Bosh played pretty well tonight, making 9 out of 17 shots, along with 5 of 6 from the free throw line, scoring 23 points, 10 rebounds, 3 assists, and 1 block, anchoring the Raptors’ defense, yet no one stepped up to increase the team’s offensive ceiling.
Tonight, the off-ball screen play between Bosh and Bargnani didn’t exert as much pressure as usual, making the Raptors’ usual sharpshooters look a lot more mediocre...
The five-game road trip has finally come to an end!
The day after playing the Raptors, on December 12, midday, Zhang Yang returned to Charlotte with the team.
Before he arrived home, he thought about diving straight into his familiar bed for a nap as soon as he got back, planning a revengeful all-nighter for the evening... But once he got home, he couldn’t sleep; after being away for over ten days, his own bed even felt foreign.
This is where the people who aren’t picky sleepers suffer!
Zhang Yang recalled the argument of future public intellectuals—that the high-speed railway is too fast, robbing people of the sense of ritual when returning home.
Unable to sleep, he went to the study to surf the internet for news.
When he saw the Eastern Conference standings, he felt a bit dismayed.
When they were at 16 wins and 1 loss, Zhang Yang thought—
At that time, he believed that a four-game lead was so large that the opponents definitely couldn’t catch up with them anytime soon.
But upon returning from the five-game trip, at 17 wins and 3 losses, they were only 1.5 games ahead of the Eastern Conference’s second-place Chicago Bulls, who stood at 16 wins and 5 losses.
If they weren’t careful and suffered another two consecutive losses, the top rank in the league would be gone.
After feeling dismayed for a while, he let it go, realizing that their season-opening record wasn’t normal to begin with. If they could hold onto the league’s top spot, great; if not, they could fight for it later.
But looking at their next two opponents, there was no need to worry too much...
After a day of rest, on the 13th, the Bobcats resumed training, and on the 14th, the Bobcats faced the challenge of the .500 Knight on their home court.
Zhang Yang’s shooting performance tonight was average, but he shot a lot, 9 out of 21 overall, including 3 of 10 from three-point range, and 9 of 10 from the free throw line, scoring 30 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal, and 1 block. A 42% shooting percentage is a bit pitiful, but he still scored 30+ points.
Larry Hughes’ tight defense, combined with James’s help and double-teaming, significantly affected Zhang Yang’s shooting.
But his presence alone tied up two defenders, and at times when he was off the ball, James’s attention was still focused on him, giving his teammates very favorable offensive conditions.
Okafor made 9 out of 15 shots, along with 4 of 6 from the free throw line, scoring 22 points and grabbing 13 rebounds.
Felton, tasked with stopping James tonight, didn’t have much energy for offense, only scoring 7 points and 3 assists. But Rondo had 10 points, 9 rebounds, and 4 assists, plus Mike Miller’s 16 points, Hill’s 13 points... The Bobcats defeated the Knight confidently, 107-98!
The game’s outcome wasn’t surprising, as Zhang Yang has now won 18 consecutive games against the Knight.
But James’s performance tonight was unexpected for him!
Felton’s top defense, Perkins or Muhammad’s rim protection, Zhang San’s collapsing double team, and Okafor or Millsap cutting off passing lanes... the restrictions on James remained substantial.
James made only 12 of 30 shots tonight, including just 1 of 6 from the three-point line, plus 10 of 14 from the free throw line, scoring 35 points and 4 assists. His shooting performance was definitely not good; "poor" would be a more fitting description.
But Zhang Yang didn’t think James played poorly tonight, in fact, he thought James played quite well.
He saw a trait in James tonight that he hadn’t seen before—resolve!
James played decisively tonight, with a clear goal: to score!
Unlike in the opener where he focused on playing simple, tonight James continually tried to score in various ways: driving, pick and roll, powering up to counterattack... even rushing for offensive rebounds for second-chance points!
In addition to his 35 points and 4 assists, James grabbed 10 rebounds, second only to Okafor for the game-high, and led the game with 4 offensive rebounds!
The 6 three-point shots that James took included 3 attempts to pull up from beyond the arc by surprise, indicating that to score, he tried everything.
In the opener, the Knight’s players exploded mentally after not playing for long, and the latter part of the game seemed as if they had given up.
Tonight, James fought hard, constantly trying out more possibilities, greatly motivating his teammates’ fighting spirit. The whole team fought together until the final moments, never letting the Bobcats pull away, keeping the lead within ten points.
This lead, had there been a player capable of exploding offensively, might have been erased by the Knight within two or three minutes, but they didn’t have such a player...
Starting from when he was selected by the Bobcats, Zhang Yang had been in the NBA for a full two and a half years, and he had seen interviews where James said, ’I’m going to change,’ ’I’m different from before,’ no less than eight times if not ten.
He had seen James claim this again recently, and Zhang Yang just watched it for amusement.
But after this encounter, he found that James truly was a bit different than before...
The day after defeating the Knight, on December 15, the Bobcats took on the Hawks team back-to-back at home and won easily, 114-102, claiming their 19th victory of the season.
Zhang Yang and Joe Johnson had a bricklaying contest, with Zhang Yang clanging 12, making 8 out of 20 shots, including 2 of 6 from beyond the arc, and 5 of 5 from the free-throw line, scoring 23 points; Joe Johnson made 6 out of 16 shots, with 1 of 4 from three-point range, and 7 of 7 from the free throw line, scoring 20 points.
When Zhang Yang was targeted by the Hawks team, he urged his teammates to focus on Joe Johnson, although Joe Johnson was not involved in targeting him... But no matter, that’s the kind of responsibility a leader should take.
After playing back-to-back games at home, the Bobcats began a three-game road trip.