Chapter 116 115. Fierce battle!

At 5:40 in the evening, at the Charlotte Arena, the visiting Cavaliers entered the court.

Zhang Yang stood at the entrance of the player tunnel, watching the fans at the scene give deafening boos to the visiting James.

Newspapers, television, the Internet... they had few media resources and were beaten up by the other side.

From his teammates, he felt the helplessness of those players who were in the enemy camp of King James. The size of the opposing media and fans was too large, and whether they responded or not, they could not reverse the public opinion situation.

Their voices were heard, but they were dissed wildly by the opposing fans. When they didn't respond, they were ridiculed again.

He was able to look at public opinion calmly because he had seen the even more brutal public opinion environment faced by the opponents of James, who would become the No. 1 player in the league in the future.

But, the boomerang always flies back, and when James gets old, the world will be different.

However, this time the Bobcats can be said to have turned a disaster into a blessing. The overwhelming public opinion attacks from the outside world have united the local fans in the Carolina area to face the outside world together.

Zhang Yang saw fans from universities such as North Carolina and Duke in a local fan forum saying: No matter what, the Bobcats are our local team, and we cannot watch them being bullied by others.

Zhang Yang knows that local fans are willing to support them partly because of him and partly because of their recent performance, which has given local fans hope of their rise.

How much attention the local fans will pay will ultimately depend on their performance this time.

In fact, although he was calm, he was as angry and unhappy as Felton, but he was able to think rationally from the perspective of how to deal with the problem.

In short, we have to win tonight! He can't beat them alone, but he has his teammates, they are a team!
...

At 7:58 p.m., the starting lineups of both teams came onto the court.

Cavaliers starting lineup: Snow, Ronald Murray, James, Gooden, Big Z.

Bobcats starting lineup: Felton, Keith Bogans, Gerald Wallace, Okafor, Perkins.

James looked at the opposing starting lineup... How cruel! In order to deal with him, he directly put Perkins in the starting lineup! And added Okafor!

Bickerstaff stood on the sidelines with his arms folded across his chest. The boss had given a strict order that the game must be won. Although there would be no penalty if he lost, he still wanted to win.

The reference answers from the last match were there, so of course he had to use them. He was not the rookie point guard on the team who couldn't even copy the answers and needed reminders.

The game starts at 8pm.

Okafor defeated Big Z to win the jump ball, and the Bobcats attacked first!

Felton and Okafor played pick-and-roll, and then he took a step back and shot a three-pointer...and it went in!
The Bobcats scored first! The cheers were thunderous!
James watched Felton run to the backcourt with his arms clenched into fists, enjoying the cheers, and the pressure increased.

When the opposing players entered the field 20 minutes ago, he found that they were not overwhelmed by public opinion as he expected, but instead their fighting spirit was even higher.

Felton shot more firmly than in the last match, and the public opinion attack backfired.

When the Cavaliers attacked, Snow advanced to the frontcourt and passed the ball to James.

James used his elbow to block Gerald Wallace's close defense. He wanted to respond to Felton's three-pointer, but the opponent was beyond his expectation and did not use Felton to defend him!

Bickerstaff is not a coach with a bad brain. He was the real soul of the Nuggets team that defeated the Seattle SuperSonics in 94. He knows that James has a certain three-point shooting ability. Before the confrontation, he is quite accurate in three-point shooting. This season, he can make 1.6 three-pointers per game. At the beginning of the month, when Arenas started to defend James, James made 3 three-pointers in a row at the beginning...

James took a step back, changed direction, and broke through!
Gerald Wallace couldn't withstand James' fast and fierce attack. James broke through to the edge of the three-second zone. Facing Perkins' defense, he grabbed the ball and made a layup in three steps. He jumped again when he landed on the second step.

Gerald Wallace predicted James' jump step and ran straight to the basket when defending him. After James jumped under the basket, he pressed forward to cover him. However, James did not jump directly after landing. Instead, he stepped forward with his right foot, jumped out from under the basket with his front and back feet, and threw the ball backwards... and it hit!
Gerard Wallace looked at the referee with confusion, but the referee ignored him.

On the sidelines, a sentence echoed in Zhang Yang's mind - "Disaster is always one step behind me."

Zhang Yang thought about James's shot and felt that it really complied with the regulations!

It is allowed to make a three-step layup by jumping after the first two steps have landed, and then taking off. Just now, when James took a step after the jump step and landed, his other foot did not leave the ground, but he jumped up with both feet. From the current rules, it is feasible, but some people may not be able to learn it... When thinking of this, Zhang Yang was stunned. He had actually accepted and gotten used to the fact that someone could attack in this way.

