NBA: I am the god of basketball

Chapter 370 At the critical moment, reappearing LeBron's iron-blooded layup

During the regular season, the Clippers once put Lu Wei in the starting lineup, and Wang Chao served as a power forward to target the Lakers' inside two-tower combination.

But in several subsequent matches, Wang Chao and the Clippers discovered that it was not necessary at all.

After actual experience, the offensive ability of the Lakers' inside twin towers... is really hard to describe.

After all, neither Cousins ​​nor Downs has ever gotten rid of the title of data brush. Although both of them are high-quality insiders who can easily reach 20+10 data, they are happy every year when they lead the team alone. Through the zone, Towns can only experience what it feels like to experience the playoffs under the leadership of Butler and Edwards.

It was only after joining the Warriors in his entire career that Cousins ​​experienced what the playoffs are.

The combination of these two insiders looks quite bluffing, but it is James, a [-]-year-old man who really relies on it.

Of course, compared to Wang Chao in 84, James in 83 is not worthy of being called an old man.

On the Clippers' first attack, the ball was directly given to Wang Chao without any suspense.

Facing James at the top arc, Wang Chao simply raised his hand and called for a pick-and-roll cover.

Although he has many ways to score in front of James, but now is the playoffs, victory is more important than a battle of spirits, and he has proved countless times that he can beat James on the court, and there is no need to repeat the proof.

Lopez ran out from the inside, and Cousins ​​immediately had a difficult time.

He is very clear that the opponent has long-range shooting ability, and if he wants to replace James who is blocked by the pick-and-roll to defend Wang Chao, he will be easily passed by one step at his speed.

Even though he knew this, he had no choice. Centers with range in small-ball tactics are so useful. After all, you can't leave the opponent open to shoot three-pointers from the outside.

The moment Lopez pick-and-roll separated James, Wang Chao resolutely accelerated and started. Facing Cousins, who was coming to defend him, he shook his shoulders continuously, then suddenly took a big step back from the three-point line, and directly raised his hand to shoot.

"Shh!"

The basketball hit the net at the sound, and the clumsy Cousins ​​was so swayed by Wang Chao's operation that he couldn't find the north, and he couldn't react in time to step forward to defend.

"It's like this again..."

The Lakers head coach frowned on the sidelines.

The pick-and-roll tactic has always been the simplest but most direct and efficient coordination tactic in the league, especially Wang Chao's pick-and-roll, which seems to be extremely lethal.

Of course the Lakers head coach doesn't know that among Wang Chao's many talents, there is a talent called Best Partner, which is one of his trump cards during his time with the Magic. The effect is to improve the shooting efficiency after the pick-and-roll and the pick-and-roll reception of teammates The efficiency of the ball attacking the basket. At that time, Wang Chao relied on his best partner talent to cooperate with Howard in the pick-and-roll. It was unstoppable. He won the first scoring title in his career during that period. The Super Devils also won three consecutive championships. dynasty.

The trigger condition for the best partner is that the relationship between the pick-and-roll player and Wang Chao must reach more than 60, which is exactly the same as Lopez and Wang Chao.

Now Lopez's gratitude to Wang Chao is simply beyond words.

Last summer, he had no ball to play. He joined the Clippers under the recruitment of Wang Chao, and then became the main insider of the Clippers. During the regular season this season, he averaged 14.2 points and 4.8 rebounds per game. , but his functional center who can protect the basket inside on the defensive end and stretch space on the outside on the offensive end has been well received in the league.

What he signed with the Clippers is only a one-year basic salary contract. After the contract expires this summer, I am afraid that there will be countless teams vying to make offers to him. Wan is not impossible.

In Lopez's view, Wang Chao gave him all of this. The Clippers' magic ball system is the most suitable for his style. Therefore, his gratitude to Wang Chao is beyond words, and the relationship value has already broken through 60 and went straight to 80. Going up, the pick-and-roll with Wang Chao can naturally activate the talent of the best partner.
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The Lakers' offense initially wanted to open up the inside offense as much as possible.

After all, it would be too wasteful not to use top-level insider twin towers.

But Cousins ​​really didn't have much advantage against Lopez. Towns could gain the upper hand against Gallinari. In the first few rounds, he seized the opportunity to score a few points in a row. , The Clippers' almost crazy outside three-point shooting is dazzling.

Relying only on two-pointers in a positional battle, and the offensive efficiency was not as high as expected, the Lakers quickly fell behind.

