The players came out and when it was Zhang Zhiyuan's turn, the DJ shouted at the loudest volume. "Welcome our hero, the God of Death from China... Zhang..."
The scene erupted into cheers like a roaring tsunami.
At this time, Zhang Zhiyuan is the hope of the whole village.
Before the warm-up started, James came over and gave Zhang Zhiyuan a friendly hug: "Brother, I'm so happy that you can come back."
"I'm afraid you won't be happy later."
Zhang Zhiyuan smiled.
"Hahaha, trash talk has no effect on me."
James continued to maintain his grace. This was requested by his agent, who asked him to establish a good relationship with Zhang Zhiyuan and invite Zhang Zhiyuan to Cleveland after playing in the finals.
"Okay, but I still want to congratulate you for successfully winning the first overall runner-up."
Zhang Zhiyuan.
"..."
Meeting a person with low emotional intelligence made James feel very difficult and tired.
After exchanging pleasantries, James returned to his own half to warm up.
Zhang Zhiyuan went to the sidelines to greet Jackie Chan, Jet Li, and Huang Xiaoming who came to watch the game.
Jackie Chan and the others took time to come all the way to support him, just to show their faces in front of the national audience and show off their friendship with him. Zhang Zhiyuan naturally would not let others down.
In front of James, he has low emotional intelligence. But in front of others, Zhang Zhiyuan's emotional intelligence can be high or low.
"Come on, Xiao Zhang, kill them."
Jackie Chan said.
"It's necessary, it's proper."
Zhang Zhiyuan.
After chatting with everyone, Zhang Zhiyuan went on the court to warm up and shot a few three-pointers. His shooting percentage looked pretty good.
But this kind of static shooting doesn't mean anything. There are almost no such opportunities in the game.
At the beginning of the game, Zhang Zhiyuan's attribute chain was used on his opponent, Larry Hughes.
The main purpose is to slow down the opponent's speed, which can reduce his defensive pressure. Although he has recovered now, just in case, he is not prepared to work too hard to avoid recurrence of the injury.
The two teams jumped the ball, and the Rockets got the first offensive right.
After the ball passed halftime, Zhang Zhiyuan attracted defense from the outside, and Larry Hughes defended alone.
Gibson was guarding Alston, but his eyes were more aimed at Zhang Zhiyuan, as if he was afraid of Zhang Zhiyuan's breakthrough and was ready to defend at any time.
After Alston noticed this, he was not polite to Gibson, took two steps directly with the ball, and hit the throw.
Buckley laughed and explained the scene: "Look, look at Daniel, his eyes are always staring at Zhang. Oh, he has been passed over, please Daniel, Zhang is not your girlfriend, okay?"
Smith smiled and boasted: "This is Zhang's value. His deterrence is like a nuclear bomb. Even if it is not launched, the opponent cannot ignore it."
The Cavaliers attacked, and James passed the ball to Larry Hughes, seemingly preparing to bully Zhang Zhiyuan, who had just recovered from injury.
There is no mercy on the playing field, killing you while you are sick is the essence.
Larry Hughes quickly patted the basketball and moved left and right, trying to break through.
Surprisingly, Zhang Zhiyuan actually followed.
"It seems that Zhang is recovering well and the speed is still so fast."
Smith said.
"No, no, no, I feel like Larry Hughes is slowing down."
Barkley sees it differently.
After Larry Hughes failed to break through, he chose a strong shot and missed the ball.
This is his biggest problem, poor shot selection.
If you don't rush over, you can pass it to your teammates for secondary organization. Anyway, there is still time to attack.
Taking such a random shot will result in a dismal hit rate.
"Larry is so disappointing that he can't even hit an injured person."
The local commentators in Cleveland all chose to complain and did not take Larry Hughes's face into account. It was really that Larry Hughes was playing too badly this season.
Yao Ming got the backcourt rebound and the Rockets counterattacked.
"The Rockets' fast break is gone. Xiao Zhang seems to have not fully recovered. He doesn't start running like before. Instead, he slowly passes halftime with his teammates."
Sun Zhengping said.
"There is no other way. It is already very difficult to come back early. It is impossible to expect him to turn the tide like he did in the Western Conference Finals."
Their analysis made Chinese fans very worried. On the one hand, they were afraid that Zhang Zhiyuan would not be of great use, and on the other hand, they were afraid that Zhang Zhiyuan would work too hard and get injured.
After halftime, Battier left James and ran towards Zhang Zhiyuan, helping Zhang Zhiyuan to get stuck. Then Zhang Zhiyuan started and bypassed Battier.
Larry Hughes wanted to chase, but was delayed by Shane Battier.
Alston passed the ball and Zhang Zhiyuan took the ball.
The ball goes in.
If the speed is not enough, tactics must be used to make up for it.
