The possible effects of Zhang Hao's ideas analyzed by Del Harris were all correctly analyzed, but the goals the two wanted to achieve were somewhat deviations.

What Zhang Hao wants is to do what he is best at - to waste energy with the opponent's core players!

The current situation has allowed Olajuwon to rest for a while and keep fighting when he appears. Even if the Lakers have gained some lead, when Olajuwon is partnering with Kassel or Drexler, the Rockets have the chance to catch up with the score, and there is a high probability that they can catch up.

As a player, Zhang Hao is not as optimistic as Del Harris.

It’s not that Del Harris is wrong. As the head coach, he arranged a rotation and a tactic. He must first gain confidence in himself to bring confidence to the players.

Zhang Hao is very afraid of Olajuwon, who is still at the peak. In the 13 minutes of Olajuwon's first half, it proved very well how strong Olajuwon is. This is the best center in history who just won two consecutive FMVPs.

Then in the end, you will compete for the key ball ability.

Although Zhang Hao is not afraid of playing key ball skills, if possible, he will naturally choose a better way.

Otherwise, why should I take advantage of such an opportunity?

After the start of the second half of the second quarter, Kassel had a hard time playing.

Although the Rockets coach equipped him with a lineup that suits him like Drexler, Sam Mark, Horry, and Mark Bryant, but it is only the lineup that suits him within the Rockets. This lineup is more about his ability, and these teammates can help him. Drexler, Sam Mark, and Mark Bryant all need him to feed the ball, and cannot play a complementary role.

Originally, he could also play Zhang Hao with pick-and-roll and try to hit the basket, but now with Campbell at the basket, Mark Bryant is a pure blue-collar worker, so he can only divide the wings. However, Doug Christie's defensive strength is stronger than the Rockets expected, and George Lynch is the Lakers' best defender on the front line and defends Horry very well...

In addition, the Lakers' offense is very fierce!

Once the Rockets fail to make a shot, Zhang Hao immediately finds an opportunity to counterattack. If the counterattack cannot be made, the Rockets retreat and defend in place or are limited by the passing of Doug Christie and Sedale Sreit. Without counterattacking, Zhang Hao started to sit and play.

Zhang Hao's bottom line back hitting has great flaws, and his playing style is very single, but it is very unsolvable under the right conditions.

Horry, Drexler, and Sam Mark all went to defend, but they couldn't!

Originally, what Del Harris wanted was to play steadily, and if he had the opportunity, he would fight back. If he didn't, he would take his time. Just have a five- and six-point difference before the half. Save the physical strength of the core lineup. Van Exel and the Magic both kept their physical strength for the second half, allowing Sedale Sreeter and Doug Christie to lead the team with their height advantage and defensive advantage.

But Zhang Hao made efforts in the positional battle and strengthened his positional battle offense. He came up and scored a 11-4 wave! With two minutes left in the first half, the Lakers led the Rockets 61-53 by 8 points, stopping the Rockets again!

At this time, the Rockets had already seen the Lakers' strategy - forcing Olajuwon to play and consuming Olajuwon.

Rudy Tomjanovic made this judgment based on the fact that Olajuwon was forced to pull to a high position in advance to start a more expensive style of play at the beginning of the game.

And Del Harris only now understands Zhang Hao’s real goal... I am very excited. The current situation is indeed better than he expected, and the probability of winning is greater! At the same time, I am also very glad.

"Fortunately I didn't ask much, otherwise I would seem so stupid. Fortunately, I took the initiative to rotate... Humph, this dead child is just lucky!"

...

Seeing that the score difference was about to be widened to more than 10 points, Olajuwon took the field early and won the building.

After he came up, it was easy to prevent the players who were playing on the back. Just stick to each other and stick to each other. Don’t worry about Zhang Hao turning around. Trying to get close to Zhang Hao without giving Zhang Hao a chance to turn over easily. Olajuwon can make up for the defense.

In addition, Drexler, Horry, and Olajuwon are all there. The Lakers' mid-range distance is limited by the Rockets, and the Lakers' offense becomes Zhang Hao and Doug Christie's shot from the outside.

In the last two minutes, the Rockets played an 8-4 wave. After the half, the Lakers led the Rockets by 4 points 65-61.

The situation is very clear, and Lakers players also understand the strategic intentions after the start of the second quarter tonight. They feel that our Silver Fox is a bull!

