45: 44.

The sound of wind, rain, and hammering 45: 44.

The sound of wind, rain, and hammering Zhang Yang arrived at the Ford Center with the team, preparing for the battle.

At 8 p.m., he began his first game with the Spurs.

Durant had won his first scoring title last season, leading the Thunder Team to rise with a record of 50 wins and 32 losses, ranking eighth in the Western Conference.

This season, they continued their strong performance, currently standing fourth in the Western Conference with 35 wins and 17 losses, and Durant continued to top the scoring chart with an average of 27.6 points per game.

Westbrook was selected for the All-Star for the first time this season, averaging 21.9 points and 8.2 assists, fiercely chasing the top pick of his draft class.

Thunder Team sent away Jeff Green, promoted Ibaka, and Harden, as the sixth man, performed well too, averaging 12 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists, and 1.1 steals.

With Perkins, Krstic, Sefolosha, and Nick Collison…

Feeding off the rookie bonus of Durant, Westbrook, Ibaka, and Harden, the Thunder Team was power-packed this season.

Facing such opponents in his debut, Zhang Yang was very nervous.

Then, the trio, along with Richard Jefferson and Splitter, smashed the Thunder Team 19-7 in a half quarter…

Zhang Yang was utterly shocked!

Thunder Team’s starters began to doubt their life choices, Durant, although he was already a scoring champion, was only in his fourth year.

At this time, he played majorly as a shooter, with poor ball-handling skills and more turnovers than assists, and given his rather fragile mental state, started panic shooting even before the official timeout.

Tortoise, however, played more fiercely as the pressure mounted, but of his average 21.9 points, 14 were scored from close range.

He encountered a defensively efficient Duncan, whose performance peaked in four years…

The Thunder Team made only 3 of 12 field attempts in half a quarter!

Dead memories began attacking Zhang Yang, and he remembered, “decades ago,” when he first witnessed the Spurs system, he was just as stunned.

It was because of this system that many forgot that in the first decade of the 21st century, Popovich was one of the most villainous coaches, the Spurs were one of the teams most notorious for dirty plays, and because of this system, the Spurs jumped to become one of the most popular teams in the following years.

…

After the official timeout, Zhang Yang was subbed in by Popovich.

He was initially very excited and shocked, but now he had calmed down.

Because his teammates were so composed, his excitement made him seem quite inexperienced.

The game continued, and the Thunder Team was on the offense.

The players of the Thunder Team were under immense pressure, showing not a single smile on their faces…

except for Harden, this rare breed.

With the big boss, the second boss, and the third boss leading in front, he felt no pressure.

Harden, seeing his defender was Compton’s Zhang San, became even more excited and rushed to the arc right after getting the ball.

Zhang Yang went up to defend; his body at 196 cm and 95 kg was quite competitive.

But Harden, also at 196 cm but heavier at 100 kg, had more mass and explosive power!

Furthermore, Harden was no longer the guy from eight years ago, who only knew how to shoot corner threes and charge like a tank.

His skill set was now very rich, even richer than after he had to become the main guy later, and he smoothly broke into the paint…

only to be cornered at the baseline of the three-second area by McDyess and Blair.

Thinking of passing back…

After being bypassed, Zhang Yang moved towards the right side of the three-second area at a 45-degree angle according to the defensive strategy.

Durant, using a screen from the right sideline, ran to the arc.

Zhang Yang immediately covered for Ginobili and intercepted Harden’s pass intended for Durant.

Harden could only force a shot guarded by two inside defenders…

It was a miss!

George Hill grabbed the defensive rebound and rapidly advanced, initiating a transition offense!

Thunder Team hustled back in defense, not giving the Spurs any direct fast-break scoring opportunities, but their defensive formation was already disarrayed.

George Hill passed the ball to Ginobili, who, after drawing defensive attention with one dribble, passed the ball off with a bounce.

Zhang Yang, using a screen, cut into the paint from the wing, received the ball, and scored a layup!

In his first play on the court, Zhang Yang already felt the charm of the Spurs system.

Role players’ playing style, in this system, was too comfortable.

Although their fast break wasn’t quick, the rhythm was excellent, effortlessly tearing through the opponent’s defense.

Zhang Yang’s role in both offense and defense within the tactic was simple; on defense, he was responsible for pressing the ball-carrier and intercepting passes to three-point shooters at the top of the arc, while on offense, he had a straightforward role of attacking the basket and mid-range spot-up shooting.

With his excellent tactical awareness, he integrated into the team smoothly in his first round.

Watching this scene, Popovich was more frustrated than pleased.

He had already taken an interest in Zhang Yang during last season’s playoffs against the Phoenix Suns.

But last offseason, he was preoccupied with competing against the Lakers for Steve Blake.

The Lakers, back-to-back defending champions with three giants plus Kobe, are a force to reckon with.

If the Spurs had snagged Blake, it would have strengthened their line-up and simultaneously weakened the Lakers.

However, the competition failed, and Blake preferred the Lakers’ offer of a 4 million annual salary over the Spurs’ full mid-level exception.

By the time Popovich turned back to recruit Zhang Yang, he had already been snapped up by the Warriors with a 2-year contract worth over 5 million.

