I just play ball

Chapter 263 Christmas Presents
Leaving the Chesapeake Energy Arena, the Lakers boarded the bus directly to the airport, took a plane to Charlotte overnight, and prepared to challenge the Bobcats back to back. This was a great test for the players' physical strength, but it was the first time in the Lakers' four-game streak. After a day of rest after playing the Bobcats, they will start their back-to-back journey again, and their opponents are still the tough Eagles and Spurs.

During the flight, Thackeray, who was full of energy because he didn’t play much, was responsible for broadcasting the social network’s evaluation of the Lakers’ victory over the Thunder to the team: The commentators were very surprised that the Thunder was a wave of rumors in the final quarter, and there were heated discussions. The team was able to challenge the Lakers, the Heat were excluded, and all were optimistic about the Spurs. The reason was that Duncan had come back, and the rookie Kawhi Leonard seemed to have made great progress since the new season, and his defensive skills became more proficient, and even a little stuck The version of Jordan's attack with the ball, the open three-point shooting rate has also increased by 2.3 percentage points compared with last season.

Kobe smiled and said that the Spurs can always cause trouble for the Lakers, but the Lakers are the team that wins more games. D'Antoni took the lead in expressing his approval, and the whole team started discussing with laughter and hardly slept.

At four o'clock in the morning, the whole team landed in Charlotte, got on the bus and went straight to the hotel.

Unexpectedly, when I checked in, I encountered a hotel system failure, and it took about half an hour. After I put my luggage and took a shower, I didn't officially rest until about [-] in the morning. The whole team was forced to adjust the breakfast plan and eat together at noon.

Li Yue woke up at eleven o'clock in the morning and sat in the room watching the news. Nick Young came to him with his newly bought PS4 game console to play 2K NBA games.

At four o'clock in the afternoon, the whole team rushed to the Time Warner Center Arena, home of the Hornets, to prepare for the game. In view of the flanking characteristics that the Bobcats' defense basically did not use, Li Yue practiced a lot of catch and shoot and dribble one-step shots.

Jordan entered the arena early, Li Yue took the initiative to say hello, and Kobe joined in after seeing it. The three stood beside the technical stage and chatted with laughter. Many reporters took dozens of photos from various angles.

Perhaps it was because Li Yue scored 75 points in the previous matchup. After the game started, Michael Gilchrist, who had returned from injury, devoted 100% of his energy to defending him, showing no signs of switching defenses or giving up chasing.

Li Yue was happy to take a break and turned into a point forward. However, because the team agreed with the management, the three veterans Kobe, Nash, and Gasol only started the game for a few minutes before resting. The Lakers' offensive efficiency was mediocre.

Al Jefferson of the Bobcats was eye-catching and succeeded in three consecutive low post singles, but Walker played abnormally and his shooting percentage was far lower than the previous match between the two teams. After the first quarter, the Lakers led 31 to 27. Li Yue sent 5 assists.

In the second quarter, Al Jefferson's performance was still eye-catching, and he performed various low-post footsteps. On the Lakers' side, Nick Young responded with continuous operations, leading 31 to 22 in a single quarter.

The 13-point advantage made the Lakers take it lightly. In addition, the veteran trio played less time than before, and the team's shooting rate dropped sharply. Fortunately, the Bobcats also performed poorly, and the third quarter game turned into a pecking show.

But that's the case, the Lakers still lead 25 to 24, further expanding the point difference.

In the final quarter, the Bobcats coach made a desperate attempt, emphasizing that as long as he can give the ball to Al Jefferson, he must give it.

With such a strategy, Al Jefferson made 6 shots in a row. Although he made 4 hits, D'Antoni also arranged for Li Yue to respond in singles.

Li Yue dished out 20 assists while scoring 22 points and grabbing 11 rebounds.

That night, the Lakers set off again overnight, flying west to Atlanta.

In one day's free time, the coaching staff did not arrange training.

Li Yue played 2K games with Nick Young again, and then watched the video of the Eagles' recent games with Kobe and the coaching staff.

On the night of NO.16, the Lakers challenged the Eagles as a guest at Phillips Arena, launching an impact on their 19-game winning streak.

