Seeing the referee and the officials at the technical table all go over to warn that guy...

Watching Zhang Hao, with a cold face, apologize to the referee, Malone was once again stunned—is this something a rookie could really pull off?

Normally, Lakers players would also be surprised by Zhang Hao’s actions, but tonight, they were already infected by Zhang Hao’s toughness. Now, they felt even more excited!

Stirring up trouble on Malone’s turf, just the thought of it was thrilling.

On the other side, the Magician looked at his rookie player, confused—it really started like this?

Watching Zhang Hao’s expression remain unchanged after taunting the away fans... yes, it has begun.

The referee did not blow the whistle, just warned Zhang Hao and started to prepare for the second half, clearing the court, checking the technical equipment...

Fans at the scene were naturally quite dissatisfied with this handling, and the boos became more and more frantic.

"The referee’s threshold is really high; it really does seem like the greater the number of white fans in a city, the bigger the referee’s threshold..."

Seizing the boos from the crowd, Zhang Hao tested the referee’s threshold, ignoring the boos at the scene, and continued to warm up.

Soon, the second half began, and the players from both teams took to the court.

With great understanding, both teams re-deployed their starting lineups.

For the Lakers, Van Exel, Anthony Peeler, Zhang Hao, the Magician, and Campbell took the court.

The Utah Jazz sent out Stockton, Horace, Chris Morris, Malone, and Spencer.

The Utah Jazz attacked first. When Malone got into position in the frontcourt, he was surprised to find Zhang Hao following him... Even though this rookie has some strength, he is still weaker than the now center-sized Magician... One-on-one!

Without hesitation, Malone chose a solo play!

This choice, Stockton also saw no problem with it and lobbed the ball to Malone, who was on the right side of the three-second zone with Zhang Hao on him.

Zhang Hao lowered his center of gravity to brace for impact... Whoa!

Zhang Hao felt himself being lifted high!

Malone’s fierce impact pushed Zhang Hao directly into the three-second zone. Malone followed up, turned, and pushed Zhang Hao away. The movement was very agile; from receiving the ball to the impact to turning into the basket, it was very fast. Campbell, fixing his eyes on the opponent to block any inside pass, couldn’t react in time!

Just as Malone rose for a layup, someone directly grabbed his shoulder and pulled him down!

Zhang Hao!

Zhang Hao directly hung onto Malone, bringing him down!

Stunned...

The fans were stunned, the referees were stunned, the Utah Jazz players were stunned, and the pulled-down Malone was the most stunned!

Meanwhile, the Lakers players immediately surrounded Zhang Hao to prevent their rookie from being hit.

The Magician’s emotions were extremely complex, but he had to stand in front to protect the rookie because he was the one the opponent least wanted and dared not fight against, fearing he’d go berserk.

On the bench, the Lakers’ head coach was also stunned!

"That guy, he really intended to do it that way... and he did!"

The referee, upon realizing what happened, quickly interceded in front of the Lakers team. It looked like the entire Lakers team was about to gang up on Malone.

The Utah Jazz players only then reacted that they should help, but Malone, who was pulled up by Stockton, didn’t even know what to do.

It was his first time encountering such a situation! Totally dumbfounded!

In fact, falling didn’t hurt; when the opponent pulled him down, they placed him on the ground rather than letting him fall hard.

But others thought Malone didn’t act out because he was dazed from the fall...

A foul was called on Zhang Hao for his defensive play. The referees exchanged looks and decisively decided to watch a replay to determine their course of action.

A fight might break out... Although it doesn’t look like it will, both teams’ coaches took their players back to the bench when the game was stopped.

After reviewing the replay, the experienced referees easily spotted Zhang Hao’s "little actions," which were merely aggressive fouls and even included protective actions for the person fouled...

In the midst of the crowd’s furious shouts after realizing what happened, the referees made their call—Zhang Hao committed a foul for pulling down, giving Malone two free throws.

This call nearly made Sloan explode!

The referee didn’t explain anything further and signaled the game to continue.

Watching his teammates excitedly surround Zhang Hao, saying something he couldn’t hear clearly, the Magician only had one feeling—how did the heir of the Lakers Kingdom start feeling like a rebellious kid with a Big Bird?

...

The game continued. Malone stood at the free-throw line and missed both shots!

He was aggressive and smart, but he was only human. Tonight’s game had too many unexpected situations for him, causing him to lose his normal rhythm, even missing his free throws.

Two missed free throws were roughly equal to a mistake!

Which meant Zhang Hao had just "defended" Malone!

With the switch to offense, due to Zhang Hao’s previous rough move, the Jazz players, except for Malone himself and Stockton, who somewhat understood the situation, were all stirred up by Zhang Hao’s action and defensively intense.

Zhang Hao, bearing the greatest defensive pressure, tried hard to redirect defense to the other side. The Magician seized the chance to break in close, passed to the corner, where Van Exel took the three-pointer shot!

Not only were the Utah Jazz players excited, but Zhang Hao, facing Malone, made such a fearless defensive move, pumping up his teammates too!

The central reason was that Malone was too much of a bully. The Lakers players, feeling morally superior, didn’t think there was anything wrong with Zhang Hao’s actions, feeling positively righteous!

Van Exel, being a player easily influenced by emotions, played better when hyped!

With a righteous heart, Van Exel received the ball and shot a treble, scoring!

to 54, the Lakers took a one-point lead!

Spirits were high! From the start, Zhang Hao used every possible condition to stir up his teammates’ emotions!