Chapter 106: 13 Points in a Single Quarter, Furious and Roaring Tianzun
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But that was to be expected.
At this time, Rasheed was already renowned in the league as the "Roaring God." Over the past few seasons, he had averaged over 19 points and 8 rebounds per game and had been selected to the All-Star team twice. More importantly, his fiery temper made him notorious for receiving the most technical fouls in the league.
This fiery temperament was both a strength and a weakness. His fierce style of play was a double-edged sword, but when wielded properly, it could be deadly on the court.
If it had been any other rookie, they might have been intimidated by Rasheed's ferocity, resulting in a poor performance.
But Wang Chao wasn't that kind of rookie.
As someone who had traveled back from the future and experienced the culture of online sports fandom, Wang Chao wasn't afraid of anyone's trash talk.
"Just because of what you said, I'll make sure I score at least double digits on you today," Wang Chao shot back without hesitation.
Rasheed Wallace was taken aback, as if he hadn't heard Wang Chao clearly at first. Then he grinned.
"Alright, let's see you try!"
After the timeout, the Pistons returned to the game, replacing all their key players and sticking to their previous strategy. Billups drove into the paint with a pick-and-roll, finishing with a layup that stabilized the Pistons' situation, which had been rattled by Wang Chao's performance.
The ball switched hands, and it was the Lakers' turn to attack.
Gary Payton dribbled up the court, following Phil Jackson's instructions, and signaled for a pick-and-roll with Wang Chao.
The Lakers set up their play, and Wang Chao came up from the corner to set a screen for Payton.
After the screen, Wang Chao slid to the side, caught Payton's pass, and shot a 20-footer.
Rasheed Wallace reacted quickly, closing in on Wang Chao. With his height and leaping ability, he nearly blocked the shot.
But it wasn't enough. The ball sailed through the air, cleanly swishing through the net before Rasheed could reach it.
Four for four!
Even the timeout couldn't cool off Wang Chao's hot hand.
This was inevitable.
At that moment, Wang Chao's four badges—Pick-and-Roll Shooter, Mid-Range Shooter, Hot Zone Hunter, and Rhythm Shooter—activated simultaneously, pushing his shooting accuracy to near-unbelievable levels. If this level of interference couldn't stop him, then how could Kevin Durant earn his title as the "Slim Reaper"?
Besides, Rasheed had only managed to close in from the side, rather than straight-on, meaning his attempted block had little effect on Wang Chao's vision.
After nailing the shot, Wang Chao landed and shrugged at Rasheed.
"That's it?"
That expression nearly made Rasheed Wallace explode with anger.
"You little punk, you're too cocky!" he snarled.
Rasheed, seething with rage, wanted to teach Wang Chao a lesson, but unfortunately, he wasn't guarding him on the defensive end. Rasheed was still battling against Karl Malone, leaving him with no immediate chance for payback.
The Pistons offense continued, but Hamilton, despite his constant off-ball movement, missed his mid-range shot.
In this game, Hamilton's shooting touch was off. Of course, his opponent was Kobe Bryant, a player who had been selected to the All-Defensive Team for five consecutive seasons and was once again a top candidate for First-Team All-Defense this year.
Even though Kobe's own shooting efficiency had taken a hit due to the Pistons' defense, his defensive prowess was undeniable. He could pull opponents down to his level with relentless pressure.
Hamilton, feeling the weight of Kobe's defense, couldn't find his rhythm. His first-half shooting percentage was nearly as bad as Kobe's, which explained why the game remained so close.
Shaquille O'Neal grabbed the defensive rebound, and the Lakers moved to attack.
Payton executed the same play, running a pick-and-roll with Wang Chao.
However, this time, Payton didn't pass back to Wang Chao. Instead, he penetrated and dished it to O'Neal.
O'Neal, who had been starved of post touches, didn't hesitate, muscling past Ben Wallace to throw down a two-handed slam.
Wang Chao, now 4 for 4, had successfully drawn the Pistons' attention, momentarily making them forget who the real threat was.
O'Neal capitalized on this, racking up six points from three out of four attempts in quick succession.
Meanwhile, Wang Chao wasn't idle. He hit two more shots in the remaining minutes of the third quarter, including a three-pointer. He ended the quarter with 6 out of 7 shooting, including 1 of 1 from beyond the arc, racking up 13 points in the quarter alone.
Even when Rasheed Wallace switched to guard Wang Chao, he couldn't contain him. In fact, Rasheed's presence on the perimeter only opened up space for O'Neal to operate one-on-one against Ben Wallace in the paint.