It seems that teammates, opponents, media, fans, even James himself... all seem to regard this as a normal thing. I wonder if this can be considered the sadness of basketball.

Zhang Yang shook his head and put this idea aside. It was an established fact that it was impossible to defend once the opponent's footsteps were in motion. It could not be changed. The focus of defense was to prevent James from using his footsteps.

Under the NHC rules, players cannot use their hands to block opponents in high-zone defenses, so they can only rely on pure speed to keep up.

Although Gerald Wallace is a top-notch physical man, his speed is still slower than Felton.

Among players over two meters tall, no one is faster than James, and no one is stronger than James at the small forward position. Gerald Wallace can't always stay in front of James like Felton did.

Since the head coach decided to use Gerald Wallace to consume James' outside shooting touch at the beginning, the game can only rely on offense!
Just as Zhang Yang thought, in the next few rounds, the Bobcats and the Cavaliers launched a fierce offensive battle.

James attacked the basket frantically, and the Bobcats couldn't stop him with two defenses and one defense. Okafor could only move to the basket. Gooden and Big Z had excellent receiving ability and made consecutive shots after receiving the pass from James.

The Bobcats also attacked with all their might, with Felton's outside pick-and-roll attack and Gerald Wallace's one-on-one attack against James...but there was one difference from the last time they met, as the Bobcats' starting lineup tonight also had an one-on-one scoring point - Okafor!

Gooden's defense is average. His strengths are good mobility and strong assist and backup defense abilities, but his one-on-one defense is really average, and Okafor's ability to play in the low post is enough to handle it.

In the last match, Felton and Gerald Wallace attacked James but couldn't do anything. James, who was in his early 20s, was so strong that Bickerstaff was forced to replace Zhang Yang early. But this time with Okafor, three against one, the Bobcats had the upper hand!

Bickerstaff calculated the time and felt that the time was almost right, so he signaled to his players on the sidelines to change their formation on the defensive end!

The score was 11 to 9, with the Bobcats leading by two points.

It was the Cavaliers' turn to attack again. James advanced to the frontcourt by himself, and Felton became the one guarding the top arc!
Seeing this matchup, the fans at the scene burst into loud cheers.

But many fans who saw this matchup for the first time were worried.

The size difference between the two is really too big. Among players under 190 cm, Felton is a real little tank, but he is two sizes smaller than James!
Even Gerald Wallace couldn't withstand James' breakthrough, so how could the little tank withstand it?
Contrary to the expectations of some fans, James did not break through directly when facing Felton's defense, but instead patted the ball hard, grabbed the quickly bouncing ball, jumped up, and shot a three-pointer...

Amid the fans' exclamations, the ball hit the left edge of the basket with a clang.

The shot was very sudden, and the Bobcats were a beat slow to defend the rebound. Gooden got the rebound, who protected the ball and passed it to Snow, who then passed it to James.

Although he grabbed the offensive rebound, James felt even more depressed.

If the three-pointer could be made, the opponent's defense would be defeated, but although Gerald Wallace failed to defend him, he exhausted his touch.

There is no way to let his teammates attack. The twin towers on the opposite side are more difficult to deal with than the high school twin towers of the Lakers. Okafor's low-post defense may not be as good as Kwame Brown, but Perkins is much stronger than Bynum, who is also a high school rookie.

Of his two teammates on the back line, Ronald Murray used to have the ability to play one-on-one, but after two years of running around with the three musketeers on the Supersonics, he lost his ability to attack with the ball and became a pure shooter. His style is very suitable for James, and he was traded back by the Cavaliers. James also likes to partner with this teammate, but he can't rely on him in the current situation.

Not to mention Snow, who is a rare "supporting point guard". He averaged only 7 points per game in his career, but had 5.3 assists. His scoring and assists were rarer than in history. With his excellent vision and accurate passing, few teams dared to leave him open to support the offense, but they had to count on him to score singles...

James chooses to force a breakthrough!

Felton defended very attentively, fighting and retreating, relying on his flexible footwork to stay between James and the basket. Before James could break into a position where he could move his feet, he would press forward in time, stick to him, and steal the ball!

James was forced to turn around and protect the ball one step outside the right sideline of the three-second zone!

James wanted to grab the ball one step ahead and start a three-step attack, but failed. The opponent defended better than the last time they met!
James wanted to find Big Z or Gooden, but this time Okafor did not go to the basket and was blocked on the left sideline of the three-second zone. With Perkins returning to the basket, the Bobcats cut off the middle!

