Chapter 136 135. We will score as many free throws as you make!
Okafor thinks there is nothing wrong with what Zhang Yang said, "The brain is afraid that you will hurt yourself, so it actively blocks out unfavorable information." This is also his understanding.

But why does this sentence always deviate the topic?
Okafor brought the topic back: "We have to be careful in the next game. What ESPN said is not completely unreasonable. When Hughes was replaced, the Cavaliers' offense was indeed very good."

Felton didn't like this kind of talk that boosted others' morale: "They can't defend us either. We don't have to be afraid of them when they play offense. With Jack here, we don't have to be afraid of them when they play defense."

Zhang Yang: "In fact, I scored most of my points in the first half. 22 of my 15 points were scored in the first half, and I shot 10-for-6. In the second half, I only shot 5-for-2, scoring 7 points. I could only play a distraction role. The scoring in the second half mainly depends on you guys."

Felton: "7 points is not a small number. I played for 42 minutes and only got 6 points... You are too calm and think too much. We are leading 1-0 now and have the home advantage. You must have confidence. We will definitely win in the end!"

Zhang Yang: "Boss, you are right!"

Okafor: ?

Are you convinced now? Are you going to stop trying to persuade Little Fatty to be more cautious?

Just when Okafor was confused, he saw Felton calling to ask why the video of Bickerstaff Jr. had not been delivered yet... It seemed that he had become cautious?

Is this possible? !
Okafor only skimmed through a few psychology books and did not conduct in-depth research.

It is right to persuade someone to the end when they lose, but it is not appropriate when they win. At this time, you don't necessarily have to ask the other party to accept what you say, just convey your meaning.

It's not like Felton doesn't know the importance of being cautious. This is the playoffs...

...

In the afternoon, the Bobcats went to Quicken Loans Arena for two training sessions, one offense and one defense, to make tactical adjustments based on the actual experience of the first game.

The next day, April 4th, the second game day of the Bobcats' playoffs arrived.

After the pre-game meeting in the morning, Zhang Yang received a notification from the league that he had won the Best Sixth Man award and ranked second in the Best Rookie vote.

He went to the lounge and opened the NBA official website on his computer to read the news.

In the best rookie voting, Paul received 100 of the 54 first-place votes, accounting for 34% of the points, and was elected the best rookie.

Zhang Yang received 26 first-place votes and Felton received 20, with the three of them taking all the first-place votes.

In the voting for the best sixth man, Zhang Yang received 100 of the 72 first-place votes, accounting for 45.2% of the points, and was elected the best sixth man.

Second place was Mike Miller of the Grizzlies, who received 11 first-place votes, and third place was Stackhouse of the Mavericks, who received 7 first-place votes.

Zhang Yang was a little upset because he didn't win the Best Rookie award. If he didn't win this award, he would never have another chance.

但保罗那边表现不输03-04赛季的安东尼，场均16+5+7+2确实太厉害了，张杨能在得分和篮板两个方面效率高于保罗，已经竭尽全力。

In addition to scoring and rebounding, Paul is also the tactical core of the Hornets, and his defensive performance is also the best among the rookie outside players.

Fortunately, he successfully won the best sixth man award, which soothed his wounded heart.

Although he is not the first rookie to win the Sixth Man of the Year award, as Ben Gordon also won the award in his rookie year last year, Zhang Yang still set a new record - the youngest Sixth Man of the Year award in history!

The record of "youngest" can never be closed once it is opened. It is not only used by its creator ESPN, but also by other media outlets and fans.

It’s just that most of the previous youngest records are foreseeable to fall to James, it’s just a matter of time, and other large media that are hostile to ESPN have few opportunities to use them.

It’s different now, there’s a younger one!
The youngest player to score 20+, the youngest player to score 30+, the youngest player to score 40+, the youngest player to score 1000 points... the youngest player of the month, the youngest player of the week, the youngest player of the year...

Whenever Zhang Yang wins any award, other media will simply give him the title of the youngest winner, there is absolutely nothing wrong with that!

