Basketball boy, starting to shine from the slam dunk

on the field.

The game continued, and Lowry of the Raptors finally scored a goal.

Lowry didn't score much today. So far, including the layup just now, he only got 7 points, which means that in the previous quarter, he only scored 5 points.

Turning around, the Lakers attacked.

After arriving at the frontcourt, Holiday first played a pick-and-roll with his teammates, and Zhuang Yu quickly moved, using his teammates' screen to get rid of George's defense and returned to the three-point line to receive the ball. The Raptors immediately had players rushing to make up for the defense, but Zhuang Yu did not shoot a three-pointer, but chose to break through.

Take a step forward, then hold the ball together and take three big steps.

But Zhuang Yu's three steps were very slow. After taking the first step, he suddenly slowed down and lifted the ball.

This is different from Anderson's super slow three-step. Anderson's is really slow, so slow that it drives the defensive players crazy, while Zhuang Yu's is a combination of fast and slow.

Gasol subconsciously rushed forward to prepare for defense, but then Zhuang Yu took another step forward.

"And me."

Anunoby also rushed over and jumped up towards Zhuang Yu.

At this time, Zhuang Yu had already taken two steps and it was impossible for him to make any more moves, so Anunoby had nothing to worry about. He stretched out his arm and was about to block Zhuang Yu.

However, at this moment, Zhuang Yu did not throw the ball he raised, but suddenly threw it behind his head.

"Uh......"

Anunoby was stunned with a dull expression. He had never expected Zhuang Yu to do this.

What is this operation?

Not only Anunoby, but also the Raptors players and fans in the audience were all stunned. They all thought that Zhuang Yu was going to shoot, but he ended up throwing the ball behind his head.

Is this a pass?

Yes, that's a pass.

Kuzma was standing at the three-point line in the right corner, and Zhuang Yu passed the ball to Kuzma.

"What a great pass." Kuzma caught the basketball and couldn't help but admire it in his heart.

He didn't know whether Zhuang Yu saw him running here, or whether he knew that he would run to this position, so he passed the ball to him.

But even so, without looking at the ball at all, he was still able to accurately put the ball into his hands, neither too high nor too low. This is something that not everyone can do.

"not good."

The Raptors players reacted, but it was too late to pounce again.

Kuzma made a slight adjustment, then jumped up and took a three-point shot. With a slight sound, the basketball accurately penetrated the net and hit the target.

"Wow..."

There was an uproar in the audience.

It was not because of Kuzma's three-pointer, but because Zhuang Yu's pass was so beautiful. He passed the ball behind his head and assisted his teammate to hit a three-pointer. It was so cool.

"He shouldn't be able to see Kuzma on this ball. How does he know where Kuzma is?"

"Maybe this is the tacit understanding between teammates. Zhuang Yu must know that his teammates are there, otherwise why would he pass the ball there."

"True, but this pass was so beautiful and imaginative. No one expected that he would pass the ball like this..."

Some fans were discussing and marveling at the news.

There is no doubt that this is another top ten goal.

Zhuang Yu also got another assist. In this quarter alone, he had already made 4 assists, bringing his personal assist count to 6.

"Requesting a timeout."

Coach Nurse shook his head and called another timeout.

When the timeout ended and both teams returned to the court, the Raptors began to double-team Zhuang Yu. As soon as they saw Zhuang Yu holding the ball, they immediately double-teamed him, forcing Zhuang Yu to pass the ball early.

This made it impossible for Zhuang Yu to attack with the ball, because once he had the ball, the opponent would immediately double-team him. However, this did not pose a problem for him, as he immediately switched to off-ball mode.

A moment later, Zhuang Yu passed the ball after being double-teamed, and then started running. He used his teammates' continuous screens to get rid of the defenders, returned to the three-point line, and immediately shot after receiving the pass from his teammate.

Swish!

The ball goes in.

This made Coach Nash a little helpless. Although Zhuang Yu didn't score much in the past few minutes, he had 4 assists. Now he couldn't attack with the ball, so it was difficult for him to make a good pass. As a result, he turned on the off-ball mode and shot as soon as he received the ball.

This is too unsolvable.

"We can only rely on offense..."

Coach Nash thought to himself, and became more resolute in his previous thoughts.

Leonard will have to face off against Zhuang Yu later, and let him attack against Zhuang Yu, while George needs to be adjusted and let him lead the rotation lineup.

......

In a blink of an eye, the second quarter ended and the Lakers led by 2 points.

Zhuang Yu played very well in this quarter. His personal statistics have reached 23 points, 6 assists and 4 rebounds. The Lakers' overall performance was also excellent.

But the Raptors played well today as well.

Not only Leonard and George, two All-Star players, but also Anunoby among the role players and VanVleet in the substitute lineup performed well.

So at the end of the first half, although the Lakers were leading, it was only by 7 points.

"I have to say that the Raptors are indeed very strong."

