NBA: I am a master dealer

But this is already the best lineup of the Lakers. No matter how they adjust, the offense is not as stable and the firepower is as fierce as this lineup.

As for returning to mode, it will only kill you faster.

Only by attacking can they have a chance of survival.

Time flies.

Halftime passed in the blink of an eye, and the Lakers finally fell behind by 60 points, 64:4.

This point difference is still acceptable. After all, it is not too big. As long as they maintain it and maintain the point difference until the fourth quarter, they will have unlimited hope.

Jeff Van Gundy said: "Xue Liancheng didn't play much in the first half. As long as the score is maintained, the Lakers still have some hope of winning."

Mark Jackson: "Yes! People all over the world know how explosive Xue's key scoring ability is. Once this score is dragged into the fourth quarter, the outcome is really uncertain. I believe Popovich will definitely agree with this." I know, so the Spurs will definitely respond in the second half.”

Mike Breen: "Do you have too high expectations for Xue? In the last game, we were all looking forward to Xue's explosion or turning the tide, but what happened to the Lakers was a disastrous defeat, and Xue didn't make any move at all."

In the last game, everyone was really worried about the Spurs.

Because Xue Liancheng scored three-pointers countless times in the fourth quarter, and coupled with the residual power of reversing the victory over the Warriors in the tiebreaker, everyone was full of expectations for Xue Liancheng.

result.

There was no movement at the end of the fourth quarter by Xue Liancheng, and the imaginary storm just passed by so lightly.

What a huge disappointment!

After the game, many people reacted and said that Xue Liancheng was deified.

He is not at all as invincible and omnipotent as everyone imagines.

So when Mike Breen puts forward this opinion now, it is absolutely well-founded.

But Mark Jackson disagreed: "If you think so, you are absolutely wrong. Xue Liancheng's scoring ability at critical moments is definitely at a historical level. It can even be said that no one can compare with it. The last one The Spurs were far ahead by 15 points in the first game, and the Lakers basically had no hope of a comeback. Xue Liancheng tried to take action, but found that his condition was not good, that's it, and if you think Xue Liancheng is overrated, he will definitely make you pay for it. price."

Jeff Van Gundy echoed: "Yes, I agree with Mark's view. As a former head coach, looking at a player, Xue Liancheng's scoring ability at critical moments is indeed of a historical level. There is no doubt about it. But no matter how strong a player is, he can't win every game. If he can do it, he will really become a god, but you can't underestimate him because of this, let alone give him a chance."

Mike Breen just smiled: "I have also witnessed many scenes of Xue Liancheng killing the game, but after all, it is the regular season, and the intensity of the confrontation is still different. Uh... the physical consumption and energy consumption are also different. If The Lakers are counting on Xue Liancheng to turn the tide at the end of the game, so my prediction will be that the Spurs sweep the Lakers 4-0.”

Then the three began to discuss this issue.

But these are all empty talk without substance, and they still cannot convince the other party after all.

Is Xue Liancheng good at scoring at critical moments?
powerful……

But it is definitely not as strong as people expected, and it is impossible to expect Xue Liancheng to turn the tide at the last moment of the game.

This is Mike Breen's point of view.

However, Jeff Van Gundy and Mark Jackson believe that Xue Liancheng's scoring ability at critical moments is already at a historical level. Turning the tide happens from time to time. If the Lakers want to win, they rely on Xue Liancheng's explosive power at the last moment.

While the two sides were arguing, the Lakers locker room was also turbulent.

Mike Brown's passionate voice is echoing: "There is only a 4-point difference. We are not far away from victory. They are not invincible. Next, everyone should be more active. We need to give everything we have Doing a good job on offense and defense is not an empty talk, we must do it truly in order to win the game.”

They lost by a full 22 points in the last game, which really hurt morale. The outside world is also constantly badmouthing the Lakers, thinking that they are not at the same level as the Spurs.

Everyone in the Lakers and Sun is under tremendous pressure.

Especially Mike Brown.

The team's ability to reach the Western Conference Finals without George is actually a very impressive achievement.

But the problem is that when Mike Brown came, he was considered to be chasing the championship.

wrong!

It should be that Xue Liancheng joins the Lakers and after confirming the trade for George, they will be a championship team.

