One Year Left to Play

Chapter 390 - 116: A Frenzied December!

It’s rare for a Spurs role player to have a chance to shoot, but their shooting touch had long turned cold!

This time, David Robinson retreated in defense very timely, not giving the Lakers a chance to launch a counterattack.

The Lakers fell into an offensive formation, but their passing and cutting didn’t result in a successful shot.

On the Spurs’ attack, Avery Johnson passed the ball outside after David Robinson attracted a double team. He decisively cut in, received a pass from Negro, and attempted a close-range floater...

Avery Johnson had great awareness. He already understood the opponent’s intent and chose a shot closer to the basket, but Zhang Hao quickly moved into position and delivered a huge block to Johnson!

This time, the counterattack was executed perfectly!

Zhang Hao himself charged forward to grab the ball and launch a fast break!

Ordinary dribbling affected Zhang Hao’s speed, and he was trapped when he reached a step inside the opponent’s three-point line.

He raised the ball and saw the movement of his teammates, then passed to the left sideline... Doug Christie caught the ball and shot for three!

It’s in!

All tied at 49!

Finally, in the third possession after the official timeout in the second quarter, they leveled the score!

After a 5-0 run, the Lakers suddenly seized the initiative!

In the last 4 minutes of the second quarter, the Lakers launched a run of 12-8. By halftime, the Lakers led the Spurs by 4 points with a score of 61-57 as they headed into the break!

By this time, Avery Johnson had fully grasped the Lakers’ strategy.

First, it was a rotation play to exhaust David Robinson’s stamina; since David Robinson had a high success rate in single-play, he was inexplicably irritable and didn’t notice that his single-play initiations were getting closer to the basket, both physically and mentally unconsciously wanting to shorten the impact distance.

Also, it included exhausting their Spurs’ outside shooting touch, reducing their outside players’ attempts, betting their shooting touch would cool down... including David Robinson’s counterattack! The number of times the Spurs launched counterattacks tonight could be counted on one hand! The Lakers have consistently used shorter players to defend against David Robinson to restrict fast breaks!

It was only now that he noticed that the pace after the official timeout in the first quarter had become significantly slower! Their Spurs had a high success rate, but the score was not as high as the success rate.

A field goal percentage of sixty percent in the first half, yet only 57 points scored! Before the Lakers’ strategy succeeded, their Spurs’ team field goal percentage once soared to sixty-seven percent!

On the Lakers’ side, their scoring didn’t seem sustainable, but they could always have outbursts; while our team didn’t realize it, seeing the Lakers’ unstable offense, we’d assumed victory was guaranteed...

Avery Johnson had long felt something was off, but couldn’t piece it together. When they were overtaken at halftime, he finally began to figure it out.

But it was too late—they had already fallen into the trap!

...

Playing the full half, scoring 26 points and grabbing 8 rebounds, including 5 offensive rebounds, Zhang Hao was really giving it his all, and was exhausted.

Actually, from the official timeout in the first quarter to the end of the second quarter, he didn’t score much. A good portion of those 24 points were taken at the beginning, but every score was a desperate charge toward the basket, playing a key role.

Finally, with 5 minutes left in the second quarter, the strategy bore fruit.

Otherwise, he wouldn’t have been able to hold it any longer—it was too tiring to play that way.

At the beginning of the third quarter, Zhang Hao was substituted to take a break, and it was evident to everyone that he had played the most exhaustingly and miserably in the entire first half.

Del Harris nearly cursed when he saw everyone contracting like crazy during Zhang Hao’s defensive sequence after his put-back dunk following the official timeout in the second quarter. Originally, he felt something strange about tonight; the players never went to double-team David Robinson, even if it meant being dominated.

But this kind of defense actually worked! For the time being, putting aside why such a situation occurred, after reversing the score and seizing the initiative in the last few minutes of the first half, Del Harris made some arrangements during halftime to continue exploiting the advantage created!

Campbell came up to squat under the basket. Having been worn down throughout the half and having over 20 attempts, David Robinson faced Campbell, a 127kg muscular man, in the third quarter, and didn’t handle things as easily as he did at the start.

Defend the passes and cuts, block the top shooters, allow secondary shooters...

The Silver Fox’s coaching capabilities were indeed excellent, utilizing the advantage created by the players’ hard work in the first half quite well!

The Spurs couldn’t manage to adjust to the lost rhythm during the halftime break!

In the early part of the third quarter, the Lakers launched a 16-11 run, stretching the lead to 9 points!

Just when the Lakers seemed poised to solidify a clear lead and deliver a comeback victory, Elliott stepped up!

This player who excels in tough situations, first forcefully managed two points under the basket, then stepped back to make a profoundly deep three-pointer, initiating a 5-0 run!

As Del Harris was startled and preparing to call a timeout again after just two possessions post-official timeout, newcomer Doug Christie delivered a surprise.

Doug Christie had psychological resilience and anti-pressure capability comparable to Elliott.

In the crucial third quarter, Doug Christie scored 8 consecutive points, leading the Lakers to an 11-7 run, suppressing the opponent’s efforts while the Spurs made their comeback attempt. By the end of the third quarter, the Lakers led by 88-80, an 8-point advantage heading into the fourth quarter!

If Doug Christie hadn’t scored those 8 consecutive points in the second half of the third quarter, the Lakers would have had to swap their core lineup early. Now, Zhang Hao and the Magician rested the entire third quarter, while Van Exel and Jason Williams also took breaks in the latter part of the third quarter. On the other hand, for the Spurs, David Robinson was substituted after only three minutes post-official timeout in the third quarter!