Chapter 218 217. Game !

When the final whistle sounded, Zhang Yang's tense nerves finally relaxed. After playing for 40 minutes and making 30 successful shots, the fatigue surged into his body and he felt like he was floating.

By tonight, he had discovered Bickerstaff's true intentions.

The coach was so brave! He actually asked this 18-year-old second-year player to carry the offensive banner and fight a war of attrition with the opponent. And not just one game, but a war of attrition for the entire Eastern Conference Finals.

If he fails in any game, fails to continuously beat Hamilton, and fails to continuously put scoring pressure on the opponent, there may not be any game tonight!

But you have to say, it's really exciting to play under Bickerstaff.

They were able to turn the situation around!
Although he was tired, Zhang Yang recovered and stood up straight. He was keenly aware that the camera was pointed at him. The post-match interview was probably coming, so he quickly prepared a speech...

The reporter from the court TV station came with the cameraman to greet Zhang Yang, and first excitedly told the camera about tonight's game, and then said to Zhang Yang: "Jack, congratulations on your birthday night, scoring 44 points and leading the team to tie the score. Are you confident in the upcoming Game ?"

Zhang Yang had already prepared a speech. When he heard about "Game 7" and "confidence", he replied: "The Pistons are a very strong team. They have rich playoff experience and the best teamwork in the league. We had a hard time in the Eastern Conference Finals this time, but starting tonight, the offense and defense will change... Eh? Birthday night?"

After a while, he suddenly realized that the reporter seemed to have mentioned "birthday night". Wasn't his birthday tomorrow? This game had already been played until the early hours of the next day? Wait! Today is June 2007, 6, his birthday according to the solar calendar!

His family usually celebrates birthdays according to the lunar calendar. Before leaving Charlotte yesterday, his mother encouraged him to "come back with a victory to celebrate his birthday." He completely forgot that June 6th was his solar calendar birthday!

He forgot, but his teammates didn't.

Zhang Yang had just realized that today was his birthday according to the Gregorian calendar when he heard his teammates singing Happy Birthday in a disjointed manner.

Zhang Yang turned his head and saw Felton pushing a big cake out of the player tunnel.

He was a little puzzled just now. He scored 44 points to help the team tie the score, but after the game, not many teammates gathered around him to celebrate. It was not like this before. It turned out that they were preparing to celebrate his birthday.

But, after just winning a game away from home, wouldn’t it be a bit too ostentatious to celebrate his birthday on the spot?
The fans at the scene had started to leave, but now they stopped and booed them!
...

Zhang Yang had a special birthday.

Cutting his birthday cake amid thousands of boos, he seriously suspected that his teammates wanted to get some camera time with him, otherwise they could have waited until he finished the interview and returned to the locker room before celebrating his birthday.

Also, before returning to Charlotte the next morning, he heard that they were complained by the Pistons staff. They made the court and locker room dirty, and the league asked them to pay for the cleaning. Fortunately, he didn't have to pay for it, because Boss Joe would pay for it.

Of course, he was quite happy throughout the birthday night. He celebrated his birthday by winning the away game in Game 6 on June 6. It is estimated that such a coincidence will hardly happen again.

What’s more, my teammates even ordered a cake in advance and secretly hid it in the visiting team’s lounge, which was quite touching.

After returning to Charlotte, his parents helped him and his teammates to have a birthday party at the farm in the afternoon. Originally, his family had planned to celebrate his birthday in a low-key manner. It was only his 19th birthday, not his 91st birthday, but the atmosphere had come to this point, so he had to make up for it.

However, the seventh game will be played tomorrow, so his parents discussed it with the coaching staff and only provided meals, drinks and a place to play cards, but no alcohol.

Jordan rarely set an example by not drinking at the party, but just playing cards.

Zhang Yang also played two games and lost 80 dollars, so he decided to stop playing.

When it comes to playing cards, he can’t beat Jordan, that old gambler.

He came to his father's office, wanting to borrow his younger brother for a walk, and saw his mother waving her keyboard and passionately chatting with netizens.

