NBA: The start beat Kobe Bryant in his old age

Chapter 185 Instead of reminding him, it is better to blow him up

A big-score victory greatly boosted the morale of the Lakers.

For the 76ers' management, this is the ending they would like to see, so this is a win-win situation.

After the three-game streak ended, the Lakers players rushed back to Los Angeles early the next morning.

During the rare two-day break, Lin Tian and the others had to participate in public welfare activities.

The team's schedule at the beginning of the season has actually been arranged.

The team attaches great importance to Kobe's retirement season. The arrangement at the beginning of the season is completely for the tour, and by the way, to build momentum for Kobe.

But with the arrival of Lin Tian, ​​the plan changed.

Many pre-prepared commercial activities have been rejected, but some public welfare activities cannot be postponed casually, and must still be carried out as planned.

Lin Tian originally planned to take advantage of these two days to take a good rest, but he couldn't.

Two days later, the Staples Center ushered in the challenge of the Jazz.

The Lakers will show up in the arena early to warm up.

The fans are also enthusiastic. At the beginning of the season, they never dreamed that the team would be able to attack the playoffs. Now, the playoffs are close at hand. As fans, no one is not excited.

The number of fans wearing the No. 23 Lin Tian jersey in the auditorium has increased significantly recently.

According to Bleacher Report, Lin Tian's jersey sales have skyrocketed recently.

It's a pity that the sales of jerseys can't directly generate income for Lin Tian. He can't get a share, otherwise it must be a lot of money.

Not long after the warm-up, Nicholson, a die-hard Lakers fan, also came to the arena.

At Staples Center, he embodies the purest fan, not a movie star, as he has said himself.

And Nicholson almost never missed the Lakers game, sometimes in order to support the Lakers, he would even fly to the away game.

Lin Tian greeted Nicholson during the warm-up interval.

Nicholson admired Lin Tian very much. He said with a smile: "Young people from Tianchao, are you interested in making a movie with me during the offseason? Your appearance is a star material! You are also very popular in our country."

Lin Tian had googled him before, and said in surprise, "Master, haven't you already retired?"

Nicholson laughed loudly: "I just said that I won't make TV dramas anymore, I didn't say I won't make movies, I will give you a leading role."

Lin Tian was really moved. He knew that Nicholson was not only an actor, but also a director, screenwriter and producer.

But a basketball star crossing borders to make a movie sounded a bit out of place. After pondering for a moment, he said, "Let's talk about it after I win the championship."

Nicholson suddenly looked embarrassed, the Lakers won the championship, it sounds like a dream.

The two didn't chat any more, and Lin Tian greeted Kobe's wife and two daughters again.

Vanessa will often bring her children to watch the Lakers' home games this season.

After saying hello, he returned to the court to continue training.

Half an hour later, the Jazz players also entered the court, led by their head star Gordon Hayward.

Hayward is currently the number one white player in the minds of many fans.

He averaged close to 20 points per game this season. He is a relatively all-round player with good organizational and offensive abilities.

And he is also a very polite person, and he took the initiative to find Kobe question marks as soon as he arrived on the court.

The current Jazz team is one of the Lakers' competitors for the playoffs.

Their record this season currently ranks ninth in the West, which is better than the Lakers, so today's game is also very important to both sides.

Among the Jazz players, Lin Tian also saw the rather young Rudy Gobert.

He was picked by the Jazz at the end of the first round in the 2017 draft, and he was completely marginal in his first season.

In his second season, he came off the bench more than he started, but the defensive talent has shown.

It wasn't until this season that Gobert secured the Jazz's starting center position, averaging more than two blocks per game and nearly 10 points per game.

But such stats are obviously not that great, and Gobert may not have imagined that he will be able to win the best defensive player twice in a row in the future.

As a standard traditional center, the inside melee between Gobert and Howard today should be more intense.

The game starts soon.

The home team's starting lineup remains unchanged today.