"George is better. His scoring performance is not stable. When he is in a good mood, he scores goals in a row, and when he is not in a good mood, he misses one after another. But Leonard is too stable. Even when Zhuang Yu is defending him, he is still steady. He is really amazing."

Back in the locker room, the Lakers players were discussing.

In last season's playoffs, Leonard had the best performance of his career. After last season's playoffs, he seemed to have completed some kind of transformation and truly became a superstar. If we compare his performance on the court, his performance is obviously better than George's.

It is precisely because Leonard can compete with Zhuang Yu that the Raptors did not allow the Lakers to widen the score gap to double digits.

If it weren't for Leonard, the Lakers would definitely be leading by more than just 7 points.

At the same time, players were also discussing in the Raptors locker room.

"It seems that Zhuang Yu has really recovered completely."

"He scored 23 points in the first half, plus 6 assists and 4 rebounds. The key is that his offensive efficiency is too high, with a hit rate of over 6%."

"It's just a wrist injury, not a serious one. But I originally thought that the injury would affect his shooting touch, but now it seems that it has not. When he is healthy, Zhuang Yu is indeed the league's top scorer and is very difficult to defend."

A group of people were sighing.

Although Leonard played very well today and scored 17 points in the first half, he was obviously not as free as Zhuang Yu.

Zhuang Yu's performance gave the Raptors players the feeling that he was free to do whatever he wanted. He played the way he wanted, scored when he wanted, and passed the ball when he wanted...

The Raptors had no recourse.

This feeling made them depressed and a little discouraged.

Coach Nas sighed secretly in his heart. Anyone would feel powerless facing a player like Zhuang Yu, but he still tried to keep a calm tone. He first encouraged the players, and then spread out the tactical board and made some arrangements for the next tactics.

......

The second half begins.

Entering the second half, the Raptors still sent out their starting lineup, and the Lakers did the same.

However, the Raptors obviously made some adjustments. After entering the third quarter, they began to double-team Zhuang Yu, forcing Zhuang Yu to pass the ball.

Seeing the opponent doing this, Zhuang Yu turned on the off-ball mode, either shooting after receiving the ball from the outside, or cutting in and making a layup after receiving the pass from his teammates...

He can still score though.

Moreover, Zhuang Yu does not just score points himself. He will use the opponent's double-team to attract defense and create opportunities for his teammates.

Sometimes it doesn't seem like Zhuang Yu's assist, but his teammates are able to score, and this is definitely due to Zhuang Yu's contribution, as it was Zhuang Yu who tied down the Raptors' defense.

For a while, Zhuang Yu was scoring and his teammates were also scoring.

The Raptors' double-team didn't have much effect on the Lakers' offense.

However, it was difficult for the Lakers to defend Leonard on the defensive end. At this time, the person facing Leonard was no longer Zhuang Yu, but Cunningham.

After all, Leonard's strength is there.

Even if Zhuang Yu went to defend, the effect would not be much better, so Coach Scott simply did not let Zhuang Yu defend Leonard to save some energy for Zhuang Yu.

Leonard's performance was still outstanding. Under his leadership, although the Raptors were always behind, they did not allow the Lakers to widen the gap too much.

In a blink of an eye, it was halfway through the third quarter and the Lakers were leading by 3 points.

At this time, Coach Nurse called a timeout and started making substitutions, replacing Leonard, Lowry, and Gasol Jr., but leaving George on the court.

The Lakers also began to replace their main players with substitutes.

Anderson stayed on the court as an organizing forward, while Zhuang Yu, Holiday, Zubac and Cunningham all sat on the sidelines.

When both sides replaced their rotation lineups, George started to fire at full power.

In fact, Coach Scott has already made arrangements for this, instructing his players to promptly assist and provide backup defense if George has the ball and plays one-on-one.

However, the effect is not good.

After all, the defense of the Lakers' lineup on the court is not very strong at this time, and it is difficult to defend against a player of George's level.

After a few rounds, the gap between the two sides narrowed.

"Coach, do you want to call a timeout to adjust?" Assistant coach Madsen said with a frown.

Coach Scott shook his head, he didn't think it was necessary.

Although George played very well and the score difference was narrowed, he did not think that using Leonard and George separately would necessarily produce better results.

When a team has two superstars, especially when the positions of the two stars overlap, using them separately is indeed an option.

For example, the Rockets have both James Harden and Russell Westbrook, whose positions overlap too much, so Coach D'Antoni had to separate them, but the effect was not as expected.

之所以组建双巨头阵容，目的就是为了让1+1>2，但将两人拆开来用的话就不可能1+1>2，顶多的是1+1=2，甚至会小于2。

Why is it less than 2?

Because if the two are used separately, their playing time needs to be staggered, but you can't equip both of them with starting-level role players.

For example, when George is on the court, his teammates are all substitutes, who are not as strong as their starting players.

So strictly speaking, the Raptors' lineup on the court was not that competitive at this time. The reason they were able to gain the upper hand was because the Lakers also fielded a rotation lineup.