One Year Left to Play-Chapter 269 - 96: An Early Celebration

Zhang Hao furrowed his brows slightly, a subtle motion that others couldn't detect, pondered for a moment, and replied, "Not watching, but Almon really played like a man tonight. No wonder he's our team's strongest offensive star."

Almon Gilliam felt delighted hearing this! Although Zhang Hao accepts Kenny Anderson as the leader, he never denied Almon's solo ability. Plus, their cooperation today was exceptional, making Zhang Hao more pleasing to Almon's eyes.

However, the straightforward Almon Gilliam felt something was off about Zhang Hao's words, but couldn't quite figure it out...

During halftime, the Brooklyn Nets boosted their morale fully, returning to the court spiritedly.

It was time to boost morale, and this time it was Butch Baird's turn to do halftime arrangements.

Since the playing style had significantly deviated from the pre-game strategy meeting, they just needed to continue the first-half style and make adjustments if issues arose.

On the other side, Larry Brown returned to the locker room and lashed out, which turned out to be quite effective.

In the second half, the Pacers' players visibly calmed down, playing steadily, defending calmly, and attacking cautiously.

The Brooklyn Nets had the upper hand in the first half, and their offense showed structure.

However, despite their effort, the Brooklyn Nets saw their lead slowly shrink in the third quarter as the Pacers executed a steady and solid strategy.

The strength gap was evident; though Larry Brown had limited adaptability, his coaching strategy was stable, adeptly leveraging his team's strengths.

The Pacers scored 26 to 20 in the third quarter, showcasing their qualities as a strong team, maintaining their offensive efficiency throughout the third quarter!

The Brooklyn Nets worked hard, especially Almon Gilliam, who scored 9 points and 1 assist in the quarter, raising his score to 27 points, 7 rebounds, and 3 assists by the end of the third—a season-best performance that barely kept the Brooklyn Nets' slim lead.

Zhang Hao, on his end, gave Almon Gilliam the utmost support, tallying 21 points, 5 rebounds, and 4 assists over three quarters.

During the final break, Reggie Miller sat on the Pacers' bench watching the opposition's bench; Almon Gilliam's breakout was indeed unexpected, but the surprise was that Almon Gilliam, despite encountering Double Davis, didn't back down this time.

What really surprised Reggie Miller was that high schooler, that state of enjoying the game, that basketball IQ of maximizing his strengths to the fullest...

Meanwhile, Zhang Hao was indeed engrossed and enjoyed such a game, but during the break, he mumbled, "I hit 6 mid-range shots, Miller 7, damn, the game might get flipped, and I was surpassed too..."

Reggie Miller shot 10 out of 22 in the first three quarters, lowering his shooting percentage below fifty percent, hitting 2 out of 6 three-pointers, 7 out of 13 mid-range shots, only 1 out of 3 close-range, plus 4 out of 4 free throws, scoring 26 points, 3 rebounds, and 3 assists, showing remarkable performance.

That all-around shooting ability made Zhang Hao envious.

Giving the players a minute to wipe sweat and ease up, Randy Whitman found Zhang Hao and asked, "How's your stamina holding up?"

Zhang Hao assessed his condition; he played the entire first three quarters, but as the night's style involved more spot-up shooting, this approach not only improved his accuracy but also consumed less energy. He nodded, indicating no problem.

Randy Whitman, knowing that Zhang Hao is very competitive, didn't press further, beginning to make personnel adjustments and arrangements for the final quarter's strategy.

The break was about to end, and the starting players for the final quarter took the court.

For the Brooklyn Nets, it was Kenny Anderson, Charles, Almon Gilliam, Zhang Hao, and PJ Brown.

The Pacers fielded their full starter lineup: Mark Jackson, Reggie Miller, Derek McKay, Dale Davis, and Schmitz.

Reggie Miller didn't expect the game against the Brooklyn Nets to be this tight, not because he was certain of a win, but because if their offense and defense were off, losing to the last place team would be normal.

However, tonight, regardless of offense or defense, they were entirely in form; under such circumstances, facing the Brooklyn Nets shouldn't lead to this situation.

Fortunately, after adjusting their mentality in the third quarter, now was the time to grab the victory.

Confidence was never lacking for Reggie Miller!

The fourth quarter began, and the Pacers had the first attack.

After Mark Jackson advanced to the frontcourt, he didn't organize the offense; instead, everyone spread out, and he went for a solo move!

"F..."

At this moment, it finally came!

When playing against the Heat, Kenny Anderson enjoyed watching Zhang Hao post up Kurt Thomas, but facing the Pacers, he was always worried about one thing, and now what should happen finally did.

After getting space from his teammates, Mark Jackson directly backed towards Kenny Anderson, starting his post-up move from the right-side three-point arc!

Why did Antonio Davis initially think he could definitely guard Zhang Hao? Because, among the players who use such post-up moves, no one in the league, except for Charles Barkley, is stronger than Mark Jackson!

Mark Jackson pushed Kenny Anderson from outside the three-point line all the way to near the key, where Zhang Hao came up for the double team; at this point, Mark Jackson could just turn around and shoot.

With his back to the basket, Mark Jackson delivered a bounce pass without even having to look or predict. Relying purely on memory and quick analysis, he knew that a teammate had already reached behind Zhang Hao.