Chapter 874: Hard Corps!

Kenny Anderson made a sudden stop, then restarted, changing direction along the right side of the three-second area toward the basket, forcing Larry Johnson to switch defensive positions.

Kenny Anderson passed back to Zhang Hao, Chales jumped but still couldn’t reach the ball.

Receiving the ball, Zhang Hao took a step outside the free throw line above Chales’ head and shot… it’s in!

Chales worked hard trying to disrupt, and Charles Oakley rushed up immediately, but Zhang Hao grabbed the ball without hesitation, shooting directly above Chales’ head. Chales couldn’t interfere, and Charles Oakley didn’t have time to cover.

From the start of the game, the Knicks have actively intensified the confrontation, and from the beginning, both teams have focused intensely on seizing every opportunity. Zhang Hao’s long two points immediately employed the rarely used straight-arm mid-range shot mimicking Rashid Wallace.

That is likely due to his complex and adequate warm-up before the game, resulting in a good shooting touch early in the game.

However, good opportunities are scarce, and the chance to create them through personal ability is rarer. After both teams scored once in a dynamic offense, there were four consecutive rounds without dynamic scoring. During this period, the Lakers had one unsuccessful tip-in by O’Neal, netting one of two on free throws, and on the Knicks’ side, Alan Houston hit both free throws after being fouled by O’Neal during his bottom-line shot attempt.

At 4 minutes and 02 seconds into the first quarter, Alan Houston made a sideline three-pointer off Larry Johnson’s solo play, prompting the Lakers to call a timeout!

5 to 7, with 4 minutes played, the Lakers were trailing by 2 points.

Trailing is one thing, but this pacing has the Lakers trembling!

Even though their defense has been excellent over the past few games… it’s likewise decent tonight, nearly leaving the Knicks without regular shooting chances, but the situation is quite different.

The defense was well-executed, but the offense was poorly played!

Under such confrontation, the Lakers’ biggest issue is they lack a shooter like Alan Houston capable of maintaining an efficient off-ball shooting in mid-to-long range!

Zhang Hao scores higher than Alan Houston, and his shooting percentage is not inferior, but like the future Heat, while the star is great, the most stable shooter is Ray Allen.

In this particular aspect, Zhang Hao falls a bit short compared to Alan Houston, whose shooting fundamentals Zhang Hao cannot match.

Rapid offensive and defensive adjustments were made, with Fisher, Zhang Hao, Doug Christie, Barkley, and O’Neal brought on.

Similarly, the Knicks adjusted their lineup with John Starks, Alan Houston, John Wallace, Larry Johnson, and Ewing brought on.

Fisher pushed to the frontcourt, passing the ball to Zhang Hao. Seeing Zhang Hao receiving at the three-point line, Larry Johnson felt troubled immediately and pressured him promptly to prevent Zhang Hao from capitalizing on the height advantage for an immediate shot.

Zhang Hao didn’t shoot, instead drawing Auntie out and lobbed the ball to O’Neal again.

O’Neal received the ball, with rookie John Wallace immediately collapsing into a double-team. Despite being a rookie, at 23, John Wallace is fiercely defensive and solid in open shooting, making him quite a useful asset in this rookie class. His timing of this double-team was excellent, posing a risk for O’Neal in executing a backplay action.

Having settled into directly turning right along the baseline during past rounds, O’Neal relied on his robust build to forcefully carve a position out and distribute the ball to the right side of the three-second area!

Barkley got the ball, immediately pressured by John Starks. Opting against a strong play, Barkley chose to distribute the ball, Doug Christie receiving at a 45-degree angle on the right side for a three-point attempt… missed!

The physical confrontations during the previous small half-quarter significantly affected Doug Christie’s catch-and-shoot performance.

O’Neal couldn’t grab the offensive rebound, transitioning quickly into defense.

The Knicks advanced in offense.

Originally, the Knicks thought the Lakers brought in Fisher to guard Alan Houston seeing a rookie in Fisher.

