Even the melancholic Herrmann, was described as looking effeminate...
The Charlotte Bobcats had been demonized by those in the ’royalist’ camp, and most American fans had already accepted this narrative.
On the Pistons’ side, even after they played an attractive, integrated offense and defense style last season resulting in 64 wins, it could not change the fans’ entrenched perceptions, which was similar for the Bobcats.
However, the viewership for the game between the Bobcats and the Pistons was very high, completely on par with last year’s series between the Miami Heat and the Pistons! As soon as the game started, the pay-per-view numbers had already surpassed 15 million.
While the Jazz Team has the highest championship support, the live pay-per-view reservations and ticket sales for out-of-town fans for the game between the Spurs and Jazz Team were far from ideal.
The iron-blooded Popovich and coach Sloan, with their teams in the Conference Finals, promised an anticipatedly lackluster match-up.
Fans chose to watch the live broadcast of the game between the new and Old Bad Boys Legion.
Domestically, the ratings exploded! In the early morning, even before the game officially started, just as the players were entering, the ratings fed back from the imperial network had already broken the viewership record for an NBA game in China set during the 05-06 season by the Bobcats and the Rockets!
Chinese fans are also performance-driven; their previous one-sided support for the Rockets was simply unavoidable, as many fans who only watched games featuring Chinese players had only the Rockets’ games to look at.
Now that there was a Chinese player in the Eastern Conference Finals, they were even more enthusiastic. It was Saturday, and millions of viewers got out of bed and gathered in front of their TVs to watch the live broadcast.
Before the game, the two teams, which had a decent relationship, engaged in friendly exchanges.
Duncan didn’t want to deal with Tianzun at first, but when Tianzun said, "Emeka is in my mind the best big man in the East," Duncan could hardly keep a straight face.
Once the starting lineups for both teams took the court, the atmosphere completely changed, which can be described in one word—tense!
At 9 p.m., the referee blew the whistle to start the game, tossed the ball into the air, and Okafor leapt high to tip the ball backward, signaling the start of the game.
Bobcats’ starters: Felton, Zhang Yang, Gerald Wallace, Okafor, Perkins.
Pistons’ starters: Billups, Hamilton, Prince, Rasheed Wallace, Antonio McDyess.
Zhang Yang took the ball and advanced to the frontcourt, going one-on-one with Hamilton, and started his move with a change of direction into the paint!
McDyess timed his move to step up for the block, but as Zhang Yang took a hop step to the right sideline of the three-second area, he turned and threw up a shot... and it went in!
Rasheed Wallace tried to predict Zhang Yang’s Euro step landing spot, but Zhang Yang changed the Euro step to a hop step, turned and shot, leaving Rasheed Wallace lunging at air.
On the transition offense, Hamilton took a long run, received the ball, turned, and landed a mid-range shot, responding to Zhang Yang’s previous solo play.
It was the Bobcats’ turn to attack again, and Zhang Yang continued with his solo drive.
Seeing the defensive posture of the opposite side, Felton actively ran along the baseline to the right corner.
As soon as Zhang Yang breached the three-point line, Prince closed in from the flank, so Zhang Yang passed the ball to the cutting Gerald Wallace.
Billups shrank to the baseline to join McDyess in a double team against Gerald Wallace, who passed the ball to the right corner... Felton, who got there before Prince could set up a defense, shot a three-pointer... and it was good!
to 2, the Bobcats took a 3-point lead!
Now it was the Pistons’ turn, and after Billups dribbled between his legs, he suddenly picked up the ball and jumped for the shot...
Felton successfully interfered, making all of Billups’ fancy dribbling useless, as it didn’t shake off the defender, but!
Billups, facing Felton’s interference, shot and scored a three-pointer!
Billups’ shooting style reminded Zhang Yang of the 2004 Finals, where Billups faced Payton and shot an incredible 50% from the field, overshadowing Ben Wallace with averages of 10.8 points, 13.6 rebounds, 1.8 steals, and 1 block, as well as Hamilton’s 21.4 points, 5.4 rebounds, and 4 assists per game to win the Finals MVP. It was completely unreasonable.
And such a playing style is very demoralizing for the defender. You’ve blocked up to the wrist, and still, the opponent scores... Zhang Yang looked at Felton, whose expression was one of gritted teeth and clenched fists, well, no worries about Fat Felton’s confidence.
With the score 5 to 5, everyone was back at square one. Zhang Yang picked up the ball, passed it to Felton, and ran to the front court to continue the solo, continue the attack!
Both teams threw themselves into the game right from the start, and they were all very excited, as were the fans at the venue and in front of their TVs!
Since the second game of the second round, the Bobcats had been locked in a defensive struggle, and for the entire second round, the Pistons were in a bloody battle with the Chicago Bulls. Fans were prepared for a tense and torturous defensive showdown but were surprised to see both teams begin with backcourt duels!
Zhang Yang scored one, Hamilton answered back, then Felton scored, and Billups did the same!
The teams started a back-and-forth battle on the court, with the players both earnestly playing defense, actively adjusting on their own but unable to stop each other!
However, as the game progressed, the Bobcats’ structural advantages began to show.
Okafor and Perkins stationed on either side of the three-second area, effectively covering the entire paint. With Perkins under the basket, Okafor could step out to defend the mid-range shots, depriving the Pistons of their inside-outside game.
In the beginning, when Billups and Hamilton’s hands were scorching hot, the Bobcats couldn’t stop them. But as their shooting cooled down, the Pistons’ overall offensive performance began to slip.
Midway through the first quarter, Billups isolated and passed out, Prince cut in, taking advantage of Gerald Wallace moving up to the high post... only to be blocked by Perkins!