Now we are just reaching the Western Conference Finals, but we have not completed the task in a real sense.

And the loss was so ugly, which will definitely be unacceptable to the fans.

and so.

They have to win, even if they win one or two games, they can barely save face.

If he is swept, then his position as head coach will not be secure.

George is injured, you can lose, but you can't lose ugly, you can't lose without resistance, you can't lose without any suspense, and you can't be swept.

It's that simple.

In this game, although only half of the game was played, we were still 4 points behind.

But it was much better than the last game, and people could see hope in a trance, not just the hope of winning this game, but the hope of the entire series. This is the key point.

At this time, Mike Brown was naturally extremely excited.

If he just wanted to win one game before, now he wants to win the entire series.

But reality immediately gave Mike Brown a blow.

The third quarter came up.

Leonard defended Clarkson and gave Clarkson a block and a turnover. On the contrary, the Spurs scored two consecutive attacks.

The score difference immediately came to 9 points.

Jeff Van Gundy: "Popovich really made an adjustment and actually asked Leonard to lead the defense on Clarkson. It was really unexpected, and the effect was quite good. The Lakers were caught off guard."

Mark Jackson: "Popovich's reaction is still very fast. It is almost impossible to completely strangle Xue Liancheng at this point. In this case, then strangle your second offensive point."

The Lakers responded immediately.

Xue Liancheng resumed his role as the first ball-handling point, leaving Clarkson empty first.

But the problem is that Clarkson is used as the second ball-holding point and breakthrough point. If Xue Liancheng still fights alone, wouldn't this be back to the dilemma of the last game?

as predicted.

During Xue Liancheng's main attack phase, the team's offense once again came to a standstill.

When Clarkson faced Leonard, he had no way to attack and couldn't get in.

Even when holding the ball on the outside, Leonard was so intense that Clarkson was at a loss what to do.

Throughout the third quarter, the Lakers' offense once again fell into a quagmire. They only scored 24 points in a single quarter, 12 of which were scored by Xue Liancheng.

For this reason, he even used the 100% hit skill in advance, naturally in order not to be defeated.

One can imagine how difficult it was for the Lakers' offense during this period.

The Spurs still scored 31 points. After the third quarter, they won by a full 8 points.

In other words, after three quarters, the Lakers trailed the Spurs by 84:95 by 11 points.

Mark Jackson: "The Lakers have fallen into their own death spiral again. After the whole team is down, only Xue Liancheng is fighting. It will definitely not work if it continues like this."

Jeff Van Gundy: "But the Lakers have already made all the adjustments they should make. The lineup they put on the court is already their strongest offensive firepower. If they can't score points in this situation, then the problem will be serious." "Mike Breen chuckled: "You two, if you were the head coach of the Lakers, what adjustments would you make at this moment?"

Obviously.

Mike Breen is very vindictive, and he is now using the debate as a source of ridicule.

Jeff Van Gundy was a little embarrassed and didn't know what to say for a while.

Mark Jackson was very straightforward: "In this case, can you still have illusions about other people? Obviously it is impossible, so if you say you don't count on Xue Liancheng to turn the tide, then who can the Lakers count on?"

At this time, Mike Breen was speechless.

At this time, Jeff Van Gundy stood up and added: "If I were the head coach of the Lakers, I would let people who can defend and are willing to defend come up and try their best to see if I can give on the defensive end. The Spurs pressure and then drive the offensive tempo.”

It also saves Mike Breen the embarrassment.

Mike Breen was quite knowledgeable and did not dwell on the topic just now. He took advantage of the situation and asked: "It is indeed a good way to lead the attack in case of attack, but you did not mention the specific offensive tactics. Jeff, can you tell me? Be more careful?"

Jeff Van Gundy: "First of all, we must admit that the Lakers are far inferior to the Spurs in terms of personnel configuration and offensive options. In this situation, the only option is to play superstar ball. I will try to let Xue Liancheng play one star and four shooters. The test is the three-point stability of the Lakers players. If they can make three-pointers rain, then the Lakers will have a glimmer of hope."

Mark Jackson agreed very much: "Yes, they are already 11 points behind. They have only one way to go, and that is to play the magic ball and get the three-pointer. Clarkson can also take this opportunity to return to the second ball-holding point. Playing pick-and-rolls and setting screens.”

