One Year Left to Play

Chapter 534 - 162: Championship Culture

Van Exel and the Magician’s 10 assists, 3 of which were during Zhang Hao’s fast breaks, leaving only 7 from regular organized offense.

Under such circumstances, despite Van Exel scoring 26 points, Zhang Hao scoring 17 points, Doug Christie scoring 21 points with 1 assist and 2 steals, and Jason Williams relying on 4 offensive rebounds to score 10 points with 8 rebounds... the team only scored 90 points!

On the other hand, the Lakers’ defense was actually decent. Del Harris’s targeted arrangements were quite effective, reducing the number of shots by the SuperSonics’ core players. However, it couldn’t stop Payton from making 7 out of 12 shots and 6 out of 6 free throws to score 23 points, and Kemp from making 6 out of 8 to score 18 points.

In the end, the score was fixed at 90 to 97, with the Lakers losing to the SuperSonics by 7 points.

With a record of 47 wins and 13 losses, the Lakers, who lost directly to the SuperSonics, were surpassed by the SuperSonics’ record of 48 wins and 13 losses!

...

...

"Oh, amazing... Damn, I should’ve thrown it here, what a wasted mistake. I actually didn’t see it... Or maybe their defense was just too good. Clearly, we were in good shooting form, but we ended up forced into taking many difficult shots... Also this... Oh..."

On the early morning after losing to the SuperSonics, Zhang Hao reviewed the game against them, unable to stop marveling at the SuperSonics’ strength.

Zhang Hao sincerely thought that the SuperSonics’ strength was too much!

"A match between the Bulls and SuperSonics... the odds of winning for the SuperSonics wouldn’t be low, right? Just one game, if both sides were in their best state, who would win between the Bulls and the SuperSonics is really uncertain..."

"I was actually stunned during the game... If I had shot a few more times and hadn’t made 5 turnovers, all 5 of which were shots, maybe the result would have been different. Their defense mainly targeted our team offense..."

"When they played against us, they weren’t as well-prepared as we were against them. They just seized one point and executed it to perfection... We were overthinking it."

In his analysis, Zhang Hao slowly began to play the role of the armchair strategist...

However, for this game itself, Zhang Hao conceded defeat. In terms of shot-taking form of their shooters and the efficiency of solo players like the Lakers, they were indeed outplayed by the opponent’s grasp of their weaknesses, pointing to an issue within the Lakers’ own strength.

"It’s still us... No, it’s me that’s not strong enough!"

...

Confident when playing strong teams, thinking they could beat anyone, but after losing a game, they start reflecting and focusing intently.

Zhang Hao had already grown accustomed to this particular trait of his teammates.

Upon waking up, Zhang Hao had already buried the gloom from losing last night’s game deep in his heart, knowing they would face the SuperSonics again soon and would have to think of a solution then.

After playing against the SuperSonics, the next morning, Zhang Hao traveled with the team back to California, arriving in Oakland in the Bay Area. After resting for a night, on March 12th, they took on the Warriors on the road.

Oddly enough, after giving up a lot of talent, the Warriors played better than when they were overflowing with talent.

By reducing many conflicts, the Warriors clarified their rotation with BJ Armstrong, Spree, Jerome Kersey, Chris Mulin, Bimbo Coles, and Jon Barry on the outside, and a rotation of Joe Smith, Kevin Willis, Ronnie Selika, and Clifford Rozier on the inside, they truly played better.

But that’s as far as it goes. Playing any better just meant they were on the fringes of the Western playoffs.

Losing Tim Hardaway meant the Warriors essentially lost their opportunity to become a top-tier strong team... Losing a first-team caliber point guard takes a toll on any team’s strength.

Against a Lakers team eager for redemption after losing, the Warriors were in for a tough time...

Spree scored 28 points, Joe Smith scored 17 points, Coles 15 points, Armstrong 13 points, with four players scoring in double figures, which wasn’t bad—the Warriors scored a total of 106 points.

But the Lakers exploded for 124 points!

Zhang Hao and Campbell took advantage of the opponent’s weak interior, with Zhang Hao scoring 26 points and Campbell 20 points, while Van Exel erupted for 35 points from the outside. The three combined for 81 points, leading the Lakers to a 124 to 106 rout of the Warriors!

When the Lakers played the Warriors, aside from Zhang Hao once again overwhelming Joe Smith, not many people paid attention. Even with Joe Smith, the former number one pick being overpowered, not many cared; Garnett had recently overwhelmed Joe Smith too, and Antonio McDyess went berserk every time against Joe Smith...

Yet, Joe Smith couldn’t be considered a bust. Averaging 15.5 points and 9 rebounds, he was still doing okay.

Thus, Joe Smith gradually became the "invisible" top pick. Not that anyone called him a bust, but neither was he often mentioned among the best rookies.

The media’s focus on the Lakers remained on the Lakers vs. SuperSonics matchup.

A few days ago, the two teams faced off, and the Lakers lost to the SuperSonics by 7 points. After finishing a four-game road stint, the Lakers returned to Los Angeles, and their first game back was the SuperSonics’ challenge!

...

On March 13th, when the Lakers returned to Los Angeles, the SuperSonics also arrived.

Back in Los Angeles, the Lakers promptly headed to the Great Western Forum to prepare for the following day’s game. The SuperSonics hadn’t had any games in the past two days, resting for three days after playing the Lakers, and upon arriving in Los Angeles, they immediately entered preparation mode.

After training ended that afternoon, Payton prepared to take a stroll alone around Inglewood Town.

Just as he was leaving the arena, he saw a scene that twisted his expression...

A Ferrari F50 with the top down drove out of the Lakers’ parking lot... the one sitting in it was that rookie from the opposing team!