James was much more determined this time. He leaned on Felton, stepped out, turned around and made a jump shot...

Yesterday, he refused all interviews and worked hard to practice his turnaround jump shot at a private basketball club in Charlotte. The trainer kept shouting "666" at him.

It’s just that sometimes, hard work doesn’t always pay off, and it’s only half a day’s effort.

James turned around and made a powerful jump shot over the bridge!

Perkins protects the defensive rebound!
Unfortunately, Zhang Yang was not there. Although Felton and Gerald Wallace launched an attack, they were blocked by James, Snow, Ronald Murray and Gooden and had to resort to positional warfare.

However, this has already made the scene boil!

The fans who saw Felton defending James alone for the first time went crazy!
The TV commentators' reactions varied, some were silent, some explained, and some laughed loudly.

Not all commentators are the same. Some support James, while others do not.

For example, Barkley and Bill Walton were madly dissing James. Putting aside their personal opinions, after all, one of them is a commentator for TNT and the other is a commentator for Time Warner Cable Sports. They are inherently incompatible with the players promoted by ESPN.

The Bobcats were on offense, and Felton was too excited after defending James. After the pick-and-roll, he made a quick jump shot but was too hasty and was blocked by Gooden who came back to shoot.

The fans at the scene sighed, but when James advanced to the frontcourt, the fans cheered for Felton again.

James continued to break through and was once again blocked outside the three-second zone.

This situation is a dead end for him. Unless he can make a quick stop jump shot, he can't play. Facing Felton, he can't grab the ball and start at any time like he did against Gerald Wallace. In the case of being unable to shake off Felton's close defense, there is Perkins under the basket...

This time, James didn't force a shot. He relied on Felton to find his teammates... and found them... and passed the ball... nah!

The one running around the top arc to the 45-degree angle on the right is Snow!

Ronald Murray was closely followed by Keith Bogans and could not get out of position. Gerald Wallace, who was chasing him, retreated directly after Snow received the ball, cutting off James's route to receive the ball again.

Snow didn't stop the ball. Having played in the finals with Iverson, he knew that stopping the ball would completely destroy the offensive rhythm. He took a wide-open three-pointer...

"bang"

He only has a 20% three-point shooting percentage in his career and averages 0.1 three-pointers per game, but he didn't make any!

Perkins was in a great position for a rebound, Felton was in the paint, and Gerald Wallace immediately rushed forward... Unfortunately, Gooden rushed in and poked the ball out of bounds, the referee blew the whistle, and the Bobcats had the ball in the backcourt.

The fans at the scene felt regretful for a moment, and then cheered for Felton again!

I really didn't expect that this little fat boy could actually "single-handedly defend" James!

Taking advantage of the dead ball, the head coaches of both sides made personnel adjustments.

The Cavaliers' new lineup: Damon Jones, Ronald Murray, James, Donyell Marshall, Big Z.

The Bobcats' new lineup: Felton, Zhang Yang, Gerald Wallace, Okafor, and Brezek.

Bickerstaff originally wanted Zhang Yang to play at a later time to serve as a reinforcement.

However, the defensive counterattacks in these two rounds were too poor. The first time, Felton's attack failed to break through the opponent's defense. The second time, Gerald Wallace was the spearhead and his ability to protect the rebound was even weaker. In addition, their starting lineup's shooting points in positional warfare were limited to the top arc area, close distance, and under the basket. The opponent's defense was getting better and better, so Bickerstaff had to replace Zhang Yang in advance.

I can only say that the opponent is worthy of being a 50-win team. The reason they won easily last time was because it was the first time they used such a defensive strategy against James. The opponent was caught off guard and lacked the ability to respond on the spot, so they were able to win so smoothly.

This time the opponent was more prepared on the defensive end.

After returning from the timeout, after only one round, Bickerstaff was glad that he substituted Zhang Yang in early!

In Zhang Yang's first attack after coming on the court, he ran around the free throw line and made a mid-range shot facing James who was rushing out.

But looking back, after being blocked by Felton and Okafor in the low post on the right side, James lobbed the ball over Brezek who was blocking on the left sideline of the three-second zone. Donyell Marshall on the left sideline received the ball and made a three-pointer...and it hit!
12 to 13, the Cavaliers are keeping the score close!

Donyell Marshall made 19 of 12 three-pointers in a single game when he was with the Raptors last season, tying the single-game three-pointer record set by Kobe Bryant in the 02-03 season!

Mike Brown is not a bad coach, otherwise he would not have been the head coach of the Cavaliers for so many years and led the team to two 60+ win seasons.

