Cheers erupted from the crowd.
Real Madrid Team's poor performances in the past had a lot to do with Sun Hao's poor form.
But tonight, Sun Hao got on the board right from the opening tip!
An opening blast!
Sun Hao struck first, but on Barcelona Team's side, Navarro drove inside and immediately answered with a floater.
After more than a season of being tempered as a starter, Navarro had already begun to show the potential of "The Bomb."
Both teams scored early, faintly revealing the signs of a high-scoring shootout. The fans were thrilled.
Just like when Sun Hao had dropped 81 points in the EBA and been adored by fans, rare things were precious!
Sun Hao brought the ball into the frontcourt and once again called for a Gabajosa screen.
Barcelona Team still chose to switch.
Even after Sun Hao made his shooting motion, Gasol still lunged forward, and Sun Hao still chose to drive right.
A copy of the previous possession!
But Gasol was prepared this time and retreated early.
Even so, he still couldn't stop Sun Hao!
The gap in their speed was a little too big!
Because of his relatively slow speed, Gasol's weakness after entering the NBA had also been defending smaller players.
He had already anticipated that Sun Hao would drive right, but he still couldn't stop him!
Sun Hao's second drive had the flavor of Iverson!
You knew I was going right, but you still couldn't stop me!
The guard who had switched onto Gabajosa under the basket saw Sun Hao drive in again and quickly came over to help.
Sun Hao didn't hesitate. After taking another step forward, he directly tossed the ball toward the basket.
The guard helping over meant Gabajosa was open underneath!
The pass was slightly off. Sun Hao had high Basketball IQ and made the correct choice, but his passing was still a little lacking.
However, Gabajosa displayed his athleticism, rising into the air to pull the ball back with his right hand before hammering it through with both hands.
Bang!
The huge dull boom traveled through the speakers and into the spectators' ears. The arena instantly exploded.
An alley-oop!
Sun Hao and Gabajosa had connected for an alley-oop!
European basketball emphasized tactics and physicality, and most players were more ground-bound. Dunks were already uncommon, let alone alley-oops.
That play ignited the arena.
Gabajosa was equally fired up after the dunk. He swung hard on the rim before dropping down.
And after landing, he immediately turned around to look for Sun Hao, wanting an emotional hug.
Unfortunately, Sun Hao had already retreated on defense.
Ever since being hugged after that last-second winner, Gabajosa's body scent had been etched deep into his memory.
"Defense! Defense!"
The fans had already begun cheering for Real Madrid Team.
Only two possessions had been played, but both had been so spectacular that the crowd's emotions had been completely ignited.
The crowd's roar shook the arena, and Real Madrid Team's players were fully energized as well. Gasol's low-post backdown and spin was directly swatted away by Gabajosa!
Real Madrid Team secured the ball, and Sun Hao went coast to coast on the Fast Break, shaking off his defender before gliding in for a layup off the glass.
6-2!
Real Madrid Team had given Barcelona Team an early warning!
Sun Hao had swept away his slump from the previous few games, contributing 4 points and 1 assist right from the start!
In other words, he had been involved in every point Real Madrid Team had scored!
In the stands, the waves of female fans holding Sun Hao KT boards grew even more turbulent.
The gloom on Laso's face finally faded.
Sun Hao had been in average form, yet he had continued to trust him. Now Sun Hao was repaying that trust!
When a team's offense flowed early, its defense often followed. They turned around and successfully stopped Barcelona Team's attack again.
When Sun Hao brought the ball into the frontcourt again and called for a Gabajosa screen, Barcelona Team was somewhat unsure how to defend it.
Gasol had failed to stop Sun Hao on the previous two possessions, so stopping him on the third certainly wouldn't be easy.
Enrique said nothing from the sideline, and the players' defensive approach didn't change either. Barcelona Team continued switching on the pick-and-roll.
But this time, Gasol's defensive stance had changed.
He didn't raise his hands. Instead, he spread his arms and lowered his center of gravity.
