Jim Bass Ambition

290 - Rise of new forces

"The good news is that Chauncey and Udonis will be back after the next game."

"What about the bad news?"

"The bad news is we're going to play the Suns next game."

"..."

"Is there any good advice? D'Antoni is waiting for revenge."

"How about, let's fight casually, and win back when the lineup is complete in the future... Sir, I am joking, of course I know that even in this situation, we can't lose in momentum... Seriously, Jie and I I think that in this case, Deng Tai Jones may be an option, his three-point ability and defensive enthusiasm are what we need..."

The Lakers played against the Suns at home, and Jim made adjustments to the starting lineup again.

In the last game against the Bulls, Deng Tai Jones, who made two three-pointers and scored a career high, became the starter, partnering with Kobe in the backcourt.

After getting the Lakers' starting roster, D'Antoni's heart tightened. Dengtai Jones didn't have much playing time, but the number of fouls reached nearly 2 times. Obviously this is a thug type player.

"Tai Deng, your task today is very simple. At all times, try to stick to Steve Nash's side and treat him as your girlfriend... Well, it's a bit disgusting to say this, but you understand what I mean , Don’t worry about how many vacancies there are for others, your physical fitness is much better than Nash, I believe you can do it.”

The Lakers' tactics are very clear. Dengtai Jones played the role of Dellavedova, harassing Nash and consuming his physical strength.

Under the frantic double-teaming of the Lakers, Nash was indeed restricted, and once Nash was in a downturn, Boozer had no source of shells, and his performance declined.

According to the normal trajectory, the Lakers should be able to win this game, and in the first half, the Lakers did lead by 10 points.

With 2 minutes left in the fourth quarter, the Lakers still maintained a 5-point lead, but Joe Johnson suddenly showed his strength. First, he received a screen shot from David West and scored 4 points, and then made Kobe Bryant's dribble. He hit someone, and then assisted Quentin Richardson to hit a three-pointer from the bottom corner, leading the score in one fell swoop.

With the failure of the Lakers' foul tactics, the Suns narrowly beat the Lakers 114 to 110 away.

Bryant scored 27 points, 10 rebounds and 12 assists in a triple-double, Garnett and Wade scored 19 points each.

Nash made 15 of 4 shots, only scored 10 points, 8 assists, and 4 turnovers, but Joe Johnson went down to earth, scored a game-high 36 points in front of Kobe, made 7 of 6 three-pointers, and Quentin · Although Richardson made 19 of 6 shots, he hit 5 three-pointers.

Deng Tai Jones, who was entrusted with a heavy responsibility, received 6 fouls at the end of the third quarter and left the field with 8 points and 3 steals.

Fortunately, in the next game, Chauncey Billups and Udonis Haslem came back from the suspension, allowing the team to have more options and not be stretched.

And although it is a nominal away game, the opponent is the Clippers, who are not doing well recently.

Elton Brand, Chris Kaman and rookie Sean Livingston were all injured, and the Clippers sent a miserable starter, Yugoslavian Jacky Cheung Marko Jaric, Snake Man Mickey Moore , contract year master Bobby Simmons, jumping man Chris Wilcox and the only one who can be counted as a personal character Corey Maggette.

The Lakers urgently need this victory to end their losing streak. Kobe has shown a strong desire to attack since he came up, but unfortunately he didn't feel good. He only made 7 of 2 shots in the first quarter. On the contrary, the Clippers, Maggette and Bobby Simmons They fired in turn and scored a score of 30 to 23 in a single quarter.

In the second quarter, Kobe still took 7 shots, but this time he hit 6 of them and scored 15 points in a single quarter. The Lakers responded with a wave of 30 to 19.

It is worth mentioning that the Clippers' scoring burden in the second quarter was placed on the Nets star Corey Kittles. "Mosquito" made all 5 shots in a single quarter, otherwise the game is estimated to go far.

In the second half, the Lakers didn't give the Clippers too many opportunities. With the consecutive hits of Billups and Garnett, the point difference was stabilized at about 8 points.

In the end, the Lakers defeated the Clippers "away" 97 to 89, ending their losing streak.

Kobe fired all his firepower and scored 42 points alone, becoming the biggest contributor to the victory.

Since December, Fei Xia has been in a brave state. He has surpassed Tracy McGrady and Iverson in the scoring list, and is also closely behind Duncan and Nash in the MVP rankings.

Facing the Magic again, both Dwight Howard and Steve Francis wanted to avenge their last dunk.

The two also did the same in the game. Francis flew into the sky and kept hitting the inside of the Lakers, while Howard tried to block every attack of the Lakers.

Throughout the game, Francis went to the free throw line 16 times and hit 12 of them, while Howard sent 5 interference balls and 2 blocks.

Kobe's state returned to the earth and only scored 23 points, but Billups and Garnett performed well. The former made 8 of 7 three-pointers and scored a season-high 25 points. The latter beat Howard and scored 23 points and 18 points. With a large triple-double of rebounds and 10 assists, the young Warcraft only scored 10 points and 8 rebounds.

Due to Stephen Jackson's injury, Mobley was taken into the starting lineup, and Francis played the familiar two-player game again. The eukaryotic Grant Hill had no possession of the ball, and the Magic's offense was a mess. Mobley only made 20 of 6 shots. 15 points. In contrast, Hill made 9 of 7 shots, 16 points, 7 rebounds and 4 assists.

The Lakers beat the Magic 114 to 92.

But the Suns are also on a winning streak. The Lakers' record is half a game behind the Suns, temporarily ranking second in the league.

The next opponent of the Lakers is the Sonics, which has improved by leaps and bounds and currently ranks third in the league.

The Sonics with 17 wins and 4 losses and the Suns with 18 wins and 3 losses have become the two teams that have sprung up in the new season.

Luke Ridnour has grown into a qualified point guard, Ray Allen doesn't have to worry about organizing, and the double guns formed by Lewis are full of firepower, plus Antonio Daniels and Radmanovich on the bench, Including Ronald Murray, all have stable output.

Moreover, the Sonics' team building method is very extreme. There are a bunch of pitchers on the outside, and the inside is piled up with players such as Jerome James, Danny Fortson, Reggie Evans, Robert Swift and Nick Colin. Sen is a rebounding maniac and a top blue-collar, averaging nearly 14 offensive rebounds per game, providing enough shells for Ray Allen and Lewis.

"So our task, of course, is first to limit Ray Allen. Kobe will be happy to do this. The second is to protect the rebounds in the backcourt. It seems that we need to continue to adjust the starting lineup..."

(End of this chapter)