basketball kingdom

Chapter 74
The Barclays Center is expensive, costing nearly $10 billion to complete, but it can accommodate only 17732 spectators, relatively speaking, it belongs to the lesser number of spectators in the league arena.

The local fans in Brooklyn have already received the news that Kobe will not play tonight, but in order to see the superstar who is about to retire live, they still wiped out the tickets for this game.

Barclays Center will be 100% full tonight.

Xu Tian has been in the United States for several months and is gradually getting used to the local style. Two hours before the start of the game, he went to Barclays Center wearing streetwear to show off his fashion taste.

The pre-match process remained unchanged from the previous games. Amid the enthusiastic carnival of media reporters and fans, players from both sides stepped into the stadium and began to warm up.

Jay-Z once served as the small owner of the Nets. Today he and his girlfriend Beyoncé came to the scene to support the home team in their minds.

Barkley and Kenny Smith came to the Barclays Center on behalf of TNT to explain the game between the Lakers and the Nets. The two had already turned into Xu Chuan, and most of the topics they talked about were Kobe and Xu Tian.

Kobe followed the team to the stadium, and took advantage of the short time before the start of the game to greet the opposing players.

Scott and Nets coach Lionel Hollins submitted their starting lists to the technology station respectively, and soon the starting lists of both sides were released to the live media.

Lakers starters: Xu Tian, ​​Nick Young, Clarkson, Nance Jr. and Hibbert.

Nets starters: Jarrett Jack, Bojan Bogdanovic, Joe Johnson, Thaddeus Young and Brook Lopez.

Today the Lakers put on the "Hollywood Night" jersey again. The jersey is mainly black, with golden vertical stripes on both sides. The team name, number and player's last name are mainly purple, and the surrounding area is embellished with gold.

Without losing the Zijin tradition, this jersey shows another kind of luxury.

Xu Tian wore long black knee pads and black wristbands with 1 on his left and right hands respectively. After tidying up his jerseys, he stepped into the court.

Under the guidance of the referee, Lopez and Hibbert stood in the middle circle, ready for the opening jump ball.

Hibbert still clearly remembered what Xu Tian said, and he worked hard to perform in this game. He lowered his center of gravity and made preparations before he even started to jump the ball.

Xu Tian stood in the backcourt, with his hands on his knees staring at the basketball in the referee's hand.He has a strong desire to get the game started quickly.

After arranging the positions of the players, the referee walked between the two center forwards, raised the basketball with his right hand with a whistle in his mouth.

The ball quickly becomes a free agent without owner, spinning and flying into the air, waiting for the two players who have long coveted it to fight for it.

Hibbert is 5 centimeters taller than Lopez, and he took off with enough strength to help the Lakers win their first offensive possession.

Xu Tian felt that the feel of basketball was very familiar. He dribbled the ball with his right hand across the half court, and observed his teammates' running positions at the top of the arc.

Nick Young and Clarkson crossed the free throw line, Hibbert fought with Lopez in the interior, and Nance Jr. stood at the waist and opened.

Offensive movement, well organized.

Xu Tian didn't pass the ball to Nance Jr., who was in the open position. He changed direction and broke through with his crotch, dodging past Jack.

Jarrett Jack is a magical point guard. Miracle does not mean that he is strong, but that when he serves as the team's backup point guard, he can often counterattack the starting point guard.This made Xu Tian very puzzled, but it did not affect his breakthrough.

Xu Tian made an emergency stop before the free throw line and made a mid-range shot.

Silky feel, steady hit.

Barkley and Kenny Smith couldn't hold back the excited souls in their bodies, and began to brag about Xu Tian, ​​from the basic skills of dribbling to the beauty, and from the beauty to the efficiency.

Jack didn't realize how good Xu Tian's stealing ability is. On the offensive end, he didn't protect the ball when he dribbled in front of him and was easily intercepted by Xu Tian.

After Xu Tian passed the Nets' defensive players, he dribbled the ball to the frontcourt, and began to attack after his teammates settled down.

Coach Hollins' defensive strategy is very simple, that is, let Jack defend Xu Tian alone.

The Nets have no defensive champions among the outside players. It is basically equivalent to the Arabian Nights if they want to limit Xu Tian. They can only defend Xu Tian with the least cost.

Xu Tian inadvertently started from the top of the arc, quickly threw off Jack's defense, and rushed straight towards the penalty area.

Big Lopez's strength is top defense, and assisting defense is a chore for him, but in order to prevent Xu Tian from easily succeeding, he still ran out of the penalty area.

Xu Tian made a fake shot against Lopez, and after successfully tricking him into taking off, he hit the ground and passed the ball to Hibbert in the penalty area.

Hibbert grabbed the basketball with his right hand and dunked it into the hoop with ease.

Thaddeus Young ran to the baseline to pick up the ball and sent it to Jarrett Jack.

Lopez stood at the top of the arc and made a solid cover after Jack dribbled the ball halfway to delay Xu Tian's defense.

Xu Tian knew very well how to defend against pick-and-rolls, alternately using his feet, using explosive power to forcibly bypass the big Lopez's screen, and came to Jack again.

Jack had no way to attack, so he had no choice but to play the ball and gave it to Thaddeus Young outside the penalty area on the left.