He was guarding against Sun Hao's drive!
After being beaten off the dribble twice in a row, guarding the drive was a normal reaction.
Even without the First Step Master's assistance, Sun Hao noticed Gasol's defensive adjustment.
He didn't hesitate after receiving the ball and simply rose up to shoot.
Gasol wanted to contest it when he saw that, but with such a large frame, it took time to spring back up after lowering his center of gravity.
By the time he lunged out, Sun Hao had already released the shot.
The ball flew over Gasol's head, spinning through the air in a high arc.
The fans' eyes followed the basketball.
As it neared the hoop, excitement flashed in their eyes.
This shot...
It was dead on!
It was going in!
Swish!
The next second, a crisp sound echoed through the arena.
Sun Hao's three-pointer was good!
"Sun!!"
Accompanied by the arena announcer's cry, the entire Barclaycard Center erupted into a frenzy.
Sun Hao had made all three of his shots to start the game and had already poured in 7 points!
And under his leadership, Real Madrid Team had taken a 9-2 lead over Barcelona Team!
An unbelievable start!
The last time the two teams met this season, Real Madrid Team had been suppressed by Barcelona from the opening minutes and remained suppressed all night!
But tonight, everything had changed!
Without Prigioni, Real Madrid Team looked weaker, yet they had seized the initiative on the court!
And the person who had caused all this change was Sun Hao!
"He's truly unbelievable tonight! Who was the last player to dominate La Liga like this? Petrovic, Sabonis, or Bodiroga?"
Sun Hao's opening performance had even made the arena announcer start wildly praising him!
But there was absolutely nothing wrong with that praise!
La Liga! A place where averaging a dozen points made someone a superstar, yet Sun Hao had scored 7 in the opening moments!
Enrique raised a hand to wipe the sweat from his forehead. He hadn't expected Sun Hao, who had been slumping over the last few games, to suddenly explode.
After hesitating for a long time, he finally turned toward the bench and called for the team's second center, sending him in to replace Gasol.
Gasol looked frustrated as he headed to the bench.
He felt that he might as well have spent the opening chatting with Sun Hao about literature.
Sun Hao had really gone all out tonight!
Barcelona's second center was named Daniel. He was British, only 2.06 meters tall, an undersized center with rough offensive skills but solid defense.
They were sacrificing offense in exchange for defense against Sun Hao.
Barcelona Team's offense had already been sluggish at the start. After Gasol was substituted out, they struggled even more and once again came up empty on a possession.
That meant that after nearly half a quarter, they had scored only 2 points!
On the other end, Sun Hao attacked Daniel in the mismatch, but missed a three-pointer from outside.
As an undersized center, Daniel moved well and was much better than Gasol at defending smaller players.
But the ball hit the back rim of the basket, creating a short rebound.
Barcelona Team had no center under the basket. Gabajosa soared high to grab the offensive rebound, powered back up, drew the opposing power forward's help-defense foul, and earned two free throws.
Gabajosa adjusted himself and made both free throws. Real Madrid Team had already taken an 11-2 lead!
Barcelona Team was forced to call a timeout.
During the timeout, Enrique's rapid speech and raised voice fully revealed Barcelona Team's predicament.
With such a one-sided start, if no one stepped up, they might be swept away by a single run from Real Madrid Team!
After the timeout, the one who stepped up was Navarro.
He used a teammate's screen on the perimeter, pulled up sharply, and launched a three-pointer.
The ball's arc was extremely high.
Swish!
The ball dropped heavily through the net, just like a bomb!
Real Madrid Team adjusted its offense, looking to Forceful Attack Daniel inside.
Unfortunately, Gabajosa's Forceful Attack didn't go in, and Daniel grabbed the rebound.
And after securing the board, Barcelona Team immediately pushed the Fast Break. Navarro led the charge, caught the ball, evaded Trinidad's defense in midair, and made another floater!
Barcelona Team had cut the score to 7-11!