Before the start of the game, Walton declared in his speech: In the history of the NBA, the teams that have won more than 19 games in a row basically won the championship of the season, except for the Spurs in 12 and the Rockets in 08. In the game, the Spurs lost 4 games in a row to the Thunder in the playoffs, and Durant's explosion was unstoppable.

For such a statement, Kobe said domineeringly that the Lakers won the championship all on their own, not affected by any probability.

When the game started, Kobe also used consecutive mid-range shots to show his attitude. Korver hardly caused any restrictions. Instead, Kobe restricted him to 4 for 0 three-pointers. The Lakers led 28 to 20 in the first quarter.

In the first half of the second quarter, Hawks substitute Louis Williams broke out, scoring 0 points in a row with 7 shots, and the Lakers paid 3 fouls in a row. Li Yue had to stop the loss early and fell behind 26 to 27 in a single quarter.

Back from the halftime break, the Lakers improved their defensive strength. Li Yue, Kobe, and Iguodala had 5 more steals, and they also jointly hit 4 three-pointers. Gasol and Landry grabbed 4 A frontcourt board, leading 35 to 19 in a single quarter.

In the fourth quarter, the Eagles failed to resist and the point difference continued to expand, and the game entered garbage time ahead of schedule.

最终，湖人114比110豪取19连胜，以23胜1负战绩继续稳坐联盟第一。

Without any celebration, the whole team flew west to San Antonio overnight and arrived at three o'clock in the morning.

During lunch, the coaching staff discussed whether to take a rest. After all, two back-to-back trips during the four-game road trip will consume a lot of energy for the team. Strategic rest can better prepare for the next game, but the 20-game winning streak is in the Right now, no one wants to rest, and Thackeray also said that he will beat the Spurs to collapse, proving that the Lakers are invincible in the league.

At seven o'clock in the evening, the game between the Lakers and the Spurs started.

Although he said that there is no need for rest, the lack of physical strength of Kobe and other veterans is quite obvious. Danny Green failed to keep up with several off-ball runs. Landry was easily overwhelmed by Duncan. Although Li Yue and Iguodala hit four three-pointers in total, the Lakers still fell behind 29 to 35 in a single quarter.

After the second and third quarters, the performance of the two teams tended to be normal, and the Lakers entered the fourth quarter with a 5-point disadvantage.

I wanted to tie the game all at once, but Nash fell to the ground during a breakthrough. After a preliminary examination by the team doctor, it was confirmed that the old back injury had recurred, and it was estimated that he would be absent for a while. Failing to create momentum, Belinelli and Mills played well, and three consecutive three-pointers helped the Spurs take the absolute lead.

With 5 minutes left before the end of the game, Li Yue and Kobe took turns playing singles, and the efficiency was extremely high. However, the Spurs kept scoring. The Lakers finally lost the game 105 to 118, and the winning streak was fixed at 19 games.

After the game, there was a lot of discussion on social networks. Many commentators were complacent that their predictions were accurate, and many fans were happy that the Lakers still had opponents. In short, except for the Lakers, everyone else was happy to see the results.

On the night of the 20th, the Lakers sat at the Staples Center to face the Timberwolves who came to challenge.

The fully rested Lakers were extremely brutal. They led 35-19 in the first quarter, 30-23 in the second quarter, and 27-23 in the third quarter when all substitutes played, directly turning the fourth quarter into garbage time.

After finishing the Timberwolves, the Lakers started another back-to-back road trip, but this time they were in the Pacific Division, and there were only two games. The first game was against the Warriors in Northern California, and they did not leave until noon the next day. It was as close as going to the training hall.

The Lakers focused on defending Curry and Thompson, while the Warriors focused on defending Li Yue. The efficiency of both sides was low.

After three quarters of fierce fighting, Li Yue began to take over the game, hitting 5 mid-range shots in a row, but Curry failed to respond, Thompson was severely restricted by Kobe, and the Lakers finally won 102-93.

The Lakers then challenged the Suns away and won easily, continuing to occupy the top spot with a record of 26 wins and 2 losses.

On the plane back to Los Angeles from Arizona, Li Yue jokingly asked Kobe if he had prepared a Christmas gift. Kobe said with a smile that he should deliver it, after all, he is now the leader of the Lakers.

Li Yue kept it in his heart silently, and contacted Taylor as soon as he got off the plane, asking for advice on what would be the best gift.

(End of this chapter)