In the 10 minutes after the Knight team called a timeout, neither team made any substitutions, as Bickerstaff and Mike Brown were afraid that changing players might weaken their defense.
The score moved from 75-68 to 87-80; during these 10 minutes, both teams scored 12 points each.
In this period, James scored 6 points and grabbed 5 rebounds! Among these rebounds, 3 were offensive!
When it was the Bobcats’ turn to attack, Okafor went for a low post one-on-one against Varejao, who pulled the chair away, unable to cause Okafor to turn it over, but Okafor’s turn and hook shot failed.
The rebound was caught by James, securing his sixth of the quarter, and he passed it to Hughes, who pushed the counterattack!
Hughes, who hadn’t played in the third quarter and only played 9 minutes in the first half, was relatively a ’fresh force’ compared to others on the court. He rushed to the front court attracting the defense from the retreating Zhang Yang and Gerald Wallace, passed the ball... James followed up on the wing, caught the ball, and scored the layup!
With 11 minutes and 2 seconds left, the score was 82 to 87, a 5-point gap, and after scoring, James closed in on Zhang Yang to defend him, still seeing a chance!
Gerald Wallace avoided Hughes’ steal attempt and passed the ball to the cutting Zhang Yang.
James was shaken off briefly, but as soon as Zhang Yang received the ball, he immediately stuck close again.
Zhang Yang protected the ball like Nash, and even if overpowered in the confrontation, he could still steadily advance, pushing the time over half-court.
James didn’t manage to steal nor cause a backcourt violation; after backing over the midcourt, he hurried back inside the three-point line.
Zhang Yang felt the change in James, but had no time to analyze it or the energy to do so.
He took a deep breath, listening to the cheers and encouragement of the home fans, feeling almost too exhausted to go on, but he had to hold on!
On Gerald Wallace’s end, after the earlier double team on Hughes, he didn’t even have the energy to shuffle and help cover James, and he couldn’t handle one-on-ones anymore.
Felton, who had only rested 4 minutes tonight, couldn’t sustain a one-on-one either, Okafor had just missed nearly an open hook shot, Perkins... they could only rely on Zhang San now!
Adjusting his breathing, Zhang Yang dribbled to the top of the arc, Perkins stepped out to block James, Zhang Yang used the screen to break through!
Gooden expanded out to guard the pick-and-roll, worried that Zhang Yang might shoot a three-pointer straight off the screen – right after the official timeout, Zhang Yang had just made one, very deep. Zhang Yang pressed forward, pulled the ball, turned around, and bypassed Gooden sprinting into the paint!
Hughes came from the wing to defend against the shot, and Zhang Yang decisively drove towards the paint.
After crossing both the three-point line and the middle, the tougher challenges were still ahead!
Past Gooden, Zhang Yang saw James retreating straight from the middle to under the basket.
After being tormented by screens so many times before, James had finally learned from his experiences and utilized them tonight.
After Hughes failed to block the mid-range shot, he too followed Zhang Yang into the paint.
Zhang Yang drove close, with Varejao in front blocking, James and Hughes chasing from behind... he didn’t hesitate; hesitation meant defeat. He grabbed the ball, aimed at the basket, and leaped for a throw shot just before the trio could block him...
All eyes were fixed on the ball as it flew!
James prayed that the shot wouldn’t go in, but fate wasn’t on his side. The ball traced a soft parabola, hit the inner rim, and slid into the net!
The Knight team called a timeout!
The home crowd instantly erupted into wild cheers!
His teammates all rushed towards Zhang Yang, pushing aside the three Knight players around him, and celebrated around Zhang Yang.
At the critical moment, when everyone was too exhausted to play, and the Bobcat players thought the last 58 seconds would only be about grinding defensively betting on the opponent missing... Zhang Yang stepped up again, hitting the crucial shot!
With 31 seconds remaining, the score stood at 89-82, a 7-point lead, the Bobcat team clinched the victory!
On the other side, the Knight players, who had been holding on, also let go of their breath after seeing the ball drop into the basket.
James looked at the score on the big screen, feeling unwilling and powerless...