The meaning expressed by the two people is actually very simple, which is to give it a try.

Otherwise, live.

Otherwise, die where you are.

After all, time has come to the last quarter, and the Lakers have no other options.

But Mike Brown was in the middle of the game, so his reaction was still a little slow.

The first thing he thought of was how to get Clarkson away from Leonard and how to get Clarkson to play screens and pick-and-rolls.

This is typical putting the cart before the horse.

Clarkson's ability to digest the ball has not reached that level at all. After a temporarily improved pick-and-roll screen, Clarkson can indeed get rid of Leonard.

But his offensive efficiency cannot support his possession of the ball.

In the first 5 minutes of the fourth quarter, Clarkson took 4 shots and only hit 1 ball, scoring only 2 points.

This caused the Lakers' offense to become even more complete.

After Mike Brown reacted, the point difference reached 16 points, and he was racing to the rhythm of 20+.

The terrible thing is that during this period, he used the 100% hit skill again.

Otherwise, it is estimated that this would have been 20+.

This basically means that the strategy of letting Clarkson replace George to play a two-star shining game can already fail in advance.

This is really killing me.

They figured out the adjustment of all-out offense, but it was broken when Leonard came to defend Clarkson.

This makes Mike Brown very depressed.

The hopes that had just been raised were immediately dashed.

Without any choice.

Mike Brown can only count on Xue Liancheng.

It can be regarded as recognizing the facts and making the final adjustment, which is to open the singles and let Xue Liancheng combine sudden points and make one star and four shots.

Shoot for an outside three-pointer?
Or maybe Spurs can't guard Xue Liancheng?

The result was unexpected and the effect was surprisingly good.

Xue Liancheng broke through and the Spurs were still encircling.

But the Lakers are betting on their players' three-point accuracy.

Clarkson, James Johnson, and Marvin Williams all have good three-point shooting abilities.

Only Randall is a little worse, but he can still hit some three-pointers when faced with a semi-open situation.

This time, everyone was pulled out.

Xue Liancheng no longer has to worry about passing inside, hitting the ground or throwing high to assist his teammates to score. He no longer has to calculate the accuracy, height of the throw, and a series of distractions that may cause interference due to congestion in the paint area. The problem of the ball's path being blocked is no longer an issue.

After all, the combination of breakthrough and scoring only requires throwing the pass out of the three-point line. No matter how you surround me, you can't stop me from breaking through and passing the ball!

James Johnson and Marvin Williams were very impressive and made two consecutive three-pointers. In addition, Xue Liancheng took advantage of the Spurs' defensive reluctance to sneak attack on two baskets.

The Lakers suddenly pulled the point difference back.

Although there are still 11 points left, there is still hope.

Popovich responded quickly and made adjustments immediately.

That's right.

They deliberately chose to short Randall to deal with Xue Liancheng's sudden score.

In other words, Randall at a 45-degree angle was basically ignored.

Aldridge came directly to the free throw line to intercept the ball.

As long as Xue Liancheng breaks through, the Spurs will attack from both front and back.

In the past, the Spurs used the bottom corners on both sides to cover positions and defense, but now they no longer use the bottom corners.

Xue Liancheng can only give the ball to Randall.

Although Randall has three-point ability, he has only started practicing this season and can only be regarded as a half-year-old. He is still somewhat accurate in completely open shots.

But the Spurs defended very aggressively.

Randall was still affected to some extent. He missed two shots and his confidence was shattered.

In other words, up to now, the Lakers have once again reached a dead end.

They are unable to exploit their strengths and avoid their weaknesses. They hide their shortcomings and magnify their strengths. They are always muddle-headed and make up for it.

From the first all-out defensive game, by the time they found out it wasn't working, it was already a disastrous defeat.

In the second game, the offensive game was adjusted. The first half went smoothly, but Popovich responded immediately and asked Leonard to guard Clarkson, directly killing your second offensive point.

The all-out attack immediately faltered.

Now you have adjusted the one-star and four-shot shooting, but as a result, your worst shot will be released, and Mike Brown has nothing to do.

In the head coaching competition between the two sides, Mike Brown was completely defeated.

(End of this chapter)