Thaddeus Young has a mid-range shot, and taking advantage of the opportunity that Nance Jr. was one step away from him, he pulled up and wanted to shoot directly.But he didn't notice behind him, Xu Tian blocked the shot.

Clarkson picked up the basketball that Xu Tian fanned out, and quickly passed it to Xu Tian.

Kenny Smith saw Xu Tian's block shot and said: "Xu seems to have been beaten up today. In my impression, he has never been so active in the opening stage. Could it be that he was stimulated by something?"

Barkley said: "Xu has said in front of the media more than once that he wants to win the regular season MVP. If he wants to achieve this goal, he must have a burst performance at the beginning of the season."

Xu Tian dribbled through the top of the arc, successfully attracted three defensive players of the Nets, and passed the ball behind his back to Nick Young, who was 45 degrees to the left and was open.

Nick Young received the ball comfortably without making any adjustments, and the Gaia energy cannon fired from outside the three-point line.

Nick Young didn't know how many shots he had practiced in private. He was convinced that this shot would go in. He turned around and opened his hands to celebrate in advance.

The basketball made a joke with Nick Young, went in halfway and then popped out, embarrassing him who turned around to celebrate.

Lopez's average rebounds per game is not luxurious, but it would be a big mistake to judge his ability to grab rebounds based on this.

What Lopez is best at is to keep the opponent's center behind him and help his partner create opportunities to grab rebounds. Therefore, the inside players who partner with him often have rebounding data.

Hibbert was firmly stuck behind the big Lopez, unable to move at all.

Xu Tian quickly ran towards the inside line, jumped up behind Thaddeus Young, lightly and forcefully with his right hand, and softly tapped the ball in.

6-0!

Scott folded his arms across his chest and quietly watched the game on the court.

Hollins couldn't be as calm as Scott. Standing impatiently on the sidelines, he pointed his right hand at the restricted area and shouted for Jack to pass the ball to Lopez inside.

Xu Tian already knew what tactics the Nets wanted to play, and Hollins' yelling made him sure of this point, allowing him to block the passing position in advance, forcing Jack to pass the ball to Joe Johnson on the right.

Joe Johnson was the King of the Hawks. When he became a free agent in 10, he wanted to discuss the offseason with James and Bosh, but the other two didn't want to take him. In the end, he had to sign a 6-year contract with the Hawks.

During the 12-year offseason, the Nets and the Hawks reached a deal, using five players and protected picks from the Hawks to Joe Johnson, bringing the Hawks to New Jersey.

The King of Eagles brought the new Nets, but his shots didn't make it.

Nance Jr. rushed inside quickly, holding the basketball in his arms with both hands, protecting the hard-won rebound.

Xu Tian stood in the backcourt, waited for Nance Jr. to pass the ball to him, and quickly dribbled the ball across half court.

Jack lowered his center of gravity and took the initiative to come to the top of the arc, trying to find a physical confrontation with Xu Tian.

Xu Tian understood Jack's intentions, and before he was posted, he dribbled the ball with his right hand, dodged the defense, and quickly rushed to the inside.

Nance Jr. stood at the free throw line on the left and pulled out Thaddeus Young, allowing the Nets to open the penalty area.

Lopez didn't dare to give up his defense against Hibbert, and at the same time he didn't want to let Xu Tian layup easily. He missed the best defensive position while hesitating, and gave Xu Tian plenty of offensive space.

Xu Tian stayed away from Lopez and collected the ball with his left hand for a layup.

Jack's speed was not fast enough. When Xu Tian took off, he had no time to defend, so he could only watch Xu Tian take off.

8-0!

Hollins called a timeout to give the players a chance to cool off.As for the specific defensive tactics, he really couldn't think of them.

The timeout was fleeting, and the two sides returned to the field as starters again, and the situation remained unchanged.

Xu Tian felt hot, and made sudden shots to help the team quickly widen the point difference. When he rested, the Lakers led 28-13.

首节徐天上场7分22秒，投篮7-6，三分2-2，拿下14分3篮板3助攻。

Nick Young stayed on the court and led the team to play the transition with Lou Williams.

Louis Williams has a good touch, and with his individual singles, he continued to beat the Nets' high defense.

Nick Young also opened his hand. At the end of the first quarter, he hit two consecutive three-pointers, helping the Lakers widen the point difference to 21 points.

At the end of the first quarter, the Lakers 46-23 the Nets.

Barkley was very dissatisfied with the performance of the Nets, and said bluntly: "The result of the game can basically be announced. What is uncertain now is, who is the worst team in New York, the New York Knicks or the Brooklyn Nets."

Kenny Smith said: "Charles! The first quarter of the game has just been played, and the result is hard to say. It's better to wait until the end and then make fun of the two rich teams."

"Come on! Xu Tian broke through the Nets' defense line as easily as drinking water. I can't even imagine how the Lakers could lose."

"Charles, shut your crow's mouth! The Nets had no hope of winning, but with your words, they immediately saved three points."

Xu Tian couldn't hear the commentary's argument, so he sat calmly on the bench and listened to Scott's tactics.He didn't notice at all that the wind direction of Brooklyn's home court had changed, and cheers for the Lakers began to appear.

(End of this chapter)