CHAPTER 1315: CHAPTER 531: THE IMBALANCED SENSE OF RETURNING TO NORMALCY

In his third year, Durant, much like Zhang Yang in the 2007-08 season, has become a strong contender for the Scoring King;

Last season’s rookie standout Rose has made significant progress.

The two have led their teams into the wild Western Conference playoff contention, making the Thunder Team the most watched Youth Army.

The Thunder Team hosts the defending champion Bobcats at home, with both media and fans holding high expectations for the twin stars, wanting to see this Youth Army topple the defending champions, step into the big league, and truly join the ranks of top teams.

Coincidentally, the Bobcats are in a fatigue period, playing the second of back-to-back games, almost losing to the Raptors the night before, making people feel the Thunder Team has a great chance of winning.

Adding to that, both Durant and Zhang Yang are among the four major contenders for the Scoring King, the attention on this game was very high, and the viewership was also high, with only the T.N.T sports channel broadcasting the entire 48-minute game, exceeding 3 million viewers.

As predicted by the media, the Thunder Team was once in the lead against the Bobcats... and then Zhang Yang scored 60+ in one game, taking on and defeating Rose and Durant together!

The season-high score that Jennings took at the beginning of the month, Zhang Yang snatched it back in a wilder way!

After the game, the media’s reporting focus immediately shifted from praising the twin stars to praising Zhang Yang.

The media, of course, would hype the hotter topic. Before the game, if they wrote about Zhang Yang VS the twin stars, the twin stars challenging the defending champions, the twin stars challenging the new generation big boss... and so on, there would definitely be interest, but it would never be as attractive as ’the twin stars use the defending champions led by bad kids as a stepping stone.’

After this game, Zhang Yang’s average score soared from 29.5 points to 30.6 points, directly climbing from fourth place on the scoring list, surpassing James who averaged 29.8 points, Durant who averaged 29.9 points after scoring 39 points, and Anthony who averaged 30.2 points, topping the scoring list!

This was not Zhang Yang’s first single-game 60+; in the 2007-08 season, when he faced Iverson and Anthony, he had also scored 60 points in a single game. After tonight, he became one of the few in NBA history who have scored 60+ in a single game more than once.

At the same time, it was also his 10th career single-game 50+, making him the 7th player to score at least 10 single-game 50+ point games, following Chamberlain, Baylor, Rick Barry, Jordan, Iverson, and Kobe!

Moreover, he became the second fastest in history to achieve 10 single-game 50+ point games, second only to Chamberlain!

...

Winning all four games in five days, Zhang Yang stood out prominently in the last game, taking more than half of the team’s shots, scoring nearly two-thirds of the team’s points... becoming a focal point in the league.

But the Bobcats also suffered greatly due to this schedule.

After returning to Charlotte for a night’s rest on the 21st, they faced the Celtics at home on the 22nd, with Felton, Millsap, and Perkins all absent due to injuries.

Even the tough Felton was shaken by Rose, pulling a thigh muscle, leaving Carlisle with no choice but to recall Matthews from the Development League and put Tyronn Lue on the active roster.

In this series of four games in five days, O’Neal did not play in the second game of both back-to-backs, rotating four interior players and seven perimeter players. Although they had enough manpower, even Zhang Yang’s performance was very low in the games.

Collison tried to take the lead... but was crushed by Mayo.

Entering his second year, Mayo’s scoring declined, dropping to 20.1 points.

This was related to the additions on the Celtics’ perimeter, who in the summer traded Nate Robinson from the Knicks Team, acquired Marquis Daniels from the Pacers, and signed Finley who was let go by the Spurs. With Tony Allen, Josh Smith, Eddie House, and Farmar, the Celtics’ perimeter depth was far greater than last season.

Mayo’s shot attempts decreased from an average of 17.1 in his rookie year to 15.6, but his shooting percentage looked much better, increasing from 43% to 45.3%, with the most significant progress in three-point shooting, increasing from 1.7 three-pointers made at 36% to 2.1 at 38%.

His assists also increased from an average of 4.4 to 5.1.

However, this progress was far below people’s expectations for him during the offseason. Compared to fellow second-year guards like Rose, Westbrook, Harden, and DeRozan, who all made substantial progress, Mayo’s momentum was clearly weaker.

Of course, to crush rookie Collison, Mayo still had enough strength, and every time he faced the Bobcats, he played like crazy.

Mayo shot 9 of 19, scoring a game-high 27 points along with 4 assists, while Al Jefferson’s consistent average of 21 points and 12 rebounds, and Josh Smith’s average of 14 points, 7 rebounds, and 7 assists maintained their levels.

Under the leadership of these three, the Celtics handed the Bobcats their biggest loss of the season with a 108-90 victory, ending the Bobcats’ 5-game winning streak!

Far away in Oklahoma City, Rose nearly spat blood while watching the live broadcast. He and Durant fought desperately with Zhang Yang the previous night, only to end up paving the way for the damn Mayo?

After two rest days, on December 25th, the Bobcats arrived at the United Center in Chicago to face off against the Bulls in the Christmas matchup.

This was the two teams’ third consecutive year meeting in the Christmas matchup, similar to the OK matchup from 2005 to 2007. The Yao vs. Zhang duel has also become a ’traditional program’ for Christmas.

However, this was the first time in the Bulls’ home.

This year’s Christmas matchup had only three games: the Bulls hosting the Bobcats, the Lakers hosting the Cavaliers, and the Knicks hosting the Thunder.