One Year Left to Play

Chapter 375 - 113: I Wish I Could Play the Celtics Every Day

O’Neal suffered disdain from the local Orlando media this season for a reason. He missed over 20 games at the start of the season, and after his comeback, his form was unstable, to a certain extent affecting Anfernee Hardaway’s performance.

Other fans might calmly analyze that it’s normal for O’Neal to have fluctuations in form just after recovering from a major injury, but the Orlando media somehow were extremely harsh, and the Magic team’s management’s thinking was also quite bizarre...

to 104, the Magic lost at home, and O’Neal once again found himself in a storm of criticism.

Next, two games started simultaneously: the Knicks versus the Heat, and the Pistons versus the SuperSonics.

The Knicks defeated the Heat 92 to 81, during which there was a conflict, hinting at a potential rivalry.

These games didn’t feature any upsets; the teams that were widely expected to win did so.

But the Pistons and Supersonics game had a major upset!

The Pistons, currently 14 wins and 13 losses, only ranked eighth in the East, relied on Grant Hill’s first career 40+ game, scoring 41 points, 8 rebounds, and 11 assists—a near triple-double performance—to upset the SuperSonics 109 to 104.

Grant Hill being the All-Star vote leader in his rookie season had its reasons. First, he was strong, second, he had a great image, and third, he often performed brilliantly against top teams.

Before revealing his propensity for injuries, Grant Hill was considered the top candidate for the future king of the league, reminiscent of Michael Jordan when he first entered the NBA more than ten years ago, right from the very start.

...

Los Angeles, a great place, the Lakers play their Christmas games, and unless they’re playing the Knicks, they’re usually at home because of the geographical reasons, whenever they play Christmas games, they’re usually the headliner.

This year is no different.

Tonight, the Lakers’ opponent is the Celtics!

Since the 1960s, the main theme of the NBA has been the rivalry between these two teams, persisting for 30 years until Jordan completed his three-peat and Olajuwon his back-to-back titles.

Even though both teams have been in a quiet period in recent years, the Lakers-Celtics matchup never loses its color, and each clash attracts a lot of attention.

Especially for Lakers fans or Celtics fans, every time these two teams face off, it’s a basketball festival in their minds.

At 8:10 PM, after the warm-up, Zhang Hao and his teammates entered the court under the camera of the "documentary" of the Imperial Channel...

The atmosphere was entirely different!

From the moment Zhang Hao arrived at the Great Western Forum this morning, he felt a markedly different atmosphere from the fans.

Lakers fans rarely boo opposing players during regular-season games, and it’s even rarer for them to hold up signs or shout at visiting teams before a game outside the arena.

But today, Zhang Hao saw just that.

Most of the fans on site tonight were dressed in Lakers merchandise, a rare sight.

When the Celtics players came out, the booing from the crowd seemed loud enough to pierce through the ceiling!

And today, the cheers Zhang Hao received were noticeably more.

"How very realistic..."

Looking at the little girl from the Schultz family by the sidelines, Zhang Hao thought of the word ’backup’.

"Even a backup wants to be a starter..."

Zhang Hao didn’t plan to butter up the fans; he only wanted to make them bow down through his performance in the game; if that didn’t work, he’d strive to get stronger.

Pierce and his mother, Aprile Clark, also came to watch the game, all three very excited. Aprile Clark was particularly stirred tonight; she had been a Lakers fan since she was little, and seeing the opponent as the Celtics, her fighting spirit was sky-high.

Zhang Hao is a competitive player. During games, his desire to defeat opponents is already strong; in this atmosphere, his desire to crush the opponents soared even higher!

This time Zhang Hao didn’t need to influence his teammates; they were already filled with fighting spirit under the guidance of Del Harris.

During pre-game preparations, Zhang Hao looked at the task that triggered this morning.

"Rivalry:

Goal: During Zhang Hao’s career with the Lakers, help the Lakers achieve victory against the Celtics.

Failure penalty: Lose 10 days of life span.

Reward: Each time Zhang Hao helps the Lakers defeat the Celtics, he gains a 5-day life span reward; consecutive wins add 1 day. For every subsequent loss to the Celtics, the life span deduction decreases by the number of wins in that streak."

Looking at this task, looking at the opponent’s lineup...

David Wesley, Di Brown, Rick Fox, Dino Radja, Eric Montross.

This time, Zhang Hao genuinely had a thought—"I wish I could play against the Celtics for all 82 games in a season!"

When Zhang Hao harbored this thought and his eyes began to reveal intense fighting spirit, the camera on the big screen at the venue happened to focus on him.

Seeing Zhang Hao, who usually maintained an impressively calm demeanor, even when fouled, just gritting his teeth and getting back up, now so excited facing the Celtics, the on-site fans couldn’t stay calm and began cheering wildly!

At this moment, they remembered, this kid was a player from Los Angeles a few years back! He attended high school in Los Angeles!

Lakers fans are just that confident; in their eyes, people from Los Angeles are all Lakers fans.

The fans regretted booing Zhang Hao when he was first traded. Of course, the main reason was Zhang Hao’s continual improvement, and his popularity was soaring; now, their willingness to "correct their mistake" stemmed from a sense of recognition, as Zhang Hao’s fighting spirit-filled eyes earned their acknowledgment.

Soon, the crowd started loudly chanting "X" more and more...

Zhang Hao was startled!

What’s up with these fans?