Soul of the Golden State

Chapter 296
Malone's dunk set the tone for the game, and it seemed to be the epitome of the game.

"West's no-look pass successfully passed the ball to Rodman who was running down. After receiving the ball, Rodman took off and bombed the basket! Dunk!"

"Moses and Rodman continued to pick and roll for West, Scott followed closely behind, West didn't get rid of Scott after receiving the ball, he shot... oh no, he gave it to Shun Xia Moses, Moses dunks again!"

"West singled out Scott. With a beautiful move, Beverly tricked Scott's defense, went inside, faced Green's defense, and completed the score with a drop shot!"

Dick Stockton's passionate commentary did not bring much repercussions at the game scene, for no other reason, because the Lakers were hanged and beaten by the Warriors in the first quarter.

Which home fan would feel better seeing his team fall behind?
After the opening, the Lakers carried out a special targeted defense against the Warriors, expanding the defensive area a lot, but this also led to the emptiness of the inside.

And Li Weisi was keenly aware of this, so he passed the ball continuously after the opening, allowing the inside players to go down and score in the penalty area. This really caught the Lakers by surprise.

Seeing the scores of Malone and Rodman on the sidelines, Nelson was also very emotional. It seems that the previous few days of training were not in vain. Maybe the high-level support is not up to the requirements, but this has already achieved some results, at least it can Catch your opponent off guard.

For the Lakers, Green's growth cannot make up for the impact of Jabbar's aging, which also makes their inside defense further decline this season.

On weekdays, due to the defensive contraction, this problem has not been exposed too much, but in this game against the Warriors, the defense cannot be contracted, resulting in the internal defensive problem being completely exposed.

The Warriors led the Lakers by 38 points at 29:9 in the first quarter.

For the Lakers, scoring 29 points in a single quarter is considered a normal figure, but for the Warriors to score 38 points, the Lakers' defense is definitely a big problem.

Moreover, this is the result after the Warriors came off the bench. You must know that when the Warriors were on the court in the first place, the highest lead was as much as 14 points.

In this game, the Warriors did not use Lewis to play like the previous games, but let Ben McDonald serve as a backup small forward. Obviously, in such an important game, Lewis still needs time to grow.

Unlike the Warriors' bold rotation, the Lakers are much more cautious. In addition to the starting five, only three substitutes played. It can be said that Riley's 8-man rotation can play well.

But even so, the Lakers still failed to take advantage of the Warriors starting off the court to recover the point difference.

I have to say that this season, Price and Hornacek are completely qualified to be the starters of other teams, even the starters of strong teams. The Warriors' bench is a bit of a luxury.

The grasp of the rhythm of the double guns in the backcourt prevented the Lakers from chasing points on the bench, and with the return of the starting lineup, the point difference between the two sides remained unchanged.

The two teams tied at 31 in the second quarter, and the Warriors continued to lead the Lakers by 69 points 60:9.

In the two quarters, the Warriors scored nearly 70 points. It can be seen that the Lakers' defense is indeed a big problem.

"Chick, at halftime, the Warriors led by 9 points. Are you surprised by this result?" Taking advantage of the end of halftime, Cunningham asked Hearn.

"It's not surprising. The Warriors are a strong team. I'm not surprised that they can achieve such results."

"Then you are still optimistic about the Lakers winning tonight?"

"Of course, despite the Lakers' defensive problems tonight, I believe that they will adjust well. They are all very experienced championship teams, and I believe in their abilities." Hearn still said confidently .

"Then let us wait and see!" At this time Stockton also stood up to smooth things over.

As Hearn said, after the start of the second half, the Lakers really adjusted their defense. They started from protecting the basket and resolutely prevented the Warriors from easily dunking.

In the first half, the reason why the Lakers wanted to defend against the Warriors' long-range shots was that the basket was empty. Later, in order to defend against the basket, the Warriors opened up the outside line, which led to both ends trying to catch, and neither end being able to catch.

Therefore, in the second half, Riley decided to solve the problem of interior defense first, and then consider the problem of outside shooting. Of course, this does not mean that the outside line cannot be defended.

Sure enough, when the Lakers made interior defense their primary goal, the Warriors' scoring efficiency dropped instantly, failing to make three consecutive shots.

The Lakers also took the opportunity to play a wave of 6:0 to close the point difference. At the critical moment, Li Weisi made a three-pointer to quench his thirst, helping the Warriors to tide over the difficulties, and did not allow the Lakers to catch up with the score in one go.

After the third quarter, the score between the two teams was 93:90, with only three points left, and the Lakers caught up again.

After entering the fourth quarter, the Lakers continued to focus on the score, but fortunately, the Warriors were united and never allowed the Lakers to tie or even overtake the score. The point difference has been hovering at two or three points, which is very thrilling.

Unknowingly, the time has entered the last minute. At this time, the Warriors still lead by two points, but because they did not score in front, the Lakers hold the ball at this time.

Johnson put his big ass against Curry, from the three-point line to the free throw line, while scanning the court to observe the situation.

This goal is very critical. With more than ten seconds left, the score is 114:112. As long as this goal is scored and the opponent's lore is defended, the game can be dragged into overtime, and there is still hope of winning , If the goal is not scored, then only a tactical foul will be made and the outcome of the game will be handed over to the opponent.

Therefore, this goal must be scored.

Johnson scanned the audience and found that Scott, who played the best in the field, was defended by Li Weisi and had no chance to catch the ball. Li Weisi blocked all of Johnson's good passing routes. As for other routes, the risk It's too big, and the position to catch the ball is not good. To be on the safe side, you still can't pass it to him.

Worthy and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar did not have such a tight defense, but they are in a mediocre state tonight. It is better to give the ball to them than to do it yourself.

So, after ruling out other possibilities, Johnson decided to come by himself. Teammates, even if it is a lore.

After continuous shaking, he found that Curry's center of gravity behind him moved. Johnson quickly turned around and then immediately shot a mid-range jumper. Due to the high shot point, Curry couldn't reach it at all, so he had to watch the basketball rush to the basket, and then fell steadily into the basket.

(End of this chapter)