Since Zhang Hao unexpectedly defended the Rockets' offense with Olajuwon in a low post at the beginning, Olajuwon played with all his strength from the beginning. Now, even if the Rockets understand the Lakers' intentions, they can only jump in.

Hongguoguo’s open plot! But Tomjanovic has no choice, they rely too much on Olajuwon.

This year, they rely on Olajuwon far more than in the past two seasons. Currently, they have 30 wins and 24 losses. In the nine games they lost, Olajuwon was absent from 8 games! That is, when Olajuwon was not there, they only had 1 wins and 8 losses. In the games that Olajuwon played, the Rockets' record was 29 wins and 16 losses. Although coincidences sometimes account for the main component, with such a high probability, you can see the importance of Olajuwon.

The main reason is that during the two consecutive championships, except for Drexler, who was trying to hold his thigh and the Rockets exchanged it with the same salary, there was almost no substantial reinforcement. During the two consecutive championships, their players except Olajuwon's salary increased from 3 million to 5 million, and their other salary expenses were very low. Their salary in the two seasons they won the championship was not as high as the salary cap...

Tomjanovic missed his former boss very much... But in 1993, the summer before the championship year, a Jewish boss bought their team and then began to save money...

This situation has caused players to have overloaded physically, injured and unchanged after two consecutive championships, and the aging of the lineup cannot be updated!

If it weren't for the 23-and-a-half-year-old Kassel, who was considered an older rookie these days, would have collapsed on the point guard long ago.

Tonight, Drexler, who originally thought the biggest advantage, encountered great restrictions after Doug Christie came on the court, and his performance was not as expected. Tomjanovic could only continue to point at the 33-year-old Olajuwon alone.

The Rockets have a clear goal and want to establish a lead in the third quarter and then give Olajuwon a break in the first half of the fourth quarter. It would be better if the third quarter can lock in the victory, but the minimum goal is to establish an advantage so that it can be delayed to a critical moment.

On the Lakers, the goals are also clear, and they don’t ask for anything else, and they will tighten the score in the third quarter!

In the end, the Lakers succeeded!

After resting in the second quarter, the Magic played in the third quarter, with Anthony Pierre, Doug Christie, Zhang Hao, and Campbell on the court, and fought with Olajuwon for a while. The people under his command were more Del Harris to accurately control the rotation timing. Van Exel, George Lynch, Donyere Marshall, Jason Williams and others played alternately, trying their best to fight against the powerful Olajuwon!

When the third quarter was finished, the Lakers were not overtaken and led by 93 to 92 and entered the fourth quarter by 1 point!

Although the Rockets scored 31-28 in the third quarter and had the advantage in a single quarter, they were lagging behind overall!

The inside offense is not good for the team's offense. Olajuwon, who played at high positions most of the time tonight, was already very tired, but he still had to play at the beginning of the fourth quarter.

Drexler only scored 11 points in the first three quarters tonight, but he consumed a lot. He is an important part of the Rockets' outside defense. He needs to cooperate with Horry's defense, Olajuwon's defense, and Kassel's defense.

The Lakers defended very hard, attacked very hard, and were very tired, but at the beginning of the fourth quarter, Zhang Hao rushed up!

Can't stop it!

Zhang Hao triggered a counterattack of "single riding", which was very prominent when most players in the game were exhausted severely.

In the first two minutes, Zhang Hao completed two counterattack dunks, helping the Lakers to achieve high morale at the beginning, and then another three-pointer hit with a counterattack... After a 13-4 wave, the Lakers successfully scored the score to 106-96, achieving a 10-point lead!

This wave of impact allowed the Lakers to secure the victory!

Looking at Zhang Hao who was getting more and more excited, Olajuwang felt what youth was. He seemed to see his running in the sunset, which was his lost youth...

...

122 to 108, in the end, the Lakers defeated the Rockets by 14 points, improving their record to 43 wins and 10 losses, and winning 5 consecutive victories!

16 of 26 shots, including 2 of 4 three-pointers, plus 7 of 8 free throws. Zhang Hao relied on 10 points in the second quarter and 17 points in the last quarter. He played for 48 minutes, and 41 points, 10 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal, 5 blocks, and 40+10+5 data!

The 7th time this season is 40+, and it's been a long time since I finally arrived!

