Basketball boy, starting to shine from the slam dunk

"This ball..."

Jokic was startled and quickly turned his head to see the basketball fall straight into the net. It almost didn't touch the net, but it definitely went in.

This made Jokic a little helpless. He had made accurate predictions and the most correct response, but Zhuang Yu's finishing method seemed a little beyond the scope.

He quickly adjusted his mood and ran to the frontcourt. After reaching the frontcourt, Jokic and Murray played a pick-and-roll. After Murray passed the ball back to him, he stood outside the three-point line and raised the ball, pretending to shoot a three-pointer. Zubac subconsciously took a step forward, and then Jokic broke through, hugged the ball and walked straight to the basket.

But he didn't shoot the ball himself. Instead, he passed the ball to Porter Jr. with one hand without even looking at anyone.

This time, there was no need for him to remind him. Porter Jr. took the ball and shot a three-pointer directly.

Swish!

This time there is.

In fact, Kuzma had already pounced on the ball in time, but Porter Jr.'s shot was too fast and his height was too high, leaving him helpless.

It has to be said that Porter Jr. was also a celebrity before entering the NBA. He attended Nathan Hale High School in high school, and his basketball coach was the former NBA star Brandon Roy, known as the "Yellow Mamba".

In high school, Porter Jr. was the most popular player.

In 2016, he participated in the Americas U18 Championship and led the US team to win the championship.

At the 2017 Nike Hoop Summit, he led the United States to a 98-87 victory over the World Team.

In the 2017 McDonald's High School All-Star Game, he was selected as the Most Valuable Player of the tournament with his outstanding performance...

In high school, he won numerous honors and was hailed as the top high school student in the United States with a bright future.

He then entered the University of Missouri and began his NCAA career.

However, due to injuries, he only played three games for the University of Missouri, and the injuries also affected his draft prospects.

Before he was injured, many people predicted that he would be the No. 2018 pick in the 14 draft, but because of the injury, he was selected by the Nuggets with the th pick in the first round.

Almost fell out of the lottery zone.

Once a favorite for the No. 14 pick, he ended up being only the th pick in the first round. Such a huge gap cast a shadow on Porter's NBA career which had not yet begun.

After the draft, Porter missed the entire 2018-19 season due to a back injury.

It was not until this season that he returned from injury and ushered in his first NBA season.

As a substitute player this season, his playing time was quite limited, averaging only 16 minutes per game, but he had an outstanding stats of 9.3 points, 4.6 rebounds, and 0.8 assists per game, especially his three-point shooting which made people shine.

He's shooting 42 percent from three this season.

Although his three-point production is not high due to limited playing time, he has already demonstrated the qualities of an excellent three-point shooter.

Moreover, he is 208 cm tall and has a wingspan of 213 cm. Such a tall three-point shooter is very difficult to defend.

This three-pointer narrowed the gap to just one point.

In the last two or three rounds, neither side was able to score, and for a while both seemed to be in a scoring drought.

At this moment, Zhuang Yu stood up, took the ball and played directly one-on-one, broke through after a series of changes of direction, and then suddenly jumped up and made a fadeaway jump shot.

This kind of shot is almost unstoppable, it's too sudden and it's a fade away, so even if the defensive player can react, it's basically impossible to block it.

The key is that Zhuang Yu can still make the shot.

Swish!

The ball goes in.

This goal widened the gap between the two sides to three points, and also helped the Lakers break their scoring drought.

However, Jokic turned around and started to exert his strength on the offensive end. He first made a pick-and-roll with Murray, then took a step forward, pressed to the elbow area, and asked his teammates for the ball.

When the ball was passed to him, he did not rush to attack. He held the ball high to avoid being cut by others, but his eyes were roaming around, looking for the position of his teammates.

Just when everyone thought he was going to pass the ball, Jokic suddenly flicked the ball to the left, then turned around with the ball and bypassed Zubac, and he was already in the three-second zone. Anderson quickly made up for the defense, but Jokic raised his hand high and did not put the ball down after turning around. He shook his wrist towards Anderson and made a small floater in the air.

With Jokic's height, such a small jump shot is basically unsolvable, and the defensive players can't get it at all, let alone Anderson, even if it's Zubac.

After a while, most of the first quarter had passed.

The score between the two sides is still tense.

Coach Scott looked at the time and decided to make substitutions. He began to replace the main players with the rotation lineup.

On the other side, the Nuggets also began to make substitutions, and main players such as Jokic and Murray were replaced.

