I just play ball

Chapter 456 First in the Alliance
It was said to be a vacation, but it was actually a trip to participate in the Chinese New Year activities in the United States, and even took time to go to Sacramento.

During the four-day rest period, Li Yue spent three and a half days due to official business, and only got half a day of rest. The NBA14-15 season trade deadline ended accordingly. Except for minor repairs by the Thunder and Rockets, other strong teams did not trade.

On the evening of NO.20, the Lakers sit at the Staples Center and face the visiting Nets.

The Nets have just sent away Kevin Garnett, which is considered a complete failure to compete for the championship. The morale of the team is slightly low. In addition, new aid Thaddeus Young is temporarily unable to appear due to procedural problems. The team's combat effectiveness is far lower than that of the Lakers. Although Brook Lopez easily scored 20 points in three quarters, but he couldn't stop Kobe and Li Yue from scoring crazy.

In the end, the Lakers defeated the Nets 114 to 95 and won another ten consecutive victories.

After a day's rest, the Lakers ushered in a challenge from their old enemy, the Celtics. Unlike the previous game, the head coach of the Celtics chose to use rookie Marcus Smart to start defending Kobe. Interfere with Kobe's rhythm.

Kobe was not angry, but instead praised Smart for having a competitor mentality. He pointed out how Smart should defend on the spot, but he just made Smart at a loss, made two consecutive pass errors, and almost made a late technical offense.

Li Yue directed the whole team to create singles opportunities for Thomas through pick-and-rolls or running positions many times.

After the game, the Lakers won 113 to 96.

As time entered the end of February, the coaching staff began to discuss reducing the playing time of the veterans in the team. On the premise of ensuring the record, find ways to arrange for young players to get more performance and exercise opportunities. The first experimental object is the Jazz.

The No. 20 Lakers team arrived in Salt Lake City on Friday and rested for three full days without back-to-back physical troubles.

In the first quarter of the game, Li Yue and Kobe only played a three-pointer and left to watch. The stage was handed over to Covington and Gobert. However, due to the greatly reduced restrictions, Hayward made breakthrough layups one after another, helping the Jazz lead in a single quarter 8 points.

In the second quarter of the game, Li Yue and Kobe still only made excessive appearances symbolically, while Clarkson and Gobert set off a counterattack horn. The two made up for the disadvantage of low shooting efficiency through offensive rebounds and steals, and recovered 2 points in a single quarter. point.

During the timeout at halftime, Kobe gave a speech to encourage the young players. After the third quarter, Clarkson and Gobert continued their strong performance, helping the Lakers recover 3 points, and causing Hayward and Favors to get into foul trouble.

In the fourth quarter of the game, Covington's defense broke out without any real signs, causing Hayward to make 7 of 1 shots, and Gobert sent consecutive blocks at the basket. The Lakers completely blew the horn of counterattack and finally won 103-97.

Li Yue only played 12 minutes in the game, and his statistics were far below the average level, so he was also happy.

On the 27th, the Lakers returned to their home court to face the visiting Bucks with a normal rotation.

A while ago, Antetokounmpo had a small explosion and scored 25+5+8 in five consecutive games. Under the repeated targets of Li Yue and Iguodala, he only made 12 of 4 shots and only made 8 of 4 free throws. A total of 12 points were scored.

Middleton was also limited enough by Kobe. The Lakers beat the Bucks 111 to 93 and enjoyed a [-]-game winning streak.

On March [-], the Lakers faced the Thunder.

Durant had already chosen to be reimbursed for the season, Westbrook truce due to injury, Reggie was traded to the Pistons, orthodox center Adams also suffered from injuries, and the strongest player in the Thunder became Ibaka. Responsible.

Li Yue clocked in and got off work in the third quarter, and the Lakers won 108-101 without any effort.

On the morning of the 12nd, the league office issued an announcement that Li Yue was elected the best player in the Western Conference in February with an absolute advantage, successfully tying LeBron's record of four consecutive seasons created in the 13-[-] season, and is expected to reach the record of sweeping the entire season.