Fortunately, Zhang Yang didn’t waste his time during the majority of the season with the Warriors, making substantial progress under the pressure of battling for ball rights, and he hadn’t picked up any bad habits from a weak team.

His tactical awareness was still outstanding.

Thinking of this, Popovich felt somewhat relieved.

On the court, the Spurs continued to dominate, pressing the Thunder and increasing the lead further.

At the end of the first quarter, the Spurs were leading the Thunder by 17 points at 33 to 16!

Harden played for a little over 5 minutes, making 2 of 5 shots for 4 points, 1 rebound, and 1 assist.

Zhang Yang made 2 of his 3 shots, plus was perfect from the free-throw line, scoring 6 points with 1 rebound.

Whether Zhang Yang or Harden was stronger was hard to say, but Zhang Yang played much more effortlessly than Harden.

The Thunder’s coach, Scott Brooks, was good at developing players, but his coaching was quite simplistic; the team’s first-quarter strategy seemed to depend solely on Westbrook and Harden handling the ball, giving it to Durant for a forced shot if they couldn’t make a play.

This tactic, while providing the trio extensive opportunities to showcase and develop, led to the entire team’s offense faltering when the trio couldn’t find their shots.

In the second quarter, the Spurs continued their strong offense, scoring 31 points.

Duncan only played for 2 minutes this quarter, which impacted their defense, allowing the Thunder to score 25 points, but the Spurs still kept the upper hand.

At halftime, the Spurs were leading the Thunder by 23 points at 64 to 41, thoroughly dominating the game!

Zhang Yang played only 4 minutes in the second quarter, making 1 shot for 2 points, 1 rebound, and 1 assist.

After the halftime break, Popovich didn’t put Duncan back in but rotated Parker and Ginobili with Zhang Yang, creating opportunities for him to play one-on-one.

Zhang Yang had already somewhat guessed Popovich’s intentions and was excited when the opportunity came.

He took the ball and just went for it… the sound of wind, rain, and missed shots filled the air.

In the third quarter, Zhang Yang played 8 minutes, making 2 of 6 shots, along with making 1 of 2 free throws, scoring 5 points, 1 rebound, and 1 steal, single-handedly lowering the Spurs’ scoring to 21 points… The Spurs were also taken advantage of by Westbrook, who led a counterattack, helping the team score 27 points and reduce the deficit to 17 points.

Popovich watched with a twitching mouth corner, as if he could hear the rims at the Ford Center weeping!

But he strangely liked that sound, reminiscent of Los Angeles style.

In the final quarter, Popovich continued to rely on Zhang Yang to lead the offense, and Zhang Yang didn’t disappoint.

Despite playing poorly in the third quarter, he didn’t hold back and slightly improved, playing for 6 minutes, making 2 of 5 shots, one of which was a 2+1 layup, scoring 5 points and 1 assist.

Seeing the lead shrinking to 11 points, Popovich called a timeout and brought in George Hill, Ginobili, Richard Jefferson, McDyess, and Splitter to stabilize the game.

Zhang Yang was not subbed back in, sitting on the sideline and resting.

Facing Westbrook and Harden’s physical defense, he found it very challenging and felt a great deal of pressure.

However, whenever he had the ball for a one-on-one, he was still focused on making every shot, continuously learning from the failures of previous plays.

This was what Popovich admired about him: he didn’t shrink from pressure.

If he played poorly, he’d try to do better next time.

Not mentioning his talent, having such resilience under pressure was essential for rapid improvement!

…

In the final quarter, the Thunder burst out with 30 points, scoring a 30 to 22 quarter, and further reduced the gap by 8 points.

But having lost too much earlier, the last laugh still belonged to the Spurs.

107 to 98, the Spurs beat the Thunder by 9 points, achieving a five-game winning streak and improving their record to 45 wins and 8 losses.

In his debut with the Spurs, Zhang Yang scored 18 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists, and 1 steal.

After the game, with 29 games left, the Spurs once again faced calls for a ’34-game winning streak’ and ‘surpassing the Bulls.’

However, some media criticized the Spurs’ trade of Neal for Zhang Yang, claiming it cast a shadow over the Spurs’ chance to ‘surpass the Bulls.’

Through his efforts in the second half, Zhang Yang successfully brought his first-half shooting performance of 5 out of 3 down to 7 out of 16 for the game, dropping his shooting percentage to below 50%.

These media outlets didn’t care that Zhang Yang’s tactical performance in the first half was much better than Neal’s; they focused on his 4 out of 11 shooting in the second half.

Another player might have wanted to prove themselves upon seeing such public opinion, potentially affecting their tactical play or hesitating to continue playing one-on-one.

But Zhang Yang didn’t.

On the 14th, with the Spurs visiting the Wizards, he played as usual, doing his part well during tactical plays, and when Popovich asked him to play one-on-one during practice, he took the ball and swung into action.

After the game with the Thunder, he knew that at this stage he didn’t need to worry about the ‘basic tasks.’

The team had already made tactical adjustments following Neal’s trade, something he didn’t need to worry about, and his performance in tactics was not inferior to Neal’s.

What he needed to do now was seize the time to enhance his strength and prepare for a potential ‘collapse’ later.

He was turning his misses into music, continuing to play and dance to the rhythm.

…

…

Asking for monthly tickets, asking for recommendation tickets!