Seeing this situation, James, who originally planned to coordinate and control the team's offense at the beginning, had to go into battle in advance and start attacking with the ball himself.

James' offensive ability is indeed stronger than that of Cousins ​​​​and Towns. During his attack, the team scored consecutively, bringing the score to within 3 points in one go.

It's just that the offensive launched by James didn't last long, and was forcibly suppressed by Wang Chao.

The method of suppression was also very simple. A long-range three-pointer one step outside the three-point line. A breakthrough with the ball and a strong dunk by Towns to score 2+1. He scored 6 points in a row to widen the gap. .

This time the point difference was widened, and it would be difficult for the Lakers to chase points, because the game had entered the second quarter and both sides began to gradually change into rotation lineups.

The Clippers' substitute has always been recognized as the strongest in the league. Lu Wei, the best sixth man, and Harrell, a beast-like striker with impact, are all strong players with starting strength.

Obviously, the Lakers don't have such a player, not even one and a half.

In this case, James didn't dare to rest even for a moment, because as soon as he stepped off the court, the Lakers would immediately collapse across the board, and the point difference would go straight to 20 points, and even he would be helpless by then.

But James' physical strength has its limit after all, especially as he gets older, he can no longer run the whole court with ease like he did when he was in his 20s.

With the support of James, the Lakers barely lasted until three quarters, always keeping the point difference in single digits.

But in the fourth quarter, Wang Chao began to close the net, and continued to attack with the ball, making it difficult for the Lakers to parry. What's more terrible is that James' physical fitness was on the verge of limit at this time, and Wang Chao personally ran to defend him, causing James himself Don't dare to attack easily, so can only hand over the offense to Cousins ​​and Towns.

And then... no more.

Throughout the fourth quarter, the Clippers and Lakers scored 19:31 in a single quarter.

The Lakers lost 12 points in a single quarter, and lost 117:99 in the game with 18 points.

The fans of the Clippers got their wish and saw the whole process of the fans of the Lakers from excitement to anxiety and then despair at close range.

Especially in the fourth quarter, when the Lakers could no longer support the Clippers' onslaught and collapsed across the board, many Lakers fans couldn't stand it anymore and chose to leave the field early.The stands at home for the Clippers were emptied all of a sudden, which was a great feeling.

In this game, James played perfectly, with 31 points, 9 rebounds and 12 assists in the quasi-triple-double data, but if he can't win, no matter how beautiful the data is, it is useless. Besides, he is not as beautiful as Wang Chao's data.

王超全场37分14篮板11助攻，同时还有4抢断2封盖，比詹姆斯更全能更高效。

Of course, the performance of the two can barely replace the pair. What really affects the outcome of the game is the performance of other players.

The Lakers have two towers inside. Cousins ​​scored 21 points and 7 rebounds, and Towns scored 17 points and 10 rebounds. The performance cannot be said to be bad, but it cannot be said to be great. After all, both of them shot only about 45%, which is completely inconsistent with the inside. The offensive efficiency is often 55% or even 60%.

To make matters worse, apart from James, Cousins ​​and Downs, only Tatum scored in double figures and scored 11 points for the Lakers.

On the other hand, the Clippers, except for Wang Chao's 37 points.Louis Williams, who came off the bench, perfectly played his role as a bench bandit. He made 15 of 7 shots and 8 of 7 free throws, scoring 21 points.

Among the main starters, except for Brogdon, who performed slightly worse and had only 8 points, Harris, Gallinari and Lopez all scored in double figures. In addition to Harrell with 14 points, six Clippers scored in double figures.

The Clippers' bench Guang Luwei and Harrell contributed 35 points. On the other hand, the Lakers' bench only scored less than 20 points in total. The gap between the lineup and strength is obvious.

But obviously compared to the lineup, the Lakers with three All-Stars should be on the stronger side.

Why is this so?
Not because of Wang Chao!But any team he goes to will become the top team in the league without exception. How can this be justified?
If it is another team, after losing the first game, they can still comfort themselves. This is the opponent's home court, and losing is normal. It is better to say that if they win the next game, it will be a bloody gain.

But the Lakers just can't say this, after all, the Clippers basically have no home court advantage when facing the Lakers.

In this case, you can lose to the opponent by 18 points, what else can you say?
Ever since, James fans began.

"I, Zhan, tried my best, but my teammate CBA couldn't win despite scoring 30+ triple-doubles."