Zhang Yang: "Mom, who are you arguing with? Your face is red."

Yang Jing: "It's those cavaliers... No, it's the 50-year-old Pistons fans who said you don't respect them by celebrating your birthday and victory at the Palace of Auburn Hills. What the hell is this! You can't let people celebrate after winning?"

Zhang Yang glanced at the IP and said, "Pistons fans are really loyal. They've moved to Ohio, but they still care so much about their hometown team... Mom, why don't you watch some lighthearted news? It's not good for your health to sulk after watching these things every day."

Yang Jing: "I won't hold my temper. I will yell back immediately. They can't win an argument with me!"

Looking at his mother's proud face, Zhang Yang really didn't expect that his mother would be like this after no longer having the pressure of life and no longer worrying about making money... It's pretty good, much better than before when she had to work hard from dawn to dusk.

After a moment of pride, Yang Jing opened another website and said, "There is also some happy news, Yangyang, take a look."

Zhang Yang glanced at it and said, "Uh...it's quite interesting."

It was also related to his birthday last night.

They equalized the score in Game 6 and turned the situation around, which is undoubtedly the hottest topic in North American sports right now.

They got a lot of praise, and most fans, except for Pistons fans and 50-year Pistons fans, wanted them to make the finals.

His statement in an interview last night that "the situation has turned around" was also praised by many people.

That’s right, he has a new personality - he loves basketball and is so focused on the game that he even forgets his birthday and sleeps.

Yang Jing teased: "Yangyang, you eat more than anyone else, sleep longer than anyone else, and you forget to eat and sleep?"

Zhang Yang took back his compliments to his mother and fiercely retorted: "I'm not the one who eats the most, Okafor is!"

In recent years, his appetite has been increasing year by year. After entering the NBA, he has also slept 2-3 hours longer than in high school. But what's wrong with eating more? What's wrong with sleeping more? If athletes don't eat more and sleep more, they will probably die on the court.

After a relaxing and enjoyable day, on June 6th, the seventh game day of the Eastern Conference Finals arrived.

The whole Bobcats team was laughing and joking yesterday, but in this morning's pre-game meeting, they were more focused and serious than ever.

We have finally turned the situation around, we can't let it down now.

Tonight, one game will decide the outcome!

The day of preparation passed quickly, and at 9 o'clock in the evening, the Bobcats and the Pistons started the Eastern Conference Finals Game at home!
Rasheed Wallace defeated Okafor to win the jump ball, and the Pistons attacked first!

Pistons starting lineup: Billups, Hamilton, Prince, Rasheed Wallace, McDyess.

Bobcats starting lineup: Felton, Zhang Yang, Gerald Wallace, Millsap, Okafor.

Billups advanced to the frontcourt and took a three-point shot before Gerald Wallace could come up... and missed!
But Rasheed Wallace rushed in to grab the offensive rebound, threw the ball out, and Hamilton received the ball and made a mid-range shot...and it went in!
In the transition from offense to defense, Zhang Yang received the serve and advanced to the front court.

The opponent's offense was full of vigor just now, and they were also increasing their resistance on the defensive end... The tenacious civilian army Pistons were not so easy to be defeated, and they fought harder tonight than in previous games.

Zhang Yang was excited to start playing singles... "Jack, give me the ball."

Felton beckoned for the ball.

Zhang Yang passed the ball and ran towards the baseline with a puffy face.

Felton and Millsap started the attack with a pick-and-roll, Okafor seized the opportunity to move up the line, Felton was blocked at close range and shot in the high post, Okafor received the ball, Prince made up for it, Okafor jumped up and shot using his height advantage... but was interfered by Prince's huge long arms and missed!

McDyess secured the defensive rebound and passed it to Billups, who pushed for a counterattack, with Hamilton and Prince rushing down the wings.

Zhang Yang, Gerald Wallace and Millsap retreated to their positions, and Okafor and Felton quickly returned to the three-point line, preventing Billups' counterattack fast break.

However, although the Pistons' fast break was curbed, the dislocation had already formed.

