So this is what the Knicks’ offense looks like from the player’s perspective.
He suddenly had a new idea, and true to his bold style of making decisions on the fly, he acted on it as soon as it came to mind!
After the break between quarters, the second quarter began.
The Bobcats fielded a lineup of Rondo, Zhang Yang, Matt Carroll, Jumaine Jones, and Okafor.
The Knicks sent out Crawford, Big Q, Malik Rose, David Lee, and Kevin Cato.
The Bobcats had the first offensive play, with Okafor going for the first attack. He backed down Kevin Cato in the post, turned around for a layup which went in and drew the foul. His additional free throw was also lucky, bouncing off the rim before falling in the hoop.
Now it was the Knicks’ turn to attack, and Crawford passed the ball to Malik Rose cutting back.
Malik Rose caught the ball and turned, attempting to use his positional advantage created by his movement to overpower Zhang Yang and drive into the paint, but his ball handling wasn’t good enough, and Zhang Yang deftly knocked it away.
Zhang Yang himself scooped up the ball and launched a fast break!
He charged to the frontcourt, blowing past the retreating Big Q, entered the lane, and leapt for a layup, scoring!
Opening up at 5-0, the Bobcats led the Knicks 35-34, overtaking the score!
It was the Knicks’ turn to attack again. Crawford didn’t try to organize the offense like Marbury, he went straight for it!
Crawford hit a step-back three-pointer in Rondo’s face, initiating another round of an all-out scoring battle between the two teams.
This Bobcats lineup had practically no defense on the wings, but relying on good tactical discipline, Matt Carroll and Jumaine Jones did their basic job in team defense, collapsing to the edge of the three-second area to block whenever Crawford drove, but that was about all they could do.
Crawford took the lead in isolations, and both Big Q and David Lee on the three-point line and mid-range respectively got plenty of shooting opportunities, showing explosive offensive power.
However, the Bobcats’ offensive firepower was even more ferocious!
This Knicks defense allowed Rondo, along with a mid-range shooting forward who understood positioning and coordination, a wing specialized in stationary three-point shots, a three-pointer who was adept at finding support positions, and an all-star center to play too comfortably, his assists piling up fast.
With 5:08 left in the second quarter, the score reached 45-42, with the Bobcats leading by 3 points. Thomas took the opportunity during an out-of-bounds pause to bring Marbury on earlier than usual.
After Marbury came on, the Knicks’ offensive firepower increased, halting the trend of the lead widening.
At 8:22, Marbury drove inside and flipped in an over-the-head moonshot layup, bringing the score to 55-57, prompting Bickerstaff to call a timeout!
In almost 8 and a half minutes, Zhang Yang went 4 for 8 on shooting, plus 2 for 2 from the free-throw line, obtaining 10 points and helping the Bobcats outscore the Knicks 27-21.
From being 4 points down to leading by 2, the Bobcats were playing very well up to now in the second quarter.
But entering the timeout and returning to the bench, Zhang Yang was filled with concern.
The reason they had maintained the initiative for nearly 8 and a half minutes was that they hadn’t made any significant rotation changes, only substituting Gerald Wallace for Matt Carroll during an official timeout to ensure offensive continuity.
Now he and Okafor both had been playing for almost 8 and a half minutes. According to normal rotation, both should be resting. With both the inside and outside strongest scorers substituted out... The scenes of the first quarter where the lineup rotations led to a widening gap flashed before his eyes.
Why didn’t the coaching staff allow him and Okafor to take turns resting? That way they might better ensure offensive continuity, right?
The TV commentators were also questioning this. The Knicks had already shown their advantage in sustaining offensive firepower in the first quarter. If the Bobcats substituted both Zhang Yang and Okafor at the same time, they would likely fall behind, or even let the Knicks widen the gap. After all, the Knicks’ Little Shark had been resting on the sidelines the entire second quarter up to that point.
Soon, their questions were answered.
Bickerstaff did not substitute Zhang Yang and Okafor. He only replaced Jumaine Jones with Felton, leaving Rondo, Zhang Yang, Gerald Wallace, and Okafor to continue playing!
Bickerstaff did not plan to rest the two of them at all this quarter; he intended to have them play the entire time!
This excited Zhang Yang beyond measure, as he was shooting hot and was more than happy to keep playing!
Coming out of the timeout, on the Knicks’ side, they fielded Marbury, Big Q, Malik Rose, David Lee, and Eddie Curry.
The game resumed, and as soon as Zhang Yang was on the court, he used a screen to cut into the paint, received the ball along the baseline, turned, and laid it in for two points, extending the lead to 4.
Marbury immediately responded, driving and dishing to Big Q, who had slipped to the left corner baseline. With Felton leaving to cover Marbury, Big Q received the pass in the left corner just in time, turned, and hit a three-pointer!
The two teams continued to exchange blows!
With Eddie Curry on the floor, the Knicks gained a point of attraction in the paint, making Marbury’s offensive organization even smoother. Even with Marbury tired, Eddie Curry, the player with the highest one-on-one field goal percentage in the game, could support the offense, making the Knicks’ offensive firepower stronger than in the initial 8 plus minutes!
Luckily, the Bobcats did not experience an offensive blackout this time and continued the firepower from before.
In three and a half minutes, the two teams scored 9-11, and at halftime, the Bobcats and the Knicks entered the break tied at 66-66!
On the way back to the locker room, Joe said to Bickerstaff, "Marbury, Richardson, Crawford, Curry, any one of them could be the primary scoring option on another team. They’re really hard to deal with when all four of them bring out their scoring abilities. If they make it to the playoffs, the teams in the upper half will have headaches, wondering if they can recreate the miracle of ’99... Thankfully you didn’t sub out Jack and Emeka, otherwise the score might have been overtaken by them."