Basketball boy, starting to shine from the slam dunk

In a blink of an eye, the third quarter ended.

At this time, the Nuggets had caught up with the score and the two sides were tied.

This made the home fans a little worried, and Coach Scott also frowned, as they actually allowed the Nuggets to tie the score.

Shouldn't.

The reason why the Nuggets were able to tie the score was due to the outstanding performances of Jokic and Millsap, as well as the outstanding performance of Porter Jr. during rotation time.

During the rotation time in the third quarter, Porter Jr. made three three-pointers.

It was precisely because of these three three-pointers that the Nuggets tied the score.

......

Soon, the fourth quarter begins.

Entering the fourth quarter, both teams still used rotation lineups, but the Nuggets directly sent Jokic up.

In the first three quarters, Coach Malone took Jokic's physical condition into consideration, so when it came time for rotation, he either let Murray lead the bench lineup, or Harris or Barton.

Always controlled Jokic's playing time.

The purpose was to keep enough energy for Jokic in the fourth quarter.

Jokic was sent on the field at the beginning of this quarter because the score was tied at that time and Jokic could ensure the competitiveness of the Nuggets.

Otherwise, the rotation lineup will definitely not be able to beat the Lakers, and the gap between the two sides may be widened again.

The second is to force the Lakers to send Lopez.

Sure enough, seeing Jokic on the field, Coach Scott frowned and looked at Zhuang Yu, but after a moment's hesitation, he decided not to send Zhuang Yu up. Instead, he sent Holiday up to play with Rose and Clarkson.

Originally, Coach Scott believed that under the leadership of Holiday, Rose, and Clarkson, the team should at least be able to tie with the opponent even if it could not gain the upper hand.

As long as he can maintain this score and not fall into a disadvantage, he will send Zhuang Yu up in three minutes.

However, things went against their wishes. After replacing Holiday, the Lakers still fell into a disadvantage. The score was overtaken by the Nuggets and quickly widened to 5 points.

"coach."

Assistant Coach Madsen frowned and suggested, "Why don't we let Brook play? Let Zhuang Yu rest for two more minutes. Let Brook play first. At least our inside players won't suffer too much."

The reason why the Lakers still fell behind was mainly because they were at a disadvantage in the interior.

In this case, either Zhuang Yu is sent up to make up for the disadvantages on both offense and defense in the interior with his superb scoring ability, or Lopez is sent up to face Jokic and stabilize the situation on the court.

Assistant coach Madsen felt that Zhuang Yu should be allowed to rest for two more minutes to retain enough energy so that he could go all out to win the game when he was substituted in later.

"Do not."

Coach Scott shook his head, his eyes sharp, and said, "If you want to make a substitution, replace both of them."

what?

Assistant coach Madsen was surprised. He didn't expect Coach Scott to be so decisive. Not only did he want to make a substitution, but he also wanted to substitute Zhuang Yu and Lopez together.

But this is indeed a solution.

In this way, the Lakers will definitely have the upper hand.

This is also the reason why Coach Scott wanted to substitute both of them together.

He didn't want to give the Nuggets any chance and didn't want the score between the two sides to be tied. What he wanted was to overtake the score and widen the gap.

If the score is really close, then it is not certain what the situation will be at the last moment - after all, anything is possible.

The Nuggets are not a weak team.

Of course, the team ranked fourth in the Western Conference regular season cannot be weak.

"Requesting a substitution."

Coach Scott quickly made substitutions, replacing Zhuang Yu and Lopez, and replacing Holiday and Zubac.

The lineup on the field became Rose, Clarkson, Zhuang Yu, Nance Jr., and Lopez Sr.

Seeing that the Lakers actually substituted Zhuang Yu and Lopez together, Coach Malone couldn't help but raise his eyebrows and his face became serious.

"Scott is a really courageous guy."

He also had to admit that Coach Scott was very courageous. He did not replace either Lopez or Zhuang Yu, but replaced both of them.

There are more than eight minutes left in the fourth quarter, and it seems that Zhuang Yu and Lopez will not be replaced in the next eight minutes.

Immediately, Coach Malone gestured towards the court.

Several Nuggets players nodded knowingly.

......

The game continues.

After coming to the court, Zhuang Yu ran back to request, then called for a pick-and-roll, and waited for Lopez to come to the top line for the pick-and-roll. Zhuang Yu used the pick-and-roll to get rid of it, and then broke through.

The Nuggets quickly contracted their defense and tried to surround Zhuang Yu, but he did not attack the basket. Instead, he took a step forward and suddenly jumped up to make a fadeaway jump shot.

Swish!

The ball goes in.

"nice shot."

"I knew that as long as Zhuang Yu returned to the court, he would have the upper hand."

The home fans cheered excitedly.

......

On the court, the Nuggets attacked.

After coming to the frontcourt, Jokic made a request in the low post on the left side, and then he singled out Lopez, with the Lakers assisting in defense.