At 8 o'clock in the evening, the second game of the series between the Bobcats and the Cavaliers began.

The Bobcats were prepared for any offensive or defensive outbursts from the opposing team. After all, the Cavaliers had just lost their home-court advantage and certainly didn't want to lose both of their home games, as they might not be able to come back.

But unexpectedly, there was an internal conflict within the Cavaliers!
On the offensive end, Larry Hughes will attack the basket by himself when he has the ball. He will pass the ball, but he will only pass it to the wing shooters and teammates in the interior. The wing shooters and teammates under the basket have no chance. Even if he has no chance, he will choose to force a shot.

The Cavaliers' offense turned into James playing two and Hughes playing one, taking turns, and they played worse than in G1!

On the defensive end, Hughes stopped cleaning up after James and focused on his own defensive target, Gerald Wallace.

Being closely watched by the defensive boss the whole time, Gerald Wallace was almost angry, but fortunately his teammates performed well.

首节前半段，费尔顿4投2中其中三分球1中1拿到5分、后半段张杨5投3中外加2中2的罚球拿到8分。

James has an excellent talent for defending pitchers. Even if his basic skills are not good, his height, wingspan and mobility are there, making him very suitable for defending wing pitchers.

But he couldn't stand still and always wanted to show his enthusiasm on the defensive end. When he was defending a wing shooter, regardless of whether he should shrink or not, he would just shrink when he saw the opponent breaking through.

So Mike Brown could only arrange him to defend the ball handler on the back line.

So tonight, without Hughes' help and backup defense, James was beaten from the outside for the entire quarter...

Led by the two, the Bobcats ended the first quarter with a 26-point lead over the Cavaliers 13 to 13!
During the intermission, Zhang Yang said in surprise: "I didn't expect that Hughes, who seems to have no temper, would dare to go against James."

Felton: "I knew Hughes would get mad!"

Zhang Yang: "Boss, you really have good vision."

Felton was very proud of the recognition and his thoughts became clearer. He said, "Any man will have a temper. It would be strange if he could endure being scolded by the media and James' fans for two days and two nights."

Okafor on the side interjected: "James is actually innocent. I don't think he feels that Hughes is holding him back. This time he was held back by the fans. Look over there, he is actively talking to Hughes."

Zhang Yang wanted to refute this, but before he could open his mouth, Felton started to rant: "His fans blamed Hughes for his poor performance in the first game. He didn't stand up to say a word for Hughes, which means he acquiesced to that statement. He is not innocent. I saw a news report that James didn't let Hughes play in the fourth quarter of the first game. He absolutely believed that Hughes was holding him back. Now he went to apologize to Hughes, only to find that he couldn't defend without Hughes."

Zhang Yang gave a thumbs up.

...

After the intermission, Hughes was moved by James' sincere attitude. He temporarily put aside the off-court matters and conflicts and helped James well.

But the media and fans are right about one thing: when James and Hughes play together, their offense does hinder each other.

With both the Bobcats and the Cavaliers focusing on defense, if the two of them play together, they won't be able to score 20 points in a quarter unless their teammates have an amazing outside shooting touch.

Moreover, the two had a conflict in the first quarter, which directly destroyed the morale of their teammates, which was already low due to losing the home advantage.

The Cavaliers' offense in the second quarter was not much better than in the first quarter, and they only scored 17 points!
On the defensive end, Hughes made good use of the high position and the middle, shrinking when necessary and regaining his previous enthusiasm.

But the defensive motivation of his teammates declined as their morale dropped. Zhang Yang scored the highest points in the game with a hit rate of over 1% in G8 and scored points efficiently in the first quarter to attract defense in the high position. Okafor, Gerald Wallace and Brezek started to soar!
奥卡福6分、杰拉德-华莱士5分、布雷泽克7分，三人第二节合砍18分，加上张杨进了一个长两分、马特-卡罗尔跟进快攻投进1个三分、帕金斯吃饼拿到两分……山猫队第二节拿到25分！
At the end of the first half, the Bobcats led the Cavaliers by 51 points, 30 to 21!
To put it nicely, the Cavaliers have little hope of a comeback. To put it bluntly, it’s garbage time!