Billups broke into the inside against Millsap, found a gap in the Bobcats' shrinking defense, passed the ball to the left side of the free throw line, and Rasheed Wallace received the ball and made a mid-range shot...hit!
The Pistons started with a 4-0 lead! In the offense-defense transition, Felton still didn't let Zhang Yang attack, but let Zhang Yang go to the basket to prepare for the shot, and then passed the ball to Okafor who was leaning against Rasheed Wallace in the low post.

Zhang San ran to the bottom corner, feeling a little restless, but he knew that the decision of the fat boss was right, so he quietly moved away and waited for the opportunity.

If the opponent starts off aggressively, you should let the players with tougher playing style and higher efficiency in shooting area to fight harder.

Zhang Yang sighed in his heart: Little Fatty's ability to read the game is getting stronger and stronger, and in this kind of game he is calmer and more selfless than him, Zhang San.

Sometimes being selfless doesn't mean giving the ball to others. Felton's way of playing with the ball is also a kind of selflessness.

Facing the Pistons who started the game with great momentum, if we had to fight hard, the consumption would be huge and the efficiency would not be high.

After playing for more than 3 minutes, the Pistons started with a 10-6 lead. Bickerstaff took advantage of a dead ball and followed Felton's on-the-spot response to replace Zhang Yang, Gerald Wallace and Millsap with Rondo, Alan Anderson and Muhammad, ensuring defense, using Felton and Okafor to consume the opponent, and trying to use Rondo to sneak attacks and counterattacks.

This adjustment was very effective. In the next 3 minutes, although Rondo's sneak attack and counterattack failed and the Bobcats only scored 4 points, they still reduced the Pistons' score to 6 points.

Halfway through the first quarter, the Pistons led the Bobcats by 16 points, 10-6, and went into the official timeout.

Bickerstaff made another lineup adjustment, with Rondo, Zhang Yang, Gerald Wallace, Millsap and Perkins coming on the court.

On the Pistons side, Saunders also rotated the lineup, replacing Delfino and Webber, while Billups, Hamilton and Rasheed Wallace continued to play.

After the timeout, the Bobcats attacked. Rondo advanced to the frontcourt and directed Zhang Yang to the high post... and suddenly started to advance!
Billups was caught off guard and failed to stop Rondo. Rondo rushed into the inside like lightning. Rasheed Wallace failed to retreat in time. Rondo made a layup against Webber's block... and it hit!
After this goal, Rondo, Rasheed Wallace and Millsap were shocked. In the next 5 minutes, the Bobcats attacked the inside fiercely, forcing the Pistons to tighten their defense.

After waiting patiently for several rounds, Zhang Yang got four shooting opportunities in the last two minutes and scored two goals to get four points.

加上隆多的2分、杰拉德-华莱士的3分、米尔萨普补篮拿到两分，山猫队后半节5分16秒钟时间拿到11分！
The Pistons used a lineup in the second half that theoretically had better team offensive coordination, but their offense was not as good as in the first half.

The key reason——Rashid Wallace pulled it!
He made 4 of 3 shots in the first half, including 1 of 1 three-pointers, and scored 7 points, 3 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal and 1 block. He looked more like Garnett than Duncan, but in the second half, he missed 1 three-pointer and 1 mid-range shot, couldn't grab rebounds, and couldn't keep up with the defense.

Although Rasheed Wallace is not the tactical core, his tactical role is irreplaceable. He can protect the rim like Duncan and can make mid-range and long-range shots and pass the ball like Garnett. Although he doesn't do it as well, his role is very crucial. The fact that Larry Brown was able to lead the Pistons to win the championship in the 03-04 season was directly related to the fact that he got Rasheed Wallace for free, even though other teams didn't want him.

活塞队后半节只有3人得分，韦伯4分、汉密尔顿4分、比卢普斯造了个三分投篮犯规走上罚球线3罚全中，拿到11分。

首节打完，活塞队靠着汉密尔顿单节10分、拉希德-华莱士单节7分、韦伯4分、比卢普斯3分、麦克戴斯3分，以27比21领先山猫队6分进入节间休息。

Although he still maintains a 6-point lead, Sanders now doesn't know how to adjust.

