One Year Left to Play

At the official timeout in the fourth quarter, the Lakers were leading the Timberwolves by 7 points, 118 to 111.

After the official timeout, Marbury tried to take matters into his own hands, opting for a strong drive.

Once again, Zhang Hao anticipated it!

Zhang Hao decisively retracted, pinning the ball on the backboard as Marbury attempted a floater from the right side of the three-second zone after shaking off the perimeter defense, then grabbing it and starting the fast-break!

Fast-break opportunities were rare, so Zhang Hao always gave his all. This time, he pushed forward alone but couldn’t trigger the second-speed boost of the "Single Rider"; when he charged to the left side of the opponent’s three-second zone, Garnett had already retreated to the basket and was positioned.

Kenny Anderson was double-teamed; should he pass to Brian Shaw who had followed up and stopped beyond the three-point line? No!

Zhang Hao decided to do it himself, leaping up against Garnett’s defense. Garnett also jumped up with all his might, the two clashing mid-air. Zhang Hao pulled the ball horizontally to the right in the air, dodging Garnett’s exaggerated arms, raised his arm straight up, flicked his wrist, and tossed the ball out. Just as it left his hand, Garnett’s recovery slap hit his hand.

If the ball hadn’t been flicked out, it would have been blocked by Garnett with the back of his hand.

But it was flicked out, turning it into a hand foul!

The referee blew the whistle! Garnett committed a hand foul!

Just as the referee’s whistle sounded, the ball hooked out by Zhang Hao fell into the basket!

The basket counted, and there’s an additional free throw!

When determined, you can achieve anything except solving math problems! A not-so-great hook shot, miraculously going in!

Amid the cheers of the spectators, Zhang Hao hit the additional free throw, raising his personal score to 37 points, and extending the Lakers’ lead to 10 points, 121 to 111!

Such opportunities are rare, and whoever seizes them creates a chance for an advantage. When both sides have opportunities to create advantages and both seize them, it results in a stalemate, but in the fourth quarter, Zhang Hao seized most of the opportunities he needed to, while Garnett did not. The Lakers thus exploited this to establish a 10-point lead.

On the Timberwolves’ side, Marbury couldn’t replicate his third-quarter-ending performance in the final quarter. Although the Lakers failed to capitalize on more opportunities to widen the gap in the remaining minutes, the slow consumption of time worked in their favor!

At 10 minutes and 48 seconds in the fourth quarter, the Lakers led the Timberwolves by 7 points, 128 to 121. If the Timberwolves didn’t defend this play well, the game would basically be over.

The Timberwolves did a great job defending Kenny Anderson’s break this time, blocking Zhang Hao’s bailout route. With no other choice, Kenny Anderson, with passing lanes cut off and much taller Sam Mitchell defending, forced a long two-point shot...

Under the hoop, Guglielota jammed Barkley out of rebound position on the right outside the three-second area; height was certainly useful in this regard,

but just as Garnett was about to grab the rebound, someone charged in from behind... Lakers’ number 8!

Zhang Hao, closely guarded by Doug West, charged into the paint, jumped from behind Garnett, and slammed the rebounding ball into the basket!

Meanwhile, Doug West tugged at Zhang Hao, but Zhang Hao, despite looking thin, had the solid strength of a 110+ kg center. He didn’t fall; instead, Doug West committed a foul!

At 11 minutes 02 seconds, Zhang Hao succeeded with a putback dunk, earning a free throw as well!

After Zhang Hao hit the free throw, the lead returned to 10 points, but by this time it was no longer mid-fourth quarter, and with the little time left, a 10-point gap secured the Lakers’ win!

In the final minutes, on the Timberwolves’ side, their spirit had been crushed, and their energy drained.

Garnett played the entire game, Marbury played 44 minutes, Guglielota 46 minutes. Earlier they could persevere with the motivation of having a chance to catch up, but now with time and the score equating to despair, they crumbled!

In the waning moments, Terry Burton managed to hit a last-minute three-pointer for the Timberwolves, while on the Lakers’ side, Barkley grabbed an offensive rebound for two points.

Zhang Hao played the entire 48 minutes, shooting 13 out of 24, including 3 out of 5 from three-point range, along with hitting 11 out of 12 free throws, racking up a staggering 40 points, 8 rebounds, 6 assists, 2 steals, and 4 blocks.

Kenny Anderson recorded 26 points and 12 assists.

Ultimately, with the insane performance of the Lakers’ stars scoring 66 points and dishing out 20 assists, along with Barkley’s 18 points and George Lynch’s 16 points, Doug Christie and Brian Shaw combined for 20 points...

The Lakers defeated the Timberwolves 133 to 124 with six players scoring in double figures!

Garnett tonight recorded 11 points, 13 rebounds, 12 assists, 3 steals, and 1 block, achieving his first career triple-double, yet still lost to Zhang Hao!

It’s just those one or two possessions that made the difference; despite his excellent passing and team offense management, their team with Guglielota’s 32 points and Marbury’s 24 points, seven players scoring in double figures, missed just a few crucial possessions!

This game, Zhang Hao really enjoyed playing! It was the first time since his breakout against the Knicks last season that he felt this exhilarated, because this was truly a game from the start where it was established that he was one of the offensive cores.

Moreover, against the well-performing Timberwolves right off the bat, he led the team to victory with his 40 points and 6 assists, along with his defensive performance!

On Marbury’s side, during the game, he worked hard to win, achieved some things, and messed up some others, but there’s nothing he could do; he tried his best.

Seeing Kenny Anderson’s performance of 26 points and 12 assists, then looking at his own 24 points and 7 assists, he realized despite not being a low score, shooting 8 out of 18, with so many good opportunities, it shouldn’t have been like this. By comparison, he knew he was not yet on par with Kenny Anderson.

Seeing Zhang Hao walking towards Garnett, Marbury also wanted to go over and express that in the next game, their Timberwolves would definitely win or something. Indeed, looking at this game, the Timberwolves did have a chance, just not as well-seized as the Lakers.

But when Marbury got next to Zhang Hao and Garnett, he heard Zhang Hao extend his hand to Garnett saying, "Kevin, I really enjoyed playing tonight. Hopefully next time it’ll be just as thrilling... hey, don’t walk away..."

Garnett swatted Zhang Hao’s hand away and walked off!

If not worried about losing in a fight, Garnett might have been tempted to get physical!

Marbury looked at Zhang Hao helplessly, but couldn’t muster any anger because Zhang Hao wasn’t saying these words to him. Helplessness arose from his feeling that Zhang Hao was being genuine! He felt Zhang Hao’s words weren’t a taunt!

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