If the whole game is played like this, Zhang Zhiyuan can also produce good data, but I don’t know if the Cavaliers will give him a chance.
The first shot hit and the Chinese fans cheered, which was a good sign.
The Cavaliers attacked, and this time James wanted to do it himself, but he saw Larry Hughes asking for the ball.
Although he didn't succeed just now, Larry Hughes still wants to try again.
James passed the ball and Larry Hughes hit Zhang Zhiyuan with his back.
This choice is more stupid than breakthrough. Larry Hughes is an 83 kg guard, and Zhang Zhiyuan is a swingman, a person who can guest star as a power forward.
Compared with strength, Larry Hughes probably drank too much.
After pushing twice, Larry Hughes didn't move, which was very embarrassing.
Then he could only turn around and shoot a jumper.
But this position is too far from the basket, and he is not Kobe.
The ball didn't go in.
"If I had known you were so weak, I should have come back early. Anyway, one leg is enough to deal with you."
Zhang Zhiyuan said mockingly.
Larry Hughes glared at him, did not respond, and retreated silently.
Alston controlled the ball past half-court, and was organizing the basketball from the outside, waiting for his teammates to get into position.
This time Gibson didn't dare to be distracted anymore and stared at Alston carefully.
As Yao Ming settled into position, Alston passed the ball.
When Zhang Zhiyuan has not recovered from his injury, Yao Ming is the absolute core.
Yao Ming caught the ball and hit Ilgauskas. Ilgauskas took a step back to relieve his pressure, but this also gave Yao Ming room to take action.
Yao Ming turned around, aimed at the basket and made a small throw, and the ball went in.
In the previous four games, he used this move to defeat Ilgauskas, and it is still the same now. This is the strength gap.
0 to 7, the Rockets got off to a dream start.
The Cavaliers attacked, and James became anxious. He chose to do it himself and force a breakthrough.
Unfortunately, under Battier's interference, he made a mistake while dribbling the ball and walked.
When the whistle sounded, James spread his hands and asked the referee emotionally.
Zhang Zhiyuan almost couldn't help laughing at this sight.
He just said that James wouldn't be happy later, but he didn't expect it to come true so soon.
James's appearance triggered wild boos and jeers from the fans at the scene.
"Shut up, Liubu Lang."
Fans even gave him a nickname.
The Cavaliers retreated, but the Rockets failed to seize the opportunity to expand the score and missed the ball.
Then James became fierce, pushed away Battier, and went all the way to the basket for a layup.
2 to 7.
"I'm so envious, I remember you also have this breakthrough style of play."
Zhang Zhiyuan and Larry Hughes had a "friendly" exchange.
Before coming to the Cavaliers, Larry Hughes was still a star player. After coming to the Cavaliers, his playing style overlapped with that of James, resulting in a data avalanche.
In the Cavaliers, no one can compete with James for the ball.
"I hope your mouth hurts too."
Larry Hughes cursed.
"It's a little difficult."
Zhang Zhiyuan smiled.
The offense and defense transitioned, and the Rockets slowly passed the half.
Both Yao Ming and Zhang Zhiyuan now need this kind of rhythm.
It took six or seven seconds to pass halftime, and then everyone started running tactics.
Zhang Zhiyuan is also running. Although he is not running fast, he can still put great pressure on the knight.
Larry Hughes stared intently and didn't care about the others at all. If he could guard against Zhang Zhiyuan, he would have completed his mission.
Zhang Zhiyuan brought him to the strong side, and the Cavaliers players immediately gathered four people on the strong side.
Shane suddenly ran away. James wanted to chase him, but Zhang Zhiyuan suddenly appeared in front of him.
James hesitated, and Battier shook him off, caught the ball, and threw it toward the basket.
The ball didn't go in, but the tactical intention came through.
It didn't take long before Battier used the same routine to hit a three-pointer in the next round.
4 to 10.
The Cavaliers attacked, James broke through and was double-teamed, then Gibson made a three-pointer and scored.
7 to 10.
"You're playing well, how about coming to Houston next season?"
Zhang Zhiyuan stunned Gibson with just one sentence.
Recruiting? But now I’m playing a game.
"Dream, Daniel belongs in Cleveland."
James was anxious and quickly retorted.
After finally finding a somewhat reliable helper, he didn't want to be poached by others.
"Kemura?"
Zhang Zhiyuan smiled.
James didn't answer anymore and silently returned to defense.
Zhang Zhiyuan's words clearly showed his disdain for Cleveland, which made him very sad.
The Rockets attacked, and Yao Ming contributed stable output and scored two more points.
Smith said: "It seems that Zhang still hasn't fully recovered. He plays very carefully. He doesn't have the same speed as before, and he takes a lot less shots, and he doesn't play in singles anymore."
