Chapter 898 - 274: As Long as Courage and Passion Remain Unbroken

Chris Mullin, after the Warriors traded away Tim Hardaway, both he and Madman have shown resurgence. This season, he’s neither injured nor sick, averaging 14.5 points, 4 boards, and 4.1 assists per game.

Mark Price is also performing well, averaging 11 points and 4 assists...

But these four stars, except for Joe Smith, have one common characteristic—they all play from the perimeter, scoring and passing. When two of the three are on the court, there are enough balls to go around. Inside, Joe Smith and Oliver Miller are adequate.

However, Adelman simply can’t implement the Princeton system he desires.

At this point, the Warriors’ owner is in a dilemma, unable to do anything but resign to the chase for Duncan this year.

With a record of 24 wins and 44 losses, they are somehow still in the Western playoff contention, competing with the 25-win Kings and 26-win Clippers for eighth place in the West... The Warriors’ management has given up and lets Adelman do whatever he wants.

Adelman, in turn, lets the players play however they want...

Tonight, the Warriors demonstrated what it means to have no tactical discipline or proper coordination, focusing only on isolation plays and passing. When the Warriors couldn’t establish an advantage, they played increasingly chaotic...

For the Lakers and Warriors matchup, the only highlight for the spectators was Ben Wallace’s rough defensive foul on Spree, which almost escalated into a fight. But Spree, intimidated by Ben Wallace’s muscled physique, didn’t dare retaliate, just shoved a little and turned into a 95 rookie...

The Lakers defeated the Warriors 104 to 93, extending their record to 46 wins and 12 losses.

...

Post-game, the media analyzed the Lakers’ match. Initially, it seemed unworthy of analysis, but the Lakers starting Ben Wallace caught many people’s interest.

The analysis was mostly negative, as Ben Wallace played 17 minutes, committed 3 fouls, and got a technical foul. He was perceived clearly as a pure villain.

The defense was enthusiastic, but lacking fundamentals, very haphazard, and aggressive.

On offense, he was like a headless fly. The Warriors managed decent defense at the start of the game, but after they failed to take advantage, their defense collapsed like in other games, with no one willing to defend properly, focusing instead on scoring. In such cases, the Lakers should have scored more.

In the comparison of playtime, when Ben Wallace wasn’t on the court, the Lakers’ offense actually thrived. In the other 31 minutes, the Lakers scored 85 points, whereas in Ben Wallace’s 17 minutes, they scored only 19 points.

...

On March 5th, the Lakers hosted the Brooklyn Nets.

Tonight, Zhang Hao played with great vigor... basically taking a frenzy of shots.

Facing his former team... Zhang Hao didn’t care anymore; the team no longer interests him.

However, facing Corey Kittles, the Rookie of the Month in December, he triggered the "Nightmare for Rookies" mission.

The goal is simple, to score double Corey Kittles’ points, earning the difference in lifespan days as a reward.

Corey Kittles’ rookie season had a high start then declined, averaging 19+4+4 at the season’s start but then slipping mid-season to an average of 16+3+3, clearly hitting the rookie wall.

In February, Corey Kittles averaged merely 11 points, 2 boards, and 1.8 assists, affecting the Brooklyn Nets’ previously decent record.

Besides Corey Kittles hitting the rookie wall, the Brooklyn Nets management enforced performance tanking.

Through trading away Zhang Hao, Kenny Anderson, and others, the Brooklyn Nets received some returns, with a mini but decent strength lineup of Kendall Gill, Jim Jackson, Corey Kittles, Robert Horry, and Tony Massenburg as starters and bench players like Sam Cassell and Khalid Reeves.

The Brooklyn Nets overall lean too heavily on the perimeter, with plenty of high-quality perimeter players. Their perimeter strength even surged them to 17 wins and 18 losses into ninth place in the East, only to be urgently halted by management in January.

They accumulated so many perimeter players to contend for Duncan, aiming to create a cozy environment for him, not to win games.

As a result, the Brooklyn Nets’ record plummeted from 17 wins and 18 losses to 23 wins and 46 losses...

Against his former team, Zhang Hao shot 27 for 15, including 3 for 11 on threes, along with 10 for 11 on free throws, and exploded with 43 points, 8 boards, 1 assist, 4 steals, and 2 blocks, helping the Lakers to a steady victory over the Brooklyn Nets, 105 to 97, lifting their record to 47 wins and 12 losses.

Corey Kittles scored 13 points tonight while Zhang Hao held 43 points, gaining a total of a 35-day lifespan increase when counting the regular game lifespan reward!

Brooklyn Nets head coach John Calipari, this celebrated NCAA coach, was forced into gloom... He couldn’t comprehend why, despite having the chance to compete for playoff spots, they had to tank.

However, he could only follow management’s instructions, putting his hopes in luck.

Though nearly in despair, he could only hope that acquiring Duncan would allow them to soar...

...

Previously, Zhang Hao had two games with low scores, widening the gap between his scoring average and Jordan’s by just a bit. Finally, after these two games, he narrowed the gap.

Zhang Hao averages 30.8 points per game, trailing Jordan’s 31.2 points by only 0.4 points.

Currently, the Bulls are on a winning streak, with ten consecutive victories since the All-Star weekend, boosting their record to 50 wins and 10 losses, becoming the first team in the league to reach 50 wins.