I just play ball

Chapter 289
With the end of the annual Grammy Awards season, the Lakers officially ended their seven-game away schedule, but they only had one day off before sitting at the Staples Center to face their rivals, the Clippers, who also ended their away schedule.

As the league's No. [-] point guard, Chris Paul was overtaken by Stephen Curry in the fourth round of All-Star voting due to injuries. Since joining the Clippers, he was not selected as an All-Star starter for the first time since joining the Clippers.

However, Kobe, who was also suffering from injuries, served as the starter without any influence. This made the Clippers owner Sterling extremely angry. Relatively average.

But the All-Star is the choice of the fans. As long as the league feels qualified, the fans are willing to vote, even if it is a pig.

The Lakers did not make any response, but went all out to attack and defend after the game started, and played directly as the playoffs.

The two teams played inextricably in the first three quarters. In the fourth quarter, the Lakers played a wave of 11-0 through the bench to firmly establish a lead. When the main players returned to the game, they successfully resisted the Clippers' strong counterattack and won 117-104.

After playing the Clippers, the Lakers get three days off.

Taking advantage of his free time, Li Yue called Jordan Kilganon, the folk slam dunk master, and invited him to come to Los Angeles to help design the moves for participating in the slam dunk contest, and he was willing to pay the salary according to the highest standard.

Bai Qiaodan readily agreed and flew to Los Angeles that day.Li Yue only brought an assistant in charge of video recording, and went to the temporarily rented training with Bai Qiaodan, and conducted the training very confidentially to avoid external disturbances.

The two first discussed how to show their highlights. After all, it is difficult for a big player to dunk like a guard. They have to try not to use weird dunk moves that are easy to cause injuries. It took a total of three hours.

Fortunately, I came up with a satisfactory plan and started practicing immediately, while constantly exploring and modifying. One of the tricks was a backhand dunk after flying over the head. I practiced dozens of times without success. Fortunately, I have enough time and don’t need to worry.

The training for the three-point contest was carried out simultaneously. Li Yue took turns trying to place bouquets at five points. After practicing for half a day, he found that starting from the bottom corner on the left and throwing all bouquets at 45 degrees from the right had the highest average score.

On the 30th, which coincided with the Lunar New Year's Eve, Li Yue drove to Irvine to spend time with his second uncle's family

On the 31st, which is the first day of the Lunar New Year, Li Yue represented the Lakers at the Spring Festival celebration. He celebrated with many Chinese and foreign students in the square outside the Staples Center. spectacular.

Perhaps inspired by Li Yue's influence, many foreigners also joined in the celebration, and thousands of people danced together in the square.

That night, the Lakers sat at home against the Warriors who had just finished beating the Clippers.

In the first quarter of the game, Curry performed bravely, scoring 9 points, 5 assists and 11 rebounds on 3 of 3 shots, and zero turnovers.

But the rest of the Warriors performed poorly, scoring only 19 points on 7 of 15 shots, while Li Yue fought head-to-head, scoring 22 points and sending 5 assists to help the Lakers score 33 points.

In the second quarter, Curry maintained a high shooting rate, scored another 11 points and still had zero turnovers. In addition, Jordan Crawford and Klay Thompson also performed well. The Warriors scored 32 points in a single quarter, but their defense was average. The Lakers The team achieved 13 assists in a single quarter, scored 36 points easily, and continued to take the lead.

Then in the third quarter of the game, Curry and Thompson encountered strict defense, their shooting percentage dropped sharply, and the number of turnovers also soared. David Lee and Barnes and other insiders did not stand up to respond. The Warriors only scored 17 points, while The Lakers scored 31 points, entered the final quarter with a 25-point lead, and finally won 132-113.

After playing the Warriors, the Lakers got a rare four-day rest, which is a kind of compensation for the previous seven consecutive Eastern Conference.

On the second day of the Lunar New Year, the Spring Festival celebrations continue.

Li Yue accepted an exclusive interview with CCTV5 to send New Year greetings to people all over the country, and then went to the University of Irvine with the CCTV1 team to visit foreign students far away from home and convened everyone to eat dumplings together. On the fifth day, he appeared on the news network, and as a representative of the Chinese in the United States, he poured out his longing for the motherland and hometown.

On February 2, the Lakers traveled to Minnesota to challenge the Timberwolves away.

Li Yue, who has not rested or trained for several days, performed a little poorly in the first quarter. He only made 5 of 1 shots and made 3 turnovers. In addition, the rest time was too long, and other teammates seemed a little rusty. 12 points behind.

The 12-point hole was not filled until the end of the fourth quarter, and the Lakers lost the game 99-109.

For the loss, what is even more sad is that the team doctor confirmed that Steve Nash's recovery from injury is lower than expected, and he will have to be absent for a while, but Blake's injury recovery is good and he can return early, and the tension of the Lakers point guard has been eased .

On the night of losing to the Timberwolves, the Lakers flew to Cleveland overnight to challenge the Cavaliers in back-to-back away games.

The sweet period for the Cavaliers to get Ruhr Deng is over, and the locker room is full of conflicts.After the game started, except for Tristan Thompson, who was in high spirits, the others were almost defenseless, and Li Yue wanted to respond to those voices of doubt, all kinds of balls were forced inside, and he either scored a layup or scored a goal. Shoot for a teammate and help get a 19-point lead.

The humiliated Cavaliers fought back, but failed to spark a spark, and the Lakers won 122-108.

After a day off, the Lakers flew to Philadelphia to challenge the 76ers away.

There were no twists and turns in the game. The 76ers' defense was still stretched and the offense was quite constipated. In addition, the 76ers deliberately played badly to fight for a high pick. Coach Brett Brown ignored all kinds of nonsense from the players, and the Lakers won easily.

The whole team flew back to Los Angeles that night, and after a day's rest, they played against the Utah Jazz at home.

As in the previous game, the Jazz, which was in a rebuilding state, did not pose any threat to the Jazz. Li Yue scored 28 points and 12 assists in the third quarter, and sat on the bench throughout the fourth quarter. The Lakers won 96 to 79.

After another day of rest, the Lakers ushered in a challenge from the Thunder, and Blake officially returned.

Westbrook was absent due to injury, but Fisher and Lamb stood up, Durant also played bravely, and the Lakers responded every time. In addition, Li Yue forced CARRY. Unexpectedly, Blake made a serve error from the sideline and was intercepted by Robertson. The Lakers lost the chance of lore and regrettably lost the game 106-107.

Blake apologized to the whole team in the locker room. Li Yue took the lead and said that it doesn't matter. When everyone makes mistakes, it's just an ordinary regular season. There will be two Thunder games later. If there is a chance to move back, there is no need to feel entangled.

At noon on NO.12, Li Yue was doing dunk training and received an emergency call from Taylor.

It turned out that WOJ updated Twitter, announcing that the Lakers sent Robert Thackeray, Injured Trey and a 14-year first-round pick, and exchanged Spencer Hawes from the 76ers, as well as a 14-year second-round pick.

The news immediately sparked heated discussions. Li Yue called Kupchak to inquire and got an affirmative answer. Then he called Thackeray to express his blessings and sent a text message to Spencer Hawes to express his welcome.

The Lakers have their last opponent before the All-Star Weekend - the Bulls. They lost in the Eastern Conference's seven consecutive away games. This time they must fight back. If Spencer Hawes can quickly integrate into the team, he can just play effect.

(End of this chapter)