No.1 in basketball scoring-Chapter 881 - 377. Charlotte Five Tigers!

Entering the timeout, watching the players return to the bench, Carlisle laughed, with a wig on, he could perform a comedy.

Vincent said on the side: "Woodson actually let Pierce compete with our Jack in scoring, such a move, even I wouldn’t make it, I think his position as head coach won’t last long."

Carlisle: "Sam, you indeed don’t have the ability to be a head coach..."

Vincent: "Yes, yes, only you have the ability to be a head coach, right! But, do you think my evaluation of him is incorrect?"

Carlisle: "No, from the result, your evaluation of him isn’t wrong, but I think he still has some capability.

Although his offensive ability is weak, he dares to delegate, handing over the attack to the players to lead, although this is not something a qualified coach should do, at least he knows how to avoid his shortcomings, and his foundational judgment is quite good, his rotation arrangement is quite outstanding, otherwise, they couldn’t climb from third to seventh from the bottom.

Actually, his current rotation strategy is quite good, looking at the lineup he changed to after resting, we can speculate, he might have arranged according to the score and Jack’s playing time in the first half, predicting that we would let Jack continue his fierce offensive after returning from a break, so he chose to let Bibby and Johnson rest, letting Pierce compete with Jack."

Vincent: "Hmm... If that’s the case, his arrangement indeed has no issue, Pierce is one of the league’s best three small forwards, possibly the strongest in penetrating... Very smart, I indeed don’t have the ability to be a head coach."

Carlisle: "However, if Sam, you were coaching this Hawks team, you might do even better than him."

Vincent: "I don’t think you’re complimenting me."

Carlisle smiled, continued saying: "Woodson treated the opening stage of returning from halftime as a critical stage response, and that’s okay.

If it were a critical moment, one-on-one challenge in the last moment, playing one or two rounds, Pierce might not necessarily lose to Jack, he is taller, has more stability in shooting during confrontations, and might even win.

But he neglected that this isn’t the real critical moment, but a star face-off during regular time requiring not just one or two goals, but continuous shooting, in terms of high continuity of attempts, Pierce falls short compared to Jack.

So I say if you went to coach, you might do better than him, you certainly wouldn’t let Pierce match Jack alone with ease, but instead, you would put three stars on at once to compete regardless."

Vincent: "..."

In this argument, Carlisle won decisively, feeling satisfied, while Vincent noted down this "grudge," determined to retaliate harder next time.

Seeing the players have wiped sweat and drank water enough, Carlisle called them together to make adjustments.

Carlisle put Mike Miller, Okafor, and Brad Miller, who had rested for a bit, all on, Zhang Yang and Felton continued to play.

On the opposite side, Woodson also put Bibby and Joe Johnson, Pachulia back on, Pierce and Horford continued to play.

After the timeout, under the leadership of Joe Johnson and Pierce, with Bibby’s steering, the Hawks launched a fierce counterattack, but the Bobcats, who also replaced their strongest lineup, withstood the Hawks’ aggressive offensive once again, and the two teams entered a tug-of-war.

Carlisle instructed Zhang Yang to switch from the main attack point to a mode focusing on off-ball running aiming for shooting first during the timeout, and as expected, his opponents doubled down on Zhang Yang, who scored 13 points across quarters, having reached 25 points before the third quarter was over, which turned Zhang Yang’s huge threat into team scoring opportunities through his adjustment.

Similarly in the tug-of-war, Hawks players experienced something completely different from the first half.

Back then, when the point difference was single digits, Joe Johnson, Pierce were the first and second scorers in the match, their teammates felt that they already had the upper hand, with two major stars scoring single-handedly without any hindrances, plus Bibby hitting key shots, as long as they lasted until the Bobcats couldn’t keep up, they could strike a wave, narrow the gap, and surpass in score, and they indeed had a 12-7 small climax in the mid-second quarter.

But now, their strongest scorer was blown away in the face-off with the troublesome kid Jack, affecting their confidence in Pierce significantly, impacting their overall performance.

The three major stars were indeed formidable, getting numerous opportunities to counterattack in the latter half of the third quarter, but while they could score the shots they should, their teammates’ supporting shots, cut-in finishes weren’t as good as they were in the first half.