In that third quarter, the Lakers scored 25 points to the Pistons' 19, taking the lead for the first time.
As the game entered the fourth quarter, however, things began to go awry.
Kobe kept shooting, but his rhythm didn't improve, and he continued to miss.
Thanks to Kobe's cold shooting, the Pistons chipped away at the Lakers' lead.
Phil Jackson, watching Kobe miss five of his last seven shots in just six minutes, had seen enough.
When Billups drew a foul on Payton, giving the Pistons a chance at free throws, Jackson used the dead ball to sub Kobe out, bringing in Devin George instead.
Kobe, stunned at first, quickly went pale.
There were about six minutes left in the game, with the score tight. This was crunch time.
And Phil Jackson had just benched him. What did this mean?
He was the core of the Lakers' perimeter attack, their absolute go-to player!
In the past, Jackson would have tolerated Kobe's stubbornness because he knew that without Kobe, Shaq couldn't win games by himself.
But things were different now.
With Wang Chao scoring 15 points in the third quarter at an exceptional shooting rate, Phil had newfound confidence. "Kobe or no Kobe," Jackson thought, "if you're not playing smart, you're sitting."
Hamilton, who had been struggling against Kobe's defense, was relieved to see him benched.
But Larry Brown, the Pistons' head coach, wasn't so optimistic.
He understood that Kobe's substitution didn't necessarily weaken the Lakers. In fact, it might make them even more dangerous.
Without Kobe, the offense would now run through the far more efficient Wang Chao and O'Neal, both of whom were nearly impossible to defend.
As Billups prepared to take his second free throw, Payton dribbled the ball upcourt and passed it straight to Wang Chao, who was waiting beyond the three-point line.
Wang Chao stared down Rasheed Wallace.
Having seen what happened in the third quarter, Rasheed no longer underestimated Wang Chao in the slightest.
He felt like the rookie wasn't a rookie at all—Wang Chao was too smart, always opting for the most efficient ways to score.
What made Rasheed even angrier was Wang Chao's calm demeanor. He smiled and asked softly, "How many points did I score on you again? Must be close to ten by now, right?"
That was the final straw.
When Rasheed had first switched onto Wang Chao, he'd arrogantly predicted that Wang Chao wouldn't be able to score double digits on him.
But counting a two-pointer earlier in the fourth quarter, Wang Chao had already dropped seven points on Rasheed. He was only three points shy of the double-digit prediction.
Seven points might not seem like much, but Rasheed and Wang Chao had only faced each other for about ten minutes total.
That rate translated to over 21 points if extended across an entire game!
Of course, this wasn't a perfect calculation since they weren't going head-to-head the whole time. But Rasheed didn't care for technicalities. The fact remained—he hadn't been able to stop Wang Chao.
Wang Chao's sarcastic remark made Rasheed's face flush red with fury.
Without wasting a moment, Wang Chao lowered his center of gravity and suddenly exploded past Rasheed on the left, heading for the basket.
He moved with lightning speed, leaving Rasheed one step behind. By the time Rasheed tried to catch up, it was too late.
Wang Chao reached the free-throw line and pulled up for his signature mid-range jumper.
Seeing this, Rasheed's eyes flashed with desperation. In a fit of rage, he lunged towards Wang Chao and smacked both Wang Chao and the ball hard to the ground.
The referee's whistle echoed across the court.
"You dirty bastard!"
Immediately, O'Neal, Malone, and the rest of the Lakers rushed at Rasheed.
That foul was clearly intentional. Rasheed hadn't been able to stop Wang Chao and had resorted to a flagrant foul in frustration.
O'Neal, who saw Wang Chao as a little brother, couldn't stand by while his teammate was targeted.
Rasheed, well aware of what he had done, didn't wait around. He turned and quickly retreated, knowing full well that if O'Neal got his hands on him, things would get ugly.
"Don't worry," Rasheed said coldly as he backed away, "I'll deal with this rookie later."
"Don't you run!" O'Neal yelled, furious.
Before the situation could escalate further, the referees intervened, breaking up the potential fight. Rasheed Wallace was immediately assessed with a flagrant-1 foul.
After all, the Lakers are playing at home. Although the Pistons players were very unhappy, they didn't make too much of a fuss. They merely lifted Rasheed Wallace, who was knocked unconscious.
He went down much harder than Wang Chong. He was on the ground for a long time before he got up. He stood at the free throw line and missed two free throws due to the noise of the local Lakers fans, following in O'Neal's footsteps.
End of this chapter
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