Basketball boy, starting to shine from the slam dunk

At this time, the person facing Zhuang Yu was Paul George. He was very good at defense and was often responsible for defending the opponent's key players. He was tall and had long arms, as well as excellent confrontation ability. Therefore, the Raptors did not send Kawhi Leonard to defend Zhuang Yu, but used Paul George.

Zhuang Yu did not plan to play one-on-one directly. He used Zubac's pick-and-roll to break away, and Gasol Jr. immediately rushed over to delay him.

Gasol is now entering the end of his career. His athletic ability has declined, and both his defense and offense are much worse than before.

Zhuang Yu just changed direction continuously and passed Gasol Jr.

The Raptors tightened their defense and surrounded Zhuang Yu.

However, he was still a step too slow; Zhuang Yu was too fast.

Before the Raptors had finished encircling him, he had already jumped up, holding the basketball in his left hand, and threw it lightly towards the basket...

Swish!

There was a soft sound and the ball was scored.

But people couldn't help but be a little surprised, why is it the left hand?

Is it possible that Zhuang Yu's right hand injury has not healed yet? That shouldn't be the case. If it hasn't healed, the Lakers would not have allowed him to return.

Not only the fans, but also the players of the Raptors and the Lakers were a little stunned and all looked at Zhuang Yu.

Zhuang Yu smiled at his teammates and waved his hand, saying, "I'm used to it, I'm used to it."

Because of his right hand injury during this period, and the previous game against the 76ers proved that the left hand is also very important, he has been training his left hand specifically during this period.

After a period of time, regardless of how much progress he has made, Zhuang Yu has become accustomed to finishing with his left hand, especially near the basket.

I couldn't change it for a while just now and used my left hand out of habit.

The teammates all laughed.

But the Raptors players couldn't laugh. Zhuang Yu didn't explain it to them, and they didn't hear it. So they were all worried. What was going on? Was Zhuang Yu's injury not healed yet, or was he deliberately showing off to us?

But no matter what, the ball went in.

The score is 2:0.

......

The Raptors attacked, Lowry got the ball in the backcourt, quickly advanced to the frontcourt, called a pick-and-roll, and then passed the ball to Leonard.

This pick-and-roll was not intended to facilitate Lowry's breakthrough, but to dismantle the Lakers' defense, pull out the Lakers' inside players, and then give the ball to Leonard in the low post. Leonard stood in the low post on the left and played directly with his back to the basket.

Cunningham was facing Leonard, but the two were obviously not at the same level. He was okay at defending other small forwards, but not so good at defending Leonard.

Leonard took two steps back, then turned around and half, from facing the basket with his back to the basket, and then took a fadeaway jump shot.

Swish!

The ball goes in.

At the beginning, the core players of both sides scored a goal each, which made the fans very excited and they wanted to see the two continue to compete.

But neither of them did so.

This is not a one-on-one fight on the street, this is a competition.

In the next round, when the ball was given to Zhuang Yu, he called for a pick-and-roll, switched defense, and then broke through again.

But this time he did not shoot directly. Instead, he passed the ball to Anderson, who passed it to Holiday, who took a three-pointer.

Swish!

The ball goes in.

"Holiday is in good form today," assistant coach Madsen said with a smile.

Coach Scott also smiled: "With Zhuang Yu, the players are much better in morale and mentality than before."

When there is a backbone, the players will not panic on the court, play calmly enough, and dare to let go and make moves and shoot, and the effect will certainly be better.

But then the Raptors retaliated.

This time, Leonard broke through and passed the ball to George, who raised the ball and pretended to shoot a three-pointer. But Zhuang Yu didn't fall for it, and George didn't care. He broke through immediately, looking for physical confrontation, and forced his way past Zhuang Yu.

Zubac stepped forward to help defend, but George threw the ball to the basket and passed it to Gasol, who rebounded and hit it...

Last season, the Raptors' main players who had the ability to hold the ball and play one-on-one were Leonard and Siakam.

This season, Siakam's role has been replaced by George. Although he is not as tall as Siakam, his ability to hold the ball and play one-on-one is obviously stronger than Siakam.

This will not only relieve pressure on Leonard, but also create more opportunities for other teammates.

In the next few rounds, both sides played well on the offensive end.

On the Lakers side, Zhuang Yu used pick-and-rolls to break through time and time again, then passed the ball to create opportunities for his teammates; while on the Raptors, Leonard and George took turns holding the ball and playing one-on-one, shooting when they had the chance and passing the ball when they didn't. They played with patience and their offensive efficiency was also very high.

After a while, the score became 14:12, with the Raptors leading by two points.

"It seems that Zhuang Yu's injury has indeed healed."

"Well, after Zhuang Yu came back, the Lakers' offense is much stronger than before, but it seems that they still can't beat the Raptors."

"Zhuang Yu hasn't exerted his strength yet. He hasn't scored much."

"I wonder if it's because Zhuang Yu has just recovered from his injury and hasn't gotten back to form yet, so he can't play the same offensive performance as before the injury?"

"This... is also possible."

Some people are discussing that although the Lakers' offense has been strengthened after Zhuang Yu's return, it seems that they cannot beat the Raptors.

