Chapter 917 279: The Legendary Road Begins! (8K)

"Aix, it's okay, go ahead and shoot. Charles, Jason, and I will secure the offensive rebounds. Even if you miss, it won't disrupt the team's attack."

After the Lakers finished their game against the Heat, they set off to Cleveland the next morning, where their next opponent was the Cavaliers.

On the plane, O'Neal was brimming with pride.

In basketball, many things ultimately come down to statistics and shooting percentages.

Last night, O'Neal shot 14 for 8, with free throws 8 for 5, scoring 21 points, 16 rebounds, and 4 assists. His efficiency was explosive.

Meanwhile, Zhang Hao shot 32 for 12, scoring 32 points... this efficiency can't even be described as low; it was totally disastrous.

Many fans watched the live broadcast of this game, but not many finished watching it, while even more fans didn't watch the game at all. Cloud fans prefer to analyze players' performances through statistics. Media initially discuss the game situation but eventually cater to the majority of fans.

Some things are unavoidable... 20 missed shots! Luckily Xiaozhouzhou hasn't debuted yet!

A heartbreaking night with two failed missions and a single game of 20 missed shots that had been dodged for a long time. Saddened, Zhang Hao ignored O'Neal... gazing at the white clouds outside the window, feeling how wonderful it is to drift freely in the sky...

O'Neal, looking at Zhang Hao who turned to gaze out the window, was quite pleased.

He finally scored a minor victory!

However, it was only a victory in media and fan rhetoric. He was also surprised by Zhang Hao's progress in the game.

A forceful drive after a pick-and-roll, that is, a stop-and-shoot, was still relatively weak. Otherwise, with this kid's athletic ability + shooting ability + height and wingspan... he would be as insoluble as his Big Fatty self!

"I'm still more unstoppable. When I catch the ball and bump, it's a scoring opportunity, without the need for those bizarre maneuvers..."

...

Upon reaching Cleveland, Zhang Hao immediately dove into the visitors' training court at Quicken Loans Arena, bringing along Brian Shaw to practice pick-and-roll ball-handling and penetration.

Some things, once clicked, are truly unlocked. When the light doesn't come on, you'll never know what to do.

Of course, this is inseparable from Zhang Hao's day-to-day hard work honing his fundamentals. Without increasingly solid basic skills, he wouldn't be able to showcase such a play style in moments of inspiration.

At the season's end, explosive performances might occur daily. Yesterday, the Lakers and Heat played a defensive battle that drove audiences mad. Today at 3:30 PM, the Bulls and Pistons started their match. After 2 hours and 25 minutes, Grant Hill scored 27 points, 12 rebounds, 10 assists, and 4 steals, leading six Pistons players to score in double digits, narrowly defeating the Bulls 99 to 91, handing them their 12th loss of the season!

During this time, Grant Hill looked like a future lead figure in American Basketball, overshadowing the surprise once brought by Anfernee Hardaway.

The Lakers, resting in Cleveland for the night, faced their first back-to-back road game on March 21st at Quicken Loans Arena against the Cavaliers.

Playing against a team with an average concede of under 86 points was truly torturous. Cavaliers were indeed unlucky, reaching their peak when the league was playing post-showtime era offensive basketball and then entering the iron-blood era right after their peak...

In terms of pace control and limiting opponents' scoring, the Cavaliers were the league's strongest, and the Lakers scored just 81 points tonight.

Fortunately, the Lakers played excellent defense, restricting the Cavaliers to only 77 points. With O'Neal scoring 15 points, 15 rebounds, 2 assists, and 4 blocks; Zhang Hao with 22 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals, and 1 block; and Barkley contributing 11 points and 13 rebounds, the Lakers narrowly defeated the Cavaliers 81 to 77.

Everyone thought the Lakers would lose while playing against the Heat, but they barely won. Now facing the Cavaliers, they were expected to lose, but who would've known the Cavaliers' offense was not strong enough. Despite the defense shrunk against O'Neal and Barkley quite well, and the Lakers' perimeter breakthrough was also defended effectively, they managed to win relying on their defense.

However, outside the court, the Lakers received bad news – Logo Man lost in the competition against the Bulls. Elvin Robertson, who had disengaged from the Raptors days ago, chose to join the Chicago Bulls after days of deliberation!

...

On March 16th, former quadruple-double player Elvin Robertson reached an agreement to terminate his contract with the Raptors and prepared to join a championship-contending team.

This season, Elvin Robertson averaged 10.2 points, 4.6 rebounds, 4.4 assists, and 2.3 steals with the Raptors. As in the previous nine years of his career, his health was excellent, playing every game at 34 years old.

The key is this veteran, who was named to the best defensive team for six consecutive years starting his sophomore year, twice to the first team, and won the Best Defensive Player, was showing great defensive prowess this year, regularly limiting opposite players' shooting percentages by nearly 4 percentage points below their season average.

After Elvin Robertson reached an agreement to terminate with the Raptors, rumors emerged that Logo Man was contacting Elvin Robertson's agent.

On the 18th, Logo Man followed the Lakers to Miami, not for that game, but for Elvin Robertson, who had come to bask in the sun on the South Coast immediately after leaving the icy cold Toronto for a winter break.

However, Bulls general manager Jerry Krause was also in Miami at the same time meeting Elvin Robertson.