At the beginning of the game, he attacked and defended fiercely, trying to press on to widen the score gap, but the opponent replaced the iron-blooded lineup and held on, and his strategy was easily broken by the opponent.

It's not that he doesn't know that the probability of success is very low, but he has to fight. In Game 6, the Pistons were already in a passive position, and the battle line continued to lengthen. They were even more passive tonight and had to take risky moves and continue the usual fight. They were no match for the group of young guys on the opposite side.

The adjustments Sanders made during the intermission were routine, with Lynch-Hunter and Hamilton coming on, and Delfino, Webber and McDyess coming off.

This lineup can attack and defend, and is a good rotation lineup, but when Zhang Yang, Gerald Wallace, and Okafor play together on the opposite side, this lineup is not good enough.

Hamilton scored 10 points again in the second quarter, plus Webber's 6 points, Billups' 5 points who came on as a substitute, and... that's all. Only these three guys scored for the Pistons in the second quarter, and they only scored 21 points in the quarter!
山猫队第二节攻防两端优势尽显，隆多打了8分钟，拿到2分5板5助攻，帮助杰拉德-华莱士拿到4分、奥卡福拿到5分、轮换上场的费尔顿和米尔萨普各拿到两分、以及……张杨打了6分多钟6投4中其中三分球2中2加上2中2的罚球半节时间拿到12分！
With a score of 27 to 21 in a single quarter, the Bobcats tied the score at the end of the first half and entered the halftime break with the Pistons at 48 to 48!

After halftime, Sanders was forced to switch to a purely defensive lineup, counting on Billups and Hamilton to score.

The Pistons played really well in the third quarter. The players played very hard. If they lost tonight, they would be gone. Although they only scored 18 points, they prevented the Bobcats from scoring only 19 points. After three quarters, the Pistons were close with a score of 66 to 67.

At this time, a commentator attacked Sanders' lineup rotation in the second quarter, claiming that if Sanders started playing defense in the second quarter, he could use the 6-point lead in the first quarter to slowly wear down the Bobcats.

But he was soon slapped in the face... At the beginning of the final quarter, Zhang Yang broke through Hamilton and scored consecutively. He made 4 of 3 shots in two and a half minutes, and fed a pass to Muhammad. The Bobcats made an 8-2 run, extending the score to 75-68 and expanding the lead to 7 points!
The Pistons called a timeout!

It’s not that Sanders doesn’t want to attack defense early on, but it was okay in the first four games. In Game 4, they could no longer beat the opponent in terms of defense. If they want to play defense, they have to maintain the lead until the last quarter like they did in Game 5. In the situation tonight, they attacked defense in the second quarter and collapsed in the second half. They couldn’t wait until now.

After a quarter of defense, they didn't score a single goal in the first two and a half minutes of the fourth quarter, and only got two points by relying on Billups' breakthrough and two free throws.

Sanders' timeout didn't have any effect this time. After the timeout, Rondo, who came on as a substitute, stole the ball from Billups. Zhang Yang counterattacked and received the ball. He made a layup against Hamilton who was retreating, and scored in double digits in a single quarter again!

4 points in the first quarter, 12 points in the second quarter, and 4 points in the third quarter. With this shot, Zhang Yang's score increased to 28 points, surpassing Hamilton who scored 10 points in the first quarter, 10 points in the second quarter, and 7 points in the third quarter, becoming the highest scorer of the game!

When the Pistons attacked, Billups received the ball and pushed the tempo forward. He had a serious and focused expression.

Facing a 9-point difference, they still wanted to overtake. They were the ones who took away the home advantage at the beginning! They couldn't accept such a defeat!

But when his teammates got into position, Billups looked at the opposing defense, not knowing whether to pass the ball or do it himself.

Zhang Yang and Rondo surrounded Hamilton, Okafor defended the cut-in at close range, Perkins squatted under the basket alone, Rasheed Wallace, Prince and McDyess moved far away and the Bobcats completely ignored them!

