Basketball boy, starting to shine from the slam dunk

This time, Zhuang Yu did not look for Antetokounmpo, but played a tactical match with his teammates, running continuously and using his teammates' cover to get rid of the ball. When Zhuang Yu got the ball again, the defender in front of him had become Lopez Jr.

This is a great opportunity to make a small difference.

Zhuang Yu was seen taking a series of crossover steps, lowering his left shoulder, as if to break through to the left, but then he took a step back and made a jump shot.

Little Lopez's strength is far inferior to that of his brother Big Lopez.

Even in his best season of his career, he only averaged 11.8 points, 4.5 rebounds and 1.9 assists per game, which is the level of an ordinary blue-collar player. Facing Zhuang Yu, he was almost like a toy.

Swish!

The ball goes in.

"Another goal, 18 points now."

"Oh, really? I didn't really pay attention. It seemed like Zhuang Yu didn't exert much effort in this quarter. He was just creating opportunities for his teammates. It turns out that he has already scored 18 points without me noticing."

"There's still time. It shouldn't be a problem for Zhuang Yu to score 20 points before the end of the first half."

The home fans were discussing excitedly.

The Bucks players all smiled bitterly. Their most important task today was to defend Zhuang Yu and prevent him from scoring too many points.

But look at the current situation, Zhuang Yu has already scored 18 points before the end of the first half. Is this considered a good defense?

Of course not.

Fortunately, Antetokounmpo's performance on the offensive end is still outstanding. The Lakers really have no one who can match up with him. Whether it is Anderson or Nance Jr., they were completely defeated by Antetokounmpo and could not stop him from scoring.

Just like when he played against the Clippers and faced Anthony Davis.

Of course, there are still some differences between Antetokounmpo and Davis.

In terms of skills, Davis is better, but in terms of physical strength, Antetokounmpo is obviously more powerful.

If the Lakers had Lopez standing in the interior, it might be better, but now without Lopez, the Lakers' interior is basically undefended for Antetokounmpo.

But he seemed to have forgotten Zhuang Yu, the best defensive player.

"Snapped!"

There was another crisp sound.

Antetokounmpo was completely stunned.

He was intercepted again, and it was Zhuang Yu again.

This time he was preparing to play one-on-one in the low post. He first took two steps back, then turned around with the ball and tried to bypass Anderson.

But just as he turned around, Zhuang Yu suddenly appeared, caught Antetokounmpo off guard, and cut the ball away.

"This...when did he show up?"

"Why are you there?"

"I clearly didn't see him just now?"

Antetokounmpo was a little confused, with a series of question marks popping up in his head. He clearly didn't see Zhuang Yu just now?

How come the ball was cut off as soon as I turned around?

At the same time, there was another burst of exclamations from the audience.

The home fans screamed excitedly, some opened their eyes wide with excitement, and others clapped their thighs excitedly, shouting "Awesome".

This ball was not Antetokounmpo's own fault because of carelessness. He really did not see Zhuang Yu, because Zhuang Yu was hiding behind Anderson and was completely blocked by Anderson.

So Antetokounmpo didn't see him.

When Antetokounmpo turned around and prepared to go around Anderson, he just exposed the ball in front of Zhuang Yu, and it was cut off by Zhuang Yu.

By the time Antetokounmpo reacted, Zhuang Yu had already grabbed the basketball and launched a counterattack.

He took a few steps forward and pushed the ball with both hands, sending it directly to the front court, because Holiday had already made a quick move ahead of him.

When the basketball flew and landed just one meter in front of Holiday, he just needed to keep running forward without slowing down, and then reach out and grab the basketball... The next step was easy, because there was no one in front of him, so he took off directly.

Bang!

With a bang, Holiday made a slam dunk.

The home fans cheered excitedly, while coach Budenholzer on the sidelines was scratching his head. Antetokounmpo had been intercepted twice in this quarter.

And both times the Lakers were forced to make fast breaks.

Looking at the game time, there are only a dozen seconds left in this quarter. There is no need to call a timeout. Let's wait until the end of this quarter.

In the last ten seconds of the second quarter, the Bucks had the ball.

Antetokounmpo wanted to get back on track, so he reached out for the ball when he got to the frontcourt.

During the previous timeout, Coach Budenholzer repeatedly told him to stay calm and not be impulsive, but it would be difficult for anyone to remain calm in such a situation. He had to fight back and get back the face he had lost.

However, there were only a dozen seconds left, and the Lakers were certain that he would be the one to shoot, so they had already tightened their defense, and the inside was crowded with people, all waiting for him.

boom!

With a muffled sound, the ball hit the iron.

The second quarter ended here, and the score difference became 2 points again, with the Lakers still leading.

