One Year Left to Play

Who knew just as he was taking a few sips of sweat, Dale Curry was thinking of dunking on him, wasn’t that a coincidence!

The Hornets continued their attack, Dale Curry received Boggs’ pass from the baseline and quickly pushed forward, with only 3 seconds left on the shot clock, he fired a three-pointer facing Doug Christie who had just rotated onto the court...

Not in!

Zhang Hao grabbed the defensive rebound, the Hornets were guarding against Kenny Anderson, the energy man, and Jason Williams and Barkley on the fast break, Zhang Hao, including his teammates, didn’t believe that his earlier block meant he had fully recovered, Doug Christie ran back to assist, and then saw Zhang Hao dribble out like an arrow!

After surpassing the teammate closest to the opponent basket, Zhang Hao’s speed increased again, Boggs mustered courage to charge forward hoping to draw a foul... but Zhang Hao deftly bypassed him, Boggs couldn’t even catch up to symbolically show their defensive efforts, and he was left behind!

Zhang Hao rushed to the opponent’s basket, jumped high and dunked the ball with both hands!

After the dunk, Zhang Hao retreated on defense under the stunned gaze of his teammates and opponents, as if he had done something trivial, and as he passed by Dale Curry, he tilted his neck and pouted slightly.

Dale Curry understood what Zhang Hao meant to convey — I really am rested and ready.

Dale Curry didn’t believe it! But it doesn’t make sense! In the previous few rounds, if not for Zhang Hao’s slowed entry pace and reduced threat, the Lakers might have already stretched the lead beyond 10 points.

to 89, the Hornets are facing a crisis, trailing by 10 points!

At this point, Zhang Hao, after rushing almost the entire quarter, still managed to dash like that, unaffected, breaking the hopes of surviving this stage and winning through teamplay!

What will a shooting team do when facing danger?

Of course, confident shooting! Just like in the future when a certain team ties itself up in the playoffs with 20-plus consecutive three-point attempts, striking relentlessly, gambling is the favorite pastime of a shooting team.

This time, the Lakers relied on luck, and the Hornets had too many shooters, Boggs, Dale Curry, Glenn Rice, Clifford Robinson, these four players combined averaged 14.3 three-pointers made in the first three games.

When the Hornets relentlessly pursued catch-and-shoot threes after picks, if they truly shot accurately, no one could do anything.

But the Lakers got lucky, as the Hornets didn’t reach the superhuman level tonight, from the last minute of the third quarter to the official timeout in the fourth, in just under 8 minutes, the Hornets tossed up 13 threes, hitting only 4, scoring 12 points, barely adequate, with only 2 points from free throws and just 1 field goal off the dribble in the paint, failed three-point shooting while persistently attempting them imploded their prior excellent dribble penetration and cutting play!

Previously, the Hornets’ effective offense off penetration was brought by their threatening outside shooting!

In less than 8 minutes, the Hornets scored 16 points, which isn’t too bad, but after Zhang Hao regained his stamina, the Lakers rediscovered their ferocious offensive start in the third quarter, mainly through Zhang Hao’s proactive scoring, so much so that Barkley was salivating over the easy baskets!

In 7 minutes and 44 seconds, the Lakers scored 23 points, achieving a 23-16 stretch, and by the official timeout in the fourth quarter, the Lakers extended their lead to 17 points, leading 112 to 95!

Durant often exhibited performances like 9 for 12 in the first half and 3 for 10 in the second half, Zhang Hao felt it — his simple and direct method is actually quite draining.

During the official timeout, Zhang Hao returned to the bench and received instructions from Del Harris, he didn’t have to play in the upcoming period, he didn’t stubbornly insist on playing either, he sat down to thoroughly review and analyze.

"Should I focus on developing more ball-handling skills when off-ball is sufficient? Or first improve dribbling, but reinforcing individual offense can now be prioritized over further enhancing off-ball offense..."

This thought is based on substantial strengthening of off-ball play already accomplished over the summer.

After the official timeout, Zhang Hao was subbed out, Del Harris fielded Brian Shaw, Doug Christie, George Lynch, Jerome Kersey, and Jason Williams, emphasizing defense, draining the clock slowly.

The Hornets, after a crazy spree of three-point attempts, reached their limit, unable to sustain, perhaps they could normally manage, but faced with Zhang Hao’s abnormal solo defense, the Hornets became abnormal too, with the impact of 5 games in 4 days manifesting when tossing up 13 threes in half a quarter!

The Lakers, in the last 5 plus minutes, went on an 11-4 run, ultimately, the score settled at 123 to 99, the Lakers triumphed over the Hornets.

In the first half, assisted by teammates to score 18 points, and posting 23 points in the second half while facilitating teammate offense, Zhang Hao achieved 41 points, 11 rebounds, 4 assists, and 3 blocks, helping the Lakers secure a three-game winning streak at the start of three consecutive away games!

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