Chapter 816 256: This Hairstyle Suits You Well (6K)

Thanks to Nash scoring 7 points in the last few minutes of the second quarter, Rashid Wallace scoring on a putback, and Aaron McKie making a counterattack dunk... as the Blazers ended the first half, they barely held onto a slim lead at 57 to 55 going into halftime.

With 13 points, 3 rebounds, 6 assists, and 2 blocks, Zhang Hao performed exceptionally well in the 17-plus minutes he played in the first half, especially in the latter half of the second quarter when he scored 5 points, 5 assists, and 1 block in just over 5 minutes, simply explosive! He helped the Lakers score 18-15 in that 5-minute stretch, assisting the Lakers in making it 31-29 in the second quarter, narrowing the gap by two points.

However, precisely because of this, the Blazers became even more excited.

Zhang Hao played like that, and they, the Blazers, still managed to keep their lead!

Moreover, in the latter half of the second quarter, it was mostly Nash exerting himself, and his teammates fully trusted his ability. If Nash usually didn't lack strength when he needed to score from the outside, his stamina could definitely last 40 minutes or even longer.

When Rashid Wallace, Sabonis, and other scorers didn't exert much effort in the latter half of the second quarter, and Doug Christie couldn't defend Nash, with others not providing additional defense, others were rarely involved in offense, it seemed like Nash was single-handedly challenging the entire Lakers defense, allowing others to conserve energy. How could they not be excited?

Nash is now very happy, and he felt like he was walking breezily back to the locker room after the first half...

Halftime ended quickly, and after making adjustments, the two teams returned to the court.

The Lakers sent out a combination of Fisher, Brian Shaw, Zhang Hao, Magician, and Jerome Korcy.

The Blazers sent out a combination of Nash, Aaron McKie, Stacey Augmon, Rashid Wallace, and Chris Dudley.

Originally, Nash couldn't play for such a long time because his ability to play one-on-one wasn't enough, and when outside one-on-one was required, his main attack would be very weak, so Robert Parker needed to play.

But tonight, Nash's one-on-one performance was so good that he was kept on the court.

The third quarter began, and the Blazers began with the ball. The Blazers' head coach originally intended for the players to return to running pick-and-roll plays in the third quarter. Nash's scoring threat tonight should have been sufficient, but the Lakers chose Brian Shaw to defend Nash instead of the faster, stronger rookie Fisher.

Nash tried a one-on-one play, and after a spinning jump shot to the baseline that went in, he decisively chose to go it alone.

Scoring is scoring, and when facing Doug Christie and Brian Shaw, two players who usually defend speed-type players in a mediocre manner, his one-on-one was comparatively easier than organizing offense for scoring. His stamina could hold up... Who wouldn't like to score more? After scoring the first play in the third quarter, Nash's personal score increased to 20 points! Second time in his rookie season he hit over 20 in a single game, and with half a game left, he wanted to aim for a higher score. If, tonight, he could score higher than Zhang Hao... Just the thought of it made him more excited!

When the Lakers attacked, Fisher pushed the ball to the frontcourt and ended the attacking possession. He passed the ball to the moving Jerome Korcy who was shielding and running to the left side of the free-throw line. Then, Fisher cut inside.

Nash and the switching Rashid Wallace double-teamed the ball-receiving Zhang Hao. Zhang Hao jumped up again to pass the ball, Fisher cut in to receive it, and made a layup against Chris Dudley!

22-year-old rookie Fisher is really both strong and fast, at 185 centimeters tall, 90 kilograms, and a speed of 91, with fine running and jumping abilities. When needed, he's willing to take a shot, and he won't get discouraged by previous failures, as he has a strong ability to withstand pressure.

Both teams in the third quarter began by continuing the offensive play style seen in the latter quarter of the first half. The Blazers were still having Nash lead the scoring, and the best part was it was just coming from him. The opposing team wasn't double-teaming him as a rookie, so he just focused on getting the ball into the basket.

The Lakers continued with Zhang Hao's ball receiving and setting up, combined with solo shot plays.

This seemed like Zhang Hao was trying to compete with Nash, wanting to duel one-on-one!

That's how it appeared, and Nash had similar thoughts. The audience also shared these thoughts. Seeing Zhang Hao and Nash sporting the same hairstyle and facing off one point at a time, the excitement that began near the end of the first half boiled over at the beginning of the third quarter, as the spectators started cheering continuously!

Some booed Nash as a rookie, while others chimed in to shout "X" after his score, which excited Nash more. Any lingering doubts were cast aside, as he wanted to take this opportunity tonight to face off with Zhang Hao thoroughly, and hopefully outperforms Zhang Hao! Such opportunities are too rare!

The game didn't quite follow the Blazers' expectations, but Nash's one-on-one efficiency was indeed high. In the first half of the third quarter, Nash single-handedly scored 10 points, with the Blazers scoring 14 points in total for half a quarter.

The Lakers scored 13 points in the first half of the third quarter, not as efficiently as in the latter half of the second quarter, because P-J Callesimo made an effective defensive adjustment against Zhang Hao's methods, delivering better defense than in the latter half of the second quarter.

The Blazers maintained their lead at 71 to 68!

After the third quarter official timeout returned, Zhang Hao began with an outside ball reception, spun to go directly for an inside drive and made a 2+1 and with the bonus free throw scored and tied the game.