บท 83: Wins and 2 Losses, No Room for Error—A Must-Win!
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In fact, it's not just Peja; the Kings' overall defense isn't particularly strong. The Princeton system emphasizes offense much more than defense, which is one reason Wang Chong was able to score 30+ points so easily. Of course, the prerequisite for all this is that Wang Chong himself has strong abilities.
On January 17, 2004, the Lakers narrowly defeated the Los Angeles Clippers at home with a score of 91:89, winning by just 2 points.
Wang Chong's performance declined slightly in this game. He made 9 of 19 shots and 2 of 2 free throws, scoring 20 points and grabbing 6 rebounds.
Payton had an impressive double-double with 15 points, 6 rebounds, and 15 assists.
Clippers' All-Star power forward Elton Brand scored 35 points and grabbed 20 rebounds in this game.
Wang Chong's decline in performance in this game was related to Brand. Due to the absence of many key players on the team, Wang Chong temporarily moved from small forward to power forward, putting him directly against Brand.
Facing a strong inside player like Brand, Wang Chong had a tough time defensively. Although he matched Brand in height, Wang Chong is primarily an outside player, and his strength and weight couldn't compare to Brand.
Although the Lakers won this game, it also exposed a weakness of Wang Chong's: his weak inside defensive ability. At the same time, although Wang Chong's physical fitness isn't bad, it isn't top-notch. Facing Brand in this game consumed a lot of energy, resulting in a sharp decline in Wang Chong's scoring efficiency in the second half of the game. He only managed to score 2 points in the fourth quarter. It was thanks to guards Payton and Fisher, who stabilized the situation, that the Lakers won the game.
Of course, Wang Chong's 20 points were still the highest on the Lakers. If not for his efficient scoring in the first half, the Lakers might have struggled to win this game.
Without realizing it, the Lakers had played three games since Kobe's absence. In these three games, the Lakers have achieved a record of 2 wins and 1 loss, which can be considered quite eye-catching.
However, Wang Chong felt some pressure.
The pressure came from the game against the Clippers. Although they won, he wasn't able to help the team clinch the game at the last minute like Durant did with a last-second score.
Due to his current abilities, Wang Chong cannot do everything on the court. After all, he is just a player with an overall rating of 84 so far, not a superstar with a rating of 90. His current performance is already quite impressive.
But Wang Chong cannot set such low standards for himself, especially since there are only three games left to achieve the mission goal, and he must lead the Lakers to win at least two of these three games.
The remaining opponents are the Suns, Grizzlies, and Mavericks.
Apart from the Suns, whose record is similar to that of the Clippers, the Grizzlies and the Mavericks are both strong teams capable of achieving 50 wins in the regular season. If Wang Chong wants to complete his task, he must win at least one of these two games.
Initially, Wang Chong was quite confident about this, but Brand of the Clippers gave him a heavy blow.
With his current strength, he is still a bit short of being able to compete with the league's higher-tier All-Star players.
But the problem is that both the Grizzlies and the Mavericks have top All-Star players.
On the Grizzlies side, there is Pau Gasol, who will later partner with Kobe to win two NBA championships, while the Mavericks have Dirk Nowitzki, who is even stronger than Gasol.
Wang Chong felt tremendous pressure thinking about how to defeat them or at least win one of the games.
What he was most worried about was that he might have already won three games and would be only one victory away from completing the mission but might fail at the last moment. If that really happened, Wang Chong might not be able to sleep for three days and three nights.
There wasn't much suspense in the game against the Suns.
On January 19, the Lakers defeated the Suns 95:88 at home and won the game.
In this game, the Suns' star player Stoudemire was absent due to injury. The team's main players were Joe Johnson, Shawn Marion, and Leandro Barbosa.
Wang Chong matched up against Marion in the game.
Marion is a well-known "Gibbon" in the league. He is 2.01 meters tall but has a pair of long arms measuring 2.21 meters. His athletic ability is also outstanding. During the Suns' run-and-gun era, Marion was a key player in the forward position.
However, Wang Chong still had a significant height advantage over Marion. Despite Marion's near-equal wingspan, he had no good way to defend Wang Chong's shooting.
Moreover, facing the Suns' weak defense, the Lakers did not need to rely solely on Wang Chong. A total of six players scored in double digits throughout the game, making it easy to secure a victory.
The Clippers were already the bottom team in the Western Conference, so it wasn't surprising that the depleted Lakers won the game.
But the next opponent was different.
On January 21, the Lakers challenged the Memphis Grizzlies away and were defeated by the Grizzlies 91:82.
What Wang Chong was worried about finally happened. Pau Gasol dominated the game, scoring 24 points and grabbing 20 rebounds, turning the tide against the Lakers, who lacked interior players.
During the game, Gasol was also responsible for defending Wang Chong.
Although Gasol's style is different from Garnett's, the two have many similarities. Both possess static attributes that surpass Wang Chong's. Gasol stands 2.13 meters tall with an impressive 2.3-meter wingspan. His mobility isn't bad either, allowing him to keep up with Wang Chong's speed.
Gasol's defense throughout the game severely disrupted Wang Chong's mid-range shots, significantly lowering his shooting percentage.
During the game, Wang Chong was highly motivated to win. After all, winning this game would have allowed him to complete his task ahead of schedule and receive system rewards.
But Wang Chong had no way to counter Gasol's playing style, or more precisely, his innate talent.
Prime Durant certainly wasn't afraid of Gasol, but the future Lakers did assign Gasol to defend Durant multiple times when facing the Thunder.
Now, Wang Chong, who is only comparable to Durant in his rookie year, still suffered greatly when facing Gasol, who had already surpassed his rookie period and was rapidly growing in strength.
The game against the Grizzlies was Wang Chong's worst performance since the Lakers vs. Timberwolves against Garnett. He made 5 of 14 shots, scoring only 14 points and grabbing 5 rebounds.
However, with this, the system task progress became 3 wins and 2 losses. In the next and final game, an away match against the Dallas Mavericks, Wang Chong has no room for error. To complete the system task and earn the generous reward, he must win this game, no matter what!
End of this chapter
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