"Such Zhang is of limited help to the Rockets. I'm afraid it won't be easy for the Rockets to make a comeback."
Buckley said.
In the next round, the Cavaliers' defense against Zhang Zhiyuan dropped slightly.
This subtle difference was caught by Zhang Zhiyuan, and he successfully moved to catch the ball.
Although the ball didn't go in, it still shocked the Cavaliers players.
Back on the defensive end, Zhang Zhiyuan's help in defense is gone.
He is now only guarding Larry Hughes, and he doesn't care about anyone else.
In this case, James played more comfortably and made many breakthroughs to the basket.
Although I have been criticized by Yao Ming, overall, the success rate is pretty good.
Halfway through the first quarter, 15-15, the Cavaliers caught up with the score and the two teams were tied.
When the Rockets attacked, Zhang Zhiyuan suddenly accelerated and threw away Larry Hughes, caught the ball and scored.
15 to 18.
"Hahaha, you must have been deceived by me. In fact, I have completely recovered. I was just pretending. I will use my full strength next time."
Zhang Zhiyuan's words sounded like he was trying to scare people, but the Cavaliers players were really frightened.
There is no way, who told the person who said this to be called Zhang Zhiyuan, a fierce player who averaged close to 40 points per game in the Western Conference Finals.
In the next round, the Cavaliers were faced with a formidable enemy, and everyone carefully stared at Zhang Zhiyuan. As a result, Battier cut through and slipped to the basket, catching the ball and scoring a layup.
Barkley couldn't help complaining: "Can you believe Zhang's words? Didn't Mike Brown tell them that Zhang is the new generation king of trash talk?"
"To be honest, I almost believed it just now. You really can't blame the Cavaliers players. Zhang has such a deterrent effect."
On the surface, Smith was excusing the Cavaliers players, but in fact, he was secretly supporting Zhang Zhiyuan.
As long as he often says this, Zhang Zhiyuan's image in the hearts of fans is that of "great deterrence".
In the future, if Zhang Zhiyuan's data is not good, fans will also say, "Zhang's role cannot be reflected by the data."
The Cavaliers counterattacked and James broke through but was blocked by Battier and Hayes.
Then James passed the ball to Gooden, who made a jump shot.
James lowered his head and returned to defense wearing a mask of pain.
Fortunately, the Rockets failed to score this time, and the score was still 15-20.
The Cavaliers attacked again, but James couldn't find any room to break through and forced a shot from outside the three-point line.
The ball didn't go in.
After a few more rounds, the score came to 19-24.
Van Gundy then replaced Yao Ming and Hayes and replaced them with Juwan Howard and Mutombo.
"Zhang was not replaced, and he played for so long before he recovered from his injury. It's not good."
Smith said, and Buckley agreed.
Van Gundy once again took the blame. In fact, this was Zhang Zhiyuan's decision. He wanted to stay on the court to weaken and intimidate his opponents.
As for the duration, his running was not intense and he took few shots. In fact, his physical exertion was not great.
After Yao Ming came off the court, James attacked the basket more firmly, but the effect was not very good.
Because Larry Hughes was also replaced at this time, Zhang Zhiyuan's attribute chain has been used on James.
Although James only had 6% of his attributes taken away, this small difference made him feel a little uncomfortable.
After he adjusted and got used to it, the first quarter was just over.
James ended up depressed, and was still upset off the court that he didn't seize the opportunity to chase points.
After the first quarter, 22 to 28, the Rockets led by 6 points.
Although there are not many leaders, the good news is that Yao Ming has received a relatively adequate rest. If he maintains this rhythm, Yao Ming can still exert force in the final quarter, and the Rockets have great hope of winning.
"Although Xiao Zhang has not fully recovered, at first glance, his data shows that he is playing quite well."
Taking a break between festivals, Sun Zhengping said with emotion.
Zhang Zhiyuan made 2 of 3 shots in the first quarter and scored 6 points.
This is quite a lot, multiplied by four it becomes 24 points. More importantly, the efficiency value is high.
"It's still a lot worse than the Western Conference Finals, but it's still very rare."
Zhang Lili said.
A player's role cannot only be judged by scoring. Just now, Zhang Zhiyuan's containment and defensive role on the court were far inferior to those in the Western Conference Finals.
It's not even as good as playing the Jazz in the first round.
But it doesn't matter, the knight is not particularly strong.
As long as Zhang Zhiyuan maintains his current performance, the Rockets will hope to come back and win the championship.
"It would be nice to be able to do it like this."
"It would be nice to be able to play."
"Anyway, I think Brother Zhang played very well."
With the golden medal of "playing through injuries" to avoid death, the fans are quite tolerant of Zhang Zhiyuan and are very satisfied with Zhang Zhiyuan's current performance.
