Chapter 899 As Long as Courage and Passion Remain

Jordan’s personal playtime has slightly decreased, and his number of attempts has also reduced as he begins to prepare for the playoffs.

Although the circumstances are different, both Zhang Hao and Jordan have seen a drop in their average scores per game, maintaining their competition for the scoring title. As the season draws to a close, with Zhang Hao achieving his ninth 40+ point game of the season, further narrowing the gap with Jordan’s average score, discussions about this have been increasing.

Can Zhang Hao become the youngest scoring champion in his sophomore year?

At this point, Zhang Hao isn’t concerned about it; the Lakers have 23 games left while the Bulls have 22 games remaining. Launching an attack at this time isn’t a wise choice.

Clearly, the conditions and strengths for competition are at a disadvantage. At such a time, as a revered "Silver God" of League of Legends, has he never seen a comeback game, if not played it himself?

During this phase, Zhang Hao’s focus is on how to build the defensive system for O’Neal’s return.

Ben Wallace has started the last two games, which has drawn quite a bit of criticism. Zhang Hao is powerless to address this; although he’s a player from his own company, he has to acknowledge the limitations of his abilities.

In Zhang Hao’s memory, Ben Wallace only truly found his footing in the NBA during the shortened season, later gaining attention from the Magic, who gave him the opportunity to shine, leading to his trade for Grant Hill.

In the last two games, Ben Wallace has faced scrutiny, but winning masks many issues.

On March 7th, the Lakers welcomed the challenge of the Rockets at home.

Tonight, Olajuwon and Divac quickly drew fouls from Ben Wallace. As Del Harris doesn’t care how many fouls Ben Wallace commits and simply appreciates Wallace’s efforts, giving him a chance, the primary interest is utilizing Wallace’s active rebounding, physical fitness, and keen sense for blocking shots in mid-short range to help the team build its defense system. Thus, Del Harris never substitutes him out early due to foul count.

Anyway, in crucial moments later, he won’t let Ben Wallace play.

And so, Wallace quickly committed three fouls in the first quarter...

This resulted in the Lakers getting into a foul crisis in the first quarter, with the Rockets taking a 33-21 lead, leaving the Lakers trailing by 12 points!

Even though the Lakers’ offense performed quite well afterward, with Zhang Hao scoring 28 points, grabbing 7 rebounds, dishing out 4 assists, 2 steals, and 1 block; Barkley tallying 22 points and 11 rebounds; Kenny Anderson getting 12 points and 9 assists; Wilkins coming off the bench for 13 points; and Doug Christie adding 11 points and 3 assists, the Lakers scored a total of 104 points but still fell to the Rockets’ 111 points.

The Lakers lost by 7 points at home, with 60 games played, achieving a record of 47 wins and 13 losses.

...

Winning can cover up a lot of things, but when a loss occurs, many issues get exposed and scrutinized.

The media and fans always look for somewhere to vent a loss, especially when the Lakers have lost to a Rockets team they might face in the second round, a team that previously defeated the Lakers in last season’s playoffs and beat O’Neal’s team in the finals the season before. Naturally, they look for a scapegoat.

This scapegoat became Ben Wallace.

Having lost, time doesn’t stop. On the morning of March 8th, Aprile Clark took Zhang Hao to the airport. Zhang Hao reunited with his teammates, who were off on a road trip, instantly entering into a back-to-back game.

Right now, losing doesn’t affect Zhang Hao; even if losing to the Rockets, it doesn’t matter. There’s no leisure to dwell on losing a game.

However, from meeting at the airport to boarding the plane... Zhang Hao noticed their rookie with the explosive hairdo kept his head low...

Ben Wallace was very dejected. He tried hard to seize the opportunity, even though he knew that once O’Neal returned, he would be back on the bench again. He wanted to seize this rare chance. The BOSS had said that no opportunity should be missed; a performance during a particular phase might make the management and coaching staff think of him first when the team needs manpower in the future.

But he messed up...

After boarding the plane, Ben Wallace sat in the corner, listening to his teammates’ lively card games without feeling any joy, only irritation...

At this moment of intense dejection, someone sat down in the empty spot beside him... It was the BOSS!

Before Ben Wallace could speak, he heard Zhang Hao begin.

"As long as you have courage in your heart, as long as the passion hasn’t faded, as long as you keep striving, I believe that one day, the light will shine upon you."

Before Ben Wallace could respond, Zhang Hao left after saying that.

"Will the light shine upon me one day?"

Sometimes, reigniting someone’s courage is quite simple.

No need to wait for "one day"; at this very moment, Ben Wallace felt as if he saw the light!

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