"The twin towers inside Cousins ​​Downs are just a bunch of data brushes. They are totally unreliable when they encounter a strong team. Two All-Stars, one with 20+7 and the other with 17+10? How do you play this?"

The series is not over yet, but the pot-sharing conference is already in full swing. Anyway, in a word, James tried his best, and he didn't lose. It's all because of his teammates' lack of effort.

Wang Chao's fans said yes, yes, you are right, anyway, Wang Chao's teammates are also CBA, otherwise let's compare each other.

The Clippers vs. Lakers is definitely the most popular and topical matchup in this playoffs.

On April 4, the second game of the series begins.

This time, the number of fans at the Clippers' home court was obviously much more than the first game. ticket.

Their approach was obviously wise, because the Lakers lost the second game despite their tenacious resistance.

Perhaps because of shame, Cousins ​​​​of the Lakers broke out in this game. He scored 33 points, 17 rebounds and 4 assists, completely beating Lopez. Coupled with James' 28+6+10, the two of them alone It combined the super data of 51 points, 23 rebounds and 14 assists.

But the Lakers won the inside, but lost the outside, and the loss was quite miserable.

There is no other reason. The Clippers' three-pointers seemed to be off the hook. They made 40 of 17 shots from the field, and their shooting percentage was as high as 42.5%. They scored 51 points from three-pointers alone!
This season, whenever the Clippers' three-point rain starts to rain, no matter how strong the opponent's performance is, they have to drink their hatred on the spot.

The two home games of the Clippers ended, and the score came to 2:0 without any suspense, and the points difference in the two games were all above double digits. The Lakers did not look much different from the Thunder, the Clippers' opponent in the first round. , maybe a little bit stronger than Thunderbolt, but it's not obvious enough.

The time came to May 5th, the third game of the series between the two teams, which is the Lakers' home game.

The Clippers and Lakers have this advantage in the playoffs. They don't have to run around in the away game. They are all at the Staples Center. They can just turn left when they come out of their homes. Both teams can also recharge their batteries and prepare for the game.

When it was the turn of the Lakers at home, this round of the series finally felt what is called the home atmosphere.

Unlike the Clippers' home fans, which are almost evenly divided, the Lakers' home court is almost all Lakers fans in yellow T-shirts.

Although the team is already in a desperate situation of falling behind 0:2, Lakers fans are still hoping for a miracle to happen. The Lakers can chase 2 from 4 and complete the comeback to advance to the Western Conference Finals!
The idea is beautiful, but the reality is cruel.

What is even more cruel to the fans of the Lakers is that at the beginning of the game, the performance of the Lakers really gave them a little hope, but despair followed.

In the first quarter of the game, the Lakers were in hot form and were even more accurate than the Clippers from beyond the three-point line, including Towns and Cousins ​​both hitting three-pointers.

After the first quarter, the Lakers led by 39 points at 30:9, and continued to secure their victory in the second quarter, further expanding the point difference to 15 points!
71:56 at halftime, which is already a considerable point difference. As long as the Lakers can stabilize the score in the second half, they can win this crucial game and retain the possibility of final victory.

However, in the third quarter of the game, the situation took a turn for the worse. The Lakers suddenly fell into an offensive drought and failed to attack for several consecutive rounds. The Clippers seized the opportunity and launched wave after wave of fast breaks. In the blink of an eye, they lost 15 points. The point difference is approaching within 5 points.

In the fourth quarter of the game, the Lakers, who were still trying to hold on to their only 5-point advantage, still failed to hold on to their bottoms and were tied with 4 minutes and 35 seconds left before the end of the game.

With the last dozen seconds left in the game, the Clippers held a 3-point lead.

The Lakers called the last timeout to set up offensive tactics. At this time, the Lakers fans still had a little fantasy, hoping that the Lakers could continue the three-pointer feeling from the outside in the first half, hit a three-pointer that tied the game, and dragged the game into Overtime.

But after returning from the timeout, James sprinted to the basket with the ball and made a huge layup, which immediately caused the fans' brains to freeze.

"???"

The Clippers had no defense against James' ball-handling layup. The latter easily scored a layup, and then waited for the Clippers to serve Wang Chao and immediately stepped forward to foul.

Wang Chao walked to the free throw line and made two free throws steadily. The point difference was still 3 points, but the Lakers had less than 5 seconds left to attack.

James, who served from the backcourt, galloped all the way, rushed to the three-point line and then forced a three-pointer against the defender. With a clear sound of iron hitting, the game officially ended.

(End of this chapter)