At first, I was worried he might get nervous facing the strongest of his NBA peers, after all, it was his first time facing off against Jordan, but I underestimated him."
Auerbach: "He wouldn’t be nervous. The moment I saw him trash-talking Larry, I was certain he was going to be like Kevin, like Robert, a pillar for our team... Once we get Bias back, he’ll be Bias’s best assistant. After Larry and Kevin age, those two will dominate the last decade of the 20th century!"
KC-Jones: "Coach, if Jack is the core of your future plans, why keep him on the bench? I’ve been wanting to let him start since after Christmas..."
Auerbach: "Playing as the sixth man gives him more opportunities to hold the ball. Tonight, you gave him the chance to be the main attacker, that’s why he could play this way. If he starts in regular games... I don’t want to waste his talent by turning him into a catch-and-shoot player."
to 97, the Celtics beat the Chicago Bulls by a 23-point margin, winning even more easily than they had anticipated before the game!
Larry sank 9 out of 13 shots, including two for two from the three-point line, plus 10 out of 12 free throws, easily scoring 30 points with 12 rebounds, 6 assists, and 2 steals.
Although the opponents were only ranked eighth in the East, the fact that they could play so comfortably, Larry knew he owed it to that annoying rookie. Today, he would let the argument slide... cough cough, there would still be arguments, of course, he felt that even if he spared the rookie, the rookie wouldn’t spare him.
McHale scored 27 points, Parish scored 13 points...
Zhang Yang made 11 out of 24 shots, including zero for two from the three-point line, plus 4 out of 6 free throws, scoring 26 points with 4 rebounds, 2 assists, and 2 steals.
Zhang Yang was happy about the win, but... Jordan shot 35 times, making 16 baskets, along with 9 out of 12 free throws, scoring a total of 41 points!
He did his best to defend, utilizing all the team’s resources well, yet he still let Jordan score over 40 points. The God of Basketball’s offensive ability was too strong to make sense!
As for the second goal discussed during the team meeting—to wear down Jordan’s physical strength—Zhang Yang, heh, had a stamina of 91, while Jordan’s stamina was at least 99.
Jordan played 44 minutes, and when he was subbed out during garbage time, Zhang Yang couldn’t even tell the guy was tired.
Also, the team had given him the chance to be the main attacker tonight, and he wanted to score 30 points in his first game to complete the basic task, but he failed.
Jordan’s defensive skills might not yet be good enough, but his natural instincts were there, along with a ferocious physicality... Zhang Yang’s shooting touch severely declined; he did well in the first quarter, but starting from the second, he could only score on fast breaks.
However, with Jordan playing so aggressively tonight, he ’only’ scored 41 points. The ’Atheist’ task should be manageable, right...
Soon, the date came to April 19th, the second match of the first round.
By half-time, Zhang Yang realized he had really ’underestimated’ Jordan.
Tonight, his strategy was probably still effective, he successfully infuriated Jordan, who bullheadedly kept shooting, and their team’s defensive help and double-teaming were as solid as before, perhaps even more on point than in the last game.
But Jordan, who bricked many shots in the last game, was scoring wildly tonight!
Jordan was even angrier than last time but shot with more determination, without the slightest hesitation.
Zhang Yang could slap Jordan’s face, yet Jordan would still make the shot and retaliate with a slap in defense...
Last game, when Zhang Yang saw Jordan scoring around 10 points each quarter, he thought it was already terrifying, wondering how much better Jordan could possibly play.
Tonight, he knew. Jordan made 6 out of 10 shots, including 4 free throws, scoring 16 points in the first quarter; in the second quarter, 5 out of 8 shots and another 5 free throws, totaling 15 points...
Luckily, Larry scored 20 points with 4 assists in the first half, so the Celtics could withstand Jordan’s onslaught and didn’t let the Bulls gain too much of an advantage.
Jordan scored 31 points in the first half, leading the Bulls to a 58 to 54 lead over the Celtics—4 points ahead!
Entering the half-time break, Zhang Yang felt quite devastated. Even knowing this guy was the future God of Basketball, being hammered in the head-to-head was still a hit to him.
The opponent was only 4 months older than him, yet the gap in strength was alarmingly wide. Even with the team’s defense at his disposal, he was still being thoroughly outplayed...
The talent wasn’t strong enough! The skills weren’t good enough!
He needed to accrue more talent and hone his skills further!
But what he had to do at present was to win the game.
After the half-time break ended, Zhang Yang adjusted his mindset and returned to the court, continuing the grapple with Jordan.
Larry saw Zhang Yang quickly readjust his attitude, and his satisfaction with his teammate increased by +1, his annoyance with him by +2...
Larry, Chieftain, Fridge, and the rest hadn’t expected that facing merely the eighth seed would push them this hard, but if the rookie could stay calm and play ball, they too suppressed their impatience and went all out against the Bulls.
The overall strength advantage of the Celtics was still quite evident. Despite Jordan’s continued aggression in the second half, and the Bulls utilizing their tactics to contain him even better, Jordan scored 8 points in the third quarter, leading his team to 27 points. But the Celtics kept the score tight, also putting up 27 points, not allowing the Bulls to widen the gap.
Unable to surge ahead in one go, the Bulls lost momentum. Midway through the final quarter, the Celtics sparked a rally to even the score. As the Bulls called a time-out to regroup and attempt to regain the advantage, their rush led to just 8 points in 5 minutes, while the Celtics launched consecutive counterattacks, scoring 14 points in the same period.