When both sides replaced their rotation lineups, the Lakers immediately gained the upper hand and widened the gap.

A fact that makes Coach Malone very frustrated is that when Jokic is on the court and when he is not on the court, they are completely two different teams.

When Jokic is on the court, their offense and defense are orderly and well-organized, and they are able to play a very efficient game performance.

But when Jokic left the court, the team was not only missing its core player, but also its brain. The team played a bit disorganized. In addition, their bench lineup did not have any super strong players, so it was difficult for them to beat the Lakers.

After all, the Lakers have Clarkson on the bench.

Clarkson's personal statistics this season have improved slightly compared to last season, mainly because during the period when Lopez and Rose were sidelined due to injuries, he got more ball possession, playing time, and opportunities, and averaged 20+ points per game.

It turns out that as long as Clarkson is given enough ball possession and tactical position, he can perform like this.

Just based on Clarkson, no one in the Nuggets' bench lineup can match him.

Among the Nuggets' bench players, Gary Harris is the one with the best scoring ability, but his average score per game this season is only 10.4 points, which is much lower than Clarkson.

So after a few rounds, the Lakers gradually widened the gap.

Coach Malone frowned, and after thinking about it, he decided to substitute Murray and let Murray compete with Clarkson.

Defense is not Murray's strong point. Coach Malone expects him to be able to defend Clarkson, but Murray's scoring ability is still very strong, so there is no problem for him to play against Clarkson.

Murray did that, too.

But at this time they were already far behind.

......

In a blink of an eye, the first quarter ended with the score 1:33, and the Lakers led by 26 points.

"The rotation time at the back was not very good. The Nuggets were only one point behind before, but now they are seven points behind."

"The Lakers' rotation lineup is indeed stronger. This is the foundation of a championship team. Not only is the main lineup strong, but the rotation lineup is also strong."

"Yeah, the Nuggets still have a long way to go if they want to win the championship..."

After one quarter, fans can see that the Nuggets' main lineup is still very strong, especially when Jokic plays well, they can fully compete with the Lakers. But when the rotation lineup is changed and Jokic is replaced, the situation is completely different.

Obviously, there is still a gap in overall strength between the Nuggets and the Lakers.

And this is the case when the Lakers are missing Lopez and Rose. If Lopez and Rose were not injured, the gap might be even greater.

Coach Ma Long also frowned.

Although they had good records in the past two seasons, they did not go far in the playoffs.

The core problem is that their overall strength is not enough.

Either the two tactical cores, Jokic and Murray, can evolve again and greatly improve their strength, or they need to strengthen the team. It would be best if they could find an All-Star player to partner with Jokic, so that they have hope of winning the championship.

But no matter which one it is, it won't happen overnight...

Of course, even if there is a gap in overall strength, they still have to work hard to win the game... It doesn't mean that they will definitely lose to their opponents if there is a gap in overall strength. This is not a series game system like the playoffs, but a regular season game.

If it is put into the series, one or two games are okay, but in the end, absolute strength will play a dominant role.

But this may not be the case in a specific game.

It is not uncommon for the bottom team in the league to beat the top team in the league at times.

......

Soon, the second section began.

Coach Malone sent Jokic on the field only three minutes into the second quarter.

There is no way, without Jokic they really can't beat the Lakers.

Only three minutes had passed and the score difference had widened to double digits, so he had to replace Jokic.

But when Jokic came on the court, the situation immediately improved.

Jokic first focused on scoring, frequently asking for the ball in the low post, then singled out Nance, or shot high after getting the ball, using a small floater, or slapped the ball on the floor after getting it, turned around with the ball, and used his huge body to knock Nance away for a layup...

In a short moment, Jokic scored three goals and got 6 points.

At this time, the Lakers adjusted their defense, and Jokic also adjusted his game style, reducing his personal shots and starting to create opportunities for his teammates.

I have to say that his passing was also very good, even a little incredible.

I saw him first positioning himself in a low position, with one hand blocking the position and the other hand raised.

When his teammate passed the ball to him, he did not grab it. Instead, he reached out and pushed the ball to the middle, giving it to Porter who was cutting in for a two-handed dunk.

Then Jokic set a screen for his teammate at the top of the arc. After receiving the pass from his teammate, he first made a fake shot, then grabbed the ball and broke through. After taking two steps forward, he passed the ball without looking at anyone and threw the ball outside the three-point line, assisting his teammate to hit a three-pointer.

Although the Lakers had Holiday and Clarkson on the court, when Jokic was substituted in, the score difference was narrowed to only 5 points in a short moment.