Although Gasol had been forced to the bench, Barcelona Team was stronger this season than last, and defeating them wasn't as easy as it had been last year.
More importantly, after Daniel came in, Sun Hao no longer had such a large mismatch advantage.
Real Madrid Team shifted its offensive focus inside, but failed on several consecutive possessions.
On the other end, Navarro drove and kicked it out, assisting a teammate for a basket.
9-11!
Barcelona Team answered Real Madrid Team with a 7-0 run, suddenly cutting the deficit to only 2 points!
Navarro showed his improvement, contributing 5 points and 1 assist during that stretch!
You had Napoleon, I had The Bomb!
This time, Laso sensed that something was wrong and raised a hand to call timeout.
"Sun, keep running the pick-and-roll with Yorg."
During the timeout, he still chose to switch the tactics back. The team's offense had completely lost its way during that stretch.
Sun Hao nodded.
After the timeout, Sun Hao brought the ball into the frontcourt, called Gabajosa to the top of the key to continue running pick-and-rolls, and Barcelona Team continued switching.
Enrique's expression became calm again. With Navarro on offense and Daniel on defense, Barcelona Team had stabilized itself for the moment.
Sun Hao glanced at Daniel and drove directly to the right.
Daniel retreated early, and Sun Hao couldn't get past him.
But Sun Hao apparently hadn't intended to beat him in one move. He dribbled left to pull the ball back, then changed direction and drove from the left.
A crossover!
Thanks to beginning ball-handling training early in the system, Sun Hao's handle was steady, and he executed that crossover beautifully.
Daniel hadn't expected Sun Hao to have that move. By the time he turned to defend, Sun Hao had already driven into the paint from the left.
Sun Hao absorbed contact from the helping guard and released the shot. The ball circled the rim once before dropping through the net!
At the critical moment, the one who stepped up to score was still Sun Hao!
The female fans in the arena screamed excitedly.
Sun Hao was charging straight through tonight, tearing into the heart of the defense, unstoppable!
Sun Hao's wild performance thrilled the home fans, but it also gave Barcelona's head coach Enrique an enormous headache.
He had thought bringing in Daniel would limit Sun Hao's mismatched isolation attacks, but he hadn't expected Sun Hao to possess so many offensive weapons!
Although his crossover wasn't especially polished, he at least had that ability!
This Asian player looked only a little over 1.7 meters tall, but his talent was terrifyingly high.
He was only 17 years old!
Forget La Liga, there had never been anything like this in European history.
Sun Hao truly was God's first creation!
Navarro was trapped in the frontcourt, and Barcelona Team failed to score on the possession.
On the other end, Sun Hao missed a three-pointer, but Gabajosa scored on the putback.
Barcelona Team still couldn't score, while Real Madrid Team pushed the Fast Break and Sun Hao assisted a teammate for another transition basket.
17-9!
Barcelona Team had finally managed to close the gap, but after Real Madrid Team's 7-0 run, the margin had widened once again!
The facts proved that once they couldn't contain Real Madrid Team's offense, Daniel's weakness on offense was magnified without limit!
Enrique raised a hand to wipe the sweat from the corner of his eye.
Like Laso, neither side could afford to lose a Real Madrid versus Barcelona match. The losing side would face enormous pressure after the game.
That pressure came not only from the fans, but also from management.
After all, in basketball leagues, head coaches usually had very short careers.
If the team performed poorly, replace the coach. If the star players were unhappy, replace the coach. If the owner was unhappy, replace the coach.
Coaches had always been the first choice when someone needed to take the blame.
At the end of the first quarter, the Real Madrid Team led the Barcelona Team 25–13, a 12-point advantage.
Sun Hao had exploded for 12 points in the quarter alone!
The momentum had completely swung to one side.
During the second quarter's bench stretch, the Barcelona Team, led by Gasol, cut the deficit to 6 points.
But once the starters returned, the Real Madrid Team pulled away again.
