One Year Left to Play

On the afternoon of December 12th, the Minnesota Timberwolves arrived in Los Angeles.

As soon as they got to Los Angeles, the Timberwolves received news that Kenny Anderson and Jerome Kersey would be unable to participate in the upcoming back-to-back games due to health reasons.

When Marbury heard the news, he curiously asked Garnett next to him, "Wasn’t it Aix who had a concussion? Why does the news say Anderson is out due to injury?"

Garnett glanced at the news and didn’t respond.

Marbury was used to it; as soon as Zhang Hao was mentioned, Garnett wouldn’t speak.

Marbury always considered Zhang Hao a genius, so he wasn’t surprised at all that Zhang Hao played even more fiercely in his sophomore year.

In terms of pride, Garnett was even prouder than Marbury. At least Marbury would talk to strong opponents, but Garnett couldn’t stand any formidable opponents.

But hearing that Zhang Hao could play the game, Garnett felt a bit of regret.

Originally, Zhang Hao might also be out due to injury, which made Garnett a bit happy. It wasn’t that he rejoiced at Zhang Hao’s injury, but because he himself, Garnett, was injured too.

Both being injured meant he wouldn’t miss the chance to play against Zhang Hao. He didn’t want to miss any opportunity to compete against Zhang Hao, given there are only four matchups in a year, Garnett genuinely didn’t want to miss such opportunities.

However, with a knee sprain, he had to take a break.

For an inside player, a shoulder injury can be managed with a compression shirt, an arm injury with an arm sleeve, and a finger injury with a finger sleeve, but lower body and back injuries require rest to avoid worsening.

Ewing’s case was a cautionary tale. During his college days, Ewing played on after a knee injury, resulting in his knees being bandaged when he entered the NBA, and it worsened over time.

Thinking back a few days ago, when Zhang Hao scored 50 points and made a game-winner against Grant Hill’s Pistons, winning Player of the Week for the second time this season based on his three consecutive wins last week...Garnett wanted to become stronger!

...

Marbury’s confusion was shared by others following the Lakers and Timberwolves game.

Due to the concussion, many thought Zhang Hao would be out at least for the upcoming back-to-back, but a day before the game, the Lakers’ announced list of injuries didn’t include Zhang Hao, but instead Kenny Anderson and Jerome Kersey. Surprisingly, Zhang Hao wasn’t on it!

December 13th came, the day of the Lakers’ home back-to-back first game, and from the revealed injury details, Jerome Kersey had an old shoulder injury, and Ben Wallace replaced him on the 12-man roster.

Kenny Anderson had his impacted wisdom teeth removed and got stitches. According to NBA regulations, after tooth extraction or dental surgery with risk of bleeding, players aren’t allowed to participate in games.

This was a rule after the Magician contracted a sexually transmitted disease.

The rule was criticized because during a game, if bleeding, players only need to ensure it doesn’t continue to play on.

At 6:40 PM, when the Lakers and Timberwolves players entered the court at the Great Western Forum, Zhang Hao received enthusiastic cheers from the fans.

After entering, feeling the atmosphere, Zhang Hao joked, "It’s so rare, Jason, why don’t you try getting injured next time?"

Jason Williams, who was also impressed, quickly retorted when he heard Zhang Hao, "Why me! Can’t Kenny just get injured?"

"True, Boss Kenny will be back in action for the game against the Pacers..."

Kenny Anderson, dressed in a suit, heard Zhang Hao’s conversation with Jason Williams and wanted to jump up and hit both of them in the heels!

Zhang Hao glanced at the Timberwolves bench at Garnett in a suit, feeling some regret. He enjoyed going up against Garnett, even though Garnett’s defense was quite troubling for him, but playing against such opponents helped boost his competitiveness even more.

However, with Garnett out, as long as they won this game, he could complete today’s goal of "leading the charge" without worrying about stats.

The Timberwolves, whose talents were gradually turning into strength, were on the rise before any missteps with unlawful contracts, making them quite a challenge.

Currently, the 9-win streak Lakers had a 18-4 record, while the Timberwolves, having played 23 games, were at 13-10.

After the small talk and pre-game preparations, the starters were about to take the court, and Zhang Hao went to the scorer’s table to apply some chalk.

The Lakers sent out Magician, Doug Christie, Zhang Hao, Barkley, and O’Neal as the starting lineup.

The Timberwolves sent out Marbury, Sam Mitchell, Doug West, Guglielota, and Dean Garnett as their starters.

While Zhang Hao was applying chalk, the center replacing Garnett also approached the scorers table to apply chalk. Zhang Hao hadn’t noticed this rookie before, who was selected in ’88 and only now entered the NBA at 30 years old.

"Dean Garnett, 30 years old, 208 cm, 102 kg, center, ability rating 74... averaging 8.2 points and 7.8 rebounds..."

Looking at his ability rating, Zhang Hao curiously asked, "Garnett, are you related to that Garnett?"

Dean Garnett, surprised that this usually aloof gentleman was speaking to him, shook his head and said, "No, our last names are spelled differently."

"Oh... doesn’t matter, since you’re still called Garnett, anyone will do. Tonight, I’ll definitely score more than you!"

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