Basketball boy, starting to shine from the slam dunk

The ball goes in.

This was a two-point ball, and the score difference became 6 points.

"Here it comes." Jokic frowned and told his teammates, "Pay attention to the defense of Zhuang Yu, don't let him get the ball and shoot easily."

With Jokic's basketball IQ, he naturally knew that after Lopez fouled out, Zhuang Yu had to strengthen his personal offense, take on more scoring tasks, and rely on offense to make up for the defensive disadvantage without Lopez.

Several Nuggets players nodded. They also understood that if they wanted to win the game, they needed to defend Zhuang Yu in these last few minutes.

As for the others, there is a threat, but not that big.

After all, the Nuggets are still leading by 6 points.

If there is anyone who can help the team turn the tables when Lopez fouls out and the team is behind, it must be Zhuang Yu.

In the next round, when Zhuang Yu came to the frontcourt and took the basketball from Holiday, Barton immediately pounced on him and started close defense.

Moreover, when Zhuang Yu broke through, the Nuggets players immediately surrounded him.

"Ah......"

Zhuang Yu chuckled and passed the ball.

He was not surprised by this situation, knowing that without Lopez, the Nuggets would definitely focus on defending him and prevent him from scoring.

However, Zhuang Yu had experienced this kind of thing too many times, and it was not enough to move him. After passing the ball, he suddenly ran back and moved outside the three-point line.

The Nuggets immediately switched defense, Harris left Kuzma and rushed towards Zhuang Yu, preventing Zhuang Yu from receiving the ball and shooting three-pointers.

However, Zhuang Yu did not shoot the three-pointer directly, but passed the ball to Kuzma, who then cut to the basket and passed the ball to Zhuang Yu. Zhuang Yu grabbed the ball, took a step forward, and made a lob shot, hitting the target again.

"Damn, he scored again."

"Be careful."

On the Nuggets bench, a group of substitute players shouted in frustration and yelled towards the court, asking their teammates to defend better and not let Zhuang Yu score again.

Coach Ma Long couldn't help but frown. When Zhuang Yu scored two goals in succession, he felt uneasy.

After all, that was Zhuang Yu.

......

In a blink of an eye, two more rounds passed. In these two rounds, Zhuang Yu shot again, a three-pointer, but missed.

Jokic caused Zubac to foul in the paint and made one of two free throws.

Before we knew it, Jokic had already scored 27 points, 10 rebounds and 11 assists today, achieving a triple-double.

The Nuggets still lead by 7 points.

......

Lakers possession of the ball.

After coming to the frontcourt, Holiday passed the ball to Zhuang Yu, but the Nuggets still guarded Zhuang Yu tightly, with Barton defending closely and several other players ready to surround him at any time.

However, this time Zhuang Yu did not choose to play without the ball, but lowered his center of gravity, used his shoulder to hold Barton, and suddenly accelerated forward. Barton quickly turned sideways, while Zhuang Yu dribbled the ball behind his back, pulled the ball back, and took a step back, retreating to a position more than one meter outside the three-point line.

"not good."

Patton cried out inwardly that something was wrong and rushed forward.

However, he couldn't reach it at all. After retreating, Zhuang Yu jumped up and made an ultra-long shot more than one meter outside the three-point line.

Swish!

The next moment, the basketball went through the net.

The difference is 4 points.

In a short moment, Zhuang Yu had made 4 of 3 shots and scored 7 points.

This made Coach Malone uneasy, and he called a timeout.

After the players came to the sidelines, he spread out the tactical board and made some careful arrangements, repeatedly emphasizing that they must defend Zhuang Yu well and not let him score easily. As long as they defended Zhuang Yu well, the game would be won.

Several players solemnly promised that they would defend Zhuang Yu well and would not let him score easily.

Here, Coach Scott also made some arrangements, and then looked at Zhuang Yu and asked him what he wanted to say.

Zhuang Yu said: "The opponent will definitely guard me tightly. Brothers, I need you to defend well and fight for rebounds as much as possible."

It is easy to guess what the Nuggets will do next, but Zhuang Yu cannot give up the attack just because the opponent is defending tightly.

However, it can be predicted that it will be difficult for Zhuang Yu to get a good chance to shoot in the next few minutes, and sometimes he has to force shots against the defense.

Of course, Zhuang Yu has enough confidence in his scoring ability.

But in this situation, although he can score, he cannot guarantee sufficient efficiency.

Once he misses a shot, his teammates will need to actively fight for rebounds. As long as they can grab more frontcourt rebounds, the Lakers will have enough offensive rounds. So even if Zhuang Yu's offensive efficiency and hit rate drop a little, it doesn't matter.

Several teammates agreed and said they would do their best.

Why does Zhuang Yu have to score at this time?

It couldn't be someone else?

One reason is that Zhuang Yu’s scoring ability is strong enough.

The second reason is that at this critical moment, under huge psychological pressure and defensive intensity, if other players come to play, the success rate may be lower.

If you look at a game and study the data carefully, you may find that the hit rate of role players may be higher than that of the core players of the team.

But at the critical moment, it will not be the role players who are responsible for the finish.

Because the team's core players and star players may not have a good touch and a low hit rate in the first three quarters, but at the critical moment, they can score steadily.

Even if role players have a high shooting percentage at the beginning, their stability will be greatly reduced at critical moments.