And Zhuang Yu did not show the same terrifying ability on the offensive end as he did before his injury.

People thought this might be related to Zhuang Yu's injury.

After all, Zhuang Yu has just returned from injury, so it is understandable that he needs time to get back to his form.

But they guessed wrong.

......

on the field.

On the Raptors side, Anunoby received a pass from Leonard and made a layup, the score became 16:12, and the Raptors led by 4 points.

The ball changed and the Lakers attacked.

After arriving at the frontcourt, Zhuang Yu ran back and asked for the ball.

During this period of time, he was indeed looking for his game form and observing his opponents, but now it's almost there.

It's time to take action!

"Pick and roll."

Zhuang Yu gestured, Zubac came up to screen, Zhuang Yu moved to the left, and Gasol rushed over to delay him. Zhuang Yu then dribbled the ball between his legs, lowered his center of gravity, and pretended to break through to the right. Gasol subconsciously stopped and took a step back.

At this moment, Zhuang Yu suddenly dribbled the ball back in the opposite direction, tapped the floor with his toes, stepped back to the three-point line and made a step-back jump shot.

Gasol tried to pounce on him, but his reaction was too slow. Before he could even jump, Zhuang Yu had already thrown the ball out.

"Shh!"

The next moment, the basketball went through the net and hit the target.

This was Zhuang Yu’s second goal today, but this was just the real beginning.

......

"beep!"

The referee blows the whistle.

This time it was Leonard's turnaround jump shot. Although he failed to score, he caused Cunningham to foul and had to stand on the free throw line to take two free throws.

When Leonard stood on the free throw line, he made both free throws and the score difference became 3 points.

Turning around, Zhuang Yu came to the frontcourt and gestured to his teammates. Then he first ran back, then suddenly cut into the air and rushed towards the inside along the middle.

His teammates immediately passed the ball to him, but the Raptors had already adjusted their defense at this time, and Zhuang Yu did not have a chance to score directly. He passed the ball to Anderson, and then moved along the baseline to the three-point line in the right corner.

Zubac set a screen for Zhuang Yu to block the pursuing George, while the Raptors quickly switched defense and Anunoby rushed towards Zhuang Yu.

But it's still slow.

Zhuang Yu came to the three-point line in the right corner and was ready to receive the ball. Anderson passed the ball to him immediately, and Zhuang Yu completed the adjustment at the moment of receiving the ball, jumped up and shot. The whole action was done in one go, and it was too late when Anunoby rushed over.

Swish!

This ball goes in again.

Two consecutive three-pointers silenced the Raptors fans in the audience and announced the return of Zhuang Yu.

"Be careful."

Raptors head coach Nick Nurse was getting a little restless. He stood up and shouted towards the sidelines, reminding the players to be careful of Zhuang Yu.

George nodded. He was the one facing off against Zhuang Yu, so he needed to be more careful.

Wait until the next round.

When Zhuang Yu got the ball again, George immediately rushed forward, stuck very close to him, waving his hands back and forth, while at the same time exerting physical confrontation on Zhuang Yu and launching an oppressive defense.

Zhuang Yu frowned slightly, first took a step back, then suddenly changed direction, switched the ball to his right hand, and broke through to the right.

George quickly adjusted his steps and was not easily passed by Zhuang Yu. The two of them were moving almost close to each other.

I have to say that George defended very well. He was not dribbled past by Zhuang Yu and kept his hands covering Zhuang Yu the whole time.

However, at this moment, Zhuang Yu suddenly grabbed the basketball, bent his knees, and prepared to pull up for a jump shot.

"not good."

George cried out inwardly that something was wrong and subconsciously jumped up to block the shot. However, when he flew past Zhuang Yu, he found that Zhuang Yu did not jump up.

be cheated.

George reacted quickly and did not give up on defense. Instead, he quickly adjusted himself, jumped up behind Zhuang Yu, stretched out his arms, and tried to block the ball from behind Zhuang Yu.

But this time Zhuang Yu still made a fake move.

Zhuang Yu didn't jump until George jumped again.

"Wow..."

There was an uproar in the audience.

George was furious that he had been fooled again.

In the eyes of the people, George was jumping up and down, but Zhuang Yu didn't move at all, making George confused.

Of course, it was impossible for Zhuang Yu to remain motionless. He jumped only when George jumped for the second time and began to fall.

This time he finally threw the ball.

Swish!

Still going in.

George looked at Zhuang Yu with a dark face, as if to say, "Brother, you are going too far."

In the summer, George also trained with Zhuang Yu and the others. They were all familiar with each other and had a good relationship. As a result, Zhuang Yu was in such an awkward situation that he felt a little embarrassed.

Zhuang Yu winked at him and said, it’s just a joke, don’t take it seriously.

George: “…”

Fortunately, this is not the first or second time that George has played the role of a background figure.

People say he is the "background emperor". Whenever there is a highlight reel of NBA stars, you can always see George because he is always the background.

Of course, there are always some players who are forced to become background boards in the highlight reels of NBA stars.

But there is really no one else like George who appears on screen as frequently as he does, with almost every star's background in the background.