Chapter 295: Record Night?
The two teams attacked each other for a few more rounds, unable to defend each other, the Pelicans mainly relied on the twin towers to chisel the King's inside line, and the Kings relied on the combination of Zhang Feng and Randolph to score easily.
If he continues to play like this, the Kings naturally have no opinion, although Randolph is a veteran, he still has a great advantage in physical strength, and Davis's shooting percentage is not ideal, and he has always relied on free throws to score.
By the halftime break, Zhang Feng had 14 points and 13 assists, while Randolph scored 16 points, which was the first time this season that the Kings had a player score more than Zhang Feng, and the Kings also led the Pelicans by 6 points at 58:52.
Back in the locker room, the whole team of the Kings praised Randolph, David was also very happy, although the tactics he arranged at the end of the first quarter did not limit Cousins, but successfully lowered Davis's shooting percentage, in the past Pelicans games Cousins and Davis all cut 30+ but difficult to win, today's victory in the game The King is almost nine out of ten.
"Randolph continued to play in the second half, and our tactics remained the same, continuing to compress the Pelicans' space," David excitedly announced.
"Do you want to hit the 30 assists record?" Randolph turned his head to look at Zhang Feng.
Currently, the NBA single-game assist record is 30, set by Scott Skilles in one game during the '90 season. It's been 27 years since this record was made, and the super point guards such as Magic, Kidd, Nash, and Paul have failed to break it after him.
Even Stockton, who is the No. 1 assist in the NBA, has a record of only 24 times in a single game, and it sounds a bit exaggerated for Zhang Feng to break the assist record, but if you consider that he has set 3 all-time records, it seems that it is not impossible.
"Is it possible?" Zhang Feng habitually asked rhetorically, it was indeed too difficult, not that he was not confident.
In the current NBA league, the pace of the game has accelerated significantly, and the average number of shots taken by point guards has also increased significantly, and many conditions need to be gathered to break this record again: first, you can't beat the opponent, otherwise you won't have the opportunity to brush up on assists, and secondly, you can't fall behind too much, so even if you set a record, you will feel regretful, and finally, you need teammates to hit a very high percentage of shots, otherwise the pass is useless.
"I'll help you get 5 assists alone, what's impossible?" Randolph gestured with an OK gesture. David picked up the half-time statistics and glanced at them: Randolph shot 6 of 7, 1 of 3 points, 1 of 1 shot, and the shooting rate was amazing, in addition, Bogdan also shot 3 of 4, and even Willy hit 1 3-pointer.
"I thought I could try it too," David suggested with a smile.
"Give it a try, give it a try", "Don't worry, I can't hit my phone", "I can overdraw the shooting percentage for the whole season to help you gamble" Mason took the lead in shouting, and several rookies such as Justin and Bogdan followed suit.
"Then it's decided" Zhang Feng clenched his fists, and the king's whole team gathered around to high-five.
On the Pelicans' side, Kim Terry is emphasizing not to give up on Zhang Feng's defense, and if he keeps playing like he did in the first half, it won't end well. But Cousins doesn't care, he has scored 30 points in the first half, and it is very likely to cut 45+15 in the second half.
Cousins is also a bit selfish in doing this, because his contract expires next summer, and the Pelicans now have two contracts of more than $100 million from Holiday and Davis, and it is very difficult to get a maximum salary in the Pelicans, but if you look at the free market, teams like the Lakers and Mavericks can provide him with a maximum salary, and he must play a statistic that shocks the general managers of major teams this season, and the 26+12 season so far is still a bit insufficient.
The 15-minute half-time timeout came to an instant and the players from both teams returned to the pitch with different minds.
The king's first attack, Zhang Feng quickly advanced to find cover, Bogdan did the blocking for him, he killed the inside line to deceive Cousins, handed the ball to Randolph, Randolph received the ball and faked to shake Davis who was making up the defense, and wiped the board to score.
The Pelicans counterattacked, Cousins stood early on the left elbow to ask for the ball, he didn't like to spin around under the basket to play, and opening and closing in the elbow area was his preferred way.
After Holiday handed over the ball, Cousins set up a three-threat position, Randolph wanted to defend early but miscalculated, Cousins seized the opportunity to rush directly to the baseline in three steps and hit an easy shot.
"32 points! The god of basketball tonight is called Cousins" The Pelicans commentator on the sidelines hurriedly patted the fart, but before he could continue to brag, Zhang Feng made a long pass to a quarterback in the backcourt and accurately gave the ball to Bogdan in the frontcourt.
Sudden fast break, the Pelicans didn't have time to stand in formation, the player defending Bogdan was Clark, he was only 198CM tall, a head shorter than him, and after the wave followed the hesitation for a while, he made a direct three-point shot.
"Haha, see it, you already have 18 assists", Randolph hadn't run past the midfield, he turned his head and cheered Zhang Feng.
The Pelicans attacked again, still Cousins held the ball in the right elbow area, and he faked Randolph and shot and continued to hit!
"Retreat, retreat!" Kim Terry shouted continuously from the sidelines, and Zhang Feng could only give up the fast attack.
After bringing the ball to the top of the arc, Zhang Feng signaled his teammates to run. Bogdan slipped from the left wing and got rid of Clark with Buddy in the bottom corner, and Pelicans Moore had to switch defenses. At the same time, Zhang Feng kept his eyes on Bogdan who was running, creating an illusion for the Pelicans that they were going to pass the ball to Bogdan.
2 seconds later, the Pelicans really hit the plan, and the left side of the court instantly changed from the strong side of the defense to the weak side of the defense, Zhang Feng changed the ball to his left hand under his crotch, and rushed to Buddy's side in two consecutive steps.
After Buddy took the hand-handed pass, he also moved a step to the left, and Zhang Feng blocked Clark, he was almost unguarded, but in order to increase the number of assists to Zhang Feng more consistently, he deliberately took a step forward and threw a long-distance 2-pointer.
The Kings hit back-to-back shots, Zhang Feng's assist count was rising, and the situation was very bad for the Pelicans, and Kim Terry was very anxious, but he couldn't call a timeout because Cousins also scored back-to-back goals, and it looks like he can score this time.
Cousins on the court has moved to a more outside position, he has a breakthrough in shooting during this time, and Randolph has no defense but to keep a small half-step distance, waiting for him to make the first move.
But Cousins was excited, and the neat MVP shouts of the Pelicans fans made him fluttering, so he attacked this time, neither breaking through nor shooting, but retreated to the outside line with a step-back step, and made a 3-pointer with lightning.
"35 points, while Cousins is still 21 points away from his career best, there are still 22 minutes left in the game, and he is shooting a horrific 76 percent from the field," the Pelicans commentator said.
"It is worth mentioning that on the King's side, Randolph is expected to break their record for the oldest scorer, and Zhang Feng is also very likely to get 24 assists, although today's game has some ups and downs, but whether it can break the record has become a major attraction, I hope the two teams can fight until the last minute, no matter who wins or loses, they will turn tonight's game into a record night"