No.1 in basketball scoring-Chapter 151 - 98. Nobody’s holding the ball? Then I guess I’ll have to step up reluctantly!

to 16, Zhang Yang scored 4 consecutive points to tie the game!

And they were all against Kobe’s defense!

The teammates excitedly high-fived Zhang Yang as he fell back on defense, then threw themselves even more energetically into the onslaught against Kobe.

Originally, Kobe alone had scored 8 points in the early half, leading the team to a furious 16 points, which greatly demoralized the Charlotte Bobcats.

Just a week earlier, Kobe was facing the Mavericks with 62 points in three quarters; that’s the Mavericks we’re talking about! A top-ranking team in both offense and defense in the league! Besides the Pistons, no other team in the East had a better record than the Mavericks. The entire Mavericks team combined couldn’t outscore Kobe, so could they do it?

But upon seeing that Jack, still a 17-year-old kid, faced Kobe without fear, fighting bravely, the teammates found their inspiration!

What of Kobe’s 62 points in three quarters? Even if Kobe could score 82 points for the whole game and their team could only score 81, they would still fight! If they didn’t, that guy would just score even more!

Kobe continued to attack fiercely, and even the rough and tough defense of Gerald Wallace couldn’t stop him, but his performance wasn’t as good as in the first half.

At 129 kilograms, Bynum squatted under the basket, with 122 kilograms of Kwame Brown assisting in defense at close range. Faced with this twin towers’ duo, even O’Neal had a tough time in the season opener, shooting only 8 out of 18, while Wade was held to 5 out of 15. The Miami Heat relied on substitute Payton’s explosive performance, scoring 21 points from 9 out of 11 shots, to narrowly defeat the Lakers.

Naturally, neither Felton nor Gerald Wallace could break through this twin towers’ defense, only passing to the unreliable shooter Jumaine Jones on the wing. If he made it, great; if not, there were no offensive rebounds to grab.

But the high school twin towers also clogged up the inside space!

Gerald Wallace really couldn’t defend Kobe. He was frustrated in the first half, but after calming down, seeing three high schoolers in the paint, he gave up on defending against the drive, focusing on guarding the shot. If Kobe got past him, he would chase after and double-team Kobe with Perkins.

With Perkins’ hard and rough defense, combined with Gerald Wallace’s league-top level help and disruption, Kobe was already feeling the pressure. And with Bynum, who wasn’t even sure where to stand, lagging behind and clogging the space...

When playing against the Miami Heat, the Lakers could dominate for long stretches because Kobe was able to score continuously from mid-range. Even with Kwame Brown, Bynum, and O’Neal rooted under the basket, it didn’t affect his scoring. With the high school twin towers playing at the same time, the advantages outweighed the disadvantages.

But facing the Bobcats with Gerald Wallace, having the high school twin towers on the court at the same time was like inflicting eight hundred damage on the enemy at the cost of a thousand to themselves!

Kobe was not only struggling on the offensive end but also having a hard time on defense. Regardless of whether he scored or not, Zhang Yang would immediately push fast.

If he didn’t chase, his teammates couldn’t keep up with that kid’s speed; if he did chase, he would be running back and forth without a chance to catch his breath.

He had good stamina, but even he couldn’t withstand it at this pace!

Moreover, the opposing high school Center was really tough, excellent at holding his ground. Kwame Brown couldn’t move in for the offensive rebounds, giving Zhang Yang a real chance to counterattack. Kobe had to work hard on both ends of the floor!

The Zen Master, left with no choice, could only call a timeout and substitute Bynum out.

If only Bynum had a better sense of positioning, he and Kobe could have connected better. Kwame Brown could move alright, but his hands were shaky; his layups were rushed and unstable...

But there was no helping it; Bynum had just turned 18, and if he had that kind of awareness, he wouldn’t frequently end with zero points.

Kwame Brown, though in his fifth year, hadn’t received proper training in his first two years. In his third year, he managed to prove his worth, but when the Wizards decided to start training him again in his fourth year, he injured his shoulder and missed half of the season... In other words, before coming to the Lakers, Kwame Brown had never received proper training since entering the NBA.

The Zen Master regretted returning to the Lakers more than once this year. Why couldn’t he resist the temptation of glamour? And now his gun was out of bullets; he could only indulge in the thrill of handling it...

However, there was still something to look forward to: Kupchak’s trading ability and free agency signings.

The summer of ’03 saw both Payton and Malone join, which truly impressed the Zen Master. If not for Malone’s indiscretion towards Kobe’s wife, escalating conflicts, they had a high probability of winning the championship. He really hadn’t expected Malone’s character to be so low.

After the timeout, with Bynum benched and Brian Cook replacing him, Kobe’s offensive space indeed improved, but it was still harder than in the first half of the first quarter.

Although Perkins was still raw, less skilled defensively than the East European Center Brezec, he was tougher and more brutal, with a stronger ability to withstand impacts.

He still had to contend with defending Zhang Yang...

And with Bynum benched, the duo of Felton and Gerald Wallace started to score against Kwame Brown; not easily, but they were managing to score!

After a few rounds, the Lakers not only failed to regain the lead but fell behind by two points!

On the Lakers’ offense, Luke Walton received Kobe’s pass and missed a three-pointer; Zhang Yang grabbed the defensive rebound and pushed forward himself. Coming up against Kobe’s defense, he passed to Gerald Wallace who, upon receiving the ball, bulldozed past the chasing Walton and drove into the paint for a successful layup, extending the Bobcats’ lead to 4 points.

Kobe decisively gave up targeting Zhang Yang. This was his fault; had he not attempted to steal the rebound from Zhang Yang and instead retreated normally, Gerald Wallace wouldn’t have had the opportunity. After Zhang Yang’s drive, it would have been a two-on-two situation, not leaving Walton to face the beast that was Gerald Wallace on his own.

The source of this c𝐨ntent is freewe(b)nov𝒆l