A Cold Three-Point Shower, Garnett Panics!

Kevin Garnett froze for a moment, then turned and cursed at Zhou Ze. "Rookie, you're as soft as toilet paper I've already used!"

"You're just a soft pansy who only dares to shoot threes from the perimeter."

Zhou Ze was stunned by those words.

"Man, if I remember correctly, you've only made one tough jumper yourself. You haven't scored once at the rim," Zhou Ze said with a broad grin.

Zhou Ze, a rookie, had started trading insults right on the court with Garnett, who had won both MVP and DPOY.

But attentive fans could clearly see that every time Zhou Ze took a step forward, Garnett subconsciously took a small step back, always keeping a safe distance from him.

The referees stepped in promptly, bringing their farce to an end.

"Thanks, my big bro!" Kwame Brown looked at Zhou Ze with watery eyes, like a little princess, filled with gratitude.

Zhou Ze smiled and patted him on the shoulder, like an influential big brother comforting a frightened little brother.

"Kobe, your rookie is really arrogant," Garnett couldn't help complaining to Kobe.

"Haha, yeah," Kobe said with a smile.

On the very next possession, Kevin Garnett went straight to the low post to isolate against Zhou Ze.

Though Zhou Ze was at a disadvantage in height and wingspan, he had a considerable edge in strength and bulk. But Garnett was far too agile. After backing him down hard once, he gave a shoulder fake and pretended to turn for a shot, baiting Zhou Ze into jumping. Then he spun to his left, followed it with an up-and-under, and laid the ball in over Kwame Brown's help defense.

After scoring, Garnett didn't forget to needle Zhou Ze. "Rookie, see that? That's the difference between me and a role player like you."

After getting thoroughly beaten by Garnett's fakes and footwork, Zhou Ze didn't say much. But on the next offensive possession, he answered directly with a three-pointer.

"Three points, Zhou... Ze..." the arena DJ drew out the call.

Of course, Garnett was not the one defending Zhou Ze in tonight's game. As a player who was practically a defensive system by himself, head coach Casey would never be stupid enough to let the Lakers pull Garnett all the way out to the three-point line.

Garnett needed to protect the rim and roam on help defense for the Minnesota Timberwolves.

The one guarding Zhou Ze was Michael Olowokandi, the NBA's first overall pick selected by the Los Angeles Clippers in 1998. He stood 213 centimeters tall and weighed 122 kilograms, with outstanding physical tools but raw skills.

Olowokandi was faster than most centers, but there was still an obvious gap between him and Zhou Ze.

Moreover, big men generally had slow reaction speed—put bluntly, poor agility, like an aircraft carrier trying to turn around.

Using his speed and constantly changing pace, Zhou Ze shook Olowokandi off with ease.

"Wow..."

"OMG!"

"Zhou, he's hit another three!"

"That's already his third three-pointer of the quarter."

"He's taken four shots in total and missed only one."

Zhou Ze's 3-for-4 shooting from three extended the Los Angeles Lakers' lead into double digits.

Seeing that things were going wrong, the Minnesota Timberwolves immediately called a timeout.

"WTF!"

"Coach, let me take the primary assignment on that kid later."

Back on the bench, Garnett said with a frustrated expression.

Zhou Ze had scored 9 points, even more than Kobe's 8.

Although the difficulty of their scoring and the defensive attention they received were completely different, Zhou Ze's presence gave Kobe much more comfortable room to operate on offense.

And...

At the request of many readers, VIP members can now enjoy an ad-free feature.

Click to view

What surprised Garnett was that Kwame Brown, the bust first overall pick, had actually gotten tougher after that earlier "conflict."

Especially on the boards, he had been fighting Garnett with all his strength for position, preventing him from grabbing offensive rebounds.

After the timeout, Zhou Ze did not return to the court.

That's right—his stamina was still the limiting factor.

Zhou Ze was different from those perimeter spot-up gunners. On defense, he had to battle opposing big men in the paint.

In transition, Zhou Ze also had to sprint at full speed.

Even when Zhou Ze didn't get the ball, he could still stretch the opposing defense and create good fast-break opportunities for his teammates.

Especially tonight, the Minnesota Timberwolves had their starting center switch onto Zhou Ze. Since Olowokandi couldn't keep up with Zhou Ze running the floor off the ball, Zhou Ze would usually draw help defenders once he reached the basket.

That made the Lakers' offense incredibly smooth.

Even Kobe could not help but sigh inwardly. Ever since Shaquille O'Neal had left, he had never fought such a well-stocked battle again.

Even with Kevin Garnett, an epic defensive anchor, it was difficult to patch the holes Zhou Ze created on offense.

The game entered the second quarter, and Michael Olowokandi was still guarding Zhou Ze. After their first-quarter matchup, Zhou Ze had roughly figured him out.

The rhythm of his off-ball movement became far more varied.

There were not only sudden stops and bursts, but also abrupt detours.

He looked like he was running toward the top of the arc, only to suddenly turn around midway and head back to the corner.

Thus, after missing his first two three-point attempts of the second quarter, Zhou Ze brought a frigid rain of threes down upon the Minnesota night.

"Ouch!"

"Ouch!"

"Ouch!"

In the span of just two minutes, Zhou Ze took three consecutive three-pointers and made every one of them.

From the moment Zhou Ze hit his first three of the second quarter onward, every basket he made left Timberwolves fans feeling as though Kobe's iron elbow had smashed into their cheeks.

It was worth mentioning that the first two had been lightly contested, but on the third make, the defender had already closed out. Yet Zhou Ze still shot with confidence and decisiveness, drilling it right over Olowokandi's outstretched fingertips.

Minnesota called another timeout.

On the Timberwolves bench.

Garnett's face was full of anger as he said unwillingly, "Coach, let me guard this kid."

Coach Casey shook his head.

Although he was equally helpless against Zhou Ze's unreasonable three-pointers, Garnett had to stay under the basket. If he were pulled out beyond the three-point line, the Timberwolves' entire interior would be torn apart by the opponent's drives.

"But... Coach... this guy is about to break the half-time three-point record," Garnett said with an ugly expression.

The NBA record for threes made by an individual player in a half was eight. Zhou Ze had currently made six of nine from three, and there were still seven minutes left in the half.

Garnett truly could not stand it any longer.

This smug rookie was actually about to set a new NBA half-time three-point record right in front of him, a DPOY.

At that moment!!!

Casey could not help but fall into thought.