Billups tried to pass the ball to Rasheed Wallace. Rasheed Wallace received the ball without hesitation and shot a three-pointer towards Zhang Yang who was rushing towards him from a distance... and missed!
This time the Pistons retreated quickly, preventing the Bobcats from launching a fast break and also defending the Bobcats' positional offense. But when it was the Pistons' turn to attack again, Billups was still at a loss as to who to pass the ball to?
Hamilton, who scored 27 points in three quarters, was surrounded and couldn't make any of the three open shots in the frontcourt...he could only do it himself!
Billups broke through Gerald Wallace and made a long two-pointer. The Pistons finally scored a goal in the final quarter.

But Rondo rushed into the paint and scored two points with a layup, widening the gap to 9 points again.

After finally scoring a goal, the opponent responded immediately. A sense of despair spread in Billups' heart. Everything seemed to have returned to the finals two years ago. Although the method was different, they were also worn down by the Spurs bit by bit...

In the next 8 minutes, Billups began his lonely dance and shot madly, but he only made 9 of 3 shots and got 6 points.

Hamilton's flaws were exposed at this time - poor ball-holding ability. Facing the double-team attack from Zhang Yang, Rondo and Felton, he had no way out and only got two points in the final quarter by counterattacking.

With Rasheed Wallace's desperate rush for a tip-in and 4 points, the three brothers scored a total of 16 points in the final quarter, and the Pistons as a whole only scored 16 points.

山猫队这边，张杨单节10分后，在4分19秒命中一次反击上篮、6分39秒投进了一个三分球、8分59秒反击上篮得手，单节得分提升到17分！
With Rondo's 8 points, Gerald Wallace, Perkins and Okafor each scored 2 points, and the Bobcats scored 31 points in the final quarter!
2007年6月8号晚上11点21分，随着张杨压哨三分不中，东决落下帷幕。

Seeing Zhang Yang's three-pointer hit the rim, the Bobcats players and fans at the scene all sighed with regret, but the fans immediately cheered wildly. The Bobcats players, coaches, and management staff immediately rushed into the court and cheered and celebrated wildly with the players on the field!
Jordan was the first to rush into the court with his big belly.

It would have taken him at least another two years to defeat the Pistons, just like he did back then, spending four years honing his skills, losing from 4 to 88, and finally completing his revenge in 90.

Unexpectedly, he successfully avenged the Pistons the following year! For him, nothing could be more exciting than this!
Moreover, the team made it to the finals in the third year of its establishment!

Jordan tried hard to suppress the corners of his mouth, but he couldn't do it at all!

On the other side, the four Pistons stood together, unwilling but helpless. After losing in Game 6, they already felt that victory was far away.

At this moment, their emotion was not frustration or anger, but loneliness.

汉密尔顿前三节20投10中拿到全场最高的27分，但末节只得到3次出手机会只进了1球，单场30分都没拿到。

比卢普斯23投9中拿到22分，拉希德-华莱士14投5中拿到12分……表现都远不及前五场。

And the young guys on the opposite side are getting better and better!

隆多今晚8投5中，加上2中2的罚球，拿到12分11板12助攻3抢断，其中第二节单节2分5板5助攻、末节8分3板4助攻，在山猫队追平比分和拉开分差的时候起到了关键作用。

Felton and Okafor's main role tonight was to fight a war of attrition and create better offensive conditions for Zhang Yang and Gerald Wallace.

杰拉德-华莱士今晚拿到16分7板3助攻2抢断3盖帽。

张杨更是不得了了，首节4分、第二节12分、第三节4分、末节17分，全场打了34分钟，25投13中、其中三分球9中4，加上8中7的罚球……如果最后几秒的那个压哨三分进了，就又是一场单场40分！
37分4板2助攻1抢断1盖帽，张杨率领山猫队以98比82逆转且大胜活塞队。

Zhang Yang scored 7+ points in 30 consecutive games in the Eastern Conference Finals, including 40+ points in two games. He averaged 36 points per game in the Eastern Conference Finals and led the Bobcats to a 4-3 reversal of the Pistons and meet the Spurs in the finals!
(End of this chapter)