James wanted to explode on the spot. He put aside his pride and went to apologize and reconcile with Hughes, but it was all in vain!
After the halftime break, James continued to play, and just like in the fourth quarter of the previous game, four players with mid-range and long-range shooting abilities, including Damon Jones, Ronald Murray, Donyell Marshall and Big Z, played with him.

With the experience from the previous game, Bickerstaff was already prepared. The defense against James remained unchanged, while the offense in other positions was strengthened.

The lineup of four pitchers is indeed very suitable for James. The space is open enough. Felton and the threat of his teammates in the interior cannot completely defend James, but the Bobcats' offense played smoother than in the first half!

詹姆斯第三节9投4中，其中三分球2中0，加上4中4的罚球拿到12分2助攻，率领骑士队单节拿到26分。

山猫队这边，张杨打了9分钟，6投3中，加上2中1的罚球拿到7分，费尔顿5分、马特-卡罗尔和朱梅因-琼斯各进了1个三分，加上奥卡福、杰拉德-华莱士、布雷泽克合力在内线拿到10分……单节28分1
After three quarters, not only did James fail to lead the team to narrow the gap, but the gap continued to widen!

79 to 56, after three quarters, the Bobcats' lead expanded to 23 points!
The Cavaliers raised the white flag and sent out a pure substitute lineup in the final quarter. Bickerstaff also sent out a pure substitute lineup of Bernard Johnson, Alan Anderson, Kareem Rush, Melvin Eli and Brezek.

In the final quarter, the Cavaliers scored 25 to 17, narrowing the gap to 15 points. It looked better, but it didn't play any role in the outcome of the game.

张杨14投7中，其中三分球3中1，加上4中3的罚球，拿到18分5板2助攻1抢断。

奥卡福15分13板1助攻2盖帽、杰拉德-华莱士17分6板4助攻3抢断2盖帽、费尔顿15分6助攻、布雷泽克11分、马特-卡罗尔12分……

96比81，山猫队15分优势击败骑士队，客场2比0领先！

...

The day after Game 2, the Bobcats flew back to Charlotte. They had two days of rest after switching home and away games. The coaching staff did not arrange any training on the day they returned, and let the players go home and rest.

After Zhang Yang returned to his apartment, he called his parents and confirmed the time to pick them up tomorrow. He did not go to training in the afternoon, but took a good rest, played games, and read the news.

Most of the time, it’s better not to watch the news. He actually knows that, but he just can’t help it, and he ends up being really stimulated!

The media changed their tone again, from criticizing Hughes' performance to criticizing the Cavaliers' management's operations.

In short - signing Larry Hughes was the Cavaliers' biggest mistake last summer.

When Zhang Yang saw this statement, he also thought there was nothing wrong with it.

The Cavaliers did a poor job in signing this player, signing a ball-handling guard whose offensive zone and offensive characteristics almost completely overlap with James' and who has basically no shooting ability, and a large contract close to the maximum salary. It not only affects the training of James, but also takes up space.

But Zhang Yang felt very unhappy.

The media, led by ESPN, focused people's attention on two things: the Cavaliers' poor operation and Hughes' playing style was not suitable for assisting James and was holding James back.

It sounds like if the Cavaliers hadn't signed Hughes, they wouldn't be trailing 0-2 in this series, but leading 2-0!

Completely ignoring the efforts and outstanding performances of their Bobcats players.

They even seemed to have forgotten that the Cavaliers couldn't beat them when Hughes was not there in the regular season.

But most fans really believed this statement. Regardless of whether they liked the Cavaliers or not, they all supported this statement... In those days when information and communication technology was still not very developed, public opinion was easily manipulated.

If you are unhappy, find the boss!