For the Lakers, even fringe rookies like Fisher, the Knicks are patient to research, knowing Fisher is a hardworking, defensively active and solid player.

However, the Lakers’ defense changed drastically!

They didn’t stick with the defensive mode of the past 5 games, with Zhang Hao back guarding the outside and O’Neal returned below the basket, solely protecting the frame!

Alan Houston moved to the top arc, and careful not to lose the ball against Zhang Hao’s defense, while Larry Johnson tactically moved to the right side of the three-second zone, seeking the ball against Barkley.

O’Neal collapsed back into a double-team first. Larry Johnson split the ball to Ewing, barely catching it while Doug Christie swiftly filled in an excellent awareness.

Ewing’s raised ball faced potential interception, unable to switch it to his right hand, a slight tremor transferred the ball near the baseline. With John Wallace cutting to the left side close range of the three-second zone, he received the ball for a floating shot… O’Neal rapidly rotated to cover. Fearful, John Wallace instinctively pulled back slightly as the ball was about to be thrown, adjusting the shot’s arc to evade O’Neal’s block… but it missed!

Barkley pivoted, firmly pinning Larry Johnson, while O’Neal claimed the defensive rebound!

Passing the ball to Fisher, O’Neal, without accelerating, trotted towards the frontcourt slower, with the Knicks retreating defensively faster than before.

Seeing two power forwards alongside O’Neal, requiring such rigorous defense, Del Harris on the court side could only grunt.

Luckily, O’Neal is capable; he can achieve… However, isn’t a superstar brought in to solve problems when there seems no solution?

Zhang Hao reached the frontcourt, receiving the ball on the left side of the top arc against Larry Johnson once more.

Without lobbing to O’Neal, Zhang Hao grasped the ball with his right hand extended back, raising the left arm pressed by Larry Johnson, signaling a “9.”

Little Van Gundy on the sideline quickly flipped through his notebook; what is the number 9 tactic? Does the Lakers’ tactic gesture involve numbers or “ok”?

On the other side, Del Harris didn’t know what tactic it was either. Not just the coaches of both teams, but even Lakers players on the court were puzzled by it.

But the Lakers players started moving, and with Zhang Hao not passing to O’Neal or Barkley, but standing firm it surely signaled an isolation play.

Alerted by the Lakers players’ movements in response to Zhang Hao’s gesture, Larry Johnson remained cautious.

Seeing the teammates moving, Zhang Hao turned to face Larry Johnson, starting to dribble.

Executing a direct spin was difficult against the powerful Larry Johnson, Zhang Hao chose a crossover step!

Smoothly done, Zhang Hao pulled horizontally into a stop and shifted horizontally again, easily breaking through Larry Johnson.

Larry Johnson knew he couldn’t prevent Zhang Hao’s breakthrough, but his defense targeted preventing Zhang Hao from going through the center, forcing him to take the baseline route.

With John Wallace collapsing into a double-team, as Zhang Hao penetrated to the free throw line distance, he suddenly grasped the ball but it wasn’t an ordinary grasp instead raising the ball up.

This startled John Wallace and Larry Johnson! They were still mindful of Zhang Hao’s earlier gesture.

Yet, Zhang Hao raised the ball, abruptly stopped, lifted, and shot from one step inside the free throw line…

The moment of hesitation prevented John Wallace and Larry Johnson from closing in while already at the double-team position, allowing Zhang Hao to leap smoothly, executing a complete and fluid shot motion, hitting a stop-shot!

Observing Zhang Hao quickly transitioning to defense after scoring, with no expected movement from Lakers players rather spacing out waiting for Zhang Hao’s pass, Larry Johnson and John Wallace realized they were tricked!

No such number 9 tactic existed, Zhang Hao simply meant to create isolation play.

The lifting motion Zhang Hao made upon catching and raising the ball was merely a habit from his free-throw routine prior to shooting!