Thanks to Nash scoring 7 points in the last few minutes of the second quarter, Rashid Wallace scoring on a putback, and Aaron McKie making a counterattack dunk... as the Blazers ended the first half, they barely held onto a slim lead at 57 to 55 going into halftime.
With 13 points, 3 rebounds, 6 assists, and 2 blocks, Zhang Hao performed exceptionally well in the 17-plus minutes he played in the first half, especially in the latter half of the second quarter when he scored 5 points, 5 assists, and 1 block in just over 5 minutes, simply explosive! He helped the Lakers score 18-15 in that 5-minute stretch, assisting the Lakers in making it 31-29 in the second quarter, narrowing the gap by two points.
However, precisely because of this, the Blazers became even more excited.
Zhang Hao played like that, and they, the Blazers, still managed to keep their lead!