In the last quarter, Zhang Hao kept rushing to the opponent's basket, made 6 of 9 shots in a single quarter, scored a three-pointer, got 6 free throws and scored 4... It brought a strong visual impact to the fans who watched the live broadcast.

It is obvious that when defending, it has reached the point where it is standing close to preventing blue-collar attacks...it is equivalent to commanding traffic, but when it comes to counterattack, it is too fierce!

Many passers-by fans who watched this game were attracted by Zhang Hao's wonderful performance in the last quarter.

Olajuwon also performed very well tonight, making 13 of 26 shots, 8 of 9 free throws, scoring 34 points, 8 rebounds, 7 assists, 4 blocks and 2 steals, but in the first three quarters, 12 of 18 shots, which was the quarter with the most shots in a single quarter, but only 1 of 8 shots.

Although anyone with discerning eyes can see that Olajuwon's role in the game is stronger than Zhang Hao, who has better data, but who makes people young and energetic?

He naturally won't be happy if he loses the game. After the game, Olajuwon gave Zhang Hao a caring handshake from his senior and left.

Zhang Hao accepted the post-match interview as calmly as ever, expressed his remarks that he didn't care about 40+ at all, and was about to leave when he found someone staring at him again...

Who? No one! But it's the sight from this direction.

When I looked down, I almost got scared to tears.

Fortunately, he is a professional dress... a cold gentleman.

Seeing the other party's cramped look, Zhang Hao took the initiative to ask: "Hello, Mr. Kassel, is there anything wrong?"

Not despised! Kassel smiled warmly again.

Although Kassel is a football player when entering the NBA, he is considered a more inferior person outside the court.

Zhang Hao almost couldn't help but want to turn around and escape, but fortunately, because of his own personality, he held it back.

Finally, Kassel spoke: "Aix, can I call you like this? Or should I call you Zhang?"

Zhang Hao nodded: "Of course."

"Aix, you played so well! So smart, you made perfect use of your advantages. I have never seen a player as smart as you." After Kassel finished speaking, he said goodbye and left.

Zhang Hao was full of question marks - "Is this... I'm here to praise me specifically?"

Zhang Hao was confused, and although Kassel had a friendly exchange with Zhang Hao, he had no idea of ​​more in-depth communication for the time being.

"4 of 11 shots, 10 points, 5 assists and 1 steal... It was so bad! I have to win his respect with my performance!"

...

...

7 times 40+!

In the game against the Rockets, Zhang Hao tied Jordan's rookie season with 7 times and 40+ times, and the highest number of rookie seasons for all active players in the rookie season is 40+ times!

This is also the highest record after 8 single-game 40+ times by David Thompson, the No. 1 pick in 1975. It is the highest number of NBA rookies in single games after the merger of the NBA and ABA in 1976. After entering the modern basketball era, NBA rookies have a maximum number of 40+ times in single games!

Moreover, the Lakers have only played 53 games and still have 29 games. Although it is hard to get 40+ in a single game, even Jordan is just... Jordan, who has played 40+ in a single game for more than 100 times, has only one-sixth chance of winning 40+ in a single game.

Many talented rookies...not only rookies, but many players who have played for many years have never won 40+ in a single game.

However, after this game, public opinion generally believed that Zhang Hao could break the record of 40+ times in the modern basketball era set by Jordan.

Zhang Hao is also very happy about the media's praise. Now he is enjoying this feeling more and more, and he doesn't want to lose it... Then he has to work harder and be more patient and make himself stronger.

That night, he entered the learning mode and reviewed the game against the Rockets.

The use of mind + own advantages + the outstanding performance of teammates are the reasons for winning this game.

But it was also the Rockets' own flaws that were magnified and became more and more obvious. However, one of Van Drexler and Olajuwon, who was two years younger, was not so easy to deal with.

Doug Christie limits Drexler, who is 34 years old, to a better limit than expected. Although Olajuwon maintains his condition much better than Drexler. Drexler lost his ability to average 20+ games before joining the Rockets, but he is old, and he is unwilling to spend money to strengthen his life when Alexander died. Even before the All-Star Weekend, Drexler's annual salary was reduced from $9.81 million to $11 million in two years and renewal of contracts, Olajuwon will most of the time be in a situation where he can't afford it...

"This is our chance in the playoffs. Compared to the Jazz, Supersonics, and Spurs, we have the greatest chance of advancing in the second round!"
To be continued...