Several Lakers players walked to the sidelines, and their teammates stood up and high-fived them in celebration.

Even after the players entered the locker room, the fans in the audience were still discussing the first half of the game with great interest, especially the performances of Zhuang Yu and Antetokounmpo.

"Zhuang Yu is still stronger."

"That's for sure. Antetokounmpo won the MVP last season and this season he even scored 30+13+5, ranking first in the MVP list. But if we really talk about individual strength, Zhuang Yu is obviously stronger."

"Antetokounmpo's physical fitness is explosive, and his outside shooting is his weakness, while Zhuang Yu has almost no weaknesses. He is within his offensive range for the entire half. He also has no technical weaknesses, and there are so many ways to score. Even if we compare defensive abilities, Zhuang Yu is better than Antetokounmpo, and he has won the Best Defensive Player Award twice."

"Of course, Zhuang Yu has already stolen the ball from Antetokounmpo twice in this quarter."

Judging from the first half, both Zhuang Yu and Antetokounmpo performed well.

Antetokounmpo has scored 17 points, 6 rebounds and 2 assists, while Zhuang Yu has scored 18 points, 8 assists, 3 rebounds and 2 steals. His personal data can be said to be ahead of Antetokounmpo in all aspects, and the Lakers are also ahead of the Bucks in the score.

With this comparison, it is clear who is stronger and who is weaker.

Of course, the game is not over yet...

......

In a blink of an eye, the second half begins.

Entering the third quarter, both sides sent out their main lineups. The Lakers side included Holiday, Zhuang Yu, Kuzma, Anderson and Zubac.

Coach Scott is consciously increasing Kuzma's playing time, also because of the comparison between the two teams' lineups.

The Bucks have Antetokounmpo guarding the inside, and the Lakers need a shooter to open up space. Kuzma is more suitable than Cunningham.

As for defense...

Cunningham is indeed a better defender than Kuzma, but the biggest problem for the Lakers on defense is that no one can match Antetokounmpo. Cunningham is not an inside player, so how can he beat Antetokounmpo?

The Bucks did not play Lopez Jr., but sent out Ilyasova. They also needed to open up space to make it easier for Antetokounmpo to attack the basket.

After returning to the court, Antetokounmpo still played aggressively, constantly attacking the inside, but he did not always shoot himself, he would also pass the ball.

This is what coach Budenholzer told him.

Can't play it too easy.

Antetokounmpo is indeed the Bucks' strongest point, with an absolute advantage in positional matchups, but Antetokounmpo himself has technical shortcomings.

So don't make it too simple.

Otherwise, the Lakers just need to shrink their defense and squeeze everyone inside the three-point line, which will make the space inside very small. No matter how good Antetokounmpo is, he won't be able to rush forward...

......

Minutes passed in the blink of an eye.

In these few minutes, the Bucks played well in many places, especially Middleton.

His performance in the first half was only average, but he performed very well in the last few minutes, scoring 10 points by himself and supporting the Bucks' offense.

Coach Budenholzer is still very satisfied with Middleton's performance. This is the effect he wants. They can't rely on Antetokounmpo alone to rush around. They need to walk on two legs, combine inside and outside, and both of them need to play well enough offensively to better dismantle the Lakers' defense and make their own offense more reasonable and efficient.

It’s just that the defense is still not good enough.

Especially the defense against Zhuang Yu.

In fact, after playing for a few minutes in the third quarter, Zhuang Yu only scored 3 points, but he had two more assists and two rebounds. His personal data had reached 4 points, 22 assists, 10 rebounds, and two steals, achieving a double-double.

The Bucks did not allow Zhuang Yu to score very high today, but they did allow Zhuang Yu to have an extremely comprehensive performance, with good points, rebounds and assists.

This doesn't look like Zhuang Yu.

It seems more like something done by Harden, Westbrook, or LeBron James, which is quite different from the previous Zhuang Yu.

It wasn't just Budenholzer who noticed the difference, but also Coach Scott and assistant coach Madsen.

But there's nothing wrong with that.

It should be said that this is a good thing.

Even assistant coach Madsen felt very relieved, because he always felt that Zhuang Yu's ability was limited by himself.

Zhuang Yu can obviously do more, such as organization and other things...but since the team signed Deron Williams, he has made self-sacrifice.

If Zhuang Yu does not limit himself, assistant coach Madsen feels that he will be able to produce gorgeous and comprehensive statistics like Harden and Westbrook.

Of course, the Lakers' lineup has always been good and balanced, so Zhuang Yu did not get that opportunity and did not need to play like that.

But now without Lopez and Ross, Zhuang Yu has more freedom.

Isn't this a good thing?