I just play ball

Chapter 51 To fight or not to fight?
After the victory over the Celtics, the Lakers stayed in Boston to rest that night, and flew to Washington on a special plane at noon the next day to challenge the last opponent of the four-game Eastern Conference-the Wizards led by John Wall.

After the plane landed, Li Yue logged on to Twitter to browse the news as usual, and suddenly found that his name had become a hot topic, but he appeared with Wizards player and former Lakers championship member Trevor Ariza.

He checked carefully and found that it was ESPN columnist Mark Stein, who wrote a special article to analyze the technical characteristics of the two with both him and Ariza serving as small forwards beside Kobe.

Through many comparisons such as ball-handling skills, organizational skills, and defensive capabilities, Stein finally came to the conclusion: he is Ariza who enjoys the bonus of the system. Even if he becomes the boss of a weak team like the Rockets, his performance will be better. Be stronger.

Such a statement received nearly [-] likes, and several popular comments all agreed with it. Even NBA players like Kenyon Martin reposted and spread it, but Li Yue only felt it was ridiculous and didn't take it to heart.

On the 21st, the Lakers were a guest at the MCI Center Arena.

Li Yue started the game, but Ariza sat on the bench. At the small forward position, he was facing the unknown Martell Webster, but he was sent to the NBDL in the first season of his career with the highest draft pick. player of.

After the opening game, Li Yue directly singled Martell many times, it can be said that he can play whatever he wants.

Martell failed to respond, but also lost two additional fouls, leading to the Wizards replaced Ariza early.

Ariza's defense started from the backcourt several times. In addition to personal consumption and interference around the front, he worked hard.

Li Yue didn't accept the move, and quickly adjusted to playing without the ball to help other teammates get various easy scoring opportunities. In addition, Kobe strictly guarded Wall and Howard defended Nene. The Lakers led the Wizards 35 to 19 in the first quarter.

In the next three quarters, the Lakers kept suppressing, and the Wizards were unable to find a solution.

In the end, the Lakers defeated the Wizards 103-89 and won their seventh consecutive victory.

Li Yue's basic statistics such as points, assists and rebounds are twice that of Ariza, and various advanced statistics are comprehensively crushed.

Less than 2 minutes after the game, Mark Stein deleted the article and apologized indirectly.

That night, the entire Lakers team flew back to Los Angeles on a special plane, officially ending the four-way Eastern Conference trip.

On the morning of the 22nd, ESPN connected a number of former NBA players and coaches on the roundtable program to analyze from multiple angles why the Lakers changed their sluggish state in the early and middle of the season and defeated the Pacers, Thunder, and Knicks in a row , Heat and other strong teams won seven consecutive victories, directly improving the team's ranking from eighth in the West to sixth in the West.

Former NBA players unanimously agreed that it was mainly due to Li Yue, who believed that he helped Kobe Bryant share the pressure of scoring, helped Nash share the pressure of organization, and helped Howard share the pressure of defense, so that all the players on the Lakers team could keep it easy.

Former NBA coaches also expressed that it was mainly due to Li Yue, who believed that he helped Coach D'Antoni complete the last link of the V-shaped tactical system and seamlessly connect all the Lakers players. The key is to drive Howard to participate in high pick-and-rolls.

After the show was fermented for half a day, it set off an upsurge of discussion among the people on Twitter.

ESPN launched a vote on "Who is the biggest contributor to the Lakers' seven-game winning streak". Within three hours, a total of 43566 fans participated, and 82.4% of them voted for Li Yue, far exceeding the sum of other Lakers players.

...

Li Yue found it difficult to adapt to the whole network bragging about himself.

But he did not disappoint the fans. In the game against the Warriors at home on the 24th, Harris Barnes was defeated on both ends of the offense and defense, helping the Lakers secure the sixth place in the Western Conference; Small forward Derek Williams assisted Howard for a dunk lore in the final game; in the back-to-back away game against the Bucks on the 26th, he scored 27 points efficiently and helped the Lakers to win ten consecutive victories.

ESPN and many other TV stations reported on the Lakers winning streak. In addition to analyzing the reasons, most of them were lamenting why Li Yue was not recalled earlier. Now even if the winning streak reaches the end of the season, it is difficult for the Lakers to enter the upper half.

In the last game of the Lakers in March against the Kings, Li Yue easily overwhelmed Tyreke Evans, who had changed to a small forward, with his height advantage. In the end, he scored 25 points and 14 assists, and the Lakers' winning streak expanded to 11 games. .

After the game, Stephen A. Smith and other media people immediately broke the news that the final contenders for the best player in March in the Western Conference are Li Yue and Kevin Durant. Among them, Li Yue averaged 21.8 points, 10.9 assists and 6.7 rebounds per game, which is slightly better than Durant. Te averaged 27.6 points, 3.8 assists and 8.5 rebounds per game, but played four fewer games, which made it difficult for the judges to make a decision.

The official Twitter of the Lakers was updated, Nicholson, a die-hard fan, recorded a video, calling on fans to share more about Li Yue's wonderful performance and help him expand his popularity and influence.

On April [-]nd, the Lakers played against the Dallas Mavericks at the Staples Center.

The performance of the two teams was weak at the beginning, the desire to break through was low, and all kinds of three-point strikes were made. The single quarter was tied at 19 to 19.

In the second quarter, the two teams overcorrected. The Mavericks made zero three-pointers, and the Lakers only took four three-pointers, but they made three of them, taking a 12-point lead in a single quarter.

