One Year Left to Play

Chapter 403 - 120: He Actually Dared to Do That!

The most dazzling player on the court for the Lakers is Zhang Hao, but his performance is not the best. In fact, after nearly half the game, his scoring and defense... can only be described as okay,

Under the Utah Jazz’s defense, his shooting opportunities are few, and his brilliance lies in his toughness, while his impact comes from his ability to draw defenders, which is due to his recent Player of the Month award and the extra pressure he puts on the Utah Jazz through his tough image.

Currently, the real top performers on the Lakers are Doug Christie and Jason Williams. These two, with one focusing on offense and the other on rebounding, are effectively utilizing Zhang Hao’s drawing power.

Also, Del Harris’s tactical adjustments have been spot on.

His skills are quite limited, which means Zhang Hao doesn’t have many ways to solve problems.

But he is very positive, patient, and smart, always able to find opportunities to showcase his abilities.

At 6:52 in the second quarter, Zhang Hao caught the ball and faced Malone’s switch defense. As he tried to advance, Malone used just the right amount of force, undetectable by the referee, in their physical confrontation. Zhang Hao took the chance to step forward, turned, and made a fadeaway shot...

Trusting Malone’s defense, the Utah Jazz didn’t double-team, and with Zhang Hao gradually adapting to such confrontations, he found an opportunity. Zhang Hao’s turnaround fadeaway shot made it!

to 44, during a low-scoring phase after the start of the second quarter, the Lakers have kept the score close!

The Utah Jazz called a timeout!

Both head coaches knowingly subbed in defensive lineups.

The Lakers put in Sedale Srte, Anthony Peeler, George Lynch, Magician, and Campbell.

The Utah Jazz put in Stockton, Horace, David Benoit, Adam Fejki, and Ostertag.

Returning to the bench, Zhang Hao checked his stats: in a quarter-and-a-half, he made 3 out of 7 shots, 4 out of 5 free throws, scoring 10 points.

Shooting opportunities were truly scarce, but fortunately, his teammates played well.

On the court, after about a quarter of rest, the Magician returned and played diligently. Compared to Jordan, he was more eager to defeat Malone.

With Malone off the court, although the Utah Jazz had strong rim protection, their movement was lacking. The Magician exerted all his strength to help the Lakers trail by only 5 points at 10:44 in the second quarter, 49 to 54.

The Lakers called a timeout, and for the last two plays, they subbed in Van Exel, Doug Christie, Zhang Hao, Magician, and Jason Williams.

The Utah Jazz also subbed in Stockton, Horace, Chris Morris, Malone, and Spencer, a lineup strong on both offense and defense.

Returning from the timeout, both teams didn’t score on their first possession. Before the end of the half, Zhang Hao ran along the baseline, using Jason Williams’ screen, culminating in Malone’s switch onto him.

Zhang Hao circled the court, starting from the left 45-degree angle beyond the three-point line, entering the three-point line, arriving at the top-right arc, received the ball, turned, moved beyond the three-point line, jumped, and pushed an overhead...

Having nearly circled the entire three-point line, Zhang Hao, finally gaining a shooting opportunity, made the three-pointer!

to 54, the Lakers trailed by two as they entered halftime!

...

For the half, Zhang Hao made 4 out of 9 shots, including one three-pointer, and hit 4 out of 5 free throws, accumulating 13 points, 4 rebounds, 1 assist, and 1 block, making it look pretty good as the game progressed.

But more importantly, the Magician’s 9 points and 5 assists in the half, along with Doug Christie’s 12 points and 3 assists, effectively utilized Zhang Hao’s drawing power.

During halftime, Del Harris analyzed the specific situation of the first half.

The situation was quite dire!

The Utah Jazz was a team that aggressively bullied weaker teams, and they liked to attack fiercely to quickly dispatch their opponents.

At the start, that’s how the Utah Jazz played. After the Lakers stabilized their scoring in the first quarter, both teams recorded high scores.

However, during the last 3 minutes of the first quarter, the Utah Jazz intensified their physical play and continued to do so in the second quarter, which caused the Lakers’ scoring to drastically decline. In the second quarter, they only scored 19 points!

The players didn’t feel much difference during the game as the score remained close, only that it got increasingly difficult. But when analyzed during the break, it became evident that the game had already entered the Utah Jazz’s rhythm!

In the second quarter, the Utah Jazz scored 22 points, subtly gaining a lead with their expertise in slow-paced play against strong teams.

After watching Del Harris’s halftime analysis, Zhang Hao concluded that the Utah Jazz was stronger than the Spurs!

Although the Spurs likely had a better record, Zhang Hao felt the Utah Jazz was indeed tougher.

"In this situation, we’re bound to wear out, so we need to come up with a way... Tonight, we just want to win..."

Zhang Hao was lost in thought...

Del Harris finished the halftime setup, taking less time for this compared to the first-half analysis because he could only think of making the best use of their advantages and finding ways to increase scoring efficiency under the Utah Jazz’s defense. This wasn’t something one could control subjectively, but depended on objective performance, like getting open shots after intense physical play.

Zhang Hao excelled in this aspect, but other shooters couldn’t necessarily ensure it.

The game relies on stars and their top-level skills. If not, it relies on luck... where luck might be more crucial, like having a hot shooting hand.

After the plans were made, the players rested. The Magician wandered around the locker room. This kind of game was the kind he enjoyed. His comeback had no thoughts of pursuing honors, he just wanted to compete on the court with top players and top teams... and he worked especially hard against Malone.