Jokic passed the ball to Grant who was cutting into the middle. Grant grabbed the ball and dribbled forward a step, but did not jump in a hurry. Instead, he made a fake shot, looking at Lopez, waiting for Lopez to come over and block the shot.

Lopez turned around immediately, but he had already committed five fouls, so he naturally did not dare to be careless. He did not jump up easily, but just raised his hands high.

"pity......"

Grant secretly said what a pity, he wanted to make Lopez commit a foul, if Lopez committed one more foul he would be sent off.

However, Lopez controlled his movements well and had no chance to commit a foul.

However, Lopez didn't dare to take action easily, and could only watch Grant take the shot, and a rebound hit...

In the next few rounds, the Nuggets were unable to defend against the Lakers' offense, and the Lakers were also unable to defend against the Nuggets' offense.

The main reason is that Lopez has already committed 5 fouls, and the Nuggets obviously want to take advantage of this and continue to attack the inside line, actively looking for Lopez, and want to make Lopez foul. In order not to foul, Lopez had to shrink back and watch the opponent score.

After a few rounds of fighting, neither side was able to gain an advantage and the score remained tense.

At this time, the Nuggets requested a timeout.

When the timeout was over, both sides made substitutions and replaced their starting lineups.

The Nuggets players came to the front court, Murray and Jokic played a pick-and-roll, then Murray passed the ball to Jokic, who hugged the ball and rushed to the basket. Lopez didn't dare to make too big a move, and the other players were not tall enough, so they could only watch Jokic layup.

What made Lakers fans feel even more uncomfortable was that a few seconds later, when Lopez received the pass from Holiday and played a back-to-back single, he was called for an offensive foul.

Jokic fell to the ground and covered his chin with his hands. Murray waved his elbow, indicating to the referee that Lopez had swung his elbow and should be given a foul.

The referee ignored Murray and just gave him a normal foul.

But the problem is that this is Lopez's sixth foul.

In other words, he was fouled out and was about to be sent off.

"Fake."

Lopez cursed angrily, his face wrinkled into a bun, and walked to the sidelines in frustration, kicking the bench, extremely angry.

Coach Scott smiled bitterly, shook his head and called a timeout.

Wait for a few players to come off the court.

He spread out the tactical board and said, "Now that Brook has been fouled, Zubac, the inside is up to you. Don't be afraid of fouls, be tough and hold up to Jokic."

Zubac was shocked and nodded heavily: "Yes."

Then, Coach Scott looked at Zhuang Yu and said, "You need to score more points. There are only a few minutes left."

Zhuang Yu agreed, narrowed his eyes, and his pupils sparkled with brilliance.

......

After some arrangements, the pause ended.

Zhuang Yu stood up, patted Lopez on the shoulder, and said, "Just sit on the sidelines and watch. Leave the rest to me."

Big Lopez responded.

Somehow, after hearing Zhuang Yu's words, his anger and annoyance suddenly calmed down, and he did not doubt Zhuang Yu's words at all. Since Zhuang Yu said that he could take care of it, then there must be no problem.

......

With only half of the fourth quarter left, the Nuggets led by 4 points.

At this moment, the score is behind and Lopez has fouled out, so the home fans are a little worried about the Lakers. The situation is somewhat unfavorable for the Lakers.

On the field.

Due to Lopez's offensive foul, the Nuggets got the ball. Murray pushed the ball to the frontcourt and passed it to Jokic in the low post.

Jokic played against Zubac, first taking two steps back, then turning with the ball, instantly bypassing Zubac, and used his broad body to push Zubac, forcing Zubac to be unable to jump up for a while. Jokic grabbed the basketball with his left hand and sent it to the basket, making a light layup.

The difference is 8 points.

“We’re already eight points behind.”

"Hey, Lopez didn't control his fouls today, and Zubac obviously can't defend Jokic. This is trouble."

For a moment, the atmosphere in the stadium became a little depressing.

......

Lakers offense.

Holiday dribbled the ball forward and when he got to the frontcourt he was about to call for a pick-and-roll, but he saw Zhuang Yu running back and asking him for the ball.

Without hesitation, Holiday immediately passed the ball, then pulled the people away and gestured to Zubac, indicating Zubac to go up and help Zhuang Yu with the screen.

With the help of Zubac's pick-and-roll, Zhuang Yu got rid of Barton and moved one step to the left, but Jokic rushed over to delay him immediately.

Zhuang Yu dribbled the ball between his legs, lowered his right shoulder, and pretended to break through. Jokic subconsciously stopped, but then Zhuang Yu suddenly jumped up.

"not good."

Jokic's face changed and he quickly raised his hands and rushed forward.

But it was too late.

Zhuang Yu shot too quickly and had already thrown the ball before Jokic's hand could reach him.

The basketball drew a beautiful arc and finally went through the net with a swish...