With Jarett Jack hitting a mid-range shot on a solo sudden-stop, the third quarter ended.

The three major stars led the team fighting hard for nearly half a quarter, the point gap not only didn’t narrow but expanded by two points!

The Bobcats led the Hawks by 18 points with a score of 108-90!

Zhang Yang had fewer shooting opportunities in the latter half of the third quarter, going 1-for-3 and making 2-of-1 free throws, scoring just 3 points, nevertheless his three-quarter 28 points steadily suppressed Pierce and Joe Johnson.

After the interval rest, the fourth quarter began, and the Bobcats attacked first.

Mike Miller immediately made his mark, running to a free area, receiving the ball, drawing Horford out for a supplement defense, meanwhile, Millsap, originally supposed to be guarded by Horford, according to Mike Miller’s movement and his understanding of Horford’s defensive habits tonight, moved ahead to help Zhang Yang block the trailing Pierce.

Mike Miller hung the ball after receiving a pass to Zhang Yang who ran using the screen to the left side of the free-throw line, he rarely found an open spot to shoot and didn’t miss, his mid-range shot went in!

This shot completely extinguished the Hawks players’ hope of a comeback.

The Hawks’ role players had already given their all, performing quite well around the three major stars in scoring, with 90 points in three quarters, which was considered their best regular season performance, having only two games in the season exceeding 90 points within three quarters.

But the opponent finished the first attack in the fourth quarter, reaching 110 points!

With the Hawks’ role players losing confidence, the game also lost suspense completely, after a few more rounds by the three major stars, Woodson replaced all starters, signaling surrender, seeing the opposition’s waterboys remove their training clothes, Carlisle also followed by replacing his main players, the game entering garbage time.

Zhang Yang felt frustrated when he was substituted, with 28 points in three quarters, scoring his first attack in the fourth quarter to reach 30 points, ending with a total of 30 points... with an additional 7 rebounds, 7 assists, 1 steal, and 1 block!

At 7:21 PM, the final whistle sounded.

Pierce with 28 points, Joe Johnson with 26 points, Bibby with 23 points and 7 assists, the three combined scoring 77 points, couldn’t beat the opposing starting five!

Zhang Yang with 30+7+7, Felton with 20 points and 4 assists, Mike Miller with 18 points and 2 assists, Okafor with 21 points, 9 rebounds and 2 assists, Brad Miller with 10 points, 6 rebounds, and 5 assists... The Bobcats’ starting five fiercely scored 99 points, adding 20 assists, with a team total of an astonishing 31 assists!

133-110, the Bobcats slaughter the Hawks, winning the playoff opening match!

Today is the first day of the playoffs, the series of the Bobcats and Hawks first round match was the opening match of the entire playoffs this year, the showdown between the Bobcats’ trio and the Hawks’ three major stars, garnered significant attention.

But what the fans were most concerned about today wasn’t this match, but tonight’s last battle between Kobe and Iverson.

This match’s viewership in the US was rather normal due to its 5 PM kickoff, with many still at work when it started, by the time they returned home, most of the match was over, spending money for a live broadcast wasn’t worth it, checking the score and boasting online after the game were choices most fans made.

But when the Bobcats and Hawks match report came out, fans’ eyes got caught by it, exclaiming in astonishment.

The Bobcats played offensive basketball this season, and the Hawks, after a big trade, became a pure offensive team, the scoring shootout between these two teams was expected, but nobody thought it would be so explosive!

The Hawks’ 110 points were considered very high in the playoffs, while the Bobcats scored 133 points...

With just 5 starters, they scored 99 points!

In the playoffs, many teams couldn’t score 99 points in total!

And the Bobcats’ five starters scored and assisted fairly balanced.

Zhang Yang with the highest score of 30 points, Brad Miller with the lowest but still in double figures; Zhang Yang also had the highest assists with 7, the least from the two forwards with two each.

Seeing the report with such data, many fans compared them to the Kings team of the past, the media also followed up reporting, the Bobcats’ five starters gained a new nickname— Charlotte Five Tigers!

After returning home with Harden and Tatum brothers post-game, Zhang Yang saw the news, complained: "Is there even a slight resemblance between our style tonight and the Kings team?"

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