One Year Left to Play

Zhang Hao wasn’t in a hurry. He received the inbound pass and advanced slowly. Over the half-court line, he began another burst of speed for a breakthrough!

With an aggressive posture indicating a desire to score, Stacey Augmon, who was defending Barkley, immediately rushed forward to double-team Zhang Hao within the top arc. Barkley received a pass from Zhang Hao, took a mid-range shot, and scored.

Even though his offense was explosive, his awareness of seizing defense opportunities and the precision in avoiding interference when passing were much improved!

Rashid Wallace, defending Zhang Hao, saw Zhang Hao’s cold face, and his brain was about to explode!

The Blazers maintained a good offensive form. In the next 3-plus minutes leading up to the official timeout, they scored 11 points. Combined with the previous 4 points, they managed to score 15 points in half of the third quarter, which was quite impressive. Including their first half’s 68 points, they had reached 83 points. In this era, even the worst teams played at a slow pace; scoring over a hundred points in each game could put a team among the top ten offensively in the league.

However, when they called a timeout, the point difference was only 1 point!

to 83, the Lakers had narrowed the gap to 1 point!

At 2 minutes 58 seconds in the third quarter, Zhang Hao scored a three-pointer; at 3 minutes 22 seconds, Zhang Hao made a pass leading to Barkley’s floater, which scored; at 3 minutes 51 seconds, Zhang Hao delivered a direct pass to the baseline, Jason Williams caught it and made a layup, scoring; at 4 minutes 04 seconds, after Nash’s floater missed, Zhang Hao grabbed the rebound to start a counterattack and hit a trailing three-pointer; at 4 minutes 39 seconds, Zhang Hao received a pass while cutting to the basket, faced Sabonis with a hook shot, got fouled, and made both free throws...

In 3 minutes and 44 seconds, Zhang Hao scored 10 points and made 2 assists, with the Lakers missing just one shot, leading a 16 to 11 run!

In half a quarter, Zhang Hao scored 18 points and made 2 assists! His personal score had reached 43 points!

Nash scored 3 points during this period, raising his total to 14 points, and Rashid Wallace scored 5 points, increasing his total to 25 points. Combined, their scores were still less than Zhang Hao’s!

During the official timeout, as Zhang Hao returned to the bench to drink a sports drink, a system prompt arrived!

"As a specially contracted player actively challenges the two gifted rookies Steve Nash and Rashid Wallace, the unique task: you both made the move.

You both made the move:

Goal 1: Complete the unique task target for this match.

Goal 2: By the end of the match, Zhang Hao must score at least 10 points more than the two combined.

Special Reward: Steve Nash’s peak season Star Experience Card (06-07 season)."

Was Nash’s peak season the 06-07 season? Zhang Hao remembered Nash’s MVP seasons were in 04-05 and 05-06. He was already 33 in 06-07...

This doubt emerged, and a system prompt quickly arrived.

"During the 06-07 season, Steve Nash achieved career-high scores, assists, offensive efficiency, combined efficiency. In MVP voting, he garnered 30% compared to Dirk Nowitzki’s 33%, missing out on a third consecutive MVP by a narrow margin."

Seeing it this way, Zhang Hao felt that the 06-07 season truly was Nash’s peak season; missing out on a three-peat MVP by just 3% showed just how strong his performance was! He was almost definitely stronger than that season’s MVP, as achieving consecutive MVPs is certainly harder than a first MVP!

"How high is Nash’s compatibility with me? Never mind, it doesn’t matter; even if the bonus is small, there’s still a reward to chase after, let’s beat them!"

...

The official timeout ended, starting the second half of the third quarter.

For the Lakers, Del Harris subbed in O’Neal. Fisher, Byron Scott, Zhang Hao, Magician, and O’Neal formed the lineup on the court.

For the Blazers, Nash and Rashid Wallace continued playing. Although it’s pitiful that two first- and second-year players are supporting the team, PJ Callesimo felt invigorated! Both possess the talent to become top stars!

Rookie three-point shooter Marcus Brown, second-year Gary Trent, and swingman Mitchell Butler came on.

The Blazers kept focusing on offense.

If they can’t defend, then continue to emphasize offense, as originally they win games with the league’s fifth-best offense.

During the Blazers’ offense, Rashid Wallace showed obvious impatience. After receiving the second pass from Mitchell Butler, he didn’t see Nash’s open three-pointer opportunity at the sideline. Instead, despite Magician’s adequate help-defense position, he made a forced shot, which missed. O’Neal secured the positioning, and Zhang Hao grabbed the rebound to propel a counterattack!

Rashid Wallace, upon missing the shot beyond the free-throw line, immediately realized he was in trouble and retreated for defense.

Putting forth genuine effort, Rashid Wallace’s defense was quite decent, given his good physical qualities and defensive awareness. When Zhang Hao charged into the frontcourt, Rashid Wallace had already retreated and positioned himself outside the free-throw line, getting close to Zhang Hao.

Relying on his superior strength, Zhang Hao rammed inside against Rashid Wallace, both weighing similarly. He lifted the ball, raised his hand, avoided Rashid Wallace’s block, and scored two points.

While Zhang Hao released the shot, Rashid Wallace smacked his arm, and the referee blew the whistle!

The basket counted, and there was an additional free throw!

Zhang Hao stepped up to the free-throw line, and after both teams’ players lined up for the rebound, he received the ball, tapped it, and lifted his head to say to Rashid Wallace: "Hey, wait."

After that, Zhang Hao released the ball, and the free throw went in!

points!

After scoring the additional free throw, Zhang Hao ran towards the backcourt without looking back, but what did he mean by "Hey, wait"? Shouldn’t it have been "Twenty-one"?

Zhang Hao had already taken a 21-point lead against Rashid Wallace.