He doesn't have a very good offensive system, nor does he have the ability to respond on the spot, but as long as he is given the opportunity to prepare, he still has basic tactics. In terms of lineup matching, he has also learned the essence of Popovich and knows how to match the lineup for the core players.

Last time, Mike Brown was stunned and didn't know how to adjust. This time, with so much preparation time, he was ready for lineup rotation in advance!
When it was the Bobcats' turn to attack, Felton pulled away, Gerald Wallace also had to slow down, and Zhang Yang held the ball and played against Damon Jones.

Damon Jones is a fan of Glove Payton, but his defense is nothing like his idol. Zhang Yang tricked his opponent into moving sideways with a shake of his shoulder and easily broke into the inside.

James' defense came quickly, but the effect was average. He only blocked the person but not the ball!

Zhang Yang pushed the ball out before being stuck... He didn't pass it to Gerald Wallace who cut in after being released by James, but passed it to Brezek on the left side of the three-second zone!
Big Z took a step toward Gerald Wallace, who was cutting in, and quickly turned to defend Brezek, but he was too slow...

The sense of crisis of being relegated to the bench, encountering an Eastern European center, buffs stacked! Brezek smashed the ball into the basket through Big Z!

The goal was valid, and the referee blew the whistle for a pushing foul on Big Z. Brezek also made the free throw, 16 to 12, the Bobcats led by 4 points!
When the Cavaliers attacked, Brezec consciously moved out a little to block James' pass. Damon Jones took the initiative to run to the left sideline and used Marshall's pick-and-roll.

Zhang Yang was forced to switch defense and go around Donyell Marshall, and Brezek could only chase after Damon Jones.

Damon Jones couldn't shake off Zhang Yang's pursuit. The speed difference was too big. He was considered slow among the 190 cm guards, but he was very fast compared to Brezek, a 218 cm center. He ran to the corner, received the pass from James, and quickly shot a three-pointer...

Come in too!

15 to 16, the Cavaliers continue to close the gap!

Zhang Yang looked at Damon Jones and Donyell Marshall, the two backup pitchers whose combined annual salary was nearly 1000 million US dollars, who were high-fiving each other while retreating, and shook his head with his teeth bared.

The Cavaliers are really willing to spend money!
With James on his rookie contract and Big Z's annual salary this season dropping from more than 1400 million US dollars last season to 874 million US dollars, his salary this season is still as high as 5100 million US dollars.

Last summer, in addition to giving Larry Hughes a sub-maximum salary, the team also gave Damon Jones a four-year, $4 million contract and Donyell Marshall a four-year, $1600 million contract.

Both of these contracts are premium contracts, and other teams will not offer such high prices. Damon Jones can do nothing but shoot, but the Heat only gave him a one-year, $1 million contract extension offer. It was up to the Heat to keep him or not. Damon Jones left, and the Heat signed Jason Kapono, a three-point expert with similar functions, for only two years and $150 million.

Donyell Marshall didn't expect that he could get a long-term contract of more than 2000 million US dollars. Although he made 12 three-pointers in a single game last season, his performance was actually the worst in 8 years. He entered the NBA in 94 and is already 32 years old. His performance has dropped from 14 points and 10 rebounds per game in his peak period to 11 points and 6 rebounds... Unexpectedly, the Cavaliers gave him a contract with a salary higher than his peak period.

But despite their high prices, Damon Jones and Donyell Marshall are both extremely suitable for James!
Although Donyell Marshall's average points per game has dropped to 9.2 points this season and Damon Jones has dropped from 11.6 points per game last season to 6.7 points, they often stand up from the bench to give James strong support like they do now!

Zhang Yang took a deep breath, calmed himself, and continued to receive and serve. He expected that this game would not be so easy.

Then do it!

Next, the two teams entered into a fierce offensive battle.

On the Cavaliers side, James started the one-star-four-shooting tactic, with Damon Jones, Ronald Murray, Donyell Marshall and Big Z all shooting accurately.

If the Bobcats want to lock down James, someone will have to give him a chance. James has great vision and his ability to find open shooters is among the best in the league.

James put aside his pride and didn't force his opponent. There are many things that can be attacked and criticized about him, but in terms of his competitive spirit, at least at his current age, he is no worse than anyone else. Since he knows he can't hit the ball, then he passes it! If he wins the game, everything will be fine!

The Bobcats worked together as never before and the bombardment of media opinions from their opponents not only brought them the support of local fans, but also made their cohesion stronger than ever after Felton mobilized the emotions of his teammates.

