Calmness is just for show.

Zhang Hao was also restless during the game, but during halftime, he identified an issue with their Lakers team—eager to win.

The 16-game winning streak brought not only immense glory but also a shift in mentality. 𝚏𝕣𝕖𝚎𝚠𝚎𝚋𝚗𝐨𝐯𝕖𝕝.𝕔𝐨𝕞

Although everyone might say, "I’m aware of our strength," in reality, even Mr. Zhang didn’t have a clear understanding of their own team’s abilities.

However, since he could calm down more easily than others, after playing half a game against the Warriors, he clearly sensed one thing—his teammates had become arrogant!

Teammates all thought they should easily win against the Warriors, and even the coach believed so, which led to anxiety when they were behind at halftime.

Because in many of their past games, they had maintained an all-game advantage, except for a few matches where they were dominantly winning without resistance.

And those few games involved superstars, finding reasons for a tightly contested match.

Future matters can be considered later, at least for this game, what Zhang Hao needed to do wasn’t to wake up his teammates. The timing wasn’t right.

What he needed to do now was maintain confidence! Use his own significant influence to drive his teammates and help them calm down.

For this game alone, they believed they should defeat the Warriors, maybe this sense of confidence was arrogance, but believing they could win wasn’t arrogance because they genuinely had the skills to defeat the Warriors.

As he said, even with the Warriors playing so well, the Lakers were only 7 points behind.

After lying down for two minutes, Zhang Hao stood up, patted his face back to his poker face, flushed the toilet as if flushing away all anxiety, washed his hands at the sink, and returned to the locker room with his usual indifferent expression.

By this time, Del Harris had regained his confident and wise demeanor, and seeing everyone was assembled, began to lay out the tactics.

The Magician, Zhang Hao, and other tactically smart players listened to Del Harris’s tactical arrangements—oh, wasn’t it just the same tactics from the first half with a different spin?

The purpose of reiterating was to make the players believe that their coach had thought of a counter-strategy...

...

Returning from halftime, the spirit of the Lakers visibly improved from top to bottom.

Del Harris regained his composure and wisdom, the Magician saw through everything, Zhang Hao remained calm as always, helping teammates regain their confidence.

In the third quarter, the Warriors kept their momentum fierce, showing no slack or complacency, instead, playing harder as they saw the opportunity to beat the 16-game winning streak team.

Fortunately, with the Lakers coach steady, the spiritual leader and core ball distributor Magician composed, and Zhang Hao calm, the Lakers players did not get as impatient as in the second quarter, staying steady and focused, doing what needed to be done regardless of how well the opponents played.

Zhang Hao was consumed by Oliver Miller when he got on the court, and he accepted it. The opponents’ outside play was so good, he did his best to prevent their inside attacking point from opening up, while also allowing Campbell, who could use height and weight as an attacking edge, to play better.

Someone had to sacrifice, and tonight Campbell was clear to be used as an attacking advantage point. It was Mr. Zhang’s turn to contribute elsewhere, and he didn’t think anything was wrong with that.

On the offense, he carefully spread the space, allowing teammates to execute better team plays, occasionally going solo, seizing opportunities for catch-and-shoot...

When it comes to trusting teammates, Zhang Hao has always trusted them.

Gradually, his teammates reciprocated!

In the third quarter, both teams explosively scored 30+ points!

The Warriors’ perimeter stars continued their outstanding performance, led by Spreewell and Tim Hardaway, scoring 31 points in the quarter.

But the Lakers scored 34 points in that quarter!

By the end of the third quarter, the Lakers had cut the score to 85-89, just 4 points behind!

The difference was reduced to 4 points entering the fourth quarter, which was a completely different feeling compared to a margin over 5 points. It might seem like just one basket, but in basketball, sometimes a single basket can be the deciding factor, or it may require two key shots at a crucial moment.

In the third quarter, Zhang Hao played 9 minutes, scored 2 points on a fast break, 2 points on a catch-and-shoot mid-range shot, and grabbed a hustle play to get 1 of 2 free throws, netting 5 points, 3 rebounds, 1 assist, and 1 steal, performing quite well.

He played consecutive 9 minutes, forcing the Warriors to keep Oliver Miller on the floor, giving Campbell plenty of rest time. Campbell scored 7 points in the last three minutes of the third quarter, a key factor in the Lakers catching up in the score.

At the start of the fourth quarter, Zhang Hao was benched to rest.

After three quarters, Zhang Hao played 26 minutes, shooting 6 of 14 from the field, 6 of 8 free throws, amassing 18 points, 8 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals, and 1 block, not bad at all!

It’s just that against a Warriors team that seemed defensively vigorous but practically ineffective, he got fewer points than expected, but overall, after he decided on a strategy of mutual exhaustion without letting the opponents’ inside-out offense take form, his performance was quite commendable.

After the start of the final quarter, Zhang Hao saw his team concede a 4-0 run, which was just them missing two consecutive shots and the opponents making two consecutive shots. Although slightly impatient, he maintained a poker face, as if not worried at all when watching the game unfold.