Chapter 182: The Road Trip Ends
Zhang Yu calculated very well, thinking of using his height to block Paul's layup. But the queen bee can dominate the alliance, it is really so easy to be blocked, and it will not have today's achievements. Paul has always been very smart in timing his layups, so his coverage rate has always been one of the lowest among defenders in the league.
The queen bee's shot was very sudden, and she threw the basketball in her hand with a throw before Zhang Yu entered the three-second zone, and at the same time blocked it with her big ass, and stopped Zhang Yu in a daze.
The inside line was too late to defend, Zhang Yu had time but couldn't prevent it, Paul's long-distance throw drew a beautiful arc and fell into the net cleanly!
Paul turned around and thought of two trash words, sarcastically sarcastic to Zhang Yu, but as soon as he turned around, Zhang Yu had already turned around and went down the fast attack, David Lee served and threw it directly to the front court, and everyone couldn't catch up with Zhang Yu's speed......
Three seconds! Only three seconds after Paul's goal was completed, Zhang Yu had already scored a goal on the counterattack, and the entire "New Orleans Arena" fell silent, and even Paul swallowed the words that came to his lips again.
At the end of the first half, the score was 55:50, and the Knicks led the Hornets by 5 points into the second half.
Zhang Yu got 11 points, 3 rebounds and 4 assists, Crawford had no touch in the last game, this game finally recovered, 18 points at halftime became the team's leader, David Lee 10 points and 4 rebounds, Kenyon Martin 5 points and 5 rebounds, the number of jรน can not reflect his role, the defensive end limited David Wesley is Kenyon Martin's real contribution.
Chris Paul got a game-high 20 points and 6 assists, today's Queen Bee offensive pass is grasped with both hands, and both hands are very hard, this year is not only LeBron James, Kobe Bryant, Chris Paul is also one of the MVP contenders, dragging him down is the team's record, if the Hornets maintain last season's record, plus Paul's current average of 22+11 per game, compared to the two-time MVP winner Nash is not inferior.
James, Kobe, Paul, Howard, Wade, Anthony, Zhang Yu, these are the players who are qualified to compete for MVP this year, so far, the MVP is basically selected from among these seven people, of course, it is not excluded which Bull will only exert his strength after the All-Star Game, it is not without this possibility.
Barkley said at halftime: "The Hornets were one of the youngest teams to shine in the NBA last season, and the New Orleans Hornets, led by David Westster and the incomparable Chris Paul, seem to have been affected by injuries this season, but they are still in the top eight in the West, and if they get rid of injuries in the second half of the season, they may be able to enter the top four in the Western Conference."
Kenny Smith nodded and said, "There is no doubt that Paul is the man who can be called the soul player, he encapsulates the high level of skill that is required to be a leader - high level of skill, high quality, mental influence, cheerful character, outstanding as an individual, and in the end he will become a high-quality central figure to guide the team forward."
In the second half, David West began to recover, but the other players still could not give Paul enough support, Chandler went directly to the locker room in the second half to treat his back injury, and the boxing king's injury recurred again after the first half and David Lee and Birdman Anderson's repeated bombardment, which cast a shadow over the entire Hornets team.
Paul was still the hardest working man on the field in the second half, and his teammates couldn't help him, so he could only rely on himself, so that the Chinese fans who watched the game couldn't help but think of Iverson in the early years, and LeBron this season, they are all lone heroes and worthy of respect.
Zhang Yu expressed his respect with a three-point arc after Paul finally narrowed the score to three points!
"Lao Tzu killed you, which is the greatest respect for you! If you win, you won't be called a lone hero, but a dead hero is even more moving! Zhang Yu secretly thought, he doesn't want to be this kind of hero.
Posey began to be more and more difficult to limit Zhang Yu in the third quarter, he has already committed three fouls, if Zhang Yu can't keep up with his pace, many times fouls are inevitable, experience and awareness are only part of the defense, and the body must also keep up.
Zhang Yu scored 9 points in the third quarter, increasing his personal score to 20 points.
At the end of the third quarter, the score of the two teams was 79:72, and the Hornets not only did not close the score in the third quarter, but the Knicks extended the difference to 7 points.
Chris Paul's personal tally has risen to 28 points and 9 assists, and he still can't bring the two teams closer, making the NBA's top three point guards in a very bad mood, with a gloomy face and dripping water.