At halftime, it was 43–28, and the Real Madrid Team had expanded its lead to 15 points!
Sun Hao scored another 6 points in the second quarter, pouring in 18 in the first half alone—nearly half of his team's total!
With a 15-point lead, plus the Barcelona Team's inability to solve their defensive problems against Sun Hao—
It was the complete opposite of their first meeting of the season. This time, the Barcelona Team was in serious trouble!
When play resumed after halftime, the fans all turned their eyes toward the Barcelona Team's bench.
Barcelona Team's starting lineup for the second half drew plenty of attention.
Based on the first half, continuing to use Gasol meant they could not contain Sun Hao; but if they used Daniel, the team's offense became a major issue.
It was a difficult choice, and Enrique had a headache.
The second half began, and both sides' starters took the court one after another.
At that moment, the fans saw Barcelona Team's decision.
Gasol remained in the starting lineup!
Enrique responded to every change by changing nothing!
Barcelona Team had the first possession of the second half. Navarro and Gasol ran a high pick-and-roll, and Gasol took Navarro's return pass for a high-post jumper.
Swish!
The basketball dropped cleanly through the net.
Although his minutes had been limited in the first half because of defensive issues, Gasol still looked to be in excellent offensive form.
On the Real Madrid Team's possession, Sun Hao ran a pick-and-roll with Gabajosa, then attacked Gasol again after forcing the switch.
Gasol sagged far back on defense, giving Sun Hao room to shoot from three.
Sun Hao's three-pointer clanged off the rim, and Barcelona Team secured the long rebound.
Enrique let out a long breath at the sight.
His decision to keep Gasol in the starting lineup for the second half was meant to challenge Real Madrid Team in an offensive shootout—to gamble on Sun Hao's three-point touch, to gamble that the latter had run out of bullets.
Judging from that first exchange after halftime, he had won the gamble.
On Barcelona Team's possession, Gasol posted up with the ball, spun and missed his shot, but used his long arms to grab the putback and draw a foul on Gabajosa, earning two free throws.
Though he had obvious problems on defense, his offensive talent was truly overflowing.
Amid the noise from the crowd, he made both free throws, scoring 4 straight points to start the half and cutting Barcelona Team's deficit to 11.
Enrique could not help clenching his fist in celebration. His choice for the second half had been so wise!
But that thought had barely surfaced.
Swish!
Facing the same defensive approach from Gasol, Sun Hao still decisively launched a three-pointer.
This time, the three-pointer went straight through the net. Sun Hao had scored his 21st point of the game!
Enrique had lost the gamble!
The crowd erupted again. At this rate, Sun Hao breaking his own single-game scoring record was already inevitable.
In other words, they would get to witness another career night from Sun Hao!
Gasol turned to look at Enrique on the sideline, asking with his eyes whether they should change their defensive strategy.
Enrique signaled for them to continue.
On Barcelona Team's possession, Gasol's Forceful Attack was stopped by Gabajosa.
Going the other way, Sun Hao missed his three-pointer as well, and Barcelona Team secured the rebound.
Both teams failed to score on one possession each. Then Navarro drew a foul on his shot and made one of two free throws.
But on the next possession, Sun Hao launched another three from outside, and after the ball bounced twice on the rim, it fell in!
His fifth three-pointer of the game! His 24th point of the game!
This was crazy!
He was not shooting a perfect percentage, but Sun Hao was 5-for-8 from beyond the three-point line so far, an absolutely terrifying percentage!
And the gap on the court had grown to 16 points!
Barcelona Team had spent more than half a quarter cutting into the lead, only for Sun Hao to bury two quick threes and erase all their work!
Enrique stood there blankly for quite a while.
Sun Hao's touch had actually dipped compared to the first half. He had gone 3-for-4 from beyond the three-point line in the first half, but was 2-for-4 after halftime.
But even that percentage was enough to dominate the game!
That damned Napoleon of China—he was obviously so short, so why was he so accurate?!