Zhang Yang is responsible for creating scoring opportunities and counterattack opportunities in the mid-range, while Brezek is responsible for positional battle support. The two work together to help Gerald Wallace compete with the Cavaliers' army of pitchers.

Felton and Perkins or Okafor limit James' attack on the basket.

Each doing his own job! Let's work together!
首节打完，杰拉德-华莱士7分、费尔顿7分、布雷泽克5分、张杨5分2助攻、奥卡福4分，加上轮换上场的马特-卡罗尔最后时刻投进的三分球，山猫队以31比29领先骑士队两分！
On the Cavaliers side, although James shot 5 of 3 at the beginning, he only scored one goal on a counterattack later, and his hit rate dropped to 8 of 4. He missed the next two shots in positional battles and only made one of two free throws. Even though he scored 1 points at the beginning, he failed to score in double digits in a single quarter, but he still got 7 assists!
In the second quarter, the two teams continued to fight.

Zhang Yang was substituted and rested for a few minutes before coming back on the court in the second half of the quarter, but Damon Jones and Donyell Marshall on the opposite side were also lacking in physical strength.

The most important reason why Donyell Marshall's statistics plummeted last season when he was 31 years old was that after he turned 30, not only did his athletic ability decline, but his physical strength also declined significantly. He dropped from 30 minutes per game when he was 36 to 25 minutes. This season, his performance continued to decline and he could not run after playing for more than 20 minutes per game. Damon Jones also has the physical strength to play for only more than 20 minutes in a game.

Zhang Yang and Brezek, the substitute scorers inside and outside, had a confrontation with these two people.

In the second quarter, James had 3 assists and "supporting point guard" Snow had 4 assists, and the Cavaliers scored 30 points in a single quarter.

On the Bobcats side, Matt Carroll and Okafor also started to perform well!

Taking advantage of Big Z's long rest time in the second quarter, Okafor made 6 of 4 shots in the quarter, plus 2 of 2 free throws, scoring 10 points. Matt Carroll made 5 of 3 three-pointers in the quarter. The two of them combined for 19 points, supporting the Bobcats' offense!

At the last moment of the second quarter, Zhang Yang stole the pass from Snow, and in the counterattack, he used the European step to shake off James who was chasing him and made a layup.

At the end of the first half, the Bobcats led the Cavaliers by two points, 61 to 59, and the Bobcats also scored 30 points in a single quarter!
By the third quarter, both teams' outside shooters had lost their touch, and both teams' positional scoring plummeted.

The pitcher couldn't make the shot, James had no assists, and Snow couldn't provide support.

Zhang Yang's mid-range opportunities were no longer possible, and the space for Gerald Wallace and Okafor to attack the basket became even narrower.

Both sides had many counterattack opportunities. This time, Zhang Yang was at a disadvantage in the competition with James. James' ability to score in independent counterattacks was stronger than Zhang Yang's.

詹姆斯单节7投4中，加上2中1的罚球，拿到9分！
However, when Zhang Yang was suppressed by James, Felton stood up!
单节三分4中2，加上一次突到合理冲撞区弧线外一步的正面抛投2+1，费尔顿也拿到9分！
By the end of the third quarter, the score was 83 to 82, and the Bobcats barely held on to a slight lead and entered the intermission!
Back on the bench again, Zhang Yang took a sip of water, wet his mouth and spit it onto the towel. He did this several times, and after his heartbeat slowed down, he continued to spit.

It was a tough fight, but it was fun!
He heard the cheers from the fans at the scene and was full of fighting spirit!

The fans’ reaction now is what he wants!
As the game progressed, Zhang Yang and his teammates gradually changed from the mentality of "wanting to slap the faces of the media and fans of the Cavaliers" to a mentality of focusing on pursuing victory.

They have made it a habit to "defend" James' positional offense, just like they are used to James' three-step layup. They are no longer happy about defending James and focus on offense and defense itself.

The mentality of fans watching the game gradually changed as the game progressed.

At first they came to boo James and support the local team.

I want to see how Felton defends James later.

After defending, they just want to watch the fun.

Later on, they also got involved in the game and truly entered into spectator mode.

They had no time to boo James' layup steps, nor were they paying attention to Felton's defense on James.

They really started cheering for the Bobcats players to score and yelling loudly when the Bobcats players were on defense.

Many local fans who watched the Bobcats game for the first time discovered the charm of this team.

Gerald Wallace's passion, Okafor's calmness, Felton's delicate recklessness, Brezek's toughness, Zhang Yang's talent and precocity... This team seems worth following!
……

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7000 words long chapter, finish writing this game before 12: in the evening! Please vote for the monthly ticket! Please recommend!

(End of this chapter)