David Lee replaced Eddie Curry, and while their offensive capacity in the paint weakened, their rebounding protection improved, particularly offensive rebounds. The starting inside combination of Eddie Curry and Frye virtually lacked offensive rebounding ability.
Upon entering the rotation, the offense of the Knicks Team hardly suffered.
The Bobcats substituted Rondo, Jumaine Jones, and Okafor, teaming up with Zhang Yang and Gerald Wallace. They quickly gelled, but there was a transition phase of two or three rounds, and after an official timeout, the Knicks scored a 6-2 run.
When Felton and Matt Carroll came in for Zhang Yang and Gerald Wallace, they were hit with a 5-2 run, and in those exchanges, the Bobcats fell behind by 7 points to the Knicks.
With 11 minutes and 54 seconds left in the first quarter, Crawford’s step-back three-pointer missed, Rondo pulled down the defensive rebound on the wing, dashed the length of the court to the opponent’s basket, and released the ball just before the buzzer sounded to end the quarter.
With the basketball dropping through the net and the panting referee decisively signaling to confirm that the red light hadn’t come on when Rondo shot, the basket counted.
At the end of the first quarter, the Bobcats had closed the gap to 30-34.
Zhang Yang played 9 minutes in the first quarter, shot 4 out of 6, making his only three-point attempt, and scoring 9 points.
He didn’t get to the free-throw line even once; the Knicks’ defense offered little resistance. The four times he took shots off the pass were one thing; he also had one isolation play and one dribble break without much confrontation.
It wasn’t just him; his whole team only went to the line three times in the first quarter, while their aggressive frontcourt defense gave the opposite side seven free throws.
Entering the intermission, Zhang Yang stood up, grabbed two towels, and handed them to the two teammates closest to him as they walked back to the bench.
Felton accepted the towel, wiped his sweat, and said, "Oh my God, Jack, I was already surprised by the scores of the Knicks Team lately, but playing against them really makes you feel how fierce their offensive firepower is. Their offensive continuity is too solid. I really wonder how they do it."
Zhang Yang replied, "They remind me a bit of the King Team from back in the day."
Felton said, "The King Team? Shouldn’t it be like the Lakers? They’re running the triangle offense."
Zhang Yang: "Their team tactics are the triangle offense, but their offensive continuity is like that of the King Team. They only rotate 8 players, and all 8 are quite talented. They’re different from the Suns; without Nash, the Suns wouldn’t even make the playoffs. The Knicks Team has four players that can take on significant tactical roles. Their strength might not be as formidable as the Suns’, but their roster doesn’t weaken much when they switch players. That’s more akin to the King Team of that era.
With fewer rotated players, each player needs to expend less energy in coordinating. Like you and I, Rajon, Allan, and Matt need to adjust our play differently when we partner up, but if it’s just you, me, and Rajon, we don’t need to think about how to coordinate. We can just get on the court and play."
Felton: "I see... hey, doesn’t that mean the Knicks Team turned misfortune into a blessing with that brawl?"
Zhang Yang: "Seems like it. I’m not sure if my guess is correct. I speculate that the management of the Knicks Team has been bringing in stars for years, spending two hundred million on salary and luxury tax annually, aiming to create a deluxe version of the King Team.
The King Team at its peak had at least starting-level players in their 8-man main rotation. The weakest starter, Doug Christie, was close to an All-Star level. The Knicks Team wanted to use their money to assemble a team where all 12 players were starting caliber, maybe even aiming for 12 All-Stars. They botched it. Now, with several of their ball-handling players suspended, those remaining are playing the basketball they wanted..."
Zhang Yang said this with some confusion.
He understood why Eddie Curry had been performing well lately.
David Lee could go mid-range to play one-on-one, and was capable of mid-range shots; Frye focused on mid-long range. With these two, there was no teammate crowding the low post, leaving Eddie Curry in a good mood, playing harder and thus performing better. But what was going on with Marbury?
He remembered that after the 06-07 season, Marbury barely played in the NBA. In 07-08, he was cut by the Knicks Team, and after failing to capture a championship with the Celtics, he faded from the NBA.
How did he perform so well at this time? Was it a final flicker? Surely it wasn’t the butterfly effect of his wings flapping? He recalled that the Nuggets Team and the Knicks Team were prone to brawls anyway.
Even if Thomas was lacking as a coach, with the team recently performing , when the other ball-handling players come back from suspension and injury, he wouldn’t give them much playtime, would he? Now that they’re on the right track, Thomas surely wouldn’t be foolish enough to mess that up, so how did Marbury collapse?
Felton, listening, nodded continually, finding the speculation quite plausible. Just then, he heard Gerald Wallace’s voice and turned to look; Gerald Wallace was talking with his teammates.
"The opposing team does have a strong offense; they have too many scorers. Curry was the scoring champion of the Chicago Bulls, Crawford was also a scoring champion for the Bulls, Big Q was the top outside scorer for the Clippers, and Marbury has long been averaging 20+... When you bring them together, they indeed form a formidable force," he said.
Seeing his teammates agreeing, Felton worried and quickly joined in, snatching the conversation to analyze the offensive continuity of the Knicks Team for his teammates...
Bickerstaff and the coaching staff had agreed on a contingency strategy and were ready to gather the players for roster and tactical adjustments when they heard Felton’s analysis... Quite sensible!