Zhang Yang.

There is a huge gap in strength between the Eastern and Western Finals, but in comparison, the Eastern Conference Finals is indeed more exciting.

On the Bulls side, Skiles is still leading the team in a struggle, and the players are fighting hard enough and can still do some things. Although they were once behind by 2 points in G19, there were also some fierce stages of back and forth competition.

On the Jazz side, Sloan kept roaring on the sidelines in G2, but the players were discouraged by the defeat in G1. In the four quarters of G2, the Lakers scored 29 points, 29 points, 41 points and 22 points respectively. The Lakers once again ruined the game early. Even with the five starters resting in the final quarter, the team still won by 121 points with a score of 96 to 25. The strength gap is almost catching up with the 01 Western Conference Finals between the Lakers and the Spurs.

The discussion among the media and fans about Zhang Yang focused on his continued improvement in this year's playoffs. Like the Bulls players, people suddenly realized that Zhang Yang had also reached the stage of laying a solid foundation and making rapid progress through the playoffs!
This improvement does not lie in basic skills or even technical progress, but in the process of competing with masters, absorbing the game experience of those playoff powerhouses, and honing the details of the game by dealing with single defense masters or strong team defense.

In fact, when the media and fans are paying attention to a talented outside player, they pay great attention to whether he has made such progress after playing for two or three years. If his changes are very obvious, like Wade in the 04 rookie season playoffs, he played better and better when facing Artest's defense, and even scored 6 points in Game 24 and almost led the team to a comeback, and finally lost by only 70 points with 73 to 3, then the evaluation will rise rapidly, and the league may even give more promotional resources and sponsors will increase their attention.

If a player has played for three or four years and has played in the playoffs several times, but is unable to get such an improvement through the training of the playoffs, usually the evaluation will be low. Of course, there will be some special cases.

There is similar attention paid to inside talents, but people will be more patient because the growth cycle of inside players is slower.

As for Zhang Yang... people really ignored this matter because his performance was too good. He was invincible among his peers and swept all the 'youngest' records.

It was not until this Eastern Conference Finals that he showed obvious improvement after the first two rounds, and people suddenly remembered that his playing career had just reached this stage.

But considering that Zhang Yang will not turn 10 for another 21 days, the fans' online comments used more swear words.

...

It is May 5th, last night, and the Western Conference Finals was 30-3.

The Jazz team held on after returning to their home court. Deron threw the ball 30 times and made 13 goals, including 6 of 2 three-pointers, plus 10 of 8 free throws, scoring 36 points and 9 assists, leading the Jazz to 103 points... Then in the final quarter, we saw the first appearance of 'Kobe time' in the Western Conference Finals. Kobe scored 6 goals in the second half of the final quarter to defeat the Jazz, and the Lakers won 111-103.

The Bobcats arrived in Chicago yesterday and started the third game of the Eastern Conference Finals against the Bulls at 8 pm.

Compared to the Jazz, the Bulls did perform better. After returning to their home court with a 0-2 deficit, they fought hard and tied the score at 1-86 with 86 minute left.

But in the final moments, Zhang Yang broke through to close range twice in a row to pull Yao Ming out and then passed the ball to Okafor. Okafor forced his way into the reasonable collision zone under the backup defense of Big Ben and made a high shot, scoring 4 points in a row.

The Bulls failed to hit the key shot during this period, and the final tactical foul and Perkins' two free throws were all missed, which was a lonely mistake.

张杨19分8板6助攻3抢断、奥卡福17分7板1助攻2盖帽、费尔顿13分4助攻、替补上场的希尔14分4板1助攻1盖帽……力压12分11板6助攻的姚明、14分6助攻的辛里奇、16分的赛弗罗莎、13分的罗尔-邓、10分5板的本-华莱士。

After Yao Ming scored three goals and got 3 points and 6 assists in the middle of the first quarter to help the Bulls to a 2-10 run to widen the gap, in order to strengthen the defense against Yao Ming, the Bobcats left Sefrosa open for a long time. Even Ben Wallace and Tyrus Thomas, two players who were good at receiving dunks, were often left open, successfully curbing Yao Ming's offensive momentum.

As for Sefrosa, Big Ben, and Tyrus Thomas, their stats looked okay, 16 points, 10 points, and 8 points respectively, but Sefrosa made only 16 of 6 shots, and he made such a performance in wide open spaces, scoring the highest points on the team, but he actually dragged the team down the most on the offensive end. Big Ben and Tyrus Thomas also didn't seize their chances very well, with their shooting percentage being barely %.

If these three had scored two more goals, there would have been no chance for the Bad Boys + Duncan Jr. to connect and kill the game.

90 to 86, the Bobcats narrowly defeated the Bulls away from home and took a 3-0 lead!

After a day of rest, on June 6st, a new month arrived, and at 1 p.m., Game 8 of the Eastern Conference Finals between the Bobcats and the Bulls began.

The loss in G3 dealt a huge blow to all members of the Bulls.

They had a chance to win! But they didn't seize it! If they had missed it once or twice, it would be considered bad luck, but the opportunity fell like summer flowers, and they didn't catch it once, and it was all taken away by the water... This was more devastating than being reversed or killed!

After the game started, the Bulls played without any spirit and their defensive enthusiasm was gone.

首节山猫双枪打满，张杨7投4中、其中三分球3中2，加上2中1的罚球，拿到11分；费尔顿5投3中，其中三分球1中1，外加1次加罚命中，拿到8分。

The two scored a combined 19 points, leading the Bobcats to a score of 30 to 18!
In the second quarter, amid the scolding of Skiles and Big Ben, the Bulls players finally cheered up, but it was mainly on the offensive end. Yao Ming made 6 of 3 shots, 5 of 5 free throws, was fouled twice on strong dunks, and the other free throw was a 2+1 from a turnaround shot. He scored 11 points in a single quarter and led the team to 28 points.

But the defense didn't improve much, and the Bobcats scored 26 points in a single quarter.

The Bulls attacked hard for a whole quarter, but only narrowed the gap to two points, and trailed the Bobcats by 46 points at halftime with 56 to 10.

But this was at least an "outbreak", giving the fans some hope. The commentators were also discussing the possibility of the Bulls' comeback in the second half and what they needed to do well... but the Bulls only held on for one quarter.

The score in the third quarter was 20 to 15, and the score in the final quarter was 23 to 20. In the second half, the Bobcats suppressed the Bulls!

张杨19投10中、其中三分球8中4、加上8中6的罚球，拿到30分3板6助攻1抢断；

费尔顿18投8中、其中三分球3中2、外加3中3的罚球，拿到21分5助攻；

加上奥卡福的15分、米尔萨普的13分、希尔的7分、赛弗罗莎的10分……99比81，大比分4比0，山猫队横扫公牛队，与湖人队会师总决赛！
As for the Lakers, they defeated the Jazz last month, 124 to 82, which was the third largest score difference in this year's playoffs. The Jazz also surpassed the 01 Spurs to become the team with the worst losing record in the Western Conference Finals since the 21st century!

(End of this chapter)