In the fourth quarter, the Hornets' second lineup dragged their feet again, and by the time Paul came on the court at 9:30, the team was 84-74, a full 10 points behind the Knicks. Scott, the head coach of the Hornets, knew that if he didn't let Paul play, he might not need to play after two minutes.
Zhang Yu is in a good mood, and the substitution is to make people feel freehand, this mood is comfortable, and he even feels that his body has become faster.
D'Antoni only replaced Zhang Yu at 7:10, and the score was 88:80, and Paul only recovered 2 points in more than two minutes.
In addition to Chris Paul's heroic play today, even David Wesley showed a mediocre appearance, Peja only scored 5 points today, except for the leaky mid-range shot in the opening game, he hit a three-pointer in the full three quarters, and under Wallace's defense, the former sharpshooter had no chance.
In the fourth quarter, Posey continued to defend Zhang Yu with four fouls on his back, but Zhang Yu felt that this difficult opponent seemed to be not as difficult as the first three quarters?
Zhang Yu rested enough off the court, his body was abundant, and he ran empty-handed without the ball as soon as he came up, Posey was indeed slower than in the first three quarters, he was not happy, and he couldn't keep up with Zhang Yu after the body fell in the fourth quarter.
Using the cross cover of his teammates, Zhang Yu came out to receive the basketball, Posey was still two steps away from him, Zhang Yu did not hesitate, and directly raised his hand to make a three-point shot, Posey stretched out his arm, but he couldn't interfere with Zhang Yu at all, and the basketball hollow fell into the net!
This is Zhang Yu's third three-pointer in this game, hitting 3 of 6 shots, with a 50% shooting rate, I believe the Hornets will feel very painful!
With this three-pointer, the difference between the two teams widened to 11 points, reaching double digits, and the morale of the Hornets players was instantly low, and even the shouts of the fans were much quieter.
Paul knew that he had to return the colors, otherwise the game would be over.
The Hornets attacked, and Paul relied on the cover to get the shooting space, and also raised his hand to shoot a three-point shot, which hung the last breath for the Hornets.
The two teams have reached a stalemate, Posey can no longer limit Zhang Yu, and Paul has no one to restrict, not only can not limit his scoring, but also can not prevent assists. If it weren't for Kenyon Martin for letting David West not play and Wallace staring Peja, this game might have turned out to be like that.
New Zealand center Sean Marks received a clever pass from Paul and scored two points from a board in the box. The New Zealand center is now struggling to get another NBA contract except for the Hornets, but it is such an interior player who may not be as good as Dazhi, but he relied on Paul's wonderful pass in the second half and scored 6 points on 3-of-3 shooting.
Zhang Yu has always felt that his passing should have a little bit of Nash's flavor, and now he knows what the league's real passing master looks like. Thinking about the last time they played the Suns, if it weren't for the discord between the coaches and players, and the factional struggle within the team, it would not be easy for them to win the Suns. The Suns recently fired their coach and immediately improved steadily, and their last challenge was to catch up with the good times.
With this assist, Paul has increased his assist tally to 10 in this game, with 31 points and 10 assists, shining all over the court, if you don't look at the score.
Wallace not only had his eyes on Peja today, but he also made some achievements on the offensive end.
The New Zealand center had just scored a goal, the Knicks launched a quick counterattack, Peja's ankle really couldn't run fast, and Wallace received another fast pass to stage a one-handed split!
Zhang Yu smiled again, although our passing ability is not as good as these masters, but D'Antoni's system makes it too easy for the ball handler to brush assists, which is not ...... Swiped another one, and also got 5 assists in this game.
In the last two minutes of the game, the score was 99-89, and the Knicks still led the Hornets by 10 points.
Paul passed to the perimeter, Posey's three-pointer was interfered with by Zhang Yu, David Leea and Kenyon Martin each withstood their opponents, Wallace rushed to grab the rebound, and the Knicks' victory in this game looked secure.
Zhang Yu began to press the clock, and finally forced a breakthrough to create Posey's sixth foul, and the aging defensive stalwart was finally crushed, but he did it well enough, Zhang Yu felt that the pressure he brought to him was not inferior to Battier of the Rockets in the last game.
Two free throws, 1 minute and 41 seconds in the fourth quarter, Zhang Yu expanded the score of the two teams to 12 points for the first time, the Hornets completely gave up resistance, and Scott replaced all the main forces and announced his surrender!