I just play ball

Chapter 307 Shock Best

The four games, starting on the 9th and ending on the 19th, lasted a total of ten days. At first glance, it might seem like nothing. The average game is two and a half days.

But the strange thing about this schedule is that after the away game against the Spurs, the Lakers have to fly back to Los Angeles overnight to play back-to-back home games against the Thunder. The same interval is 4 days, that is, when I am free, I panic, and when I am busy, I jump around, which makes people speechless.

The reason for this weird arrangement is that the Lakers have played consecutive back-to-back games before, and the league has a rigid schedule for the schedule. In order to allow the Lakers to get the standard rest time, they came up with this kind of moth.

On the second day after returning to Los Angeles from Denver, the coaching staff and management held a conference call to discuss how to deal with this weird schedule. Considering that the Lakers' record is significantly ahead of the Spurs and Thunder, the first plan that came to mind was a rotation.

Li Yue was the first to be included in the plan list, and D'Antoni personally sought his personal opinions. After all, the MVP competition had already entered a fever pitch.

Li Yue himself felt that it didn't matter, he could rest or not.

The management hopes to fight hard to match the record of 72 wins and 10 losses created by the Bulls that year. After all, there are only 19 games left in the whole season, and the Spurs and Thunder are the few strong opponents among them. If they win two games, they have a great chance to write a new chapter in history. If they can win three of them, they may even break the record.

In the final discussion of the results, first look at the results of the first two matches and make a decision according to the situation.

On the 9th, the Lakers sit at the Staples Center and face the challenging Spurs.

This game is related to whether the Lakers can get the playoffs in advance. Many Hollywood star fans came to help out. Denzel Washington and others also publicly pulled MVP votes for Li Yue in an interview before the game.

In the first quarter of the game, the Lakers team was in high spirits. Li Yue successively scored shots with hand-to-hand screens, while Duncan, who was in charge of the Spurs' main attack, had a slightly poorer touch. He only made 2 of 2 shots. Leonard and Danny Green encountered strict defense. Hit [-] shots.

The Lakers entered the second quarter with a 15-point advantage, but Aron Baynes, who came off the bench for the Spurs, played bravely. With his strong weight advantage, Hawes succeeded in singles one after another, quickly helping the team narrow the point difference to 8 points.

Then the main players of the two teams returned to the game, and the three of Duncan found their touch, and the battle was inextricable.

After halftime, the Lakers led by 7 points.

After a break, D’Antoni followed Li Yue’s and Kobe’s advice and took the initiative to change the starting lineup, allowing Gasol to come off the bench first and Gobert to play first. The result was miraculous. Parker and Ginobili’s breakthroughs were blocked many times, and it was difficult for the Spurs to score through the inside. , was forced to turn their offensive firepower to the outside, but Green and Leonard felt poor again, and the Lakers took the opportunity to hit an 11-0 climax.

When Gasol came off the bench to face Baynes, his excellent footwork turned the Pyrenees around, helping the Lakers enter the fourth quarter with a 22-point advantage, and continued their strong performance, causing the Spurs to switch back to the main force in advance.

The main players of the Lakers, such as Li Yue and Iguodala, also appeared on the stage, steadily maintaining Linxian's advantage to the end.

In the end, the Lakers beat the Spurs 129 to 95, winning 13 consecutive victories, leading the Suns, currently ranked ninth in the Western Conference, by 18 games, and obtaining the 13-14 Western Conference playoff spot ahead of schedule.

Li Yue hugged and celebrated with his teammates excitedly, and then accepted an interview with ESPN, praising the coaching staff and management.

As soon as the interview was over, the lights of the entire Staples Center dimmed. Just as Li Yue was confused, Chen Xi came out of the player tunnel pushing a cake cart, and the audience sang "Happy Birthday" loudly.

Li Yue suddenly realized that this was an early birthday for himself, and so many people had hidden it from him.

After a simple thank you speech, the candles were blown out, and then Nick Young pressed them into the cake.The audience booed to see the show of affection, Chenxi wiped the cake on her face, and Li Yue licked it clean with her tongue.

After a while of excitement, the audience began to leave, and Li Yue returned to the apartment with Chen Xi.

During the four days of rest, the two discussed about doing something big, thought it over, and finally decided to travel.

The location was set in the Bahamas, and Li Yue set off immediately after asking for leave, as a birthday present for himself.

The two had fun for three days, Chenxi flew back to China directly to deal with work, while Li Yue went straight to San Antonio.

...

NO.13, the Lakers challenge the Spurs away.

Unlike the Lakers who rested for four days, the Spurs just flew back to San Antonio after beating the Portland Trail Blazers.

Relying on his physical advantage, Li Yue directly started the singles mode after the opening game, causing Leonard to foul twice in a row.

Popovich was forced to adjust the rotation plan, but Dior's defensive level was too poor. Li Yue quickly went into a state of rampage, scoring 25 points in a single quarter, helping the Lakers gain a 6-point lead.

In the second quarter of the game, Parker of the Spurs stood up and successfully broke through Blake's defense with the help of screens, and then scored or assisted his teammates. Hawes hit three-pointers at the top of the arc many times, completely disrupting the Spurs' defensive lineup. Advantage.

Back from the halftime break, Parker continued to play brilliantly, and Belinelli also hit two corner three-pointers, but Gasol and Marshall on the Lakers teamed up to provide classic pick-and-roll coordination teaching, and the Lakers took another 4-point advantage in a single quarter.

I thought that the Spurs would fight back fiercely in the fourth quarter, but after a series of three-pointers in the opening game, Popovich actually withdrew from the main lineup ahead of time, and the game entered garbage time. The Lakers easily won 118-99.

With a record of 58 wins and 7 losses, the Lakers returned to Los Angeles overnight.

After deep consideration, Li Yue decided to give up the rotation and sprint for the best record in the history of the Lakers and even the history of the league.

Kobe, who was originally planning to come back, also offered to postpone the time. One is to increase the degree of recovery and avoid another injury like before. The other is to worry about damaging the team's chemical reaction, avoiding losing in key battles, and reducing the probability of setting a record.

After the keen media got the news, they quickly analyzed the reason. A discussion about whether the Lakers could tie or even break the Bulls' regular season winning record unfolded like a tornado on social networks.

ESPN launched a voting statistics, more than 81.9% of the users think no, the main reason given is: the opponents behind the Lakers are the Clippers, Rockets, Warriors and other Western Conference playoff opponents, although they are not as powerful as the Thunder and Spurs,
But they will also persist in resisting for a better regular season ranking in the playoffs, especially the Rockets and Trail Blazers currently have the same number of wins, ranking fourth and fifth in the Western Conference respectively. The home court advantage is quite critical.

Contrary to public opinion, Stephen A. Smith and other well-known commentators are unanimously optimistic about the Lakers tying the record. The main reason given is: Li Yue is synonymous with miracles. After Kobe's comeback, the Lakers will return to their strongest state.

Li Yue retweeted and wrote: All great achievements of human beings come from attempts, and everything is possible.

(End of this chapter)