Enrique had lost his bet!
But it was not an unfair loss.
Wary of Sun Hao's breakthrough, Gasol did not dare step out too far on defense at all.
That gave Sun Hao more than enough room to shoot from outside.
His first-half shooting percentage had already shown that he was hot. Against this kind of defense, Sun Hao only had to do one thing: keep shooting!
Gasol's putback on the offensive end kept adding points for Barcelona Team. Going the other way, Sun Hao was about to shoot another three from beyond the three-point line.
Gasol was getting desperate. Was this ever going to end?!
He threw himself at Sun Hao and disrupted the shot.
But the foul was far too obvious. The referee blew the whistle, and Sun Hao got three free throws!
They were not three-pointers, but he had a chance to score three points!
Sun Hao stepped to the free throw line and adjusted his breathing.
The first free throw was good.
The second was good too.
He made all three free throws!
He had already scored 29 points!
And the third quarter was not even over!
On Barcelona Team's bench, some players held their heads, others wrapped themselves in towels. They had already fallen into despair at the sight before them.
Sun Hao had scored 81 points in the EBA League before? Sorry, but EBA was full of kids.
Sun Hao had scored 32 points by himself in Plata before? No problem, that had only been a third-tier league.
But this was La Liga, Spain's top league, one of the Eight Major European Basketball Leagues!
Twenty-nine points in less than three quarters!
Sorry... excuse us!
In the depths of despair, the one who stepped up for Barcelona Team was still Navarro.
He first hit a life-saving three-pointer, then suddenly came up with a steal on defense and drew a defensive foul on the fast break.
After making both free throws, he scored 5 straight points and cut the gap to 12!
Sun Hao was on fire tonight, but Navarro was no slouch either!
Sun Hao had scored 29 points, but Navarro had 16 as well!
Both teams traded offense and defense through the latter half of the quarter, and the gap remained at 12 when the third quarter ended.
Barcelona Team had played the Real Madrid Team even in that quarter!
Although Enrique had a headache, his approach had been correct.
If they could not contain Sun Hao, then they should let loose and engage in an offensive shootout.
Barcelona Team even outscored Real Madrid Team by 2 points in the fourth quarter.
But the key issue was that they could keep pace, yet they could not cut into the lead!
They never found a way to limit the Real Madrid Team, or to limit Sun Hao's scoring!
The final score was 83–73.
The Real Madrid Team scored 83 points, and Sun Hao scored 40 all by himself!
He alone had scored nearly half the team's points!
Gasol had been driven past like a sieve tonight, and shot full of holes like a beehive!
It felt like he had been pinned against a wall and relentlessly battered all night.
When the final buzzer sounded, his expression was perhaps the most helpless in history.
He truly could not defend Sun Hao tonight, yet Enrique had stubbornly made him switch onto him all night long.
Gasol was frustrated, but the entire crowd was wildly excited.
For no other reason than Sun Hao's scoring.
Forty points—not only had he broken the La Liga single-game scoring record, he had also broken the European League single-game scoring record!
"Napoleon! Napoleon!"
A unified chant rose from the crowd, the fans' excitement impossible to conceal.
At this moment, Sun Hao was the greatest scorer on this continent!
PS: As for the protagonist's training, you can go back and read Chapter 2. Like the Shooting Training Machine mentioned earlier, new training content will be added.
PS2: The protagonist is currently over 1.7 meters tall. He will grow to 1.85 meters by the Five-Year Pact; this was written from the very beginning.
PS3: Can the protagonist get a tryout opportunity now? Yes. It is very simple—just look at the Summer League. There are plenty of shorter players, because a tryout does not mean they are going to draft you. I also wrote that many people attend tryouts every year.
PS4: Do not stir up drama between me and Shui Duanqiao. Can't you see the promo exchange?
PS5: Recommendation votes! Recommendation votes! I know you all love Shui Duanqiao, but it is enough to say you love him. Save your votes for Shui Qie!
Before you continue