Chapter 918 279: The Legendary Path Begins! (8K)_2

According to sources, Byron Scott had already gotten ready for the meeting, but the Lakers still failed to snatch the guy!

...

This morning the Lakers arrived in Rutherford Town. While they were having lunch, the Magician was still sighing with Zhang Hao about last night's news: "What a pity. If we had Robertson on board, our defense would be more complete. On the defensive end at point guard, Brian or Aix wouldn't have to hold the line anymore, and then the guy still got snatched by the Bulls."

Zhang Hao replied, "It's fine. Robertson and Harper are similar types. Neither can shoot, both rely on drives to score plus defense and passing, and he's two years older than Harper. He won't help the Bulls that much."

The Magician wanted to see some regret on Zhang Hao's face, but unfortunately, he didn't see any regret.

But just like Zhang Hao said, the Bulls already have Ron Harper, and this year Ron Harper's playing time is kept within 24 minutes. The Bulls' health this season is really good, even better than last year. They're not lacking at point guard. The purpose of competing with the Lakers for Elvin Robertson is pretty obvious.

It's just that the Lakers failed to pull off the upgrade, which is ultimately still a loss.

Zhang Hao actually did feel quite regretful too, but he could only think on the bright side, right? At least it wasn't a player who would clearly boost both teams getting snatched by the Bulls.

Instead of dwelling on the deals that fell through, in the afternoon while his teammates were resting, he focused his energy on thinking about how to really make good use of the pick-and-roll.

At 6:30 in the evening, the Lakers arrived at Continental Airlines Arena for the second night of a back-to-back, taking on the Brooklyn Nets.

Against the Heat, Zhang Hao showed how lethal he could be as a pick-and-roll executor.

But against the Cavaliers, he didn't play it well—he had 4 assists but also 4 turnovers.

The Cavaliers really are a very strong defensive team. Their scouting on opponents' offense is also very thorough. They studied the Lakers' previous game against the Heat and did a great job defending Zhang Hao's pick-and-roll catch-and-drive plus kick-out style.

It's not that the Cavaliers' defense is completely stronger than the Heat's—that's unlikely. It's just that the Cavaliers had more time to prepare, while the Heat could only make adjustments on the fly.

But the Brooklyn Nets don't have the same level as the Cavaliers and the Heat. In this game against the Nets, after O'Neal pounded inside, Zhang Hao kept pounding, mainly focusing on scoring. Honestly, against the Nets he didn't even need to rely on pick-and-roll catches into drives. Most of the time he could just catch, turn, and drive. He was only running that set to practice the move, basically using the Nets as a sparring partner…

The Brooklyn Nets wanted to take advantage of Kenny Anderson's absence to finally beat Zhang Hao once, to make those fans in the building who were cheering for the road team fall in love with them again. And then, 95–123, the Nets got blown out at home by the Lakers by 28 points.

Zhang Hao played 35 minutes, putting up 37 points, 8 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal, and 3 blocks. He even went back in the fourth quarter to pound in two more buckets. O'Neal played 18 minutes, didn't see the floor in the second half, and finished with 13 points, 7 rebounds, 2 assists, and 1 block. Barkley had 23 points and 11 rebounds tonight.

This time facing Corey Kittles, the rewards for the "Rookies' Nightmare" mission clearly dropped. Zhang Hao only got 10 extra days of lifespan.

Looks like bullying rookies depends on that rookie's current performance, fan approval, attention level, and so on.

After beating the Cavaliers, the Lakers improved their record to 54–15. Once they wrapped up their three-game East road swing, the Lakers returned to California, heading to Sacramento, the capital of California.

This win came pretty easily. Don't be fooled by the Kings sitting ninth in the West—at 29–40, they actually really want to lose. It's just that the tanking teams are too good at it!

The Kings' franchise star Mitch Richmond has started pouting too, wanting out, wanting to go to a team like Tim Hardaway's where he can contend and rack up more wins. But how could the Kings bear to let go of this currently their only box-office star?

On the back of O'Neal's 28 points, 14 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals, and 1 block, plus Zhang Hao's 37 points, 9 rebounds, 2 assists, and 3 blocks, the Lakers steamrolled the utterly winless-at-heart Kings 108–90, notching their fourth straight win! Their record climbed to 55–15, making them the second team in the league to reach 55 wins!

With the four-game road trip done, the Lakers had four games left in March: one home back-to-back and one two-game road swing.

On the 24th, after finishing the game against the Kings, the Lakers headed back to Los Angeles.

They got good news as soon as they returned. Kenny Anderson, who got injured on the 15th, was fully recovered after eight days of rehab!

The day before yesterday, when the Lakers went to Sacramento, he had actually already been cleared to play, but the coaching staff, being cautious, didn't immediately put Kenny Anderson back in. Instead, they kept him in Los Angeles for two days of full-contact practice. Byron Scott, who had been moved to the inactive list lately due to lack of playing time, returned to Los Angeles to train with Kenny Anderson.

Over the past few games, the Lakers players had actually been under a lot of pressure. O'Neal had just come back, and it was straight into a four-game road trip with a back-to-back. Kenny Anderson was out hurt too. But if they lost more than they won at this critical stage in the standings race, the impact would be huge.

Now, though, they'd reeled off four straight wins. Having just finished the four-game road trip and returned to Los Angeles, back home and back on their own floor, and with their starting point guard returning, the taut strings in everyone's hearts suddenly relaxed.

Then, after a night's rest, on the 25th they hosted the Spurs—and the Lakers suffered a brutal 94–107 home loss to the Spurs…