Capítulo 1342: Chapter 537: This Is the Real Three Giants!

It was the Lakers’ turn to attack again. Zhang Yang took control of the ball. Using a screen to face Curry’s defense, he easily broke through, slowed down at the elbow, made a sudden stop, stepped left into the three-second area to evade Durant’s defense, and hit a fade-away jumper over Pachulia!

This play, Curry’s chase, and Durant’s defensive speed were noticeably slower than before!

After fighting for 10 minutes, both players were visibly declining in stamina.

Zhang Yang’s stamina was also quite depleted, but his stamina pool was much deeper than the other two, and they had three people rotating on their side, while the opposition only had two. He was still in shape!

It was now the Warriors’ turn to attack. Curry broke through and passed to Green. Green acted as the intermediary, distributing it to Durant, who took a big step to the free-throw line. Durant turned and received the ball, taking his 8th shot of the quarter… The opportunity was nearly perfect, shooting from the free-throw line, but Durant’s shot was short, hitting the front of the rim!

Harden grabbed the rebound and passed it to Zhang Yang, who kicked off the counterattack!

The Warriors’ center defense was very solid, so Zhang Yang had no chance for a chasing shot. He delivered the ball to DeRozan. DeRozan drove forward, passed from a close range, lobbed the ball… Harden dashed inside and executed a powerful alley-oop dunk for two!

104 to 101, the Lakers regained a three-point lead!

This play became a turning point in the game.

Curry and Durant went head-to-head with Zhang Yang, Harden, and DeRozan but failed to gain a substantial advantage. As their stamina waned… it was Zhang Yang’s time!

In the final minute, Zhang Yang hit a step-back three-pointer, charged into the paint to draw a foul from Green and made both free throws, and also assisted Harden in a three-pointer at the arc. The entire Lakers team scored 8 points!

As for the Warriors, after Durant’s free-throw line turn-around jumper bricked, their offense stalled, going just 1 for 4 in the final attempts, with only Green grabbing an offensive rebound and passing it out, leading to a Thompson three-pointer.

As Curry’s throw from the backcourt brushed the netting and flew out of bounds, the third quarter ended.

With 23 made out of 15 shots, including 5 of 8 three-pointers and 8 of 10 free throws… the Lakers ended the third quarter with shooting percentages of 65.2, 62.5, and 80!

On the Warriors’ side, before the final possessions, their shooting performance was 12 of 19, even better than the Lakers’ 11 of 19 at the time.

But starting from Durant’s missed turn-around jumper that led to the counterattack, they went 1 of 5, ending with 13 of 24 shots, including 4 of 9 three-pointers, and 7 of 7 free throws… their shooting percentage dropped to 54.1, 44.4, and 100.

The quarter score was 43 to 37, and by the end of the third quarter, the Lakers had extended their lead to 8 points, with a score of 112 to 104!

Durant scored 14 points in the third quarter, just 1 point less than his first half’s 15 points. But in terms of shooting performance, for the first 9 minutes, he went 5 for 7, then went 0 for 2 from the free-throw line turn-around jumpers, dropping his single-quarter shooting percentage from 71.4% to 5 of 9, or 55.5%… His personal scoring, which had been outperforming Zhang Yang’s, was caught up to!

Curry’s situation was similar. He started 4 for 6, including 1 for 1 three-pointer, along with 2 for 2 free throws, for 11 points. But in the last two minutes of set plays, he went for 1 miss, and with the final buzzer-beater full-court attempt, his single-quarter shooting performance ended at 4 for 8, bringing his shooting percentage down to 50% with intent.

During the inter-quarter break, the two MVP fathers of the Warriors didn’t immediately return to the bench but stood together, hands on hips, looking at the three fathers across from them.

At this moment, their hearts somewhat cracked, combining for 25 points and 4 assists in the quarter, leading the team to score 37 points.

But Zhang Yang’s 14, Harden’s 10, and DeRozan’s 12 meant they and the team together only outscored the three by 1 point!