Gritting His Teeth, Kobe!

As the game entered the final quarter, the Lakers, holding a ten-point lead, did not let their guard down and sent out their strongest lineup.

Zhou Ze, Kobe, and Lamar Odom took the court together.

On offense, Zhou Ze still stationed himself beyond the three-point line. Looking at Kenyon Martin, who had posted 6 points, 3 rebounds, and 1 block tonight, Zhou Ze could not help but tease him. "Man, all your stats tonight combined don't even add up to my points."

Kenyon Martin, the beastly interior player, rolled his eyes speechlessly. He wanted to retort, but he did not know how to begin.

After all, Zhou Ze was stating facts.

Through the first three quarters, Zhou Ze had gone 7-for-13 from the field and 4-for-9 from three, putting up 18 points, 2 rebounds, and 1 assist.

Meanwhile, he himself, who averaged 7.3 rebounds per game, had only grabbed 3 so far.

There was nothing he could do. He had been dragged out beyond the three-point line by the rookie in front of him, leaving him no way to recover to the basket in time to fight for rebounds.

There were also tall spot-up shooters around the league, such as his former Nets teammate Van Horn, who had been called Larry Bird 2.0.

But he was completely different from Zhou Ze. Not only could Zhou Ze fire away from beyond the arc, he could also quickly cut to the basket. Kenyon Martin had to stay focused at every moment to prevent him from slipping inside.

Compared with ordinary tall spot-up shooters, Zhou Ze's excellent athleticism allowed him to cut well and create good offensive opportunities.

Either he cut for an open dunk.

Or he cut and created a mismatch with a perimeter defender.

But unfortunately, Zhou Ze's finishing at the rim was weak. Although he could use his powerful body to shove defenders aside, he often bricked the layup whenever he had to finish over someone.

Simply put, after cutting inside, if Zhou Ze could not dunk directly or draw a foul, he would most likely miss.

Zhou Ze made three beautiful cuts in the fourth quarter. The instant Kenyon Martin stepped out to help defend and left his position, Zhou Ze seized the opportunity and cut to the basket.

Once, he finished directly with an alley-oop dunk.

The other two times, he forced the Nuggets' perimeter players to switch onto him.

Near the restricted area, Zhou Ze, barefoot at 206 centimeters and weighing 113 kilograms, faced the 201-centimeter Carmelo Anthony. Taking advantage of the slight mismatch, Zhou Ze put his full strength into backing him down, only to brick the layup after bumping him aside.

As a power-based forward, it was understandable that Zhou Ze could shove Carmelo Anthony aside but fail to make the basket.

But against Andre Miller, a 191-centimeter point guard, Zhou Ze still could not finish.

It made Kobe, who was on the court with him, grit his teeth in frustration.

"Shit!"

"What a waste of another great opportunity."

After Zhou Ze bricked it, Kobe's fierce gaze looked as though it wanted to tear him apart.

Although Zhou Ze possessed the strength of a center and could shove defenders aside to create shooting opportunities, his awful footwork prevented him from getting close to the basket, while his mediocre touch made it difficult for him to finish softly through contact.

Seeing Kobe baring his teeth in anger, Zhou Ze, with skin thick enough to ignore it, acted as if he had not seen a thing.

But Kobe's resentment toward Zhou Ze soon faded.

On the Lakers' offensive possession, Kobe was trapped by a double-team from the Nuggets, and his teammates had no way to get him the ball. With the shot clock about to expire, Denver's rapid defensive rotations tried to force Odom into a contested heave.

At that moment, Zhou Ze suddenly ran from the right corner to the top of the arc. He caught the ball with two seconds left, and this time Kenyon Martin followed him.

Kenyon Martin got right up on him and raised his hands to stop Zhou Ze from shooting.

Zhou Ze planted his left foot, spun halfway to the right and backward, then rose into a turnaround three immediately after catching the ball.

