The stability on the offensive end can also provide tremendous help for the defense. In half-court offense, Zhang Hao can only space out, as one-on-one plays don’t work well. Olajuwon covers defense up to nearly mid-range distance, and even better outside the three-second zone than Moning, so Zhang Hao can only find ways on the defensive end.

But Olajuwon not only has excellent fake moves in isolation plays, but is also unpredictable in organizing the offense. His fake moves are truly outstanding.

Moreover, the Rockets’ tactics are solid, and their core lineup has remained intact for back-to-back championships, making them highly synchronized. Even if Zhang Hao is smart and analytical, he hasn’t found an opportunity to disrupt the opponent’s half-court offense.

Half-court play is the forte of the 30-something Olajuwon and Drexler.

However, even though he repeatedly fails on defense, Zhang Hao doesn’t get disheartened and continues to look for defensive opportunities. He is well aware of how formidable the fully-equipped Rockets are. If they were so easy to handle, would the Magic have been swept in last season’s finals? Although the Magic lost only by a bit over four games, the 4-0 sweep equally proves how strong the Rockets are.

One failure, two failures... ten failures! Zhang Hao is still not disheartened, and finally, he succeeds once!

This play by the Rockets was quite complex; not many passes, but very intricate movements. It’s one of the Rockets’ key moment tactics, combining threats, movements, pick-and-rolls, and cohesion... a comprehensive tactic.

Trying to execute a second successful play immediately is utterly impossible.

Seeing Zhang Hao running back, Olajuwon felt a bit frustrated. He had been overconfident, thinking he had definitely drawn a double-team from Anthony Peeler and Zhang Hao, and tried to be a bit flashy with his pass.

Opportunities, once missed, are missed. The score got tied, losing their first chance to pull ahead, Olajuwon chose to play patiently,

The Lakers stayed close in the score. After Drexler broke to the basket and drew two fouls from Campbell, both of which he made, the Lakers called a timeout!

17-19, the Lakers trailed by 2 points going into the official timeout.

Del Harris was very satisfied with this score. He had prepared for the Lakers to trail by more than 5 points with the opponent’s two superstars during the starting phase.

In the end, thanks to Zhang Hao’s steal and fast break, they only trailed by two points entering the official timeout, already an unexpected surprise.

Next, they must try to seize the advantage! The opponent’s two superstars, one is already 33, the other will be 34 at the end of this season, besides the starting phase and key moments, they will definitely have to rotate... Del Harris quickly analyzed and predicted which superstar the opponent would put on during the first rotation adjustment.

However, there was one more important matter.

When Kenny Smith, the defensive hole, got subbed out, their point guard position still had a tough player... Who would handle him?

Zhang Hao, who was drinking Gatorade and listening to endless praises from the Magician about his great work on defense in those two plays, suddenly felt that watching eye feeling again.

Sure enough, when Zhang Hao turned his head, he saw the old fox looking at him!

"Coach, please, although our relationship isn’t great, I am still your student, your most gifted player..."

Seeing that Olajuwon was indeed going to rest, and Drexler was bringing out Cassell, Horace, Sam Mark, Mark Bryant, Zhang Hao greatly respected Del Harris in this regard.

Del Harris had thoroughly grasped the Rockets’ lineup and predicted their rotational adjustments under current circumstances excellently. The Rockets indeed didn’t rotate in the heavily aged big center Pete Chilcutt but sent out a relatively small lineup, with the 206 cm Horace playing power forward, and the 206 cm center Mark Bryant. Mr. Zhang was taller than all the players on the court.

But...

"Old fox, are you sure I can guard that guy?"

Zhang Hao looked at his four teammates beside him, Doug Christie, George Lynch, Magician, Jason Williams...

"Fan the Madman playing point guard is quite exhausting, but defending the point guard is technically his job! Let him be tired for a bit, it shouldn’t matter..."

That’s what he thought, but once Zhang Hao got on the court, he immediately focused all his attention on the player he was about to defend.

"Wow! Magic damage! No, it’s true damage!"

When Zhang Hao looked at Cassell, Cassell was also examining the Lakers’ lineup and happened to look back at Zhang Hao.

When Cassell saw Zhang Hao looking at him, he gave Zhang Hao a warm smile...

Zhang Hao, feeling as if his eyes were being impregnated, tried hard to stay calm as he engaged in a staring contest with the smiling Cassell.

Cassell was stunned for a moment.

"The first time!

The first time someone dared to look me in the eye this long!

This rookie... is a good guy! Truly a gentleman!"

Cassell reminisced a bit; last time they faced each other, Zhang Hao had never shown any disdain towards him.

In fact, at that time, Cassell felt ignored, but now he suddenly developed a favorable impression, completely revising his judgment of that situation...

He really wanted to be friends with Zhang Hao; even though the other seemed cold, Cassell was willing to try and warm up to him, but then the referee blew the whistle signaling the continuation of the game, so Cassell had to give up.

The game resumed, and the Lakers went on offense, inbounding the ball in the frontcourt.

Doug Christie received the ball and passed it to the Magician. Instead of directing Zhang Hao to post up—with Olajuwon resting, Zhang Hao’s post-up would be effective against the Rockets, but the young Zhang Hao just relied on muscle, making turnaround fadeaways consume much more energy than Olajuwon or Jordan’s post-ups.

Since Olajuwon was substituted, the Lakers could go for passing and cutting plays!

The Magician started off by setting up a beautiful bounce pass to create a backdoor cut mid-range shot opportunity for Donyell Marshall, who didn’t let him down and nailed the long two!

Being used as a distraction, Zhang Hao was delighted; although he didn’t score or assist, he played his part.

However, when retreating on defense, Zhang Hao suddenly felt troubled, as Cassell moved forward! And he saw Cassell looking at him with shining eyes!

Zhang Hao suddenly had a bad feeling: "This guy, could he have some weird hobby?"