One Year Left to Play

Chapter 398 - 118: Malone the Enforcer!

Campbell on that side held off Malone, who was charging in from the free-throw line to snatch the rebound, while the Magician blocked Spencer under the basket, and Zhang Hao took the defensive rebound!

Immediately passed to the Magician, Zhang Hao launched the counterattack!

The opportunity finally arrived! The Magician finally received the ball at the first moment of transition! Compared to Van Exel who needs to see an opportunity before passing, the Magician’s ability to anticipate is way stronger.

However, just as Zhang Hao launched the counterattack, a huge impact slammed into him, just after passing to the Magician, he ran out of the free-throw line, landed directly at the point closest to the opponent’s net due to the positioning of other players on the court, and had just seen the full-power "Single Rider" trigger prompt when Zhang Hao was knocked flying!

Really, "flying"!

He felt like he was hit by a bull, feet leaving the ground and crashing heavily onto the floor...

The referee’s whistle sounded immediately; the three referees rushed to the perpetrator faster than anyone else and surrounded him, calling a foul, and without hesitation, issued a flagrant foul!

The referees’ swift reaction and strong execution left the Lakers stunned!

Listening to the frenzied cheers of the fans, watching Malone raising his hand without arguing about the penalty of two free throws and possession, the Lakers players weren’t surprised at all—this is exactly what Malone would do!

In crucial moments, using a brutal foul to disrupt the opponent’s rhythm that might build up!

Angry, irritable... but the Lakers side did not have impulsive emotions; they knew this was Malone.

The Utah Jazz players had already spontaneously gathered around Malone...

Clearly, this situation has not happened once or twice, probably many times! Countless times! Malone’s teammates are well experienced!

Zhang Hao was helped up by his teammates; the pain... actually wasn’t so bad, the initial hit was painful, but the fall onto the floor was flat, with a wide area of impact, making the pain relatively manageable; overall, it felt like just taking a tumble.

Perhaps because this intentional foul didn’t result in injury, the "Evil Karma Card" didn’t trigger.

Malone stared at Zhang Hao after being called for a flagrant foul, his gaze fierce...

For many young players, experiencing such a fierce foul and the brutal confrontation on defense could be intimidating.

Due to Malone’s notorious reputation and formidable strength, he exerted significant intimidation over young players.

But Zhang Hao is different from other young players...

Veteran players are used to Malone’s actions, and their first reaction is to control their emotions.

This time, Malone’s move wasn’t as dirty; not to say it wasn’t dirty, but amongst Malone’s many dirty fouls, this one wouldn’t count as dirty, merely intimidating.

Zhang Hao couldn’t control it!

Fight?

No chance of fighting, unless you’re holding them down, otherwise getting injured yourself is not worth it; suspension is fine, at least it has a time limit, injury... there’s the injury card, but that’s precious.

Although Zhang Hao has a strong desire to win, as strong as his survival instinct since winning games is his life, he was mentally prepared before the game; playing against top teams, although the Lakers’ current record is top-notch, they are aware of their own situation, with 82 regular-season games, even the Bulls have lost sometimes, losing occasionally is normal for them.

But now, Zhang Hao just wants to win!

To hell with it, he’s going all out!

...

To Malone’s surprise, Zhang Hao showed an expression only when in pain from hitting the ground, but as he stood up, a flash of agitation appeared, and then quickly resumed his indifferent look.

After the Lakers’ team doctor checked him over and confirmed there was nothing wrong, all it was just impact and hard floor pain that could possibly bruise... Zhang Hao moved his body a bit and walked to the free-throw line.

Calm!

Emotions affect expressions; conversely, managing expressions well helps regulate emotions.

Performing the free throws!

Luckily, the referees stopped play, allowing the Lakers to conduct a simple check, with Zhang Hao’s pain subsiding, moving around to suit his feeling, he made both free throws!

They actually went in!

But it didn’t matter, the Utah Jazz players had stably fallen into their defensive formation.

This time, Malone’s big foul wasn’t just to break Zhang Hao’s counterattack rhythm, the purpose was also to intimidate Zhang Hao or make him lose composure... it had multiple layers of purposes.

But the core reason was Magician playing too actively tonight!

Stockton had been restricting Van Exel completely, without the Magician, the Lakers would likely struggle, early in the season the Utah Jazz were completely dominating the Lakers, back then, although there was Divac, Divac could only facilitate and not truly organize the entire team’s offense as a point guard, but the Magician had returned and was playing well tonight, with the Utah Jazz shutting down Zhang Hao while the Magician organized the entire team’s offense.

This was the deepest reason for Malone’s big foul.

Here comes Zhang Hao, running even more actively, finding an opportunity while slipping the baseline! Maurice Cheeks, who had already stopped Campbell receiving a close-range jump shot earlier, didn’t seek the first chance to double-team Zhang Hao when receiving the ball.

The Magician, in a confrontation with Malone, timely passed the ball out, with Zhang Hao receiving it with his back to the baseline; Spencer’s mobility was much stronger than Biostag’s, blocking Zhang Hao.

Zhang Hao received the ball, turned left 90 degrees with his back to the basket, took a step forward, pivoted, and at a floating angle towards the baseline jumped for a shot!