Seeing Zhang Yang strip off his warm-up suit, his teammates shuddered with excitement!
They fought tooth and nail to keep the score close, just to create rest time for Brother Three!
Iverson’s 36 points were impressive, and Anthony’s 30 points as well.
But their Brother Three was even more impressive tonight, scoring 42 points in three quarters!
On the other side, the moment the timeout began, several Nuggets players turned their eyes to Zhang Yang on the Bobcats’ bench. Seeing Zhang Yang removing his warm-up suit, they each reacted differently.
JR Smith: I don’t believe I can’t make a shot!
He played for 16 minutes tonight and scored 10 points. As a substitute, that was quite acceptable, but 6 of those points were scored in the first half of the final quarter.
In the first three quarters, he was matched up with Zhang Yang for 10 minutes and scored 4 points, which were all from fast break layups. In face-to-face plays against Zhang Yang, he missed all three attempts.
Anthony: The matchup between The Answer and Bad Boy is really exciting to watch!
Iverson: Here he comes, finally back! I can hardly wait!
Iverson looked at Zhang Yang and saw a younger version of himself.
In the first quarter, Zhang Yang also had to focus on passing assists, but in the second quarter, he let himself ’fly,’ solely focusing on shooting... in fact, it was Carlisle continuing to simplify Zhang Yang’s role. It was almost the same as in last season’s finals. He didn’t have to worry about anything. Apart from the roughly ten minutes he needed to defend against JR Smith, he didn’t even need to play defense at other times; just score points.
He scored 13 points with 2 assists playing the entire first quarter, added 14 points with 1 assist in 10 minutes of the second quarter, and 15 points with 0 assists in the third quarter... with 27 attempts and 16 made, including 3 out of 6 three-pointers, plus 7 out of 9 free throws, he racked up 42 points and 3 assists in three quarters!
With such a performance, Iverson recalled his own peak years, which only happened a handful of times. Although the defensive pressure he faced was different... he felt it wasn’t important, the strong are always strong, and in his view, Zhang Yang’s style of play would be powerful in any era.
He believed that Zhang Yang would definitely be stronger than he was at his peak, only 19 years old! Players indeed get stronger with each generation!
When he was younger, he thought Chamberlain and Russell were the untouchable legends of basketball history, but then Magic and Bird appeared. In his high school days, he thought Magic and Bird were invincible, and then came Jordan, Shaq...
He felt a bit regretful—he was 13 years older than Zhang Yang. By the time Zhang Yang reached his peak in his mid-twenties, he would be nearly 40. Even if he was still playing in the NBA by then, at best he could only be an old player at the level of Anthony Carter, without the chance to compete against Zhang Yang then.
Therefore, he treasured even more the moments of confrontation with the explosive Zhang Yang tonight!
The official timeout ended, and both teams sent out their best-performing lineups for the night.
JR Smith’s desire to score a one-on-one basket under Zhang Yang’s defense was crushed... he sat on the cold bench during the critical moments of the game.
The Nuggets sent in Iverson, Von Weaver, Anthony, Kleiza, and Kenyon Martin.
Von Weaver, though with only 14 points tonight, made 4 out of 6 three-pointers, the most compelling and restraining forward for the Nuggets tonight.
This season, George Karl faced immense pressure, with each game being a must-win.
Placed in the Eastern Conference, the Nuggets could easily secure 50+ wins, with 55 wins not out of the question, and no pressure for the playoffs, firmly being the strongest following the top three.
But in the Western Conference, with teams like the Lakers, Hornets, Suns, Spurs, and Jazz occupying the top five, and surrounding teams like the Mavericks, Warriors, Grizzlies vying for the remaining three playoff spots, with the Rockets and Trail Blazers both having a winning rate over 50% and possibly surging... securing 50 wins for the Nuggets was challenging, and with the exaggerated pattern of the Western Conference this season, even with 50 wins, it was hard to say they could secure a playoff spot.
Karl liked the ’young’ Kobe and gave him many opportunities, patiently nurturing him, but it was definitely not the time to indulge.
The Bobcats sent out Rondo, Zhang Yang, Mike Miller, Hill, and Okafor.
Mike Miller scored the second-highest points on the team tonight with 27, scoring with various catch and shoot, and chase-down jumpers; Hill’s link-up passing was better than Millsap’s tonight, which is why Carlisle brought him in at the last moment.
Nuggets on the offense, Iverson received the ball at midcourt, one-on-one against Rondo, breakthrough!
Rondo couldn’t stop him, Hill didn’t move out from the elbow area to block, leaving Iverson to attack the basket.
Iverson’s pull-up jumper from the free-throw line went in, raising his personal score to 38 points!
In transition, Zhang Yang took the inbound pass up the court.
Iverson stood at the top of the arc. Seeing Zhang Yang approach, he slapped his hands eagerly, saying excitedly, "Jack, attack quickly! I can’t wait any longer!"
Iverson’s fervent and combative demeanor ignited the already high competitive spirits of the players on the court, including those on the Bobcats, and of course, Zhang Yang.
Zhang Yang responded with a butterfly step, "Allen, your defense is like an 8x scope for my shooting."
This annoying butterfly step, the provocative tone, whatever the 8x scope meant - surely it wasn’t anything good!
Iverson, already on edge, saw his temper flare. He timed it right, lunging forward to steal the ball...
Zhang Yang dribbled quickly, darting forward to the left, getting past Iverson, and entering the three-point line, pulling up at the free-throw line!
On the left at a 45-degree angle, Weaver who was guarding Rondo had already begun to shrink in, positioned himself right on time to block Zhang Yang’s shot. Zhang Yang flicked the ball to the left.
Rondo, seeing Zhang Yang advancing to the three-point line, had already taken off, receiving the ball and driving straight into the paint!