After the confession failed, I went to the NBA to play and lose weight

Chapter 73
"Today's game, the suspense was kept until the end..."

"But Phoenix is ​​already very dangerous. They are now 4 points behind, with only 11 seconds left. They need to choose a quick two-point or three-point opportunity. At the same time, they must defend or foul. They hope that the Magic will give the opportunity , this is too difficult!"

In Phoenix, TNT's on-site commentary for this arrangement was Kenny Smith and Barkley. The Suns are also Barkley's old club, and here he won the only regular season MVP in his career.

Although it is a pity that he failed to win the championship, Lord Bagu still has some feelings for Phoenix, but the only thing he does not approve of is the current play style of the Suns. He always has a little doubt about running and bombing. Anthony and skinny defensive black hole Nash are also full of doubts.

However, his position in this game is still more on the side of the Suns, hoping that they can win.

Just judging from the current situation, the Suns are indeed at a disadvantage.

Of course, it is necessary to make fun of Howard, especially Li Chengming, who had just done a show together before, as a comparison.

"The Magic have already given a lot of opportunities, who knows that they won't give them again?"

"Hahaha, I think if Dwight's free throws were all given to Lee, Lee could get more points in this game, and the Magic wouldn't have played so hard."

Kenny Smith nodded and smiled: "Dwight said to practice free throws, it's like I tell my children every time, I will buy you Transformers, but I can't always do it. It's not because of me I don’t want to do it, but I forget every time.”

This is using himself to satirize Yin and Yang, and it can be regarded as a good trick of these football commentators.

Smith's mouth is still relatively gentle, but Barkley is much sharper, "Come on, if he can spend more time with women to practice free throws, I think the result will be much better."

It is well known that Howard is a frequent visitor to nightclubs. Although his training is indeed very hard and he is not as lazy as O'Neill, he is actually not much worse than his predecessors in terms of enjoyment.

"Okay, the game is about to start, let's take a look at the lineup adjustments on both sides..."

After the timeout, Van Gundy replaced Li Chengming. This is to strengthen the defense. As long as the gap of four points does not allow the opponent to score 3+1, the best choice is to be able to defend. points, no foul.

The Suns replaced an offensive lineup. D'Antoni is indeed a crazy head coach. At this time, he actually put on a "five outside" lineup of Nash, Barbosa, Raja Bell, Hill and Diaw. , It was obvious that he was going to make a quick three-pointer and then fouled.

"The Suns chose to shoot a three-pointer at the last moment. Grant ran out of the opportunity, but—oh! This time the shot was somewhat reluctant, and it didn't hit in the end—the rebound was taken off by Dwight without any suspense!"

Barkley said, with some regrets in his words.

It doesn't make sense for the Suns to foul again at this time. After all, there are only 6 seconds left, and the Suns have no timeout.

Howard made one of two free throws in the classic, another day of 50% free throw shooting.

It is worth mentioning that Barkley and Smith in the commentary booth were still betting whether he would be the first or the second in this meeting.

In the end, Barkley won. Howard bounced out of the first free throw and narrowly missed the second free throw.

Then the commentary booth was filled with Sir Flying Pig's uninhibited laughter, causing the surrounding audience to look at it one after another.

The last shot of the Suns almost made people break out in cold sweat. Nash threw it directly after halftime under the tight defense.

Although even if the goal is scored, it is still two points away, and the whistle for the end of the game has already sounded, and the result cannot be changed.

The Magic won another victory and pulled the winning streak to five games again.

Barkley concluded: "Guys, pay attention, the Magic have become a team that no one in the East and the league can ignore this season. Maybe they will surprise us in the end!"

Kenny Smith said in "horrified": "You don't mean to say that they can win the championship?"

Barkley shrugged, "Who knows?"

……

Li Chengming scored 20 points, 7 rebounds and 6 assists. Although he didn't show much after playing in the last quarter, he led the team to chase points in the first two quarters. Anyone who watched the game can see his role. He just didn't make a shot in the first quarter, but it still played a containment role.

In fact, sometimes looking at a player's role on the field, you can also make a judgment based on the defensive pressure given by the opponent.

For example, Li Chengming has never given him a chance to make a phone call, but he has also imperceptibly restrained the Suns' defensive strength and made it easier for his teammates to play.

These things will not be reflected in the statistics, and it is difficult for ordinary fans to see them, but the coaches of both sides know best who is the one who is more threatening.

After this wave of five-game winning streak, the Magic still ranks third in the league and second in the East, second only to the Boston Celtics and the San Antonio Spurs.

Excellent results bring about a thriving atmosphere for the entire team. The team itself is dominated by young people, and the core members are all in their twenties.

And Li Chengming, as the younger brother in the team, was surrounded by Howard from the beginning, and he didn't encounter the unspoken rules of some rookies.

Now that he has achieved his status by himself, it is even less likely to be ordered by others. People who can order him will not do this. Put on the shelves by the team.

