basketball kingdom

Chapter 89 Unfavorable Situation

Dragic evaded the counter-grab of the Lakers players, stabilized the rhythm of the dribble, and advanced slowly across the half.

Wade has already shown his confidence and continued to come to the top of the arc to receive the ball and defend his Louis Williams in singles with the ball.

Louis Williams' defense is not good, coupled with a disadvantaged figure, he was quickly pushed to the free throw line by Wade.

Xu Tian was defending Winslow, relatively speaking, the defensive pressure was much less, and he moved over to help defend Wade.

Wade dribbled the ball and turned around, seeing Xu Tian coming to help defend, he did not hesitate to cross the ball to Winslow who was emptied.

Winslow is not good at offense, but now he has been driven to the rack and has to take the basketball in his hand.

The basketball spins and flies into the net!
Winslow himself didn't expect this three-pointer to be scored. He looked to his right hand in disbelief, and ran back to the backcourt with a little show off.

Xu Tian received the serve and quickly returned it to Clarkson, continuing the opening off-the-ball attack mode.

Clarkson was full of fighting spirit in his heart, dribbling the ball confidently across the half, and directly accelerated to beat Dragic.

Dragic is known for his organizational skills, but he is not very good at defending defenders with strong physical fitness. He can only make a foul to block Clarkson.

Scott looked at the remaining time of the first quarter, as if someone had informed him that he should be replaced, and mechanically called a regular timeout.

Huertas did not play in the game against the Knicks, but was called to the side by Scott in this game and got a chance to play in the first rotation.

Scott has been adjusting the starting lineup and substitutes recently, but no matter how he changes, he still cannot match a strong defensive lineup.Of course, he can't be blamed for this. After all, only Xu Tian's defensive performance of the Lakers is higher than the average level of the league. The rest of the players are almost meaningless.

Xu Tian's DRtg (defensive efficiency) data can reflect this well.The Lakers conceded 100 points per 103.5 possessions when Xu Tian was on the court and 106.2 when he was not on the court.For comparison, last season's best defensive player Leonard, his data is that the Spurs conceded 100 points per 99.8 possessions when he was on the court and 104.8 when he was not on the court.

Such data shows that although Xu Tian is a good defender, he is not yet at the top level.

After the timeout ended, both sides sent substitute lineups to fight against each other in the final stage of the first quarter.

Nick Young and Huertas partnered to lead the second team against the Heat's bench lineup, but today's "Nine-Finger Dunk King" Gerald Green shot accurately from the outside, and in the end the Lakers were still at a disadvantage.

At the end of the first quarter, the Lakers trailed 26-38 and continued their high-scoring style.

The Lakers have scored very high in the few games since the start of the game. This situation largely depends on the fast offensive and defensive rhythm, but because the defense is weak, high scoring cannot help the Lakers win. time.

This happens because of defense.The Lakers' offensive performance is very smooth, and they have strong points like Xu Tian, ​​but the overall defense is not good, and the opponent's scoring is easy, so it will eventually become a [-]-[-] split.

Spoelstra knew that the Lakers had a strong scoring ability off the bench, so he didn't use the full bench at the start of the second quarter, but left Dragic on the court to lead the team.

Dragic struggled to play a physically fit defender, but he still had the advantage against Huertas, easily breaking through and scoring inside.

Scott understands that the team will go to Orlando to challenge the Magic tomorrow night, and hesitates whether to give up this game so that Xu Tian can maintain good physical strength.He hesitated to send Xu Tian to play, but let Clarkson replace Huertas.

Throughout the second quarter, Xu Tian played for 5 and a half minutes, but in the face of Winslow's best defense, he basically didn't get many offensive opportunities, allowing the Heat to take advantage of the situation to open the score.

At the end of the first half, the Lakers 46-67 Heat, trailing by 21 points at halftime.

During the intermission, the atmosphere in the Lakers locker room was very silent. The confidence built in the players' meeting yesterday disappeared again, and even the air was full of mourning.

Xu Tian carefully reviewed the first half of the game in his mind, looking for points that could be used for reference in the Heat's offensive and defensive tactics, and prepared to use them in the Lakers' daily training.

Kobe replaced Xu Tian's role and used the intermission to mobilize his teammates, repeatedly emphasizing that the game is not over yet, so don't give up hope too early.

Xu Tian was very silent all night. He didn't speak until the third quarter, but only earnestly implemented the set offensive and defensive tactics.

Whiteside was in a brave state in the first half. It took only two quarters to get a double-double of 13 points and 11 rebounds, and he guarded the penalty area with confidence.

Nance Jr. started three quarters instead of Black, saw Xu Tian waving to him, and ran to the top of the arc for a pick-and-roll.

Xu Tian bypassed Nance Jr.'s unsolid cover, shook off Winslow slightly, dribbled the ball into the inside, and glided against Whiteside's defense to hang in the air and pull the bar for a layup.

Whiteside's wingspan was long enough, but he still couldn't block Xu Tian's attack, and watched the ball go into the net helplessly.

Seeing Xu Tian's goal, Director Zhang said excitedly: "Xu Tian pulled the bar so beautifully this time, he completely escaped Whiteside's defense."

Yu Jia said: "Beautiful is beautiful, but this also shows how difficult the Lakers' offense is now. The Heat have Whiteside at the basket, and the Lakers are not allowed outside today. They can't open the situation at all."

Director Zhang agreed with Yu Jia's point of view, saying: "If the Lakers can't shoot outside, the game will basically come to an end."

During the chat between Director Zhang and Yu Jia, Xu Tian predicted Dragic's line of the ball on the defensive end, and accurately blocked the ball.

Xu Tian dribbled the ball to the frontcourt alone, ignoring Winslow's defense, and made a sudden stop to shoot from mid-range.

no problem!
50-67!

Wade received the ball from Winslow, who was serving from the baseline, dribbled the ball across half court, broke through with Whiteside's pick-and-roll, and passed the ball down to Whiteside.

Xu Tian once again saw through the Heat's offensive intentions in advance, grabbed Whiteside and sent him to the free throw line.

Hibbert has committed three fouls. If another foul is called, he will basically not be able to play in the third quarter.In order to prevent him from fouling again, Xu Tian could only stand up and strike.

Whiteside stepped to the free throw line, but he experienced a tough physical confrontation, which caused his arm muscles to stiffen and missed both free throws.

Xu Tian stood at the power forward position, took off with his young legs, and easily took off the defensive rebound.

Winslow came to Xu Tian, ​​wanting to defend.

Xu Tian basically ignored Winslow, dexterously passed the ball past his defense, and rushed to the frontcourt with the ball.

Wade, Stoudemire and Whiteside dropped their defenders, set up checkpoints on the path of Xu Tian's breakthrough, and defended him closely.

Xu Tian looked at the basket, dexterously hit the ground with his left hand, and passed the ball to Hibbert who was emptied in the penalty area.

(End of this chapter)