This is the difference between a role player and a star player.

......

Soon, the pause ends.

Both sides returned to the court and the Nuggets attacked.

After Murray pushed the ball to the frontcourt, he still played pick-and-roll, then passed the ball back to Jokic. Several Nuggets players ran quickly, and Jokic stood at the top of the arc to deal the ball. He first passed the ball to Harris, then moved to the low post, stuck in position to ask Harris for the ball, and singled out Zubac.

When the Lakers came to assist in defense, Jokic passed the ball with one hand to Murray, assisting Murray to make a jump shot.

The difference is 6 points.

The ball changed and the Lakers attacked.

When he came to the frontcourt, Zhuang Yu got the ball.

The Nuggets defended tightly, and Zhuang Yu first passed the ball, then got rid of it with the help of a screen, and returned to the three-point line to receive the ball again.

This time, Zhuang Yu decisively chose to take a three-point shot.

However, with a bang, the ball bounced out of the frame.

Just as the home fans were lamenting, Holiday, Kuzma, and Anderson rushed to the inside line. Zubac blocked Jokic, and Anderson jumped up and touched the ball in the air, which fell into Kuzma's hands. Kuzma held the ball without any hurry. He returned to the three-point line and gestured to his teammates, asking them to slow down and reorganize the offense, and then passed the ball to Zhuang Yu.

"Yeah." Coach Scott nodded with a smile.

This is the effect you want.

The Nuggets' tight defense against Zhuang Yu will definitely reduce Zhuang Yu's shooting percentage.

But when the Nuggets focus their defense on Zhuang Yu, the restrictions on Kuzma, Holiday and others will be reduced.

For example, this ball just now.

The attention of several Nuggets players was on Zhuang Yu, and no one tried to stop Kuzma, Holiday and others.

The result is that several people rushed into the inside, and four people and Jokic competed for rebounds, so the probability of success was naturally higher.

Grabbing this frontcourt rebound means the Lakers have one more offensive opportunity.

This time it was Zhuang Yu who finished the shot again. He chose to turn around and lean back after the breakthrough. This time there was no accident and he hit the target steadily.

The difference is 4 points.

......

"beep!"

The referee blew the whistle and gave Millsap a foul.

This time, Zhuang Yu received the pass from his teammate and jumped towards Millsap, causing Millsap to foul and had to stand on the free throw line to take two free throws.

When Zhuang Yu made both free throws, the score difference was only 2 points.

Coach Ma Long was no longer calm.

"Requesting a timeout."

Coach Malone called a timeout and made some new arrangements, still emphasizing the defense of Zhuang Yu. However, several Nuggets players could only smile bitterly, thinking that we have tried our best to defend and guarded Zhuang Yu tightly.

But they just can score the goal, what can we do?

In fact, under the tight defense of the Nuggets, Zhuang Yu's hit rate dropped a lot compared to the previous three quarters. But his teammates' active fighting helped the team get more offensive rounds, thus compensating for the problem of Zhuang Yu's lower hit rate.

So it’s not that the Nuggets’ defense was bad, it’s just that Zhuang Yu’s scoring ability was too strong. It’s not that their defense was ineffective, it’s just that the Lakers were too aggressive in fighting.

“Also, be sure to protect the rebounds.”

Coach Ma Long gave another reminder. He also knew about this problem, but when they guarded Zhuang Yu tightly and concentrated all their defense on Zhuang Yu, there would naturally be shortcomings in other aspects. There was nothing that could be done about it.

Although Coach Malone repeatedly told the players to defend Zhuang Yu well, the Nuggets still failed to defend Zhuang Yu after returning to the court.

This time it was the Nuggets' shot that missed. Zubac grabbed the rebound and passed it to Zhuang Yu, who then advanced with the ball and made a three-pointer when he reached the frontcourt.

This happened too suddenly and the Nuggets players were unable to react.

With a "swish" sound, the basketball went through the net.

"Oh..."

Suddenly, the audience was in an uproar.

After this three-pointer, the Lakers have already taken the lead.

The mood of several Nuggets players suddenly dropped, feeling that it was too discouraging.

"It's okay. There's still time."

Jokic called on his teammates and reorganized the offense.

But when the score was reversed, the Nuggets' mentality was completely different.

When he came to the frontcourt, Jokic played one-on-one in the low post, encountered help defense, and passed the ball to Harris. However, Harris did not dare to shoot a three-pointer, but passed the ball to Barton. Barton passed the ball again to Millsap, who played one-on-one against Anderson but failed.

The Lakers grabbed the rebound and fought back.

This time the Nuggets retreated quickly and kept an eye on Zhuang Yu the first time.

Seeing this, Zhuang Yu smiled slightly and was not in a hurry.

At this moment, it's not the Lakers who are behind, but the Nuggets, and there is only one minute left in the game, so there is no need to rush.

Zhuang Yu started to act only after his teammates arrived. He lowered his center of gravity to break through, then passed the ball to Holiday with one hand.

"cast."

Zhuang Yu shouted.

Holiday also knew that this was an opportunity, so he immediately adjusted, aimed at the basket, and took a three-point shot.

The basketball hit the basket and bounced, then fell into the net...

"nice shot."

"Well done."

The home fans cheered excitedly.

After this three-pointer, the Lakers led by 4 points, and the Nuggets only had a few dozen seconds left.