The five starters sent by the Jazz are: Raul Neto, Rodney Hood, Gordon Hayward, Derek Fevor, Rudy Gobert.

nba studio.

Watching the players warming up, Barkley asked his commentary partner Smith with a smile: "Do you know the biggest feature of the Jazz's starting lineup?"

Smith blurted out: "Hey! You still think about me? The biggest feature of this Jazz team is obviously youth! They were all born in the same era."

Barkley nodded: "Yes! The Jazz's youth team can reach the ninth place in the Western Conference this season, which is actually very good."

Smith asked: "Then I say hello, which side do you think will win?"

"The Lakers have won five consecutive victories, and the momentum is overwhelming. It may be difficult for the Jazz to stop their winning streak."

……

The match between the two sides was extremely intense from the start.

Lin Tian frequently passed the ball to Howard on the inside, because Howard was very active today, constantly getting stuck and asking for the ball. Lin Tian couldn't turn a blind eye to this situation.

But judging from the first few shots, Howard's offensive efficiency is relatively average today.

After he made a strong hit against Gobert on the first ball, he was blocked by Gobert and defended by Gobert, looking extremely depressed.

Jazz Island took advantage of the opportunity to counterattack and scored six points in a row from the outside.

Lin Tian was not surprised by this.

He knows that Gobert's defensive level this season has reached the top level of the league after the beating in the first two seasons. In the latest selection of the best defensive player by a well-known sports media, Gobert ranked fifth, second only to Kawhi and Dreaming Green.

Whether it is a single defense or a co-defense, he is at his fingertips and has become the most powerful guarantee for the Jazz inside. Only offensive ability is his weakness.

In contrast, Howard is far from his peak in terms of offense and defense. In addition, his offensive method is quite simple and his skills are relatively rough. Facing a young insider with such a strong defense, he is somewhat lacking in energy.

Howard is a stubborn player. The more he is defended, the more competitive he is aroused. He keeps looking for Gobert to play alone, even if the efficiency is not good.

This led to the end of the first quarter, and the Lakers were still 6 points behind the Jazz.

Howard made one of six shots and only scored a poor two points.

The fans at the scene quit, booing everywhere for a while:

"What are you doing! Howard's efficiency is too low today! How can a center have such a low shooting percentage?"

"Don't let Howard play singles again!"

"Hey! If Howard hadn't been injured, how could he be bullied by a young player like this!"

On the technical side, Shaquille O'Neal was also invited to explain the game today.

He didn't like Howard himself, so he said bluntly: "Howard was educated by a young player today."

The other commentator was a little ashamed. This was at the scene, and the players themselves could hear their voices.

He could only vaguely say: "Our situation is a bit embarrassing now, it depends on how Coach Scott will arrange tactics in the second quarter."

……

Lakers bench.

Howard's face was ugly at this time, he sat silently on the folding stool and did not speak.

For a player as optimistic as he is, sometimes he laughs and laughs when the team falls behind.

But when he is suppressed, he can no longer be active.

Kobe was never a good-tempered player either.

If it was left in the past, he would never feed Howard the ball again.

But now the team's possession of the ball is not in Kobe's hands, but in Lin Tian's hands.

Kobe was not stupid either. After hesitating for a moment, he walked up to Howard and patted Howard on the shoulder: "Dwight, we have to play in the right way."

These words have been said very euphemistically.

When he was preparing how to deal with Howard's anger, Howard just nodded: "I was a little impulsive just now."

Lin Tian breathed a sigh of relief. Howard's character has indeed restrained a lot this season, which is better than anything else.

Players like them who used to dominate the league, if they want to let them know clearly that they have fallen into peace, they have to beat them from time to time.

Otherwise, it will be very difficult for the team to go far.

After playing for a few minutes in the second quarter, the Lakers replaced Lin Tian and their full lineup.

It was still Hayward defending Lin Tian.

In the first quarter, Lin Tian didn't take many shots, and they were divided among Howard and Kobe, and Hayward was much more relaxed.

But in the second quarter, Lin Tian didn't intend to make it easier for Hayward.

