basketball hero

Chapter 836 Infinite Space

After two rounds of trades, the Raptors' current lineup looks like this: Center: Yonas Valanciunas, Jakob Poeltl, Lucas Noguera, power forward - Sergui Bacca, Patrick Patterson, Pascal Siakam, small forward - DeMar DeRozan, PJ Tucker, shooting guard - Ying Xiong, Norman Powell, Delon Wright, point guard - Jeremy Lin , Kyle Lowry, Fred Van Fleet.

It can be said that the arrival of Ibaka and Tucker not only improved the Raptors' defensive ability and ability to fight tough battles, but also improved the team's talent.

On February 2, the Raptors played at home against the Boston Celtics.This game is their first game after the transaction, and it is naturally highly anticipated by the fans.

In this game, the newly joined defensive giant Ibaka debuted as the starting center.However, the process of the game was not as good as expected.Because of running-in problems, he made more mistakes on the court.But his defensive and tactical role is still fully reflected.He got a lot of open opportunities in the game, but because he didn't feel good, he couldn't score high points.

In the end, the Raptors relied on their overall strength to narrowly beat their opponents at home, ushered in two consecutive victories, and their record came to 52 wins and 6 losses.

Ibaka and Tucker did not play amazing performances in their first game of joining, which did not affect the good mood of Raptors coach Devin Casey in the slightest.With these two players, the team's defensive ceiling has improved a lot, providing more capital for the team to play key games in the playoffs.

On February 2, the Raptors continued to sit at home to face the Portland Trail Blazers.

In this game, the starting lineup of the Raptors at home is: center - Serge Ibaka, power forward - Patrick Patterson, small forward - DeMar DeRozan, shooting guard - should Xiong, point guard - Jeremy Lin.

The starting lineup of the Trail Blazers in the away game is: center-Joseph Jokic, power forward-Noah von Lai, small forward-Mohalex, shooting guard-CJ McCollum, point guard- — Damian Lillard.

The commentators for this game are Mike Breen and Mark Jackson.

"Mark, this is Serge's second start after joining Toronto. Did you watch the first game?" Mike Breen asked with a smile.

"Look, the overall performance is not bad, but it still needs to be adjusted!" Mark Jackson said.

"How much do you think Serge and PJ would mean for Toronto?" asked Mike Breen.

"The most direct and minimum impact of Serge's joining is that it can make Toronto's inside defense better. I always think that their outside defense is actually doing pretty well. Rotation isn't without its drawbacks. And PJ is all about perimeter defense and off-ball 3s," Mark Jackson said.

"Minimum? Isn't that the minimum?" Mike Breen asked.

"Serge can open up the space and play the space-type 4th or 5th position. This corresponds to the breakthrough with Jeremy and others. It has very important tactical significance. If you think about it, 5 players on the field can shoot. 3 points, isn't this just another version of Oakland's small lineup of 5?" Mark Jackson said.

"It's really scary to say that!" Mike Breen exclaimed.

"Let's watch the game. It will take time to give us an answer to what we can achieve!" Mark Jackson said with a smile.

Ibaka and Nukic prepare for the jump ball near the middle circle, and the game is about to start.

Ibaka is very excited. This is his second game with the Raptors and his second start as a Raptors player.He is excited that he finally has another chance to compete for the championship (he had entered the finals with the Thunder before), and he has always faced the embarrassing reality of losing in the Magic.And coming to the team with the best record in the league, becoming teammates with the best players in the world, and getting the attention of the team, this feeling is really wonderful.

Ibaka didn't know if it was because he was too excited, he jumped the ball early and didn't compete for the high point.

The Trail Blazers got the first wave of offensive possessions and the game officially started.

"How did Serge act like a rookie!" Mike Breen said with a smile.

"Maybe it's because I'm more excited! Haha, not everyone has the opportunity to play next to Ying!" Mark Jackson said with a smile.

"You want to say that you have a chance to win the championship, you speak so implicitly, old fox!" Mike Brin said angrily as if he glanced at Mark Jackson.

"Of course this is one of the reasons!" Mark Jackson laughed.

Lillard slowly dribbles over and picks and rolls with Newkic at the top of the arc.

Ibaka quickly came out to flank Lillard, and then quickly returned to his position!

Lillard tried to use the pick-and-roll to find mismatches or open spots, but failed.

"Mike, you see, this is the defensive effect of Serge playing the 5th position. They can choose to switch defenses, or let him participate in the flank attack, restricting Damian from the ball and shooting. The previous Yonas because of his foot movement relationship, it’s hard to do that,” Mark Jackson explained.

"Serge's defensive ability has never been a problem. His challenge should be on the offensive end!" Mike Breen said.

Lillard distributed the ball to Mike Krum on the weak side. The latter held the ball and used the screen to break through, but did not throw it away. The throw was interfered by Ibaka's long arm-no!
Ying Xiong received the rebound and gave it to Jeremy Lin to advance.

"Serge's rotation rate is really high! Moreover, he is really positive!" Mike Breen exclaimed.

Jeremy Lin came over with the ball, and with the help of Ibaka's cover at the top of the arc, he held the ball and drove past Newkic. As soon as the opponent shrank, he gave it to Patterson in the corner!
Patterson open!But he missed 3 points!
Ibaka got a long rebound and distributed it to Yingxiong on the right.

With the help of Ibaka's cover, Ying Xiong walked in with the ball.And Ibaka is playing outside, waiting for a chance to make a shot outside the 3-point line.

Newkic is neither up nor down, which is very embarrassing.

Ying Xiong accelerated, passed the slow-footed Newkic, and made a fake pass to the bottom corner, which tricked Feng Lai, and the master with his right hand made a layup!
"Bang—should first hit 2 points!" Mike Breen explained passionately.

"Mike, did you see this space!" Mark Jackson said with a smile.

"See, in this situation, as an opponent, it is true that we always face the difficulty of 'choosing one of two poisons'." Mike Brin sighed.

On the Trail Blazers side, Lillard used a cover to rush to the basket and was slapped away by Ibaka's cap!

After Ibaka blocked the shot, he also showed off his strong figure to the fans on the sidelines!
(End of this chapter)