pinnacle of basketball

Chapter 651 G2-Confrontation
Mu Chenfeng successfully helped the team tie the score before halftime, leaving the Lakers with 10 seconds of attack time.

The all-out defense and the swarming press of the Heat restricted the Lakers' advance speed. James' absence greatly reduced the Lakers' ability to break the mark. Felix couldn't get rid of Wade's concentrated defense. In the end, the time could only be passed under his protection of the ball, without even a chance to make a shot.

After the perfect defense, the Heat walked towards the player channel without looking back. A halftime tie was already a satisfactory result for them. They were suppressed throughout the first half.

"The second half will definitely be more difficult." Wade felt a little uneasy in his heart. His uneasiness came from James' rest. He only played for 12 minutes in the first half, which was far from his previous average halftime playing time. In these 12 minutes, James scored 20 points efficiently. In the second half, he has enough physical strength to support him to play the entire second half.

All eyes were focused on Barrett. He is the Lakers' secret weapon against James. He was off the court at the same time as James in the second quarter, and his physical fitness is also guaranteed. The ability to limit James' performance depends on Barrett's state.

"I have no problem." Barrett said confidently, he was very clear about the weight of the burden on him.

"Whether we can hold on to this victory is up to you."

The Lakers returned to the sidelines early during the halftime break. For them, there is not much to arrange. The players have completed the task very well. While gaining enough rest time for James, they did not let the Heat turn the score up.

A draw is a halftime result acceptable to both sides.

"You may not have time to rest in the second half." The Lakers coach informed James in advance that he will play the second half.

James nodded. With his current physical reserves, he can fully fight for the second half.

Even if James played the second half, his playing time was only 36 minutes, which is much less than his average playing time.

Not long after, the Heat also returned to the game, and the two teams will enter the final decisive moment.

The Heat observed James' state deliberately, his expression was very serious, and it could be seen how eager he was for this victory.

This is a game he has to win, and he doesn't plan to return to Los Angeles with a "0-2" score.

James showed his unparalleled dominance at the beginning of the game, using his body to overwhelm Barrett. Although the latter also responded to the physical confrontation and successfully interfered with his first shot, James used his excellent rebounding speed to accept the rebound.

James shook his shoulder after the goal, "signifying" that this level of confrontation was not enough to prevent him from scoring.

Barrett also quickly gave his answer. Using Crowder's cover, Barrett squeezed out the breakthrough space and used the change of rhythm to cause James' chasing foul. Unfortunately, he missed the shot, but he got two free throws.

Barrett played very steadily at the free throw line, making both free throws.

This is only James' second foul in this game, and it will not have too much impact on his subsequent games. As the top super giant in the league, James still has a good control over the number of fouls. He has never been sent off for fouls in his career so far, and he rarely encounters foul crises.

"Not bad, I want to see how long you can last." James once again singled out Barrett with the ball, and the rest of the players spread out, and at the same time attracted the defenders away, so that no one would help Barrett to defend and double-team.

James has excellent passing awareness and keen vision. His attention is on the basket on the surface, but in fact he has already locked the positions of opponents and teammates. Once the Heat adopt a double-team tactic against him, he will be the first to find open teammates. His pass will also be like a cruise missile, accurately passing to the open teammates.

This is the restraining force of James. When he holds the ball, he and his teammates cannot have the slightest defensive slack.

James didn't notice that the other members of the Heat team had a tendency to assist in defense, so he could play Barrett alone with confidence.

In terms of strength confrontation, Barrett is indeed not at a disadvantage. His strength is as good as James. The difference between the two lies in the level of finesse of technology. James of the Los Angeles Lakers has refined his skills under the training of the coaching staff.

As a result, there was a certain gap between the two on the technical level.

James has the skillful dribbling movements of a guard, and his height of more than 2 meters makes his disguise extremely exaggerated, and it is easy to deceive defensive players. However, he met Barrett with a strong body.

The physical conflicts between the two were very frequent, but neither of them had any intention of backing down, and they enjoyed it. In today's alliance, such muscle collisions are rare.

The referee hadn't seen such a fierce physical confrontation for a long time, and he couldn't bear to interrupt it. If it was placed on the usual scale of whistleblowing, the whistle would have sounded long ago.

puff! !puff! !puff! !

The high-frequency confrontation between the two lasted for several seconds, from the three-point line to the basket. James ended the confrontation with a deft turn and hook.

Although Barrett failed to successfully stop James in the confrontation, this confrontation still made him very excited, "Finally, I can play seriously."

Confined by the "rules" of the league, tough players like Barrett never dared to fully release their strength in the game and discouraged confrontation. Many players with outstanding strength were forced to leave the penalty area to "make a living" on the outside. Only those who have successfully transformed can continue to survive in the league.

"Now the league is getting ugly. It's like a bunch of jerks playing, not masculine at all."

(End of this chapter)