Chapter 55

"Lin, are you okay?"

As Lin Han's junior on the team, Brian Russell really didn't know what to say at this moment. Many of the other players on the team had been unhappy with Lin Han and the rookies for a long time. In the entire NBA, there was no team where three rookies had played fewer than a few games and two of them had already made it to the starting lineup, while the other rookie had become a regular rotation player.

Although Jerry Sloan was indeed reforming the team, the Jazz head coach was very dissatisfied with the team's tendency to falter at critical moments. He was intentionally promoting players like Lin Han, who could be relied upon in crucial situations. As a result, due to Lin Han's influence, the other two rookies, Russell and Aaron Williams, also rose to prominence, which was a clear violation of the unwritten rules of the NBA. Moreover, Lin Han's playing style was not favored by the others.

Because of the previous few games, apart from the team's star player, Malone, who still had a normal number of shooting opportunities, the shooting opportunities for other players had significantly decreased due to Lin Han. This reduction was not as significant for pure defensive players, but it was a tragedy for bench players who often played alongside the starters, like Humphries. Their only role on the team was to score, and now they had very few shooting opportunities. How could they score?

"Brian, do you think I would be angry about these things? I'm not playing for these guys."

Looking at the Jazz bench players who were struggling against the Magic's bench, Lin Han said with a hint of disdain. These guys were now evenly matched with the Magic, but apart from Jeff Malone, how many of them would be useful in the crucial playoffs? If they were truly reliable in critical moments, Sloan wouldn't have promoted Lin Han so quickly. These guys simply couldn't see the big picture of the team. In the NBA, players like Lin Han might be destined to be disliked by experts, but in the Jazz, Lin Han never thought there was anything wrong with his playing style. Even Sloan didn't think there was a problem. As for Malone, as long as his shooting and data were guaranteed, there would be no issue. And for Stockton, having another player to assist him in scoring wasn't a bad thing. Stockton's average assists in the first four games of this season were already approaching 15 per game. Stockton's highest average assists in a season was 14.5, and the six-time NBA assists champion probably regretted not having a season with 15 assists per game.

Although Lin Han was very selfish, both in life and on the court, as a young man who had studied at a university for a year, Lin Han was not a fool with no emotional intelligence. He knew what he could do and what he couldn't touch. So even though Malone's shooting had been poor in the last few games, with several games having a 25% shooting rate, Lin Han did not take away Malone's shooting opportunities.

The Jazz bench players performed very 'enthusiastically' in this game. After Lin Han and his teammates led the first quarter, the Jazz bench players gradually pulled away in the score against the Magic's bench. At this point, the Magic's bench lineup included Nick Anderson and Dennis Scott, two players in their prime who were almost All-Stars. The Magic's bench was one of the best in the league, aside from their strong starting lineup.

However, since Jeff Malone joined the bench, the Jazz's bench lineup had also become very strong. Although Jeff Malone was not a professional bench player or a so-called sixth man, he was far from being as good as the two-time NBA Sixth Man of the Year, Pierce, from the Supersonics. However, when Jeff Malone was in the Washington Bullets, he started his career on the bench. As the 10th pick in the 1983 draft, Jeff Malone did not immediately become a starter in the Washington Bullets. At that time, the starting shooting guard for the Washington Bullets was Ricky Sobers.

So, after Jeff Malone slowly became an All-Star, the bench became less familiar to him, but he still had experience.

Therefore, after Jeff Malone was squeezed out of the starting lineup by Lin Han, Sloan intended to make Malone the team's sixth man. However, for Malone, he did not want to become a bench player at this time. Maybe in a few years, but not now. At 32 years old, he was still an All-Star guard who could average around 20 points per game. So, his future in the team was not optimistic. He either had to quickly defeat Lin Han and return to the starting lineup or be traded by the team for not accepting the bench role.

Now, seeing Lin Han's continued crazy performance, Jeff Malone himself had no confidence in reclaiming the starting position. However, he still worked hard on the court, and for that, Lin Han respected this veteran of the Jazz.

61-55, when the second quarter was halfway through with six minutes left, Lin Han, Malone, and Stockton, the three starting players, all came back on the court. As the two pseudo-starters, small forward Brian Russell and center Spencer did not join them. On the court, Jeff Malone played small forward, and the veteran Chambers played center. Chambers' mid-range shooting, combined with Malone's, was enough to keep Shaquille O'Neal busy on defense. Of course, O'Neal could also tear apart the Jazz's interior on offense. The Jazz and the Magic had interior players who were mutually explosive.

"Lin, I knew it, you never reflect on anything."

After the three core players of the Jazz came back on the court, the first offensive play of the resumed second quarter was initiated by Lin Han. This rookie, who had recently been rebelled against by some team players, received a pass from Stockton and, without adjusting, took a step back from the 45-degree three-point line and, facing Hardaway's defense, turned and jumped to score, adding another assist for Stockton and making Hardaway grind his teeth. Hardaway really didn't expect that after such a long break, Lin Han still didn't understand the big picture of the NBA and continued to be selfish and independent.

"John, this is a great opportunity."

Facing Stockton's teasing, Lin Han shrugged and smiled, while the two Malones and Chambers were speechless. What a great opportunity, didn't you see how tightly Hardaway was guarding?

Fortunately, although these Jazz teammates had some complaints, Lin Han still respected them. In the first quarter, because the team had two pure defensive players, Russell and Spencer, Lin Han's shooting was unrestricted. But once the second quarter began, with Malone and Chambers, two offensive players, as teammates, Lin Han was very considerate. So, Malone and Chambers' data didn't look bad.

"Perry, I suddenly don't like this rookie very much. Our Perry is more to my taste."

As Hardaway frowned at Lin Han's happy back, O'Neal patted Hardaway's shoulder thoughtfully and said seriously. Although he had previously admired this rookie who was replicating his rookie season, after seeing Lin Han in this game, he found this guy to be the most dangerous teammate, giving him a very bad feeling.

In the second half of the second quarter, the Jazz's lineup was almost purely offensive. The key to this game was also at this moment. If O'Neal couldn't dominate the Jazz's offensive interior, the Jazz would definitely pull away in the score. However, as one of the most consistent players in the league, O'Neal was easily handling Chambers. After Hardaway returned to his normal state, the Magic's offense became very cohesive. Compared to the Jazz, the Magic's lineup at this moment was Hardaway, Skiles, Anderson, Dennis Scott, and O'Neal, a highly offensive lineup. The Magic's starting power forward, Chris Corvey, was also a pseudo-starter, and this biggest weakness of the Magic was now abandoned.

So, the two teams were competing in offense in the last part of the second quarter. The pick-and-roll offense of Stockton, Malone, and Chambers, and the personal one-on-one of Lin Han and Jeff Malone, especially Lin Han's one-on-one.

Although Hardaway had returned to his senses and was no longer playing one-on-one with him, this young rookie of the Jazz still looked for Hardaway as soon as he got the ball, which made the Magic fans and the reporters on the sidelines hate him with a passion.

"This guy is too disrespectful. Perry has already let him off, and he still keeps provoking."

"True basketball is not like this. Lin Han's basketball is evil. He can only score, nothing else."

"I think Perry should pick up the offensive weapon again. This guy should be torn apart."

At this moment, Lin Han, of course, didn't know that he had become the public enemy of the Magic fans. He was now