As for Felton, he was happily reading the news at home.

He doesn't have so many thoughts. He is happy to see his opponents in internal turmoil and being criticized.

He felt that the series was a sure win and he was already relaxed.

But after hearing what Zhang Yang said, Felton was also unhappy...

The next day, before the training began, Felton gathered his teammates and after a speech, he shouted the slogan - "Let the Cavaliers fans know how powerful we are!"

Originally, from January 1st to now, the Bobcats have won five consecutive games against the Cavaliers. Like Felton, the other players on the Bobcats were a little careless and relaxed.

Now, they also feel that they are being looked down upon and are very unhappy... They want to let the Cavaliers fans know how powerful they are!
On April 4, the Bobcats faced the Cavaliers in the third game of the series at home.

The Cavaliers players stepped onto the court with a do-or-die mentality. If they lost this game, they would be behind 0-3 and would have no hope at all.

Hughes also temporarily put aside his dissatisfaction, and after the game started, he led his teammates to defend with all their strength and cooperate with James in offense.

There is no player who is selected for the first defense without a competitive spirit. Even Camby is full of "competitiveness" in terms of statistics. If fans who have not watched Camby's live broadcasts in the past two years see Camby's game highlights, they will definitely think that Camby is the most aggressive defensive player in the league.

Hughes not only looks aggressive and competitive when playing, he also really plays hard on defense. Under his leadership, the Cavaliers players played excellent defense.

However, the Bobcats played very aggressively under the leadership of Felton. Seeing the Bobcats players trying their best, the audience in front of the TV couldn't tell which side was behind 0-2...

The Bobcats players were thinking: Didn't you all say that if the Cavaliers hadn't signed Hughes, we would have been the ones to fall behind 0-2? Then we'll play with a 0-2 deficit to show you!
The Cavaliers players tried very hard, but after more than 3 minutes, the two teams were tied at 6-6!
At this moment, the turning point of the game appeared...

When the Cavaliers attacked, James broke into the inside, but his three steps failed to shake off the encirclement of Felton, Perkins, and Okafor. His pass to the left was cut off by Okafor, and his pass to the high post was cut off by Gerald Wallace in the middle. He could only force a shot... and missed!
But at this moment, the referee's whistle sounded abruptly, giving Perkins a foul!
James went to the free throw line and made one of two.

It's not over yet. In the next round, the Bobcats came back after a missed shot. James broke into the inside and forced Felton to enter the basket. With this way of attack, he didn't even have the space to move his feet. He was blocked by Perkins in front and Felton was stealing the ball next to him. James jumped towards Perkins, and Perkins held James in the reasonable collision zone without stretching out his hand. It was purely a confrontation... The referee's whistle sounded abruptly again!
Perkins complained angrily to the referee... After receiving a technical foul, Okafor quickly hugged Perkins and pushed Perkins to the sidelines.

The first foul was okay, the fans just booed.

Now, the fans at the scene were angry and cursed the referee wildly.

In the first two games, James had too many free throws. In G1, he got a total of 11 free throws and only made 18 of 6 shots. That number of free throws was unreasonable. In G2, James only played the first three quarters and got 31 free throws in 12 minutes, an average of 4 free throws per quarter... But those two games were still normal, and James' free throws in the regular season were about the same.

Don't go too far tonight. In the first 4 minutes, James got 4 free throws, and both fouls were accurately called on Perkins! He was also given a technical foul!
Blatant whistle blowing!

Jordan was furious. If Okafor hadn't returned, this would have really hit their defensive artery! It was because of Perkins that they began to have a way to deal with James.

He rushed to the sidelines and pointed at the referee's nose and cursed... In the end, the referee told him to leave the court and be quiet, otherwise he would be sent off.

Who cares about an outdated goat?

Bickerstaff, who is over 60 years old, has seen a lot and responded calmly. While the opponent was shooting free throws, he called the players together and replaced Zhang Yang and Brezek. Felton, Gerald Wallace and Felton continued to play.