On the evening of the [-]rd, the Lakers challenged the Heat away.

Bosh was on a truce due to a blood clot disease, and the interior offense was even weaker. Although Hassan Whiteside is a shot-blocker, he rarely scored through close-range shots. The Lakers seized this weakness and unscrupulously expanded the defensive area.

The Heat's outside shots were therefore greatly restricted, and the Lakers won 100 to 84.

Leaving Miami, the Lakers flew to Charlotte.

The Hornets have already lost their qualifications for the playoffs. On the contrary, they let go of their hands and feet. The previous cautious style is gone, and they don't pay special attention to defense.

The game dragged into overtime, the Lakers went all out, Li Yue scored 9 points in a row, and finally defeated the Hornets 124-118.

With the joy of 16 consecutive victories, the Lakers rushed to Memphis overnight to challenge the Grizzlies away.

Out of consideration for injury control, Li Yue and Kobe directly truce and reported muscle tension to the outside world.

The Grizzlies still use a meat grinder style of play. Gasol sits on the inside and it is difficult to score through breakthroughs. Coupled with the presence of two defensive champions, Courtney and Tony Allen, the Lakers' outside offense is also limited. Clarkson used his speed to beat Conley many times, but he still couldn't change the embarrassing situation where the Lakers fell behind 14 to 26 in the first quarter.

In the second quarter, the bad situation continued, and the tone of the game was set. The Lakers lost 84 to 97.

After the three-game trip, the Lakers returned to Los Angeles, rested for two days, and faced the Mavericks.

Li Yue was fined for complaining about the referee's biased calls before. Li Yue rushed to the inside line at the beginning of the game. Parsons and Chandler couldn't stop them together. Messy calf rotation arrangement.

The Lakers couldn't stop the momentum, and the Mavericks' offensive ability was severely weakened because of the conflict between Rondo and the head coach. In less than three quarters of the game, the Lakers led by as much as 25 points and entered garbage time early.

In the end, the Lakers won 121 to 93.

On the tenth, the Pistons came to visit.

D'Antoni arranged for Clarkson and others to play the main game, and was only one point behind at halftime. However, in the third quarter, led by Gobert, a group of young players played super defensively, and the Pistons only scored 11 points, and took the opportunity to score 14 points. leading edge.

In the fourth quarter, Jokic and Bazemore ran away. The two made 9 of 9 shots and took away the Pistons in one wave.

NO.12, the Lakers beat the Knicks at home, with a record of 59 wins and 5 losses, and locked in the playoffs ahead of schedule.

Three days later, the Eagles, No. 111 in the East, came to challenge. The bloody battle between the two teams went to overtime, and the Lakers narrowly won 106 to [-].

The next day, the Lakers played against the Warriors in back-to-back away games, forcing them to the last moment, but they were beaten by Curry.

The result of the game brought the Warriors closer to another victory. In order to ensure the home court advantage, the Lakers could not relax completely for the time being. After returning to Los Angeles, they defeated the Jazz and the 76ers with all their strength.

But then lost to the Timberwolves in back-to-back battles, resulting in 7 losses, unable to surpass the record of last season's wins.

The record pressure was removed, and all players were relaxed. The Lakers defeated the Raptors and the Nets 76ers one after another. After returning to Los Angeles, they beat the Pelicans and the Trail Blazers, the potential playoff opponents, with a record of 68 wins and 7 losses, completely stabilizing the league. first position.

On the evening of April [-]th, when the Lakers played against the Clippers at home, Li Yue received the Western Conference Player of the Month trophy on the spot. Although he shared it with Westbrook, he also successfully won all the best players in the Western Conference in a single season, setting a new record .

Regrettably, the Lakers eventually lost to the Clippers by five points and failed to perfectly adapt to the situation.

Li Yue didn't care, and the other teammates didn't bother. There were only six games left in the regular season, and the whole team started preparing for the playoffs.

(End of this chapter)