One Year Left to Play

Coleman’s move seemed like he couldn’t handle Zhang Hao’s pressure and pushed him, just with exaggerated motions.

Given people’s impression of Coleman, his fouls are usually quite exaggerated.

Zhang Hao glanced at Coleman but didn’t react.

The Lakers continued their offense, it’s a sideline ball.

The ball is thrown in, and the offensive clock resets to 24 seconds.

Kenny Anderson initially wanted to handle it himself, to avoid Zhang Hao being affected by Coleman’s rough defense.

Who knew that as soon as he received the inbound pass and protected the ball, Zhang Hao was already moving to the low post, O’Neal even cleared space to the right outside of the three-second area.

Zhang Hao positioned his arm against Coleman asking for the ball! Coleman responded with rough movements, using his arms to push Zhang Hao, and the two were fiercely jockeying in the low post.

Surprisingly, Zhang Hao didn’t seem to be at a disadvantage facing the visibly larger Coleman!

Earlier, Coleman had given Zhang Hao an arm shove, and Zhang Hao didn’t react much, leading Coleman to think Zhang was intimidated, but turns out he was someone tough and tight-lipped!

Is the position secured? Kenny Anderson saw Zhang Hao holding down Coleman spot on in the low post and passed the ball over.

Zhang Hao received the ball, and Coleman’s moves became even more exaggerated! He tried to use his arm to shove Zhang Hao away.

But as Coleman lifted his elbow to force into Zhang Hao, Zhang Hao stabilized his stance, dropped his center of gravity, positioned his arm, and spun hard, slamming an elbow into Coleman’s raised left arm...

Coleman was floored by Zhang Hao’s elbow!

Zhang Hao got up for a jump shot...

"Beep beep beep beep..."

The referee immediately blew the whistle, signaling a punching motion, Zhang Hao committed an offensive foul, charging!

Players from both teams rushed in immediately after Zhang Hao swung his elbow, and so did the two assistant referees.

Looks like a fight is brewing!

Zhang Hao didn’t react at all when fouled earlier, who would’ve thought he was waiting for revenge!

Such gentlemanly demeanor, it’s remarkable!

From the 76ers’ side, it’s purely a matter of team pride, although Coleman isn’t liked within the 76ers, the opponent is the Lakers, a team with many rivals, so there’s definitely a sense of shared enmity.

Lakers’ side, Barkley and Kenny Anderson, Doug Christie, even O’Neal, were worried Coleman might snap.

O’Neal’s thoughts were simple — without Zhang Hao, this Big Fatty couldn’t happily coast!

They’re not afraid of a fight, just worried about Zhang Hao, who looks frail being battered by bad-boy Coleman...

Only... frail? Seeing Coleman thrown past the baseline, teammates surrounding Zhang Hao were lost in thought...

But the floored Coleman froze for a moment, realizing if he hadn’t tried to raise his elbow earlier to floor Zhang Hao, Zhang Hao’s retaliatory elbow was clearly aimed at his head!

His arm was numbed by the elbow hit! That guy was trying to kill him!

As Coleman was shaking off the daze and about to explode, the referee had already separated the teams.

Zhang Hao got a warning and ran back towards the backcourt.

No big deal, since a fight didn’t break out, even the referees considered it a minor issue, didn’t even assign a technical foul.

Looking at Coleman’s twisted face expressing intense anger being helped up, apart from Campbell, 76ers’ other players were shocked by Zhang Hao’s elbow hit.

Campbell had witnessed Zhang Hao and Malone’s verbal standoff, others hadn’t seen it with their own eyes!

Iverson saw Zhang Hao retaliate with an elbow after being fouled by Coleman harshly, although he’s no angel himself, he was scared by Zhang Hao.

Not only does he play great ball, but he’s also a tough character!

76ers attack, Iverson advanced into the frontcourt and found his defender had changed to Doug Christie, and retreated, once Coleman entered the three-point line, Zhang Hao immediately closed in on Coleman.

Iverson?

Ignore him, just a rookie, let him score as he pleases.

What "King of Cross Step" medal, Zhang Hao really didn’t care, he just wanted Coleman to be uncomfortable right now!

Coleman saw Zhang Hao defending him, that earlier elbow hit, didn’t react then, but it’s considered over, it’s a court rule, it means the earlier exchange of elbows is settled.

Now throwing elbows directly would mean asking for a fight; after a moment of surprise, he calmed down a bit, looking at those fierce opponents like Barkley, O’Neal, and this sophomore with amazing flair...

Coleman and Zhang Hao tangled in the low post, struggling for position, requesting the ball from Iverson!

Coleman’s offensive actions were wild, Zhang Hao’s defense was aggressive, but neither was as flagrantly foul as Coleman’s previous defense or Zhang Hao’s offensive foul, so the referee didn’t call it.

Blowing Coleman wouldn’t work, he’s a home player, if he’s called out, especially during a conflict, the scene would explode.

Calling Zhang Hao wouldn’t work either, Zhang Hao already has one foul, another call would mean he’d have to be subbed out, viewers tuning in to watch Zhang Hao vs Iverson wouldn’t be pleased...

But Coleman was quite capable, in the midst of rough confrontation, he leaned back into Zhang Hao, leveraging the resistance feedback from Zhang’s arm when top-pressing elbows, turned around, and scored with a lean-back jump shot!

After scoring, Coleman proudly said, "Kid, you can only foul to stop me, you can’t guard me!"

Zhang Hao has cooled down too, indeed, on the court, victory is determined by scoring baskets.

However, that elbow hit earlier felt incredibly satisfying...

Transition of play, Zhang Hao continues being in the low post.

O’Neal was a bit upset being pushed to the other side of the three-second area last play, but seeing Zhang Hao’s ferocity...

Watching Zhang Hao’s youthful face and calm expression...

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