Back from the halftime break, the Mavericks, who were still working hard for the playoffs, were unwilling to give up. Dirk Nowitzki scored consecutively difficult Golden Rooster independently. The Lakers missed a three-pointer again and narrowed the point difference. However, with only 1 minute left, Li Yue, Steal Mayo twice in a row and hit two three-pointers, completely destroying the Mavericks' counterattack posture.

In the end, the Lakers defeated the Mavericks 101 to 81, extending their winning streak by 12 games.

On the afternoon of the [-]rd, the NBA League Office announced that LeBron James won the Eastern Conference Player of the Month in March, while Li Yue and Kevin Durant won the Western Conference Player of the Month.

After the news was announced, it caused widespread discussion among fans.

It is not the first time that two players have been selected as the Player of the Month at the same time. As early as November 02, Nash, Michael Finley and Nowitzki who were playing for the Mavericks were once elected as the Player of the Month in the Western Conference. .

For Li Yue and Durant to be elected at the same time, the mainstream view is that it is the best result, but there are also a small number of views that it is an insult and contempt to Durant. Li Yue played four games less, including the Pacers That game only played less than 5 minutes, and he was completely ineligible to participate in the selection. The league was just trying to curry favor with Chinese fans.

Li Yue did not make any comments or responses, but Durant tweeted that he was very happy to be elected with him.

After two days of rest, the Lakers ushered in the challenge of the Grizzlies.

In the first quarter of the game, the two teams fell into a tug-of-war, and the scoring efficiency was very low, with a total of [-] out of [-] three-pointers.

The Lakers also got four fouls, but with Kobe's three mid-range shots at the end of the quarter, they led by 7 points in a single quarter.

The two teams continued to fight hand-to-hand in the second quarter, and the single quarter was tied at 21-21.

After returning from the half-time break, still back to back, chest to chest, thighs rubbing against thighs, all kinds of physical exertion.

At the end of the game, the Grizzlies resorted to shark-slashing tactics, but Howard hit consecutive free throws. The Lakers won 86-84 and extended their winning streak to 13 games.

After the game, many media and fans began to discuss the chances of the Lakers winning the championship.

ESPN's prediction is 78%, which is only lower than the Heat and Thunder. The reason is that since Li Yuewei played, the Lakers have defeated all types of teams in the league, and their strength is beyond doubt.

TNT directly predicts the Lakers championship. The reason is that no team in the entire league can defend the high-position pick-and-roll tactics of Li Yue, Nash, and Kobe. At most, only the Spurs can slightly limit it. The Spurs are likely to be killed by the Thunder, and the Lakers can reap the benefits.

At the time of the exciting discussions involving social networks, the Lakers challenged their city rivals the Clippers away after a day off.

As soon as the game started, the Clippers showed their defensive strength in the playoffs, and Paul led the defense.

The Lakers had a hard time coping with the severe physical exertion of the battle with the Grizzlies, resulting in 6 turnovers in the first quarter. Fortunately, Li Yue took strict precautions against Caron Barrett and fell behind by only 5 points in a single quarter.

In the second quarter of the game, the Lakers adjusted their tactical thinking and attacked the inside more, causing the Clippers to foul 7 times, but they were still affected by physical strength. Only Li Yue made one three-pointer and lost 2 points in a single quarter.

After returning from a timeout in midfield, Kobe and Li Yue, who got a breather, took turns playing singles, using breakthroughs to tear the Clippers' defensive formation.

The effect was very good at the beginning, but the Clippers gradually adopted zone defense, Howard played abnormally at the basket, and the Lakers could only block three-pointers, but the shooting percentage was still only 6 of 1, resulting in another 5 points lost in a single quarter.

Entering the last quarter with a 12-point disadvantage, D'Antoni sent Li Yue to attack from the beginning.

The Clippers directly arranged double-teams, and Clark, Meeks and others failed to hit an open three-pointer. When the other main players re-entered the game, the Lakers were still 12 points behind and used up the number of common fouls.

Kobe tried to take over the game, but within 3 minutes, he made 6 of 2 shots. The Lakers completely lost hope of a comeback.

In the end, the Lakers lost to the Clippers 95 to 109, and the winning streak was cleared.

To Li Yue's surprise, the fans didn't criticize them in any way. Instead, they posted a message of encouragement on the official Twitter, saying that they saw the hard work of the Lakers team, and they just need to come back after a good rest.

In order not to disappoint the fans, and to prepare for the upcoming playoffs, the Lakers held a team practice on the second day.

Then the Lakers fought back to back, winning consecutive victories over the Hornets and Trail Blazers, and completely stabilized the sixth ranking in the Western Conference.

...

April NO.11, Los Angeles Toyota Sports Center, inside the Lakers training base.

Li Yue sat on the sidelines, crossing his legs and watching Thackeray and Goodlock compete in dribbling.

Assistant coach Phil Webber walked to the side and whispered: "Can you persuade Kobe? Our coaching staff wants him to rest in the next three games against the Warriors, Spurs and Rockets. The main reason is to save his energy for the playoffs." .”

Li Yue withdrew his gaze and began to think in his heart.

There are three games left in the season, and the Lakers have won 48 wins. Even if they win all three games, they cannot surpass the Grizzlies, which have lost all three games. The Warriors rank seventh in the West.

Whether to play or not will not affect the result of the match. If you play, it will waste your energy and may cause injuries. After all, the entire Lakers team was exhausted before.

But, how can I persuade you?

(End of this chapter)