Kenyon Martin jumped with him. With his quick leaping ability and decent wingspan, he could easily disrupt Zhou Ze's jumper. But Zhou Ze was taking a turnaround shot, and the fadeaway motion directly shifted his body away from Kenyon Martin, creating plenty of space for the release.

"What?"

"This..."

"This rookie really is insane!"

At that moment, not only were the Lakers' home fans stunned, but even the Denver Nuggets players and coaching staff reacted the same way.

The basketball sailed over Kenyon Martin's fingertips and, with a bang, kissed the backboard before dropping through the net.

Zhou Ze had made his fifth three-pointer of the game.

5-for-10!

An incredibly high three-point percentage!

If you think this book is good, remember to add it to your bookshelf so you don't lose it next time.

Of course, in many people's eyes, Zhou Ze had merely gotten lucky and caught lightning in a bottle.

In truth... that was indeed the case.

Zhou Ze's touch was genuinely good tonight, and his opponents had not taken his three-point ability seriously.

As for the turnaround shot from beyond the arc, although the shooting rhythm was uncomfortable, with the buffs from [Catch-and-Shoot (Bronze)] and [Three-Point Agent (Bronze)], his three-point attribute increased by 10. His percentage would not drop much, putting him only slightly below Griffin's peak three-point rating of [94].

Zhou Ze had already tested this point countless times during Lakers practices.

That was why, when Zhou Ze, an interior player, chose to fire a turnaround three, the Lakers players on the court were only mildly surprised.

The turnaround jumper from beyond the three-point line might not become a regular weapon at this stage, but it could serve as a way to force a tough shot.

"Mr. Phil, that kid Zhou has such a big heart."

"Yeah, Mr. Phil. So many Lakers fans who didn't think much of him before the game are cheering for him now."

The coaching staff on the Lakers' bench was also highly satisfied with Zhou Ze's performance.

Phil Jackson adjusted his glasses and said nothing, but a faint smile appeared at the corner of his mouth.

The current Lakers were rapidly rebuilding around Kobe, but honestly, playing with someone as obsessive as him required a strong heart.

For mentally fragile players, playing alongside Kobe was undoubtedly a form of torture.

But mentally tough players could grow quickly.

With over half of the fourth quarter gone, the Lakers held a fifteen-point lead and controlled the pace of the game. When they saw the Denver Nuggets gradually pull their starters, they also began taking theirs off the court.

Zhou Ze came off together with Kobe.

It wasn't that the coaching staff considered Zhou Ze to be on Kobe's level now, but rather that Zhou Ze was having stamina issues.

Zhou Ze's stamina was only a mere [90], which was the level of an ordinary rookie.

Thirty minutes of playing time was more or less the limit for Zhou Ze at his current stage.

In the end, the score was set at 95:108!

The Lakers claimed victory in their regular-season opener by thirteen points, while also handing the Denver Nuggets their second straight loss.

As for the player stats:

Kobe went 13 for 28, 0 for 1 from three, shooting 46.4%. In 40 minutes, he posted 33 points, 5 assists, 4 steals, and 5 rebounds.

Zhou Ze went 9 for 16, 5 for 10 from three, shooting 56.3%. In 30 minutes, he recorded 23 points, 2 assists, 3 rebounds, and 4 fouls.

The instant the game ended...

The system's mechanical, icy electronic voice rang out in Zhou Ze's mind once more.

[Ding! The Basketball Peak System is conducting post-game settlement...]

[Standard Reward: 116 Peak Points.]

[First Win Reward: 200 Peak Points.]

[Other Rewards: None]

Standard reward formula: [Points x2 + Rebounds x2 + Assists x3 + Blocks x3 + Steals x3] x Match Coefficient.

Match Coefficient: Win = 2; Loss = 1.

Zhou Ze glanced at his character attributes panel.

[Peak Points]: 316/516 (To load another player template, a total of 5,000 Peak Points is required)

What am I still thinking about?

If I want to get stronger, I should keep drawing!