The Miami Heat really struggle against players who have a single, all-encompassing skill.

If the opponent’s strong point is a center with excellent one-on-one skills, the Heat are not afraid. For example, Olajuwon is not intimidating to Moning. When those two face-off, the outcomes are usually mixed and their stats are quite even as they defensively push each other to the brink. When it comes to sheer defense, Moning is not phased by Olajuwon.

If the opponent employs a team-based strategy, the Heat are also unafraid. Just focusing on defense, they can use the iron-clad defense built around Moning to wear their opponents down.

But when the other team has a player who can dominate from the outside, boasting superior physique and strength, and precise shooting, the Heat truly struggle to defend!

Kurt Thomas has already exhausted himself, almost losing control, using every little trick, and it’s fair to say being quite rough.

But Zhang Hao’s response is straightforward: use brute force, collide fiercely, break through the tight defense, and hit the target!

Del Harris made an accurate judgment this time, and Zhang Hao responded actively. In the eyes of the fans and the Lakers’ management, the two are a perfect match.

Though Zhang Hao is aloof and Del Harris disapproves of Zhang Hao, and neither has any intention of getting to know the other, the Logo Man finds this peculiar combination quite amusing.

However, with a score of 29 to 29, even though Zhang Hao tied it up with a three-pointer, the Logo Man remains unsure about the outcome of this game.

This season, the Heat’s record isn’t impressive, but they’re becoming more and more resilient. On January 3rd, the Bulls only defeated the Heat after three overtimes. After the first two overtimes, the score was 92 to 92, and in the final overtime, thanks to Jordan scoring eight points, the Bulls won 100 to 92.

But the Logo Man isn’t worried. It’s just a game, let the players play it out. Win or lose, it doesn’t matter as long as it doesn’t affect Zhang Hao’s chances of competing for the All-Star starter.

Looking at the current situation, it seems that it won’t affect it at all. Zhang Hao’s ability from the perimeter, and his center-like back play, just like that man, neutralizes the Heat.

Eleven points in half a quarter helped the Lakers tie the score even when their team offensive was completely stalled.

That performance, even if they eventually lose, Zhang Hao was impressive enough.

Of course, the Logo Man is also curious how the players and the coaching staff will respond when facing a team of this type like the Heat?

...

After the timeout, Zhang Hao, who rested for half a quarter in the first quarter, continued to play after half a quarter in the second.

Also on the court with him were Sedale-Srte, Doug Christie, George Lynch, and Campbell.

The Heat made no substitutions; Koels, Rex Chapman, Owens, Kurt Thomas, and Moning remained on the court.

This season, as the Heat played on, three of their five starters have an average playing time of over 36 minutes, another averaged 33 minutes, and one averaged 25 minutes, with bench rotation times also being quite concentrated.

Pat Riley’s characteristic of using the starters relentlessly, while also enabling them through intense training to maintain extended playing times throughout the season, continued to shine brightly after joining the Heat.

The Heat’s offense, Moning needs to stabilize the situation, starting with solo plays against Campbell.

Before facing kidney issues, Moning’s low-post play was really strong, withstanding Campbell’s mass, turning, dodging Zhang Hao’s constricting defense, and before Campbell could pivot, hitting a low-handed layup successfully!

Just as Zhang Hao was not satisfied in the first half of the second quarter after so many one-on-ones where the score didn’t change significantly nor did the team offense progress substantially, Moning also wasn’t willing to rely on solitary plays too much. Even with high efficiency, neither Zhang Hao nor Moning could keep playing solo like that, as power-based games are too energy-consuming, and in such a low-scoring, highly combative game, it’s not sustainable.

On the transition, after Sedale-Srte advanced to the front court, he continued to pass the ball to Zhang Hao at the mid-range on the left baseline.

This time, Zhang Hao did not intend to go one-on-one but prepared to use the leverage at this position to attract defenders and initiate an attack.

Sure enough, Rex Chapman, who was defending Doug Christie on the same sideline, immediately closed in on Zhang Hao for a double team, and just as Zhang Hao was about to pass to Doug Christie, someone bumped into him from behind. It wasn’t just an ordinary bump but a very rough one!

Zhang Hao steadied himself and didn’t pass out the ball, and as Rex Chapman rushed in and engaged in the confrontation, the back-up Kurt Thomas hit the ball grasped by Zhang Hao, allowing Rex Chapman to seize it!

Zhang Hao quickly reached out to snatch it back, instinctively using his elbow to push back against Kurt Thomas who had clamped onto him, flipping Kurt Thomas with an elbow...

The referee blew the whistle! 𝘧𝘳𝘦ℯ𝓌𝘦𝒷𝘯𝑜𝑣𝘦𝓁.𝒸𝘰𝓂

Zhang Hao’s first thought was that the whistle came a bit late, but he saw that the referee called a foul on him!

Since he already had three fouls in the first half of the game, Zhang Hao’s non-offensive foul this time accumulated four fouls, sending Kurt Thomas to the free-throw line!

"Damn it!"

Zhang Hao approached the baseline referee and asked, "Sir, wasn’t it them who committed the foul?"

Zhang Hao’s youthful face combined with his calm demeanor made the referee doubt his earlier non-whistle decision, but with both teams’ scores already so low and the confrontations having intensified, suddenly calling a foul could disrupt the rhythm of the game, and this regular-season game wasn’t about control, but there was concern that in high confrontations, whistling an active scramble could potentially trigger conflict scenarios, especially if the opposing team wanted aggressive scrambles but, being fouled, might shift to bigger rough fouls or even flagrant fouls.