In fact, Li Chengming didn't know, because of his appearance, the Magic team once hesitated to trade Ariza. After all, the reason why Ali was traded was to hope to get back a reliable fourth position substitute.

But with Li Chengming coming out, there needs to be someone who can complement him, especially a striker who can help him wipe his ass on the defensive end, and Ariza just meets this condition.

It's just that the deal was finally reached, and Li Chengming has been losing weight, and his body shape is getting better and better. His belly, which was obvious at first glance, can't be seen now.

This also makes the team more and more confident that he can really swing between the third and fourth positions in the future, can fill the team's position at any time, and appear where he is needed to play a role.

In this way, Ariza's deal will naturally have no effect, even if the opponent plays well in the Lakers and the Magic, they won't feel uncomfortable.

However, the next two games against the Lakers and Warriors will be back-to-back. Fortunately, the single-core Lakers, who only have Kobe as a threat, naturally cannot pose any threat to the Magic.

It is worth mentioning that before the game against the Lakers, the first month's best rookies of the East and West were released together, which also met expectations, and were won by Li Chengming and Durant.

Although the competition starts at the end of October, the first month is naturally based on November, to be precise, it is the October+November competition.

Similarly, the Eastern Conference Player of the Month in the first month is Howard, the second-ranked Magic star in the Eastern Conference. The Magic has a record of 15 wins and 3 losses, and Warcraft averages 24+15 per game.

Although the Green Army has a better record, the team does not have a particularly outstanding player. The Big Three averaged less than 20 points per game. How to compete?

So in this game, Li Chengming, who was stimulated by the Rookie of the Month award, broke out, with low post shots, mid-range jump shots, and open three-point catch-and-shoot shots. Odom and Bynum couldn't stand up to these three tricks.

When Howard was affected by the home whistle and his playing time was limited, Li Chengming played more than 30 minutes as a substitute for the first time, and digested many of Howard's vacated shots. In the end, he made 17 of 13 shots and 5 of 4 free throws. Scored 31 points, 7 rebounds and 1 assist, which is also the first 30+ in his career.

However, there were still 5 turnovers at the same time. This was the case of the Lakers' continuous double-teaming, allowing Li Chengming to enjoy the defensive pressure of the leading star.

In terms of the rounds in which he handles the ball, 5 turnovers is considered a small number. After all, Odom on the opposite side also made 6 turnovers, and Li Chengming even cut the ball in front of him.

It was also relying on Li Chengming's outstanding performance that the Magic withstood the Lakers' counterattack in the third quarter, making Kobe's 13-point efforts in a single quarter in vain.

Then in the fourth quarter, Howard and Lewis came up with the final word, and the Magic finally won 108:97.

这场的功臣除了李成名，就是魔术队的板凳席都站出来了，杜林、福耶尔纷纷爆发，这才填补了9中1的尼尔森、11中3的博甘斯和12中4的特科格鲁的坑。

Li Chengming naturally became the focus of attention after the game. After all, this game was witnessed by fans at home in Los Angeles, Staples Arena, and all over the United States. It is easier to make a good performance in this "big scene". Impressive.

Although Staples is not known as a basketball mecca like Madison Square, but because of the particularity of Los Angeles, it is star-studded and attention is naturally not comparable to other home venues.

For example, there are two Hollywood movie stars on the sidelines today. Jessica Alba, who has been implicated in the release of "Fantastic Four 6" in June, and the beauty Jessica Alba, who recently ended her career, and the recently concluded series of movies "Spy" Matt Damon, the protagonist of "Shadow".

However, Li Chengming didn't have much contact with others, and he had no interest in approaching him to get close.

After all, at present, he is still just a young player in the NBA. He is a bit famous but not a star, and he is separated from others by barriers.

Before this game, the media were constantly hyping the intersection of Kobe and Howard, the new No. [-] center after O'Neal.

Although he was dunked by Kobe in his rookie season, Howard has always admired and admired Kobe. There is another reason why they get closer is because both of them are unhappy with O'Neal—or to be precise, they should It was O'Neill who was upset with both of them.

If the grievances between Kobe and O'Neal are not clear who came first, then Howard was completely innocent and inexplicably hated by O'Neal.

After all, the old O'Neal, who is not convinced, is still immersed in the glory of the first center in the past. He is naturally not used to Howard, the new center introduced by the league. He is also a little jealous, thinking that he has taken away what originally belonged to him. .

In this game, Kobe and Howard performed very well, but when the game ended, the media's focus was on Li Chengming, especially in the third quarter. Excited.

It's a pity that the gap between the teammates on both sides is too big, Kobe can't support it alone, and the Magic's two 30+ insiders also broke a team history record.

Well, it's not that this is so great in itself, it's just that the history of the Magic is relatively poor.

　Thanks to book friend Qian Qianqian~, book friend 20200321145821359 for the monthly ticket~
　　
　
(End of this chapter)