When the ball was in his hands, without Lin Tian waving, Howard quickly ran out from the inside, stood at the top of the arc, crossed in front of him, and honestly played a pick-and-roll for Lin Tian.

Using Howard's strong body, Lin Tian easily got rid of Hayward, and then went straight to the inside.

Gobert had no choice but to switch defense against Lin Tian. He walked so fast that he barely kept up with Lin Tian.

But after Lin Tian got into the inside and took off, he didn't choose to layup directly, but threw the ball directly behind him.

It turned out that Howard also went straight down after the cover, and followed Lin Tian. When Lin Tian passed the message, he jumped high and dunked!Completed a quite perfect air pick-up with Lin Tian.

Nicholson on the sidelines excitedly stood up and applauded.

In the next few rounds, Lin Tian and Howard frequently played pick and roll.

Most of the time, it was Lin Tian who scored a layup or made a jumper against Gobert.

Although Gobert's defense is outstanding, but let him defend Lin Tian, ​​the speed and flexibility are still not enough.

Not surprisingly, driven by Lin Tian, ​​the Lakers quickly overtook the score.

The outside feel of the Jazz has also dropped.

After the start of the second half, the defensive strength of both sides has also improved.

Lin Tian kept a close eye on Hayward, preventing him from having good opportunities to attack and play.

Under his high-pressure defense, Hayward's performance has indeed been greatly restricted.

At this time, Lin Tian also strengthened his desire to attack.

Hayward's defense is indeed relatively good, but he is very light, not a few catties worse than Lin Tian, ​​and he is also shorter than Lin Tian.

You know, even a player who is much heavier than Lin Tian may not be able to support Lin Tian who is full of muscles, let alone Hayward who looks so thin.

The reason why Lin Tian kept choosing Howard to play pick-and-rolls for him in the first half was not because he couldn't single-handedly play Hayward, but because he just wanted to revitalize the entire team, especially Howard.

The task in the first half is completed, then in the second half, my personal show will begin.

It wasn't until he passed Hayward several times in a row and made a successful layup that Hayward realized that he couldn't guard Lin Tian at all.

In the first half of the third quarter, the Jazz were almost stunned by Lin Tian alone!

Lin Tian hit a 12:0 climax and stopped the game directly.

O'Neal in the commentary laughed loudly: "Oh! I like our rookie so much! Lin will be a very dominant player in the future!"

Another commentator was surprised: "Shaquille, you have always said that you are the most dominant player in history, so what will this young man's future dominance compare with yours? Will it be stronger than your dominance?"

O'Neal showed surprise at first, then shook his head again and again: "No, no, no! I said he will be very dominant in the future, but I didn't say that he will be more dominant than me. This young man is very powerful, but now he has nothing and only won an All-Star MVP. It's too early."

The two chatted, the timeout was over, and the game started again.

Schneider, the head coach of the Jazz, really changed his tactics against Lin Tiandi.

Like other teams, he took a simple and rough double-team.

Lin Tian's vision is that passing has always been his weakness, and this thing is born.

The Jazz's defensive strategy did achieve some results after returning from the timeout, which caused Lin Tian to make two mistakes.

But he is a very adaptable player, and he slowly adjusted quickly and increased his passing.

The touch of several Jazz players has also picked up.

Especially Ronnie De Hood, facing Kobe's defense, he even made two consecutive three-pointers.

After making the second three-pointer, he gave Lin Tian a fierce look, which was rather murderous.

Lin Tian has a deep impression of Hood, because after the 17-18 season he will be traded to the Cavaliers to play with James.

And he, like Thomas Jr., will reject a contract worth up to 7000 million in the future...

There are not many players in the league like Luol Deng who pluck the team's wool, but there are not many "sages" like Thomas Jr. and Hood.

Lin Tian wants to remind Hood, but think about it or forget it!Players in this category are often more confident, even arrogant.

Instead of reminding him!Might as well blow him up!

(End of this chapter)