Jordan returned from the referee's defeat, looked at the five players on the court, and asked Bickerstaff: "What about our defense with this whistle?"

Bickerstaff: "We need to defend as we should. No, we need to defend more strictly and with more resistance than before."

Jordan was stunned: "What should I do if I have a foul crisis?"

Bickerstaff: "The Pistons guarded you like that. Did they all get fouled out?"

When Jordan heard this, he returned to his player mentality...Yes, just do it!

Bickerstaff: "If we really lose tonight because of the whistle, God of Basketball, it will all depend on you..."

Jordan: "No! Even if I win I will scold them to death!"

On the Cavaliers side, Mike Brown also made personnel adjustments, replacing them with two guards with good shooting skills, Damon Jones and Ronald Murray.

On the court, Big Z, the most stable free throw shooter on the Cavaliers, took the technical free throw... and missed!
The fans on the baseline cursed so harshly that it affected Big Z's shooting. His mental quality needs to be improved and he is still not used to it.

James went to the free throw line and only made one of the two free throws. He was simply too excited from the confrontation with Perkins and hasn't recovered yet.

The score is 8 to 6, with the Cavaliers leading by two points!

It was time for the Bobcats to attack.

Zhang Yang received the serve and advanced to the frontcourt, while James guarded at the top arc.

The Cavaliers players saw Perkins being knocked down by the big man early on, and they felt that the opportunity was coming, so they defended very attentively.

Zhang Yang saw the opponent's position, quietly gestured to the left, dribbled to the right, broke through... fake breakthrough and real pass!
Zhang Yang threw the ball to Felton who ran to the left side of the top arc, and Felton crushed Damon Jones and broke into the inside.

The Cavaliers' inside players and wing players all focused on Zhang Yang. Felton broke through to the left sideline of the three-second zone, grabbed the ball and made a layup...and it went in!
8 to 8, the Bobcats tied the score!

When the Cavaliers attacked, the Bobcats players did not defend timidly as James had expected for fear of fouls. Instead, they defended more roughly.

Zhang Yang and Gerald Wallace engaged in a fierce hand-to-hand fight with Damon Jones and Ronald Murray on the outside.

Zhang Yang's confrontation is not good, it also depends on who he is compared with. Damon Jones, with his small body of 190 cm and more than 80 kg, was made miserable by Zhang Yang's "ignorant" confrontation.

Ronald Murray is in an even worse situation, as Gerald Wallace can play as a power forward.

Afraid of fouls? No way! Since the head coach didn't tell the Bobcats to reduce the confrontation, they should just fight to the death!
James broke into the inside... and was trapped in the double-team of Felton, Brezek, and Okafor.

Two big guys surrounded him with their arms raised. James was nowhere to be seen. Felton was still reaching for the ball. He could only raise the ball and rush towards the two men... The referee didn't blow the whistle!
James used too much force and the ball went over the bridge.

Brezek turned around and grabbed the rebound before Big Z, and passed it to Zhang Yang who came back from the wing, and Zhang Yang launched a counterattack!

Zhang Yang rushed to the frontcourt to attract the defense and then passed the ball to Gerald Wallace, who broke into the inside and made a layup.

10 to 8, the Bobcats scored two goals in a row after two consecutive fouls and took a two-point lead!

When the Cavaliers attacked, James broke into the basket and caused a foul. Brezek fouled, and this time James made both free throws, and the Cavaliers tied the score again.

Looking back, Zhang Yang passed James in a singles game and made a quick stop jump shot from the right side of the free throw line...

The Cavaliers' defensive position changed because Felton and Gerald Wallace scored two goals in a row. Gooden was positioned closer to the baseline. Zhang Yang decisively seized the opportunity and made a shot with a good touch, and it went in!
In the TNT sports commentary booth, Barkley grabbed the microphone and yelled: "Just call the whistle! No matter how many free throws James has, Jack can make the ball!"

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(End of this chapter)