One Year Left to Play

Chapter 549 - 167: Triple Critical Strike_3

Beautiful stop-and-jump shot, gracefully executed and majestic, and it scores! Like a painting!

Without pausing after the shot, Zhang Hao caught Anfernee Hardaway giving him a glance—lightly faking a throw, pouting lips, with his goatee filled with the air of a taunt.

Zhang Hao didn’t rush down; the opposing defense quickly retreated, and the Lakers defenders didn’t go to double-team Penny, as they immediately backed off once Anfernee Hardaway stopped, leaving the rebounding to O’Neal.

Zhang Hao wasn’t in a hurry, jogging leisurely toward the frontcourt... a hefty guy sidled up next to him.

"See, see, you’re way worse than Penny, you’ll get crushed by him tonight!"

Zhang Hao didn’t take the chance to speed up but instead rare turned his head to respond to the trash talk: "Yeah, I think he’s even better than Jordan. He can beat Jordan by himself, but loses when he’s with you."

Saying this, as O’Neal’s face turned red-black, unable to think of a rebuttal amidst a rapid brainstorm, Zhang Hao suddenly accelerated!

On the other side, Van Exel saw O’Neal inexplicably walking leisurely with Zhang Hao and accelerated the push, George Lynch also quickened his pace, Doug Christie followed... Campbell saw the scene and stood with hands on hips at the free-throw line, watching teammates fast-break.

O’Neal just stood stunned for a second and watched Zhang Hao dash off; as he snapped out of it, Van Exel and George Lynch ran past him on the right!

Quickly chasing... O’Neal noticed someone behind him—it was a shooter!

O’Neal immediately turned and blocked Doug Christie, then turned to see Horace Grant and Nick Anderson stopping Zhang Hao, George Lynch took the ball and pushed aside Anfernee Hardaway retreating under the basket to score.

O’Neal didn’t have time to curse Zhang Hao’s cunning as he saw Zhang Hao already running out.

"Your Penny’s defense... You should find a boss who’s better at defense."

Slowing down, leaving this floating line, Zhang Hao accelerated back to his own basket.

O’Neal was going crazy! But he made two mistakes and completely failed to rebut!

The main thing was what Zhang Hao said—constantly mentioning Penny as his Shark’s boss!

He even imagined Zhang Hao might say, "You lost the championship because of your Penny."

Although despicable, the opponent indeed was speaking trash after helping the team score.

Suppress dissatisfaction with Zhang Hao’s words, be serious, focused, never chat idly with that guy again... O’Neal considered himself the resilient type, or the Hack-a-Shaq tactic would have driven him crazy a month ago.

As O’Neal ran slowly forward, adjusting his mindset, he suddenly heard an angry shout: "Shark, why are you daydreaming again? Do you really have the memory of a fish? We’ve already lost the ball twice because of your spacing out!"

O’Neal turned his head to see Anfernee Hardaway, who finished speaking, quickly dribbling ahead... This dialogue wasn’t unusual; since Anfernee Hardaway’s entry into the NBA, O’Neal often lazily during games; Anfernee Hardaway entered the NBA aiming to be the boss, frequently scolding O’Neal, who generally didn’t care.

This time Anfernee Hardaway also scolded him as usual, even though O’Neal never changed his ways, he typically took it a bit seriously.

But O’Neal was already annoyed, now even more annoyed! He immediately sprinted toward the frontcourt, determined to reach beyond the three-point line before Anfernee Hardaway.

Then, instead of executing a tactical stretch as in the previous round, he directly leaned on Campbell asking for the ball!

"I’m daydreaming?

What’s wrong with me daydreaming!

Can’t defend cuts! That rookie defends cuts with an average of 2.4 blocks!

Think you’re the boss now?

Your showy goals, however impressive, are still just two points; I can do the same, with simple brutality!"

Campbell stayed ready to defend O’Neal, actively jockeyed for position with him.

In terms of static strength, Campbell didn’t lose to O’Neal, O’Neal at 216 centimeters, 132 kilograms, static strength at 98, Campbell at 211 centimeters, 127 kilograms, static strength at 97... though neither knew their strength ratings, Campbell from past encounters knew his positioning skills didn’t lose to O’Neal.

Anfernee Hardaway’s logic didn’t align with O’Neal’s, thinking his scold motivated O’Neal to focus, feeling pleased, believing with O’Neal’s seriousness, the game became easier.

After teammates spread out, Anfernee Hardaway immediately passed to O’Neal, who caught the ball with explosive energy, crashing into Campbell!

Static strength at 98, but in explosive strength, O’Neal went off the charts! At 100 in explosive strength! Though effortful, he managed to push Campbell back a step!

Quickly forcing back, O’Neal first extends a leg to gain ground; Campbell prepared for O’Neal’s extreme belligerence, tried to rapidly cling after the initial hit, but remained a beat slow.

Having claimed space from pushing back, O’Neal exerted further, bulldozing, twice more pushing the 127-kilo block Campbell into the restricted zone!

Though harder than dealing with regular centers, all space was gained, O’Neal grabbed the ball, took a deep breath, in the collision instantly securing position, a necessity against Campbell, not others; he seized the detail and aimed to turn and dunk over Campbell!

At this moment, he heard Anfernee Hardaway yelling "Pashmi" from atop the arc.

Pass?

Dream on!

Ignoring Anfernee Hardaway’s demand for the ball, O’Neal turned, determined to dunk over!

Campbell lacked energy to jump, exhausted, just as O’Neal prepared to slam down and start the Overlord Step, a gasp arose in the audience!

Cheering for me?

As O’Neal pressed the ball down, this thought flickered, only to see a slender arm appear in view...

"Crack"

"Boom"

This seemingly frail hand forcibly deflected the ball from O’Neal’s hand, slapping it onto the rim!