Capítulo 1306: Chapter 529: The Grade-Schooler’s Darkest Moment—First Experience

But at this moment, Curry couldn’t be bothered with the fans’ reactions.

He stepped back all the way to the free-throw line to stop completely; it was merely a simple fake drive retreat three-pointer from the opponent, and he got swayed to this position—what a humiliation!

He needed to redeem it!

Receiving the ball, Curry mustered his momentum and pushed forward quickly, with his teammates pressing up swiftly as well.

The Knicks Team lineup, with David Lee playing center, pushes very fast, but the Bobcats Team is not slow either, with the Millsap + Okafor twin towers focusing on mobility.

After Curry crossed midcourt, he saw Zhang Yang moving in front of him and wanted even more to shoot, ignoring McGrady’s call for the ball.

In previous games where McGrady was on the court, Curry would give the first attack to McGrady, as Harden would often give McGrady some face and pull away.

McGrady didn’t get the ball, paused for a moment, and ran to the sideline in a sulk to stand with hands on hips…his reaction didn’t affect Curry much; in previous games, when McGrady had possession, he swung, and if not, he stood away, relying on his past prestige, which prevented him from being left open often—with Hill shadowing McGrady here.

Harden, seeing Zhang Yang guarding Curry, wanted the ball, but seeing Curry’s eyes fixated on Zhang Yang, he decided to pull away.

The reason he became close to Curry so fast, playing together daily, is largely because of Curry’s fearless stance on the court, much like Zhang Yang who rashly left college for the NBA early on.

Indeed, facing similar situations in his rookie season, meeting superstars and at least getting beaten twice in three encounters, both too bold, lacking the humility a newcomer should have—other superstars, even if initially not planning to bully, were tempted seeing these two.

Yet, his third brother, is somewhat different from other superstars; tonight his third brother seems particularly interested…

On Curry’s side, he unconsciously quickened his pace towards the three-point line; in his mind, he already envisioned returning a three-pointer right at Zhang Yang…but before he reached the three-point line, his opponent pounced out!

Zhang Yang moved swiftly and timed accurately, blocking Curry just as he was dribbling down the ball!

Curry hurriedly bent down, seizing the ball a step ahead, stopping dribbling!

At this moment, he felt entirely engulfed by Zhang Yang, instinctively pushing against Zhang Yang to create some space to stand up…only to stagger, sitting onto the floor!

The referee blew the whistle, both fists rotating around each other, traveling!

Curry looked at Zhang Yang who failed the steal but successfully forced a stop, then immediately straightened to guard the shot with high hands…Elementary schooler: Seriously, bro, is your defensive habit this darn good? Is this the strength of a first-tier defender?

Harden ran up, pulling the bewildered Curry up, giving Zhang Yang a reproaching look—go easy, don’t ruin my hard-earned genius junior.

Switching offense and defense, Curry ran backcourt, taking deep breaths to adjust his emotions.

Felton pushed over the three-point line, Curry immediately faced up…seeing Felton pass to Zhang Yang, and instantly move towards Harden’s side, Curry followed over, another pick and roll!

After switching defenses due to the pick and roll, Curry heard the on-site fans’ wild cheers and saw Zhang Yang open up into a big butterfly step; at this moment, he truly felt about to crack open.

In the last round, he had faintly felt something was amiss, now for the second consecutive round being forced to switch onto Zhang Yang because of the pick and roll—how could he not realize the opponent’s intention?

Targeting him!

This time, Curry didn’t back down but fought hard to press up…but as soon as he got a bit of contact, he was cheekily bypassed by Zhang Yang’s rhythmically excellent step-back.

Watching Zhang Yang drive inside with a Euro step, dodging Harden and Wilson Chandler’s double-teaming, rising under the basket to slam the ball into the hoop…

Elementary schooler: I am trying to catch Zhang San’s attention, but have I been marked before doing anything?

…

The final day of Curry’s first month in the NBA, after a month of carefree play, welcome his darkest night of his professional career…

Competing on the same court with Zhang Yang, Curry had been looking forward to this for almost two years.

Two seasons ago, during Zhang Yang’s first Scoring King season, his playing style gradually became flamboyant.

In the same state, Curry was quickly attracted by Zhang Yang’s style; during the 08 Crazy Eight tournament, Zhang Yang arrived to watch, which spurred him to go on a rampage, hitting five three-pointers in the second half to overturn the opponent to reach the final four.

From that day on, his goal was to face Zhang Yang.

But this start was entirely different from what he imagined! He knew there was a disparity, but isn’t this gap a bit too large?

Not just strength, the opponent seemed to understand his play habits very well, nearly all technical loopholes being caught by him, yet this was their first encounter, right?!

This guy doesn’t watch all his games studying his dribbling habits every day, right?

Even if such a freak, enjoying studying rookies and bullying them, he doesn’t have that many game videos for this guy to study!

He played 27 minutes tonight, went 3 for 10, 1 for 5 from three, coupled with 2 for 3 on free throws, scoring 9 points, 2 rebounds, and 3 assists.

Offensively, it was not bad, although for such a poor game, it was his first in the NBA, but after three rounds, he no longer contended with Zhang Yang on the offensive end, returning the ball to Harden, and acting as a decoy, drawing Zhang Yang away, not continuing to show off.

Harden met Zhang Yang and also played hard; with his junior pulling Zhang Yang away, his offense condition was not bad, shooting 7 for 15, 2 for 5 from three, adding 4 for 4 on free throws, scoring 20 points, 5 rebounds, 7 assists, and 2 steals, performing even better than usual.