Super Evolution of Basketball

Chapter 464 You Can Win With Your Eyes Closed

In the first game of the first round of the Western Conference playoffs, the Los Angeles Derby, the Lakers played against the Clippers.

Jordan got the rebound in Whiteside's hands, and without thinking, he handed the ball back to Paul again.

The Clippers players trust Paul just like the Lakers trust Yuan Qingshan.

Paul pressed the rhythm, the Clippers players settled down, JJ Redick continued to run without the ball, and Yuan Qingshan followed him closely.

Seeing this situation, Wharton wanted to change his formation. Redick's style of play consumes too much energy for Yuan Qingshan.

Now that Paul George is defending Mbah a Moute, the assistant coach reminds Wharton that this is a waste of resources, and Paul George should be allowed to defend JJ Redick, because George's endurance is better than Yuan Qingshan.

"Move Yuan Qingshan to the third position?" Wharton thinks this is a bold idea. Yuan Qingshan is only 190 centimeters, while Ba Mote is 203 centimeters. The gap of 10 centimeters is not so easy to make up.

"Let's try again." Wharton sighed.

It is a little bit reluctant to let Yuan Qingshan go to the third position, and he may be injured. If it is not possible, he can only withdraw Beverly.

However, Beverly is performing very well now. Paul only scored 7 points and 3 assists after the first quarter was almost over.

Clippers offense.

Paul threw the ball straight to Jordan who was standing in a high position. Jordan was stunned. He felt that the basket was thousands of miles away from him. Why did Paul let him handle it?
Paul yelled, "Pass to Anderson!"

Anderson, where?

Little Jordan turned his head to look for Anderson, and Anderson was right behind him, but he couldn't see him.

"Give it to me!" Paul exasperated.

Little Jordan hesitated to pass the ball, but was intercepted by Yuan Qingshan who appeared halfway.

"Oh." Paul waved his arms in frustration, complaining that he knew that Jordan's coping ability was zero, so why did he let him overshoot the ball?
On the offensive end, Yuan Qingshan ignored JJ Redick's defense, advanced to the top of the arc, and opened his hand for a three-pointer.

hit!

O'Neill: "Yuan Qingshan is playing more and more resolutely. It is a good thing to have self-confidence."

Mark Jackson: "Yeah, if even he doesn't have confidence, what will the Lakers rely on to win?"

The Clippers counterattacked, Paul pretended to break through, made a false pass, and created a three-pointer opportunity for Anderson.

Ryan Anderson made a long shot, offsetting Yuan Qingshan's ball.

Yuan Qingshan didn't care very much. He played JJ Redick, basically one shot at a time, and it was a bit difficult for the Clippers to score a goal. Paul needed to mobilize more than half of his people to create an ideal opportunity.

The Clippers' fourth position was changed from Griffin, who is very mobile, to Anderson, who is used to standing and outputting, so it is difficult for the Clippers to play a fast pace.

Walton is also happy to slow down the pace. The Clippers have Paul, who can control the rhythm, and the Lakers also have Yuan Qingshan.

After the first quarter, the Clippers scored 20 points and the Lakers scored 24 points. Judging from this, after the players lack physical strength in the later stage, their shooting percentage will definitely drop. It will be difficult to break [-] in this game.

During the intermission, Wharton's eyes changed repeatedly on the faces of Yuan Qingshan and Beverly, and finally fixed on Beverly. In the second quarter, he still wanted Beverly to defend Paul.

Yuan Qingshan played 8 minutes in the first quarter, and his efficiency was good. There is no sign of fatigue or even overdraft.

However, he must not be allowed to tough Paul, he must leave the best state to Curry, or even Irving!
The timeout ends and the game starts again.

The Clippers suddenly sped up the tempo. Paul and Redick rushed up. Yuan Qingshan and Beverly were caught off guard. The Clippers overtook the score and hit the score to 5 in the opening 32 minutes, leading the Lakers by 4 points.

Wharton was hesitant to call a timeout when Yuan Qingshan passed him with the ball.

Wharton opened his mouth and asked, "Do you want to pause?"

Yuan Qingshan and JJ Redick were taken aback at the same time, and Redick asked, "Have you already emptied the coach?"

Yuan Qingshan glared at him: "Shut down your PS!"

Not getting a response from Yuan Qingshan, Wharton had no choice but to be patient and continue to observe the situation on the court.

Yuan Qingshan rushed from the left this time and passed JJ Redick in one step.

JJ Redick turned around and rounded his arm to foul, but he didn't even catch Yuan Qingshan's shadow. Yuan Qingshan's speed far exceeded his imagination, and he directly scored two points in the high position.

This goal helped the Lakers break the temporary scoring drought.

Then the Lakers took the banner of counterattack by Yuan Qingshan, and Paul George played the role of shooter, ambush in the two bottom corners and scored a three-pointer.

With 4 minutes left in the second quarter, on the Lakers side, Wharton replaced Yuan Qingshan and Paul George, and sent Murray and Towns.

In the final stage of the regular season, Downs was basically on and off. Wharton did not dare to overuse Downs, including the first round. He also had to strictly control Downs' playing time.

During this period of time, Towns was suffocated. After playing, he played two consecutive singles against Anderson, two in one, and scored 2 points.

The Clippers took advantage of the rest of the outside core to replace Paul.

They set up a lineup of Jordan and four shooters.

The Clippers' shooters don't have a high shooting percentage, and it depends on Jordan's excellent rebounding performance to keep the team from falling behind.

The lineup of the two sides continued until the end of the first half, 49 to 49, and the two sides actually drew.

In the home team locker room.

Yuan Qingshan was very dissatisfied with this score. This was the first game of the first round in the Western Conference. The first half was even tied. If things go on like this, is there still a tiebreaker?

Wharton was still chattering about his thoughts. In the second half, he simply wanted to replace Paul George with Nick Young on top.

Paul George looked at Yuan Qingshan in bewilderment, and Yuan Qingshan raised his hand to signal Wharton.

Wharton stopped: "Qingshan, do you have anything to say?"

Yuan Qingshan stood up and said: "Coach, whether it is this game or the series, I think we should make a quick decision and get more rest time for the next round."

Wharton hesitated: "But, I am worried that if the intensity suddenly increases, your body will not be able to bear it."

Paul George said, "No problem."

Towns chimed in: "Yeah, for a team like the Clippers, we can win with our eyes closed."

Seeing that several core players said so, Walton had no choice but to compromise, picked up the tactical board again, thought for a few seconds and said: "Start in the second half, Yuan Qingshan, Murray, Paul George, Towns, Whiteside, strive to kill the game in the third quarter!"

This is the biggest killer move of the Lakers.

The players cheered up: "Yes!"

The atmosphere in the visiting team's locker room was not as harmonious as that of the home team. Coach Rivers had a headache. Although they were able to draw with the Lakers in the first half, they were always stumbling, and he knew in his heart that the Lakers had been hanging their appetites, and they didn't take it seriously from the beginning to the end.

Wharton watched the clips of the Clippers' game, so why not Rivers? If the Clippers want to play against each other, they need to study their opponents carefully and make targeted deployments.

(End of this chapter)